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Nalanda monks and Ven. Tenzin Namjong during their visit to Swayambhunath, Nepal, March 2020. Photo by Nalanda Monastery monks.
In March, Fifteen monks from Nalanda Monastery, the FPMT monastery in Lavaur, France, traveled to Nepal to participate in the Monlam Chenmo (Great Prayer Festival), organized by Kopan Monastery.
Kopan has been convening a Monlam Chenmo for the Gelug monasteries and nunneries in Nepal for the past fifteen years. Lama Zopa Rinpoche told the Nalanda monks that the idea for organizing the Monlam Chemno goes back to 1975, when Lama Yeshe expressed how good it would be to have a Monlam Chenmo at the monastery, which at that time was too small to host it.
This year’s Monlam Chenmo was held March 5-10 at Gosok Phuntsok Choling Monastery in Swayambhunath. During the event, prayers were made for the gurus’ long lives, the survival and spreading of the Dharma, and world peace. Jangtse Choeje Venerable Gosok Rinpoche led the daily prayers and taught from the Jataka Tales.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Nalanda monks and Ven. Tenzin Namjong, Kathmandu, Nepal, March 2020. Photo by Nalanda Monastery monks.
For many of the Nalanda monks who attended, this was their first trip to the East. Expenses for their journey were covered by a generous sponsor. Kopan Monastery provided accommodation and food for them. “When we arrived we met with Kopan Abbot Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi who kindly welcomed us and shared advice,” Ven. Losang Gyaltsen said.
Ven. Tenzin Gendun said, “The Monlam Chenmo prayers being so precious and holy, Lama Zopa Rinpoche thought that it would be wonderful for the Western Sangha—specifically the Nalanda Sangha—to attend the Monlam Chenmo in Nepal. He mentioned this idea in various teachings. During the 2019 Institut Vajra Yogini retreat one woman kindly proposed to sponsor this project.
“During our visit with Rinpoche in Nepal there was some discussion about how Nalanda could organize a Monlam Chenmo in France. Rinpoche agreed that some of the prayers could be read first in English and then chanted in Tibetan. He suggested we adapt the normal Monlam Chenmo schedule by adding other various activities to attract more people.”
Ven. Thubten Lektsok and Ven. Losang Thubten at Gosok Phuntsok Choling Monastery, Swayambhunath, Nepal, March 2020.
The Nalanda monks learned how to do the prayers from Geshe Sherab-la, Kopan’s umze (chant leader) who has been the Monlam Chenmo umze for many years, and Kopan monks who serve as the second umze. Ven. Tenzin Gendun said, “Geshe Sherab-la kindly gave us a lot of advice on how to hold a Monlam Chenmo in France and even proposed that we meet with him via Skype sometimes to receive trainings.”
The Monlam Chenmo was attended by 1,800 monastics and representatives from eight monasteries and two nunneries and drew around 1,300 attendees daily.
“Thanks to Ven. Tenzin Namjong from Sera IMI House and others,” Ven. Thubten Jamyang said, “we were easily able to follow the prayers using English translations and Tibetan phonetics.”
“Our experience with the other monks and nuns of Kopan Monastery proved to be a harmonious expression of unity. I believe that we have accumulated much merit and purified many obstacles during this festival. Hopefully one day we can introduce the Monlam Chenmo to Nalanda Monastery, albeit on a smaller scale!”
Ven. Tenpa Gyaltsen said, “We were privileged to attend korwas and prayers with Lama Zopa Rinpoche one evening at the Boudhanath Stupa.” Following Rinpoche’s advice, the monks visited Swayambunath and the Mahakala Temple in Kathmandu, as well as Pharping and Namo Buddha with Ven. Sarah Thresher, who taught about the holy sites.
Monlam Chenmo, Gosok Phuntsok Choling Monastery, Swayambhunath, Nepal, March 2020.
Ven. Tendar and Ven. Zoksang said, “On March 29 Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme) welcomed us with warm hospitality, as if we were her own family. After offerings of khatas and gifts (and of course an invitation to return to Nalanda!), we shared tea, laughter, and inspiring stories.”
Ven. Losang Gyalsten said, “All our gratitude to our most precious Guru, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who initiated this event, to Geshe Sherab-la and the monks for their kind help, to Kopan Monastery who hosted us, and to our kind sponsors who have so much faith in the Dharma.”
For more information about Nalanda Monastery, visit their website:
https://nalanda-monastery.eu/index.php/en/
For more information about Kopan Monastery, visit their website:
https://kopanmonastery.com/
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Graphic by Michaela Kirchem.
Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW), an international FPMT project, is offering online programs in response to the challenges of the coronavirus crisis. Victoria Coleman, executive director, shares the story.
Following a swift move into the online environment to support the global Universal Education community in April, Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom offered our popular courses Building Inner Strength—16 Guidelines for Life (Level 1 and 2) and Building Balanced Empathy in April and May. Participants from around the world took the opportunity to join the courses and experience the unique style of experiential and interactive learning with FDCW.
