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Katrina Smith, Janis Dougherty, and Gary Mickey making offerings to the Twenty-one Taras at Kadampa Center, Raleigh, North Carolina, US, August 2019. Photo courtesy of Kadampa Center.
The Light of the Path, an annual retreat with Lama Zopa Rinpoche that began in 2009, is organized by Kadampa Center, the FPMT center in Raleigh, North Carolina, US. Donna Seese, spiritual program coordinator, shares the story about prayers and practices being done to create the causes for the next Light of the Path retreat with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, scheduled for August 23-September 20, 2020.
At Kadampa Center, we always look forward to the Light of the Path retreats when we have the opportunity to spend so much time with Lama Zopa Rinpoche and students from all over the world. Before each retreat Rinpoche kindly advises us about prayers and practices to do to remove obstacles and create the causes for the retreat. His advice for the next Light of the Path retreat includes reciting 100,000 “Praises to the Twenty-one Taras” and to organize our own members and others to do these recitations in support of the retreat.
Wow! This was a bit daunting, but we dived right in. We added reciting “Praises to the Twenty-one Taras” to our dedication prayers at Kadampa Center events and special Saturday practice days each month when we focus on reciting “Praises to the Twenty-one Taras.”
We quickly realized that, just like the Light of the Path retreat itself, creating the causes for the retreat is much bigger than Kadampa Center. So in the spring we sent word to our North American FPMT brothers and sisters, and to Rinpoche’s students all around the world who had attended earlier Light of the Path retreats, inviting them to participate in this amazing spiritual endeavor. Within days of sending our emails, the numbers on our website counter jumped by hundreds and then thousands. We also received emails of support from many of our Light of the Path friends!
In early August, with help from our friends around the world, we reached 25,000 recitations of “Praises to the Twenty-one Taras”!
Mini-Tara Retreat with Geshe Gelek Choda at Kadampa Center, Raleigh, North Carolina, US, August 2019. Photo courtesy of Kadampa Center.
One of the blessings of Rinpoche’s advice is that it has introduced Tara practice to newer students who might be unfamiliar with Tara. In April 2019 and again in August, we held a Tara mini-retreat. For those who want to deepen their Tara practice at home, Geshe Gelek Chodha, one of our FPMT resident geshes, taught us how to do retreat on our own. Many students who were new to Tara came and took part, not just with the prayers and recitations, but also pitching in to set up the altar and the offerings, and staying after the dedications to take it all down.
We will hold another two-day Tara mini-retreat October 19-20, 2019. Anyone who wants to join in from home can tune into the livestream.
We’re looking forward to seeing old friends and those new to our FPMT family at the 2020 Light of the Path retreat! Wow! Wow! Wow!
Visit the Kadampa Center’s webpage to contribute your recitations and check the running total of recitations:
https://kadampa-center.org/count-your-praises-21-Taras
For more information about Kadampa Center, visit their website:
https://kadampa-center.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 blesses at kitten, Sera Je Monastic University, Bylakuppe, India, November 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Be prepared for the moment of death and get a Liberation Box today! This tool will only be available until December 31, when the Foundation Store goes digital-only.
Of the thousands of items offered by the FPMT Foundation Store, the Liberation Box is one of the most unique and special. It is a collection of materials to assist sentient beings at the time of death. Assembled according to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s specific advice on what a loved one—person or animal—should hear, see, and have placed on their body, the Liberation Box contains powerful methods for ensuring a fortunate rebirth for those who have died or are in the process of dying.
The Liberation Box includes:
- printed instructions for how to use the Liberation Box
- a Kadampa stupa filled with the four dharmakaya relic mantras
- a powa pill
- a cord blessed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
- various mantras and a copy of Shetor to place on the dying being’s body
- the Liberation Card for a Dying Person
- a Namgyälma mantra card
- the CDs Recitations to Alleviate Pain and Recitations for the Time of Death
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s book Heart Advice for Death and Dying can be added to the package optionally.
