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April 2014
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 Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Choe Khor Sum Ling, Bangalore, India, March 2014. Ven Roger Kunsang reports that Rinpoche said, “Milarepa had nothing and yet was always blissful! Many people have everything materially and are still unhappy! Happiness comes from the mind. True lasting happiness comes from within. Satisfaction and contentment are mental states; these inner qualities don’t depend on outside things.” Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang. |
New Advice: No Time for Depression as So Much to Rejoice About
News from Mandala Publications
Friends of FPMT Losar Campaign Got Some Big Love!
- Additional Basic Program Materials en Español
- Service Seminar Updates
- Foundation Store Can Help Keep the Whole Family Engaged
Rejoice! Chokyi Gyaltsen Center Offers 100,000 Lights
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s News:
New Advice:
No Time for Depression as So Much to Rejoice About
Lama Zopa Rinpoche replied to a student who had concerns about health and having given back their ordinations vows, which led to them feeling very isolated and depressed and being unable to study or practice:
“If you can study lam-rim, that should be the main teaching – just like the wandering ascetics, the monks whose only belonging is the Lamrim Chenmo. They don’t have anything else, don’t carry anything but the lam-rim, so like that. So that is the main one to study, to meditate on – the lam-rim. You have to actualize this, otherwise we will suffer. Without realizations on guru devotion, renunciation, bodhichitta, right view and particularly tantra, you will be suffering in samsara endlessly. Do you want to do that? I don’t think so.
You should know it’s not just practice for this lifetime. The practice becomes preparation for all your lives, so eons, eons, eons, all your future lives, to go to a pure land, then enlightenment, to be free from samsara, enlightenment and then to benefit all sentient beings and enlighten them. Don’t think you are alone.” …
Read the full advice.
Find a full range of advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on Rinpoche’s Advice page. Go to the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive for lots more advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Rinpoche’s Schedule
Please contact the hosts directly with any questions regarding the event. Subscribe to our RSS feed on Rinpoche’s Schedule to receive updates automatically as soon as they are available.
April 19 Vajrasattva initiation, Maitripa College, USA
April 21 Dorje Khadro transmission, Maitripa College, USA
May 3 Teaching on 8 Verses of Mind Training, Kadampa Center, USA
May 4 – 18 Light of the Path retreat, Kadampa Center, USA
June 28 Teaching on the Wheel of Sharp Weapons, Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy
June 29 Amitayus (Tse Pagme) long life initiation, Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy
July 5 – 6 Making Life Meaningful: Teachings on the Stages of the Path, Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds, UK
July 10 Enlightened Courage: The Buddha’s Path of Wise Compassion, Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London, UK
July 11 – 13 Heruka 5 Deities initiation, Jamyang Buddhist Centre, UK
July 16 Long life puja, Jamyang Buddhist Centre, UK
September 13 – 19 CPMT meeting, Bendigo, Australia
September 25 – October 23 Bodhicaryavatara and Rinjung Gyatsa retreat, The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Bendigo, Australia
November/December Teachings during the one month lam-rim course, Kopan Monastery, Nepal
New Short Videos
New short videos of Lama Zopa Rinpoche are up on our Videos of Lama Zopa Rinpoche webpage.
Enjoy daily news about Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the FPMT homepage!
International Office News:
Animal Liberation Fund News
 Lama Zopa Rinpoche blessing beings in the ocean and all those who come in contact with the ocean using a large Namgyälma mantra board, California, USA, September 2013. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang. |
In addition to the weekly animal liberations offered by the Sangha at Kachoe Dechen Ling, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s California residence, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has requested the Sangha to also make weekly trips to the coast in order to use large Namgyälma mantra boards to bless all the beings living in the Pacific Ocean. This practice benefits all sentient beings in the ocean as well as all who touch the ocean, swim in the ocean, surf, etc. You can learn more about this beautiful practice, watch a video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche leading the practice, read more about the Namgyälma mantra and find other Namgyälma mantra-related resources on fpmt.org. Discover more …
The Animal Liberation Fund sponsors weekly animal liberations as well as many other prayers and practices which support the long and healthy life of others.
