FPMT Community: Stories & News

Ven. Amy Miller with students at Shantideva Center, Brooklyn, New York, US, February 2019. Photo by Jennifer Kim.

Shantideva Center, an FPMT center in Brooklyn, New York, US, celebrated Losar with FPMT registered teacher Ven. Amy Miller. Board member Jennifer Kim shares the story of the center’s ongoing connection with Ven. Amy Miller.

The students at Shantideva Center have experienced a special connection with Ven. Amy Miller for several years now. As time flies by quickly, reminding us of impermanence and the inevitability of death, Ven. Amy has been there to help ensure that our journey through this life is a good one.

It’s a bit of paradox that such an enthusiastic meditator would flourish in the noisy City of New York, and that her trips to the land of tall skyscrapers would be interspersed with her trips to the high Himalayas of Lawudo.

Ven. Amy Miller and students, Shantideva Center, Brooklyn, New York, US, February 2019. Photo by Jennifer Kim.

Yet somehow this arrangement has worked, with Ven. Amy sharing the deep wisdom of the Dharma in a highly practical and accessible way, touching the lives of people from all walks of life as we practice tonglen on the subways, practice patience in the office, and learn to shift our habits from Facebook to the five powers.

The last few months were a huge gift to students, as she led a variety of activities and teachings to help us understand the Dharma, accumulate merit and purify negativities. These activities culminated on Chotrul Duchen (the Day of Miracles), where we did Prostrations to the Thirty-Five Confession Buddhas; Vajrasattva purification practice; recitation of The Sutra Remembering the Three Jewels and In Praise of Dependent Arising; and the Shakyamuni Buddha Puja.

Ven. Amy Miller and students, Shantideva Center, Brooklyn, New York, US, February 2019. Photo by Jennifer Kim.

As usual, Ven. Amy helped bridge the gap between esoteric practice and meaningful relevance, helping us understand the purpose of these practices while connecting us with their powerful blessings. Her last teaching that night was a very quiet yet powerful one of selfless service, as she made the two-hour drive late at night to return home to a family member, who she has been helping to take care of.

Holidays such as the Day of Miracles allow us to reflect on the monumental impact of Shakyamuni Buddha, and teachers such as Ven. Amy allow us to receive this enlightening influence in our modern lives normally fraught with confusion. The Dharma has somehow survived due to deeply dedicated practitioners like Ven. Amy and our lineage masters, and our ability to practice is a miracle that we can truly celebrate with gratitude.

For more information about Shantideva Center, visit their website:
https://shantidevanyc.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.

Geshe Tenzin Wangdak teaching LRZTP8 students, Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program, Dharamsala, India, March 2018. Photo by Alex García.

Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program, an FPMT project in Dharamsala, India, welcomed their newest cohort of students in March 2018. Six months later the students and teachers had the opportunity to meet with Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Dharamsala. Yaron Bahir, international director, and Filip Majkowski, local director, share news about the growth of the two-year Tibetan language translation program.

Our current cohort of students—known as LRZTP8—joined the Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program (LRZTP) in March 2018. LRZTP8 students have three main teachers: Geshe Tenzin Wangdak, Dr. Filip Majkowski, and LRZTP7 graduate Alex García.

Our students learn Tibetan vocabulary words used in everyday life and in Buddhism; they participate in grammar classes where new structures are introduced and explained in English and practiced in Tibetan; and they attend listening and reading comprehension classes covering Tibetan customs and traditions, environmental awareness, honorific language, human rights, and more.

Students also learn through pronunciation drilling classes; group-work; translation assignments; weekly quizzes; and end-of-module exams. Students are permitted to translate their assignments into English, Spanish, or Polish.

LRZTP8 students studying in the classroom at Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program, Dharamsala, India, March 2018. Photo by Alex García.

Each day the students learn for two hours with conversation partners, where eighty percent of the class time is made up of students speaking. Each conversation class is based on currently discussed grammar and topics, and students are provided with conversation sheets, which they can use during classes as well as for later revision.

