International Office News
June 2026

Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi leading puja at the Vesak Celebrations 2026. Photo courtesy of Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore.

Welcome to this month’s newsletter!

We hope that you all took advantage of many merit-increasing opportunities over the Saka Dawa period.

Below you will find many causes for rejoicing from around the FPMT mandala, as well as some upcoming precious opportunities for study and practice. 

As we all prepare to celebrate His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 91th birthday, upcoming on July 6, 2026, we want to remind you about some valuable resources we have available for these celebrations.

You can find Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s collected advice in the booklet How to Do the Great Festival of His Holiness’ Birthday in the Best Possible Way.

The PDF booklet, Prayers for the Long Life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Tibet, contains prayers for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and for Tibet.

May your celebrations and practices honoring His Holiness’ birthday be most joyous and auspicious, and may His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet continue to have a long and stable life, to continue to guide and inspire all sentients in desperate need of his perfect example of compassion, and to dispel all the misery of the world, from lifetime to lifetime without any separation!

Advice from and News Regarding Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Memorial Stupas Inauguration at Kopan Monastery and Nunnery, December 2026

Rendering of the Stupa of Complete Victory at Kopan Monastery.

We are pleased to share a reminder about the grand inauguration ceremonies of the Memorial Stupas of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup Rigsel at Kopan Monastery and Nunnery.

On December 11, 2026, the Stupa of Complete Victory, enshrining the sacred relics of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, will be consecrated at Kopan Monastery.

On December 14, 2026, the Mahabodhi Memorial Stupa at Kopan Nunnery will be consecrated to honor both Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup.

Eliminating Anger

Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered precious advice to a person who worked as a driver for a Dharma center. The driver complained of being very angry with his family and asked Rinpoche for some mantras to help him:

The person whom you call enemy, whose anger you see as bad, is helping you to practice patience. He or she is actually the one who is giving you liberation from all suffering, and enlightenment, by letting you practice the Mahayana path, the paramita of patience.

Even Shakyamuni Buddha and the numberless buddhas were ordinary beings like us, with mistakes, delusions, and problems, then they discovered the nature of suffering, practiced patience, developed their minds on the path, and achieved great liberation: enlightenment. Please read Rinpoche’s full advice.

You can find more advice about anger in Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Online Advice Book at the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. 

Valuable Resources for Students

We would like to draw your attention to some valuable resources for students of Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Compendium of Precious Instructions: A Catalog of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Works
is a collection of Rinpoche’s literary and graphic works which are available digitally and/or in print, with particular emphasis on key teachings that Rinpoche especially wanted his students to take note of and put into practice, as well as a guide on where to find the audio and video.

Life Practice Advice is a resource based on Rinpoche’s essential daily practice and lifetime practice advice. This is his essential advice and by following this advice, students can feel confident they are following and practicing according to Rinpoche’s heart advice.

FPMT.org offers a collection of practical advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Students can also find Rinpoche’s advice on a wide range of topics in the form of short talks and letters at the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

Lama Yeshe’s Wisdom

Lama Yeshe teaching at Royal Holloway College, 1975, London, England. Photo by Dennis Heslop, courtesy of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

Transforming Our Surroundings

The Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive offers a growing index of teaching excerpts from Big Love: The Life and Teachings of Lama Yeshe. In addition to the fascinating historical narrative from students of Lama Yeshe, Big Love is also filled with Dharma teachings.

In the excerpt, “Transforming Our Surroundings,” Lama Yeshe explains that by changing our perspective we can be happy anywhere, since the real source of happiness is the mind, not the external environment:

Most of the time, our objects of joy are not limitless; we discriminate. Our minds are funny; they decide, “This one, I like; that one, I don’t.” We divide things into pieces. It doesn’t come from the side of the object; it comes from our own mind’s decision. We see a person and automatically our mind goes, “I’m not happy with him; he gives me no pleasure.” It doesn’t come from him; it comes from your dualistic determination that has already created divisions in your own mind so that when you see people you automatically categorize them. This creates difficulties; it causes conflict and complications and psychological bother.

Do you see how fantastic Lord Buddha’s psychology and scientific understanding of the mind is? How well he explains how the mind works? If you can understand this, you’ll see it’s really too much. It’s amazing; you don’t need too many words to describe it. It’s beautiful … and really so simple. Continue to read the full excerpt.

Excerpted from a teaching given in Kathmandu, Nepal, in February, 1975, and published in chapter 13 of Big Love: The Life and Teachings, of Lama Yeshe.

Updates from the FPMT Inc. Board of Directors

The FPMT Inc. Board of Directors recently shared important updates and information. including recent changes at FPMT International Office, information on board member recruitment, and progress on the organization’s strategic plan. 

