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Bertrand Beauregard with some of the “Efficient Communication and Excellence in Management” course graduates, Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, March 2017. Photo courtesy of Bertrand Beauregard.
In March 2017, twenty-four Kopan Monastery monks who also serve in staff positions at the monastery received coaching and training for six days in management, communication, and leadership from French student Bertrand Beauregard, director of Institut International de Coaching Humaniste (IICH). Bertrand offered the tailored training—”Efficient Communication and Excellence in Management”—as part of his service to Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Using role play, the monks learned and practiced skills in management, cross-cultural communication, and leadership. Also, the monks practiced teamwork building exercises and even got exposure to Myers-Briggs (MBTI) personality profiles to help them relate to others more effectively.
“I would like to thank Bertrand for coming at Kopan Monastery to teach us and share his knowledge,” said attendee Geshe Thubten Chyangchup. “I learned new words and how to communicate with others cultures. I really liked learning how to be a leader, how to use motivational drivers, how to say ‘no,’ and how to give feedback.”
Bertrand Beauregard and some of the “Efficient Communication and Excellence in Management” trainees, Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, March 2017. Photo courtesy of Bertrand Beauregard.
“This training was beyond my expectation,” added Geshe Thubten Jinpa. “I didn’t think it would be before class started, but it fascinated me. I learned so much. It is a bodhisattva action to implement these skills.”
Bertrand was also grateful for the experience. “For me, to train and coach in such an auspicious environment has been a really precious and interesting experience,” Bertrand beamed. “When I’m at Kopan, I’m used to receiving teachings and bowing down to my Dharma teachers—so this was quite different! The students were really open-minded and we could go really deep into communication, management, and teamwork building.”
Bertrand continued, “I was really grateful to share my passion and offer my skills to FPMT. Like in life, it is all about giving and receiving at the same time. We learned so much form each other and I realized, because I was training in a religious organization, that belonging is probably one of the most basic human needs. I would like to thank the entire Kopan family, especially Ani Fran and Vens. Mukhiya and Zoksang, for accommodating me. This has been a great example of compassionate, passionate, and patient teamwork.”
Geshe Thubten Chyangchup offers Bertrand Beauregard a certificate in “Gratitude and Happiness” designed by the young Kopan monks, Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, March 2017. Photo courtesy of Bertrand Beauregard.
Bertrand will offer “Efficient Communication and Excellence in Management” to the staff of Kopan Nunnery and follow up with the Kopan monks in the next few months.
Mandala 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 in Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche in the main cave at Maratika, Nepal, April 2017. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
We invite you to read our May 2017 FPMT International Office e-News. This month you’ll find:
- a new, dynamic photo album chronicling Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s beneficial activities during March–April 2017 in Nepal
- a thank-you message to all who have started doing practices for Rinpoche’s long, healthy life
- a collection of revised protector prayers recommended by Rinpoche
- updates on FPMT International Office’s Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund
- “The Benefits of Monasteries and Nunneries,” Mandala‘s newest online feature story
- a list of the award recipients for the International Merit Box 2017
… and more!
The FPMT International Office News comes from your FPMT International Office. Visit our subscribe page to receive the FPMT International Office News directly in your email box.
Buddha House board members successful bid on an 1866 bluestone church, Magill, South Australia, Australia, February 2016. Photo courtesy of Buddha House.
On May 12, 2017, Buddha House in the suburbs of Adelaide, Australia, celebrated one year since receiving the keys to its new property and beginning extensive renovations. Buddha House student Carole Migalka described the process of finding the 1866 bluestone church its community now calls home:
“From humble beginnings in a student’s shed after Lama Yeshe’s visit in 1982, Buddha House in Adelaide has grown and flourished into a well-established FPMT center. The pioneer community purchased and renovated the first premises, a residential home, which over the years outgrew the local council bylaws. This forced the center into lease for over a decade while looking for a suitable property to purchase with limited funds.
“During the Bendigo retreat in 2014 a group of Buddha House students met with Lama Zopa Rinpoche to ask for advice about how to develop the center. His advice included doing regular specific practices together and having statues made to create the merit and conditions to finance a new center.
