International Office News
January 2023

Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the long life puja offered to Rinpoche on behalf of the entire FPMT organization at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 21, 2022. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche:

Recent Activities in India & Nepal

Lama Zopa Rinpoche greeting participants of the Kopan November Course, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2022. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

In recent months, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has spent beneficial time in India and Nepal, including a moving visit with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Rinpoche also visited Tashi Chime Gatsal Nunnery in Bigu, Nepal, where he gave ordination vows for forty-five new nuns and participated in a ceremony for their new gompa. Rinpoche then taught at the fifty-third Kopan November Course at Kopan Monastery throughout December, and received a long life puja on behalf of the entire FPMT organization. Rinpoche engaged in a variety of other auspicious activities, benefiting and blessing sentient beings in any way possible along the way.

We invite you to read more about some of these activities, enjoy our new photo album from this period, and to join us in rejoicing about how Rinpoche inspires us all to live a full and beneficial life. 

Newly Published Teachings & Advice

Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at the fifty-third Kopan lamrim meditation course, Nepal, December, 2022. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Please enjoy some recently published teachings from the past month, and links to new episodes of the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Essential Extracts Podcast:

• By Studying Buddha Dharma, You Come to Know Yourself
• How the Letter Z Comes Into Existence
• Great Compassion Comes from Realizing Samsara is the Nature of Suffering
• Others’ Happiness Depends on How You Act with Your Body, Speech, and Mind
• Practice Patience by Remembering Karma
• How Everything Comes from Your Mind
• Advice for Severe Weather Conditions
• The Purpose of Being Born a Human Being Is to Practice the Good Heart
• Recent episodes of the “Lama Zopa Rinpoche Essential Extracts Podcast” include, “Every Moment is an Opportunity to Practice Dharma,” and “All Problems Can Be Utilized in the Path to Enlightenment.” New episodes are released every other Monday and previously published episodes are available on the Essential Extracts Podcast page as well.

All teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche are published regularly, unedited, on our full-length teachings podcast shortly after the teaching finishes.

We’re Rejoicing About:

The Dalai Lama Centre for Tibetan & Indian Ancient Wisdom

His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the occasion the laying the foundation stone for The Dalai Lama Centre for Tibet and Indian Ancient Wisdom on the Maitreya Project land in Bodhgaya, India, January 3, 2023. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

On January 3, 2023, His Holiness the Dalai Lama presided over the foundation stone laying ceremony for his new center in Bodhgaya, India, The Dalai Lama Centre for Tibetan and Indian Ancient Wisdom. 

This center is being built on 30 acres of land which belonged to the Maitreya Project. In 2020, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered this land to His Holiness, after being asked if he would consider doing so by the previous Prime Minister of the Central Tibetan Administration’s government-in-exile, Lobsang Sangye, and delegates from His Holiness’s office. Rinpoche happily accepted to make this offering to help actualize His Holiness’s wish to build an international institute promoting human values of kindness and compassion, in this area so deeply blessed with Buddhism.

Please read more about this inspiring project for world peace. 

Grants Offered in 2022 from the Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund

2022 Annual Gelug Exam participants.

The Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund’s purpose is to invest in the preservation of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism by supporting the teachers of tomorrow. Preserving the Mahayana tradition is the primary objective of the entire FPMT organization and the Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund is one substantial way to help continue this work. In 2022, US$153,291 in grants was offered to lineage teachers, the annual Gelug Exam, the Winter Debate, memorization exams, specialized studies for geshes and geshemas, and educational research for Tibetan medical doctors. We invite you to read about these beneficial activities, which preserve the living lineage of Lama Tsongkhapa, in detail.

A Major Achievement: Rejoicing in the New Geshema Graduates of 2022

Four senior nuns from Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery, Ven. Lobsang Dolma, Ven. Thupten Choedon, Ven. Thupten Sangmo, and Ven. Lobsang Dolkar, graduated as geshemas on November 18, 2022. The four new geshemas are the latest group of graduates from the nunnery to complete their Geshema degrees. You can read more about this momentous achievement and details about the ceremony.

Ksitigarbha Statue Blessings

New Ksitigarbha statue on the grounds of Dorje Chang Institute, New Zealand. Photo courtesy of Dorje Chang Institute.

Following the offer of a kind benefactor to provide statues of Ksitigarbha for FPMT affiliates, we were delighted to receive some photos of statues recently offered to FPMT centers. We share here a photo from Dorje Chang Institute, New Zealand; and a response sent by Theres Tschanz, director of Lhagsam Center, Switzerland, to the benefactor:

“We are very happy to have received and set up the Kshitigarbha statue. It is very beautiful, and peacefully watches over us in the gompa. We faced some obstacles during the transport; we think that is actually a good sign, Ksitigarbha has blessed many beings on his way. Since the statue has been set up here, we have had more people at the events than usual, how wonderful! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!”

Become a Friend of FPMT

What’s New?