Sandra Faber, from Australia, appreciated the advantages of the online programs for those living in remote locations. Sandra said, “As I live in a remote location, face-to-face courses offered in the past have been prohibitive. A thousand loving thanks to FDCW!”
Elaine Jackson, resident teacher at Vajrapani Institute, an FPMT center in California, US, remarked about the benefits of joining the secular training path of the 16 Guidelines for Life. Elaine said, “I’m feeling inspired to take the next course in order to expand my vocabulary and understanding of how to express our remarkable heritage in secular terms.”
Starting in the beginning of June, former 16 Guidelines for Life participants will have the opportunity to join the 16 Guidelines for Life follow-up course Building on the Basics (BoB) for the first time online. BoB is an opportunity to deepen our practice of the 16 Guidelines for Life and explore how we can bring them into our lives and communities in practical ways over the course of ten weeks. The course has a very different format and is delivered in a mix of live online sessions and self-study weeks.
BoB is open to anyone who has taken a 16 Guidelines for Life course in the past. It will be offered at two different times to enable participants in the different time zones to join. The first course option, led by Craig Mackie, starts on Tuesday, June 2. The second course option, led by Mabel Odessey, starts on Wednesday, June 10.
FDCW is offering a new course fee structure beginning in May to ensure that courses remain affordable and accessible to everyone.
To learn more about the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom and their online programs, visit their website:
https://www.compassionandwisdom.org
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Celebrating the LRZTP8 graduates, Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India, March 2020. Photo by LRZTP.
Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program (LRZTP), an FPMT project in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India, celebrated the graduation of their most recent cohort of students, LRZTP8, in March 2020. Filip Majkowski, former director, shares the story.
LRZTP8 began on March 13, 2018, with a grand opening ceremony. We welcomed new teachers and team members Dr. Filip Majkowski and Alex García, a graduate of LRZTP7, as well as our students who came from Australia, the United States, Taiwan, Vietnam, Spain, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Israel, Mexico, Poland, and Russia. Most already had some knowledge of the Tibetan language but still considered themselves beginners.
The adventure began with classes in vocabulary and grammar, classical Tibetan, listening comprehension, reading comprehension and drilling, and conversation classes with native Tibetan speakers. Later on in the first year, students began learning and practicing the u-me script. They gradually switched from classes taught in English and Tibetan to classes taught only in Tibetan. Once they had learned the most basic principles of Tibetan grammar and everyday vocabulary they began studying Buddhist words and phrases.
In the second year our great teacher Geshe Tenzin Wangdak began his lamrim classes in Tibetan, completing the full text by the end of the ninth module. (The course was composed of a total of ten modules.) The students learned the basics of drubtha (tenets), dudra (authentic knowledge), studied tantra with Geshe Ngawang from the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, and learned The 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva and sem chung (mind factors). They also began learning how to translate and interpret Dharma teachings by studying the theory of interpretation in classes taught by Alex García. Students later paired up to practice interpretation and also translated in front of the whole class.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama with LRZTP 8 students and LRZTP teachers, staff, and other participants, Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India, December 2019. Photo courtesy of LRZTP.
Unfortunately the grand graduation ceremony we had planned for March 20 had to be canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic and local government restrictions that put limits on the movement and gathering of people. Students received their certificates of completion individually on March 18 after successfully passing their final exams.
We would like to celebrate some of the things that happened during these two years. LRZTP had the privilege of organizing two residential Tibetan language courses for beginners taught by Gen Julia Wilson la, who is also the program’s current director, and Gen Thupten la. Participants came from India, Italy, Germany, Singapore, Russia, Mexico, and South Korea. We also had the privilege of participating in the University of Virginia’s Tibetan language summer course as well as their autumn and spring programs. We also offered private online and in-person Tibetan language classes to students from around the world.
LRZTP’s entire staff and students were blessed with a private audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on December 2, 2019, and had the opportunity to host our precious guru, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, at our school in September 2018.
Now that LRZTP8 has come to a close we would like to thank LRZTP staff members Yaron Bahir, Filip Majkowski, Geshe Tenzin Wangdak, Alex García, Martha Urbina, Thubten la, and Rinku Ram. We would also like to thank FPMT International Office, FPMT India, Khyentse Foundation, Tushita Meditation Centre, University of Virginia, Root Institute for Wisdom Culture, Vikramashila Foundation, Tibet House New Delhi, the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Mr. Sandeep Kakkar. Thank you to our wonderful Board of Trustees: Professor Renuka Singh, Mr. Ranjit Walia, and Mrs. Sadhana Kumar. We also wish to give a big thank you to all of our donors.