New Buddha House altar with Sixteen Arhats statues, Magill, South Australia, Australia, May 2017. Photo courtesy of Buddha House.
“A statue fund was formed, members and friends donated generously, and the two advised statues were commissioned. At that time Rinpoche also explained the merits of having the Sixteen Arhats statues at FPMT centers and these were made for us at Nalanda Monastery. In November 2015 the Arhats arrived in Australia ready to be painted, filled, and consecrated. Shortly after this, financial support in the form of a loan was offered to Buddha House to assist us in the purchase of our own property, coinciding with the auction of a heritage listed church and hall only eight minutes from the existing center!
“Checks were carried out by Rinpoche for its suitability. Prayers, practices, and pujas were advised and hastily completed with world-wide support, including the making of 1,000 Ganapati tsa-tsas. This task was completed by volunteers at Chenrezig Institute in five days before the date of auction.
“On February 13, 2016, the Buddha House board gathered in front of the church to successfully bid—the only offer!
“One year has passed since settlement and with great effort by many volunteers, generous donations, numerous working bees, and a dedicated building committee, an old run-down property has been transformed. The result is a wonderful Dharma center with the gompa housed in the heritage chapel, a Dharma shop and office at the entrance, a community lounge and café in the center, and a large hall and courtyards at the rear that is available for hire by local community groups.
Completed Buddha House lounge, Magill, South Australia, Australia, May 2017. Photo courtesy of Buddha House.
“At the request of our kind and skillful sponsor, a loan repayment agreement has been reached between Buddha House and the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, enabling us to directly assist this wonderful project!
“In keeping with Lama Yeshe’s vision, Buddha House aspires to continue growing and attracting people to the center, enabling generations of sentient beings to generate merit and benefit from the pristine and inspirational teachings of the Buddha.”
Mandala 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 in Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
103rd Ganden Tripa Jetsun Lobsang Tenzin Rinpoche. Photo Courtesy of Tibet.net.
We are saddened to share the news of the passing of the 103rd Ganden Tripa Jetsun Lobsang Tenzin Rinpoche, who died on April 21, 2017, at 11:45 p.m. in Delhi, India, after an illness. According to the Central Tibetan Administration, the Ganden Tripa’s death was announced by Gelugpa members of the Tibetan Parliament in exile, who urged devotees to do special prayers for the Ganden Tripa.
Sikyong (Prime Minister) Dr. Lobsang Sangay, the head of the Tibetan government in exile, said, “With profound sadness, I on behalf of all Tibetans pray that Kyabje Jetsun Lobsang Tenzin Rinpoche will be reborn and carry forward his mission to spread the teachings of Lord Buddha and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. … May he be reborn in Tibet, the land of snow.”
The 103rd Ganden Tripa Jetsun Lobsang Tenzin Rinpoche, who served as the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, was appointed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in October 2016. He was enthroned on November 5, 2016, at Ganden Trithok Khang in Mundgod, India, succeeding Rizong Sey Thubten Nyima Lungtok Tenzin Norbu in the position.
According to the Central Tibetan Administration, the 103rd Ganden Tripa was born in 1937 in Eastern Tibet. He joined Tsem Monastery at age nine and later received his higher education at Drepung Loseling Monastic University. In 1959, he followed His Holiness into exile and continued his geshe studies in Buxa Duar, a former prison camp where refugee monks were housed for several years. When the major monasteries were reestablished in South India, he served Drepung Loseling Monastery in various capacities. He was awarded the Geshe Lharampa degree in 1982 and attended Gyuto Tantric College the following year. In 2003, he was enthroned as Sharpa Chöje at the Ganden Monastery.
Lama Tsongkhapa (1357–1419) is the founder of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Becoming the Ganden Tripa
Ganden Tripa, which can be translated as “holder of the Ganden throne,” is the title given to the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Unlike reincarnation lineages, the Ganden Tripa is an appointed position based on knowledge and merit, and held for seven years. There is a saying in the monasteries that “If a mother’s child has the knowledge and wisdom, then there is no ownership of the Ganden throne,” meaning that any monk who has the intelligence and makes the effort could eventually become the Ganden Tripa.
