Mandala Blogs

Geshe Tenzin Zopa at Oxford University, Oxford, UK, January 2018. Photo courtesy of FPMT Australia’s Facebook page.

FPMT touring teacher Geshe Tenzin Zopa recently completed an eight-week So-Wide Visitorship for Traditional Scholars in the Tibetan and Himalayan Studies program, part of the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Oxford University in the UK.

A small group of master’s and doctoral students in the Tibetan and Himalayan Studies program are learning the Tibetan language so that they can work with Tibetan texts. Geshe Tenzin Zopa met with a group of students once per week for eight weeks, guiding them through the reading of a Tibetan text. He was also busy giving public talks, meeting with students to discuss their projects, and leading meditations. The students also had the opportunity to watch the film Unmistaken Child.

Geshe Tenzin Zopa at Oxford University, Oxford, UK, January 2018. Photo courtesy of FPMT Australia’s Facebook page.

Geshe Tenzin Zopa spent some time getting to know the Oxford faculty and their teaching styles through attending lectures.

The Visitorship was offered to Geshe Tenzin Zopa by the nonprofit So-Wide (The Society for the Wider Understanding of the Buddhist Tradition) in association with the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies and the Faculty of Oriental Studies at Oxford University.

Oxford University campus, Oxford, UK, January 2018. Photo courtesy of Geshe Tenzin Zopa’s Facebook page.

While at Oxford, Geshe Tenzin Zopa resided at the Oxford Buddha Vihara, but traveled the UK to give talks at FPMT centers.

In March, Geshe Graham Woodhouse and former Jamyang center director Marcos Troia traveled to Oxford for Geshe Tenzin Zopa’s farewell event. They attended a talk he gave to thirty people about the traditional monastic system and Sera Je Monastery. Geshe Graham Woodhouse contributed his experience as a Westerner in India. Geoff Bamford, who organized the Visitorship for Geshe Tenzin Zopa on behalf of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies and So-Wide, also spoke at the event.

Reflecting on his experience at Oxford, Geshe Tenzin Zopa had this to share:

“Om Ah Hum! … After learning a bit of history about how this place has developed as a great learning institution, it reminds me in many ways of, and makes me feel a deep appreciation for, the great ancient Nalanda University in ancient India, as well as the Tibetan monastic universities like Sera.

“It made me feel so proud of myself and those who have had the privilege of studying in great monastic universities like Sera, Drepung, and Ganden. We are so extremely fortunate to have such extraordinary learning institutions within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Rejoice, rejoice, we must rejoice.”

Geshe Tenzin Zopa is now attending Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s  Bodhicaryavatara and Rinjung Gyatsa Retreat at The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Australia.

Geshe Tenzin Zopa with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Bendigo, Australia, April 2018. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche teach during the Bodhicaryavatara and Rinjung Gyatsa Retreat at The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Australia, March 30-May 12, 2018.

• Find links to watch teachings LIVE:
  https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/lama-zopa-rinpoche-live/
• Watch, read, and listen to all of Rinpoche’s teachings from Bendigo at anytime: 
  https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/

FPMT.org 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, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.

Ven. Tenzin Tsultrim partakes in a souvenir photo session with two Tibetan mastiffs beside Yamdrok Lake, en route to Shigatse, Tibet, June 2017. Photo courtesy of Ven. Tenzin Tsultrim.

Ven. Tenzin Tsulrim, a long-time member and student at FPMT Center Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore, shares a video she made in 2017 about her practice of circumambulation around holy objects:

Since receiving ordination from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in March 2009, I have served ABC in various ways, including as media editor and video producer. Currently, I lead the on-going Medicine Buddha, Tara, and Guru pujas at ABC, and am a student in the FPMT Basic Program.

Ven. Tenzin Tsultrim outside of Lama Tsongkhapa’s retreat hermitage above Reting Monastery where he composed Lamrim Chenmo, Tibet, June 2017. Photo courtesy of Ven. Tenzin Tsultrim.

By watching this video, made using a pocket-sized video camera over an eight-month period, you can follow me as I traverse several sacred Buddhist sites across Asia in footsteps that pay homage to the Buddhist practice of circumambulation and its significance for enabling all sentient beings to accumulate merit. From one degree north of the equator in Singapore, to the high altitudes of Tibet, my path traces a circle inspired by unity and hope.

