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H.E. Ling Rinpoche with Vera Kappers; Ven. Losang Gendun; Hermes Brandt; Janneke Langeveld; Paula de Wijs; Els Wittermans; Marja Dijkstra; Annelies van der Heijden; and Karel Vellekoop, Maitreya Instituut Amsterdam, the Netherlands, April 2019. Photo by Netty Leleulya.

His Eminence the 7th Kyabje Ling Rinpoche visited the Netherlands from March 30-April 8, 2019, teaching at several Dharma centers including FPMT center Maitreya Instituut Loenen, where Rinpoche gave the White Tara long life empowerment. Annelies van der Heijden, Maitreya Instituut Amsterdam spiritual program coordinator and FPMT registered teacher; and Liang Tjoa, chairman of the board of directors of Dharma center Kadam Chöling collaborated to invite Rinpoche to the Netherlands and organize the events. Paula de Wijs, Maitreya Instituut Amsterdam center director; Maarten de Vries, Maitreya Instituut Loenen assistant director; and Annelies share the story.

On March 30 students in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, had the privilege of welcoming H.E. Ling Rinpoche to Europe from India for the start of Rinpoche’s two-month tour through Europe. Rinpoche liked the relatively cold weather and fresh air in the Netherlands.

The next day Rinpoche accepted a last-minute invitation to visit the Tibetan School in Amsterdam and took sincere interest in the classes. Many children and parents gathered at the school.

Our city center, Maitreya Institute Amsterdam, hosted Rinpoche for a small informal tea with some volunteers and International Campaign for Tibet staff. There were a number of discussions and exchanges over tea and petit fours. Everyone appreciated Rinpoche’s kind and practical approach to answering questions, as well as Rinpoche’s advice—especially about community building, which resonated with all present.

The following morning, April 1, Rinpoche greatly enjoyed seeing Amsterdam’s blossoming flowers, house boats, old houses, and beautiful canal scenery. That afternoon and the following morning Rinpoche visited two other Dharma groups in the city, Rigpa Amsterdam and Jewel Heart Nijmegen, bestowing the Medicine Buddha Jenang at Jewel Heart on the morning of April 2.

H.E. Ling Rinpoche teaching at Maitreya Instituut Loenen, Loenen, the Netherlands, April 2019. Photo by Netty Leleulya.

Afterwards our retreat center Maitreya Institute Loenen had the great honor to host Rinpoche until the following afternoon.

Rinpoche was enthusiastically greeted by Geshe Sonam Gyaltsen, Maitreya Instituut Loenen’s FPMT resident geshe, our center director, staff, and volunteers. Rinpoche was presented tea and snacks, and enjoyed lively conversations with Geshe-la and sangha members before taking a tour of our retreat center.

Our team then got back to work, lovingly arranging flower arrangements and extensive offerings while Rinpoche’s attendant sculpted tormas in the kitchen. The atmosphere was busy but relaxed and very joyous.

The next morning, on Wednesday, April 3, while Rinpoche was in the gompa preparing for the White Tara long life empowerment, a steady stream of smiling faces came in through the front door. For a number of the 142 attendees, this event was especially poignant because they had been students of His Holiness the 6th Yongzin Ling Rinpoche Thupten Lungtok Namgyal Thinely.

After taking the ritual sip of saffron water we entered the shrine room in silence. Rinpoche was soft spoken and unhurried, taking his time to carefully guide us through the visualizations. Ven. Tenzin Pellha, Maitreya Instituut’s interpreter, skillfully channeled Rinpoche’s words. Geshe Sonam Gyaltsen and Geshe Ngawang Zopa attended the empowerment and gave helpful last-minute suggestions.

H.E. Ling Rinpoche with students, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, April 2019. Photo by Netty Leleulya.

From the moment Rinpoche arrived, we were surrounded by an almost palpable atmosphere of sacredness. When the moment came to say goodbye—after a nice lunch with volunteers—we knew this visit had been a profound blessing.

Next, on April 4, was a visit to Kadam Chöling in Haarlem, the Netherlands, where Rinpoche bestowed the Manjushi jenang.

Rinpoche’s official visit to the Netherlands came to a close with a two-day teaching on Je Tsongkhapa’s lamrim text Songs of Spiritual Experience jointly organized by Maitreya Institute and Kadam Chöling. The teachings were held on April 6 and 7 in the middle of the city in the beautiful old church Posthoornkerk.

Rinpoche left for Barcelona, Spain, on the morning of April 9 to continue his European tour. We are extremely grateful that Rinpoche and his team spent so much time in Holland, and that they visited Maitreya Institute Amsterdam and Maitreya Institute Loenen in addition to many other sangha groups and places, connecting so well with everyone.

We deeply thank everyone who made this visit possible and rejoice in the harmonious collaboration between different sangha communities. We sincerely hope that we’ve paved the ground for Rinpoche to return to the Netherlands and Maitreya Institute soon, and then many more times in the future.

For more information about H.E. Ling Rinpoche’s schedule visit Rinpoche’s website:
http://lingrinpoche.info/

For more information about Maitreya Instituut, visit their website:
https://maitreya.nl/index.htm

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 Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga Retreat at Chenrezig Institute, Eudlo, Queensland, Australia, April 2019. Photo by Maria Corrales.

Chenrezig Institute, an FPMT center in Eudlo, Queensland, Australia, organized their third annual five-day Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga Retreat on April 18-22, 2019. Maria Corrales, spiritual program assistant, shares the story.

Lama Tsongkhapa is a name effusively present in the prayers, texts, and teachings of the Gelug tradition. His image can be found in statue, tsa-tsa, or thangka form on virtually every Gelug altar. As the founder of this great lineage, we honor Lama Tsongkhapa’s memory and profound contributions to Tibetan Buddhism, especially on this 600th anniversary of his death.

