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September 2010
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To find more information as it becomes available, and for details of how to contact the center and register for these events, please go to Rinpoche’s Schedule.
2010
September 2 – 5 Milarepa initiation and retreat at Milarepa Center, Vermont, USA
September 8 Blessing the stupa at Kurukulla Center, Boston, USA
September 11 Teachings on Shakyamuni Buddha’s mantra and the four immeasurables at Kadampa Center, North Carolina, USA
September 12 – 25 Light of the Path, USA – registration now open!
September 29 – October 27 Mongolia – program to be announced
November 13 – December 13 Teaching for part of the one-month course at Kopan Monastery, Nepal
2011
February 2 – 12 Teaching on Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga (continuation) at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore
April 2 – 30 Heruka, Yamantaka, Guhyasamaja and Rinjung Gyatsa initiations and teaching on Bodhicaryavatara at Atisha Centre, Bendigo, Australia.
May 27 – June 6 Commentary on Lama Chöpa (continuation) at Potowa Center, Indonesia
During the Hayagriva retreat earlier this year, Rinpoche stressed the correct bodhisattva attitude, and gave this concise teaching of how to practice (extracted from Taking the Essence All Day and Night, a new practice booklet from FPMT Education Services on how to make all one’s daily actions most meaningful):
Recite or chant the following verses in the morning or at other times throughout the day and contemplate the meaning to bring about a total change to the normal attitude of self-cherishing, which only harms us and others. Then live the life in this practice. Recite all the verses or at least the last two or three. Recite with tonglen practice:
I shall dedicate fully with no sense of loss
My body, enjoyments and all past, present and future merits
To accomplish the work for all sentient beings.
By giving away all, I will be liberated from the oceans of samsaric suffering
And my mind will achieve the great liberation (of enlightenment).
Since I have to leave everything (at death)
It is best to now give it away to every single sentient being.
Having given this body to sentient beings
To use however they want that makes them happy,
Whether they always kill me, criticize me, beat me, or whatever,
It is totally up to them.
Even if they jest with my body,
Ridicule, belittle, or make fun of me
Whatever they may do, since I have given this body up to them,
What is the point of retaliating?
Let my body only do actions that don’t harm others,
And whoever looks at or thinks of me,
May it never be meaningless for them.
Whoever focuses on me –
Whether with anger or devotion –
May that be the cause for them
Always to achieve every success.
May all those who say unpleasant things,
Harm, mock, or make fun of me
Have the fortune to achieve enlightenment.
May I become a savior for those who are guideless,
And a captain for those who are entering the path,
A ship, a boat, and a bridge
For those who wish to cross (over water).
May I become a park for those who seek a park,
A light for those who look for light,
Bedding for those who wish to rest,
And a servant for all who want me as their servant.
May I become a wish-granting jewel, a wish-fulfilling vase,
Powerful mantras and a great medicine.
May I become a wish-granting tree
Fulfilling all the wishes and desires of sentient beings.
Just like the sky and the great elements
Earth, fire, water, and wind
May I always be the cause of living and happiness
For all the unimaginable number of sentient beings.
As long as space exists
As long as sentient beings exist
May I too abide,
And eliminate the suffering of sentient beings.
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Life on the Road with
Lama Zopa Rinpoche Excerpted from Ven. Roger Kunsang’s blog Life on the Road with Lama Zopa Rinpoche (posted on August 23, 2010). Ven. Roger’s very entertaining blog enables us all to keep up with Rinpoche’s activities. “While at Deer Park, Rinpoche has been exercising daily by walking in the early evening as the sun is going down. We walk for an hour along a narrow country road, corn fields on either side. Rinpoche walks in front and recites a text out loud, each day a different one. The area attracts lots of mosquitoes and other kinds of sharp biting insects! Rinpoche isn’t interested in any protection and thinks it is just a small offering to these little guys.” |
Rinpoche enjoying teaching in Indonesia, 2009.
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Please note that International Office has a new fax number: +1 (503) 232 0557.
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Inauguration of Amdo Eye Center
The Amdo Eye Center has been under construction for many years – there were a number of complications throughout the building process due to weather, funding and arranging surgical equipment – so it is with great excitement that we are able to announce the inauguration which occurred July 23-25, 2010. |
Recipients of cataract operations during the Amdo Eye Center inauguration, July 23-25 2010.
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Modeled on the already successful Lhasa Eye Clinic, the Amdo Eye Center will be providing high-quality cataract surgery and general eye care for all. The center will serve the people of Xining, as well as surrounding remote areas.
The Amdo Eye Center has almost entirely been funded by FPMT with the kindness of many benefactors, including The Tanoto Foundation and Compassion Paris among many others.
Dr. Sanduk Ruit, who founded the highly successful Tilganga Eye Center in Kathmandu and the Nepal Eye Program, traveled to Amdo for the inauguration and operated on eight cataract patients in the operation room as a demonstration of cataract surgery for several government officials and other delegates in the inauguration program.
With sincere thanks to all who worked so hard for so many years to make this happen, especially Dr. Ruit, Genden, Khem, the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology and the Qinghai Tibetan Research Centre and all the benefactors. May the Amdo Eye Center benefit many people!