In order to progress into the position of Ganden Tripa, a monk must first achieve the Lharampa Geshe degree, the highest degree awarded by the Gelug monasteries, and then study for at least one year and take exams at one of the tantric colleges—Gyuto or Gyume. After that, the geshe would have to be appointed to serve as the tantric college disciplinarian and then be chosen as the head lama of ritual ceremonies, an appointment currently made by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. From that position, he would become the abbot of the tantric college for three years. The former abbots of the tantric colleges are in line to be appointed as the Jangtse or Sharpa Chöje, coming from Gyume and Gyuto Tantric Colleges respectively. The Jangtse and Sharpa Chöjes alternate in eventually becoming the Ganden Tripa.
The first Ganden Tripa was Lama Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), who founded the Gelug lineage. His disciples Gyaltsab Je and Khedrup Je were the second and third Ganden Tripas respectively.
For more on the life and death of the 103rd Ganden Tripa, you can read the Central Tibetan Administration’s Tibet.net article in its entirety. You can also visit the Ganden Tripa’s Facebook page.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Thubten Rigsel Rinpoche, Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi, and Losang Namgyal Rinpoche, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, March 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
We welcome you into our April FPMT International Office e-News – out now!
Click to find:
- Practices to do for Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Health, and a Highlighted Teaching from Rinpoche
- New Additions to Rinpoche’s Schedule
- New Mandala ebook
- Highlighted Retreats At FPMT Centers
and more….!
The FPMT International Office News comes from your FPMT International Office. Visit our subscribe page to receive the FPMT International Office News directly in your email box.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme) in Bhutan, May 2016. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Every year Ven. Roger Kunsang, on behalf of the FPMT organization, checks with one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus or Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme) to determine what practices should be done to help create the conditions for Lama Zopa Rinpoche to have good health for the coming year. Khadro-la has recently advised that some prayers need to be recited, together with the completion of a number of pujas.
The prayers Khadro-la advised are the Vajra Cutter Sutra and the Dependent Arising: A Praise of the Buddha (Tendrel Topa).
We are requesting everyone to join in and keep track of their recitations of these prayers during the rest of this Tibetan year! At the end of the Tibetan year (i.e., just before Losar 2018) we will ask everyone to send us the number of prayers recited and will offer the total number of accumulated recitations to Rinpoche. It would be very beneficial if all FPMT centers, projects, services, and study groups can arrange regular recitations of these prayers.
Please use the following dedication (ideally, in addition to the usual FPMT dedication prayers):
For Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche to always have perfect health and to always be free of obstacles; and for all Rinpoche’s Dharma projects around the world to be highly successful, including all FPMT centers, projects, and services.
Offering tsog at the long life puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the last day of the Kopan November course. The five dakinis are also shown. Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2016. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
The pujas advised by Khadro-la will be offered in a number of monasteries every month until the end of this Tibetan year. Any contributions to help cover the costs of the pujas will be greatly appreciated. Donations can be made to the FPMT Puja Fund.
In addition, there will be an extensive long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, on April 23, 2017. Everyone is welcome to attend!
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.
Ian and Judy Green with Victorian members of parliament Jacinta Allan, Jaala Pulford, and Maree Edwards, Myers Flat, Victoria, Australia, March 2017. Photo courtesy of Bendigo Weekly.
On March 24, 2017, the Victoria state government in Australia announced that the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, an FPMT project that once completed will be the largest stupa in the Western world, would received a AUS$2.5 million matching grant. The grant will help the project complete the top portion of the stupa—the bumpa roof and walls, harmika, thirteen-ring tower, parasol, and finial—as well as water and sewer treatment facilities to service the stupa itself and sister FPMT centers in the surrounding area, including Atisha Centre and Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery.
In its announcement, the Victoria government recognized the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion is already “an impressive landmark” with 25,000 visitors annually with projections of 90,000 annually within ten years. In addition to bringing many economic benefits to the region, the government “acknowledges The Great Stupa’s role in promoting social cohesion by encouraging awareness and support of cultural diversity.”
“The announcement of this funding was the culmination of three years’ work with Regional Development Victoria and City of Greater Bendigo,” said chairman of the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion Ian Green. “These funds will be a game-changer in developing the Great Stupa to realize its full potential to benefit so many beings. It is also very gratifying to see the recognition that government now has for the significant contribution of the Great Stupa.”