Ven. Tenzin Tsultrim at the inner courtyard of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, June 2017. Photo courtesy of Ven. Tenzin Tsultrim.

Creating the video was as much an exploratory journey for me as the actual pilgrimages I made to the holy places and doing the circumambulations. I hope by watching this video many people will be inspired to visit these precious places, and create their own circles of merit!

Watch Ven. Tenzin Tsultrim’s video on circumambulation here:
https://youtu.be/5JUjEhcBsqg

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Advice on Circumambulation, compiled by Ven. Sarah Thresher, is available for download through the FPMT Foundation Store:
https://shop.fpmt.org/Circumambulation–Lama-Zopa-Rinpoches-Advice-PDF_p_2149.html

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications 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, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche spinning prayer wheels at Atisha Centre, Bendigo, Australia, April 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

“Achieving enlightenment by depending on Buddha, Victorious One, is exactly the same as achieving enlightenment by depending on sentient beings,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches during a session of the 2017 Light of the Path retreat, captured in this six-minute video clip.

“By depending on the Buddha, you achieve enlightenment. So, you think the Buddha is so precious, so important. So why not [think this way about] sentient beings? Because you achieve enlightenment by depending on sentient beings. Buddha came from sentient beings, Dharma came from sentient beings, Sangha came from sentient beings—in whom you always take refuge when you begin a practice,” Rinpoche says.

Rinpoche reminds students that sentient beings are the source of every happiness up to enlightenment and should be regarded as most precious.

“So when you think, ‘there is ant, there is a worm, there is a worm being eaten by bird or chicken or something, or insects attacked by ants or something, mosquito or something,’ then you think, ‘The numberless buddhas came from this insect, numberless buddhas, as well as Dharma, as well as Sangha, the three rare precious ones, rare sublime ones, numberless.’”

“Achieving Dharma from the Buddha is the same as sentient beings, it is exactly the same, exactly the same. So as you respect the Buddha, why not respect the sentient beings?” Rinpoche says.

Watch Rinpoche teach “By Cherishing Sentient Beings You Will Achieve Enlightenment”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1ZB0FxIQFc

Quoted text based on the unedited transcript for the 2017 Light for the Path retreat, which you can find here with video recordings of the complete teachings:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/light-of-the-path-teachings-2017/

Watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche teach during the Bodhicaryavatara and Rinjung Gyatsa Retreat at The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Australia, March 30-May 12, 2018.

• Find links to watch teachings LIVE:
  https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/lama-zopa-rinpoche-live/
• Watch, read, and listen to all of Rinpoche’s teachings from Bendigo at anytime: 
  https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/

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.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Bendigo, Australia, April 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is currently leading the Bodhicaryavatara and Rinjung Gyatsa Retreat at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Australia. The six-week retreat began on March 30 and is scheduled to conclude on May 12, 2018.

Lama Zopa Rinoche is teaching on Shantideva’s A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life and will give the optional tantric empowerments of Chakrasamvara and Rinjung Gyatsa. This is Rinpoche’s third teaching retreat on this topic in Australia, having commenced in 2011.

Ian Green, director of The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, shares details about preparations made in advance of the retreat:

The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion at sunset, Bendigo, Australia, March 2018. Photo courtesy of Ian Green’s Twitter page.

Preparations for Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s retreat inside of The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Bendigo, Australia was a complicated logistical exercise.

Eighteen months before the retreat, we set up massive scaffolding inside of The Great Stupa, which stood fourteen meters tall by twenty meters wide (forty-six feet tall by sixty-six feet wide). Once the scaffolding was in place we began our work finishing the walls, light wells, and main arch of the north side of the gompa. That construction work took more than twelve months.

Lucy and Ven. Lobsang Konchok holding an image of a dakini inside of The Great Stupa, Bendigo, Australia, January 2018. Photo courtesy of Ian Green’s Twitter page.

The next phase was the creation of the artwork following Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice, by highly skilled Tibetan artist Ven. Lobsang Konchok.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Ven. Lobsang Konchok discussing artwork for The Great Stupa, Bendigo, Australia, April 2018. Photo courtesy of Ian Green’s Twitter page.

It took Ven. Lobsang Konchok and his assistant Lucy six months to paint the eight by six meter (twenty-six by twenty foot) arch. The result is a spectacular presentation of the Dharmachakra surrounded by eight offering dakinis.