We are forever grateful to our wonderful teachers Geshe Tenzin Wangdak, Geshe Ngawang, Filip Majkowski, Alex Garcia, Thubten la, Julia Wilson, and all the Tibetan language tutors. We are forever grateful to the wonderful and invaluable former LRZTP teacher Franziska Oertle, author of the textbook The Heart of Tibetan Language used by our students. Finally we wish to thank all of our students, because without the students there wouldn’t be a school. We wish our graduates all of the best and are thankful for the contributions they will make as Tibetan language and Dharma interpreters, translators, teachers, and researchers.
We are looking forward to LRZTP9, the opportunity to meet new people, and the chance to continue serving our most precious gurus and the Buddhadharma.
For more information about the Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program in Dharamsala, India visit their website:
http://www.lrztp.org
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Ven. Roger Kunsang and Wendy Ridley looking at the IJD app, Italy, October 2017. Photo by Violette Pliot.
We invite you to use the Inner Job Description to help develop mindfulness about your thoughts, speech, and actions.
The Inner Job Description Mindfulness Practice Tool (IJD) is freely available as an app, or as a card to print. The app is available in English, Chinese, French, Italian, Russian, and Spanish.
A screenshot of the IJD app
By using the IJD tool daily, your increased awareness of self-defeating mental habits can allow you to make real change in your life, by changing your mental imprints in positive ways. The IJD will help you become an “inner professional.”
Now we have created a video to help you understand and use the IJD! The 45-minute IJD Training video explains how to use the IJD tool in your daily life, including how to personalize it to work best for you. It includes meditation, and an introduction to FPMT Wisdom Culture. You’ll explore how useful the IJD can be, whether you are serving in an FPMT center, project, or service, or are unconnected with the FPMT organization.
We recommend that you watch the video after first installing the app, or downloading and printing the card.
The IJD is a part of the FPMT Service Seminar suite, which provide support and training to those offering service, and those wishing to offer service, within FPMT centers, services, and projects. The seminars help develop a shared understanding of the FPMT mission set out by Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and a firm basis to serve joyfully and effectively within the organization.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche making water offerings, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, April 2020. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
We hope you enjoy our May FPMT International Office e-News.
This month you’ll find news about:
- Now is the Time to Practice Dharma
- How the Merit Box Helped Centers in Need
- New e-Books
- How you can help the Spanish Translation Service
…and more!
Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.
The FPMT International Office e-News comes from your FPMT International Office. Visit our subscribe page to receive the FPMT International Office News directly in your email box.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, FPMT International Office paused the publication of several stories we had received from FPMT Centers, Projects, and Services in order to focus on sharing the video teachings of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and other stories relevant to the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the continuation of the COVID-19 crisis, we want to recognize these stories and share them with readers, so we’ve collected them into an abbreviated digest.
We thank all the FPMT centers, projects, and services for all the amazing work they have been doing and continue to do.
Arnaud Berger and Ven. Elisabeth Drukier, Kalachakra Centre, Paris, France, November 2019. Photo by Laura Haughey.
Kalachakra Centre Celebrated Their Twentieth Anniversary in Paris, France
On November 30, 2019, Centre Kalachakra joyfully celebrated the twentieth anniversary of its founding. Participants enjoyed a slideshow of the center’s history, a video of a teaching by Lama Yeshe, a theatrical performance inspired by the Eight Verses of Mind Training, and a potluck meal. Small group discussions focused on the different ways the center has contributed to community members’ lives. And a very moving meditation on rejoicing concluded the special evening.
Geshe Drakpa Tsundue, the center’s FPMT resident geshe, spoke to the gathering. He remarked that there are many Tibetan Buddhist centers, but few centers provide opportunities for serious study.
Read the article “Kalachakra Centre Celebrated Their Twentieth Anniversary in Paris, France,” which includes the story of how center director Ven. Elisabeth Drukier met the Dharma and the history of Kalachakra center.
Meditation at Centro Shiwa Lha, Brazil, December 2019. Photo by Marcia Rocha.
Teenagers Enjoyed a Visit to Centro Shiwa Lha in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
In December 2019, fifteen teenagers from Morro da Providência, the first favela community in Brazil, spent an afternoon at Centro Shiwa Lha, the FPMT center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, learning more about Buddhism. The event was a community service activity, which is one of FPMT’s Five Pillars of Service.
During the visit, the teenagers listened to center director Ven. Tenzin Namdrol tell the Buddha’s life story and meditated for a few minutes. They also recited together OM MANI PADME HUM twenty-one times. The center offered snacks and drinks to the young visitors in the center’s garden.
Read more in the story “Teenagers Enjoyed a Visit to Centro Shiwa Lha in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.”
Thousand-Arm Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara) statue, Aryatara Institut, Munich, Germany, December 2019. Photo by Robert Schwabe.
Aryatara Institut Continued Their Christmas Holiday Tradition
Aryatara Institut, the FPMT center in Munich, Germany, observed the Christmas holiday season with two events. The first event, “Chenrezig Christmas Meditation on Love and Compassion,” was held on December 16, 2019. “It was a wonderful hour of meditation in which the meditators focused on the well-being of others with loving and compassionate minds,” the center wrote about the event.
