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Video Teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Click on any of the event titles below to watch, listen to, or read the transcripts of teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche given during that specific event. We carefully extract the essence of Rinpoche’s teachings available as our Essential Extracts.
All of these teachings are translated to Italian and Spanish and Chinese, many are available in Portuguese and French.
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Teachings from Potowa Center 2010Venue: Potowa Center, Indonesia Lama Zopa Rinpoche covered many topics during these 12 session teachings: • Emptiness and Phenomena: Rinpoche emphasized that all phenomena, including the self, are empty of inherent existence. They appear real due to our hallucinated mind, but in reality, they are merely imputed by the mind and do not exist from their own side. This understanding is crucial for overcoming attachment, the root cause of samsara, and for progressing towards enlightenment. • Self-Cherishing and Bodhicitta: The teachings highlighted the detrimental effects of self-cherishing, which is the root of all suffering. Lama Zopa Rinpoche stressed the importance of cherishing others and cultivating bodhicitta, the mind that wishes to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. This is the foundation for both the sutra and tantra paths. • Guru Devotion: Guru devotion was a recurring theme, where Rinpoche explained that strong devotion to the guru is essential for receiving blessings and achieving realizations on the path. The guru may manifest delusions or mistakes to guide disciples, and it is crucial to view these manifestations as part of the guru’s kindness. • Tantric Practice: Rinpoche taught that tantra, particularly the Vajrayana path, is necessary for achieving enlightenment quickly, especially in this degenerate time. He encouraged practitioners to embrace the Tantra path, as it provides the most skillful means to reach enlightenment within a single lifetime. • Impermanence and Death: Understanding the impermanent nature of life and phenomena was another key topic. Meditating on impermanence helps reduce attachment and prepares the mind for the eventuality of death, transforming it into a cause for liberation rather than fear. • Karma and Non-Harming: The teachings also covered the law of karma, emphasizing that all harm and benefit experienced in life result from past actions. The core Buddhist practice involves not harming others, which encapsulates the Hinayana teachings, while benefiting others aligns with the Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings. 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. |
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Teachings from Langri Tangpa Center 2006Venue: Langri Tangpa Center, Australia Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave four sessions of profound teaching on the “Eight Verses of Mind Training,” a classic Tibetan Buddhist text that offer deep insights into Buddhist philosophy and practice. Rinpoche covers a wide range of topics, including:
With his characteristic blend of profound wisdom, personal anecdotes, and occasional humor, Lama Zopa Rinpoche makes these complex teachings accessible to both beginners and experienced practitioners. These sessions offer invaluable guidance for anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of Buddhist philosophy and integrate its principles into their lives. |
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Interview for Universal EducationVenue: Aptos, California, USAl Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave an extensive interview at his house in Aptos. He explained the reasons why we need a non-secular way of education. |
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April 2024 Heart Sutra Retreat at Kopan MonasteryVenue: Kopan Monastery, Nepal Following the commemoration activities at Kopan Monastery honoring the one-year anniversary of Lama Zopa Rinpoche showing the aspect of passing away, a Heart Sutra Retreat was held from April 15-20, 2024 with commentary by His Eminence the 104th Ganden Tripa, meditations led by Ven. Steve Carlier, and evening sessions with short extracted videos of Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching a topic related to emptiness. The following ten videos from 2017 and 2019 are the teachings on emptiness shared during the 2024 Heart Sutra Retreat. |
All Previous Events (in order of actual date)
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MSH Oral transmission Sera Jey Monastery, IndiaVenue: Sera Jey Monastery, Bylakuppe India Rinpoche gave preliminary teachings before giving the oral transmission of Most Secret Hayagriva texts at Drati Khangtsen in Sera Jey Monastery. Rinpoche taught in Tibetan and was simultaneously translated to English by Geshe Tenzin Namdak. |
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Teachings from Mani Retreat, Italy 2017Host: Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy Lama Zopa Rinpoche has given extensive teachings during the one month 100 Million Mani Retreat in Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy. |
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Teachings from Vienna, Austria 2017Venue: VZ Praterstern, Vienna, Austria Lama Zopa Rinpoche gives preliminary teachings before the great Medicine Buddha initiation. |
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Teachings from Light of the Path, NC, USA 2017Venue: YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly, Black Mountain, North Carolina Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave extensive teachings at the Light of the Path retreat in North Carolina, which lasted for a full month. You can also listen to audio recordings of several long time students who recall some of their exceptional experiences with Lama Yeshe. |
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Teachings from Santa Fe, USA 2017Venue: Thubten Norbu Ling, Santa Fe, NM, USA Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught four days in Thubten Norbu Ling in Santa Fe, NM, United States as preliminary teachings before the Vajrasattva initiation. |
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Teachings from Russia 2017Venue: Monastery of Telo Rinpoche and Ganden Tendar Ling Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught several days in Kalmykia, Russia, where he was hosted by Telo Rinpoche and then gave extensive teachings in Ganden Tendar Ling, Moscow, Russia from May 27 to 30 as well as preliminary teachings before the Medicine Buddha initiation June 1 to 3. |
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Teachings from Mongolia 2017Venue: Various centres in Mongolia Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave a public talk at the Golden Light Sutra center in Darkhan on May 7 where he explained how all our suffering comes from our attachment to the non-existent “real I”. He then continued to teach May 10 to 14 in Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling in Ulaanbaatar as preliminary teachings before the Chenrezig initiation. |
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Teachings from Bodhgaya 2017Venue: Root Institute, Bodhgaya, India Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited Root Institute, Bodhgaya, India from 27 January to 6 February 2017. Rinpoche put a lot of emphasis on Lojong (mind training) and even gave a full commentary on the 7-point-mind-training by Kadampa Geshe Chenkawa on February 5th. |
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Teachings from Bangalore 2016Venue: Choe Khor Sum Ling, India Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited Choe Khor Sum Ling (CKSL) in Bangalore, India from December 18th to December 27th, 2016. About 32 FPMT Sangha and 80 lay people from around the world attended the teachings. The teachings were scheduled to be on Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga, but Rinpoche taught on many of the key points of the path. |
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Teachings from the Kopan Nov Course 2016Venue: Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal Rinpoche gave teachings at the end of the annual Kopan November one month course. Participants found his words extremely profound and moving, and they stimulated a lot of lively debate during group discussions. The full length recordings are available both as streaming video and mp3 downloads. |
 LZR at LOP2016
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Teachings from Light of the Path 2016Venue: YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly, Black Mountain, North Carolina More than 300 people were attending the 2016 Light of the Path retreat with Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Details on the taught subjects are available in the descriptions of the individual videos. |
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Teachings from Taiwan 2016Venue: Shakyamuni Buddha Center, Taiwan During his visit of Shakyamuni Buddha center in Taiwan in May 2016 Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave an extensive explanation on mandala offerings. |