International Office News
December 2024

Lama Zopa Rinpoche in front of a Christmas tree, Boudhanath, Nepal, December 19, 2022. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Warmest wishes to you from all of us at FPMT International Office. May 2025 usher in a new year full of peace and compassion for yourself and others.

We send our heartfelt thanks to each of you supporting the FPMT mission as students, staff, benefactors, and friends.

We rejoice in the great beneficial efforts of the entire FPMT community, this year and in all years to come.

May all the holy wishes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Thubten Yeshe, and Lama Zopa Rinpoche be fulfilled perfectly immediately.

We dedicate all merits created, including merits of the three-time buddhas and sentient beings, to the swift return of our precious guru,
Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche.

May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May all sentient beings never be separated from the happiness that knows no suffering.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free of attachment and hatred for those held close and distant.

Advice and News Regarding Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Enjoy with Compassion this Holiday Season

Live with Compassion poster at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered the following definition of a “holiday”:

• The mind abiding in correctly following the virtuous friend.
• The mind abiding in renunciation of samsara.
• The mind abiding in bodhicitta.
• The mind abiding in emptiness.
• The mind abiding in tantra path – the two stages.
• The completion of your holiday is when you cease all the obscurations and complete all the realizations.

Whatever traditions you enjoy this time of year, please consider taking Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teaching on compassion to heart:

Live with compassion
Work with compassion
Meditate with compassion
When problems come, experience them with compassion
Die with compassion
Enjoy with compassion
Practicing this gives you the best happy life
It fulfills all your wishes and all living beings’ wishes for happiness.

Large Padmasambhava Thangka Display and Guru Bumtsog Offered on Rinpoche’s Birthday

The grounds of Kopan Nunnery during the Guru Bumtsok event on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthday, December 3, 2024. Photo thanks to Kopan Nunnery.

For the ninth year in a row, a very large thangka of Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) was displayed and an auspicious 100,000 tsog offering event (Guru Bumtsog) took place at Kopan Nunnery. This yearly event now takes place in honor of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthday, December 3, to commemorate Rinpoche’s life and fulfill Rinpoche’s wishes. Please read about this wonderful event, the history of the impressive 70 feet (21 meters) high and 87 feet (27 meters) wide thangka, and more about Rinpoche’s wishes for this holy object and event.

Lama Yeshe’s Wisdom

Silent Mind, Holy Mind

In 1971, Lama Thubten Yeshe gave a series of talks at Kopan Monastery, in Nepal, at the end of the month-long Kopan meditation course. As Christmas drew near, Western students were feeling a little out of place and unsure of what to do with their feelings of “missing out on Christmas.” Lama Yeshe, sensing their confused feelings, had them gather in the meditation hall where he talked about Christmas and Buddhist practice. The talks Lama Yeshe gave from this period are collected into the book Silent Mind, Holy Mind. First published in 1978 by Wisdom Publications, the book has been out of print for many years. With the kind permission of Wisdom’s director, Daniel Aitken, the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive has created the second edition (2024), which includes the original collection of talks given by Lama Yeshe at Kopan Monastery on Christmas Eve, as well as another Christmas talk and a Cistercian priest’s tribute to Lama after he passed away in 1984.

Please enjoy this excerpt from Chapter 4 of Silent Mind, Holy Mind, which is from a talk given by Lama Yeshe in 1982 at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Pomaia, Italy. Video is also available of this most precious teaching.

Follow Your Path Without Attachment

Lama Yeshe teaching at Les Bayards, Switzerland, 1975. Photo by Barbara Vautier, courtesy of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

The Peaceful Stillness of the Silent Mind is one of the most beloved free books from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. The six teachings contained in this volume come from Lama Yeshe’s 1975 visit to Australia. They are all filled with love, insight, wisdom and compassion, and accessible question-and-answer sessions.

Please enjoy Chapter 6 of The Peaceful Stillness of the Silent Mind,­­­­ “Follow Your Path Without Attachment” from a talk given by Lama Yeshe at Chinese Buddhist Society, Sydney, AUS, April 24, 1975. Edited by Nicholas Ribush.