What We’re Rejoicing About

2026 FPMT Global Mani Retreat Gains Momentum!

Since launching on May 17, 2026, the FPMT Global Mani Retreat has welcomed over 700 participants at its opening session, where Senior Advisor Ven. Roger Kunsang highlighted how deeply the 100-million-mantra goal fulfills the vision of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Chenrezig Group Practice sessions have continued since, with Charok Lama on May 23, emphasizing the inner meaning of the Mani mantra; on May 31, Ven. Sarah Thresher joined from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s historic cave in Lawudo, Nepal; and on June 5, a session in which Ven. Thubten Dechen of FPMT East and Southeast Asia moved hearts by chanting in both Tibetan and English. Ven. Thubten Kalden, for FPMT Latin America, led an engaging session on June 21. Please take a look at the upcoming schedule for opportunities to join a session. No registration is required — all are welcome to join via Zoom.

H.E. Ling Rinpoche will be offering an oral transmission and commentary on the Chenrezig Sadhana composed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama “The Source of all Attainments: The Yoga of the Inseparability of the Guru and Avalokitesvara”, on Sunday July 5. This is an amazingly momentous occasion, and all participants are requested to attend live. Please check our Facebook group for this event, for all news, information and updates. 

Saka Dawa 2026 Around the FPMT Mandala

May 17, 2026 marked the beginning of the holy month of Saka Dawa, which continued through June 15 and commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha. The most sacred day of the month—Saka Dawa Duchen—fell on May 31. Saka Dawa means “Month of Merit,” while Duchen means “great occasion,” referring specifically to the full moon day that culminates the month. We recently shared a roundup of how some of the FPMT mandala observed the holy month, and we invite you to enjoy and rejoice in it!

Twenty-Nine Years of Vesak Celebrations at Amitabha Buddhist Centre

From May 29 to 31, 2026, Amitabha Buddhist Centre (ABC) held its twenty-ninth annual public Vesak celebration — marking the full moon day on which Buddhists around the world commemorate the Buddha’s birth in Lumbini, his enlightenment in Bodhgaya, and his passing in Kushinagar. This year, as in previous years, more than 3,000 people gathered over the course of the three days! Director of ABC Tan Hup Cheng shared some incredible details of the history and effort behind this event, and we are delighted to share this story with you.

Bringing the Sutra of Golden Light to 51 African Countries

Ruediger Knie, a devoted German student of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, is undertaking a remarkable initiative: reciting the Sutra of Golden Light 21 times across 51 African countries. Lama Zopa Rinpoche made a personal vow to propagate this text and give oral transmissions of it in many parts of the world. Having the sutra recited as much as possible is also one of Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for FPMT. The project begins in November 2026 and will continue for two to three years, totaling 1,080 readings across the continent! Please learn more about this ambitious project.

Liberation Prison Project Partners with Edovo to Utilize Technology for Buddhist Studies in Prison

Liberation Prison Project  – USA, has partnered with Edovo, the largest learning platform for incarcerated people in the United States, to make Buddhist and meditation materials available to people in prison across the country. Technology has long been an integral part of the world, and “Tech for Good” offers an opportunity to leverage technological advancements for the benefit of communities and society at large. One such solution is the ed-tech platform, Edovo, which offers the Edovo Learn App, a self-directed software application built exclusively for corrections, offering a comprehensive suite of educational, vocational, and rehabilitative programs at no cost to incarcerated individuals. LPP Director, Smitha Lahiri, recently shared the details.

Foundation Service Seminar in Italy this June

Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa (ILTK), Italy, organized a successful Foundation Service Seminar (FSS) on June 10-14, 2026. Twenty-four people took part in the Seminar, including students from the FPMT Masters Program, many staff members of ILTK, representatives of other Italian centers, and volunteers from centers in the UK and Romania. We will share a longer story about this FSS later.

Twenty-One Taras in Australia: Tara Institute Displays Large Thangka for the Fourth Year!

As part of his Vast Vision for the FPMT organization, Lama Zopa Rinpoche expressed a heartfelt aspiration: “My wish is for the big centers in FPMT to have these large thangkas.” To bring that vision to life, the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund sponsored the creation of a dedicated workshop at Institut Vajra Yogini in France, where large-scale thangkas could be created for FPMT centers around the world. The first thangka commissioned from that workshop — a monumental thangka of 49×30 ft (15x9m), and 150 pounds (70 kilograms) by Tara Institute in Australia — stands as a remarkable testament to what that vision can achieve.  For four consecutive years, the thangka has been displayed at Melbourne Town Hall as part of the annual multicultural Vesak celebrations. Please read more about this incredible holy object project.