Order while supplies last and receive the Mystic Tibet DVD as a special thank-you gift!
Liberation Box
Learn more about the Liberation Box on FPMT.org:
https://fpmt.org/edu-news/ensuring-a-fortunate-rebirth-the-liberation-box/
Find the Liberation Box in the Foundation Store:
https://shop.fpmt.org/Liberation-Box-Tools-For-a-Fortunate-Rebirth–Digital-Edition_p_2416.html
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, USA, August 2019. Photo by Chris Majors.
We invite you to read our September FPMT International Office e-News.
This month we bring you news about:
1,000 Buddhas for His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Training the Mind in Generosity
The Incredible Benefits of Working for the Center
Next Foundation Service Seminars
…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.
Geshe Tashi Tsering teaching at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London, UK, May 2018. Photo by Orsola Luca.
On June 7, 2019, it was announced in the London Gazette, official journal of record of the British government, that the Queen of England awarded a British Empire Medal to Geshe Tashi Tsering, former resident geshe at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, the FPMT center in London, UK, “for services to Buddhism in the UK.” Ven. Barbara Shannon, FPMT UK National Coordinator shares the story.
Geshe Tashi Tsering when enthroned as abbot of Sera Mey Monastery, Bylakuppe, India, June 2018. Photo by Andreas Fring.
Geshe Tashi Tsering has been recognized on the Queen’s Birthday 2019 Honors List. Geshe Tashi Tsering was given a British Empire Medal “for services to Buddhism in the UK.” Geshe Tashi Tsering was the resident teacher at Jamyang Buddhist Centre in London from 1994 to 2018. In 2018, he was asked by the His Holiness the Dalai Lama to be the abbot of Sera Mey Monastery, where in 1987 he received his Geshe Laramapa degree.
Geshe Tashi Tsering was one of the first Tibetan lamas to spread Buddhism in Europe, teaching first in France and then London. In 2017, he received an M.A. in Social Anthropology at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies. He is the author of the six-volume series The Foundation of Buddhist Thought.
The British Empire Medal was created in 1922 and is awarded twice a year, once as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honors and once at the New Year. It recognizes “hands-on service to the local community.”
To read the official announcement visit the London Gazette website:
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3295670
To read Geshe Tashi Tsering’s response to receiving the British Empire Medal visit:
https://www.soas.ac.uk/blogs/study/soas-alum-receives-british-empire-medal/
FPMT.org 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.
Nyung nä participants at Nying Je Kunkyab Study Group, Salamanca, Guanajuato, Mexico, June 2019. Photo by Josue Fuentes.
In June 2019, Nying Je Kunkyab Study Group, the FPMT study group in Salamanca, Guanajuato, Mexico, organized a nyung nä retreat that took place over two weekends: June 11-14 and June 14-17, 2019. Valeria Arroyo, study group coordinator, shares the story.
In celebration of Saka Dawa, thirty-one students from Nying Je Kunkyab Study Group completed two sets of nyung nä. We had the invaluable support and guidance of FPMT registered teacher and Mexican nun Ven. Thubten Norbu (Lourdes Castro).
Ven. Thubten Norbu making tormas at Nying Je Kunkyab Study Group, Salamanca, Guanajuato, Mexico, June 2019. Photo by Alejandra Arroyo.
Our teacher Kyabje Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche has advised us to do this practice to promote peace and harmony in our country. This is the second time we organized a nyung nä retreat.
Our study group operates in one of the most dangerous cities in the country. We receive great joy from offering activities that allow participants to cultivate the seeds of compassion.
Benefactors, volunteers, and participants expressed their joy and gratitude for being part of this event. We invite all national and foreign practitioners to set aside the Saka Dawa dates—June 2020—so you can join us next year!
We received the following comments from participants: “I experienced this nyung nä as if I was with my family, with much love and tranquility;” “For me it was an incredible experience, and I hope to see you again;” and “Happy to have been able to share this invaluable experience.”
