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International Office News
May 2015
 Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the way to consecrate the stupa at Mahamudra Centre, Colville, New Zealand, May 2015.
Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
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Updates from Nepal After the Earthquakes
News from FPMT Charitable Projects
FPMT Education Services: 2015 Revised Nyung Nä Manual
Work a Day for Rinpoche on Saka Dawa, June 2
Friends of FPMT – A Treasure Trove of FPMT Education Materials
Rapport annuel FPMT 2014 : traduction française
Thank You, Service Is the Best Offering
Guidelines for Those Interested in Taking Ordination
Foundation Store Promotion! Nyung Nä Manual
New Creating Compassionate Cultures Training
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 with monks and Western students in the garden at Kopan Monastery after the earthquake, Nepal, April 25, 2015.
Photo by Ven. Sarah Thresher.
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Updates from Nepal After the Earthquakes
Emergency aid for Thame waiting to be flown to Lukla and then helicoptered to Thame, Nepal, May 1, 2015.
Photo courtesy of Tara Melwani on Facebook.
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FPMT International Office offers its deepest sympathies to all the people of Nepal who have suffered due to the devastating earthquakes that struck the country in late April and again earlier this week.
Many students have been and continue to be deeply concerned with the situation in Nepal following the earthquakes. We have put together a page which outlines all of the recommended prayers and practices one can do to help the situation.
We’re also dedicated to facilitating help following the earthquake. The Nepal Earthquake Support Fund is offering initial aid in some of the most remote areas and helping to rebuild following damage to FPMT centers in Nepal such as Kopan Monastery, Kopan Nunnery and Lawudo. So far, the fund has disbursed US$75,000 to provide critical food and tent packages to the remote villages of Solu Khumbu, such as Thame, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthplace.
Receive updates from Nepal by signing up for an email daily digest of news from FPMT.org
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s News:
News, Activities and Advice
 Lama Zopa Rinpoche in front of a Thousand-Armed Chenrezig statue, which is the main statue in the new gompa at Kopan Nunnery, Nepal, April 30, 2015.
Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
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Highlights from
our blogs on FPMT.org:
The Benefits of Chanting
OM MANI PADME HUM
“The benefits of reciting the Compassion Buddha mantra are infinite, like the limitless sky,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche said in July 2000.
Even if you don’t have much intellectual understanding of Dharma, even if the only thing you know is OM MANI PADME HUM, still the happiest life is one lived with an attitude free of the eight worldly concerns. If you live your life with the pure attitude free of attachment clinging to this life and simply spend your life chanting OM MANI PADME HUM – this six-syllable mantra that is the essence of all Dharma – that’s the purest Dharma.” Read more …
An Easy Way to Benefit Animals
While Lama Zopa Rinpoche was visiting Root Institute in February 2015, he made special effort to benefit a group of chickens he rescued from a butchers shop. Rinpoche wrote out by hand the Lotus Pinnacle of Amoghaspasha mantra to be photocopied and pasted inside, covering the entire ceiling. The Namgyälma mantra was also included so that the birds would constantly purify their negative karma day and night. Read more and find the mantras Rinpoche used …
Ven. Roger Kunsang shared this on his Twitter page on March 20 from Root Institute in Bodhgaya, India, where Rinpoche was teaching:
Lama Zopa: we need to cherish the one who is causing us [the] most difficulties, see as most kind! … practice patience!
Keep up to date with Lama Zopa Rinpoche News. Find a wide 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.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Root Institute, Bodhgaya, India, February 2015.
Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
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Rinpoche’s Schedule
Full details. Subscribe to our FPMT news blog to get updates as soon as they are announced.
Rinpoche Available Now – Enjoy livestreams of the teachings below and recordings of Rinpoche’s most recent teachings!
May 9 – 24: Teachings and initiations, New Zealand
May 26 – June 18: Teachings and initiations, Australia
June 30 – July 5: Teachings and initiation, Russia
July 11 – 20: Teaching, Heruka 5 Deities initiation, The Netherlands
July 25 – 26: Great Medicine Buddha initiation, Denmark
September 5 – 12: Lam-rim retreat in Mexico
September 18 – 20: Teaching, lam-rim retreat and initiation, Centro Yamantaka, Colombia
September 25 – 27: Teaching, lam-rim retreat, Centro Shiwa Lha, Brazil
Nov/Dec: Teachings during the one-month lam-rim course, Kopan Monastery, Nepal
September 11 – 26, 2016: Light of the Path retreat, Kadampa Center, USA
Please contact the hosts directly with any questions.
International Office News:
A screen shot featuring FPMT Charitable Projects newly designed website, May 2015
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News from
FPMT Charitable Projects
Please enjoy the new design of FPMT’s Charitable Projects! Based on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization, the new project page highlights the areas Rinpoche has identified for the organization to focus on in order to benefit others, such as supporting ordained Sangha and social services.
Through the Social Services Fund we were able to set up the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund in order to be able to offer urgently needed aid on the ground in some of the most remote areas in Nepal, severely damaged after the recent earthquake. Also, we’ll be able to offer ongoing support for the rebuilding of Kopan Monastery, Kopan Nunnery and Lawudo.
So far, the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund has disbursed over US$75,000 to provide critical food and tent packages to the remote villages of Solu Khumbu, such as Thame, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthplace.
Find updates and news from Kopan Monastery and updates on how funds are being used on FPMT.org.