The Dharmachakra surrounded by eight offering dakinis in The Great Stupa, Bendigo, Australia, March 2018. Photo courtesy of The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion’s Facebook page.

One of the eight offering dakinis adorning the arch inside of The Great Stupa, Bendigo, Australia, March 2018. Photo courtesy of The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion’s Facebook page.

While the Tibetan artwork was being completed twelve meters (thirty-nine feet) above the floor, plasterers and painters were at work on the lower levels. The last paint strokes were made two weeks prior to the commencement of the retreat.

The next phase was the dismantling of the scaffolding. This took one week.

Ten days prior to the start of the retreat, we were well into the massive clean-up phase. We devoted the final week to decorating The Great Stupa’s gompa with holy artwork.

Holy relics set up inside of The Great Stupa, Bendigo, Australia, March 2018. Photo courtesy of Ian Green’s Twitter page.

Since the retreat began, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has viewed relics displayed inside of The Great Stupa, teaching how to transform difficult situations into the path by seeing the benefits and training the mind.

The most spectacular artwork inside of the gompa is the fourteen-meter (forty-six foot) high thangka of the Twenty-One Taras.

The Twenty-One Taras thangka done by Peter Iseli on display inside of The Great Stupa, Bendigo, Australia, April 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

The thangka was created by artist Peter Iseli, commissioned by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for Tara Institute, the FPMT center in Melbourne, Australia.

Peter Iseli, Ven. Lobsang Konchok, Jangchub Iseli, and Ven. Thubten Gyatso at The Great Stupa, Bendigo, Australia, February 2018. Photo courtesy of Ian Green’s Twitter page.

Heath Penbrook, marketing and events coordinator for The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion shares about the return of the Jade Buddha for Universal Peace to The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion:

The Jade Buddha for Universal Peace is the largest Buddha carved from gemstone quality jade in the world. The size and beauty of the statue makes it a wonder of the world. The Buddha was carved from a rare boulder of translucent jade (“Polar Pride”), which was discovered in Canada in 2000.

The Jade Buddha surrounded by floral offerings after the unveiling at Yen Phu Temple, Hanoi, Vietnam, June 2016. Photo courtesy of Ian Green’s Twitter page.

The Jade Buddha is 2.5 meters (eight feet) high and sits on an alabaster throne of close to 1.6 meters (five feet) high. The Jade Buddha itself weighs around four tonnes (8,800 pounds) and is considered to be priceless.

The Jade Buddha finished the final leg of its nine-year world tour in South Korea in early March.

A Buddhist nun and young girl with the Jade Buddha, Busan, South Korea, March 2018. Photo courtesy of Ian Green’s Twitter page.

Ian Green flew over to South Korea to ensure the safe packaging and shipping of the Jade Buddha to its home at The Great Stupa in Bendigo, Australia.

Ian Green and friends with the Jade Buddha, packed and ready for shipment, Busan, South Korea, March 2018. Photo courtesy of Ian Green’s Twitter page.

We expect the Jade Buddha to arrive in mid-April during the Bodhicaryavatara and Rinjung Gyatsa Retreat at The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion. We are hoping to be able to place the Jade Buddha upon its throne and consecrate it during the retreat, thereby welcoming the Jade Buddha to its new home.

To learn more about The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion and the Jade Buddha for Universal Peace visit the website:
https://www.stupa.org.au

Watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche teach during the Bodhicaryavatara and Rinjung Gyatsa Retreat at The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Australia, March 30-May 12, 2018.

• Find links to watch teachings LIVE:
  https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/lama-zopa-rinpoche-live/
• Watch, read, and listen to all of Rinpoche’s teachings from Bendigo at anytime: 
  https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/

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.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Ven. Thubten Tendar looking at The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Australia, March 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche begins a third week of teachings at The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Australia, for the six-week long Bodhicaryavatara and Rinjung Gyatsa Retreat. During the first two weeks of the retreat, Rinpoche’s teachings, more than two dozen, have been streamed live online. In addition, recordings of the teachings can be watched online.

Rinpoche so far has spent a lot of time giving instructions on how to do prayers and practices, such as Lama Chöpa; on generating correct motivation; on guru devotion; and on other topics.