Our beloved teacher Thubten-la guides and instructs them with his experience teaching in a one-on-one setting. Thubten-la has been working in our school since 2012. He is also the main voice of the listening comprehension materials recorded and edited by Alex García.

In addition to classes, we do our best to provide students with excellent study resources. We have been using study and exam materials from previous LRZTP courses—most notably LRZTP former teacher Franziska Oertle’s excellent book The Heart of Tibetan Language, which was published in print and online by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives (LTWA).

We have worked hard to develop a great number of new materials, primarily for our reading and listening comprehension exercises. At the end of each module, we also give students study guides summarizing the grammar they studied in that module.

Teacher Mr. Alejandro M. Garcia, students, and dog during Wednesday Debates at Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program, Dharamsala, India, July 2018. Photo by Filip Majkowski.

We were very blessed that Lama Zopa Rinpoche kindly accepted our invitation to visit the school in September 2018. It was a beautiful day.

In 2018 we began collaborating with the University of Virginia (UVA) in the United States. LRZTP Tibetan teachers provided assistance to the UVA Summer Language Program so that UVA students could have online Tibetan language conversation classes with our Tibetan teachers using the video conferencing tool Zoom. This collaboration with UVA continued into the fall 2018 semester.

LRZTP8 students took their first-year final exams in March 2019. First-year final exams consist of Classical Tibetan, Speaking, and Writing. We film some of the final exams so students can assess their progress.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with LRZTP8 students and teachers, Dharamsala, India, September 2018. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

In April 2019 the students of LRZTP8 started their second year of studies. This year they have all their classes taught in the Tibetan language and they study Dharma. Their intensive program began with the study of lamrim and dudra (collected topics). One day of the week is devoted to grammar revision, also with Tibetan language as a teaching medium.

In April 2019 a group of six students—two Indian nationals, one Korean, one Mexican, one Russian and one Italian—joined our two-month intensive Tibetan language for Dharma course taught by Ms. Julia Wilson, interpreter at LTWA. We would like to thank the Khyentse Foundation for a grant we were awarded that allows us to offer scholarships to Indian students who demonstrate financial need. We would also like to thank our long-term donor, one of Rinpoche’s students, who has supported LRZTP from the very beginning.

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.

FPMT International Office has received considerable correspondence regarding the alleged misconduct by Dagri Rinpoche and the decision to suspend Dagri Rinpoche from the FPMT Tibetan Teachers List. (See the timeline below for details.)

International Office acknowledges the very real suffering experienced by the women who have made allegations of misconduct by Dagri Rinpoche, and understand how difficult it is to speak out publically about this. We appreciate their courage in speaking out.

We also want to recognize Dagri Rinpoche’s service to the FPMT organization as a teacher for more than fifteen years. We have received no complaints about his actions over the past eight years.

International Office remains committed to helping local FPMT centers, projects, and services in creating a supportive and respectful environment for the students who study and practice there, and for the teachers who teach there. We continue to emphasize the FPMT Ethical Policy as a way to ensure these positive conditions.

The FPMT Ethical Policy is available for all to read on the FPMT website, and has been since it was first created in 2000. Allegations of misconduct are received with an open mind and a warm heart. In response to any complaint, the FPMT organization follows the guidelines described in Problem Solving within the FPMT Organization. We understand the importance of supporting and protecting teachers, and students, while any allegations are investigated.

Since 2011 (see our timeline below), International Office, relying on input from professionals and stakeholders, created and updated guidelines to support interactions between teachers, students, and staff, as a supplement to the FPMT Ethical Policy. Clauses within the Ethical Policy itself also have been updated on several occasions in order to capture and insist upon improved understanding of best practice.

In addition, the FPMT Ethical Policy and problem solving guidelines are regularly taken up and discussed at FPMT regional and national meetings, and at meetings of ordained FPMT Sangha. This is to keep the importance of abiding by the Ethical Policy in the minds of all in positions of authority within the FPMT organization.

