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Students with Charok Lama and Rinpoche’s sister Ani Samten in front of the Lawudo gompa.
Following the Heart Sutra Retreat at Kopan this year to mark the first anniversary of the passing of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, a group of 38 students from around the world participated in a special Lawudo Anniversary Pilgrimage from April 24-May 8, 2024 to visit and make heartfelt prayers at the holy places of the Lawudo Lamas—Rinpoche and his previous life as Lawudo Lama Kunsang Yeshe. Please read this beautiful account of the pilgrimage by Amitabha Buddhist Centre’s Ven. Gyalten Rabten.
Our journey started on a positive note as we were able to fly directly on two special flights from Kathmandu’s domestic airport to Lukla (9,383 feet, 2,845 meters). We landed safely at the small airport and started our trek soon after breakfast once our bags had been given to the porters to carry to our guest houses ready for us to pick up each evening.
Group photo at Namche. Photo by Ven. Gyalten Rabten.
Over the next few days, we trekked daily for about six to seven hours, covering an average distance of nine to ten kilometers (5-6 miles)—sometimes more—mostly ascending. The first night we stayed over in a place called Benkar (2,800 meters, 9,186 feet), a place blessed by great meditators in the past, and for the next two nights we rested in Namche Bazar (3,440 meters, 11,286. feet), the largest town in Khumbu, for acclimatization. Some of us, myself included, found it particularly challenging as we had never walked so much in a day, but we were rewarded with breathtaking natural scenery along the way—the soaring high snow mountains, clear blue skies, flowing rivers, waterfalls and lots of beautiful rhododendron flowers. We were also mesmerized by the air of magical spirituality in Khumbu—dotted with many white stupas, stones carved with mantras, colorful prayers flags, and the occasional monasteries, temples and caves perched high up amongst the mountains.
The view from the hotel in Namche, April 27, 2024. Photo by Ven. Sarah Thresher.
On day four, we arrived at the high valley of Khumjung and Kunde above Namche, the spiritual heart of Khumbu. There we visited Khumjung Monastery, the second oldest monastery in Solukumbu, which Rinpoche had helped to rebuild after the 2015 earthquake. It is famous for its “Yeti scalp,” but we were there to learn more about the secrets of Khumbu as a “hidden valley” blessed by Guru Rinpoche from a local expert and guest speaker; and also to pay respect to the many sacred artworks and precious statues whose restoration Rinpoche had helped to sponsor, such as a Guru Rinpoche with a third eye, the only known statue of Khumbila, the local protector, and some exquisite wall paintings by local artists.
Descending into Khumjung on the way to Kunde below the sacred Kumbila mountain. April 27, 2024
The following day, those in the group who were more fit, made a challenging three-hour hike up to Akar Drubkang. At the height of 4,400 meters (14,436 feet), it is a special hermitage cave where Guru Rinpoche and Princess Mandarava are said to have flown from Maratika after accomplishing the practice of immortality. Many great masters in the past, including the Lawudo lama, have practiced and received teachings in this cave. Therefore, the group took the rare opportunity to make tsok offerings and recite heartfelt prayers for Rinpoche’s swift return in that blessed cave! Meanwhile, the rest of the group including myself, hiked up an hour to Hillary Viewpoint, where we were wowed by the stunning view of the surrounding snow mountain peaks, including the famous Mount Everest. We also managed to catch our first glimpse of Lawudo from that high vantage point!
On day six, we left Kunde and trekked onward through Thamo below Lawudo where Kari Rinpoche’s Nunnery is located for lunch and then on to Thame village, arriving in the late afternoon. This is where we can still see the small house where Rinpoche was born, newly rebuilt after it was damaged in the 2015 earthquake. Next to the house is a large prayer wheel containing 100 trillion Chenrezig mantras built by Rinpoche’s sister which is open 24 hours a day for people to turn and create merits. When we visited the house the next day to recite prayers for Rinpoche’s swift return, special arrangement was made for us to receive blessings from the Lawudo Lama’s precious lotus hat which as the first Lawudo Lama he had always worn.
We also visited the magnificent Thameteng Stupa, about half an hour’s trek from Thame. It was rebuilt in the style of the Boudanath stupa after the original stupa was heavily damaged in the 2015 earthquake and was consecrated by Rinpoche remotely in August 2022. There, we were briefed by the project manager, Thukten Sherpa, who at one point was moved almost to tears, as he described how from the very beginning the reconstruction was possible only due to Rinpoche’s kind guidance and financial support and also spoke of the many other beneficial activities of Rinpoche in this Thamichowa region.
Next on the itinerary was a visit to Thame Monastery, one of the three oldest in Khumbu, where had a nice lunch together with the young Thame Rinpoche and his monks. The Lawudo Lamas are closely connected with Thame Monastery and this was where Rinpoche first became a monk as a young boy. The manager showed us a set of cymbals gifted to the monastery by the first Lawudo Lama and blessed us with its beautiful sound when it was played. He explained that this special gift could be one reason for Rinpoche’s huge fame and renown throughout the world this lifetime, along with his ability to spread the Buddha’s teachings far and wide.
On day eight and after another four hours of ascending, we finally arrived at our main destination, the Lawudo Retreat Center at a height of 4,000 meters (13,123 feet)! Of the many precious places to visit at Lawudo, the main holy site must definitely be the Lawudo cave, where the first Lawudo Lama—Rinpoche’s previous life—had spent many years of his life in meditation and finally attained the highest realizations with many special signs when he passed away. Inside is an precious stupa with relics from the first Lawudo Lama Kunsang Yeshe and also a recent stupa brought up last year by Ven. Roger at Lhabab Duchen with a tooth relic from Rinpoche’s most recent life.
