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The Official Homepage for Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Life & Vision | Teachings & Advice | Support
Cherishing others opens the door to every happiness for self and others.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche (1945-2023) was a Tibetan Buddhist scholar and meditator who, for 39 years, oversaw 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 was also utterly dedicated to fulfilling the wishes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama wherever and whenever possible and held this to be an utmost priority for FPMT.
More details of Rinpoche’s past philanthropy and future projects inspired by Rinpoche’s wishes 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 1945, 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 lamrim 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. From that time until 2023, under 39 years of his peerless guidance, FPMT continued to flourish.
Further Information and Biographies
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s life accomplishments and contributions to the world 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 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 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 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 the Maitreya Buddha statue in India.
Causing no harm to any sentient being was a high priority of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Rinpoche propagated vegetarianism in his Dharma talks. He also sponsored 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 past advice, video teachings and where to find books by Rinpoche.
Death and Dying: Practices and Resources
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.
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 traveled 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.
Support
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 late founders and spiritual directors Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche was the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) from 1984-2023.
If you follow self-cherishing thoughts, those thoughts become your identity. Then anger, pride, the jealous mind - all this negative emotional stuff arises. When you let go of the I and cherish others, negative emotional thoughts do not arise. That's very clear. Anger does not arise at those you cherish.