There has been a lot of misunderstanding as to what the FPMT organization has done after becoming aware of Jakaira Perez Valdivia’s allegation. In order to clarify, and to prevent further misunderstanding, here is our timeline:

2010

• International Office was alerted by a student who had said she was inappropriately touched by Dagri Rinpoche in 2010 during an FPMT event. At that time, we contacted the student directly to learn more. The student—who wished, and continues to wish, to remain unnamed—decided to not make any public allegation nor take the matter further, and so it was not possible to make a formal investigation at that time. *

2011

• International Office was alerted by the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama about an allegation of sexual assault made by a Western nun (Jakaira Perez Valdivia) against Dagri Rinpoche. The alleged assault did not take place at an FPMT center, and the communication from the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama was the first we had heard about it. Therefore, FPMT International Office felt that the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama was the appropriate body to investigate the allegation.
• The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama informed us that they had investigated the allegation and that it was resolved. They informed us that Dagri Rinpoche understood the seriousness of the allegations and committed to avoiding situations that could give rise to similar allegations in the future.
• Based on the outcome of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s investigation, International Office decided that Dagri Rinpoche should remain on the list of FPMT Tibetan teachers. We talked directly with Dagri Rinpoche to ensure that he understood the seriousness of this allegation.
• We alerted FPMT regional and national coordinators, who organize teacher tours, of the allegation of misconduct and the outcome of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s investigation. We asked the coordinators to alert centers that had invited or were planning to invite Dagri Rinpoche of this information.

2012

• Jakaira Perez Valdivia emailed International Office, asking us to provide her with an apology from Dagri Rinpoche as she had heard that Dagri Rinpoche was defaming her in FPMT centers. We looked into the matter and were able to respond that we found no evidence that Dagri Rinpoche had spoken negatively about her and that he had considered the matter closed since the meeting with the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

2018

• International Office reminded FPMT regional and national coordinators of the outcome of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s investigation into Dagri Rinpoche in 2011, as part of our ongoing safeguarding process.

2019

• As of the beginning of May 2019, International Office had received no other complaints about the conduct of Dagri Rinpoche, nor heard any public allegations of misconduct by Dagri Rinpoche.
• On May 3, an American woman filed a police complaint in India, alleging that Dagri Rinpoche sexually harassed her during a flight from Delhi to Gaggal. The Indian police began an investigation. We verified this directly with the police station involved.
• In response to the May 3 allegation, International Office suspended Dagri Rinpoche from the FPMT Tibetan Teachers List.
• On May 14, International Office posted the public statement “Update Regarding Dagri Rinpoche.”
• On May 14, International Office posted “Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Advice to Students of Dagri Rinpoche.” (This letter is advice specifically for students of Dagri Rinpoche, to help them.)
• We were informed that a Korean woman had made an allegation against Dagri Rinpoche on Facebook. On May 15, that woman, Youngsun Shin, reached out to us directly to inform us of her allegation of inappropriate physical contact by Dagri Rinpoche in Dharamsala in 2008.  We are in correspondence with Youngsun Shin.
• On May 24, International Office created the page “Updates Regarding Dagri Rinpoche,” where updates and links on this issue will be shared.
• On May 24, International Office posted “Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Additional Advice to Students of Dagri Rinpoche.” (This is a second letter of advice specifically for students of Dagri Rinpoche.)

Next Steps

While we await the results of the Indian police investigation, we are continuing a correspondence with Jakaira Perez Valdivia.  We are also seeking professional assistance, and committed to continue to improve our current policies and procedures.

* In our original timeline which was posted in May 2019 we entered the dates for the timeline using the best information available to us at the time. An update was done to this timeline in July 2021 based on additional information sent to us in June 2021 with a correction of the date from 2013 to 2010 for when one complaint was reported to us.

Statue of Red Tara in FPMT International Office, Portland, Oregon, US. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

The Board of Directors of FPMT, Inc., has three new members: Ven. Lhundub Chodron, Peggy Bennington, and Debra Ladner. 