The newly built memorial stupa for Rinpoche in Lawudo. Photo by Ven. Gyalten Rabten.
The retreat center has several basic retreat rooms for students and visitors to stay or do retreats. The old gompa, the first and only one to be built under the supervision of Rinpoche (before Kopan even existed), now houses many amazingly beautiful statues such as the five-feet standing Sampa Lhundrupma Guru Rinpoche statue and a recently added Kalachakra statue.
For the last fifty over years, Lawudo has been being steadfastly cared for by Rinpoche’s elder sister, Anila Ngawang Samten. On May 3 which was a tsok day, we offered a guru puja and tsok in the Gompa and celebrated Anila’s 83rd birthday with many prayers and dedications for her long life and good health!
We spent the next four days in Lawudo, attending teachings on the Three Principal Aspects of the Path by Charok Lama Rinpoche, a young tulku recognized as the incarnation of the late Venerable Kushog Mende, who was a friend of the previous Lawudo Lama and spent many years practicing in a hermitage cave nearby. Many of us were moved to tears when he began the teachings by describing Rinpoche’s many and unfathomable qualities. During other times, we were divided into small groups to recite prayers for Rinpoche’s swift return inside the cave using a special practice compiled for the pilgrimage.
Students doing prayers in the Lawudo cave. Photo by Ven. Gyalten Rabten.
The evenings were spent in the warmest place in Lawudo, the dining hall where we gathered to hear stories from Ani Samten while hot drinks and delicious dinner such as garlic soup, momos, and potato pancakes were served. Those were truly unforgettable moments of family feeling and bonding for us all as we shared stories and experiences. After dinner, we once again recited prayers and practices for Rinpoche’s swift return all together before retiring, in order to dedicate all the virtue we had created throughout the day.
Ani Ngawang Samten recounting past stories of Rinpoche and Charok Lama in the dining hall. Photo by Ven. Gyalten Rabten.
Soon it was time for us to depart! After a trek of two days down from Lawudo, the group managed to take flights from Lukla back to Kathmundu during a window of clearer skies and weather before the fog crept in!
What a special lifetime experience and pilgrimage it has been for me and the group in honor of our most beloved guru! Many thanks to the organizers, including Charok Lama Rinpoche, Venerable Sarah Thresher, Venerable Nyima Tashi, Venerable Kalden and all those who helped and made it possible!
May the merit accumulated from this pilgrimage be dedicated for a new Lawudo Lama to swiftly reappear with all the qualities and attributes needed to guide us just as Rinpoche so lovingly cared for us his whole life and to continue the unimaginable blessings of his work spreading the pure Dharma teachings in all directions.
May the smile of a reincarnation swiftly beam in glory for fortunate disciples!
With grateful thanks to Ven. Gyalten Rabten for this inspiring report and to the pilgrimage participants for sharing photos with us.
To lean more about Lawudo, please visit: http://lawudo.com/
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Wax Medicine Buddha prototype being built according to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s instructions. Photo by Frank Brock
In September 2024, Sri Lankan-born, Australian-based nun Ven. Tenzin Lekdron will lead a pilgrimage tour in Sri Lanka to raise funds for the 5MB Project, a mission to build a five-story high Medicine Buddha statue in Sri Lanka, according to the instructions of Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
In 2021, Rinpoche determined the need for a large statue of Medicine Buddha to bring healing and harmony to Sri Lanka and its people, and gave Ven. Lekdron the task to accomplish it. Rinpoche specified that the statue should be five stories (16.5 meters) high, with, “proper proportions and excellent art for the face.” The statue will be filled, according to the Tibetan tradition, with rolls of mantras, sacred texts, and relics from high lamas. For the construction project to be successful, Rinpoche advised Ven. Lekdron to organize recitations of the Arya Sanghata Sutra and Sutra of Golden Light in Sri Lanka.
Ven. Tenzin Lekdron met Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 1998. After her ordination in 2016, she founded Tara Lanka Study Group in Sri Lanka and initiated dialogues, social services projects, translations of Mahayana sutras and Dharma texts into Singhalese, and organized group recitations of sutras by local monks and lay people around the country to create harmony and understanding between Theradava and Mahayana traditions in Sri Lanka. “From my first conversation with Rinpoche,” Ven. Lekdron reflects, “I came away with the clear impression that Rinpoche had plans for Sri Lanka and me.”
Extensive Medicine Buddha puja in Sinhalese at Gangarama temple, Colombo, Sri Lanka, attended by over seventy local people.
Sri Lanka embraced Buddhism from India in the 3rd century BCE. A branch of the bodhi tree, under which the Shakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment, was brought to Sri Lanka by a nun named Sanghamitta and planted in the then capital, Anuradhapura. To this day the bodhi tree remains one of the most important sites of Buddhist pilgrimage. According to Ven. Lekdron, Medicine Buddha practices have had a shadow presence in Sri Lanka where indigenous medicine practitioners continue to recite the mantra without having any understanding of its origins.
Offerings to Medicine Buddha arranged at Gangarama Temple. Photo by Malintha Perera
“I am convinced Rinpoche gave me this huge project because he knew there was an ancient connection to Medicine Buddha and strong Mahayana history in Sri Lanka,” Ven. Lekdron shares. “Medicine Buddha practices can heal the island’s damage. I have since found out that the Medicine Buddha mantra is still alive in indigenous medicine and there is still a pulse for non-sectarian dharma, one that we can hopefully strengthen.”