Obituaries

Rinpoche’s Brother, Sangay Sherpa Passes Away

Sangay Sherpa, the brother of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, passed away on December 8, 2024 after an admission to HAMS hospital in Kathmandu for various health issues. Sangay offered a lifetime of service to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and the Lawudo Retreat Center. The cremation took place on December 11 at Ramadoli Teku in Kathmandu. Please read a biography of Sangay.

The Exceptional Energy and Devotion of Jan Paul Kool

Jan Paul Kool, long-time FPMT student who offered extensive service to the organization in the Netherlands at Maitreya Instituut and also with translating and editing through Maitreya Magazine, Maitreya Uitgeverij, and as a photographer, passed away from cancer on November 29, 2024 in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, aged 78. Please read a moving obituary which includes a photo gallery of Jan Paul and some of his incredible photography, thanks to the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. 

What We’re Rejoicing About

Powerful Pujas and Prayers Being Offered on Lhabab Duchen

Please rejoice that this year on Lhabab Duchen, November 22, approximately ten thousand Sangha engaged in powerful prayers and practices for the benefit of all beings and in particular for the swift return of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche and our FPMT family—all the centers, services, and projects and all the members, volunteers, and kind benefactors. Please read details about what was offered on this merit-multiplying day.

2024 Kopan November Course Completed

2024 Kopan Course participants.

Kopan Monastery’s yearly month-long lamrim course, known affectionately as the November Course, was held November 8 through December 8, 2024 in Nepal with senior FPMT teacher, Tubten Pende. We will share a report on this wonderful event soon which is so critical for the preservation of the FPMT lineage.

Animal Blessings and Rescue from Untimely Death in 2024

The Animal Liberation Fund supports ongoing animal liberations conducted by Sangha and students, which include extensive prayers and dedications for fulfilling Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s holy wishes, his gurus, sponsors, those who are sick or facing untimely death, and specific requests from the FPMT community. We are delighted to share that the Animal Liberation Fund provided US$11,500 in grants to the Kopan Animal Liberation Sanctuary in Nepal and for the releasing and care of animals in Buddha Amitabha Pure Land in Washington State, USA. Please read more moving details about the grants offered and the activities they support.

100 Million Mani Retreats Offered

One of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization is to host 100 Million Mani Retreats (100,000 recitations of 100 million OM MANI PADME HUM) around the world. There are now annual 100 Million Mani Retreats at Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling in Mongolia, Tashi Chime Gatsal Nunnery in Nepal, and a virtual ongoing retreat at Chenrezig Institute, Australia. Please read a recent update on these retreats and rejoice in the billions of mani mantras offered due to these efforts!

Australia and New Zealand Regional Consultation and Australia National Meeting

Australia/New Zealand regional consultation participants. Photo by Damien Busby.

The last of the four regional consultations planned in 2024 to pave the way for the CPMT 2025 meeting, FPMT Australia and New Zealand, as well as a national meeting for FPMT Australia, took place at Tara Institute, Melbourne, AUS, from October 26-28, 2024. Forty participants attended in person with another ten joining online. This turnout represented 22 FPMT centers (including study groups), projects, and services from the region! Karuna Cayton and Dale Davis joined from the FPMT Inc. Board of Directors, and François Lecointre joined from FPMT International Office. Read a full report of this meeting.

New Long-Term Retreat Rooms at IVY

In 2019 Lama Zopa Rinpoche expressed his vision for more people to engage in the three year Vajrayogini retreat. Institut Vajra Yogini (IVY), France, then brought up their wish to create retreat rooms in which people could do this long retreat, up to three years. Rinpoche immediately pledged US$120,000 to help them complete this project. Due to the kindness of a benefactor, half of this was raised in 2020 and Lama Zopa Rinpoche personally offered the rest of the pledge through the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund the following year.

These four individual long-term retreat rooms—each equipped with a private bathroom, individually-controlled air conditioning, and space for study and practice—are designed to provide ideal conditions for practitioners undertaking extended three-year Vajrayogini retreats. Please read more about these new rooms, see photos of the completed project, and learn about an upcoming Vajrayogini Retreat at IVY in January. 