Peggy Bennington was appointed to the board on March 5, 2019; Venerable Lhundub Chodron and Debra Ladner were appointed on May 5, 2019. They will serve three-year terms, which may be renewed.

“The board has been actively searching for new members for about a year. In particular we wanted to have people with long term knowledge of the FPMT organization, who also have professional skills and good knowledge of U.S. non-profit organizations,” Board of Directors Chair Andrew Haynes wrote in a recent announcement. “As with all new board members, the choices are ratified by Lama Zopa Rinpoche and approved by the current board members.”

“It is an exciting time for the board, and we are all looking forward to working with our enlarged team! I trust you will all join me in welcoming them to their new roles in offering service to the FPMT,” Andrew Haynes wrote. 

You can read more about the new, and existing, board of directors members on fpmt.org.

Foundation Service Seminar facilitators Sarah Brooks and Drolkar McCallum at Milarepa Center, Barnet, Vermont, US, July 2018. Photo by Dawn Holtz.

Milarepa Center is located in rural Barnet, Vermont, in the United States. In July 2018, the center hosted the Foundation Service Seminar, the ‘FPMT immersion retreat’. Milarepa Center director Dawn Holt recently shared this update.

I am happy to say that Milarepa Center is doing well after a few years of financial challenges. We have further to go, but we are making huge strides every day!

I was appointed as center director in November 2017, and since then I have of course been following the advice given to the center by our dearest, most precious spiritual director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, for Milarepa Center to provide space for students to engage in retreat, and to offer teaching programs when possible.

With its 275 acres of pristine forest, rolling meadows, and multiple cabins on the land, Milarepa Center offers students an opportunity to conduct solitary retreat in a serene and blessed environment with no distractions.

This past year we have hosted many students from all over for private retreat, offered several public programs and retreats, upgraded a retreat cabin with a Merit Box award, and are now preparing for the arrival of His Eminence Ling Rinpoche in August! So many wonderful blessings and causes being created for Milarepa Center and the teachings to flourish, I rejoice!

Losar card featuring Milarepa, created by LPP student Raven Jones for the Year of the Earth Pig 2019

Due to feeling a strong connection with Jetsun Milarepa, Milarepa Center has also been receiving many letters this past year from inmates in prisons all over the United States. Milarepa Center answers letters when we can and also puts inmates in contact with the Liberation Prison Project, so that they may receive additional books and study materials.

An extra bonus for the center has been the Losar (Tibetan New Year) cards we have received for the last two years created and sent to us by Raven Jones, the first person to fully complete the FPMT Masters Program while being incarcerated. In his letters to us, Raven has expressed his overwhelming respect for Jetsun Milarepa as a personal role model as well as making beautiful and most kind wishes for the center to grow and have continued success. Many inmates feel a strong connection to Milarepa as role model and as an example of the possibility of total transformation reaching all the way up to enlightenment. The letters are such a beautiful and humbling reminder of the Buddha-nature within us all.

For more on Milarepa Center, visit their website:
http://milarepacenter.org/

You can learn more about the Liberation Prison Project here:
http://www.liberationprisonproject.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, Madrid, Spain, May 2019. Photo by Alexis Roitmann

We invite you to read the May FPMT International Office e-News!

This month we bring you:

• Highlights of Recent Advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
• New Materials in German and Sinhalese
• Rejoicing about Volunteer Service in Mongolia

…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.

Phillipa Rutherford, center director, organizing games at the thukpa picnic on the lawn outside of Geshe Jampa Tharchin’s house at Chandrakirti Meditation Centre, Upper Moutere, New Zealand, February 2019. Photo by Sarah Brooks, spiritual program assistant.

Chandrakirti Meditation Centre, an FPMT center in Upper Moutere, New Zealand, celebrated Losar in February 2019 with three days of activities: thukpa night at their FPMT resident teacher Geshe Jampa Tharchin’s house at Chandrakirti Meditation Centre on February 3; Guru puja with tsog, breakfast, a potluck lunch, and hanging prayer flags at the center on February 5; and prayers, a picnic, and hanging prayer flags at nearby retreat property Wish Fulfilling Land on February 9. Sarah Brooks, spiritual program assistant shares the story.