In 2020 the Sri Lankan economy collapsed, exposing widespread corruption and dysfunction and having tragic impact on the Sri Lankan people. Concerned about the future of Sri Lankan people, Ven. Lekdron sought Rinpoche’s advice on practices that would help the country overcome difficult times. Rinpoche advised to recite the Sutra of Golden Light and other Mahayana sutras and to build a five story tall Medicine Buddha statue. In early 2022, Rinpoche further advised to do extensive Medicine Buddha puja on auspicious days.
To create causes for the construction of the five-story Medicine Buddha statue, Rinpoche instructed Ven. Lekdron to order a scale prototype of the statue in Nepal. This 1.5 meter tall prototype will be made exactly to scale and fully finished with real gold. Expected to be shipped to Sri Lanka at the end of 2024, it will eventually be housed in a prominent Theravada temple in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, becoming the focus of Medicine Buddha pujas and practices for the whole country.
To find out more about the pilgrimage tour, or for more information on how you can help the 5MB Project, visit: 5mbsrilanka.org
To learn about the Study Group in Sri Lanka, Tara Lanka: taralanka.org
Please learn more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization to have hundreds of thousands of holy objects around the world: fpmt.org/fpmt/vast-vision/#hobjects
His Eminence Ling Rinpoche teaching at Kadampa Center, North Carolina, US, May 8, 2024. Photo courtesy of Kadampa Center.
His Eminence Ling Rinpoche is currently engaged in a nine week teaching tour during April-June in the United States, visiting at least 28 different venues in a dozen states. The venues include Dharma centers and monastery gompas, and when those halls aren’t large enough: specially-erected teaching tents, Tibetan association halls, local community centers, churches, schools, universities, concert halls, and hotel conference rooms.
Among the various organizers are nine FPMT centers: Shantideva Center, Kurukulla Center, Guhyasamaja Center, Kadampa Center, Land of Medicine Buddha, Ocean of Compassion Buddhist Center, Tse Chen Ling, Vajrapani Institute, and Maitripa College (upcoming June 8!). We offer grateful thanks to Melissa Kaye, Regional Coordinator for FPMT North America, who attended the first four weeks of the tour (NYC through WI), for providing much of the information and quotes included in this report.
His Eminence made some incredibly moving remarks about Lama Zopa Rinpoche during these teachings, including how to pray for Rinpoche’s swift return, which we share below.
Many Tibetans were in attendance at several of these venues, including Tibetan dignitaries, and were the majority of attendees at Kurukulla Center, Massachusetts (April 21-22), even on the non-initiation days. On May 18, thousands of Tibetan people in Minnesota attended Buddha Amitayus initiation and teachings, organized by the Tibetan Foundation of Minnesota and Trehor Kyiduk Minnesota.
FPMT students from as far away as Latin America flew in for the teachings in NYC.
Members of the Tibetan community attending public talk with His Eminence Ling Rinpoche at Kurukulla Center, Massachusetts, April 22, 2024. Photo courtesy of the Kurukulla Center Facebook page.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with His Eminence Ling Rinpoche, India, 2022. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
His Eminence began his US tour at Shantideva Center, NYC on April 12, and his earliest remarks were about Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s passing:
“It was very painful to lose Rinpoche. … It really shocked me, really hurt, very difficult to accept. … Rinpoche was much needed in this world.
“Losing him was a big loss for every one of us. Although Rinpoche’s not with us physically, his legacy remains. It is very important that the followers should fulfill all his wishes, most importantly to follow his instructions, all the instructions that he has given throughout his life.
“More than, I would say, 50, 60 years, he’s been teaching all over the world, and Rinpoche was there for others all the time 24/7. He did not do anything, almost nothing, for himself, but always there for others. His love, his compassion, his teachings and his instructions have benefited countless beings.
“I think, most important is to practice well and this is the only way to fulfill his wishes. If we practice well, if we become a good human being and a good practitioner, this is the only way to fulfill his wish. This is something that Rinpoche wants us to do. Nothing else can fulfill his wish. Even if we offer the entire world to him, this will not fulfill his wish. So the only way to fulfill his wish is to become a good human being and practice the Dharma according to the teachings.”
FPMT Sangha greeting His Eminence Ling Rinpoche at the SFO Airport, May 23, 2024. Photo courtesy of Land of Medicine Buddha Facebook page.
Melissa Kaye, FPMT North America Regional Coordinator shared:
“Rinpoche’s teachings at the FPMT centers focused on brief lamrim texts by Lama Tsong Khapa, bodhichitta topics (bodhisattva vows, lojong, and Atisha’s Bodhisattva’s Garland of Jewels), and some initiations. His Eminence began each teaching with a detailed explanation of the importance of setting a positive Mahayana motivation and concluded each teaching with extensive dedication prayers.
“His teachings flowed beautifully, in a traditional style, were extremely clear and organized, concise and to the point; scholarly while still relatable and applicable to modern daily life. Over and over again he reminded me of listening to His Holiness the Dalai Lama when His Holiness is giving traditional teachings to a mostly Tibetan audience in India. During the initiations, His Eminence carefully explained each of the steps and visualizations to be done so that we students could participate to the fullest of our abilities.”
From May 25-26, HIs Eminence gave teachings on The Foundation of All Good Qualities and conferred the 1,000-Armed Chenrezig Initiation, in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, jointly hosted by four local FPMT centers: Land of Medicine Buddha, Ocean of Compassion Buddhist Center, Tse Chen Ling, and Vajrapani Institute.
While in the Bay Area offering teachings, His Eminence also took the time to consecrate two holy objects:
On May 31, he consecrated the 3 quadrillion mantras filled compassion prayer wheel at Vajrapani Institute.
