International Office News
September 2024

Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Lawudo Retreat Centre, Nepal. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang, date uncertain. From the LYWA collection.

Teachings and News About Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Devastation of Thame and How to Help Through the Thame Support Fund

On August 16, 2024, the Himalayan village of Thame, birthplace of our kind guru Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, faced an unprecedented calamity. Two Thyanbo glacial lakes burst their banks, unleashing a devastating flood that would forever alter the landscape and lives of its inhabitants. Recently Mingma Rita Sherpa and his family came from Thame to make prayers in front of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s kudung (holy body) at Kopan Monastery and we took this opportunity to interview them.

You can watch the interview and learn more about the situation in Thame. In response to this crisis, the Thame Support Fund has been established to provide essential aid to the residents of Thame and support their future needs. The fund will be administered through Kopan’s Helping Hands, who will work directly with the community to assess and address their needs. We will provide updates on the needs and how the funds are distributed, and we are sincerely requesting everyone to hold the Thame families in their hearts, as they have lost everything, including their livelihoods, homes, and land.

2010 Teachings from Potowa Center, Indonesia

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, January 25, 2010, Indonesia.

From January 25 through February 7, 2010, Lama Zopa Rinpoche granted 12 sessions of teachings at Potowa Center in Indonesia. These teachings provided a comprehensive overview of key Buddhist concepts, focusing on how to integrate them into daily practice to progress on the path to enlightenment. We are pleased to share that all 12 videos from this event are now available on our RAN page.

2018 Teachings from Australia

In 2018 Lama Zopa Rinpoche spent six weeks leading the Bodhicaryavatara (A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life) and Rinjung Gyatsa Retreat at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Australia, offering more than sixty teachings. This was the third time Rinpoche offered this retreat series at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion. We recently shared links to all three teaching events in Australia related to this retreat (2011, 2014, 2018) and we invite you to explore them. 

Emptiness, Dependent Arising, and Overcoming Delusions

We were so pleased to recently make available, via video, teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Langri Tangpa Center, Brisbane, Australia from June 16-18, 2006. These four sessions of profound teachings are on the Eight Verses of Mind Training, a classic Tibetan Buddhist text by Kadampa Geshe Langri Tangpa, and offer deep insights into Buddhist philosophy and practice.

We invite you to explore the third video in this series, “Emptiness, Dependent Arising, and Overcoming Delusions.” In this session, held on June 18, 2006, Rinpoche delves deeper into the concept of emptiness, explaining how all phenomena, including the self, are empty of inherent existence. He emphasizes that everything exists as mere labels imputed by the mind, dependent on valid bases. Rinpoche discusses how recognizing this can help overcome delusions like anger and attachment, and alleviate depression. He uses everyday examples to illustrate these profound concepts, making them more accessible to the audience.

Lama Yeshe’s Wisdom

Experiencing Silent Wisdom

Lama Yeshe at Chenrezig Institute, Australia, 1975. Photo donated by Wendy Finster to the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

The Peaceful Stillness of the Silent Mind is one of the most beloved free books from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. The six teachings contained in this volume come from Lama Yeshe’s 1975 visit to Australia. They are all filled with love, insight, wisdom and compassion, and accessible question-and-answer sessions.

Please enjoy Chapter 3 of Peaceful Stillness of the Silent Mind, “Experiencing Silent Wisdom” from a talk given by Lama Yeshe at Prince Phillip Theatre, Melbourne University, April 6, 1975. Edited by Nicholas Ribush.

What We’re Rejoicing About

Kopan’s 2024 November Course: November 8-December 8

Kopan Monastery’s yearly month-long lamrim course, known affectionately as the November Course, will be held from November 8 through December 8, 2024 in Nepal with senior FPMT teacher, Tubten Pende. Registration for this course is open and there are still spots available!

Read more about this legendary course and about Tubten Pende.

Writing Out the Prajnaparamita for As Long As FPMT Exists

Ven. Lobsang Tsering writing out the Prajnaparamita Sutra

Ven. Lobsang Tsering’s journey of writing out the Prajnaparamita Sutra in gold began over two decades ago when Lama Zopa Rinpoche, recognizing his potential and devotion, assigned him this important job. Since then, Ven. Tsering has devoted himself wholeheartedly to this practice with unwavering focus, patience, wisdom and compassion. As of now, he is working on the fifth of twelve volumes, a testament to the magnitude of this task.

In a recent video interview, Ven. Lobsang Tsering shared his life story and the deep sense of responsibility he feels towards this assignment. His humility and dedication shine through as he recounts the moment Lama Zopa Rinpoche entrusted him with this work. His words offer a profound insight into the importance of the Prajnaparamita Sutra and the personal transformation he has experienced over the years.

Regional Consultations Continue to Pave the Way for CPMT 2025

Onsite participants in the FPMT Latin and North America Meeting Regional Consultation at Land of Medicine Buddha

The third of the four regional consultations planned in 2024 to pave the way for the CPMT 2025 took place in Land of Medicine Buddha, California, on September 6 and 7th. Thirty-three onsite and about twenty online participants joined, representing almost all centers, projects, and services from North and Latin America. We’ll share more detail on this successful event soon. Next regional consultation is planned in Tara Institute for affiliates from Australia and New-Zealand, October 25-28.