With the passage of so much time it is easy to begin to think of Lama Tsongkhapa as more of a deity than an historic person. For many of us this is accompanied by a vagueness of attributed good qualities, but indistinction is not fertile ground for inspiration. We must bring Lama Tsongkhapa into sharp focus in our minds so that he may serve as a polestar to guide us on our way.

The Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga practice is one that brings us closer to Lama Tsongkhapa, creating the karma to meet a reliable spiritual friend to guide us and awaken the vast qualities he possessed within ourselves.

This April at Chenrezig Institute, we completed our third annual five-day Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga Retreat. The retreat was led by Australian nun Venerable Thubten Chokyi, an FPMT registered teacher and director of the Liberation Prison Project. Geshe Phuntsok Tsultrim, our FPMT resident geshe, participated in the retreat alongside our students. Throughout the retreat Geshe-la sprinkled gems of insight and guidance to sharpen our focus and energize our aspirations to become like the great Lama Tsongkhapa.

Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga Retreat at Chenrezig Institute, Eudlo, Queensland, Australia, April 2019. Photo by Maria Corrales.

Together we purified, paid homage, and humbly requested that we might quickly become like Lama Tsongkhapa ourselves. With as many as twenty-four students participating in a practice session, we accumulated more than 20,000 Migstema mantras. The merit of these mantras was offered to Geshe Phuntsok Tsultrim that all his Dharma wishes may succeed instantly.

It is reliable teachers like Geshe-la who have carried the lineage of profound lamrim teachings in an unbroken continuum from Lama Tsongkhapa to us six-hundred years down the line. May we be worthy vessels to realize the great wisdom and compassion he embodied and help carry Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings into the future.

For more information about Chenrezig Institute, visit their website:
https://www.chenrezig.com.au/

To learn more about Lama Tsongkhapa, read “The Mahasiddha Je Tsongkhapa” by Lama Yeshe:
https://fpmt.org/mandala/archives/older/mandala-issues-for-1995/november/the-mahasiddha-je-tsong-khapa/

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.

Pema Tsering, Oi Loon Lee, Khusboo, Ceci Buzón, Nanda Devi, Samten Dolma, Sapna Pradhan, Sonali Kumari, Sanjeev Kumar, Ven. Anshu Negi, Ajit Mishra, Rohan Kumar, and Amar Kumar at Maitreya School, Bodhgaya, India, April 2019. Photo by Katherine Demsky.

In 2018 Maitreya School—a project of Root Institute, the FPMT center in Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India—began partnering with Cecilia (“Ceci”) Buzón, a Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW) accredited 16 Guidelines for Life Level 2 facilitator; teacher; and co-founder of FDCW national group Fundación Educación Universal Patagonia-Argentina to bring the 16 Guidelines for Life to Maitreya School. Ceci and Pema Tsering, Maitreya School principal, share the story.

“I traveled to India in 2018,” Ceci said,” and by chance visited Maitreya School while in Bodhgaya and met Pema. Within ten minutes of conversation we already knew we wanted to work together. Maitreya School needed a 16 Guidelines for Life facilitator, and so we started organizing the first online 16 Guidelines for Life level 1 course.”

Pema shared about that July 2018 online course. “Every  Saturday for two hours, we got an opportunity to have face-to-face interaction with Ceci and peer groups among the teachers. It provided a platform for us to exchange our views, discuss, and reflect on the lessons.”

“Pema and I met again in August 2018,” Ceci shared, “for a 16 Guidelines for Life for children workshop at the 16 Guidelines Retreat Gathering hosted by FDCW national group Education Universelle France held at Institut Vajra Yogini, the FPMT center in Toulouse, France.”

Sapna Pradhan, Ceci Buzón, Khusboo, Ven. Anshu Negi, Nanda Devi, and Ajit Mishra at Maitreya School, Bodhgaya, India, April 2019. Photo by Katherine Demsky.

“Ceci facilitated a really wonderful workshop about how we can teach the 16 Guidelines for Life to children by using art,” Pema said. “It was very important for our school because we very rarely use art and different activities to teach lessons. I found this was a very exciting and enjoyable way to teach. Also, children enjoy learning the lesson; it is fun and entertaining. Ceci used lots of activities during the workshop. This gave us new ideas to create our own activities suitable for our children’s mental levels.

“It was also very interesting to learn how each of the 16 Guidelines for Life is linked with its wisdom theme,” Pema said. “There are a lot of thinking and reflection exercises we never thought of before. These exercises give us the chance to see within ourselves and transform our minds. It keeps our minds healthy and stable.”

Pema continued, “We must practice and habituate it in our daily life. When thinking, reflecting, and contemplation become our habits, it will be easier for us to face emotional difficulties like anger and jealousy. So, it is very important for ourselves and our children to become more happy and peaceful people. We can more effectively implement these different methods into Maitreya School’s teaching process in the future.

“I was so thankful to Education Universelle France and Fundación Educación Universal Patagonia-Argentina, who organized the workshop and invited me to France, and to Institut Vajra Yogini for giving me accommodation and delicious food. It was an amazing experience.”

Ajit Mishra, Samten Dolma, Ven. Anshu Negi, and Kushboo at Maitreya School, Bodhgaya, India, April 2019. Photo by Katherine Demsky.

Ceci and Pema continued to collaborate to benefit Maitreya School. Ceci said, “We met in Bodhgaya in April 2019 to train the whole Maitreya School staff not only on the 16 Guidelines for Life and the four wisdom themes (How We Think, How We Act, How We Relate to Others, How We Find Meaning) but also on how to implement them with each age group. During the three-day workshop each teacher learned and planned how to take the 16 Guidelines for Life into the classroom through different school subjects like math, language, and social studies.”