His Eminence Ling Rinpoche consecrating the 3 quadrillion mantras filled prayer wheel at Vajrapani Institute, May 31, 2024. Photo courtesy of Scott Snibbe.
On June 4 His Eminence was able to consecrate the stupa at Land of Medicine Buddha. LMB shared on their Facebook page: “Rinpoche remarked after finishing the consecration that he ‘didn’t want to leave.’ How our hearts were warmed by his loving presence and gentle guidance.”
His Eminence Ling Rinpoche with the Land of Medicine Buddha community, after consecrating the stupa at LMB, CA, June 4, 2024. Photo courtesy of 100,000 Stupa Project at Land of Medicine Buddha Facebook page.
In the final dedication prayers at Kadampa Center, North Carolina, on May 8, His Eminence said:
“I pray for the swift return of the late Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who was a great teacher. Most importantly, he was a great human being. That’s most important. He worked so hard for the benefit of other sentient beings. All throughout his life he worked for others. This is a very great role model.
“May there be the swift return of his new incarnation, someone who can fill his shoes, who can carry on the good job and who will be able to continue to carry on the legacy for the benefit of all sentient beings, particularly his Dharma students. But also—a very bright one is very important. If not very bright, then cannot do much, right? So a young and bright one, this kind of aspiration. We must pray from now, that bright, young and healthy one should come. Because once the child is born, we cannot change much, right? So the students need to pray from now. That is very important. I also pray for his swift return, a bright one who can work for others, who can really fill the shoes of late Rinpoche.”
Upcoming: His Eminence will offer a teaching on The Three Principal Aspects of the Path at Maitripa College in Portland, OR, on June 8 from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Those interested can join both in-person and online via Zoom.
You can learn more about His Eminence Ling Rinpoche, his tour in the US, and upcoming teaching tours:
www.lingrinpoche.info
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Lise Lotte, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Maria Damsholt.. Photo thanks to CVM and Maria Damsholt.
Lise Lotte Brooks passed away of ALS on May 29, 2024 at age 77 in Denmark.
Lise Lotte founded Center for Wisdom and Compassion (CVM) in 1996 with Maria Damsholt. Here we share her obituary, which is also the story of CVM, written by Maria Damsholt:
Lise Lotte was born in Copenhagen 1946 of Danish parents. Around 1970 her parents got a divorce and Lotte chose to stay with the father, so he should not feel abandoned. It shows her kind mind. But not long after she went to Nepal to visit her old friend Åge Delbanco in Kathmandu. There she met her first husband, Chotak, and of course Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. She soon took Buddhist refuge there.
Lise Lotte and Chotak. Photo by Åge Dlebanco courtesy of LYWA.
Later her husband became a monk, and Lama Yeshe invited Lotte to live at Kopan Monastery with their two sons Thor and Jon. The little family built a nice little house up there which remained at Kopan for many years. Lotte took care of the children, and Chotak (the father) was able to go there and say hello.
Later her husband disrobed but was pursuing relationships with other women. I remember Lotte told me that Lama Yeshe told her to take her two children, move on in her life, and be proud and trusting in her own abilities. Lama Yeshe supported Lotte very much.
At some point Lotte moved to Sweden to a collective with the two children. They also lived at Vajrapani Institute in California, and at the new FPMT center Manjushri Institute on the countryside in England. She also moved to Hong Kong and made a business of making clothes and selling them. She made very good friends everywhere. She was so very good at connecting with people.
Around the time I met Lotte, toward the beginning of the 1990s, she started the company Silk Bliss, where she designed the clothes, and had them made in Hong Kong or elsewhere in China.
I myself took refuge with Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Holland at Maitreya Institute in 1990 and went to a long retreat in Dharamsala, where I had the luck and good fortune to meet Lama Zopa Rinpoche in an audience while the reincarnation of Lama Yeshe, Lama Osel, was a kid playing around there at Tushita Retreat Centre in Dharamsala.
Rinpoche encouraged me to translate some Dharma books and to go ahead with a project taking care of people who were dying. He gave us the three principles we still work from within that project, and somehow planted the idea in me that we should have a Danish FPMT center. Coming back home I really wondered how to do that, since all the Buddhists I met was connected to other lamas. But I prayed for it to happen.
I met Lotte through Kari Cuelenaere, whom I met in Kathmandu the year before I took refuge. At the time when I met Lotte, she had moved back to Denmark and lived in Ballonparken on Amager. Since she also knew Kari and she wanted to bring some goods to Kari, I managed to go out there and meet Lotte. One day I asked Lotte, if we should start a FPMT center in Denmark and lo and behold, she said yes. Luckily at that time I lived in a big house in Emdrup so we had our first gompa there. Among others Lakha Lama joined us in opening the new center.
Maria, Kari Cuelenaere and Lise Lotte in the beginning of the 1990s. Photo courtesy of Maria Damsholt.
In the autumn 1997 we were called to the grand opening of the Jamyang Centre in London. Rinpoche gave us the name Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling, Center for Wisdom and Compassion (CVM). Lotte was to be the director and I was to be the coordinator of the death and dying project which at that time I called, Center for Conscious Living & Dying (later we got the name Pure Land of Medicine Buddha), and Rinpoche said it was most important to teach and be aware of the Buddhist way of helping people when they die.
While we stayed in Emdrup, Rinpoche came and blessed the center around 2000. Rinpoche gave Tara initiation and Medicine Buddha initiation. Lotte managed to get all the beautiful pictures of Lama Tsong Khapa and framed them in frames painted with gold. Lotte also managed to get carpets in our gompa and made a lot of very nice dark red cushions. She was able to sew very, very nice things and she always looked so beautiful too. She was very efficient. After Rinpoche left, we were almost drunk from pure happiness. We could not stop laughing.