Then December 26–30, the center offered “Christmas Retreat: Debate Between Wisdom and Ignorance.” A group of about twenty participants listened to the center’s resident teacher, Ven. Fedor Stracke, give teachings based on a root text by Panchen Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen. Each day began with meditation and concluding with purifying practices.
Read more about these events in the story “Aryatara Institut Continued Their Christmas Holiday Tradition.”
Providing care at MAITRI, Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India, January 2020. Photo by Phil Hunt.
MAITRI Charitable Trust Celebrated World Leprosy Day and India’s Republic Day
MAITRI Charitable Trust, an FPMT project in Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India, celebrated World Leprosy Day and India’s Republic Day on January 26, 2020. Adriana Ferranti, MAITRI director, shares the story about the charity’s education and awareness-raising activities with local people.
“Community need highlights the importance of the continuation of MAITRI’s painstaking work in the field, bringing awareness, assistance, and relief to the hansenians (people with leprosy),” Adriana writes.
Read the entire story “MAITRI Charitable Trust Celebrated World Leprosy Day and India’s Republic Day,” where you can also find a video on MAITRI’s thirty years of service.
Justin clearing rocks using a Kubota Excavator on the US Forest Service access road near Cambria, CA, US, January 2020. Photo by Ven. Namgyal.
Removing Obstacles with Kindness and Generosity at Land of Calm Abiding
Land of Calm Abiding is an FPMT retreat center located on 485 pristine acres in remote central California, US. Director Ven. Namgyal shares a story about two acts of kindness and generosity offered to the center in January 2020. One came when they found a massive rock slide blocking their six-mile long driveway and needed help clearing it. The other came in the form of an “incredible and immensely helpful donation.”
“To say we were completely taken aback by both these amazing acts would be an understatement. Acts of kindness completely shifted what was a very stressful situation into one that was completely manageable,” wrote Ven. Namgyal.
Read the complete story “Removing Obstacles with Kindness and Generosity at Land of Calm Abiding.”
De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre Enlightenment Stupa and Prayer Wheel House prior to the brush fires, Kangaroo Island, South Australia, 2019. Photo by De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre.
De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre’s Tradition of Volunteerism
The 2019-2020 Australian bushfires came within one-hundred feet of De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre, the FPMT center on Kangaroo Island, Australia. Retreat center staff share a story about the importance of community bonds and volunteer support in the wake of the bushfires.
“Volunteering at De-Tong Ling has become a wonderful tradition. It continues through a combination of dedication to [Lama Zopa] Rinpoche‘s vast vision, the power of the holy objects themselves, and the center’s remoteness and beauty. It draws people back again and again,” said Will Abrams, who serves as the center’s assistant director and building coordinator.
Read more in the story “De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre’s Tradition of Volunteerism.”
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, FPMT International Office paused the publication of several stories we had received from FPMT Centers, Projects, and Services in order to focus on sharing the video teachings of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and other stories relevant to the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the continuation of the COVID-19 crisis, we want to recognize these stories and share them with readers, so we’ve collected them into an abbreviated digest.
We thank all the FPMT centers, projects, and services for all the amazing work they have been doing and continue to do.
Geshe Tenzin Zopa with Kathleen Everett and Jemma Galova, Women’s Healthy Relationships Group at Broome Recovery Centre, Broome, Western Australia, March 2019. Photo by Sandy Faber.
Geshe Tenzin Zopa Welcomed to Broome, Western Australia
Geshe Tenzin Zopa, an FPMT touring teacher, visited the Gyalwa Ensapa Broome Buddhist Study Group, an FPMT study group located in a coastal town in northern Western Australia in March 2019. The week spent together left lasting impressions on everyone involved. Geshe Tenzin Zopa engaged with a variety local of First Nation, health, and community groups, forming connections with people and discussing various topics from a Buddhist psychology perspective.
Broome’s population of 14,500 is a mixture of Indigenous Aboriginal First Nations people along with (due to a history of pearl-hunting in the area) Japanese, Malay, and Indonesian intermixed families, as well as more recent western European arrivals. Geshe Tenzin Zopa’s talks resonated strongly with the many community members who heard him speak.
Sandy Faber, Gyalwa Ensapa Broome Buddhist Study Group coordinator’s shared all of the details of the visit in the recently publihsed online story “Geshe Tenzin Zopa Welcomed to Broome, Western Australia.”
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Ganden Buddhist Meditation Centre students and volunteers, Riga, Latvia, June 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Ganden Buddhist Meditation Centre Welcomed Lama Zopa Rinpoche to Latvia
Latvians stay up all night celebrating midsummer (summer solstice), a tradition maintained even during the Soviet times. Last June, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s visit to Ganden Buddhist Meditation Centre, the FPMT center in Riga, Latvia, coincided with midsummer celebrations. The teachings organized by the center were attended by 150 students, who gathered from all over Europe to hear Rinpoche teaching. Students described the visit as “magical” and the teachings as “magnificent.”
