Image of Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the altar in Kopan Monastery Gompa during the 49 Day Heruka Lama Chopa Puja. Photo by Ven. Tenzin Tsomo.

We are pleased to share this moving account from Kopan about the Heruka Lama Chopa puja offered at Kopan Monastery on May 31 during the 49th day of Lama Zopa Rinpoche showing the aspect of passing away. 

Round-the-clock practices and prayers in the presence of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s kudung (holy body relic) and a weekly offered puja culminated on May 31 with an extensive Heruka Lama Chopa puja. The day began with the usual 5:00 a.m. purification puja offered to Rinpoche’s holy body. It was followed by a morning visit from H.E. Kyabje Zong Rinpoche who joined the prayers in Rinpoche’s room. Lamas, geshes, monks, nuns, and hundreds of lay students from around the world began to gather in the main gompa of Kopan Monastery at 8 a.m.

Huge and beautifully decorated tormas, butter lamps and LED lights, bowls of colorful and exotic fruit, vases and garlands of fresh and artificial flowers, bowls of saffron water, and rows of incense were set out on tables across the width of the gompa. A huge photo of Lama Zopa Rinpoche (with an impish grin as if he had just played a huge joke on all of us!) beamed down upon us, as it had for most of the 49 days.

The puja was presided over by Khenrinpoche Thubten Chonyi, the abbot of Kopan, and graced by the presence of Rangjung Neljorma Khandro Tseringma (Khadro-la); FPMT resident geshes and teachers; FPMT board members Ven. Roger Kunsang, Dale Davis, Paula de Wys, and Karuna Cayton; and various FPMT center directors and SPCs. As the puja progressed, lay students from many FPMT centers, Sherpas and Nepalis dressed in traditional clothing, and a long line of children from Dicky Tsering Children’s Home filed into the gompa to pay their respects and offer katas on the central throne bearing Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s photo.

Heruka Lama Chopa Puja on the 49th day of Lama Zopa Rinpoche showing the aspect of passing away, Kopan Monasatery, May 31, 2023. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Led by Umdze-la, Geshe Losang Sherab, the puja began with a heartrending chant of Calling the Guru from Afar. This was followed by Heruka Lama Chopa, a puja characterized by verse after verse of offerings chanted with intricate tunes. Copious amounts of tea and other drinks were served to keep everyone hydrated in the hot weather. A delicious catered lunch served in shiny copper pots was offered to everyone present. Generous money offerings were made again and again to the many sangha present by the Hong Kong center, the IMI Sangha, and many other groups and individuals. After the lunch break, the puja resumed at 2:00 p.m. and concluded at 5:00 p.m. with one more recitation of the swift return prayers followed by Lama Atisha’s light offering prayer.

In the meantime, outside in the debate courtyard various groups of Nepali lay practitioners and the children of Dicky Tsering Children’s Home took turns reciting prayers. Upstairs in the presence of Rinpoche’s holy body, the daily round of practices continued until late at night, including the self-initiations of Yamantaka and Vajrayogini and many other prayers. After dinner, the Kopan monks gathered in the debate courtyard to recite the root texts of Ornament of Clear Realization and Entering the Middle Way.

Altogether these 49 days were a huge Dharma celebration of continuous prayers and practices day and night, pilgrimages to some of the most holy places in Nepal, and extensive offerings set up in Rinpoche’s rooms, the monastery and nunnery gompas, and the debate courtyard. It was a time of great sadness and shared grief but also a celebration of Rinpoche’s life and legacy as we rejoiced in the “unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable good fortune” we had to not only receive a perfect human rebirth but to meet with such a perfectly qualified Mahayana guru who taught the unmistaken path to enlightenment for more than fifty years!

Khatas on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s throne at the end of the 49th Day puja, Kopan Monastery, Nepal. Photo by Ven. Tenzin Tsomo.

Due to all the past, present, and future merits collected by each one of us and all the three-time merits collected by numberless sentient beings and numberless buddhas, may Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s unmistaken, perfect incarnation quickly return to this world and be recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at a young age. May there be no obstacles to the incarnation’s long life and holy activities for the benefit of the Buddhadharma and sentient beings. May all of Rinpoche’s past and present disciples once again meet their holy guru, hear the nectar of his holy speech, and never be separated from him in this and all their future lives. May all the sentient beings who did not have the fortune to meet with Lama Zopa Rinpoche in this life be able to encounter his new incarnation and be guided by him (or perhaps her!) in all their future lives.

With love, prayers, and a billion, zillion, trillion thanks for all you are doing to fulfill Rinpoche’s holy wishes,

The monks and nuns of Ogmin Jangchub Choling and Kachoe Ghakyil Ling—Kopan Monastery and Nunnery

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.