After some years Lotte managed to find a place in Copenhagen, Klerkegade, where we rented a business flat. Lotte made a big curtain to draw for the altar so we could use the place for courses and supervisions for Center for Conscious Living and Dying.
Other dedicated Dharma students became involved in CVM and Tine Norup and I went to Vajrayogini Institute for a course with Rinpoche to ask if we should move in the place where Phendeling Buddhist Center was establishing itself, or find a place for us alone, since Klerkegade was too expensive for us.
According to Rinpoche it was even better to move into Phendeling’s big place. And since the death and dying project was able to get funds, we had furniture, printing machine, sound equipment, etc. and we could pay for the office.
In 2015 Rinpoche came again and gave Medicine Buddha initiation. We had a picnic at Nykøbing Sjælland where Rinpoche gave a teaching on how to bless the food among other things and held a meeting for the Nordic and Baltic FPMT centers and projects. Rinpoche and his entourage stayed at Lotusgaard, where Lotte had lived for some years with her husband Glenn and where they had a bed and breakfast.
At that time Lotte was no longer director of the center but she was very involved in translating Dharma books into Danish through the publishing service Forlaget Dharma Visdom. Lotte has translated the books Lamrim Outlines by Karin Walham and How to Meditate by Sangye Khadro into Danish. Sangye Khadro was going to be our residential teacher, but it became too expensive for us, so we had to move out of Nybrogade, which was such a beautiful place, and since then CVM has mostly had its physical events at Phendeling.
Lotte was a very, very kind and loving person. She was an excellent center director, good at connecting with people. She had a very tender mind, but she also could be very firm. She had to be firm with me sometimes. For that I respected her very much.
She was beautiful outside and inside. I will miss her for her peaceful, calm, and tender mind. And for all the laughter we had together in many situations. I was the first person outside the family she told about her sickness which was a special gift of trust from her side I appreciate very much.
Written by Maria Damsholt, co-founder of CVM and coordinator of Pure Land of Medicine Buddha. Edited for inclusion on fpmt.org.
Please pray that Lise Lotte may never ever be reborn in the lower realms, may she be immediately born in a pure land where she can be enlightened or to receive a perfect human body, meet the Mahayana teachings and meet a perfectly qualified guru and by only pleasing the guru’s mind, achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.
More advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).
To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).
Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program participants.
Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program (LRZTP) is an FPMT project in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India. LRZTP has produced many gifted Dharma interpreters-translators for FPMT Dharma centers since its conception over twenty-three years ago. In addition to the two-year intensive training program, LRZTP also runs short Tibetan language courses and offers private online Tibetan language lessons.
The latest interpreters training course, LRZTP9, successfully began in April 2023, with twelve new students. At the completion of their first year of the two-year program, we are happy to share this report from LRZTP on the progress of the students:
For the Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program students of the ninth edition it all began on April 24, 2023. Their journey through the mountains and valleys of Tibetan grammar has been an adventurous one. But they have made it! The whole group graduated with wonderful results on April 19, 2024 and had their well deserved holiday.
And then on May 6 they began their second and final year of LRZTP9. The new journey is quite different compared to the first year. The focus in year one was the language. Students learned loads of vocabulary as well as intricacies of Tibetan grammar (both colloquial and literary). They passed tests and checked themselves every day during conversation classes.
The new journey brings new adventures. In the second year the focus is on Dharma in Tibetan. English is no longer there to help understand and explain. Now everything is in Tibetan. And the teachers of the program are now our wonderful geshes who will lead the students through such topics as the Lamrim (Stages of the Path), Dura (Collected Topics) or The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva.
This of course brings new challenges. That is why every afternoon the students will still learn one on one with their conversation tutors to help clarify difficult points. The core of the geshes’ team to guide students through the second year is: Geshe Lhundup Kalsang, Geshe Phuntsok Legmon, Geshe Tsering Samten, and Geshe Tsering Dargye. All of them have the highest qualifications to teach these topics.
Very soon the students will begin their debate practice and later in the course of the year the interpretation workshops.
One of the new and amazing teachers in the second year of LRZTP9 will also be Geshema Kalsang Wangmo who very soon will begin giving classes on interpretation.
The vision of the school’s founder Lama Zopa Rinpoche was to provide students with the best possible tools to educate and mold them into fine translators and interpreters of the Buddhist teachings. For that reason it is also necessary for the participants of the program to spice up their motivation by meeting with accomplished teachers, translators and graduates of previous courses.
In the last module of the first year, one of the distinguished guests of LRZTP was Dr. Paul Hackett of Columbia University, the author of Learning Classical Tibetan and A Tibetan Verb Lexicon among many other books. He graciously accepted the invitation to meet the students on Zoom and gave a very inspiring talk. Another guest, this time in person, was Alvaro Fernandez Pereto, graduate of LRZTP8 and currently a student of a Sakya shedra (monastic college) in Dehradun. He encouraged everyone to keep on persevering in their studies and talked about the very demanding schedule of his monastic studies. Meetings like these always help to keep the flame of motivation burning.
We wish all our amazing students more success in the second year of their LRZTP adventure. Their determination and perseverance despite various obstacles and a demanding schedule is highly admired. We also welcome new students who joined our school in order to learn in individual one-on-one sessions. They have come from South Korea, Bolivia, and Buryatia. We are always open for anyone who would like to study with us, so please, check our website for information on individual sessions.