Read more about Rinpoche’s visit to Latvia in “Ganden Buddhist Meditation Centre Welcomed Lama Zopa Rinpoche to Latvia.”
Geshe Gelek at Kadampa Center, Raleigh, North Carolina, US, August 2019. Photo by David Strevel.
Kadampa Center Celebrated Geshe Gelek Chodha
In August 2019, Kadampa Center celebrated their resident teacher Geshe Gelek’s twentieth anniversary at the center. Decorations, delicious Indian food, and Nepalese folk music transformed the center for a joyous afternoon event. In addition to heart-filled speeches and gifts offered to Geshe Gelek by the Tibetan community and Kadampa Center students, center director Robbie Watkins announced the “secret gift” to Geshe-la: the Kadampa Center mortgage had been paid off!
Read the complete story “Kadampa Center Celebrated Geshe Gelek Chodha.”
Heruka Five-Deity Retreat, Myers Flat, Victoria, Australia, October 2019. Photo by Andy Melnic.
Atisha Centre Held a Heruka Five-Deity Retreat Led by Ven. Tenzin Tsapel
Atisha Centre, the FPMT center in Myers Flat, Victoria, Australia, and nearby FPMT monastery Thubten Shedrup Ling held a Heruka Five-Deity retreat from September 21 to October 27, 2019. The retreat was led by Australian FPMT registered teacher Ven. Tenzin Tsapel. The hosting of this retreat fulfilled the holy wishes of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who offered the initiation during the 2018 retreat at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion.
“More than twenty people attended the retreat and not a single session was missed by anyone. The retreat was exceptional and very enjoyable, and everyone appeared to be very happy during and afterwards,” the center reported.
Read more about the retreat in the story, “Atisha Centre Held a Heruka Five-Deity Retreat Led by Ven. Tenzin Tsapel.”
His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Dr. Renuka Singh, Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre’s 22nd Dharma Celebration at St. Columba’s School, New Delhi, India, November 2019. Photo courtesy of Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama Joined Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre to Celebrate Forty Years
Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre‘s 40th anniversary and 22nd Dharma Celebration was held on November 20, 2019, at St. Columba’s School, New Delhi. His Holiness the Dalai Lama graced the momentous occasion and gave a teaching on “Overcoming Anger and Anxiety” to an audience of 6,740 guests.
“Very large numbers of people lined up for the teaching. I had never seen so many in any of the Dharma Celebrations organized since 1981,” observed Ven. Kabir Saxena, Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre spiritual program coordinator.
“It was particularly satisfying for all of us to be able to fulfill His Holiness’s wish to provide everybody with a copy of Eight Verses for Training the Mind in English and Hindi to benefit one’s mental hygiene,” said Renuka Singh center director.
Read Renuka Singh’s inspired and detailed story “His Holiness the Dalai Lama Joined Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre to Celebrate Forty Years.”
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Kopan Sangha distributing emergency aid to those in need during COVID-19 crisis in Nepal. Photo courtesy of Kopan Monastery Facebook page.
Immediately following the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal in 2015, the monks and nuns of Kopan Monastery and Nunnery (which were badly damaged by the quake) sprang into action by establishing Kopan Helping Hands to help those in need with supplies of emergency aid, including much needed clean water, food, clothing, and tarpaulins.
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the same spirit of charity has resurfaced with the revival of Kopan Helping Hands, now serving those in need due to the lockdown. In the first phase, Kopan Helping Hands distributed 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of rice, 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of lentils, 2 liters (2 quarts) of vegetable oil, and 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of salt to almost 500 local families over a period of three days. This was done in collaboration with the district government, which identified and registered the families in need of help. District officials and local representatives were present at the distribution to ensure only registered families were given the food and everyone abided by safe social distancing guidelines. A group of strong and enthusiastic Kopan monks, wearing face masks and gloves, supervised the distribution and loaded the heavy bags of rice onto people’s shoulders, while handing them a bag filled with lentils, oil, and salt.
However, this first distribution was only just the beginning. Lama Zopa Rinpoche met with the senior monks of Kopan to encourage them to seek out the families most in need. Therefore, Kopan is working with the local government to identify even more families in need and in the coming week the monks plan to package and distribute food to as many as 400 families. In addition, Kopan is working with trusted local contacts to identify elderly people living by themselves and families without any means of support in the Upper Solu Khumbu area of Nepal. Food will likely be distributed to them through the local shops, which are fortunately well stocked as the lockdown coincided with the beginning of the busy trekking season.
Individuals lined up to receive aid from Kopan Helping Hands. Photo courtesy of Kopan Monastery Facebook page.
In Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent teachings at Kopan Monastery, he emphasized the importance of charity, quoting the Arya Sanghata Sutra:
Anyone who makes charity even the size of a hair
To sentient beings during my teachings
Will for eighty thousand eons have
Much wealth and also much comfort.
They will have a healthy body
And enjoy happiness.
