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Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition
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. We provide integrated education through which people’s minds and hearts can be transformed into their highest potential for the benefit of others, inspired by an attitude of universal responsibility and service. We are committed to creating harmonious environments and helping all beings develop their full potential of infinite wisdom and compassion. Our organization is based on the Buddhist tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa of Tibet as taught to us by our founders Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche.
- Willkommen
Die Stiftung zur Erhaltung der Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) ist eine Organisation, die sich weltweit für die Erhaltung und Verbreitung des Mahayana-Buddhismus einsetzt, indem sie Möglichkeiten schafft, den makellosen Lehren des Buddha zuzuhören, über sie zur reflektieren und zu meditieren und auf der Grundlage dieser Erfahrung das Dharma unter den Lebewesen zu verbreiten.
Wir bieten integrierte Schulungswege an, durch denen der Geist und das Herz der Menschen in ihr höchstes Potential verwandelt werden zum Wohl der anderen – inspiriert durch eine Haltung der universellen Verantwortung und dem Wunsch zu dienen. Wir haben uns verpflichtet, harmonische Umgebungen zu schaffen und allen Wesen zu helfen, ihr volles Potenzial unendlicher Weisheit und grenzenlosen Mitgefühls zu verwirklichen.
Unsere Organisation basiert auf der buddhistischen Tradition von Lama Tsongkhapa von Tibet, so wie sie uns von unseren Gründern Lama Thubten Yeshe und Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche gelehrt wird.
- Bienvenidos
La Fundación para la preservación de la tradición Mahayana (FPMT) es una organización que se dedica a preservar y difundir el budismo Mahayana en todo el mundo, creando oportunidades para escuchar, reflexionar, meditar, practicar y actualizar las enseñanzas inconfundibles de Buda y en base a esa experiencia difundir el Dharma a los seres.
Proporcionamos una educación integrada a través de la cual las mentes y los corazones de las personas se pueden transformar en su mayor potencial para el beneficio de los demás, inspirados por una actitud de responsabilidad y servicio universales. Estamos comprometidos a crear ambientes armoniosos y ayudar a todos los seres a desarrollar todo su potencial de infinita sabiduría y compasión.
Nuestra organización se basa en la tradición budista de Lama Tsongkhapa del Tíbet como nos lo enseñaron nuestros fundadores Lama Thubten Yeshe y Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
A continuación puede ver una lista de los centros y sus páginas web en su lengua preferida.
- Bienvenue
L’organisation de la FPMT a pour vocation la préservation et la diffusion du bouddhisme du mahayana dans le monde entier. Elle offre l’opportunité d’écouter, de réfléchir, de méditer, de pratiquer et de réaliser les enseignements excellents du Bouddha, pour ensuite transmettre le Dharma à tous les êtres. Nous proposons une formation intégrée grâce à laquelle le cœur et l’esprit de chacun peuvent accomplir leur potentiel le plus élevé pour le bien d’autrui, inspirés par le sens du service et une responsabilité universelle. Nous nous engageons à créer un environnement harmonieux et à aider tous les êtres à épanouir leur potentiel illimité de compassion et de sagesse. Notre organisation s’appuie sur la tradition guéloukpa de Lama Tsongkhapa du Tibet, telle qu’elle a été enseignée par nos fondateurs Lama Thoubtèn Yéshé et Lama Zopa Rinpoché.
Visitez le site de notre Editions Mahayana pour les traductions, conseils et nouvelles du Bureau international en français.
Voici une liste de centres et de leurs sites dans votre langue préférée
- Benvenuto
L’FPMT è un organizzazione il cui scopo è preservare e diffondere il Buddhismo Mahayana nel mondo, creando occasioni di ascolto, riflessione, meditazione e pratica dei perfetti insegnamenti del Buddha, al fine di attualizzare e diffondere il Dharma fra tutti gli esseri senzienti.
Offriamo un’educazione integrata, che può trasformare la mente e i cuori delle persone nel loro massimo potenziale, per il beneficio di tutti gli esseri, ispirati da un’attitudine di responsabilità universale e di servizio.
Il nostro obiettivo è quello di creare contesti armoniosi e aiutare tutti gli esseri a sviluppare in modo completo le proprie potenzialità di infinita saggezza e compassione.