Your News and Stories

Family Feeling News Roundup

This month, we published a digest of short community highlights from FPMT centers and individuals around the world, as part of our effort to bring back the “News Around the World” and “News in Brief” sections previously featured in the print Mandala magazine that so many of us have missed! This list of stories is not exhaustive, just a sample of all the great activities happening in the FPMT family worldwide.

The FPMT family is full of inspiring activities at centers, projects, services, and study groups, as well as among registered teachers and individuals who bring our communities to life. We would love to hear about it.

Whether it’s a recent accomplishment or an activity that gives your community reason to rejoice, your story can spark ideas and create connections across the FPMT family. We hope that reading these highlights will inspire you to rejoice in the family feeling and good works happening in our global FPMT community!

Please review our submission guidelines and reach out if you have something to share— we’d love to hear from you.

Celebrating 50 Years of FPMT!

Your memories and experiences are part of this living history. We have already begun gathering some of these precious stories, but there are so many more voices we would love to hear. We would love to collect as much of this history as possible: short videos, presentations, written stories, and group shots from your center, projects, and services. We warmly invite you to please be in touch!

Recently, we shared Ven. Jamyang Wangmo’s Road to Kopan story, who is an early FPMT student and the author of The Lawudo Lama.

Obituaries

Reading obituaries from the FPMT Community gives us an opportunity to reflect on death and impermanence and to make the determination to live life in the most meaningful way. Lama Zopa Rinpoche repeatedly reminded us to meditate on death and impermanence to motivate us to practice the Dharma right now! If we put off Dharma practice for when we are older or less busy, we assume we will wake up tomorrow morning, but there is no promise of that.

We recently shared obituaries and tributes for Professor Bob Thurman, who was an FPMT Registered Teacher in the Senior Teachers in the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition category, as well as one of America’s foremost scholars of Tibetan Buddhism and a tireless advocate for the Tibetan people and their culture; Ven. Jampa Kunchog, early Kopan student and Sera scholar; and Lawrence Greenberg, artist, poet, and early student of FPMT.

Rinpoche requested that “students who read these obituaries pray that the person mentioned finds a perfect human body, meets a Mahayana guru, and becomes enlightened quickly, or be born in a pure land where the teachings exist and they can become enlightened.”

Resources and Opportunities for Study and Practice

European Teaching Tours 2026 of High Lamas at FPMT Centers

We are reminding students about some precious opportunities to receive teachings from high lamas across Europe in the coming months.

His Eminence Ling Rinpoche has just completed his European tour, while His Eminence Khensur Jhado Rinpoche and Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche have upcoming opportunities. Students are warmly invited to join these precious opportunities for study and practice across FPMT centers and other organizations.

Upcoming Most Secret Hayagriva Retreats Continue a Commitment Established by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Hayagriva is the wrathful manifestation of Chenrezig, the Buddha of Compassion. The practice of Most Secret Hayagriva is extremely powerful for granting help and support and for quickly pacifying obstacles. Both Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche had a special connection to the Most Secret Hayagriva. As Ven. Roger Kunsang explained, “The Most Secret Hayagriva retreat is the practice/commitment that Lama Yeshe gave to Lama Zopa Rinpoche to do every year for the protection and success of the entire FPMT organization. And now this is a commitment the whole organization is taking on.” We rejoice in the upcoming opportunities to participate in this retreat: August 12–29, 2026, at Nalanda Monastery in France, and March 31–April 14, 2027, at Chokyi Gyaltsen Center in Penang, Malaysia. Please learn more….

Buddhist Mind Science Course Opportunity in California Upcoming!

Participants in the first Buddhist Mind Science Module 1 in French, led by Josep Manresa, at Institut Vajra Yogini.

Buddhist Mind Science: Activating Your Potential is an FPMT introductory course. Buddhism is considered by some to be a “science of mind” because it presents a comprehensive map of the mind, its various aspects, and functions. The Buddha’s teachings also provide methods for observing the mind directly and for discovering and activating our inner potential. And it does so with one intention: to overcome suffering and its causes, and to cultivate true, lasting happiness.

The entire Buddhist Mind Science course will be offered in a retreat setting at Vajrapani Institute (USA) from August 29, 2026 – September 6, 2026. The retreat is being taught by the creators of the Buddhist Mind Science course, who are joining from Tushita Meditation Centre in Spain. The program is designed to train future facilitators while also being open to any student who would like to experience the entire course in a rare retreat format. Please stay tuned for a more in-depth story about this opportunity we will share soon.

Forty-six participants have completed the first Buddhist Mind Science, Module 1, in French, led by Josep Manresa, at Institut Vajra Yogini (France).

Buddhist Mind Science is also available as a self-paced self-study online course for those who cannot participate in-person at an FPMT center. All seven modules are now available at the FPMT Online Learning Center.

More information about the Buddhist Mind Science course and FPMT centers offering it is available on the FPMT website.