Pema said, “The aim of the Maitreya School curriculum is to bring a good heart into our children and harmony into society. 16 Guidelines for Life teaches about universal values such as humility, patience, kindness, and gratitude. It helps to develop social and emotional skills in children, which are important for their well-being, learning, and life skills. We have committed to make the 16 Guidelines for Life the first priority for the school.

“Maitreya School is thankful for Ceci who has offered us her precious time and energy in order to share her knowledge, experience, and skills with our teachers,” Pema continued. “We also thank FDCW board member and co-chair Oi Loon Lee for visiting our school and helping with the workshop. Our teachers appreciated this workshop very much. We will integrate the 16 Guidelines for Life into the teaching process at our school more effectively in comings days.”

For more information about Maitreya School, visit the Root Institute for Wisdom Culture website:
https://www.rootinstitute.ngo/social-service/maitreya-school

For more information about 16 Guidelines for Life, visit the Foundation for Developing Wisdom and Compassion website:
https://www.compassionandwisdom.org/

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 with staff and volunteers for the teaching event in Madrid, Spain, April 29. Photo by Alexis Roitmann.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught in and traveled to a few FPMT centers in Spain in late April and early May. Kiko Llopis, FPMT Hispana national coordinator, shared this report on Rinpoche’s visit.

As he had promised in his previous visit to Spain in October 2018, Rinpoche returned to Madrid in April to confer the great initiation of the White Umbrella Deity (Dukkar). Rinpoche blessed us with his teachings, transmissions, and the longed-for initiation.

The event with Rinpoche was attended by more than 550 students. Nearly a hundred volunteers from the ten FPMT centers in Spain participated in organizing the event with enthusiasm and devotion. An added blessing during the teachings was the presence of Tenzin Ösel Hita—the recognized reincarnation of Lama Yeshe. Lama Yeshe co-founded the FPMT organization, together with Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche during teachings in Madrid, Spain, April 2019. Photo by Harald Weichhart.

In addition to the benefit of his teachings, Rinpoche once again demonstrated his subtle but palpable quality of creating the conditions that manifest the best in the people around him—whether they are Buddhists or not, whether they know him or not. His love and compassion for all beings is a universal language that reaches everyone.

One example of this was the response of the staff at the General Union of Workers (UGT in Spanish) building, where the teaching event was held. UGT is one of the biggest unions in Spain. It has a Marxist origin and, by principle, is far from any religious affiliation. However, what began as a kind of curiosity for the colorful paraphernalia that accompanied the lectures of Rinpoche, who they saw as this “nice old man,” ended with a request from the UGT Head of the Administration for Rinpoche to bless her family. Plus, the maintenance staff ask about meditation, and the security staff gave us the facilities to hold a fire puja inside the building.

During his stay in Madrid, Rinpoche spent time in interviews with students and people with serious health problems. He also invited the ordained Sangha and members of the organization for dinner.

Rinpoche making prayers in the Retiro Park that any being that comes to the park will attain all the realizations up to enlightenment with (clockwise from bottom left) Ven. Roger Kunsang, Kiko Llopis, Miriam Woodnick, Juan Carlos, Ven. Topgye, Irina Hueso, and Ven. Holly Ansett.

There was also a wonderful afternoon stroll through the Retiro Park, which is one of the largest parks in Madrid, located near the city center. Rinpoche wanted to find a painter who sold paintings in the park. Rinpoche himself had given the painter several sacred images on his last visit, “not to sell them, but to exhibit them so people could benefit from seeing the images.” Rinpoche also blessed two large lakes in the Retiro, and all the aquatic inhabitants in the lakes, thus giving another example of how to make the most of a walk in the park.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche being led to the new gompa at O.Sel.Ling Centro de Retiros by center director Anne Wenaas and students, Spain, May 2019. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

In addition to coming to Madrid, Rinpoche also visited three other FPMT centers in Spain. Rinpoche calls O.Sel.Ling Centro de Retiros, the FPMT retreat center located in the southern province of Granada, “Oseling pure land.” Rinpoche did extensive practices there and blessed the new gompa and sacred objects together with Geshe Lamsang, the FPMT resident teacher at Centro Nagarjuna Valencia. We are very excited because Rinpoche said it would be beneficial to return to O.Sel.Ling to give a retreat on the Thirty-Seven Practices of the Bodhisattva.

At the FPMT center Nagarjuna C.E.T. Granada, Rinpoche gave teachings and dined with some members of the center.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Nagarjuna C.E.T. Granada in Granada, Spain, May 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with students from Centro La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna, the FPMT center in Bilbao, after having dinner with them, Bilbao, Spain, May 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

At Centro La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna, the FPMT center in Bilbao in northern Spain, Rinpoche gave an unscheduled commentary on the Dzambhala practice for the success of any project to be of the greatest benefit, especially the center’s hoped for new Lama Tsongkhapa retreat place, which he was dedicating to be of the greatest benefit.

Our precious guru left behind a ray of joy, gratitude, and enthusiasm in Spain, and we dedicate each day for him to visit us again very soon.

See more photographs from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s visit to Spain:
https://fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/gallery/spain-april-may-2019/

Find complete videos of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent teachings, including teachings from the April 2019 teachings in Madrid and the May-June 2019 Vajrayogini retreat at Institut Vajra Yogini in France:
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.

H.E. Zong Rinpoche and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Tushita Meditation Center, Dharamsala, India, February 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

His Holiness the 3rd Kyabje Zong Rinpoche was one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachers. His Eminence the 4th Kyabje Zong Rinpoche—born in north India in 1985—visited Maitreya Instituut Loenen, an FPMT center in Loenen, the Netherlands, in April 2019. Maarten de Vries, Maitreya Instituut Loenen assistant director, shares the story.

