International Office News
March 2018

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and his sister, Anila Ngawang Samten, Nepal, February 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Have this translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page. French and Spanish speakers will find the FPMT International Office News translated each month in the “Bienvenue” and “Bienvenidos” tabs on the FPMT homepage!

Lama Zopa Rinpoche News:

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Nepal, February 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

In case you missed it earlier, please listen to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s thanks for all your recitations for his health and long life! Please join us in rejoicing in the numbers of accumulated recitations!

Schedule

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s schedule – new teachings added!

Enjoy livestreams of many of the teachings above and recordings of Rinpoche’s most recent teachings via Rinpoche Available Now!

Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery and Maratika Cave

Lama Zopa Rinpoche sitting outside the cafe at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, February 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche was at Kopan Monastery during February, between travels, and met with a number of people, including Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khandro Namsel Drönme). Read in full …

Advice

Highlights from our blogs:

Practicing Dharma Skillfully with Bodhichitta

Lama Zopa Rinpoche during a visit to the stupa at Sarnath, India, January 2017. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

By generating a bodhichitta motivation throughout each day, we can benefit ourselves and sentient beings, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explained. Read in full …

Rinpoche on Proper Respect for Dharma Texts [Video]

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khadro-la blessing people with a Dharma text, Bhutan, May 2016. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

“My iPad contains the Kangyur, the Tengyur, many teachings. It is the same as a Dharma text. You can’t put it on the bed or down [low]. You have to respect it and put it higher,” Rinpoche explained in a short teaching on how to show proper respect for Dharma texts, including when they are in electronic form. Read in full …

Find a wide range of advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on Rinpoche’s Advice page. Subscribe to our FPMT news blog to get updates as soon as they are announced.

International Office News:

FPMT Annual Review 2017: Serving the Teachings of the Buddha

Welcome to the FPMT Annual Review 2017: Serving the Teachings of the Buddha, which shares the story of our 2017. Included is Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s essential letter, together with an overview from our CEO Ven. Roger Kunsang, plus beautiful photos and reports on our work in education, charitable projects, communications, and more.

Rejoicing in Our Ongoing Investment in the Entire FPMT Organization

Precious Buddha statue in Bodhgaya with new robes offered by the FPMT Puja Fund

Please rejoice with us that during Losar and the Fifteen Days of Miracles, more than US$15,000 was offered from the FPMT Puja Fund to over 16,000 Sangha in monasteries and nunneries around the world, including IMI Sangha communities. Offerings were made to all of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus; gold was offered to holy objects in Tibet; robes were offered to the statue of Buddha in Bodhgaya, India; paint, saffron petals, and umbrellas were offered to two holy stupas in Nepal; as well as a vast array of pujas were completed, including the recitation of the Prajnaparamita.

These practices are always offered on behalf of all beings; every FPMT center, project, and service; and all donors to the FPMT Puja Fund. We are so happy to be able to make these offering and thereby make this ultimate investment in the organization every merit multiplying day. This is an incredible opportunity to join in and be part of these ongoing offerings and beneficial activities.

Please Send in Your Merit Box Offerings Now

Dear Merit Box practitioners, collection season is almost over! These are the last few days to submit your Merit Box offerings to be counted toward 2018 grants for Dharma projects and initiatives around the world. Deadline is March 31. See how to submit your offerings and rejoice in having created so much merit!

New from FPMT Education Services

• Lama Zopa Rinpoche has said very strongly on many occasions that The Method to Transform a Suffering Life into Happiness (Including Enlightenment) with Additional Practices is a practice that he would like all his students to do every day. Find out more about the updated edition.
• A Daily Meditation on Shakyamuni Buddha eBook and PDF, recently updated by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, this practice for beginning students contains mantra recitation and visualization based on Shakyamuni Buddha, and a lamrim prayer to request blessings to develop all the realizations on the path to full awakening.
• New advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on prostrations, including mantras to recite and updated visualizations! Advice for Prostrations from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
• A Short Practice of Green Tara is now available in ebook format!

Our Circle of Friends of FPMT Has Expanded – Thank You!

