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International Office News
May 2016
Extensive Saka Dawa Prayers Offered on Behalf of the Entire FPMT
Mandala Publications: Don’t Miss July-December 2016!
Work a Day for Rinpoche This Saka Dawa
Loving Kindness Peaceful Youth (LKPY) Is Back!
Special Offers from the Foundation Store
Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup’s Reincarnation Recognized
Institut Vajra Yogini Hosts 32 Vajrayogini Retreats
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 at Mahayana Buddhist Association (Cham Tse Ling), Hong Kong, April 2016. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
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Lama Zopa Rinpoche News:
Activities and Advice
New Advice to Protect from Earthquakes
Lama Zopa Rinpoche has requested that the Mahasiddhi Thang Thong Gyalpo’s protection be made available to all students living in areas threatened by earthquakes. Rinpoche recently added text to an image that should be displayed (i.e., posted on walls). The image is downloadable from the earthquake part of the Natural Disasters section of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Advice page.
Highlights from our blogs:
“Normally people think happiness and suffering comes from outside. That’s not true! Happiness and suffering depends on the way you think.”
Ven. Roger Kunsang shared this brief teaching from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on his Twitter page.
The Main Way to Protect Yourself
“Main way to protect yourself is for you to not harm others! It’s not sufficient to just study Dharma, you have to put it into practice!”
Ven. Roger Kunsang shared this brief teaching from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on his Twitter page.
Find a wide range of advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on Rinpoche’s Advice page.
Schedule
See the 2016 schedule in full.
August 13: Teaching on the Seven Point Mind Training, Kadampa Center, USA
August 14 – 28: Light of the Path Retreat, Kadampa Center, USA
To help you prepare for these teachings, it would be ideal to do one or more modules of Living in the Path, an online program based on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Light of the Path teachings. Many of these modules have been recently revised to include guidelines for study, meditation, and practice, and are offered free of charge. Light of the Path Retreat 2016 is the fourth of the Light of the Path retreats.
Subscribe to our FPMT news blog to get updates as soon as they are announced. Enjoy livestreams of many of the teachings above and recordings of Rinpoche’s most recent teachings on Rinpoche Available Now!
International Office News:
FPMT Education Services
Lama Zopa Rinpoche doing a purification practice (and to help bring rain) while facing Losang Dragpa Centre’s garden, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 2016. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
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- A long life prayer for Lama Zopa Rinpoche, composed by Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme (Khadro-la), has been added to the “Long Life Prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche” section of fpmt.org in English, Italian, Spanish and Tibetan.
- 108 Names of Tara, featuring the 108 names of Tara in Tibetan, is available as a downloadable card.
- Heart Advice for Death and Dying, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s essential teachings on the topics of death and dying, is now available as an ebook.
- Buddhism in a Nutshell, a program for beginning students, is now available in ebook format.
- A German translation of Aroma Charity for Spirits (Sur Offering), Duft-Gabe an die Geister (Sur Darbringungen), has been posted in the “Prayers and Practices” section of the fpmt.org website.
Extensive Saka Dawa Prayers
Offered on Behalf of the Entire FPMT
On Saka Dawa, taking place this year on May 21, an amazing 15,650 Sangha members will be offering prayers on behalf of the entire FPMT organization. Sangha members will recite the Prajñaparamita and “Praises to Tara” 100,000 times, offer pujas, present extensive offerings to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus, and offer robes to holy objects in India and gold to the Jowo statue in Tibet, among many other virtuous activities that have been advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
All these pujas are covered by the FPMT Puja Fund, and anyone is welcome to participate in these incredible offering and prayers, which, according to the Vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic, are multiplied in virtue by one hundred million times during Saka Dawa.
Mandala Publications: Don’t Miss July-December 2016!
We’re working on the next issue of Mandala, July-December 2016. In it, we’ll explore Lama Yeshe’s broad vision of universal education with teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. We’ll hear from Geshe Thubten Jinpa, Professor Robert Thurman, Rasmus Hougaard, Jon Landaw and many others, and share how FPMT students are translating Dharma wisdom into programs appropriate for people of any religion.
Become a Friend of FPMT now and receive the next issue in your mailbox in July! Don’t miss it!
