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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.
Latest Additions
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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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Teachings from Hong Kong 2016Venue: Cham Tse Ling, Hong Kong Rinpoche gave teachings and preliminary motivation talks before the Vajrayogini initiation as well as a public talk and preliminary motivation before the before the Vajrapani/Hayagriva/Garuda jenang. |
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Teachings from Malaysia 2016Venue: Various centres in Malaysia Rinpoche gave teachings at various centres in Malaysia, granted a Medicine Buddha initiation and led a Medicine Buddha retreat. |
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Teachings from Singapore 2016Venue: Amithaba Buddhist Centre, Singapore Rinpoche gave extended teachings and granted Yamantaka as well as Vajrayogini initiation. The annual Long-Life-Puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche was held on March 13. |
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Teachings from the Kopan Nov Course 2015Venue: Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal Rinpoche gave teachings at the end of the annual Kopan November one month course. The full length recordings are available both as streaming video and mp3 downloads. |
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Teachings from the Bay Area, USA 2015Venue: various centers in the Bay Area Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited various centers in the Bay Area in November 2015 and gave public talks, teachings and initiations. The tour started at Tse Chen Ling, San Francisco, where he gave a teaching on Teaching on the Wheel of Life and a Lama Tsongkhapa long life initiation. He continued at Vajrapani Institute, where he gave a public talk titled “Patience as Protection, Emptiness as Liberation” and a Vajrapani/Hayagriva/Garuda initiation. The tour concluded at Gyalwa Gyatso (Ocean of Compassion) Buddhist Center with a teaching titled ‘Finding True Happiness’. |
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Teachings from Brazil 2015Venue: Centro Shiwa Lha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings given at Centro Shiwa Lha during their three day lam-rim retreat. The teachings were titled “Compassion in a Hostile World”. Rinpoche also gave a public talk at the Botanical garden, where he gave extensive advice on practices to perform for Brazil as a whole. |
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Teachings from Colombia 2015Venue: Centro Yamantaka, Bogota, Colombia During his visit of Bogota Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave a public talk at the El Bosque university and teachings at Centro Yamantaka during their three day lam-rim retreat. The teachings were titled “Pacifying inner and external chaos”. |
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Teachings from Mexico 2015Venue: Centro Khamlungpa, Guadalajara, Mexico Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gave extensive teachings at the “Essence of Nectar” lam-rim retreat in Guadalajara. The retreat was hosted by Centro Khamlungpa and took place at an external venue, lasting a whole week. |
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Teachings from New York 2015Venue: Shantideva Center, New York, USA Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings given August 21 to August 28, 2015 at Shantideva Center. The teachings were titled “Opening the door to liberation”. |
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Teachings from Denmark 2015Venue: Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling, Copenhagen, Denmark Lama Zopa Rinpoche teachings given from July 24 to July 25, 2015 as motivational talks before the great Medicine Buddha Initiation. |
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Teachings from Netherlands 2015Venue: Maitreya Institute, Loenen, Netherlands Lama Zopa Rinpoche teachings given from July 11 to July 20, 2015 at Maitreya Institute. The teachings were titled “Essence of Kadam”. |
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Teachings from Russia 2015Venue: Ganden Tendar Ling, Moscow, Russia Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited Russia and gave a public talk on June 30 on “How to find peace” and teachings on July 1 and 2 on the Three principles of the path. Motivational talks were given from July 3 to July 5 before the Great Medicine Buddha initiation. |