Nuns doing bath offering during Lama Chöpa Jorcho, The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Australia, April 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Retreat participants listening to teaching, The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Australia, April 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

The retreat is being held in the large gompa inside of The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion. Ven. Holly Ansett shared that it is a very good setting for the retreat, that everything has been well arranged, and that retreat organizers have thought of everything. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Geshe Tenzin Zopa, Bendigo, Australia, April 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

The retreat is well attended, with many Sangha and long-time senior students there. Geshe Thubten Rapten, resident geshe at the nearby Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery, attends many of the sessions with Rinpoche and teaches some of the afternoon sessions. Geshe Tenzin Zopa is attending the entire retreat. Michael Losang Yeshe is serving as the retreat leader. Approximately 180 people attended the first week. 

Walking to The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion from Thubten Shedrup Ling, Australia, April 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Rinpoche is staying at Thubten Shedrup Ling, which is adjacent to The Great Stupa, and walks from there to give teachings. On the walks, Rinpoche is very careful not to step on any ants on the path and reminds others to do the same. 

On one day, Rinpoche received a tour of The Great Stupa, including visiting the top of the stupa.

The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Australia, April 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Rinpoche also visited Atisha Centre, which is next to The Great Stupa. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche being greeted by current Atisha Centre director Ruby Karmay and former director Liam Chambers, during Rinpoche’s visit to the center’s courtyard, Australia, April 2018. Photo by Andy Melnic.

Rinpoche looking at a banner of Amoghapasha during visit to Atisha Centre, Australia, April 2018. Photo by Andy Melnic.

Watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche teach during the Bodhicaryavatara and Rinjung Gyatsa Retreat at The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Australia, March 30-May 12, 2018.

• Find links to watch teachings LIVE:
  https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/lama-zopa-rinpoche-live/
• Watch, read, and listen to all of Rinpoche’s teachings from Bendigo at anytime: 
  https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/

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.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche arriving at Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre, Delhi, India, March 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Rinpoche visited Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre in New Delhi, India, before traveling to the Bodhicaryavatara and Rinjung Gyatsa Retreat in Bendigo, Australia. On March 10-11, Rinpoche gave teachings, including oral transmissions of the Golden Light Sutra and of “The Method to Transform a Suffering Life into Happiness (Including Enlightenment),” at Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre. Center director Renuka Singh shared this report:

Initially, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, spiritual director of FPMT and Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre, was expected to come and teach in November 2017. The Delhi pollution somehow conspired to keep Rinpoche away. Finally, the auspicious time of his arrival in Delhi was on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2018.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche prostrating before giving the oral transmission of the Sutra of Golden Light, Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre, Delhi, India, March 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

The highlight of Rinpoche’s visit was the two-day teaching at Tushita. Dharma nectar blessings came in the form of the oral transmission of the sublime Golden Light Sutra on day one. Subduing one’s mind was greatly emphasized.

On day two, Rinpoche gave the oral transmission of “The Method to Transform a Suffering Life into Happiness (Including Enlightenment).” This included the generation of a good motivation and mantras for blessing the speech, malas, and so forth.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre, Delhi, India, March 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Rinpoche also granted refuge to forty people. Ninety percent of whom were Indians. Rinpoche concluded the teachings with Guru Puja, which ended at 1 a.m.

The gompa was jam-packed for the teachings—around 100 to 150 attendees of all ages were present. However, there was numerical preponderance of young people. Prof. Robert Thurman attended the first day. Several current and former directors of other Indian centres were also present.

Rinpoche and the light offerings at Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre, Delhi, India, March 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

The hard work of center spiritual program coordinator Ven. Gyalten Samten, especially, as well as of Ven. Kabir Saxena and all the volunteers and sponsors was highly appreciated. Rinpoche praised the decoration and light offerings at the center emphatically. Ven. Kabir gave the longest entertaining vote of thanks ever. As director, I was extremely honored and happy to host Rinpoche. The wait for Rinpoche’s next visit has already begun!

Watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche teach during the Bodhicaryavatara and Rinjung Gyatsa Retreat at The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Australia, March 30-May 12, 2018.

• Find links to watch teachings LIVE:
  https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/lama-zopa-rinpoche-live/
• Watch, read, and listen to all of Rinpoche’s teachings from Bendigo at anytime: 
  https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/

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.

Foundation Service Seminar in Guadalajara, Mexico, February 2018. Photo courtesy of Gilda Urbina.