For more information about Nying Je Kunkyab Study Group, visit their Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Grupo-Budista-Nying-Je-Kunkyab-Afiliado-a-la-FPMT-628759533948347/
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.
H.E. Ling Rinpoche at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London, UK, April 2019. Photo by Andreas Fring.
In April 2019 His Eminence the 7th Kyabje Ling Rinpoche made a first visit to the UK. The visit included nearly a week in London followed by two days in Leeds, where Rinpoche participated in the opening of FPMT center Jamyang Buddhist Center Leeds’ new location. Jamyang Buddhist Centre London and Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds share the story.
H.E. Ling Rinpoche and Rinpoche’s attendants Ven. Tenzin Khentse and Geshe Lobsang Yonten arrived in London on Saturday evening, April 20, 2019, after an eventful day of travel delays coming from Valencia, Spain. They were met by members of the Office of Tibet; the nonprofit Tibetan Community UK; and representatives of FPMT UK and Jamyang London. Representing FPMT UK was Jay Simpson, the FPMT UK National Coordinator, and representing Jamyang London were Jamyang board member Jan Andresen and the organizer of the London part of the tour, Jackie Yip.
Rinpoche’s visit to London was jointly organized by the Office of Tibet; Tibetan Community UK; Tibet House Trust; and Jamyang London. For us this was the first “big” visit we had organized on a shared basis, so it was a massive learning curve.
On Sunday H.E. Ling Rinpoche spent all day with our friends in the local Tibetan community and the Office of Tibet, who put on a delightful day of activities, including a visit to the Tibetan Peace Garden to bless and re-energize the place.
H.E. Ling Rinpoche teaching at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London, UK, April 2019. Photo by Andreas Fring.
Monday morning, April 22, saw our main event when Rinpoche offered a White Tara long life initiation to around seven hundred people in the Kensington Conference Centre in the center of London. The Jamyang volunteers and our Tibetan friends worked so hard to set up the place, but the crowning glory was the loving presence of Rinpoche holding the space as Rinpoche offered us the opportunity to break free and discover our Buddha potential. In the afternoon Rinpoche gave a general talk to around three hundred people in the same space but in a far more informal setting.
Geshe Kelsang Wangmo kindly translated Rinpoche’s talks into English throughout the whole UK tour. With her animated and engaging delivery, we were both delighted by her clean, clear, and warm presentation of Rinpoche’s words and slightly sad that her role as German translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama makes opportunities for her to teach in Europe so rare, while also rejoicing in the good fortune of the German students in having such a fine translator practitioner.
On Tuesday evening, April 23, Rinpoche gave a warm and personal talk to a small group of students at one of London’s major Nyingma centers, Rigpa. On Wednesday Rinpoche visited Jamyang Center and taught the great Sakya master Sachen Kunga Nyingpo’s short text Parting from the Four Attachments to about 140 students. The text is only four lines long, but the way Rinpoche taught it seemed to cover every aspect of the path to enlightenment. At the end there was a precious opportunity to offer khatas in person to Rinpoche.
H.E. Ling Rinpoche with Jane Moore; Ven. Frank Dahmen; Geshe Kelsang Wangmo and her mother; Robin Bath, Jamyang trustee and doyen of Jamyang; Alison Murdoch, chair of the Jamyang Trustee Board; Jan Andresen; Francesca Sanchez, deputy chair of the Jamyang Trustee Board; Jackie Yip; Mike Murray; Ven. Robina Courtin; and Mike Gilmore at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London, UK, April 2019. Photo by Andreas Fring.
Rinpoche then toured Jamyang Centre and was fascinated to know which images and more were still there from the time of Geshe Namgyal Wangchen, our first resident teacher, who was appointed by Lama Thubten Yeshe. When Geshe Wangchen went back to Drepung Loseling, he became a tutor to some of the most significant incarnate lamas of the monastery, including becoming senior tutor to H.E. Ling Rinpoche himself. Rinpoche said that Rinpoche felt a particular warm connection to the London center because of this link.