The Chandrakirti family spent several days welcoming in the Year of the Earth Pig. We started the traditional Tibetan way—a couple of days before Losar—with thukpa (Tibetan noodle soup) and chubas (Tibetan dress). The delicious homemade vegetarian thukpa was prepared by volunteers and cooked by Ven. Youdon, who lives at the center.

Volunteers making thukpa in the outdoor eating area at Chandrakirti Meditation Centre, Upper Moutere, New Zealand, February 2019. Photo by Sarah Brooks, spiritual program assistant.

Geshe Jampa Tharchin, our resident teacher, told the story of why thukpa is considered a very friendly food. Lama Atisha was served thukpa when he first arrived in Tibet. When Lama Atisha asked what the food was called, they told Lama Atisha the literal meaning of “thukpa”—“meeting of two”—which means two people meeting again after having met in previous lives. Lama Atisha said the meaning of the name was very good! 

We also played traditional Tibetan games around the table; each person chose a piece of paper and followed the instructions—from singing a song to telling their life story. For some reason, when we all embarrass ourselves in front of each other we feel even more like family!

Ven. Youdon cooking thukpa in Geshe Jampa Tharchin’s kitchen at Chandrakirti Meditation Centre, Upper Moutere, New Zealand, February 2019. Photo by Sarah Brooks, spiritual program assistant.

During dessert and socializing two of the members played ukulele and sang indigenous Māori songs, including a special song for Geshe Tharchin’s long and happy life.

The day before Losar we completed our ten-day retreat on emptiness, and also prepared for the big day.

Losar itself started auspiciously with an extensive Guru Puja with tsog. Geshe Tharchin brought special Tibetan substances, including tsampa (roasted, ground barley). These substances were passed around for everyone to offer and make special wishes for the New Year.

Then everyone enjoyed a bountiful community lunch cooked by very kind volunteers. To celebrate the life of our most precious Lama Thubten Yeshe, Paul Kelly, a student of Lama Yeshe’s who had met Lama, read Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s tribute to his guru Lama Yeshe aloud to us from the 1984 issue of Wisdom magazine.

Anton Weiersmuller, center translator, and Geshe Jampa Tharchin, resident teacher, hanging prayer flags, Chandrakirti Meditation Centre, Upper Moutere, New Zealand, February 2019. Photo by Sarah Brooks, spiritual program assistant.

In the afternoon, Chandrakirti Centre volunteers hung new prayer flags all around. This created an engineering challenge, resolved with creative solutions that allowed us to get high up in the trees. All the activities were joyous and harmonious, which created an excellent way to start the year.

Three days after Losar, everyone was invited to a picnic at the Wish Fulfilling Land, a joint project of FPMT and Chandrakirti Centre providing isolated long-term retreat cabins for meditators who want to realize the lamrim.

Geshe Jampa Tharchin, resident teacher, with a cell phone on his head, making everyone laugh, Wish Fulfilling Land, South Upper Moutere, New Zealand, February 2019. Photo by Sarah Brooks, spiritual program assistant.

Geshe Tharchin led the group in prayers on the site, and we shared a meal and laughter together. Geshe Tharchin said the best thing we can do is to make people’s minds happy, so relax and enjoy!

To make sure we made the most of each other’s company, everyone agreed to put their cell phones into the middle of the picnic blanket and not answer them—no matter what!

Phillipa Rutherford, Chandrakirti Meditation Centre director, Jislaine Santi, and Rafael Nami at Wish Fulfilling Land, South Upper Moutere, New Zealand, February 2019. Photo by Sarah Brooks, spiritual program assistant.

For more information about Chandrakirti Meditation Centre, visit their website:
http://www.chandrakirti.co.nz/

For more information about Wish Fulfilling Land, visit their website:
http://wishfulfillingland.nz/

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.

Dagri Rinpoche has for many years been one of the Tibetan teachers on FPMT’s Tibetan Teachers List.