FPMT service seminars provide support and training to those offering service, and those wishing to offer service, within FPMT centers, services, and projects. The seminars help develop a shared understanding of the FPMT mission set out by Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and a firm basis to serve effectively and joyfully within the organization.

Gilda Urbina, Foundation Service Seminar registered facilitator and FPMT Mexico National Coordinator, shares her story about the recent Foundation Service Seminar that took place in Mexico in February 2018:

We had the great opportunity to participate in the Foundation Service Seminar (FSS) in Guadalajara, Mexico. It was attended by twenty-six volunteers from four centers and five FPMT study groups in Mexico.

It was facilitated by François Lecointre, a senior FSS registered facilitator and director of Institut Vajra Yogini. His kind and lovely presence helped to create a relaxed and yet attentive environment. With his help, Mar Portillo and I, as facilitators-in-training felt confident and motivated to keep on learning the “know how” of this noble activity.

Foundation Service Seminar facilitators François Lecointre, Gilda Urbina, and Mar Portillo in Guadalajara, Mexico, February 2018. Photo courtesy of Gilda Urbina.

In an environment of great harmony and joy, we analyzed and deepened our understanding of the valuable information offered to us through the FSS. Through observing the groups, I could see there was a spirit of teamwork and collaboration.

While working in the groups, participants were able to review the functioning of their FPMT center or study group, recognize areas of opportunity, and generate new ideas to further professionalize their work.

Foundation Service Seminar in Guadalajara, Mexico, February 2018. Photo courtesy of Gilda Urbina.

I could see that the people attending the FSS have a deep devotion to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, as well as a desire to contribute to his Vast Visions. Together, we reached specific conclusions regarding actions we can take that are consistent with the four skillful means to draw beings to the Dharma.

Through participating in the FSS, we gained clear ideas for how we can better welcome and engage new people who come to FPMT centers and study groups.

We also reviewed the Inner Job Description, which is an invaluable tool reminding us to go within ourselves and keep practicing, so we can benefit others through example.

Foundation Service Seminar in Guadalajara, Mexico, February 2018. Photo courtesy of Gilda Urbina.

When we heard about the amazing activities performed by FPMT centers, projects, and services around the world we were all inspired, and rejoiced.

Moreover, the information offered about FPMT programs and to teach according to the level of the student was an excellent aid for those of us organizing the teaching program at FPMT centers and study groups.

Foundation Service Seminar in Guadalajara, Mexico, February 2018. Photo courtesy of Gilda Urbina.

In summary, the FSS was an invaluable learning experience where the family feeling was always present. All agreed that these tools will definitely help us as we strive to professionalize our internal work; our work for the centers and study groups; and encourage us to work in a harmonious environment.

I am so grateful to be a part of the FPMT family.

For more information on the Foundation Service Seminar and to find out how to register for future events, visit the FPMT Service Seminar webpage:
https://fpmt.org/education/training/

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications 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, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche giving a teaching at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Bendigo, Australia, April 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave advice about paying government tax and health insurance, instructing to see it as an opportunity to practice charity, thus a cause for happiness and full enlightenment, for oneself and others.

I spoke to the ex-Kopan monks and nuns in New York, in a restaurant run by people from Mustang. I talked to one Nepalese girl who had previously worked in Nepal for one year. She told me that after she got money from working in the United States, a lot of the money went as tax to the US government, in federal and state tax, and also for Medicare and health insurance. I gave her this advice about using every opportunity to become Dharma, especially Mahayana Dharma, so that it becomes the cause of enlightenment.

You have to pay tax to the state and federal government, as well as  paying Medicare and health insurance, and then you feel resentful and become miserly, which is the cause of poverty. Also, by creating so much miserliness you become unhappy, but you have no choice because you have to give the money.

I said this is a most incredible opportunity for you to practice Dharma. By giving tax to the state and federal government you can use this as a method of giving charity and generating bodhichitta. When you have to make the payments, you can think about the purpose of paying this money.

Think, “May I myself achieve enlightenment in order to free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings in the six realms and bring them to buddhahood—the total cessation of all the obscurations and completion of all the realizations. Therefore, I am making charity of this money.”