On Friday, April 26, we waved Rinpoche off on the train to Leeds for the opening of our sister center there, Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds.
H.E. Ling Rinpoche arriving at Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds, Leeds, UK, April 2019. Photo by Jay Simpson.
Auspicious beginnings at the new home of Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds, as our first event was welcoming H.E. Ling Rinpoche to the new building for a weekend of teachings, blessings, and initiation.
The opening day began with Rinpoche meeting the Tibetan/Himalayan community from across the North of England at a special event in the morning. Rinpoche offered advice about practice and preserving culture, and enjoyed some cake and food specially prepared for the event by the Tibetans.
Members of the local Tibetan community offering H.E. Ling Rinpoche a traditional greeting ceremony with flour and rice at Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds, Leeds, UK, April 2019. Photo by Jay Simpson.
We then held some opening speeches from center director Kerry Prest, patron David Lascelles, and others, plus a specially recorded video message from long-time UK teacher and supporter of Jamyang Leeds Geshe Tashi Tsering.
Rinpoche then blessed the center and its gompa, before commencing a public talk on “Developing a Peaceful Mind in a Turbulent World.” In the late afternoon Rinpoche began teaching from master Shantideva’s text Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, Chapter 1.
The following day Rinpoche continued the text, and during lunch we took Rinpoche on a tour of the rest of the building, most of which still needs to be renovated. (We’re only using about fifteen percent of the space at present!) Rinpoche’s exact words were “Wow.”
H.E. Ling Rinpoche reading Shantideva’s text Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life at Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds, Leeds, UK, April 2019. Photo by Jay Simpson.
Rinpoche then finished the visit to our center visit with a Chenrezig initiation, which was a wonderfully auspicious way to start the new activities in our new home, thinking about compassion for others, with as many arms as possible!
We give huge thanks to all who made this event a success: volunteers, staff, donors, members, trustees, local residents, contractors, and teachers; the list of people to thank is massive. We were especially blessed to welcome Geshe Kelsang Wangmo as the translator of the event in her visit to Leeds; we hope she’ll visit us again. A wonderful beginning of a new chapter for Jamyang Leeds.
For more information about H.E. Ling Rinpoche’s schedule, visit Rinpoche’s website:
http://lingrinpoche.info/
For more information about Jamyang Buddhist Centre London, visit their website:
https://www.jamyang.co.uk/
Watch the opening speeches given at Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/e-VN-eDaQMo
For more information about Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds, visit their website:
https://jamyangleeds.co.uk/
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.
Students can find dozens of Dharma books for adults and children in the Foundation Store, most offered at cost!
- Moody Cow Learns Compassion, children and parents can learn about compassion together with Moody Cow.
- Buddhist Animal Wisdom Stories, Indian Buddhist fables for the whole family.
- Heart Advice for Death and Dying, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s essential advice for preparing for the time of death and leading a fulfilling life.
- Heart Practices for Death and Dying, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s heart practices to do at the time of death.
- Introduction to Tantra, Lama Yeshe presents tantra as a practice leading to joy and self-discovery, with a vision of reality that is simple, clear, and extremely relevant to 21st-century life.
- Approaching the Buddhist Path, the first in a multi-volume collection presenting His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s comprehensive explanation of the Buddhist path.
- Practicing Wisdom, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s commentary on the wisdom chapter of Shantideva’s Bodhicaryavatara.
- Wise Teacher, Wise Student: Tibetan Approaches to a Healthy Relationship, Buddhist scholar Alexander Berzin examines the teacher-student relationship as it is understood in the Tibetan Buddhist context.
Find dozens of Dharma books for adults and children in the Foundation Store:
https://shop.fpmt.org
Justine, Yanis, Franck, and Raj in the performance of Shakyamuni Buddha’s life story at Kalachakra Centre, Paris, France, June 2019. Photo by Laura Haughey.