The Indian police last week received a formal complaint from a woman who was on a commercial airline flight with Dagri Rinpoche in India, accusing Dagri Rinpoche of inappropriate behaviour during the flight. Furthermore, another woman recently made allegations about misconduct by Dagri Rinpoche 10 years ago, which she shared via a YouTube video.

FPMT International Office understands that best practice is to suspend a teacher from teaching while an investigation is ongoing, in order to protect students, and the teacher. The investigation into what happened on the flight is currently being conducted by the Indian police.

We have therefore temporarily suspended Dagri Rinpoche from the FPMT Tibetan Teachers List with immediate effect, pending the conclusion of the police investigation. This means that Dagri Rinpoche may not teach, or be invited to teach, in any FPMT center during this suspension.  FPMT teacher suspension does not indicate an assumption of guilt.

Dagri Rinpoche sent International Office this personal statement regarding the allegations.

Regarding the allegations made on YouTube, we have reached out directly to the woman who posted the video. In 2011, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Private Office informed us that they had received an allegation by this woman against Dagri Rinpoche. The Private Office informed us that they had investigated the allegations, and that they had resolved the matter with the woman. They informed us that Dagri Rinpoche understood the seriousness of the allegations and committed to avoid situations which could give rise to similar allegations in the future. 

Therefore, we maintained Dagri Rinpoche’s listing on the FPMT Tibetan Teachers List. However, we took our responsibility to students seriously, and alerted FPMT regional and national coordinators about the matter, asking them to inform any center which had invited or was planning to invite Dagri Rinpoche, so that they could consider their invitation in light of this information. We also took the opportunity to review FPMT policies and processes to see if any further amendments were needed to ensure the safety of students, teachers, and centers.

We sent a reminder about this to the coordinators last year, as we were told that talk was circulating about Dagri Rinpoche.

We have received no complaints about Dagri Rinpoche since 2011. 

Our recent decision to suspend Dagri Rinpoche is consistent with the emphasis which the FPMT organization places on ethical behavior.

FPMT policies and guidelines are instituted to help individuals in positions of authority to uphold a safe, respectful environment in their local center, project, or service. These include:

• Abiding within the Law
• FPMT Ethical Policy
• Grievance procedure guideline
• Teacher Policy and guidelines, which help ensure that Dharma teachings are provided only by those who are qualified to teach Dharma (FPMT registered teachers)

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has given this advice for Dagri Rinpoche’s students on how to relate to this situation from a Dharma perspective.

Find new updates and advice here.

Pencil drawing made by Liberation Prison Project student Dylan and gifted to LPP, November 2018. Image courtesy of LPP.

Since 2001 Liberation Prison Project (LPP), an FPMT project, and San Francisco, California, US tour company Himalayan High Treks have been working together to enable people to go on pilgrimage. Twenty-two pilgrimages have been offered so far, raising a grand total of nearly $182,000 for LPP. Ven. Thubten Chokyi, director of LPP, shares the story.

The Buddha advised his students that after his passing, pilgrimage should be made to the holy places to help purify previously accumulated negative karmas, even the five heinous actions.

Liberation Prison Project (LPP) has been partnering with Himalayan High Treks since 2001 to organize pilgrimages to Buddhist sites in India, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Borobudur, a ninth-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Indonesia. We have been blessed to have inspiring teachers leading the pilgrimages, including FPMT registered teachers Ven. Robina Courtin, Geshe Tenzin Zopa, Ven. Tenzin Chogkyi, Ven. Amy Miller, and Jon Landaw.

India and Nepal pilgrimage led by Jon Landaw, Dhamek Stupa, Sarnath, India, October 2012. Photo by LPP Australia office administrator Kevin Ison.

Following the pilgrimages, many participants join our team of volunteer Dharma mentors, writing to and visiting LPP students in prison. Many who go on the pilgrimages are already LPP Dharma friends who want to support LPP through the fundraising contribution. They have told us that going on pilgrimage was a transformative and powerful experience, and they are able to share that experience with the inmates they support.