New Blogs and Stories from FPMT.org

You can keep up on all of our latest blogs, featured stories, community news, and teachings by checking in regularly to the What’s New page on FPMT.org. Recent obituaries, In-depth stories, and blogs include:

• Rejoicing in the Life of the 102nd Ganden Tripa Rizong Rinpoche: Representing the Pinnacle of the Sutra and Tantra Traditions
• Activities Supported by the FPMT Education & Preservation Fund in 2022
• Road to Kopan: ‘I Realized that My Life Couldn’t Be the Same Again’

Students of Visva-Bharati University, Department of Indo-Tibetan Studies, West Bengal, India, proudly displaying a translation of the Heart Sutra sponsored by the Education & Preservation Fund.

Resources to Support Your Dharma Study and Practice

Materials for Your Study & Practice

New:
Two prayers were translated by Lama Zopa Rinpoche that are useful for pacifying obstacles that can arise due to doing activities—such as building a house, starting a project or business venture, or traveling—on astrologically unfavorable days. They can also help to accomplish success.

• A Ritual to Perform When Undertaking Activities on Inauspicious Days
• Dharani Which Accomplishes All Aims

Updates and Revisions:

Special FPMT Dedication Prayers
This is a set of prayers compiled in 1997 for FPMT students and centers by Ven. Roger Kunsang according to various instructions from Ven. Ribur Rinpoche and other masters for the health and long life of Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Two new ebooks:

Extensive Offering Practice eBook
One of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s heart practices for accumulating merit, this booklet includes the extensive offering practice composed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, plus Jowo Atisha’s prayer, A Light Offering, and the benefits of making light offerings.

Helping Yourself and Others Die Happily ebook
Compiled according to the specific instructions of Lama Zopa Rinpoche for the ease of use at the critical time of death and for the preparation of one’s own death, this booklet includes the key advice on how to practice the five powers near the time of death, and the essential prayers for creating the cause to be reborn in Amitabha’s Pure Land, the Blissful Realm.

For a complete list of FPMT Education Services prayers and practices, please visit our catalogue page. You can also find all new arrivals, updated materials, and translated materials in our Foundation Store.

New Free Book from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive

Knowledge-Wisdom: The Peaceful Path to Liberation, Collected Teachings, Vol. 1

This collection is drawn from teachings given by Lama Yeshe in the 1970s and 1980s, when he and Lama Zopa Rinpoche traveled the world, teaching extensively. Lama Yeshe consistently encouraged students to recognize and develop their limitless potential, and his dynamic teaching style means that these teachings are as relevant and accessible today as when first taught.

Order this free book from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

Opportunities and Changes within the Organization:

We Welcome Zarina Osmonalieva, Big Thanks to Diana Ospina

We are delighted to share that Zarina Osmonalieva has joined the FPMT International Office team part-time as distribution coordinator. Many of you already know Zarina as the spiritual program coordinator of Yeshin Norbu Centre in Stockholm. Zarina is taking over for Diana Ospina, who has been offered to take her career in a different direction. Many thanks to Diana, whose warm presence and constant wish to serve inspired so many in our FPMT mandala during her 13 years of dedicated service to the Foundation Store. Please join us in offering a warm welcome to Zarina in her new role!

Diana Ospina visiting a friend in Portland, Oregon, USA, November 2022. Photo courtesy of Michael Jolliffe.

New Opportunities to Offer Service

Read about the amazing benefits and importance of offering service in the FPMT organization, and have a look below at these meritorious opportunities to offer service as paid staff or as a volunteer in FPMT centers, projects, and services around the world. Newly added and all remunerated positions: Milarepa Center, US, is looking for a new director, or an operations manager; Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds, UK, needs a director and a spiritual program coordinator; while Jamyang London Buddhist Center, UK, has an opening for a Science and Wisdom Live Project manager.

Lotsawa Rinchen Zango Translator Program 9 Open for Registration

The next two-year intensive Tibetan language and Dharma translator/interpreter program at the Lotsawa Rinchen Zango Translator Program is open for registration and there are still a few seats available.

The LRZTP ninth generation program will be held fully onsite in Dharamshala, India from April 24, 2023 to May 30, 2025.

The well-known Tibetan language and translators’ program has been training Dharma interpreters and translators for FPMT Dharma centers for well over twenty years. For more information, please visit the program webpage.

Impermanence at Work

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

Kadampa Center, US
We welcome new co-spiritual program coordinator – Linda Saah

Kopan Monastery, Nepal
We welcome new spiritual program coordinator – Ven. Thubten Khadro
With grateful thanks to retired SPC – Ven. Fran Mohoupt

Land of Joy, UK
We welcome new director – Tuya Purevgonchig
With grateful thanks to retired director – Jenny MacQueen

Land of Medicine Buddha, US
We welcome new spiritual program coordinator – Rommy Fisher

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FPMT International Office is Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s office.