Kalachakra Centre, the FPMT center in Paris, France, held their fifth-annual Fête de la Réjouissance on June 30, 2019. Laura Haughey, a student at the center shares the story.
On June 30, 2019, Centre Kalachakra held a joyous and convivial “Fête de la Réjouissance” (Feast of Rejoicing) to celebrate the end of another season of activities before the summer break. The activities of Centre Kalachakra shift during the summer months from the Paris location to our peaceful and beautiful retreat center, Saint Cosme en Vairais retreat centre, in the Perche, about two hours southwest of Paris.
Center director Ven. Elisabeth Drukier reports that the Fête has been held for the past five years, and this year about thirty to forty students, teachers, and volunteers gathered together to share a vegetarian feast and wonderful dramatic performance. The delicious meal was generously provided by the local Tamil community, who regularly use the center’s gompa for their community activities. Also in attendance at the event were the Centre Kalachakra’s resident teacher Geshe Drakpa Tsundue, as well as Geshe Dawa Tsering who was visiting from Kopan Monastery in Nepal.
Fête de la Réjouissance at Kalachakra Centre, Paris, France, June 2019. Photo by Laura Haughey.
This year, Justine Wolski, a Discovering Buddhism student with professional theater training and experience, reacted very quickly and with great enthusiasm when it was suggested that a play about the life of Shakyamuni Buddha might be a good way to end the year. Justine organized, directed, and performed in the dramatic recounting of the life of Prince Siddhartha, with help from Ven. Deunyeu, the center’s treasurer (who wrote the script and chose the accompanying images) and fellow students and volunteers Raj, Franck, and Gwenael. The moving and creatively staged play followed the stages of the Awakened One’s human life as a child, a prince, a householder, an ascetic, a seeker, and a teacher, accompanied by the sounds of tabla drums, music, and visual images.
The students’ entertaining and skillfully staged performance was warmly and enthusiastically appreciated by the group and was a fitting end to a wonderful year at the center.
For more information about Kalachakra Centre in Paris and its retreat facility, visit their website:
https://www.centre-kalachakra.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.
Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, September 2018. Photo by Tan Seow Kheng.
Lama Yeshe advised in The Peaceful Stillness of the Silent Mind, “The ordinary understanding of charity is giving things to others, but as you can see, the Buddhist point of view is that material giving is not necessarily charity. True charity has to do with the mind; giving mentally. The practice of giving is training the mind to overcome miserliness. Miserly attachment is in the mind, therefore, the antidote must also be mental.”
We invited several FPMT centers—Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore; Losang Dragpa Centre in Selangor, Malaysia; Kadampa Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, US; Land of Joy in Northumberland, UK; and Vajrapani Institute in Boulder Creek, California, US—to share how they provide their communities with opportunities to train the mind in the practice of charity, or generosity. This is an excerpt from that online story, “Training the Mind in Generosity.”
Vesak Celebration, Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, May 2017. Photo by Tan Seow Kheng.
Amitabha Buddhist Centre
Singapore
Cecilia Tsong, long-time student, active ABC member and volunteer
Amitabha Buddhist Centre (ABC)’s success in fundraising and Dharma propagation has its roots in the guidance and advice we receive from Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche. We are also fortunate to have a long-serving, well-liked center director, Tan Hup Cheng, who seems to have the Midas touch when it comes to sourcing for financial support.
It helps too, that ABC is in a cultural environment where many have faith in the Triple Gem and believe in the benefit of making offerings to temples and Dharma centers, commissioning holy objects, as well as supporting Dharma publications and various Buddhist initiatives.
Vesak at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, May 2017. Photo by Tan Seow Kheng.
As part of their cultural values, Chinese people have a strong belief in the law of cause and effect, even though they may not necessarily be practicing Buddhists. Often, they will support temples, Dharma activities, and ordained Sangha with funds so that they may enjoy prosperity and happiness in this life.