Resources and Opportunities for Study and Practice

Lama Tsongkhapa Day (Ganden Ngamchoe) is on December 25

Ganden Ngamchoe, literally “Ganden Offering of the Twenty-Fifth Day,” or Lama Tsongkhapa Day, is a celebration of the anniversary of Lama Tsongkhapa’s parinirvana. It is celebrated on the twenty-fifth day of the tenth month of the Tibetan calendar. This year, Lama Tsongkhapa Day falls on December 25.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche encouraged FPMT centers, projects, and services to engage in a variety of practices on Ganden Ngamchoe to celebrate and create merit. Please also rejoice that on this special day, Lama Zopa Rinpoche began the tradition of offering lunch and dessert to all Sangha in IMI communities.

A Rare Chance to Take Part in FPMT’s Most Advanced Education Program

Geshe Gelek, teacher of the 4th FPMT Masters Program at ILTK, with MP students at the thanks giving puja offered to conclude Ornament.

Do you really enjoy going deeper into your Dharma studies, beyond what your center can offer? Do you have a keen curiosity about the extensive studies that shaped your teachers’ insights and gives them the ability to share profound knowledge with such confident, joyful clarity?

An opportunity opens up to join a group of dedicated, like minded Dharma students! Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy, welcomes new residential and online participants for their next FPMT Masters Program subject, Madhyamakavatara, starting February 3, 2025, also offered in Spanish and Italian! Consider to come and deepen your Dharma understanding by studying the great texts of the MP curriculum!

There are enormous benefits: for one’s own practice, for more confidently guiding others in meditation and practice, to teach better, to meditate better, to broaden one’s perspective profoundly, to go beyond superficial notions and presumptions. This is a chance to develop and extend one’s mind in a supportive and a wonderfully inspiring ambiance. Please learn more about this precious opportunity.

Newly Available and Revised Materials

This month we make available the revised edition of the Nyungne sadhana which was released in 2015. This 2024 version includes updated translation of some standard prayers and incorporates Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s instructions on the sequence of prayers.

We are happy to share the updated version of Lama Chopa and Tsog Offering eBook & PDF which reflects the five essential minimum additions Lama Zopa Rinpoche says to include for the practice. We also recently created a webpage devoted to compiling all the advice and commentary for Lama Chopa we have received from Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Retreat Opportunities

Please check our retreat schedule page for group retreat opportunities including two Yamantaka approximation retreats and two Vajra Yogini approximation retreats this coming January.

Opportunities to Offer Support and Changes within the Organization

Fulfilling Our Lamas Wishes

With the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the FPMT organization just around the corner in 2025, we are inviting support for a new fund, the Fulfilling Our Lamas Wishes Fund, which helps all of our work and activities in Dharma education and preservation; grant-making that benefits Sangha, children, elders, and animals; all the work we do to connect and support local FPMT communities, and students without a local community, and more. All for fulfilling the vast and compassionate wishes and vision of our kind founders Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

We express our big thanks and rejoicing for all of the support received in the campaign so far. All are welcome to make an offering.

Foundation Service Seminar in France

The Foundation Service Seminar (FSS) is the “FPMT immersion retreat,” providing essential information and nourishment for all serving, or wishing to serve, in the FPMT organization. This is a wonderful opportunity for centers, projects, and services to invest in the future by training the next generation of directors, SPCs, volunteers, board members, etc.

Institut Vajra Yogini, France, is organizing an FSS on September 24-28, 2025. Reservations are not open yet but please save the dates already.

Changes in the FPMT Organization

Karuna Hospice Services, Queensland, Australia
We welcome Sophie Shrapnel as new director
With grateful thanks to outgoing director Tracey Porst

Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds, UK
We welcome Emanuelle Jones as new SPC
Grateful thanks to outgoing SPC Chrissie Martindale

Atisha Centre, Victoria, Australia
We welcome Andy Melnic as new director
With grateful thanks to outgoing director Jan Stewart

Opportunities to Offer Service

Read about the amazing benefits and importance of offering service in the FPMT organization, and have a look at these meritorious opportunities to offer service as a paid staff or volunteer in FPMT centers, projects, and services around the world, including opportunities in in France, India, European Region, North American Region, Nepal, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, UK and the USA. Newly added: Jamyang Buddhist Centre London is looking for a Head of Operations.

Become a Friend of FPMT

Contact information for the centers mentioned, and all FPMT centers, projects, and services can be found in the FPMT Directory.

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FPMT International Office is Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s office.