Living in the Path: Module 5, “Introduction to Atisha’s Text” will be live very soon, and will be a free course on the Online Learning Center. While Rinpoche explained that Modules 1, 2, and 3 are preparatory for the 2010 teachings, Module 5 is the introduction to the root text, Light of the Path to Enlightenment, which Rinpoche will begin commenting on this year.
Want to watch or listen to the Light of the Path 2010 retreat teachings, but cannot be there in person? Here’s how:
- Go to The FPMT Online Learning Center. If you have not already done so, create a login. (Keep this for your records as you will need this login every time you want to access any course page of the OLC, even those course pages that are free.)
- Scroll down the page until you see the listing of Living in the Path courses.
- Choose “LOP Retreat Materials 2010: text, audio, video“. On this page, you will see an option to “download MP3 Audio files” as well as an option to “download English flash video files”. Only the English videos are downloadable. The downloadable files will start to be available approximately September 14.
- Otherwise, to watch the high-definition streaming video in five languages (English, Spanish, French, Chinese, and German) go to the FPMT Media Center. Barring unforeseen circumstances, streaming video will start to be available as of September 13!
Basic Program: Thanks to the hard work of Eamon Walsh and Olga Planken, the first Basic Program subject, Mind and Cognition: Part 1, Awarenesses and Knowers, is about to go live on the Online Learning Center. This module features the DVD teachings of Ven. George Churinoff in 14 two-hour teaching sessions. Traditionally one of the foundational topics of the monastic curriculum, this subject explores the nature of consciousness, its varieties, and the way we perceive and interpret the world around us. The course also includes the root text, study materials, a test with answer key, and an online forum.
Is your center or study group interested in studying Living in the Path and other online programs?
- Individual modules can be purchased for all online courses via the Foundation Store for $45 each.
- Become a Friend of FPMT at the Dharma Supporter level or higher ($30 a month) and receive everything that is currently available and everything that will come available on the Online Learning Center for a year. When you become a Dharma Supporter, you receive all of the enrollment keys for all of the individual courses online. Centers hosting Living in the Path or any other program may pass the enrollment key of the module being studied to students following the program. Enrollment keys are not intended to be shared with others, and it should be made clear to students that they are receiving the enrollment key on an honorary basis.
- International Office has offered all IMI Sangha free access to all materials online. Sangha should contact the Friends of FPMT coordinator if they have questions about how to get their enrollment keys.
BACK IN STOCK! Round Namgyalma Mantra Decal Sticker. From Rinpoche: “Even if someone is touched by the shadow of the car or house that has this sticker on it, their negative karma is purified. If you have it in the house or on your car, then all the animals and people who come into contact with your house or car are blessed.”
The Store now has Gift Certificates available! We make it easy to know what to give your friends and loved ones for birthdays, holidays, or any day!
Check the latest Foundation Store newsletter for new product arrivals and monthly specials!
Becoming a Friend of FPMT means that you can stay connected to all that FPMT has to offer: from free resources, to Mandala Publications, to the FPMT Online Learning Center, to keeping informed about FPMT news, activity and opportunities worldwide. Please consider becoming a Friend of FPMT today. Together we can make a difference.
(This advice is specifically for those offering service in the roles listed above. If you have any questions about anything mentioned below, please feel free to contact Center Services directly.)
5 chapitres en ligne, d’autres chapitres bientôt ajoutés. Merci beaucoup to Ven. Detchen of the French Translation Team!
Organized by Choe Khor Sum Ling Study Group, the talk will be given on the afternoon of January 30, 2011. More details will be available on their website after October 1.
courtyard of the Institute. During a break in the puja, Rinpoche spoke briefly about how his music plans are progressing, forecasting the completion of his first demo by mid-autumn. He stressed that the music he is working on at the moment is entirely “commercial,” and said that in November he hopes to go to Asia to market his music. Rinpoche, as usual, was his charming and elegant self.
Then, we expected a Tara puja and consecration with Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Dagri Rinpoche and Keutsang Rinpoche. On entering the full Tushita gompa that afternoon, Rinpoche took out a bag of pearls which had been recently offered to him in Hong Kong. The crowd looked on in disbelief as the rinpoches climbed up into the cabinets to personally offer the pearls to each Tara. Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche guided everyone present as the pearls were offered to visualize that they themselves were also offering the pearls.
Please check out the many exciting opportunities to offer service in FPMT centers, projects and services around the world!
FPMT International Office in Portland, USA has a rare and amazingly beneficial vacancy for a Chief Operating Officer. Other beneficial opportunities are that Nalanda Monastery in France is looking for volunteers, and Mahamudra Centre in New Zealand is looking for a housekeeper and volunteers.
Gyaltsab Je Study Group, Ile de la Reunion
35 B chemin Calvaire
Ravine des Cafres
97410 Saint-Pierre
Tel: (262) 28 32 94
association.gyeltsabje@gmail.com
Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Centre, Nepal
House number 16, Ekanta Tole
Jawlakhel Patan
Kathmandu
Tel: (977) 980 889 1048
Khedrup Je Study Group, UK
Awareness@live.co.uk
Kushi Ling Retreat Centre, Italy
New resident geshe – Geshe Dondup Tsering
Land of Calm Abiding, USA
director@landofcalmabiding.org
Mahamudra Centre, New Zealand
New SPC – Hedwig Bakker
With grateful thanks to outgoing SPC – Hannah White
Maitreya Instituut Amsterdam, Netherlands
New SPC – Maud Pijnappels
With love,
FPMT International Office