Ian Green addressing Great Stupa visitors and Victorian members of parliament, Myers Flat, Victoria, Australia, March 2017. Photo courtesy of Bendigo Weekly.
The Victoria government will match up to AUS$2.5 million to support the completion and infrastructure of The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion. Your financial support and prayers are always welcome. Read more about The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion on FPMT.org.
Mandala 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 in Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Ven. Lobsang Konchok feeds a koala, Australia, 2017. Photo courtesy of Buddha House.
Student Carole Migalka of Buddha House, near Adelaide, Australia, shared a brief profile of resident artist Ven. Lobsang Konchok:
During Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s visit to Buddha House in May 2015, Rinpoche spoke of a Tibetan artist, Ven. Lobsang Konchok, residing in Brisbane, Australia, who would be suitable for painting Buddha House’s Sixteen Arhat statues, newly acquired from Nalanda Monastery in France. Ven. Lobsang Konchok agreed to do the work and is being hosted in the Adelaide Hills by some of Rinpoche’s students. In the past year he has been embraced by local Tibetan families, shopkeepers, neighbors, and animals alike.
Ven. Lobsang Konchok was born in Kham in eastern Tibet. When he was a child, his family gave sanctuary to a master thangka painter in the top story of their house due to the Chinese occupation of Tibet. Ven. Lobsang began to train in traditional thangka painting. In 1989 when his teacher and other monks were allowed to return to their monasteries, Ven. Lobsang entered Gansa Monastery-Tashi Ganden Chopeling at age fifteen.
Ven. Lobsang Konchok stands in front of the statues and altar he decorated. Photo courtesy of Buddha House.
In 1990, Ven. Lobsang and his cousin escaped from Tibet to India, trekking across the Himalayas, through Nepal, and arrived in India three months and two days later. In India, Ven. Lobsang took gelong ordination from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, completed his monastic studies, and continued his rigorous religious art training, studying thangka painting under His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s personal thangka painter in Dharamsala, at Norbulingka Institute, and at Drepung Monastery .
Ven. Lobsang Konchok installing Sixteen Arhat statues in completed altar. Photo courtesy of Buddha House.
In addition to the stunning art work on both the statues and the altar cabinetry, Ven. Lobsang has made new signs for Buddha House; adorned the Medicine Buddha thangka with brocade; crafted a donation box out of recycled timber; built a life-size yak for a Tibetan float in the Australia Day parade; tamed the resident koala; made a bird feeder encircled with mantras; and is spotted walking the property misting the millipedes and bull-ants with a specially prepared mani pill spray.
Ven. Lobsang Konchok creates life-size yak for Australia Day parade. Photo courtesy of Buddha House.
“I’m very happy here in Bridgewater,” Ven. Lobsang shared. “While painting the Sixteen Arhat statues and rolling the mantras, I had the good result of obtaining permanent residency in Australia after four years of trying. The family I live with is very kind; it’s nice and quiet, nice view and many parrots and koalas. Now when I’m painting thangkas and listening to teachings, I feel it’s like a pure land!”
Watch Ven. Lobsang Konchok chant to and give water to a koala:
https://vimeo.com/208234582
Ven. Lobsang Konchok is available for thangka painting and other art projects on request. For more details contact info@buddhahouse.org.
Mandala 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 in Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
These butter sculpture tormas (ritual cakes) offered during Monlam at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, take one month to make, are nine feet (three meters) tall, and will remain for one year. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
During March 9-13, Kopan Monastery hosted its annual Monlam, a prayer festival first founded by Lama Tsongkhapa in 15th-century Tibet that has survived the Tibetan diaspora. Kopan hosts the annual event for all of the Gelug monasteries and nunneries in Nepal.
Public display of large Eight Taras thangka during Monlam, painted by Peter Iseli, Kopan Monstery, Nepal, March 12, 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Throughout the festival, sangha and lay students are invited to spend the day engaged in prayers and pujas, view and receive blessings from holy objects, and attend monastic debates. On the Day of Miracles, the final day in a series of fifteen holy days, thousands of people attend the Monlam festivities. This year, Jangtse Chöje Lobsang Tenzin Rinpoche presided over the ceremonies. He also gave public a teaching and an oral transmission on March 14.