After a teaching event in Germany, His Eminence Zong Rinpoche visited Maitreya Instituut for the third time. Our guest of honor arrived in the early evening and was greeted by Geshe Sonam Gyaltsen, our FPMT resident geshe; staff; and volunteers. The participants of a dance workshop at our conference center stopped what they were doing and eagerly joined the queue to offer khatas.

H.E. Zong Rinpoche and Geshe Sonam Gyalsten, Loenen, the Netherlands, April 2019. Photo by Willem van Steijn.

This time, Rinpoche added extra days to his stay in Loenen so he could spend more time together with Geshe Sonam Gyaltsen. His Holiness the 3rd Kyabje Zong Rinpoche was one of Geshe Sonam Gyaltsen’s main gurus.

Rinpoche had looked forward to spending time with Geshe Sonam Gyaltsen, and over dinner both engaged in animated conversation about the finer points of Buddhist philosophy. They had a few lively debate sessions during Rinpoche’s stay in Loenen, but both claimed the other one had won the debate.

The next day, a record breaking hot and sunny Easter Monday, about eighty attendees flowed into the center for the afternoon’s public talk. The theme—Community: Living and Working Together in Harmony—clearly seemed to have struck a chord. In his characteristic style, Rinpoche first approached the topic from various angles, then gradually zooming in on a number of key ideas. Rinpoche also shared some entertaining stories about life in the monastery.

H.E. Zong Rinpoche offering a khata to Maarten de Vries, Maitreya Instituut, Loenen, the Netherlands, April 2019. Photo by Willem van Steijn.

Rinpoche expressed his preference for informal and open communication and sincerely connected with the audience. He gave lots of personal attention to those seeking his advice during the tea break and even until long after the event was over. He spoke thoughtfully, as if thinking out loud, always carefully choosing his words. With great skill he balanced Western psychological approaches with Buddhist philosophy.

Rinpoche invited us to ask questions and share our thoughts, which led to a detailed and personal reflection on guru devotion. The key message was to investigate a teacher well before entering a formal relationship. The main criteria—or “safety check” as Rinpoche called it—has to be the teacher’s ethical conduct. Similar to buying a car, our main concern should be safety, not the reputation, brand, or color of the car.

He then shared a little about a personal encounter he recently had with Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche in India. He praised Rinpoche highly and remarked that the Vajrayogini initiation and retreat in France (which recently concluded) is a very rare opportunity. H.E. Zong Rinpoche congratulated those of us lucky enough to be able to attend this retreat. 

We are very grateful for the opportunity to make a connection with H.E. Zong Rinpoche, and we hope to meet and receive teachings from Rinpoche again soon.

For more information about Maitreya Instituut Loenen, visit their website:
https://maitreya.nl/index.htm

Listen to H.E. Zong Rinpoche’s teachings at Maitreya Instituut Loenen in 2016, 2017, and 2018 on the center’s website:
https://www.maitreya.nl/studie-studenten-downloads-loenen-mp3-index.htm#z2

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 and pilgrims at Hotel Vajra, Kathmandu, Nepal, February 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

In February 2018 a group of FPMT students traveled together from Australia to Kathmandu, Nepal, for a pilgrimage led by Gen Thubten Dondrub*, FPMT resident teacher at Buddha House, an FPMT center in Australia. In addition to encountering Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Nepal, the pilgrims visited many holy places: Boudhanath Stupa; Namo Buddha Stupa; Swayambhunath Stupa; holy sites in Sankhu, Pharping, and Patan; Nagi Gompa; the Maratika Caves; and ancient city temples associated with the deities Tara and Vajrayogini. This is a short excerpt from the online story, “FPMT Students Experienced that FPMT Family Feeling in Nepal,” compiled by some of the Buddha House pilgrims.

On February 3, 2018, twenty-two students from four FPMT centers in Australia—Buddha House; Hayagriva Buddhist Centre; Tara Meditation Centre; Vajrayana Institute; and the FPMT study group in Broome, Gyalwa Ensapa Buddhist Study Group—flew into Kathmandu, Nepal, for the beginning of what turned out to be very auspicious twenty-one days of pilgrimage.

Snow in the mountains, a view from Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, February 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Arriving at Kopan Monastery, the FPMT monastery in Kathmandu, around midnight, the group was greeted the next morning with a thrill—they discovered Lama Zopa Rinpoche was in residence at Kopan for Losar (Tibetan New Year) and would be there through to the Day of Miracles.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche advised in Practices for Pilgrimage: “How do we make pilgrimage as meaningful, useful and beneficial as possible? The main point of pilgrimage is to subdue our minds. By eliminating mistaken thoughts, not allowing the mind to be under the control of delusion, the mind is better able to actualize the lamrim realizations, from guru devotion up to enlightenment.”

Gen Thubten Dondrub leading a short retreat on Orange Manjushri in the Tantric College Gompa at Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, February 2019. Photo by Sandy Faber.

Gen Thubten Dondrub began the pilgrimage with a strict pre-warning to those about to join him, saying, “You are not on a holiday.” We would be visiting the holy sites in Kathmandu, the Kathmandu Valley, and Maratika Caves where we would recite prayers, mantras, and engage in practices including tsog offerings.

Gen Thubten Dondrub leading practices and tsog offerings, Sankhu, Nepal, February 2019. Photo by Peter Wagner.

Due to the kindness and great effort of Judy Wagner, Buddha House spiritual program coordinator, a portable altar, water bowls, and offerings were set up at each holy site—even if the tsog had to be guarded from cunning monkeys!