Liberation Box Now Offered in Europe

The Liberation Tools Set to Help Dying and Deceased. Photo by Nalanda Monastery

The Liberation Tools Set to Help Dying and Deceased, formerly known as Liberation Box, is a collection of materials to assist students at the time of death. Assembled according to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s specific advice on what a person should hear, see, and have placed on their body, the Liberation Tools Set contains powerful methods for ensuring a fortunate rebirth for those who have died or are in the process of dying.

More than seven hundred boxes have been distributed around the world since 2010, when the Liberation Box was first launched by the Foundation Store.

In 2020, the Foundation Store became fully digital, and stopped offering physical products, however, we have continued to find ways to distribute physical Dharma materials designed or assembled at the advice of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. A digital version of the  Liberation Tools Set was also made available, through the Foundation Store without the stupa, powa pill, and blessing string.

We are now very happy to make the Liberation Tools Set physically available again within Europe with the help of Nalanda Monastery. Together with FPMT Education Services, Nalanda Monastery’s Sacred Art Workshop is now providing the LiberatioTools Set, throughout Europe, in English and soon also in French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Learn more….

Newly Available from the FPMT Foundation Store

This month, we are pleased to announce the publication of a series of prayers to enrich your Tara practice. 

We have also updated Most Secret Hayagriva practice materials: A Concise and Complete Sadhana of Bhagavan Wrathful Glorious Most Secret Hayagriva and The Melodious Laughter of the Mighty One.

Foundation Store Resources

You can order printed copies of a selection of Foundation Store titles through Amazon’s print-on-demand service in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the USA. In the item description click on the Amazon market that is closest to you. Foundation Store also offers a selection of prayers and practices available for 1-click download.

Retreat Opportunities

Please check our retreat schedule page for group retreat opportunities upcoming in your area.

Announcements, Opportunities, and Changes

Welcome to Our New Education Services Director!

We are happy to announce that Ven. Lobsang Gyaltsen has joined our team at the FPMT International Office in the key role of FPMT Education Services Director.

Ven. Gyaltsen has been a devoted student of Lama Zopa Rinpoche since 2003. He is the former director of Nalanda Monastery and a graduate of both the FPMT Basic and Masters Programs. Since 2021, he has been based near Kalachakra Retreat Centre in France, where he is teaching and leading retreats.

With all this experience, he has extensive knowledge of many aspects of FPMT’s educational programs and materials, which will greatly help him in his new position.

We are extremely encouraged by Ven. Gyaltsen’s extensive Dharma background, his harmonious nature, and his willingness to offer service to the organization in this important role that is so central to FPMT’s mission to preserve and spread the Dharma worldwide.

Changes in the FPMT Organization

FPMT International Office
Grateful thanks to outgoing Executive Director Peeyush Agarwal

Centro Yamantaka (Colombia)
We welcome Edwin Novoa as new spiritual program coordinator
Grateful thanks to outgoing spiritual program coordinator Doris Julio

Centro Yamantaka (Colombia)
We welcome Ana Maria Prieto Espinosa as new director
Grateful thanks to outgoing director Isabella Caro

Gendun Drubpa Study Group (Canada)
We welcome Catherine Whitman as new study group coordinator
Grateful thanks to outgoing coordinator Amanda Butler

North America Regional Office
We welcome Pema Wangmo as new regional coordinator
Grateful thanks to outgoing regional coordinator Melissa Kaye

Center for Wisdom and Compassion Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling (Denmark)
Grateful thanks to outgoing director Martin S. Lyngby-Nielsen

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 paid staff or as a volunteer in FPMT centers, projects, and services around the world, including opportunities in Australia, France, India, Italy, North American Region, Nepal, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, UK and the USA. Recently added: Chenrezig Institute (Australia), Buddha House (Australia), Land of Medicine Buddha (California) and Ocean of Compassion (California) are looking for a new director; Ocean of Compassion and Land of Medicine Buddha (both in California), and Atisha Centre (Australia) are looking for an SPC.

Teacher Development Service Seminar in the USA this July and in France this September

The Teacher Development Service Seminar (TDSS) supports the lifelong growth of current and aspiring FPMT teachers, facilitators, and meditation leaders. Returning in a hybrid format, TDSS now features updated pedagogy and a flexible delivery to meet the needs of our global community. Rooted in the FPMT lineage, the TDSS introduces the principles of contemporary Dharma pedagogy -practical, effective methods for teaching and guiding others with wisdom and compassion.

Maitripa College (Oregon, USA) is organizing a TDSS hybrid and in-person from July 17-19 with pre-seminar online modules. Places are still available and reservations are now open.

Kalachakra Retreat Centre, France, is organizing a TDSS on September 24-26, 2026 with pre-seminar online modules and places are still available. Reservations are now open.

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.