They will achieve whatever power they wish.
At the end, they will achieve enlightenment, the great result.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche meeting with Kopan senior Sangha. From left to right: Khen Rinpoche Chonyi, Losang Namgyal Rinpoche , Gen Tenpa Choden, Gen Tharchin, Geshe Ngawang Sangye, Geshe Losang Sherab (Umdze-la), Ven. Tenzin Choden, Gen Thubten Kunkyen, Gen Thubten Jangchub. Photo by Ven. Tenzin Tsomo.
At the meeting with the senior monks, Rinpoche spoke about how important it is for monks and nuns to engage in social activities that directly relieve the suffering of sentient beings. However, in addition to the immediate benefit, Rinpoche emphasized that by seeing monks and nuns do activities for their benefit, people will develop faith in them and this will plant the seed of liberation in their minds and cause them in future lives to meet the Dharma and the Sangha.
Please rejoice in this incredible effort of generosity on the part the Sangha at Kopan. Rejoicing in the generosity of others is an easy and powerful way to participate in acts of charity and, as Lama Zopa Rinpoche so often says, it also creates “limitless skies of merit.”
The funds for the food have so far come from many generous sponsors in Singapore and the United States. To get involved in this charitable work, offer your support here.
Find more advice and video teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche from Kopan Monastery during the COVID-19 crisis and also links to videos in translation, transcripts, MP3s, and more:
https://fpmt.org/fpmt/announcements/resources-for-coronavirus-pandemic/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche-for-coronavirus/
De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre Enlightenment Stupa and Prayer Wheel House prior to the brush fires, Kangaroo Island, South Australia, 2019. Photo by De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre.
The 2019-2020 Australian bushfires came within one-hundred feet of De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre, an FPMT center on Kangaroo Island, Australia. Rebecca Geisler, center director, Will Abram, assistant director and building coordinator, and Anthony Reid, member of the board, share about the importance of community bonds and volunteer support.
The kangaroos are back, De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre, Kangaroo Island, South Australia, February 2020. Photo by De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre.
The Importance of Community
Rebecca shared, “We are slowly coming to terms with the fact that our center and some surrounding properties were spared during the bush fires. We feel immense gratitude towards those from the local community who helped us survive, as well as deep respect for the way they have supported each other and have shown such resilience and generosity in the face of disaster.
“Strong links with the local community—particularly Heidi’s work as an ambulance volunteer—enabled this and other appropriate responses to the fires, as well as access to up-to-date information from the County Fire Service control center. We are also sincerely thankful for the many prayers and dedications we received from around the world, especially from the FPMT community.
“We have formally thanked the firefighters and locals patrolling the control lines, the bulldozer drivers improving the survival chances of buildings by creating containment lines, and those who provided accommodation when people were evacuated from the center. We have also acknowledged the De-Tong Ling and Yacca Creek retreatants and residents who endured so much, including those residents who assisted while the fires were active and during the follow-up scrub clearing.”
The Power of Volunteers
Will Abram shared, “When we talk about the De-Tong Ling volunteers, that is a very big story. The volunteer culture has grown since the Enlightenment Stupa project began in 2002. We followed Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice: build a very large stupa at the center before anything else, and then everything else will follow.
“It didn’t exactly happen like that because some people donated money specifically to build retreat houses. From 1999 to 2003 three retreat house were built. We continued through 2002 and 2003, making mud bricks needed for the Enlightenment Stupa.
“The volunteer energy continued to grow. We assume that was primarily because the opportunity was there to help build a very significant holy object, the largest completed stupa in Australia, and in the most pristine natural environment available.”
Describing the location, Anthony Reid said, “How the stunning white dome and golden spire stands out against the blue sky and pastel green of the surrounding bushland! Prayer flags flutter from the pinnacle and the Enlightenment Stupa radiates an undeniable feeling of peace, tranquility, and steadfastness. Amidst the madness of the world, here is a place of refuge.”
Just a few of the De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre volunteers inside of the Prayer Wheel House, Kangaroo Island, South Australia, 2019. Photo by De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre.
Will Abram continued, “Building holy objects and communicating the intention is key to harnessing volunteer energy. The initial spreading of the intention brought in a number of people who to this day still return to help from time to time. Providing good food also helps!
“For example, Richard Miller laid the first brick at the stupa site. He still contributes along with his wife, Joan. Richard worked on the supporting metalwork for the large prayer wheel as well as the mantra loading. Thomas Appleby, a master stonemason also continues to return, building the stone entrance flanked by small prayer wheels, the prayer wheel house walls, and now the front office wall at the group retreat facility.
“These are just two examples of the many dedicated volunteers who have connected with this incredible and most beneficial project, the building of a retreat center and its associated holy objects.
“The construction is also dependent on the many generous people who donated money for the services of craftspeople and precious objects for the Enlightenment Stupa. Volunteers not only gave their time and energy but also paid their own way to get to the remote retreat center and donated money for food.