News from Education Services
New materials available from the FPMT Foundation Store:
- Praise and Prayer to Noble Avalokiteshvara – available in eBook, a4 and letter booklet formats.
- The Eight Verses of Thought Transformation standalone with phonetics –available in eBook, a4 and letter booklet formats.
Program News: Three students graduated from Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa’s Masters Program (MP) Online, a truly remarkable achievement. Even more remarkable, one of these online graduates studied and completed the program from within a USA prison! The center’s residential MP students who completed their studies in 2014 have now entered their one-year retreat and will graduate by the end of 2015.
Nalanda Monastery’s Basic Program now provides a homestudy option reaching twenty-plus enthusiastically participating students.
News from Mandala Publications
Find inspiration for your practice and connection to the international FPMT community by reading Mandala‘s daily blog. You can see new photos, news and advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche online as well as updates from FPMT centers, projects and services, or have them delivered to your email inbox five days a week for free. To read new stories or sign up, visit our daily blog!
Friends of FPMT Losar Campaign Got Some Big Love!
We received over 250 new or renewing Friends of FPMT supporters during this year’s Losar campaign, well exceeding our goal of 108 new Friends. Thank you!
If you are interested in joining Friends of FPMT and enjoying some of the great Dharma resources the program supports, please click here.
For Center, Project and Service Directors, SPCs, Board Members, Registered Teachers and Coordinators:
(This advice is specifically for those offering service in the roles listed above.)
Additional Basic Program Materials en Español
Some useful Basic Program (BP) course materials were added to the Spanish Basic Program materials webpage in the FPMT Affiliates Area. This update concludes Teresa Vega’s fabulous translation work done as karma yoga for Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa’s Masters Program!
Service Seminar Updates
Updated 2013 edition of A Practical Guide of Skillful Means is now available for free download in the FPMT Affiliates Area.
Foundation Store Can Help Keep the Whole Family Engaged
Need some ideas to keep the whole family – kids and parents – positively engaged in your center? Check out our children’s materials.
 Chokyi Gyaltsen Center, Penang, Malaysia. Photo courtesy of Chokyi Gyaltsen Center. |
FPMT World:
Rejoice!
Chokyi Gyaltsen Center
Offers 100,000 Lights
As requested by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Chokyi Gyaltsen Center, Malaysia, has been able to create an offering of over 100,000 lights.
Rejoice in other extensive offerings around the world!
CPMT 2014:
Booking Now Open
Booking is now open for CPMT 2014!
If you would you like to hear Lama Zopa Rinpoche share his vision for students and the organization; if you have ideas and questions you would like to discuss with FPMT directors, spiritual program coordinators, board members, teachers and coordinators; if you would like to connect with your international FPMT family and contribute to FPMT’s work to preserve the Mahayana tradition, then you are invited to participate in FPMT’s international meeting – CPMT 2014: Preserving the Dharma Now and into the Future. CPMT 2014 is being held in the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Bendigo, Australia, September 13-19, 2014.
More information, including the agenda and how to book, is available on fpmt.org.
Opportunities to Offer Service in FPMT
Please check out the regularly updated exciting opportunities to offer service as a volunteer or as paid staff in FPMT centers, projects and services around the world!
Impermanence at Work
Bengungyal Center, Mexico
We welcome new SPC – Ileana Rodriguez
With grateful thanks to outgoing SPC – Rogelio Pallares
Chenrezig Institute, Australia
We welcome new SPC – Eva Müller
Khamlungpa Center, Mexico
With grateful thanks to outgoing resident geshe – Geshe Khedup
Kushi Ling Retreat Centre, Italy
We welcome new director – Gabriele Bonetti
Milarepa Center, USA
We welcome new director – Felicity Keeley
With grateful thanks to outgoing director – Ven. Amy Miller
Nagarjuna C.E.T. Alicante, Spain
nagarjunaalicante@gmail.com
Naropa Meditation Center, Tahiti
We welcome new director – André Mamet
With grateful thanks to outgoing director – Frédéric Fabre
centredemeditationnaropa@gmail.com
Tara Home, USA
JYoung@woodsidetown.org
Tong-nyi Nying-Je Ling, Denmark
With grateful thanks to outgoing resident teacher – Stephan Pende Wormland
With love,
FPMT International Office
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