“[I would like] for the organization to support the older students who have worked so hard for the organization, who sacrificed their lives for the organization for 25 years or more, or also for people who have offered 20 or 15 years. Those who need help for treatment or means for living,” Rinpoche said.

“Need to think about how to help them, so they get something back from the organization. First start with the Sangha then the lay people, it also depends on how much funds we have.”

The Lama Yeshe Sangha Fund, managed by FPMT International Office, was established to take care of the International Mahayana Institute, FPMT’s monastic community, by ensuring that the Sangha are educated in vinaya and Buddhist philosophy; have appropriate accommodation; have proper food and nourishment; have access to proper medical care; have a supportive environment and conditions for retreat; and are cared for when sick and elderly.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche commented, “[I would like the organization to continue] establishing good quality monasteries and nunneries, with good quality Sangha in order to preserve the Dharma by having people practicing vinaya. [I would like the organization] to provide support to the FPMT Sangha and the monasteries and nunneries.”

Thirteen of FPMT’s centers have established monastic communities including the organization’s first, Kopan Monastery.

Supporting Sangha is a high priority for FPMT and for over 40 years the organization has been offering support to monasteries in Nepal, India, Mongolia and the West.

The Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund offers support to nunneries and monasteries, and individual monks and nuns around the world for food, accommodation, health care, education and practice. The fund is not limited to any one institution and able to benefit many nunneries, monasteries and Sangha in need.

“[I would like] for the organization to support the older students who worked hard for the organization, who sacrificed their lives to the organization,” Rinpoche affirmed. “And to support those who need help for medical treatment or means for living. We need to think about how to help them so they get something back from the organization. The plan would be to help them for the rest of their life. If there are a lot of funds then we can give some money like a retirement pension. Maybe we could offer the coffin for free (joke). First start with the Sangha, then the lay people, depending on how much funds we have.”

“[I would like] for the organization to establish 100,000 recitations of 100 million OM MANI PADME HUMs.

“It would be very good if the retreats are sponsored by the organization,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche stated. “The idea is for it to be sponsored so people do not have to pay. Also, if an individual person is doing 100 million manis, then for the organization to sponsor the person.”

There are now annual 100 million mani retreats at Tashi Chime Gatsal Nunnery in Nepal, and in FPMT Center in Mongolia and a virtual ongoing 100 million mani retreat at Chenrezig Institute, Australia.

“[It would be good for FPMT] to sponsor people who make a serious commitment in this life to practice such as doing 1,000 nyung näs. People who have completed 1,000 Nyung Näs in their life should have a special title, something to do with Chenrezig.

“Main thing is for the Nyung Näs be sponsored by the organization. The idea is to start as a project and then for the whole organization to sponsor, or to sponsor the food or lodging.”

About Nyung Näs, Rinpoche taught: “This is your best offering, best service to sentient beings; this is how you collect most extensive merit. Doing all those practices, prostrations it is unbelievable purification, by reciting the 35 buddhas, Chenrezig meditation, recitation, by making offerings to Chenrezig you collect the same amount of merit as having made offerings to all the buddhas, and then by taking the eight Mahayana precepts on top, wow! Amazing, gorgeous! So you create limitless skies of merit then by taking them with bodhichitta motivation, it is unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable purification, and you can achieve all the qualities of Buddha. It is just amazing.”

The Practice and Retreat Fund provides grants and sponsorships to students engaged in retreats such as 108 Nyung Nä retreats, 100 million mani retreats, recitations of sutras, and long-term retreat and to develop retreat centers.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche advised that “the most beneficial thing to have peace and to stop the wars is reciting the Sutra of Golden Light. This is the most beneficial thing to bring peace, everyone should try to do this, no matter how busy they are, even to recite one or two pages, even a few lines. It is extremely powerful and fulfills all one’s wishes, as well as brings peace and happiness for all sentient beings, up to enlightenment. It is also extremely powerful for one’s own protection and for the protection of the country and the world. [It would be good for FPMT] to sponsor people to go to countries experiencing war or disasters and read this sutra.”

FPMT International Office has created a resource page to help you learn more about and start reciting the Sutra of Golden Light. You can download the sutra in 12 languages, report completed recitations, share your experiences, and ask questions about the text itself.

“We need to have more retreat places to study the path,” Rinpoche remarked. “[FPMT] should have many around the world, so it is easy for people and they don’t have to travel very far, and have full knowledge of how to build them, how to make them as perfect as possible for meditation.”

FPMT has many facilities conducive to long-term retreat such as Buddha Amitabha Pure Land in Washington, United States. Rinpoche recently gave specific advice about his plans for this vision:

“So, I am planning to put together this group of people to meditate and gain realizations and this is what is needed for the FPMT organization to develop for the benefit of sentient beings. It is a very, very, very important project because the extensive study of philosophy is something that is already being done in the FPMT, however, meditating and actualizing the lam-rim in retreat, that is something else. We really need the lam-rim realizations in the heart. It’s not easy to attain shiné, even for those who completely dedicate their lives to this.