“Volunteering at De-Tong Ling has become a wonderful tradition. It continues through a combination of dedication to Rinpoche‘s vast vision, the power of the holy objects themselves, and the center’s remoteness and beauty. It draws people back again and again.”
To learn more about De-Tong Ling Retreat Centre, visit their website:
http://detongling.org/
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Providing care at MAITRI, Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India, January 2020. Photo by Phil Hunt.
MAITRI Charitable Trust, a FPMT project in Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India, celebrated World Leprosy Day and India’s Republic Day on January 26, 2020. Adriana Ferranti, MAITRI director, shares the story.
World Leprosy Day was founded in 1954 thanks to French writer Raoul Follereau, who chose the last Sunday of January for the yearly celebration. It is not only a day to reflect on the victims of this devastating disease; it is first and foremost a day of solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are afflicted by it. Leprosy (Hansen’s disease) continues to infect tens of thousands of people throughout the world every year.
The lack of painful symptoms is paradoxically the blessing and the curse of leprosy. Its silent advance may take years. The progressive destruction of sensory and motor nerves may lead to irreversible damage without clear warning signs. When ignorance and fear of being stigmatized causes people to disregard the signs of the disease, the outcome can be the development of permanent disabilities. The lack of sensation in the affected limbs can cause serious ulcers that require special attention and care.
Distributing information on World Leprosy Day, Gaya District, Bihar, India, January 2020. Photo by Phil Hunt.
Women in Indian villages are generally less exposed to media information. A direct type of awareness-raising is the only solution for prevention of deformities (POD). MAITRI combines POD work in villages with care provided at its hospitalization facilities. People with disabilities are offered appropriate care in a friendly, integrated environment where stigma has no place.
Each year on World Leprosy Day MAITRI carries out its usual range of education, awareness-raising, and other activities with local people. Community need highlights the importance of the continuation of MAITRI’s painstaking work in the field, bringing awareness, assistance, and relief to the hansenians (people with leprosy). This year as usual two MAITRI jeeps traveled in opposite directions throughout Gaya District, raising awareness about leprosy. After traveling throughout Gaya District the jeeps returned to Bodhgaya, meeting at 3 p.m. in front of MAITRI’s stall on a roadside in Bodhgaya. Awareness-raising activities continued until 5 p.m.
Raising the Indian flag for Republic Day, MAITRI Charitable Trust, Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India, January 2020. Photo by Phil Hunt.
January 26 is an annual national holiday in India celebrating the day India adopted its constitution in 1956, turning India into a republic. MAITRI staff and patients celebrated Republic Day together at MAITRI by hoisting the Indian flag. Members of the Rotary Club of Uruvela (Bodhgaya) were the guests of honor. Meanwhile MAITRI teams met several celebrations in their tours. It was a big day of celebrations.
Watch “MAITRI 30 Years in the Service of Others,” a new video created by volunteer Phil Hunt, on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/i0JqRUIPOOE
For more information about MAITRI Charitable Trust, visit their website:
http://www.maitri-bodhgaya.org/home/
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Rock-covered US Forest Service access road near Cambria, CA, US, January 2020. Photo by Ven. Namgyal.
Land of Calm Abiding is an FPMT retreat center located on 485 acres of pristine forest in central California, US. Director Ven. Namgyal shares a story from January 2020.
We’ve had a very exciting beginning of the year here at Land of Calm Abiding. During a routine bi-weekly shopping trip we found a massive rock slide completely blocking our six-mile long driveway. This driveway, actually a US Forest Service access road, is our only road out of and into Land of Calm Abiding. The road leads to Highway 1 and the nearest fully functioning village, Cambria, fourteen miles south of us.
We were able clear a pathway over the rock slide and then hiked down the rest of the way to where our truck was parked so that we could continue on with our shopping trip. (We were lucky because the truck was parked at Highway 1 and not at Land of Calm Abiding.) Our shopping trip took a bit longer than usual but we made it back and began thinking of ways to clear the rock slide.
We began by viewing the blocked road project as a way to purify karma as well as a way to quite literally remove obstacles to Land of Calm Abiding. In the space of a few phone calls an amazing thing happened: our dilemma was met with spontaneous kindness and generosity. The first example of Dharma in action came from Gene Richeson. (Some of you reading might know Donna and Gene Richeson from our sister centers in the San Francisco Bay Area.) After hearing about our situation Gene offered to come to help us. He would be traveling to us from up north on the California coast, a four-hour drive each way. Gene offered to bring an equipment operator with him, named Justin, and rent an excavator to remove the debris and re-open the road.
Justin clearing rocks using a Kubota Excavator on the US Forest Service access road near Cambria, CA, US, January 2020. Photo by Ven. Namgyal.
The second act of spontaneous kindness and generosity came in the form of an incredible and immensely helpful donation. Our friend heard of the road obstacle as well a rather large deficit in our 2020 budget and immediately made a donation, which will cover any secondary road expenses as well as nearly closing the deficit for 2020.
