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International Mahayana Institute

Sangha Jewel - A Community of Buddhist Monks and Nuns

About IMI

Welcome

The International Mahayana Institute (IMI) is a community of Buddhist monks and nuns of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). Lama Yeshe, the founder of FPMT, established the IMI in 1973. Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the current Spiritual Director of IMI.

As emissaries of Buddhism, we inspire others through our speech and behaviour and provide the opportunity for lay practitioners to integrate respect and support for Sangha into their practice of Buddhism.

Our community contributes to world peace and individual spiritual growth by keeping the Buddha’s teachings alive, and inspiring others with values of ethical behavior, tolerance, compassion and wisdom.

IMI is distinct in preserving the unique lineage of Lama Tsong Khapa, integrating study and practice as manifested by its teachers, HH Dalai Lama, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Lama Yeshe all the while adapting to various cultures and conditions around the world.

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If you neglect to protect your mind, you can neither close the door to suffering nor open the door to happiness.
Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche

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Latest Articles

Working on Yourself for Others

  By Catherine Clancy for Mandala Magazine in 1996, updated for the IMI Newsletter 2018 by Ven. Tendar.  Ven. Paloma is a Sangha Senior Council member for the IMI, but has many other roles within the FPMT mandala as well. Among others she is Spiritual Program Coordinator and introductory teacher in two FPMT centres: Nagarjuna…
  By Catherine Clancy for Mandala Magazine in 1996, updated for the IMI Newsletter 2018 by Ven. Tendar.  Ven. Paloma is a Sangha Senior Council member for the IMI, but has many other roles within the FPMT mandala as well. Among others she is Spiritual Program Coordinator and introductory teacher in two FPMT centres: Nagarjuna Center…

Letting the Buddha Relax

These being the distinctions between the layperson and householder, it is important for an ordained people to realize the importance of not engaging in unnecessary activities and to maintain contentment. If there is no such contentment, then the two are similar. His Holiness Dalai Lama Letting the Buddha Relax His Holiness Dalai Lama Excerpt from…
These being the distinctions between the layperson and householder, it is important for an ordained people to realize the importance of not engaging in unnecessary activities and to maintain contentment. If there is no such contentment, then the two are similar. His Holiness Dalai Lama Letting the Buddha Relax His Holiness Dalai Lama Excerpt from…

News & Events

A Renounced Mind

We know the general methods for protecting our mind: recollecting the imminence of death, the sufferings of samsara, the skeleton beneath the skin, the rotting corpse, honey on a razor blade. But we don’t really believe them. Ven. Thubten Gyatso A Renounced Mind By Ven. Thubten Gyatso One evening in 1975, on the hilltop at…
We know the general methods for protecting our mind: recollecting the imminence of death, the sufferings of samsara, the skeleton beneath the skin, the rotting corpse, honey on a razor blade. But we don’t really believe them. Ven. Thubten Gyatso A Renounced Mind By Ven. Thubten Gyatso One evening in 1975, on the hilltop at Kopan, my girlfriend…

On Celibacy

They also need faith. This is achieved by the inspiring example of monks and nuns whose pure lifestyle and inner attainment of peace show that renunciation is possible. On Celibacy By Ven. Thubten Gyatso It is 1972, in Jalalabad, and travellers on their journey to the east, stranded in Afghanistan by the Indo-Pakistani war, are…
They also need faith. This is achieved by the inspiring example of monks and nuns whose pure lifestyle and inner attainment of peace show that renunciation is possible. On Celibacy By Ven. Thubten Gyatso It is 1972, in Jalalabad, and travellers on their journey to the east, stranded in Afghanistan by the Indo-Pakistani war, are partying. A…