Work a Day for Rinpoche This Saka Dawa
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The two-week Work a Day for Rinpoche campaign concludes on Saka Dawa, May 21. Each year the campaign raises support for Rinpoche’s vision and the work of International Office during this most auspicious time of year. Students “work a day” by offering a donation of a day’s work earnings, or any other amount, to support a host of FPMT activities. Join in here!
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.
Loving Kindness Peaceful Youth (LKPY) Is Back!
Kasia Beznoska, the new director of Loving Kindness Peaceful Youth (LKPY), writes:
“Lama Zopa Rinpoche first spoke about the LKPY concept in 1999 after seeing the Columbine High School massacre on the news. No one was talking about the more subtle causes of the massacre: the fact that these children hadn’t been taught the basic principles of loving-kindness or ‘the good heart.’ Without these basic qualities, disturbing and vicious acts, words and ideas develop. Lama Zopa Rinpoche has said that, ‘You teach young people loving-kindness, the result is peaceful youth. Since young people are the next generation, the big result is a peaceful world.’
With the sincere wish to use and extend the amazing work done in the past for LKPY, and since it has been a few years since LKPY has been an operating organization, I’d love to hear from you about what you’d like to see happen at your center, what you’d like to see stay the same, and what type of support you’d like to have (if you are currently part of a HABIT group already).
The focus right now is on spreading the word that LKPY is back in action. After circulating this good news, steps will be taken to focus on specific projects including building a website. If you have any interest in assisting, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.”
Special Offers from the Foundation Store
We would like to remind you that the Foundation Store offers all FPMT centers, projects and services a 40% discount on most education materials such as prayer and practice books, and a 20% discount on most meditation supplies, along with generous 60-90 day payment terms. Find more information …
Invite these holy objects and Dharma teachings into your centers today and take advantage of special offers valid until June 30:
- Discovering Buddhism DVD: Available with subtitles in English, French, Spanish, and German. Order 30+ and get a 40% discount, plus free shipping.
- Mystic Tibet: Order 10+ and get a 40% discount, plus free shipping.
- Namgyälma mantra card: This colorful card is now available in a smaller size, perfect for students to carry in their wallets!
FPMT World:
Rejoice!
 His Holiness the Dalai Lama recently recognized Tenzin Rigsel as the reincarnation of Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup
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Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup’s Reincarnation Recognized
His Holiness the Dalai Lama officially recognized the three-year-old Tenzin Rigsel as the reincarnation of the beloved former abbot of Kopan Monastery Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup Rigsel. Read Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s announcement of this wonderful news.
Congratulations to La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna (Nagarjuna’s Wisdom) in Spain, which has successfully transitioned from FPMT study group to FPMT center!
We welcome Gyalwa Ensapa Study Group (probationary center), Broome, Australia.
Institut Vajra Yogini Hosts 32 Vajrayogini Retreats
Institut Vajra Yogini recently sent an invitation to Lama Zopa Rinpoche to come and teach at the center. In the invitation, director François Lecointre wrote:
“This year (2016) it has been 30 years that we have started the tradition of holding annual Vajrayogini retreats and in total we have held 32 retreats [in that period].”
When Lama Zopa Rinpoche read the invitation, Rinpoche was extremely pleased that Institut Vajra Yogini have done these 32 Vajrayogini retreats, and wanted to highlight this for other centers and all students to rejoice in, as it is so incredibly beneficial.
Rinpoche also commented that originally it was Lama Yeshe’s idea that each center would put some focus on the practice of the deity for which the center is named, so Institut Vajra Yogini is doing that very well.
 Lama Zopa Rinpoche entering a teaching venue, Hong Kong, May 2016. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
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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.
Chandrakirti Meditation Centre in New Zealand needs a qualified interpreter.
Impermanence at Work
Centro Nagarjuna Madrid, Spain
We welcome new spiritual program coordinator (SPC) – Susana Sáiz
With grateful thanks to outgoing SPC – Marisa Femenia
Chenrezig Institute, Australia
We welcome new spiritual program coordinator (SPC) – Kirsty Sharman
With grateful thanks to outgoing SPC – Nicole Kranz
Land of Joy, UK
We welcome new director – Jenny MacQueen
With grateful thanks to outgoing director and acting director – Ven. Mark Gatter and Janet Millar
La Sabiduría de Nagarjuna, Spain
We welcome their first spiritual program coordinator (SPC) – Itxaso Cadenato
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