“We will organize a retreat place for people who want to completely sacrifice their lives to actualize the lam-rim realizations and also shiné. Khadro-la [Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme] says Washington State in the United States would be best, so I’m thinking to build a few rooms and start there. “

“[I would like] the organization to provide scholarships for students to study,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche exhorted. “Buddhist philosophy based on the lam-rim and lojong: academic studies with practice experience. We need teachers who are not just teaching from texts, but teaching from some experience, then there is so much more benefit. By teaching from one’s experience it brings deeper benefit. Then there is change and transformation of the mind.”

The Education and Preservation Fund supports Dharma study and contributes to the development of Buddhist education programs and the preservation of the Dharma through the publication of Dharma practice materials and translations.

“[I would like] for the organization to develop Universal Education more and similar programs in order to develop better human beings, to have more beneficial lives, to bring peace and happiness in the world, to not become harmful to oneself and others,” Rinpoche shared.

Universal Education (for Compassion and Wisdom) is an educational project of FPMT that offers a system of inner learning that enables children, young people and adults to lead a happy and meaningful life and to be of service to others.

“[I would like the organization] to develop different techniques rooted in Dharma for healing, to
help others,” Rinpoche said. “So in this way, we are making other lives much easier and happier.”

A number of FPMT centers offer healing programs for terminally ill people and eight FPMT centers are now offering hospice programs to those in their final days of life including Karuna Hospice.

“[FPMT should] help young people through meditation and consultation, and also help them offer volunteer service as part of their practice.” Rinpoche said. “This brings immediate benefit, so we don’t have to wait for many years, something immediate that you can offer to others.”

There have been many initiatives aimed at benefiting young people including Tara Redwood School, Creating Compassionate Cultures, and other children programs at FPMT centers.

[I would like to have] a program to educate the parents so they can have a good plan on how to bring up children,” Rinpoche added. “We can make a guidebook for parents and also organize and give lectures for parents. Also, I think this is a means for world peace: as His Holiness the Dalai Lama says, the future world depends on young children now – so if you have children with good qualities, with basic education in being a good human being, if parents bring up children with these qualities, then the future world would have more peace.

“So the parents themselves have to be educated before they try with their children. So they need a clear plan. Not just to make children out of attachment, for their own comfort, for their own needs and desire. Like keeping a pet. If it is like this then later they will suffer so much, especially the children will disappoint them, like when they try alcohol or engage in killing, stealing, etc. Then the parents will suffer. It becomes like hell and then so many years that they sacrificed their life for their children, it will become a disappointment and meaningless, and also because all of it was done with attachment and non-virtuous thought – so it becomes negative karma. Because it was not done with a sincere heart, the pure mind, loving-kindness.”

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has given extensive advice about children and parenting.

[FPMT should] start a drug rehabilitation project, particularly a Buddhist drug rehabilitation project similar to the Christian programs that already exist,” Rinpoche suggested. “Another one can be a universal (non-Buddhist) drug rehabilitation project.”

“Then, [I would like FPMT to offer] social services to help the elderly.”

Many FPMT centers host programs for elderly members including Amitabha Buddhist Center in Singapore, Kurukulla Center in Boston and Land of Medicine Buddha in California.

The Social Services Fund focuses efforts primarily in India, Nepal, Tibet and Mongolia. Funds help children, the elderly, sick, and very poor through grants for schools, hospices, health clinics, soup kitchens, elderly homes, orphanages and more.

“[I would like] for the organization to arrange talks with many religious leaders in the world,” Rinpoche asked. “The plan is to have this as a reoccurring event. So this is the big way. Then to do this in a small way for the centers to do this with religious leaders in their local community. The more that other religious people come to know about His Holiness and understand more and more, it is so effective and in this way it can help for world peace. In this way the organization becomes a tool for world peace.”

“As much as possible [I would like] for there to be animal blessing events when I visit the centers, ” Lama Zopa Rinpoche said. “The animal blessings can be in public places and children can come and other people who are interested, those who don’t come to the center much. There needs to be one table that is piled high with holy objects, mantras recited and then blown on water, then the blessed water can be sprinkled over the animals. There needs to be good advertising so more people come.”

Taking care of all sentient beings, including insects and animals, is a high priority for Lama Zopa Rinpoche and as such FPMT has a number of animal projects including the Animal Liberation Fund, Animal Liberation Sanctuary and MAITRI Charitable Trust. Many centers host regular animal blessings in parks and public places.

In addition to the weekly animal liberations offered by the Sangha at Kachoe Dechen Ling, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has requested the Sangha to also make weekly trips to the Pacific Ocean in order to bless all the beings living in the ocean, by using large Namgyälma mantra boards. Rinpoche also designed animal liberation tools that can be used to catch and benefit small creatures.

As an incredible example of the work being done for animals around the world, Amitabha Buddhist Centre and Ven. Tenzin Drachom have liberated over 200 million animals to date!