Meanwhile another great team of students completed, in March 2024, their Advanced Level I (third year) of the Foundations in Tibetan Language online program. We wish to congratulate all of them, too. Online classes began on Advanced Level 2: Focus on Dharma, May 29.
Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program is dedicated to providing the best possible platform for anyone who wishes to study Tibetan language either to be able to translate Dharma or for their own purpose. The language is taught on all levels, from elementary to advanced. You can learn both colloquial as well as literary Tibetan.
Check the LZRTP website for dates for LRZTP10 as this information becomes available: www.lrztp.org
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with flowers, October 2003. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
This month’s e-news brings you important news, updates, and causes for rejoicing regarding:
- An update on the Stupa of Complete Victory at Kopan Monastery
- Teachings from Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche
- Meritorious activities on Saka Dawa for the entire FPMT organization
- A report on the Heart Sutra Retreat at Kopan Monastery
- Center and regional news
- Resources for your study and practice
- Opportunities and changes within the organization
and much more!
Please read this month’s e-news in its entirety.
Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.
Visit our subscribe page to receive the monthly FPMT International Office e-News directly in your email inbox.
Caption: Group participating in the Asia Regional Consultations at Kopan Monastery. Photo by Kira Dane.
The first of the four regional consultations planned in 2024 to pave the way for the CPMT 2025 meeting took place at Kopan Monastery on April 14-15. Thirty onsite and a dozen online participants joined, representing almost all the centers, projects and services from South Asia and East and South-East Asia, and including eight monks and nuns from Kopan.
Selina Foong, regional coordinator for East and South-East Asia reports.
After seemingly endless regional meetings on Zoom, it felt so right that the first time we met in person again after four long years was at Kopan Monastery… the place where it all began for many of us, and from where ripples of the holy Dharma continue to spread in all directions.
It was a healthy turnout for our regional meeting on April 14 and 15, with all the FPMT East & South-East Asian FPMT centers represented by their respective center directors, Spiritual Program Coordinators, and other key personnel. Those unable to travel to Kopan were equally enthusiastic, joining via Zoom and actively participating in discussions as if they were sitting right next to us in the Kopan Library!
We were thrilled to be joined as well by representatives from South Asia FPMT centers in India and Nepal, including geshes and geshemas from Kopan, during the opening and closing plenary sessions of the meeting, in which Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi and Ven. Roger Kunsang also participated. Together with our meeting facilitators (FPMT board members Karuna Cayton and Dale Davis, and Center Services director Francois Lecointre), this made for a large dynamic group with great camaraderie and family feeling.
The meeting theme was “Advancing our Gurus’ Vision of a World Guided by Compassion & Wisdom” so in between the plenary sessions, we divided into our respective regional groups – ESEA, India. and Nepal – to discuss the way forward for our beloved FPMT organization, progressing on from the FPMT global online survey conducted in early 2024. Rich and fruitful discussions focused on the four main topics: Education, Community Services and Interfaith, Modern Technologies and Communications, and Leadership. Each group was then given the opportunity to present their summaries at the closing plenary session, followed by a delightful buffet lunch in Boudha.
This consultation of the Asian FPMT affiliates from East & South-East Asia, India and Nepal, was the first to be held by FPMT Inc. and International Office, and will be followed by similar consultations in other regions throughout the year which will pave the way for CPMT, due to be held in Kopan Monastery in April 2025. We look forward to it very much. May the unmistaken reincarnation of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche swiftly return!
The second of the four regional consultations planned in 2024 to pave the way for the CPMT 2025 took place in Jamyang London on April 26-28. Forty onsite participants joined, representing centers, projects, and services from a dozen of European countries. We’ll share more detail on this successful event soon. Next regional consultations are planned in Land of Medicine Buddha for affiliates from North and Latin America, September 6-8; and in Atisha Centre for affiliates from Australia and New-Zealand, October 25-28.
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Kopan Monastery illuminated during the Heart Sutra Retreat. Photo by Kira Dane.
Following the commemoration activities at Kopan Monastery honoring the one-year anniversary of Lama Zopa Rinpoche showing the aspect of passing away, a Heart Sutra Retreat was held from April 15-20, 2024 with commentary by His Eminence the 104th Ganden Tripa, meditations led by Ven. Steve Carlier, and evening sessions with short extracted videos of Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching a topic related to emptiness. Please read an inspiring overview of this joyous retreat provided by Kopan Monastery:
The Heart Sutra Retreat began with a joyous welcome and introduction to Kopan and the event by Ven. Thubten Kalden, who had kindly stepped in to replace Ven. Thubten Khadro, Kopan’s SPC, while she is away taking care of her ailing father. After dinner, we were joined by Ven. Roger Kunsang who told us how pleased he was that so many people, a bit more than 200, were attending this retreat, which had been specifically organized to fulfill one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s wishes. Ven. Steve Carlier then set the tone for the retreat with his opening remarks in his trademark laid-back style of presentation.
In accordance with Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s tradition for retreat, each day began at 5:30 a.m. with Lama Chopa. Ven. Thubten Dechen led the chanting and Ven. Joan Nicell led the parts in English. After breakfast, we were blessed to have two hours of teachings on the Heart Sutra by His Eminence the 104th Ganden Tripa. These teachings were expertly translated into English by Ven. Steve, and then into Italian and Spanish by respectively Ven. Siliana Bosa and Ven. Paloma Alba.
Ven. Joan and Ven. Dechen leading the chants during the Heart Sutra Retreat. Photo by Kira Dane.