Jangtse Chöje Lobsang Tenzin Rinpoche presides over Monlam, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, March 12, 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Ven. Legtsok answers debate questions during Monlam, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, March 14, 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Songsten High School band, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, March 12, 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
A special torma is burned on the last day of Monlam, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, March 13, 2017. Photo by Laura Miller.
Many important teachers and lamas were in attendance, including Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi, the abbot of Kopan Monastery; Cherok Lama; Phuntsok Rinpoche; and Kundol Rinpoche. Other Kopan monks currently studying at Sera Je Monastery in South India were also able to participate.
Watch the activities of Kopan’s Monlam on Facebook (via Kopan Apso, March 12):
https://www.facebook.com/choekuapso
https://www.facebook.com/choekuapso/videos/1345290738847684/
Mandala 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 in Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi and Thubten Rigsel Rinpoche during the enthronement ceremony for Thubten Rigsel Rinpoche, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, March 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab
We invite you to read our March FPMT International Office e-News. This month you’ll find:
- How to Prepare for the 2017 Light of the Path Retreat
- Updates to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Schedule
- Rejoicing in Friends Old and New
- New from FPMT Education Services
… and more, including many photos!
The participants of the Vajrapani founders’ retreat, Vajrapani Institute, Boulder Creek, CA, US, January 2016
Long-time student and Vajrapani Institute co-founder Elaine Jackson shares some early Vajrapani Institute history and reports on the January 2016 Vajrapani Institute’s founders’ retreat:
It was 1977. Two hundred or more baby Dharma students gathered in Yucca Valley, California for a month-long meditation retreat with Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. The Lamas were so inspiring that a rousing talk by Ven. Thubten Pende at the end of the retreat prompted two students, Janet and Ross Brooke, to ask their land partners if they would like to donate part of their California “Omland” for a retreat center. That was the beginning of Vajrapani Institute for Wisdom Culture, our retreat center in the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz mountains.
Lama Yeshe gave his blessing to this undeveloped mountainous land at a small gathering in the middle of a ring of redwoods, saying something like, “If you build a pond, the fish will come.” It was raw land and fish did eventually come. We lived in tipis and “carpet houses,” stick frames walled with carpets retrieved from dumpsters behind big carpet warehouses in San Jose.
Janet Brooke and James Kent, Vajrapani Institute, Boulder Creek, CA, US, January 2016
Many of us thought we’d build this center in a year or two, but it took two years just to change the zoning so we could apply for a building permit. We persevered and today, by the effort of many, many students, Vajrapani is a thriving retreat center serving hundreds of Dharma students every year.
Vajrapani’s pioneers, Lama’s “bushy people,” met in January 2016 to record its history—at least what we could remember of it. Shasta Wallace and Wanda Sisnroy, invited, organized, and prepared the food. Judy Weitzner facilitated the roundtable discussions with Don Broderson monitoring the recording and Tsering filming the video. It was a delightful event—like having a slumber party with all your old friends!
Jacie Keeley and John McKay came the greatest distances, flying in from Florida and Minnesota. We initially sat in chronological order, based on when we first came to the land. James Kent, Tom Post, and Janet Brooke were first as those who donated the land. Others in attendance were Elaine Jackson, Chuck Thomas, John McKay, Tom Waggoner, Jacie Keeley, Shasta Wallace, Bev Gwyn, Richard Prinz, Thubten Pende, Sharon Gross, Barbara Vautier, Lennie Kronisch, George Galt, Valerie Thomas, Steve Pearl, Wanda Sisnroy, Keith Emmons, Judy Weitzner, and Don Broderson. Lara Brooke and her daughter, Arya, as second and third generation “bushy people,” also attended some of the sessions. Ven. John Jackson, a kingpin in construction of the center, was missed as he was in Washington State engaging in retreat. Åge Delbanco, now 91 years old, was also unable to attend, but we are hopeful that their stories will be recorded soon.