Thinking this way is incredible. This way, not only does it become Dharma, but it becomes the cause of oneself achieving buddhahood. It also becomes the cause of happiness for numberless sentient beings, to free them from oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to buddhahood—the total cessation of all the obscurations and completion of all the realizations. Therefore this becomes the cause of happiness. Wow, wow, wow, wow. Amazing, amazing, amazing. This becomes the best cause of happiness up to full enlightenment.

According to the Tengyur, Buddha said:

For any sentient being, who during the period of my teachings
Makes charity well (even if the material is the size of a hair)
For 80,000 eons will experience a great result of great enjoyment:
No pain, no disease, and enjoyment of happiness.
Like that, one will be enriched with the desirable things.
At the end you can actually achieve the result—the peerless cessation and completion (enlightenment).
After hearing that there is a great result, who wouldn’t want to collect merit?

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!

Here it mentions in the quotation that by making charity of something just the size of one single hair, you receive benefits for 80,000 eons. You will have unbelievable happiness and wealth, most unbelievable happiness, and also by continually making charity, at the end you will achieve enlightenment. Here the charity that you make is much more than money. It is unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable, so you can rejoice, you can feel very happy. It’s unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable.

It’s the same when you pay the health insurance and Medicare, because even though you are not sick all the time, there are many other sick people, who have cancer or incurable or curable diseases. The money goes for that, so again you are making charity. Wow, wow, wow, wow! So you should rejoice.

It’s unbelievable, it’s like the person who wins the soccer game—they are running around, all the nerves out, their shoulders up. In reality that is all done with attachment, so it’s the cause of the lower realms, but expressing happiness here, this is for enlightenment—full enlightenment for oneself and then to free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to full enlightenment. Wow, wow, wow, wow!

It is very important to think this way, to use the situation of paying tax and so forth as a way to create the cause of enlightenment.

This advice, “Motivation for Paying Tax,” is from “Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Online Advice Book,” published in January 2018 on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive website:
https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/motivation-paying-tax

Watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche teach during the Heart of Wisdom Retreat at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Australia, March 30-May 12, 2018!

• Find links to watch teachings LIVE:
  https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/lama-zopa-rinpoche-live/
• Watch, read, and listen to all of Rinpoche’s teachings from Bendigo at anytime: 
  https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/

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.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche receiving mandala offering, Taplejung, Nepal, March 2018. Photo courtesy of Ven. Thubten Jikdol.

In early March, Lama Zopa Rinpoche flew by helicopter to Taplejung Municipality in the Taplejung District in northeastern Nepal to attended a large event for world peace organized by the local community. Ven. Thubten Jikdol, a senior monk at Kopan Monastery, arranged for Lama Zopa Rinpoche to be a guest of honor at the event and shared this report.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche recently visited Taplejung for the second Vajra Guru Mantra Recitation Puja Ceremony for World Peace, organized by the Taplejung Vajra Guru Organizing Committee, March 4-6, 2018.

The World Peace puja attracted high lamas, approximately 250 ordained Sangha, and more than 5,000 lay students. During the three-day event, seven million Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) mantras were recited.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche arriving at the puja venue, Taplejung, Nepal, March 2018. Photo courtesy of Ven. Thubten Jikdol.

Sangha waiting to welcome Lama Zopa Rinpoche to the puja venue, Taplejung, Nepal, March 2018. Photo courtesy of Ven. Thubten Jikdol.

On March 5, Lama Zopa Rinpoche was warmly welcomed by a thousand people in a procession from Suketar Airport to the puja venue. As soon as Rinpoche arrived, the organizing committee made mandala offerings and a welcoming song and dance were offered by Sangag Dhechoe Ling Gompa School students.

Rinpoche gave a short teaching and also granted Mani mantra and Guru Rinpoche mantra oral transmissions.

After the teaching and oral transmission, Rinpoche visited Tashi Choeling Monastery and made a butter lamp offering and consecration blessing at a newly constructed stupa. Rinpoche also visited Sangag Dechoe Ling Monastery at Bungkulung.

Puja venue, Taplejung, Nepal, March 2018. Photo courtesy of Ven. Thubten Jikdol.

On March 6, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave a teaching and a White Tara long life initiation. A relic of the Buddha, received from the Dharmakaya Foundation, Thailand to Nepal Buddhist Federation, was exhibited to all.

