LAMA ZOPA RINPOCHE NEWS November 2005

Switzerland, August 2005
Photographer Ven Roger Kunsang

• Rinpoche’s Current Activities and Schedule
• Memories of Rinpoche’s Tour of Spain
• What Centers Need to Pay Attention To
• Creating Merit for Centers
• Sutras Played Aloud
• Animal Liberation for Children
• New Translations by Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
  • Amitayus Long Life Sutra
  • Zung Of The Exalted Completely Pure Stainless Light
• Recent Photos of Rinpoche

RINPOCHE’S CURRENT ACTIVITIES AND SCHEDULE

MEMORIES OF RINPOCHE’S TOUR OF SPAIN

the teaching at Onteniente

ADVICE FOR CENTERS

Rinpoche in Spain with FPMT resident geshes
– seated Geshe Jamphel (Barcelona and Nalanda),
from left to right Geshe Tenzin Dorje (IVY)
and Geshe Lamsang (Valencia).

1. Pay attention to looking after the geshes, thinking about their needs. Really taking care. Really respect the resident teacher – even though he may not be a high lama, because he stays at the center he is even kinder [than a visiting lama].
   
   Also the geshe is a gelong, so if you respect him, you collect merit. Also this is keeping your refuge vow [to respect Sangha].

1. Pay attention to how to look after people visiting the center. This is for the success of the center, which means to spread the Dharma for more people, to help more people to reach enlightenment. To achieve that means you need to check how people respond to you – this depends on whether you take care of them, look after them.
   
   We have spent a lot of time on this topic at past meetings, so go through the minutes of past CPMT meetings to learn from them how to take care of people: respect those who come to the center, be polite, physically respect them, all those things. Take the advice from those meetings seriously, for example the things we discussed at the CPMT in Holland.
   
   We really need to pay attention when people come to the center. Like a bodhisattva talk very nicely to people to draw them into the Dharma so you can liberate them from suffering, bring them to enlightenment. Taking care of people, all of this, doesn’t have to be a political thing, you should think of this as your bodhisattva’s conduct to draw people to liberation, enlightenment.
   
   Remember this every day – otherwise when you get very busy and stressed, you will forget. If you remember this, stress goes away.

1. Regarding archiving practice materials:
   If you can keep an updated list of materials available, then no-one will miss out on doing practices because they don’t know that the practice is translated and available.

CREATING MERIT FOR THE CENTER

SUTRAS PLAYED ALOUD

ANIMAL LIBERATION FOR CHILDREN

For all centers that offer kids’ programs, and for parents, Rinpoche would like you to really promote and use these tools with the associated practice, have the children make them up and encourage them to use them, and especially encourage them after catching the bugs to circumambulate holy objects with them.

Use these Animal Liberation Tools, one on each hand to catch small insects in so they can be removed from your house without injury. Designed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche these bug catchers are not your ordinary bug catching jar! Covered with mantras that benefit the bugs and quotes which benefit the humans, these unique tools of the Buddhist trade will not to be found in any store!! Tools are provided on flat card stock and required simple assembly.

https://shop.fpmt.org/Animal-Liberation-Tools_p_453.html is where they are on the FPMT website!

Mandala magazine (Feb/March 05 News) published the story of the little boy who wrote to Rinpoche about liberating animals, and makes a nice way to introduce the practice:

Benefiting animals
A young nine-year-old Dharma student from New York wrote to Lama Zopa Rinpoche recently to tell him: “I have been vegetarian all my life. I read your article that said you should catch bugs and let them go outside. So, when I was at Milarepa kids’ camp in Vermont, I caught about fifty flies indoors, one at a time, using small paper cups. It took me all afternoon. Then we brought them to Geshe Tsulga, who blessed them, and then we took them down to the stupa, circled it while praying, and let them go. I thank you a lot for starting Milarepa.” (Signed) Rafaello.

Rinpoche replied: “My very dear Rafaello, I was very happy to receive your email telling me that you had saved so many flies and spent your afternoon liberating them. I want to thank you very much for practicing my advice, liberating these living beings.

“Here is some more explanation about the benefits of helping living beings like this. Please see if you can understand this advice and also help other boys and girls to understand how important it is to help others, especially to help the animals and all the different creatures in the world to protect their lives.

“With much love and prayers,” (Signed) Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

To read the advice given by Rinpoche to Rafaello for helping animals in everyday life and when they die, go to fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/advice/ A sample excerpt: “I started the tradition of how to liberate animals. The way we do animal liberation causes long life, but that alone doesn’t ultimately help the animals, so the best thing to do is to circumambulate the animals around holy objects and to bless them with mantras and prayers. So you can carry the animals around a table in the middle of a room with many, many, many holy objects on it piled up, many tsa-tsas, pictures of buddhas, texts, whatever you have, and then you take the animals around these holy objects.

“If you love your animal very much then this is what you must do for them for their good rebirth and quick liberation from samsara.”

NEW TRANSLATIONS BY LAMA ZOPA RINPOCHE

AMITAYUS LONG LIFE SUTRA –

The text is very precious and there is so much benefit in printing or writing it. I have one copy that was given to me in Mongolia, written with pearl, coral and other jewels. This is one of the texts that, if written in gold, mountains of negative karma get purified. Nalanda Monastery prints a certain number each week for the success of the projects, so imagine the benefits: each time they make one copy it is like copying all the 84,000 teachings of Buddha. It is also great purification. Especially, writing this collects most merit. You write it, not because someone needs the book, but just because it helps for long life and to collect merit.

It’s very good to print for people who have cancer, and for the success of activities and projects. If a business has difficulties, or is difficult to start, if you have difficulty finding a job, or the job is not going well, you can print many copies. You can print many copies, weekly or monthly, to make merit, not particularly for mundane success but generally to collect merit for realizations, conditions for Dharma practice. Then you can dedicate the merits of printing for all sentient beings. This is one solution for success and long life. Also, when you die you will get born in Amitabha’s pure land.

ZUNG OF THE EXALTED COMPLETELY PURE STAINLESS LIGHT –

If you recite this mantra every day and then spend much of life talking on the telephone or working in an office – if you do consultations or have a lot of meetings – then all the people who hear your voice, their five uninterrupted negative karmas will be purified. So there is no question that the ten non-virtuous actions-everyday negative karmas like gossiping and many things, covetousness and so forth-are purified. This gives such an unbelievably great way, such an easy way to purify and to benefit sentient beings, to liberate sentient beings from the lower realms and bring them to liberation and enlightenment.

RECENT PHOTOS
All photos by Ven Roger Kunsang

Lunch was offered by Rinpoche to the 31 Sangha present after Sojong at Land of Medicine Buddha, during Choden Rinpoche’s recent teachings.
Ven Steve Carlier (who interpreted for Choden Rinpoche) with ice cream!
Rinpoche in the garden at Aptos during the video made for the recent Essential Education Conference (Rinpoche is wearing a cardigan to make His appearance less religious!)
Rinpoche painted these for an event to raise funds for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings in 2007 in San Jose, USA

with love,

Claire
FPMT International Office