Lennie Kronisch, Don Broderson, Barbara Vautier, and Steve Pearl, Vajrapani Institute, Boulder Creek, CA, US, January 2016
Most of us came to Vajrapani via Asia, meeting Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery. Many mentioned reading Be Here Now by Ram Dass as a catalyst for leaving this country in search of truth. All the stories were miraculous and just downright “cosmic”! Many times Anila Ann McNeil’s name surfaced as someone who was influential in pointing the way. Mommy Max and Zina Rachevsky played a big part too, as Judy Weitzner and others relayed their hilarious experiences—notably riding in Mommy Max’s Hudson. Steve Pearl’s story of riding horseback across Afghanistan was amazing. Everyone described how Lama hooked them with his compassion, his wisdom, and his wonderful sense of humor. Oh, the tricks Lama played— displaying siddhis and “playing dead”—to kick his students to the next rung up the Dharma ladder! Jacie Keeley wowed us with stories of her time with Lama.
We laughed and we cried hearing about those who are no longer with us: Anila Ann McNil, John Schwartz, Diney Woodsorrel, Ashley Walker, Ross Brook, and others.
Jacie Keeley was with Lama in Italy just before Lama made his last trip to California in 1984. She told us that she knew this would be the last time the Italians saw Lama. She made us weep when she said, “Of all the places Lama could go, Lama intentionally chose Vajrapani as his final stop.”
Jacie Keeley, Tom Waggoner, Chuck Thomas, Don Broderson, Elaine Jackson, Janet Brooke, Vajrapani Institute, Boulder Creek, CA, US, January 2016
Tom Waggoner and Shasta Wallace relayed their story of being with Lama as he manifested leaving his body. Lama Zopa Rinpoche announced, “Lama’s meditation is finished.” Even now, more than thirty years later, my heart cracks open at the memory.
We all expressed such huge gratitude for meeting Lama, for living our lives in ways that we felt would make Lama happy, and for the endearing and enduring Dharma connection we all have. We do have this amazing, beautiful, as Lama used to say, “pamily peeling ” [family feeling], and it exists all over the world—wherever Lama’s holy feet touched this earth. For this, we all rejoice!
Read more about the founding of Vajrapani Institue in “A Venture in Real Estate” from Mandala August-September 2007 and in “Reaching Out: A History of and Contemporary Look at the Centers, Projects and Services of FPMT” from Mandala July-September 2009.
Mandala brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read on Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
The cover of FPMT Annual Review 2016: Working to Benefit Sentient Beings as Infinite as the Sky
International Office has just released FPMT Annual Review 2016: Working to Benefit Sentient Beings as Infinite as the Sky, a collection of warm-hearted messages, beautiful photos, and informative reports reflecting International Office’s activities in 2016.
FPMT Annual Review 2016 includes letters from FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche, CEO Ven. Roger Kunsang, and the FPMT board of directors, which focus on expressing thanks, and rejoice in and highlight International Office’s mission and work.
“I have really seen that many people in the FPMT [organization] have become increasingly compassionate, which also benefits other sentient beings more and more,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche writes in his 2016 annual review letter. “So that is one benefit. The second thing is that we’re providing more and more Dharma education so that students can understand and learn the base—the two truths and the path of method and wisdom—and the result, dharmakaya and rupakaya, Buddha’s holy mind and holy body. By receiving more and more education in topics such as the four noble truths and so forth, this is what you achieve. Without such education there is no way to be free from samsara.”
FPMT Annual Review 2016 includes an overview of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s bustling year of Dharma activities, including Rinpoche’s travels, teachings, retreats, and special meetings and events. Additionally, all of International Office’s departments offer detailed reports on their 2016 accomplishments, projects, and finances.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s 2016 activities are summarized in FPMT Annual Review 2016
We invite you to read FPMT Annual Review 2016: Working to Benefit Sentient Beings as Infinite as the Sky, now available online in eZine and PDF formats
https://fpmt.org/fpmt/annual-review/
FPMT International Office is Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s office and works daily to achieve its mission of “preserving and spreading Mahayana Buddhism worldwide by creating opportunities to listen, reflect, meditate, practice, and actualize the unmistaken teachings of the Buddha, and based on that experience, spread the Dharma to sentient beings.”