The books Dear Lama Zopa and How to Be Happy by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Make Your Mind an Ocean by Lama Yeshe—all having been translated into Nepali—were distributed for free to people at the event.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche giving blessing, Taplejung, Nepal, March 2018. Photo courtesy of Ven. Thubten Jikdol.

On March 7, before returning to Kathmandu, Lama Zopa Rinpoche made a short visit to a Hindu shrine at Pathibara Hill to pray for all the animals that are sacrificed at Pathibara Temple.

Rinpoche also kindly visited and blessed a new construction site on Sangag Dhechoe Ling Gompa School land. This school is very important for the area people. Most of the population of this region is Buddhist, but due to a lack of local Buddhist teachers and knowledge, people aren’t able to receive correct instruction to understand and practice authentic Buddhist teachings.

This ongoing decline is happening as a result of changes made in the name of modernization. The main objective of organizing such a school in this region is to preserve and promote Buddhadharma and the culture of the local people for the benefit of all mankind and world peace.

Watch Rinpoche teach from Bendigo, Australia, during the retreat at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, March 30-May 12. For details on the livestream:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/lama-zopa-rinpoche-live/

More information, photos and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s webpage on FPMT.org. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and FPMT via email, sign up to FPMT News.

Centro La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna has a new center, Bilbao, Spain, February 2018. Photo by Centro La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna community.

FPMT center Centro La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna (Nagarjuna’s Wisdom Center) in Bilbao, Spain, began as an FPMT study group in December 2012 with four members. They affiliated and became an FPMT center in April 2016, and now have twenty-five members.

In December 2017, Centro La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna moved out of the space they had occupied for the previous three years in preparation for a move to a new home. Center director Koke Muro brings us the news:

We are delighted to share with you that on Saturday, February 24, 2018, we inaugurated our new center in Bilbao, Spain.

Geshe Lamsang, center director Koke Muro, and guests during the inauguration of Centro La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna’s new center, Bilbao, Spain, February 2018. Photo by Centro La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna community.

Over the past five years since our founding, thanks to our amazing members, volunteers, and benefactors, as well as the kind care and guidance of our dear lamas and teachers, the center has been developing and blossoming like a beautiful flower.

The old center was getting too small to host all of the beautiful people and holy objects, and it was on the third floor of a business building. Following the advice of our most kind Lama Zopa Rinpoche, we started looking for another place. We feel really fortunate that this amazing location appeared. Our new center exists due to the enthusiastic work of many, many people. Our wish is that it becomes a source of peace in the city for everyone.

Volunteers painting the ceiling of Centro La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna’s new center, Bilbao, Spain, February 2018. Photo courtesy of Centro La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna’s Facebook page.

After nine months of hard work—and thanks to the unbelievable kindness of our lamas, more than two hundred benefactors, and an amazing team of volunteers—we had a great weekend.

Centro La Sabiduria de Nagarjuna volunteers preparing for the inauguration, Bilbao, Spain, February 2018. Photo by Centro La Sabiduria de Nagarjuna community.

Geshe Lamsang, resident teacher at Centro Nagarjuna Valencia, consecrated our new center. We also began the lamrim module of the Basic Program, taught by Geshe Lamsang that same day.

Geshe Lamsang in front of the entrance to Centro La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna, Bilbao, Spain, February 2018. Photo courtesy of Centro La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna’s Facebook page.

We enjoyed traditional welcome dances, food, a touching video about the volunteers who made our move possible, songs, gifts for everyone, and lots of tears of happiness and rejoicing. The joy was shared by the nearly fifty people who attended our inauguration, including members from other Dharma centers.

Centro La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna has a new center, Bilbao, Spain, February 2017. Photo by Centro La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna community.

It was an unforgettable day. We want offer all this to our precious guru Lama Zopa Rinpoche so we can always please him and follow his advice for the sake of all beings. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Please come soon!

To learn more about Centro La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna visit the center’s website. Watch the video about the volunteers who made their move possible:
https://youtu.be/Lm5gzyc8VvM

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications 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, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the path to the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Australia, where Rinpoche is leading a six-week retreat, April 2018. Photo via Lama Zopa Rinpoche on Instagram.

“Somebody who doesn’t know what to do—many [people] have practices in the life, commitments and many practices, but somebody who has no clear idea of what to practice; if they want to do some practice in the daily life but don’t know what to practice, what to do, my suggestion is that, something very simple,” Rinpoche advices in a teaching published in the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive September 2017 E-Letter.

