receive our newsletters
join Friends of FPMT
Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the long life puja offered at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in January 2020. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
A long life puja was offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery in Nepal in January 2020. A long-time student composed the following prayer and praise for the puja. Of it, Lama Zopa Rinpoche said, “The long life prayer is telling the false and the truth in our life. … This is because this student understands Dharma and is a good writer.”
Long-life Prayer for Kyabje Thubten Zopa Rinpoche
May the incomparable Spiritual Friend,
Who is more precious than a wish-granting jewel,
Have a long, fruitful life and continue guiding us
Along the path he himself has traveled.
Although you have shown us well that the pleasures of samsara
Are nothing more than suffering in disguise,
Still we remain addicted to these transient pleasures,
Grasping onto them as if they were real—
O Guru, please be patient with short-sighted beings like myself
And continue to reveal the truth behind samsara’s lies
Until all of us come to realize that there is no essence at all
In any of the objects of worldly desire.
Although you have shown us well that, despite appearances,
Nothing exists solely from its own side,
And that the hallucination that it does
Is what traps us perpetually in unsatisfactory existence—
O Guru, please be patient with thick-headed beings like myself
Who return empty-handed from the Jewel Island of Dharma,
Having repeatedly heard the words of the teachings,
But have failed to realize their essential meaning.
Although you have shown us well that cherishing ourselves
More than others is the falsest of friends—
It promises us the fulfilment of our innermost desires,
Yet condemns us to perpetual frustration instead—
O Guru, please be patient with slaves of selfishness like myself
Who fail to learn from your perfect example
That service to others is the only source of true happiness,
The only cure for the miseries of the world.
O Guru, who never tires revealing the path to Full Awakening
To those who, like myself, are addicted to sleep,
Please be patient with all our shortcomings
And remain with us until all beings are free.
COLOPHON: Composed in California by the lay devotee Jhampa Togme on January 22, 2020, to coincide with a long-life puja offered to Kyabje Thubten Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, by a gathering of his worldwide circle of fortunate disciples. May all our sincere wishes to be continuously cared for by him be fulfilled!
Find more prayers and praises for Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the new page “Long Life Prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche Composed by Others”:
https://fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/prayers-by-others/
Watch the video series Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Teachings on Thought Transformation during the Time of COVID-19 and find links to videos in translation, transcripts, MP3s, additional practice advice, and more:
https://fpmt.org/fpmt/announcements/resources-for-coronavirus-pandemic/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche-for-coronavirus/
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.