Over the recent two weeks of auspicious Days of Miracles, we thanked over 130 Friends of FPMT, new and old, who contributed to our efforts in increasing access to the Dharma around the world by joining or re-joining our program. Please take a moment to rejoice in all this compassionate generosity! Learn more about Friends of FPMT.

Staff Change

We say farewell to Andrew Shaw and welcome Nicole Parisi-Smith as Mandala assistant editor.

For Center, Project and Service Directors, SPCs, Board Members, Registered Teachers and Coordinators:

(This advice is specifically for those offering service in these roles.)

Affiliate Area Highlight: New High-Resolution Photos of Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, November 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

We’re delighted to let you know that there are new high-resolution photos of Lama Zopa Rinpoche for your center, project, or service to use in the “High-Resolution Photos of Our Lamas” section. Find this in the “Resources at a Glance” section of the Affiliates Area, which lists many useful resources for you.

Report from IMI

International Mahayana Institute (IMI) has sent a report on its activities during 2017. Find information about and rejoice in how your donations to the Lama Yeshe Sangha Fund (one of the mandated annual donations to be made by FPMT centers, projects, and services) are being used to benefit monks, nuns, and the organization as a whole. Find the 2018 report here.

FPMT World:

Rejoice!

New Study Groups

We welcome two new FPMT study groups:

• Tibetan Buddhist Study Group of Longdol Lama (probationary center), Czech Republic
• Machig Labdron (probationary center), USA

Tara Introduced to Australia

After blessing the thangka, Tara Institute’s resident teacher, Geshe Doga, laughs with artist Peter Iseli and his wife Jangchub. Photo by Lynn Miller-Coleman.

Over 3,000 people saw a Twenty-One Taras thangka in its first ever exhibition at White Night Melbourne 2018, titled “Tara the Liberator.” Lama Zopa Rinpoche commissioned Peter Iseli to paint this huge 15-meter (49-feet) high thangka of the Twenty-One Taras for Tara Institute, Australia, so that it may help all who see it. It took Peter four years to paint. As Tara Institute commented, “It is not just an astonishing artwork, it is an act of love.”

16 Guidelines International Retreat-Gathering

Education Universelle France (EUF) is organizing the first international 16G Retreat-Gathering. It is open to anyone who has completed a 16G Level 1 workshop. This is an opportunity to share experiences, build the 16G and UE community, and gain inspiration from what is going on in different parts of the world. Facilitators from Argentina, Canada, Italy, the UK, Spain, and France will lead workshops and share their knowledge and ideas.

Livres audio de méditations guidées en français

Les Éditions Mahayana sont heureuses de vous présenter ses premiers livres audio : “Premiers pas dans la méditation” (12 méditations guidées) et “La méthode qui change une vie de souffrance en bonheur”. Des extraits de ces livres audio sont proposés sur YouTube. Se procurer ces livres audio.

Thank You and Farewell, Isabel Arocena

Isabel Arocena—long-time FPMT student who offered service in many different ways, including as director of Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program, Spanish national coordinator, and more—passed away last month. She will be missed by her FPMT family.

Opportunities to Offer Service in FPMT

Would you like to spend your days in a very meaningful way? Have a look at the regularly updated meritorious opportunities to offer service as a volunteer or as paid staff in FPMT centers, projects, and services around the world. Newly added: Lawudo Retreat Center, Nepal, is looking for volunteers; Kalachakra Center, France needs a vegetarian cook for its retreat facility; the French Translation Service is looking for more translators and other assistance; and Mahamudra Center, New Zealand, has a vacancy for a co-center manager.

Impermanence at Work

Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore
We welcome new spiritual program coordinator (SPC) – Tan Chun How
With grateful thanks to outgoing SPC – Ven. Gyurme

Jinsui Farlin and Shakyamuni Center, Taiwan
Resident geshe move – Geshe Jampa Sonam is at Jinsui Farlin, Taipei; Geshe Tashi Tsethar is at Shakyamuni Center, Taichung

Thubten Norbu Ling, USA
We welcome new director – Alex Williams
With grateful thanks to outgoing director – Rowena Mayer

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