To say we were completely taken aback by both these amazing acts would be an understatement. Acts of kindness completely shifted what was a very stressful situation into one that was completely manageable. It reminded me of the slogan, “You never know what someone else is going through so be kind.” This is a simple and true statement, and is one most of us recite every day in the form of the Four Immeasurables: immeasurable equanimity, loving kindness, compassion, and joyfulness.
The Kubota Excavator is the little engine that could, US Forest Service access road near Cambria, CA, US, January 2020. Photo by Ven. Namgyal.
We are sharing a few pictures taken before, during, and after the rock slide removal. As you can see, even that two-day process was not without its own obstacles, but Justin handled them with cool and ease. It was Gene’s first time at Land of Calm Abiding, and we had a wonderful time getting to know both Gene and Justin. Hopefully they can return in the future just to enjoy the space. We also had a wonderful four-legged friend of Justin’s named Emmitt. A beautiful border collie/Australian shepherd mix, Emmitt helped by keeping watch for upcoming hikers.
A huge thanks to Justin and Gene for your time patience and confidence with this whole process. Thank you to all for helping Land of Calm Abiding exist so we can continue our legacy of meditation and retreat. We consider ourselves so very lucky to be able to benefit sentient beings.
For more information about Land of Calm Abiding, visit their website:
http://landofcalmabiding.org/
The Practice and Retreat Fund provides grants and sponsorships for students engaged in retreats such as 108 nyung nä retreats, 100 million mani retreats, recitations of sutras, and long term retreat:
https://fpmt.org/projects/fpmt/practice-and-retreats-fund/
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Thousand-Arm Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara) statue, Aryatara Institut, Munich, Germany, December 2019. Photo by Robert Schwabe.
Aryatara Institut, the FPMT center in Munich, Germany, observed the Christmas holiday season with two events—a “Chenrezig Christmas Meditation on Love and Compassion” held on December 16, 2019, and a “Christmas Retreat: Debate Between Wisdom and Ignorance” from December 26-30, 2019. Sabine Kehl, a long-term member of the center who translates for the center, shares the story.
Chenrezig Christmas Meditation on Love and Compassion
Christmas is a contemplative time of closeness and warmth, peace and tranquility. For the past few years Aryatara Institute in Munch has made it a beautiful tradition to dedicate the weekly “Monday Meditation” that falls on the last Monday before Christmas to world peace. In 2019, that “Monday Meditation” was dedicated to Buddha Chenrezig (Skt. Avalokiteshvara) who is the embodiment of the compassion of all buddhas. His practice benefits the mind, purifies negative karma, and creates the basis for the development of love and compassion. These are attitudes the world needs more than ever.
On the evening of December 16, 2019, the group of meditators, guided by spiritual program coordinator Robert Schwabe, devoted themselves to the practice of Chenrezig. They visualized the four-armed Buddha Chenrezig radiating rays of light and spreading love and compassion all around. It was a wonderful hour of meditation in which the meditators focused on the well-being of others with loving and compassionate minds.
Ven. Fedor Stracke teaching from and holding the Christmas retreat’s root text, Aryatara Institut, Munich, Germany, December 2019. Photo by Sophie Kaiser.
Christmas Retreat: Debate Between Wisdom and Ignorance
The topic of this year’s retreat over the Christmas holidays was “Debate Between Wisdom and Ignorance.” The teachings were based on the root text A Discussion Between Self-Grasping and the Wisdom Realizing Selflessness, Arising out of an Identification of the Nature of Basis, Path and Resultant Mahamudra (Tib. gzhi lam ‘dras gsum gyi phyag rgya chen po’i ngo bo ngos ‘dzin las brtsams pa’i she rab bdag ‘dzin gnyis kyi shags ‘debs) composed by Panchen Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen and translated from Tibetan to English by FPMT resident teacher Ven. Fedor Stracke.
From December 26-30, 2019, a group of about twenty participants intently followed Ven. Fedor’s teachings on this advanced but vital topic in Buddhism, starting each day with meditation and concluding with purifying practices.
In the 667-verse text on ignorance and wisdom, Panchen Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen explains the right way of meditating on the view of emptiness. He does this by going through every possible mistake one could make in the process, both in sutra and tantra. The text is written as a first-person dialogue that sometimes leads to heated debates about the existence of an independent self. Panchen Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen explains how ignorance reaches for a self that has not existed since beginningless time, how through this deluded view ignorance creates new causes for samsara every moment, and how wisdom refutes the existence of an inherent I.
Ven. Fedor inserted the only existing printed commentary, written by Yongdzin Losang Jinpa, into the translated text. He also inserted the main commentary on the first third of the text given by His Eminence Chöden Rinpoche at FPMT center Vajrapani Institute in May 2000.
Ending the year with these unique and valuable teachings was a special opportunity for all participants.
For more information about Aryatara Institut, visit their website:
https://aryatara.de/
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.