Through a better understanding of the Dharma by attending teachings at ABC, students learn that generosity can be practiced in other ways: offering service to the center, participating in animal liberation activities to protect the lives of animals, and sharing their understanding of the Dharma with newer students.
ABC’s main fundraising drive takes place every year on Vesak Day, a public holiday in Singapore. This is a time when the general public is inclined to make offerings as a way of remembering the kindness of Shakyamuni Buddha and requesting his blessings for a life well-lived.
Mindful that Dharma is priceless, local Buddhist centers and temples offer Dharma teachings free of charge. However, ABC does levy a nominal charge for Nyung näs and one-day retreats to cover the costs of meals, refreshments, and altar offerings. ABC also organizes pilgrimages and retreats overseas, and every effort is made to keep prices low. For these activities, there is differential pricing for ABC and non-ABC members.
FPMT resident geshe Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi during an Ullambana puja at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, August 2014. Photo by Noelle Teoh.
Apart from Vesak Day programs, ABC has developed special Dharma events over the years to bring more people to the center. The Medicine Buddha Dharma celebration, Most Secret Hayagriva puja, and Ullambana puja are popular and have been attracting a growing group of participants each year. Corporate sponsorships are available for these pujas, an option that appeals greatly to local business people.
For those who love all things beautiful, we have a well-curated collection of Dharma objects—statues, malas, offering bowls, prayer wheels, prayer flags, incense, thangkas, and so forth—that are available at our Tashi Delek retail store. This generates additional income that is pumped back into serving the center’s needs.
In its fundraising activities—including its Dharma shop—ABC is fastidious in making sure that these funds are used in accordance with the donors’ wishes. Also, when holy objects are sponsored from the Dharma shop, such income is directed to supporting the maintenance and building fund of the center, and not to the support of the Sangha as such.
Tashi Delek retail store at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, September 2018. Photo by Tan Seow Kheng.
Lastly, as an on-going fundraising drive, ABC runs a program of electronic debit sponsorships, where people can choose to have regular deductions made from their bank accounts.
There are also donation boxes in the center for our building and maintenance fund, Sangha fund, publications, animal liberation, puja fund, and general funds. Visitors are free to drop their offerings—and say a silent prayer in the sacred ambiance of the merit-field—while recalling the words of Lama Zopa Rinpoche in The Four Noble Truths: A Guide for Everyday Life, “Be as generous as we can to benefit the poor and sick. Make offerings to holy objects and other living beings, and dedicate this generosity for the happiness and enlightenment of all beings. Doing so offers great release to our minds.”
Read the full online story, “Training the Mind in Generosity,” online:
https://fpmt.org/mandala/in-depth-stories/training-the-mind-in-generosity/
For more information about Amitabha Buddhist Centre, visit their website:
http://www.fpmtabc.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 resident geshes Geshe Jamphel (Nalanda Monastery) far left, and Geshe Tenzin Loden (Institut Vajra Yogini), with Ven. Topgye, Nalanda Monastery, France, May 2019. Photo by Nicolas Balthazar.
We hope you enjoy the August FPMT International Office e-News, out now!
This month we bring you:
- The opportunity to help create a Zangdog Palri temple
- A new resource to help benefit animals
- News about the next Foundation Service Seminar
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.
Habitat for Humanity community service project, North Carolina, US, June 2019. Photo courtesy of Kadampa Center.
Kadampa Center, an FPMT center in Raleigh, North Carolina, US, shares about their community service program, Compassion in Action. Community Service and Interfaith Activities are two of FPMT’s Five Pillars of Service. Elise Strevel, the center’s outreach coordinator, a member of the center’s management team, initiates and coordinates most Compassion in Action activities. Elise shares how any FPMT center, regardless of its size, can practice Compassion in Action as an intentional outgrowth of the teachings.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama wrote in his book The Art of Happiness, “I believe compassion to be one of the few things we can practice that will bring immediate and long-term happiness to our lives.” Lama Zopa Rinpoche demonstrates this endless capacity for benefiting others through the many charitable projects he has initiated, supported, and developed.