Artwork celebrating Losar, year of the pig, by Liberation Prison Project student Raven Jones, gifted to LPP, February 2018. Image courtesy of LPP.

The nearly $182,000 raised from these pilgrimages has been used to provide free resources to our students in the US, subscriptions to Mandala magazine, copies of the Liberation Tibetan calendar, and the giving of refuge and bodhichitta vows. The funds have also been used to provide support to prison chaplaincy and Dharma students who mentor our students by correspondence.

LPP has provided around 20,000 resources to inmates, including FPMT study and practice materials. All of our students receive FPMT’s five-session Buddhism in a Nutshell course when they first contact us, as an introduction to the Dharma. Many prisoners are engaged in FPMT’s fourteen-module Discovering Buddhism study program, and one student is engaged in FPMT’s most advanced study program, the Masters Program, which consists of six years of study and a total of one year of retreat. Raven Jones, one of our students in the US, has already completed the Masters Program under the mentorship of Ven. Sangye Khadro.

In late 2018 one of our students in Australia took refuge and another plans to take refuge in 2019. It is so heart warming to see the ripening of the Dharma in such harsh and challenging environments. It takes great courage and determination.

When Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme (Khadro-la) was in Australia in 2014, she offered refuge to one of our students, and many of the Education and Chaplaincy staff were delighted to join in the happy occasion. The student has since completed the first thirteen modules of Discovering Buddhism and has become the first prisoner to do a nyung nä retreat in prison. He said the only major obstacle was that he couldn’t leave the fresh fruit on his altar throughout.

Khadro-la after her first prison visit holding a portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, created by a Liberation Prison Project student on the occasion of Khadro-la’s first visit to Australia, Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery, Bendigo, Australia, April 2014. Photo by LPP visiting chaplain Libby Mowlam. When it was presented to her Khadro-la promised to offer it directly to His Holiness.

There are many similar inspiring stories of transformation in prison that have been shared with us by LPP coordinators in New Zealand, Italy, Mongolia, Mexico, France, and the UK, and LPP students in Asia, Africa, and South America.

We appreciate Himalayan High Treks staff, as well as all of the individuals who have offered their support over the years by joining or leading a pilgrimage organized by Himalayan High Treks that benefits LPP.

For more information about Liberation Prison Project, visit their website:
http://www.liberationprisonproject.org/

For more information about Himalayan High Treks pilgrimages, visit their website:
http://www.himalayanhightreks.com/index.html

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.

Buddhism for Young Adults group with Geshe Lobsang Dawa, Thubten Kunkyab Study Group, Mexico City, Mexico, January 2019. Photo by Ricardo Mesta Esparza.

Thubten Kunkyab Study Group, an FPMT study group in Mexico City, Mexico, has organized a Buddhism for Young Adults group that began meeting in January 2019. Buddhism for Young Adults group coordinators Nancy Torres Lopez and Ricardo Mesta Esparza, young adults themselves, share the story.

The Buddhism for Young Adults group was born from a couple members of Thubten Kunkyab Study Group in Mexico City. With the arrival of His Eminence the 7th Kyabje Ling Rinpoche to Guadalajara in September 2018, we noticed that our teachers’ precious teachings were not reaching the younger members of the population, who are developing in environments and activities that can be hostile to gaining peace and mental stillness. Our generation has grown up in a context that incites the development of negative emotions and problems that affect us both internally and externally.

Buddhism for Young Adults group in meditation, Thubten Kunkyab, Mexico City, Mexico, February 2019. Photo by Ricardo Mesta Esparza.

Buddhism for Young Adults is a group that aspires to reach young adults between the ages of 20-35 who are interested in attending our monthly meetings to learn what the Buddhist psychology point of view has to say about contemporary social problems, and learn different tools to transform our minds.

Our long-term goal is to promote charitable practices both for the individual as well as for the community through love and compassion for all beings.

The meetings are guided by Geshe Lobsang Dawa, an FPMT registered geshe, who we are very lucky to have in Mexico City as a teacher.