The afternoons consisted of three sessions of meditation, each forty-five minutes in length. These were introduced by Ven. Steve, who provided us with profound nuggets to contemplate based on his many years of studying and teaching emptiness. A short series of preliminary prayers, including Praise to Manjushri, preceded the slow chanting in English of the Heart Sutra up to the point where we paused to meditate. Over the course of the four afternoons, we spent several sessions meditating first on “Form is emptiness,” then “Emptiness is form,” followed by “Emptiness is not other than form; form is also not other than emptiness.” Eventually we made it to “In the same way, feeling” where we paused to contemplate “Emptiness is not other than feeling” and so forth. The emptiness of discrimination, compositional factors, and consciousness, as well as the rest of phenomena, remains for us to contemplate in future retreats!
Ven. Steve Carlier teaching during the Heart Sutra Retreat at Kopan Monastery. Photo by Kira Dane.
Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi, abbot of Kopan, kindly came to do a Q & A session one afternoon. The difficult questions posed by both old and new students gave us a glimpse of Khen Rinpoche’s great depth of knowledge and his skill in presenting the Dharma to a modern audience.
Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi offering a Q & A during the Heart Sutra Retreat at Kopan Monastery. Photo by Kira Dane.
The evening sessions began with a short subtitled video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching a topic related to emptiness. Rinpoche’s highly animated and expressive, and sometimes humorous, way of teaching topics such as the emptiness of red and green traffic lights made Rinpoche’s presence very much felt by all of us. (These videos will be released to the public soon.) Ven. Steve spent the rest of the session answering questions, generously sharing his extensive knowledge with us.
Heart Sutra Retreat participants viewing one of the extracted short videos of Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching on emptiness. Photo by Kira Dane.
Unfortunately the retreat also gave many people a chance to contemplate the human suffering of sickness as a highly contagious stomach bug, also present in Kathmandu, swept through the group. For some it passed in twenty-four hours, but for others it even resulted in a visit to the hospital due to the resulting dehydration.
The retreat ended on the morning of April 20 with a final teaching on the Heart Sutra by Tri Rinpoche. It was followed by a group photo of the Heart Sutra retreat participants together with Tri Rinpoche.
Heart Sutra Retreat participants with His Eminence the 104th Ganden Tripa, April 2024. Photo courtesy of Kopan Monastery.
Afterward Khen Rinpoche took the opportunity to tell retreat participants about Kopan’s many charitable projects. Ven. Steve thanked everyone for their support during the retreat, and then led the group in final dedications, including the King of Prayers and the swift return prayer for Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Ven. Kalden then thanked everyone who contributed to making the retreat a success, including the cooks and kitchen staff who had gone out of their way to make sure we enjoyed good and healthy food throughout the retreat.
His Eminence the 104th Ganden Tripa teaching during the Heart Sutra Retreat at Kopan Monastery. Photo by Kira Dane.
The next morning a long life puja organized by Kopan was held in honor of Tri Rinpoche. Although, being based on the short Sixteen Arhat Puja, it was a relatively brief puja, all the traditional long life offerings were presented to Tri Rinpoche by the Kopan monks and nuns. As he had done during the teachings, Tri Rinpoche left the gompa in a wheelchair smiling and waving happily to the people on either side of the aisle.
Ven. Roger Kunsang offering to His Eminence the 104th Ganden Tripa during the long life puja held at Kopan Monastery, April 21, 2024. Photo courtesy of Kopan Monastery.
May we always be able to fulfill our holy guru’s holy wishes by studying, contemplating, and meditating on the holy Dharma!
Grateful thanks to Kopan Monastery for offering this inspiring report of the retreat.
A booklet with instructions by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for doing a retreat related to the Heart Sutra can be found here:
https://shop.fpmt.org/Heart-Sutra-Practices-and-Instructions-for-Retreat-PDF_p_1775.html
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Display of the large Twenty-one Taras at the Melbourne Town Hall, 2023 Photo by Cynthia Karena.
In 2014, Lama Zopa Rinpoche commissioned Peter Iseli to paint a very big (49 ft x 30 ft) Twenty-One Taras thangka. Peter and his wife Jangchub Iseli-Sangmo spent four years creating the thangka, one section at a time, in a studio at Institut Vajra Yogini in France.
Large Twenty-One Tara thangka by artist Peter Iseli. Photo by Cynthia Karena.
At the end of 2017, Lama Zopa offered this thangka to Tara Institute in Melbourne, Australia, “to show to as many people as possible.”. In 2019 Peter made final changes requested by Rinpoche, and since then the thangka has been stored at Tara Institute.
Tara Institute displayed this thangka at the 2023 Victorian Celebration of the United Nations Day of Vesak at the Melbourne Town Hall. The event was a success and enjoyed by many, and we are pleased to share this will occur again this year on this Saturday May 11, 2024 honoring the same occasion and at the same venue!
Please enjoy a short video about this wonderful event.
Tara Institute will be posting reels and stories on their Instagram account throughout the day, starting with a livestream of loading the thangka onto the truck at 6 a.m.
Several FPMT centers have commissioned large thangkas and are now hosting festival days where these holy objects can be enjoyed. We invite you to rejoice in the displaying of these magnificent holy objects which was one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization. As Rinpoche has explained, doing this makes it “so easy for sentient beings to purify their heavy negative karma and making it so easy for sentient beings to create extensive merit. Which makes it so easy to achieve the realizations of the path and so easy to achieve liberation and enlightenment.”
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
In this final chapter, “Touching Our Inner Beauty,” Ven. René Feusi answers the questions, “How do we peel back the layers of our consciousness to reveal the luminous essence of our being?” “How can awareness not only open our hearts but also cultivate a gentle embrace of ourselves and others?” Ven. René explores these topics, sharing practical techniques that serve not just as teachings but as tools for life.