Foundation Service Seminar at Vajrapani Institute

Led by experienced facilitators Amy Cayton and François Lecointre, the Foundation Service Seminar (FSS) held at Vajrapani Institute, USA, from September 10-14, 2024, was a great success, with the 16 participants from seven different FPMT affiliates from the North American Region working joyfully on how to better integrate practice and service. We’ll share a more detailed report on the event soon. Please see photo below of this lively FSS and news of an upcoming FSS at Chandrakirti Centre, New Zealand.

16 Guidelines at Nalanda Monastery

FDCW (Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom) brings us some wonderful initiatives, available to those interested in understanding their own mind and emotions and bringing compassion into daily life. In 1983 Lama Yeshe began formulating the idea of Universal Education. “The world needs a new system of education because the old one is too dated for the intelligent people of today and produces a great deal of conflict and dissatisfaction in the present generation. […] We have to get rid of people’s old concepts and give them a new imagination; a new, broad way of looking at themselves and the world. That’s what I mean by “universal.”

Executive director of FDCW, Victoria Coleman, shared a success story about how Universal Education, via the 16 Guidelines for Life, worked within a particular FPMT community, Nalanda Monastery in France. Please read the story.

Resources and Opportunities for Study and Practice

Newly Available and Revised Materials

We are pleased to share Lojong Monlam: Prayer to Become Like the Buddha in His Past Lives from the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Practice Series that invokes the Buddha’s blessings for us to be able to transform our habitual self-cherishing into the love, patience, and compassion for all sentient beings that characterize the Buddha’s actions in his earlier lives as a bodhisattva on the path to enlightenment. The original translation was conducted by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, whose lifelong message to us is: “Cherish others.”

Also newly available, taking inspiration from the Buddha’s earlier lives as a bodhisattva, Thought Transformation Prayer of the Buddha’s Previous Lives requests for blessings to be able to similarly give away everything one holds dear and offer the Dharma in particular to all the different types of mother sentient beings, in all situations. While there are similar renditions of the prayer in the Ganden Ear-Wisphered Lineage and Gyalwa Ensapa’s chod lineage—making its exact origins unclear—the version presented here is extracted from Pabongkha Rinpoche’s “Chöd: Cutting Through the Ego.” It features among the lojong (thought transformation) prayers that Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche recommends for recitation in the Lama Chopa, just before Verse 95 on the practice of exchanging self for others. This English translation by Lama Zopa Rinpoche himself is especially poignant for it bears Rinpoche’s characteristic line of emphasis in his teachings besides his unique style of expression.

Opportunities and Changes within the Organization

Foundation Service Seminar in New Zealand

Participants in the recent Foundation Service Seminar Retreat held at Vajrapani Institute from September 10-14. See above for details.

The Foundation Service Seminar (FSS) is the “FPMT immersion retreat,” providing essential information and nourishment for all serving, or wishing to serve, in the FPMT organization. This is a wonderful opportunity for centers, projects, and services to invest in the future by training the next generation of directors, SPCs, volunteers, board members, etc.

Chandrakirti Centre, New Zealand, is hosting an FSS from November 6-10. Read more information and reserve your place.

Changes in the FPMT Organization

Kadampa Center, Raleigh, USA
We welcome Linda Saah as sole SPC
With grateful thanks to outgoing co-SPC Dolma See

Nalanda Monastery, France
We welcome Ven. Dondrub as new SPC

O Sel Ling Centro de Retiros, Spain
Grateful thanks to outgoing SPC Maud Thiry

Centro Muni Gyana, Palermo, Italy
We welcome Paola Verro as new director
Grateful thanks to outgoing director Marco Farina

Centro Lama Tzong Khapa, Treviso, Italy
We welcome Sara Scarpel as new director
Grateful thanks to outgoing director Danillo Ghirardo

Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Pomaia, Italy
We welcome Joan Dombon as new SPC

Panchen Losang Chogyen Gelug Zentrum, Vienna, Austria
We welcome Andrea Husnik as new SPC
Grateful thanks to outgoing SPC Christine Schnoell

Yeshin Norbu Center, Stockholm, Sweden
We welcome Ven. Thubten Khadro as new resident teacher

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 France, India, Nepal, New Zealand, Spain, UK, the US, and the European and North American Regions. Newly added: The European Region is looking for a regional coordinator; Jamyang London is looking for an Operations Manager; Jamyang Leeds is looking for a Spiritual Program Coordinator; Shantideva New York is looking for an online Registration System Specialist and an onsite AV technician; The North American Region is looking for a remote Branding and Digital Content Coordinator.

Calling all Spiritual Program Coordinators

We at FPMT Education Services started a regular Education Services Update, especially for you. We are also sending it to all directors and study groups coordinators. Updates allow you to stay on top of the latest news at FPMT Education Services, so your programs can flourish. These emails will keep you up to date on current publications, programs, and more. We welcome your feedback to ensure that these communications are 100% relevant to promoting education at your center. If you missed it, check your inbox, if you don’t find it, then email Jeff Highfill, FPMT Education Services Director. If you are an FPMT registered teacher and want to subscribe to this newsletter, please also email Jeff.

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.