Buddhism for Young Adults group with Geshe Lobsang Dawa, Thubten Kunkyab Study Group, Mexico City, Mexico, February 2019. Photo by Ricardo Mesta Esparza.

We got so many young adults to come by, opening an exclusive space for them. And then we talked about problems that we are all concerned about in a way that appeals to lay people but from a Buddhist perspective. This has been quite interesting since it has awakened Dharma seeds in the minds of some of the young adults, who are now asking for introductory programs.

We also paid for advertisements on Instagram. We can see that there is a great interest in Dharma, but sometimes young people don’t know where to go and where they can receive teachings.

Buddhism for Young Adults group with Geshe Lobsang Dawa, Thubten Kunkyab Study Group, Mexico City, Mexico, February 2019. Photo by Ricardo Mesta Esparza.

In our first session we learned about stress: the physical, emotional, and mental sickness that afflicts us in our daily lives. We saw that rather than learn how to manage it, we choose to avoid and ignore it.

The second session was about managing depression and anxiety—sicknesses that afflict a big portion of the population—and how we do not know how to deal with it.

The turnout has been great with over forty young adults attending the group, and even one young woman started attending our lamrim study group. Rejoice!

To learn more about Thubten Kunkyab Study Group, visit their website:
https://www.meditacdmx.org/

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation, and community service.

Ani Ngawang Samten, Ven. Amy Miller, and trip participants at Lawudo, Solu Khumbu, Nepal, October 2018. Photo courtesy of Ven. Amy Miller.

Venerable Amy Miller, an FPMT registered teacher, has been informally leading people to Lawudo in Nepal’s Solu Khumbu District since 1990. She shares about the October 5-22, 2018, trip she led for twenty-three people from around the world. This is a short excerpt from Ven. Amy Miller’s published online story, “An Adventurous Trip to Lawudo in Nepal.”

It was only a week before our journey to Lawudo, when my sister called me from England and mentioned how much she admired what I was undertaking—leading a group of twenty-three people up to a remote retreat center in Solu Khumbu District in the Mt. Everest region of Nepal.

When I hung up the phone, I realized I had been in denial about what we were planning to do. Of course the trip was well planned, thought-out, and supported, but when traveling to a high elevation in a remote area with incredibly challenging terrain, dire things can happen.

I swallowed my trepidation and forged ahead, landing in Nepal on September 28, 2018. I wanted to be rested and bright-eyed for the group’s arrival on October 5.

Tenzin Rigsel Rinpoche with Ven. Amy Miller and trip participants, Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, October 2018. Photo courtesy of Ven. Amy Miller.

We converged at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery (Kopan Nunnery) for dinner. Our group came from Australia and Wales, from points all over the United States, from North and South America, and Europe, and they penetrated deep into my heart.

Within a week we were family, helping each other in a variety of ways: listening to each other’s coughs, passing around diarrhea remedies, tissues, and advice about the toilets. We shared laughs and compared our lifestyles that were incredibly varied. We were nurses and teachers; paramedics; mental health workers; yoga instructors; husbands and wives; mothers, fathers, and grandparents; nuns; aspiring yogis and yoginis; massage therapists; healers; retired civil rights workers; administrators; cleaners; and human beings who had an urge to explore and test the outer edges of the envelope, and reach this place called “Lawudo.”

Trip participants making offerings to a naga tree outside of Lukla, Nepal, October 2018. Photo by Ven. Amy Miller.

For more information about Ven. Amy Miller, visit her website:
http://amymiller.com

Read Ven. Amy Miller’s online story, “An Adventurous Trip to Lawudo in Nepal,” and view a video she made of a previous trip:
https://fpmt.org/mandala/in-depth-stories/an-adventurous-trip-to-lawudo-in-nepal/

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 teaching and giving initiations, Kopan Nunnery, Nepal, April 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

We hope you enjoy the April FPMT International Office e-News.

This month we bring you:

• Highlights of Advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
• How FPMT Invests in Education in Nepal
• An Offer from the Foundation Store

…and more!

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