To fulfill Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice of not wasting time, Gen Thubten Dondrub made the most of our lengthy bus and jeep rides through Kathmandu traffic, leading Tara and Vajrasattva practices in the morning and dedications during the rides home. …

Read the Buddha House pilgrims’ online story in its entirety, “FPMT Students Experienced that FPMT Family Feeling in Nepal,” and view more of their photos online:
https://fpmt.org/mandala/online-features/buddha-house-pilgrims-experiened-that-fpmt-family-feeling-in-nepal/

* In 2019 Gen Thubten Dondrub requested Buddha House students formally refer to him as “Gen Thubten Dondrub.” He shared, “Usually monks and nuns of the FPMT are referred to as ‘Venerable.’ I have always found this term uncomfortable as it is a very exalted term and is used in the Catholic Church to refer to someone who is in line to be canonized as a saint. When I was in Taiwan I learned that every monk and nun was addressed as ‘Fa Shr’ from the moment they were ordained. The term means ‘Dharma teacher.’ The closest Tibetan equivalent is ‘ge.gen,’ often abbreviated to ‘Gen’ or ‘Gen-la.’ It is polite and friendly. So when people ask how to address me, I suggest using that term. It seems much more appropriate than ‘Venerable.'”

For more information about Buddha House, visit their website:
http://buddhahouse.org

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 during long life puja at Institut Vajra Yogini, France, 2019. Photo by Ven. Tenzin Tsultrim.

At the conclusion of the Vajrayogini retreat at Institut Vajra Yogini in France, Lama Zopa Rinpoche was offered a long life puja, where long-time American student Merry Colony recited the following praise for Lama Zopa Rinpoche:

In this time of over degeneration,
When our kind mothers are blindly rushing about their lives,
Wanting only happiness while creating causes only to suffer,
Due to the inconceivable kindness of the Guru,
We have found ourselves here,
In the pure realm of Vajra Yogini,
And for thirty-five glorious days we have experienced the fully ripened result of our impossible-to-find and truly miraculous perfect human rebirths.

Having been called to create virtue each day by the sound of the blessed gong, which merely by hearing purifies the five uninterrupted negative karmas,
We have passed each day beneath the sweet smelling honeysuckle flowers accompanied by the soft cooing of doves,
And have joyously gathered, hundreds of your children disciples, like swans coming to a lake,
To drink the nectar of the Guru’s holy speech.

When the Guru’s holy body enters the vajra tent, before even a word is spoken, we are given our first teaching:
Make the efforts of our parents worthwhile and use this body to create merit.
For how can we give in to laziness when we are witness to you, our refuge savior,
Manifesting paralysis yet still prostrating with such supreme effort before the throne each day?
Such a kindness can be found nowhere else in this world.

Once seated upon the vajra throne your display of skillful means is without compare:
The wrathful roar that clears away the thick fog of our ignorance,
The circuitous stories that sharpen our attention,
The vajra laughter that awakens our blissful awareness.
Where else in all the three realms can one find such a teacher?

In a single moment you show the simultaneous aspects of,
Gentle virtue beggar and powerful Mahayana Vajrayana guru,
Precious one who subdues, wrathful one who conquers.
To such greatness all humans and gods bow their heads.

Your melodic chanting and explanation of the four line Vajra Cutter
Implores us to see that like a drop of dew this life will soon be gone,
To examine the profound meaning of rabrib, the defective view that keeps us imprisoned,
To loosen our grip on what we mistakenly believe to be real by seeing everything as illusion.

Withholding nothing, you illuminate the heart of the path: the profound meaning of the Guru, one taste with great bliss dharmakaya.
Using your own life story as an example, you clarify the true meaning of Dharma practice: giving up this life!
Quoting from Kyabje Khunu Lama Rinpoche, you strengthen our refuge in bodhichitta, the unbetraying friend in samsara.
With diamond-like precision, you elucidate the very huge difference between correctly meditating on emptiness and incorrectly meditating on nihilism.

While we may not have yet realized renunciation, bodhichitta, or emptiness,
There is one thing we do know without mistake or doubt:
When the kind and holy lord Guru is teaching,
There is nowhere else we ever, ever want to be.
Until enlightenment, may we always be among your foremost disciples fulfilling your every wish.

Offering being made to Lama Zopa Rinpoche during long life puja, Institut Vajra Yogini, France, 2019. Photo by Ven. Tenzin Tsultrim.

Now, together here, due to the Guru’s unfathomable kindness,
We have taken the Most Secret Hayagriva for long life, Heruka Five Deity, and Vajrayogini initiations,
We have engaged in the heart practice of Lama Chopa daily,
And have begun practicing the yogas of sleep, waking, and tasting nectar.
We have strengthened our familiarization with taking ordinary death, intermediate state, and rebirth into the path to achieve the three kayas,
And collectively we have accumulated more than ten million mantras of the Kechara Yogini.

May all of this merit, together with the three time merits of all sentient beings and buddhas, who do not exist, who are empty,
Be the cause for the most holy kind Guru Buddha Deity to have an infinitely long and stable life.
May you quickly return to this best of FPMT centers and
Continue to teach the Vajrayogini commentary as well as the three-year retreat instructions.
From our side we will practice as taught and dedicate every merit created to the fruition of full enlightenment so that we can most quickly, fully benefit all beings.

By the power of the Three Rare Sublime Ones,
By the power of the buddhas’ and bodhisattvas’ blessings,
By the power of this pure prayer,
And the auspicious convergence of our karma and the Guru’s unbearably great compassion,
Precious Refuge Savior heed our prayer:

Please, please live long.
Please, please live very long.
Please, please live infinitely long.

Colophon: Written and read by your devoted disciple Merry Colony, Yeshe Dechen, at the conclusion of the Vajrayogini retreat at Institut Vajra Yogini, France, June 13, 2019.

Merry Colony reading praise for Lama Zopa Rinpoche during long life puja at Institut Vajra Yogini, France, 2019. Photo by Ven. Tenzin Tsultrim.

Find complete videos of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent teachings, including teachings from the May-June 2019 Vajrayogini retreat at Institut Vajra Yogini in France:
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 Vajrayogini retreat, Institut Vajra Yogini, May 2019. Photo by Tsanka Petkova.