The Kadampa Center tries to follow this excellent advice by participating in various forms of community service projects, also known at our center as Compassion in Action.
Most of the community service projects Kadampa Center engages in connects us to groups that already exist in the community. We partner with established organizations that are inclusive and welcoming to all such as food pantries and Habitat for Humanity. Even if organizations are nominally established by another faith organization, they desire and welcome coexistence, cooperation, and support from all. In the past year we participated in interfaith prayer services, a Food Bank of North Carolina food drive, a Sathya Sai Baba community prescription eyeglasses drive, a Meals on Wheels project, a local government’s Adopt-a-Stream program, a Rise Against Hunger project, and three Habitat for Humanity projects.
The Kadampa Center community donated 504 pounds (228 kg) of food to the Food Bank of North Carolina, North Carolina, US, July 2019. Photo courtesy of Kadampa Center.
In this way we are adding to or multiplying positive energy, rather than depleting energy by creating our own start-up project. We select community service projects managed by other organizations that accommodate the various ages, abilities, and interests of our members. Some interfaith group community service projects are chosen for their additional value of being in harmony with His Holiness’s commitment to promote religious harmony.
An affiliation between Kadampa Center and our local interfaith alliance facilitates many of these connections. I have had the blessing of being on the Triangle Interfaith Alliance board of directors on and off for over ten years. Chris Baranski, our center’s co-media coordinator, has also just joined the board.
Habitat for Humanity children’s community service project, North Carolina, US, April 2019. Photo courtesy of Kadampa Center.
We use every possible means to get the word out to the Kadampa Center community about our Compassion in Action activities, just as we do for any spiritual or social activity at the center: we put a notice on our website; in our email newsletter; and post it on our center’s Facebook page. Most Sundays, the outreach coordinator makes an announcement at the end of the teachings.
At least twice a year, adults and children at Kadampa Center are reminded to think of the needs of others as they shop for themselves. For the food, clothing, and household supplies collections we participate in, all the Kadampa Center outreach coordinator has to do is identify a need, promote it, provide a collection barrel at Kadampa Center, and arrange delivery to the Food Bank of North Carolina. In the past year we collected hundreds of pounds of food to benefit so many in food crisis.
Kadampa Center participates in Interfaith Prayer Services held three times each year in rotating places of worship or prayer. We invite people of all ages from various faith streams to participate by offering a prayer or anecdote on a theme. These services underscore our common ethics of love and compassion.
Each year, Kadampa Center does a Prescription Eyeglasses Collection. Members donate dozens of outdated prescription eyeglasses to be put to good use to give the gift of vision at a Free Healthcare Day organized by the local Sathya Sai Baba community.
Adopt a Stream community service project, North Carolina, US, March 2019. Photo courtesy of Kadampa Center.
For the “Love Notes” Project, brief handwritten notes of love and encouragement were delivered to Meals On Wheels, and then distributed to Meals on Wheels clients along with their meal trays. We organized the materials—sets of blank note cards and sample notes to write—set up a collection site at Kadampa Center, then made delivery of the notes to the local Meals on Wheels office about once a month. Our members of all ages were able to participate in this project. Some might have only had time to write a few cards, others did many. Almost 2,000 notes were delivered in a year.
One of our center’s Family Program leaders initiated an affiliation with our city’s Adopt-a-Stream Project. Twice a year, children and adults work together to clean up a lake shoreline for the benefit of many forms of sentient beings. At each cleanup we collected between thirteen and fifteen bags of trash on less than a one-mile stretch of the water’s edge.
We partnered with the international nonprofit Rise Against Hunger which sends packed meals to places all over the world during food crises. Our members were part of a group of fifty people who participated in a food packing event, packing 10,000 meals that were sent to victims of natural disasters in Africa and Cambodia.
We have found that Habitat for Humanity more often has opportunities for adults of all ages and skill levels, but sometimes has special opportunities for clergy/leaders, and children.