FPMT Education Services: 2015 Revised Nyung Nä Manual
FPMT Education Services has just completed a very extensive revision of the nyung nä manual, Nyung Nä: The Means of Achievement of the Eleven-Face Great Compassionate One. The 2015 revised version has many updates advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, including the addition of more prayers to Chenrezig and the stories of the nyung nä lineage lamas. This new manual is available as a printed spiral practice or as a c5 PDF from the Foundation Store. (Note: If you are an FPMT center, please see the below promotion from the Foundation Store related to this manual.)
The New Mandala Magazine
The new, redesigned Mandala magazine will be published in June 2015 and will offer the highest quality teachings, stories, interviews and photos to instruct and inspire FPMT students. The reimagined Mandala will be a timeless and beautiful magazine that you won’t want to miss!
By becoming a supporter of the Friends of FPMT program at the e-Friends level or higher by May 31, you will receive the new Mandala as soon as it is published. For more details on the new era of Mandala visit us online at fpmt.org/mandala. Sign up now to support the Friends of FPMT program!
Work a Day for Rinpoche on Saka Dawa, June 2
Last year we saw students from 43 different countries Work a Day for Rinpoche in celebration of the most auspicious day of Saka Dawa, which is coming up soon on June 2. Would you like to join in and offer your support to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s vast vision and a host of FPMT activities? The merit of your donation will be dedicated on Saka Dawa, when actions are considered to be 100 million times more powerful. Learn more …
Friends of FPMT –
A Treasure Trove of FPMT Education Materials
Joining Friends of FPMT is a great way to support the Foundation and have almost all FPMT Education Services material in the palm of your hand! There are new Friends benefits at every level, and some giving levels now include access to the 150+ FPMT Education PDFs that are offered in the Foundation Store, as well as access to all FPMT Online Learning Center courses! Learn more about the program …
Rapport annuel FPMT 2014 : traduction française
Le Editions Mahayana a traduit en français le Rapport annuel 2014 de la FPMT “Préserver, développer et diffuser la tradition du Mahayana”. Lisez-le au format e-zine !
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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.)
 Lama Zopa Rinpoche consecrating stupa at Mahamudra Centre, New Zealand, May 2015.
Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
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Thank You, Service Is the Best Offering
Lama Zopa Rinpoche sent this thanks to a director and we hope all offering service now in FPMT centers, projects and services will benefit from its message:
“I know you are the director and have to do everything and must be so busy, so I really from my heart want to highly appreciate you, all you are doing with all your body, speech and mind. I want to say billions and zillions of thanks to you for every single action of your body, speech and mind dedicated for sentient beings, for the teachings of Buddha, for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and for Mickey Mouse me. I am very small, like dahl. I hope not black dahl, but orange dahl!
You offering service each time for not only numberless sentient beings, even for one sentient being that comes to the center – this is the best offering to numberless bodhisattvas and buddhas – so you have to know that.” Read Rinpoche’s full thanks …
Sign to Accompany Statues
Lama Zopa Rinpoche created a sign for all centers, projects and services with large statues (or any center that would like this sign) to frame and place in front of the statues.
Guidelines for Those Interested in Taking Ordination
From Ven. Chantal, director of the International Mahayana Institute (IMI):
“We hope you are aware that IMI has guidelines for students who are interested in taking ordination at an FPMT center or under the guidance of teachers at an FPMT center. It is also important that your resident geshe or teacher is aware of and uses these guidelines. That way students can be informed about the guidelines right from when they express interest in ordination, so they know that the IMI community of monks and nuns are available to facilitate the process and to provide support for the student prior to and after ordination.”
Foundation Store Promotion! Nyung Nä Manual
The 2015 edition of Nyung Nä: The Means of Achievement of the Eleven-Face Great Compassionate One (see above) is now available through the Foundation Store. All FPMT centers, projects, services receive a 40% discount plus a PDF copy of the same title – suitable for your electronic device – for FREE!
Offer valid until June 30, 2015. This promotion is valid only for FPMT centers, projects and services with a wholesale account.
FPMT World:
Rejoice:
Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive has just printed 30,000 more free books: Teachings from Tibet; Becoming Your Own Therapist; The Peaceful Stillness of the Silent Mind; The Essence of Tibetan Buddhism; Life, Death and After Death and Freedom Through Understanding. Freely available to all FPMT students and centers, projects and services. See the LYWA website for details.
New Creating Compassionate Cultures Training
Creating Compassionate Cultures, an FDCW-associated program, recently released a new education curriculum training for use in the classroom. They encourage all educators to engage in the training for a transformational experience that leads to a happier, more meaningful, and successful life.
Opportunities to Offer Service in FPMT
Please check out the regularly updated meritorious opportunities to offer service as a volunteer or as paid staff in FPMT centers, projects and services around the world!
NEW: Vajrapani Institute, USA needs an SPC and a kitchen manager; Root Institute, India has various positions including receptionist/house manager, nurses, occupational therapists, and volunteer English teachers; Chenrezig Institute, Australia has an opening for a full-time center manager; last chance to apply for the center manager position at Kadampa Center, USA; Milarepa Center, USA is looking for a cook/kitchen manager.
Impermanence at Work
Atisha Centre, Australia
We welcome new director – Ruby Karmay
With grateful thanks to outgoing director – Liam Chambers
With love,
FPMT International Office
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