Please watch Ven. Rene’s talk, “Touching Our Inner Beauty”
https://youtu.be/Y5VUwSbSNrA?feature=shared
You can also explore all six teachings in the Wisdom Dialogues series including inspiring hour-long talks from, in addition to Ven. René Feusi, Ven. Robina Courtin, Ven. Thubten Wangdu, Paula Chichester, Kabir Saxena, and Martin Strom.
Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW) provides secular training, programs and resources across many sectors of society – schools, universities, hospices, workplaces, healthcare, youth groups and community centers.
Drone image of the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion. Photo by Brett Ritchie.
The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, being built near Bendigo Australia, is 50 meters (164 feet) square at its base and nearly 50 meters high. This makes it the largest stupa in the Western World. This stupa is the same design and size as the Gyantse Stupa (Kumbum) in Tibet. The Gyantse Stupa is one of the treasures of the Buddhist world.
We are pleased to share a recent update from Great Stupa director, Ian Green:
Drone Video
We are pleased to share a drone compilation of the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, shot by Brett Ritchie. You can watch it in 4K by selecting the “cog” on the bottom row of options directly under the video.
Please watch the drone compilation video of the Great Stupa:
https://youtu.be/0qCbFCU27Bg?feature=shared
Kalachakra Mandala Ceiling
The ceiling of the Great Stupa gompa is 20 meters x 20 meters (66 x 66 feet). This whole space will be covered with a Kalachakra mandala. The mandala is being painted on polycarbonate panels which are 2 meters (6.5 feet) square. There will be 100 of these panels suspended to make the ceiling. The mandala will be presented three-dimensional so that different levels of the mandala will be on different levels. Lighting will be incorporated into the mandala to create a spectacular effect. While the mandala itself is strictly traditional, the way it is being presented on this enormous ceiling is being modernized to take advantage of modern materials.
Painting of the Kalachakra ceiling panels. Photo courtesy of the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion.
The painting of the panels is being undertaken by a team of around 10 volunteers who are led and coordinated by Garrey Foulkes, the artistic director, and Guy Lawson the project manager. These skilled artists have been at work in Bendigo and in Queensland for nearly 12 months and their work is currently 50% complete. The ceiling will be complete for the Kalachakra initiation which will be led by Jhado Rinpoche inside the Great Stupa in September 2025.
Bumpa Door Frames
Bumpa door frames. Photo courtesy of the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion.
The door frames on the Bumpa (level 6) of the Great Stupa have been crafted to be replicas of the frames on the Gyantse Kumbum in Tibet. These massive frames are around 5.5 meters (18 feet) high. Work on the frames was completed in Vietnam and the art team under the leadership of Finn Matthews and Guy Lawson are meticulously painting them to be even more spectacular than the original door frames in Gyantse. Work is ongoing and we intend for the frames to be erected by the end of 2024.
Lightshows at the Great Stupa
Light show at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion.
Lightshows at the Great Stupa offer elaborate lighting throughout the Peace Park and spectacular lights on the stupa itself. These lightshows, which are called Illumin8 and Enlighten, occur on many occasions throughout the year and are sell-out events with people traveling far to experience this magical and uplifting presentation.
Bodhidhamma Vihara
The Buddha statue is installed in Bodhi Dhamma Vihara, a Sri Lankan community project on the grounds of the Great Stupa. Photo courtesy of the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion.
Interfaith harmony is a major component of the Great Stupa‘s presentation to visitors. We believe that this conviction relates as much to harmony amongst Buddhist traditions as between different faiths. When the local Sri Lankan Buddhist community approached us about their need to find some land for a much needed vihara (temple or place of worship) in the Bendigo region, we were pleased to offer them the use of some of the land belonging to the Great Stupa for that purpose. Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche was very pleased that this cooperation was happening.
This sharing of the land is symbolic of harmony between our two Buddhist traditions and also between our two cultures and countries. The Great Stupa has worked cooperatively with the Bodhidhamma Vihara Bendigo team on the establishment of the vihara and in doing so we have enriched our spiritual and cultural lives.
A large ceremony to mark the planting of the sapling of Jaya Shri Maha Bodhi, the most sacred tree in Sri Lanka, in the vihara site at the Great Stupa will take place on June 6. 2024. This event will be attended by the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, the Premier of the State of Victoria, along with leading sangha from Sri Lanka, representatives of the interfaith community, ambassadors, and various leaders of federal, state, and local government.
We hope that the harmonious relationship between the Great Stupa and the Bodhidhamma Vihara will be an inspiration to Buddhists and people all over the world, illustrating that by working together, it is possible to build a positive connection that lasts for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
To learn more about the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, visit the website:
www.stupa.org.au
The first copy of a special limited edition of 300 copies of the Sutra of Great Liberation, printed in English by Amitabha Buddhist Centre students for the occasion of the commemoration of Lama Zopa Rinpoche showing the aspect of passing away, was offered to the holy body of Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery, April 12, 2024. Photo courtesy of ABC.
This month’s e-news brings you important news, updates, and causes for rejoicing regarding:
- One year anniversary of Lama Zopa Rinpoche showing the aspect of passing away
- Teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe
- Heart Sutra Retreat at Kopan Monastery
- Grants offered through FPMT Charitable Projects in 2023
- Asia Regional Consultations at Kopan Monastery
- International Merit Box Project – collection season has started for this year’s grants
- Opportunities and changes within the organization
and much more!
Please read this month’s e-news in its entirety.
Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.
Visit our subscribe page to receive the monthly FPMT International Office e-News directly in your email inbox.