The five-week Vajrayogini retreat with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, hosted by Institut Vajra Vogini in the south of France, draws to a close on Saturday, June 15. FPMT students from around the world are attending the retreat. (Read a report from the first two weeks here.) Gordon McDougall, a long-time student of Rinpoche and frequent editor of Rinpoche’s books, is at Institut Vajra Yogini and shares this report:

Now we are into the final week of the five-week Vajrayogini retreat, it’s hard to know what to say about such a powerful event. Certainly the joy when it was announced that Lama Zopa would stay until the end of the retreat and give an Amitayus initiation was universal, but retreats are very personal affairs, meaning different things to each retreatant. There does seem to have been a fair mixture of ecstasy and agony, lots of colds, and even a few hospitalizations, but the overall atmosphere has been one of great joy and harmony.

So, how to sum it up? Perhaps it can be concentrated into four words:

amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing

Amazing is the place itself. Forty years of love and blessings have turned Institut Vajra Yogini into a wonderful space. The glorious chateau, the awe-inspiring stupa, the lovely walks through the wood to the ridge overlooking the quintessential French countryside—the superlatives can go on.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche being led by Institut Vajra Yogini director François Lecointre and Geshe Loden, resident geshe, Institut Vajra Yogini, France, May 2019. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Amazing too is the event provided by the staff of Vajra Yogini. Over forty volunteers made our job of meditating so much easier (but still not easy). It’s impossible to exaggerate the loving care they have taken with every tiny detail of the retreat. At every turn there is a reminder of how they have anticipated a retreatant’s needs and wishes, from qi gong sessions to tablet recharging areas to a nurse’s station to continuous free tea and coffee to the shuttle service for people living outside—even an exercise bike! And Rinpoche agrees, saying that Institut Vajra Yogini is the “best example of service in FPMT,” so good “even the birds are talking about it!”

The retreat itself has been amazing. Not just because Rinpoche has taught almost every night and not just for delicious French pastry that was our usual midnight tsog, but the session-by-session business of doing a retreat. The leader, Ven. Chantal Carrerot, was superb. Taking time off from creating the nearby Monastère Dorje Pamo, she was the perfect mixture of gentle and firm. Few were able to resist her quiet suggestions we all remain in silence, said so sweetly and so insistently. The technology of enlightenment also just gets better and better, with new downloads of prayers and images, if not daily, then quite often. And again, it’s little things like seeing the livestream of Rinpoche arriving and leaving projected on to the large screen in the teaching tent, rather than just hearing him giggle but invisible beyond a forest to retreatants. And of course, Rinpoche. He seems to be getting more entertaining each year (the “Solu Khumbo comedian” he calls himself), able to flip us from tears of compassion over the suffering of conveyor belt pigs to tears of laughter at some wonderfully observed absurdity of samsara. His message hasn’t changed, and it is one we all need so much.

Retreatants during Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teaching, Institut Vajra Yogini, France, May 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Amazing indeed were the fellow vajra brothers and sisters who shared the retreat—from the old guard who were there at the very beginning of FPMT, such as Ven. Karin Valham (who has transformed the lives of tens of thousands of people in her more than three decades of teaching at Kopan Monastery in Nepal), to many newer students. And they come from all over the world, a greater diversity of countries than I’ve seen at any Rinpoche event. There was a big contingency from Australasia and North America as well as the usual Europeans, but also many Chinese from South East Asia, Taiwan, and Mainland China, and places such as Mexico, Mongolia, Russia, Latvia, and … the list goes on. Such a diverse group of people on one hand and so united in our love and devotion to Rinpoche on the other. It is truly inspiring to chat over a tea and discover the countless ways we are all working for Rinpoche and, because of that, for all beings.

Rinpoche told us at the beginning to not worry about counting mantras for the retreat because he wanted to give us a commentary on Vajrayogini. So far, he has not gone beyond the preliminaries, concentrating on lamrim, lamrim, and lamrim. However, there are those among us who feel he must finish the commentary and therefore must return to Institut Vajra Yogini to continue it next year, and the year after, and the year after. … And we’ll be there for another amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing retreat.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with ordained Sangha and lay students attending the Vajrayogini retreat at Institut Vajra Yogini, France, May 2019. Photo by Tsanka Petkova.

Watch recorded video of Rinpoche’s teachings from the Vajrayogini retreat here:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/vajrayogini-retreat-2019/

FPMT Education Services has created a lamrim resource page where students may find advice and materials to support their practice:
https://fpmt.org/education/teachings/texts/lam-rim/

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.

Ven. Chantal Tenzin Dekyi and retreatants, Tahiti, French Polynesia, March 2019. Photo courtesy of Centre de Méditation Naropa.

Students from Centre de Méditation Naropa (Naropa Meditation Center), the FPMT center in Papeete on the island of Tahiti, French Polynesia, hosted French nun and FPMT registered teacher Ven. Chantal Tenzin Dekyi (Chantal Carrerot) from March 13-27, 2019. Annie Green, spiritual program coordinator shares the story.

The Naropa Meditation Center invited Ven. Chantal Tenzin Dekyi to teach the Dharma in Tahiti. She came for the first time in February 2012, then came for two weeks in March 2019.

We began with a five-day retreat on calm abiding, held in a privately-owned home on Fare Mahora Point, Teahupoo, a beautiful place on the peninsula of Tahiti. Thanks to the kindness of the homeowner and the staff, we all benefited from the good conditions.

The retreat began on Friday, March 15, 2019, and ended on Thursday, March 20. Twenty-seven people came only for the weekend. Seventeen people stayed for the entire retreat.

Ven. Chantal Tenzin Dekyi and students enjoying lunch at the market, Tahiti, French Polynesia, March 2019. Photo courtesy of Centre de Méditation Naropa.