Geshe Palden Sangpo at a Habitat for Humanity community service project, North Carolina, US, April 2019. Photo courtesy of Kadampa Center.
In June, adults from our center were a part of a group of twenty-nine Habitat for Humanity volunteers who came together for a single day to clean, paint, and install wood trim and cabinets. The volunteer group represented Buddhist, Bahá’í, Muslim, Mormon, Lutheran, and other Christian and non-denominational faith streams from North Carolina, Utah, Japan, and Thailand.
Each year, Habitat for Humanity organizes a Clergy/Leadership Workday. In April, Geshe Palden Sangpo, one of our FPMT resident geshes set an example of Compassion in Action by working along with rabbis, ministers, imams and other church leaders to install windows and walls to benefit a new homeowner.
In April, Habitat for Humanity organized a Baffle Project for Children. The Kadampa Center Family Program involved our children in the project. They joined others from many faiths and cultures to paint messages of love and blessings on baffles, a construction material that encourages air flow in attics. The baffles were then installed in Habitat for Humanity homes.
We have learned that even a team of two people who are acting intentionally as an outgrowth of the teachings has immeasurable merit. We can have two to fifteen people participate in a community service project. The number isn’t as important as the intention in action.
Each time our center provides an opportunity for Compassion in Action, many members that were unable to physically participate tell us that hearing of others’ participation inspires, uplifts, and motivates them to set intentions in their lives to think of others. We are delighted that community service projects directly and indirectly benefit many members and sentient beings.
For more information about Kadampa Center, visit their website:
https://kadampa-center.org/
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FPMT International Office and the FPMT Inc. Board of Directors continue in our commitment to help FPMT centers, projects, and services uphold a safe and respectful environment, where people’s minds and hearts can be transformed into their highest potential for the benefit of others. Our commitment to these values is reflected in the FPMT Ethical Policy.
Next Steps: Safeguarding Audit
FPMT Inc. has now commissioned Thirtyone:eight, an experienced UK safeguarding charity, to conduct an independent review of our safeguarding policies and guidelines. Thirtyone:eight calls this a Safeguarding Audit.
Our purpose in commissioning this audit is to identify gaps and areas for improvement in our policies and guidelines in order to enable centers to better protect and support students and teachers. This will include creating safer and more supportive environments for people making complaints of unethical behavior and improving the organization’s response to such complaints.
Thirtyone:eight’s remit is to look at safeguarding practices in the FPMT organization at the international, national, and local levels. At the international level, the audit will look at safeguarding practices at the level of FPMT, Inc. At the national level, the audit will look at safeguarding practices within different countries. Finally, the audit will look at safeguarding practices at a sample of specific FPMT centers.
Thirtyone:eight expects their audit to take two months to complete.
FPMT Inc. will share recommended improvements to our existing safeguarding policy and guidelines with FPMT regional and national coordinators, who will work with local directors and board members to establish how best to implement these within the framework of national laws and cultural appropriateness. We will then formally update FPMT policies and guidelines accordingly.
Dagri Rinpoche
The Indian police investigation of the allegation against Dagri Rinpoche is moving through the Indian court system. We understand that the next court date is August 26.
We want to remain respectful and to not disregard Dagri Rinpoche’s many years of valued teaching in FPMT centers. However, due to the current court case and the allegations made to us, which are detailed in our update of May 24, we continue to believe that the appropriate response at this time is for Dagri Rinpoche to remain on suspension from the FPMT Tibetan teachers list.
We are aware that some individuals and organizations are taking advantage of the allegations against Dagri Rinpoche to disseminate misinformation and gossip, and to create disharmony. Therefore, please rely on our “Updates Regarding Dagri Rinpoche” page for FPMT Inc.’s responses. We are committed to being as transparent and forthcoming as possible in our communications and statements.
It is FPMT Inc.’s priority to continue to build the organization into a more compassionate and wise network, in accordance with both spiritual and worldly conventions.