“So first thing in the morning rejoice that so far we didn’t die, that we didn’t die, rejoice. Then after that, by remembering all those people who died, family members, then if there are gurus who passed away, remember those and family members who have passed away, friends who have died. Anyway, rejoice that we did not die so far. And again today we are able to be a human being, and not only that but we have a perfect human rebirth, so that we can achieve the three great meanings, more precious than the whole sky filled with the wish-granting jewels. All those are nothing compared with our precious human body, with which we can achieve three great meanings in every second, whatever we wish for. Even in every minute, we can achieve all that, because we can create the cause.

“So rejoice, then think death can happen any minute. Death can happen any [time], death can happen even today, any minute it can happen, any moment death can happen. Either make complete determination, thinking that we are going to die today, that’s the best, however, think it can happen any day, even today, in any minute it can happen. Then make strong determination of what we should do with our life. Then on the basis of correctly devoting to the virtuous friend, that’s how to practice Dharma. The most profitable way to practice Dharma is correctly devoting to the virtuous friend. That’s how to make our practice most successful.” …

Read the entire teaching “You Have Time to Get It Done” from teachings given at Tara Institute in Melbourne, Australia, in March 2000 and published in Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive September 2017 E-Letter:
http://www.lamayeshe.com/article/e-letter-no-171-september-2017

Watch Rinpoche teach from Bendigo, Australia, during the retreat at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, March 30-May 12. For details on the livestream:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/lama-zopa-rinpoche-live/

More information, photos and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s webpage on FPMT.org. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and FPMT via email, sign up to FPMT News.

Geshe Lobsang Doga greeting Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the airport in Melbourne, Australia, March 2018. Photo courtesy of Tara Institute’s Facebook page.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche arrived in Australia, where he’ll be teaching through early June. Rinpoche was greeted at the airport in Melbourne by Geshe Lobsang Doga, resident geshe of Tara Institute, and Tara Institute students.

Then Rinpoche was driven two hours to Bendigo, Australia, home of the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion to lead a six-week retreat. Rinpoche is teaching on Shantideva’s A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (Bodhicaryavatara), with the optional tantric empowerments of Chakrasamvara and Rinjung Gyatsa. 

Rinpoche’s teachings during the retreat are being livestreamed. For details, see:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/lama-zopa-rinpoche-live/

The retreat runs March 30-May 12. Many people have been working to get the Great Stupa ready for the retreat. A very large thangka of the Twenty-One Taras is hanging in the gompa inside the Great Stupa. This retreat is the third in a series of retreats given by Rinpoche in this location.

“This retreat came about because the late Khunu Lama Rinpoche requested Lama Zopa Rinpoche to translate Shantideva’s Bodhicaryavatara (A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life),” explained Ven. Roger Kunsang, Rinpoche’s assistant and CEO of FPMT. 

“Khunu Lama Rinpoche made this request after he gave Lama Zopa Rinpoche the commentary on the Bodhicaryavatara at Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s request. So Lama Zopa Rinpoche is teaching the Bodhicaryavatara at the same time as translating it. (A small team led by Ven. Ailsa Cameron is carefully noting Rinpoche’s translation as he teaches.)

Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Bendigo, Australia, October 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

“Then Lama Zopa Rinpoche was requested by Ven. Gyatso (director of Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery in Bendigo) to give the Rinjung Gyatsa set of initiations, which is quite rare. Rinpoche commented that it is common in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition to organize initiations into ‘sets.’ Also that different deities have different purposes and benefits, and that once you receive the permission to practice that deity, you have more potential to help others and are also helping to preserve Buddhism.

“Lama Zopa Rinpoche has combined both into one retreat. The first installment of this retreat was in April 2011 and the second installment took place in September-October 2014.”

Read about the April 2011 retreat in the Mandala story “The Retreat of a Life Time.” The September-October 2014 retreat was covered in many FPMT news blog posts, which include links to video from Rinpoche’s teachings there. You can also access video recordings of Rinpoche’s teachings from the Australia 2014 retreat on FPMT’s Rinpoche Available Now page (fpmt.org/rinpochenow/).

Watch Rinpoche teach from Bendigo, Australia, during the retreat at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, March 30-May 12. For details on the livestream:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/lama-zopa-rinpoche-live/

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.