The following weekend, Saturday March 23, and Sunday, March 24, Ven. Chantal Tenzin Dekyi taught “Introduction to Buddhism—Introduction to the Lamrim” at our center in Papeete. Then on Monday she taught “How to Manage Our Emotions.” We appreciated the knowledge, compassion, and joy she shared with us while teaching and and answering questions.

In French we say, “Everything comes in three.” We hope that Ven. Chantal Tenzin Dekyi will come again to spray a rain of Dharma on Tahiti for the benefit of sentient beings.

For more information about Centre de Méditation Naropa visit their website:
http://naropatahiti.over-blog.com/

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.

Ven. Amy Miller with students at Shantideva Center, Brooklyn, New York, US, February 2019. Photo by Jennifer Kim.

Shantideva Center, an FPMT center in Brooklyn, New York, US, celebrated Losar with FPMT registered teacher Ven. Amy Miller. Board member Jennifer Kim shares the story of the center’s ongoing connection with Ven. Amy Miller.

The students at Shantideva Center have experienced a special connection with Ven. Amy Miller for several years now. As time flies by quickly, reminding us of impermanence and the inevitability of death, Ven. Amy has been there to help ensure that our journey through this life is a good one.

It’s a bit of paradox that such an enthusiastic meditator would flourish in the noisy City of New York, and that her trips to the land of tall skyscrapers would be interspersed with her trips to the high Himalayas of Lawudo.

Ven. Amy Miller and students, Shantideva Center, Brooklyn, New York, US, February 2019. Photo by Jennifer Kim.

Yet somehow this arrangement has worked, with Ven. Amy sharing the deep wisdom of the Dharma in a highly practical and accessible way, touching the lives of people from all walks of life as we practice tonglen on the subways, practice patience in the office, and learn to shift our habits from Facebook to the five powers.

The last few months were a huge gift to students, as she led a variety of activities and teachings to help us understand the Dharma, accumulate merit and purify negativities. These activities culminated on Chotrul Duchen (the Day of Miracles), where we did Prostrations to the Thirty-Five Confession Buddhas; Vajrasattva purification practice; recitation of The Sutra Remembering the Three Jewels and In Praise of Dependent Arising; and the Shakyamuni Buddha Puja.

Ven. Amy Miller and students, Shantideva Center, Brooklyn, New York, US, February 2019. Photo by Jennifer Kim.

As usual, Ven. Amy helped bridge the gap between esoteric practice and meaningful relevance, helping us understand the purpose of these practices while connecting us with their powerful blessings. Her last teaching that night was a very quiet yet powerful one of selfless service, as she made the two-hour drive late at night to return home to a family member, who she has been helping to take care of.

Holidays such as the Day of Miracles allow us to reflect on the monumental impact of Shakyamuni Buddha, and teachers such as Ven. Amy allow us to receive this enlightening influence in our modern lives normally fraught with confusion. The Dharma has somehow survived due to deeply dedicated practitioners like Ven. Amy and our lineage masters, and our ability to practice is a miracle that we can truly celebrate with gratitude.

For more information about Shantideva Center, visit their website:
https://shantidevanyc.org/

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.

Geshe Tenzin Wangdak teaching LRZTP8 students, Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program, Dharamsala, India, March 2018. Photo by Alex García.

Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program, an FPMT project in Dharamsala, India, welcomed their newest cohort of students in March 2018. Six months later the students and teachers had the opportunity to meet with Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Dharamsala. Yaron Bahir, international director, and Filip Majkowski, local director, share news about the growth of the two-year Tibetan language translation program.

Our current cohort of students—known as LRZTP8—joined the Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program (LRZTP) in March 2018. LRZTP8 students have three main teachers: Geshe Tenzin Wangdak, Dr. Filip Majkowski, and LRZTP7 graduate Alex García.

Our students learn Tibetan vocabulary words used in everyday life and in Buddhism; they participate in grammar classes where new structures are introduced and explained in English and practiced in Tibetan; and they attend listening and reading comprehension classes covering Tibetan customs and traditions, environmental awareness, honorific language, human rights, and more.

Students also learn through pronunciation drilling classes; group-work; translation assignments; weekly quizzes; and end-of-module exams. Students are permitted to translate their assignments into English, Spanish, or Polish.

LRZTP8 students studying in the classroom at Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program, Dharamsala, India, March 2018. Photo by Alex García.

Each day the students learn for two hours with conversation partners, where eighty percent of the class time is made up of students speaking. Each conversation class is based on currently discussed grammar and topics, and students are provided with conversation sheets, which they can use during classes as well as for later revision.

Our beloved teacher Thubten-la guides and instructs them with his experience teaching in a one-on-one setting. Thubten-la has been working in our school since 2012. He is also the main voice of the listening comprehension materials recorded and edited by Alex García.

In addition to classes, we do our best to provide students with excellent study resources. We have been using study and exam materials from previous LRZTP courses—most notably LRZTP former teacher Franziska Oertle’s excellent book The Heart of Tibetan Language, which was published in print and online by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives (LTWA).

We have worked hard to develop a great number of new materials, primarily for our reading and listening comprehension exercises. At the end of each module, we also give students study guides summarizing the grammar they studied in that module.

Teacher Mr. Alejandro M. Garcia, students, and dog during Wednesday Debates at Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program, Dharamsala, India, July 2018. Photo by Filip Majkowski.

We were very blessed that Lama Zopa Rinpoche kindly accepted our invitation to visit the school in September 2018. It was a beautiful day.

In 2018 we began collaborating with the University of Virginia (UVA) in the United States. LRZTP Tibetan teachers provided assistance to the UVA Summer Language Program so that UVA students could have online Tibetan language conversation classes with our Tibetan teachers using the video conferencing tool Zoom. This collaboration with UVA continued into the fall 2018 semester.

