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In-depth Stories
Please enjoy this collection of longer stories that cover a wide range of topics—from pilgrimage to student milestones, from interviews with teachers to explanations of aspects of Buddhist practice. For our most recent published content, including video, audio, blog posts, and more, see What’s New!
Pilgrimage to the Hidden Valley of Tsum, Nepal
In the remote borderlands of the high Himalayas, several valleys are said to be beyul—hidden or secret valleys—only open to those with very pure minds and hearts. According to ancient scriptures, they were established by Guru Rinpoche, the 8th-century Indian ... Read more »
MAITRI Charitable Trust: Service in the Land of Noble Truths
Phil Hunt, coordinator of FPMT probationary project Enlightenment for the Dear Animals, shares about his visit in early 2018 to FPMT project MAITRI Charitable Trust in Bodhgaya, India. Heading out at dawn through the outskirts of Bodhgaya on one of ... Read more »
The Power of Guru Rinpoche: The Heart-Opening Australian Guru Bumtsog Experience
In June 2017 FPMT in Australia (FPMTA) and Chag Tong Chen Tong Tibetan Buddhist Centre (CTCT) organized 100,000 tsog offerings to Guru Rinpoche, also known as a “Guru bumtsog.” Participants from all over Australia took part in the powerful and ... Read more »
Personalizing the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination
By Ven. Tenzin Gache His Holiness the Dalai Lama often comments that as Buddhists, our distinctive practice is non-violence, and our distinctive view is dependent origination. His Holiness’s comments echo a common strand in the Buddhist tradition: Lama Tsongkhapa claimed ... Read more »
Presenting the Path to Modern Students: An Interview with Ven. Thubten Chodron
Ven. Thubten Chodron is a celebrated American Buddhist teacher, scholar, author, and leader who has published many popular books explaining the Dharma, including a 2013 work co-authored with His Holiness the Dalai Lama called Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions. She ... Read more »
Community and Commitment: A Yamantaka Study Group at Tara Institute in Australia
Recently, a group of students from Tara Institute in Melbourne, Australia, who had previously received a Yamantaka initiation from Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and again from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, gathered to form a Yamantaka study group. Yamantaka is a ... Read more »
‘Something to Rejoice In’: Geshe Tenzin Namdak In His Own Words
On May 8, 2017, after twenty years of study at Sera Je Monastic University, Ven. Tenzin Namdak, a registered FPMT teacher and native of the Netherlands, was formally awarded his geshe degree during a three-day ceremony that included public debate, ... Read more »
Buddhist Conduct: A New Resource from Old Tibet
The Just King: The Tibetan Buddhist Classic on Leading an Ethical Life has recently been published by Snow Lion/Shambhala. It presents a lengthy work on ethics by Tibetan luminary Jamgön Mipham (1846-1912) translated by distinguished scholar-practitioner and former Sera Je ... Read more »
Freda Bedi’s ‘Big’ Life: An Interview with Vicki Mackenzie
Freda Bedi, born in 1911 in England, lived a “big” life. She attended Oxford University, where she met and married Baba Pyare Lal Bedi, who was the sixteenth direct descendant of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh religion. They moved ... Read more »
The Benefits of Monasteries and Nunneries
Are monasteries and nunneries necessary? Lama Zopa Rinpoche recently answered the question with a resounding “Yes!” and explained some of the benefits of monastic communities. The question was also examined by Ven. Tenzin Legtsok, an American monk in the geshe ... Read more »
In the Footsteps of Atisha: A Pilgrimage to Vikramashila
Pilgrimage needs faith. The more faith, the more happiness. Otherwise, you are just like a tourist looking at ruins. … When you go to these holy places it reminds you of impermanence. Once these places were great cities but now ... Read more »