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The Official Homepage for Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Life & Vision | Teachings & Advice | Schedule, Contact & Support
See everyone as precious and fulfilling all your wishes.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is a Tibetan Buddhist scholar and meditator who for over 30 years has overseen the spiritual activities of the extensive worldwide network of centers, projects and services that form the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) which he founded with Lama Thubten Yeshe.
Rinpoche has set in motion a host of Vast Visions for the FPMT organization that will span generations to accomplish. These include the proliferation of many charitable projects and beneficial activities. Among many projects dear to Rinpoche’s heart are the two Maitreya Projects: under Rinpoche’s guidance, FPMT plans to build two large statues of the future Buddha, Maitreya, in Bodhgaya and Kushinagar in India; The Sera Je Food Fund, which offered three vegetarian meals a day to all 2,500 monks studying at Sera Je Monastery in south India for twenty-six years, culminating into a large endowment fund, which now covers all the cost of food for all the monks for as long as the endowment fund remains; Animal Liberation events around the world, at which creatures, big and small, are freed from immediate harm or blessed every year– with hundreds of millions of animals liberated to date (by Lama Zopa Rinpoche or those inspired by him) and counting! Rinpoche is also utterly dedicated to fulfilling the wishes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama wherever and whenever possible and holds this to be an utmost priority for FPMT.
More details of Rinpoche’s ongoing philanthropy can be followed through the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund.
Rinpoche’s Life and Vision
Read a short biography, some of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s life accomplishments and Vast Visions for the FPMT organization.
Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the steps of Kopan Monastery, Nepal, 1970. Photo courtesy Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
Born in the Mount Everest region of Thami in 1946, Rinpoche was recognized soon afterwards by His Holiness Trulshik Rinpoche and five other lamas as the reincarnation of the great yogi Kunsang Yeshe. Rinpoche was taken under the care of FPMT’s founder Lama Thubten Yeshe, soon after leaving Tibet, in Buxa Duar, India, in the early 1960’s. Rinpoche was with Lama Yeshe until 1984 when Lama Yeshe passed away and Lama Zopa Rinpoche took over as spiritual director of FPMT.
At the age of ten, Rinpoche went to Tibet and studied and meditated at Domo Geshe Rinpoche’s monastery near Pagri, until the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959 forced him to forsake Tibet for the safety of Bhutan.
Rinpoche then went to the Tibetan refugee camp at Buxa Duar, West Bengal, India, where he met Lama Yeshe, who became his closest teacher. The Lamas met their first Western student, Zina Rachevsky, in 1967 then traveled with her to Nepal in 1968 where they began teaching more Westerners.
Over the next few years they built Kopan and Lawudo Monasteries. In 1971 Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave the first of his famous annual lam-rim retreat courses, which continue at Kopan to this day.
FPMT was established at the end of 1975. Lama Yeshe served as the organization’s spiritual director until he passed away in 1984, at which time Rinpoche took over. Since then, under his peerless guidance, the FPMT has continued to flourish.
Further Information and Biographies
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s life accomplishments and contributions to the world thus far have served as an incredible testament to Rinpoche’s tremendous compassion for others.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Maitreya School children in front of the school, Root Institute, Bodhgaya, India, January 2017. Photo by Root Institute via Facebook.
In 1970 Rinpoche founded, sponsored and built Kopan Monastery and Nunnery in Nepal. There are now approximately 400 monks and 400 nuns residing and studying there. In addition to starting Kopan Monastery and Nunnery, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has taken on the responsibility for sponsorship and development of Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery, Eastern Nepal and in Tsum (the border region of Nepal and Tibet), Mu Monastery and Ranchen Nunnery.
Rinpoche has established Maitreya School, Bodhgaya, which offers free education to over 306 children. In addition through the Social Services Fund annual grants are provided to support schools for Tibetan refugees in India and Nepal. Kopan Monastery and Nunnery also offers western education for the Sangha (up to year 9).
In 1999, Lama Zopa Rinpoche sponsored the building of Idgaa Choizinling Monastery in Ulaanbaatar Mongolia. This is a Mongolian branch of Sera Je Monastery. Rinpoche also established the very first nunnery in Mongolia and continues to take tremendous effort to bring Dharma to Mongolia.
First day of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings at Idgaa Choizinling Monastery, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, May 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
In 2010 Lama Zopa Rinpoche received the prestigious Polar Star certificate from the Mongolian President in recognition of Rinpoche’s contribution in reestablishing the Dharma in Mongolia as well as for social projects.
Rinpoche has an incredibly vast visions for FPMT, reaching far into the future, such as building 100,000 stupas and prayer wheels around the world so we can easily purify and create merit and in this way contribute to world peace. Rinpoche has already sponsored the creation of many holy objects around the world such as 11 large prayer wheels, 48 large stupas, 15 statues of Padmasambhava, as well as creating large thangkas for different centers around the world to display and make offerings to on special occasions, and writing the Prajnaparamita sutra in gold to be placed in heart of Maitreya Buddha statue in India.
Causing no harm to any sentient being is a high priority of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Rinpoche actively propagates vegetarianism in his Dharma talks, and also sponsors regular animal liberations and blessing, as well as sponsoring pujas during times when there are many animals killed (for instance on Thanksgiving and Darshain holidays).
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Mahamudra the dog, Adelaide, Australia, May 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for FPMT fall into four categories:
Teachings & Advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
See these archives of current and past advice, video teachings and where to find books by Rinpoche.
“The Effects of Smoking and Living a Healthy and Happy Life” Book Release
FPMT.org offers a collection of practical advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche. You can also find Rinpoche's advice on a wide range of topics in the form of short talks and letters at the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
You can explore the Rinpoche Available Now page for an extensive video archive of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s LIVE teachings are linked to from our livestream page.
You can find concise teaching extracts from Rinpoche in our collection of Essential Extracts videos.
Visit our collection of short videos of spontaneous teachings and meritorious activities with Rinpoche as he travels the world.
Browse books and practice materials written or translated by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, published by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, and Wisdom Publications.
You can also find many digital books, practices and art from Rinpoche published by FPMT Education Services through the Foundation Store.
Enjoy these biographies and articles written by others about Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Schedule, Contact & Support
View Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s current teaching schedule, learn ways to support Rinpoche’s activities, and more.
Current Events
September 3 - 17 2023
Light of the Path Retreat, hosted by Kopan Monastery, Nepal
November 1 - 30, 2023
Teaching during the one month meditation course, Kopan Monastery, Nepal
Will be scheduled for 2024
Bodhicaryavatara and Rinjung Gyatsa Retreat, including the initiation of Guhyasamaja. The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Bendigo, Australia
Download Long Life Prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche had a stroke in 2011. Rinpoche’s health is now stable and he is very well, and every year we check what practices should be done to create the causes for Rinpoche’s long life and good health. Every year the FPMT organization offers an official long life puja to Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT).
The FPMT is an organization devoted to preserving and spreading Mahayana Buddhism worldwide by creating opportunities to listen, reflect, meditate, practice and actualize the unmistaken teachings of the Buddha and based on that experience spreading the Dharma to sentient beings.
Our organization is based on the Buddhist tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa of Tibet as taught to us by our founder, Lama Thubten Yeshe and spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Every second of this human life gives us the freedom to choose between hell and enlightenment, samsara and liberation.