LRZTP8 students took their first-year final exams in March 2019. First-year final exams consist of Classical Tibetan, Speaking, and Writing. We film some of the final exams so students can assess their progress.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with LRZTP8 students and teachers, Dharamsala, India, September 2018. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

In April 2019 the students of LRZTP8 started their second year of studies. This year they have all their classes taught in the Tibetan language and they study Dharma. Their intensive program began with the study of lamrim and dudra (collected topics). One day of the week is devoted to grammar revision, also with Tibetan language as a teaching medium.

In April 2019 a group of six students—two Indian nationals, one Korean, one Mexican, one Russian and one Italian—joined our two-month intensive Tibetan language for Dharma course taught by Ms. Julia Wilson, interpreter at LTWA. We would like to thank the Khyentse Foundation for a grant we were awarded that allows us to offer scholarships to Indian students who demonstrate financial need. We would also like to thank our long-term donor, one of Rinpoche’s students, who has supported LRZTP from the very beginning.

For more information about the Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program in Dharamsala, India visit their website:
http://www.lrztp.org

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 at the beginning of the Vajrayogini Retreat at Institut Vajra Yogini, Marzens, France, May 2019. Photo by Tsanka Petkova.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is currently in the middle of teaching at the five-week Vajrayogini Retreat at Institut Vajra Vogini in the south of France. FPMT students from around the world—many of them students of Rinpoche for more than thirty years—are attending the retreat, which began on May 10. More than 450 people attended the first two weeks of the retreat, including about fifty ordained Sangha. More than 250 students are staying for the entire retreat.

Gordon McDougall, a UK student of Rinpoche and frequent editor of Rinpoche’s books, is attending the retreat and shares this report:

Varjayogini Retreat participants in front of the Kadampa stupa at Insitut Vajra Yogini, France, May 2019

Greetings from Vajrayogini’s pure land, as Lama Zopa Rinpoche so aptly named Institut Vajra Yogini (IVY) at the beginning of the five-week Vajrayogini retreat. I remember when Violette (one of the retreat’s key organizers) first told me Rinpoche had accepted to lead this retreat, it seemed that it would be something very special, and it is proving to be that.

What could have been an organizational nightmare has been made to look blissfully easy by the IVY team, which includes seventy volunteers. The chateau and grounds (and the beautiful French countryside around) are at their best, and the huge teaching tent feels surprisingly spacious. There is the usual array of audio-video equipment for the interpreters, video recording, and live webcast, and a big screen for Ven. Joan Nicell’s simultaneous transcriptions of Rinpoche’s teachings. And there are many flowers, offerings, and thangkas. If you’ve been to a big Rinpoche teaching event, you’ll probably be able to picture it well.

What I notice here, though, is the meticulous eye for detail, from the seating arrangements to the surprising small tables we each have. (When Ven. Chantal Carrerot, the retreat leader, mentioned that the table tops lift and the legs extend, she had to break for a few minutes while we all had great fun playing with them.)

It was wonderful to see the care the team took with the students as they arrived. Because there had been a general strike in France right before the retreat began, people had been stuck in strange cities or forced to find other ways of getting here and many arrived without their baggage, which was floating around France somewhere. In short, chaos, but it hasn’t seemed like that from this side. The team worked so hard to ensure everybody settled in without hassle.

As usual, the first couple of days were a frenzy of reunions. The energy was so high, with people who have been Dharma siblings for decades meeting each other again. I found it quite daunting to face so many people at once and so much hugging and greeting, but, at the same time, it is a fantastic feeling to be back among the FPMT family. And it really does feel like a family. I have known some—many—of the people smiling at me as we go around the big Kadampa stupa for thirty years. They are still at it, still devoted to our amazing holy guru. We worked out there is probably over 10,000 years Dharma experience here. All we have to do now is get enlightened.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching during the Vajrayogini Retreat, Institut Vajra Yogini, France, May 2019. Photo by Tsanka Petkova.

Owen Cole, a long-time FPMT student from Hayagriya Buddhist Centre in Perth, Australia, shares his experience of the first part of the retreat:

The retreat has every thing going for it. During the Heruka and Vajrayogini initiations, Lama Zopa Rinpoche pushed students to the limit with two separate nights of only three hours sleep, though we did get a generous break the next day. The students have responded with enthusiasm and discipline by attending sessions and observing course discipline, such as the silence periods.

The program follows the one favored by Rinpoche in retreats around the world with Guru Puja/Jorcho and additional prayers chanted first thing. This is followed by the sadhana or a teaching by Rinpoche or a talk by a Western Sangha member. We do protector prayers at night. Though everything is subject to change and often does.

IVY director Françios Lecointre and his amazing team are an inspiration for how they have organized the retreat, which has stretched the center’s facilities to capacity. Ever room in the old chateau is jam packed full of people with the overflow housed at nearby Nalanda Monastery, Dorje Palmo Nunnery, and other facilities near the quintessentially French town of Lavaur.

Volunteers serving a meal at the Varjayogini Retreat, Institut Vajra Yogini, France, May 2019. Photo by Tsanka Petkova.

The IVY staff and volunteers have gone out of their way to make the minds of participants happy, offering sun lounges to relieve the pressure on campers, umbrellas when it started raining, and extra blankets for those feeling the cold; taking great care of those who had to be hospitalized; and providing beautiful food in copious quantities. The volunteers are working to the point of exhaustion to help retreatants and keep things running smoothly. And they are patiently doing everything with a smile, which creates a wonderful sense of cooperative community.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche acknowledged their efforts in a teaching by saying their work had already achieved the same result of many lifetimes of retreat, adding that they had purified so many eons of negative karma as they were helping people look after their minds.

You can find links to live webcast of Rinpoche’s teachings here:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/lama-zopa-rinpoche-live/

Watch recorded video of the non-restricted teachings from the retreat here:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/vajrayogini-retreat-2019/

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.