La nostra organizzazione si basa sulla tradizione buddhista di Lama Tsongkhapa del Tibet, così come ci è stata insegnata dai nostri fondatori Lama Thubten Yeshe e Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Di seguito potete trovare un elenco dei centri e dei loro siti nella lingua da voi prescelta.
- 欢迎 / 歡迎
简体中文
“护持大乘法脉基金会”( 英文简称:FPMT。全名:Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) 是一个致力于护持和弘扬大乘佛法的国际佛教组织。我们提供听闻,思维,禅修,修行和实证佛陀无误教法的机会,以便让一切众生都能够享受佛法的指引和滋润。
我们全力创造和谐融洽的环境, 为人们提供解行并重的完整佛法教育,以便启发内在的环宇悲心及责任心,并开发内心所蕴藏的巨大潜能 — 无限的智慧与悲心 — 以便利益和服务一切有情。
FPMT的创办人是图腾耶喜喇嘛和喇嘛梭巴仁波切。我们所修习的是由两位上师所教导的,西藏喀巴大师的佛法传承。
繁體中文
護持大乘法脈基金會”( 英文簡稱:FPMT。全名:Found
ation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition ) 是一個致力於護持和弘揚大乘佛法的國際佛教組織。我們提供聽聞, 思維,禪修,修行和實證佛陀無誤教法的機會,以便讓一切眾生都能 夠享受佛法的指引和滋潤。 我們全力創造和諧融洽的環境,
為人們提供解行並重的完整佛法教育,以便啟發內在的環宇悲心及責 任心,並開發內心所蘊藏的巨大潛能 — 無限的智慧與悲心 – – 以便利益和服務一切有情。 FPMT的創辦人是圖騰耶喜喇嘛和喇嘛梭巴仁波切。
我們所修習的是由兩位上師所教導的,西藏喀巴大師的佛法傳承。 察看道场信息:
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By eliminating the self-pitying imagination of ego, you go beyond fear. All fear and other self-pitying emotions come from holding a self-pitying image of yourself.
Lama Thubten Yeshe
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The Foundation Store is FPMT’s online shop and features a vast selection of Buddhist study and practice materials written or recommended by our lineage gurus. These items include homestudy programs, prayers and practices in PDF or eBook format, materials for children, and other resources to support practitioners.
Items displayed in the shop are made available for Dharma practice and educational purposes, and never for the purpose of profiting from their sale. Please read FPMT Foundation Store Policy Regarding Dharma Items for more information.
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Lama Zopa Rinpoche News and Advice
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New photo albums have been added to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Photo Gallery, where you can see Rinpoche in action as he travels around the world! Visit FPMT’s website to see a new photo album showing Rinpoche’s March-April visit to Nepal. Albums from 2017 can be found at:
https://fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/gallery/#2017
Rinpoche spent the beginning of the year in India, visiting Root Institute, Maitreya School, and Maitri Charitable Project in Bodhgaya; going on pilgrimage to the ruins of Nalanda University and the stupa at Sarnath; and being offered a long life puja at Yulo Koepa (Tara Temple) in Sarnath, which is a project of Kopan Nunnery. In late February, Rinpoche returned to Kopan Monastery in Nepal for Losar (Tibetan New Year) and the March enthronement of Thubten Rigsel Rinpoche, the reincarnation of Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup.
Rinpoche then spent time at Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery, which is a branch of Kopan Monastery and next to Sagarmatha Lower Secondary School, in lower Solu Khumbu District. Rinpoche blessed the children who are students at the school, which is overseen by Kopan Monastery and supported by FPMT’s Social Service Fund. Rinpoche made a visit to Thubten Choling Monastery in Junbesi. Then he went to Maratika Caves in Khotang District.
Rinpoche has most recently been teaching in Mongolia. [Please see “CORRECTED–Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Mongolia: Update,” to read the corrected version of this post on Rinpoche’s Mongolia visit.]
More information, photos and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s homepage. If you would like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche via email, sign up to Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.
- Tagged: lama zopa rinpoche, photo gallery
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Lama Zopa Rinpoche often talks about mother sentient beings—but what does he say about actual mothers?
Rinpoche wrote to a student in 2014 about how to think about her mother, saying, “The way to think is that you received all the past happiness from beginningless time from your mother, and on top of that all your present happiness, and on top of that all the future happiness. Not only this life’s happiness, but ultimate happiness, liberation from samsara—the total cessation of all the obscurations and the completion of all the realizations—full enlightenment.”
He added, “Your mother is most kind, most dear, most precious, your wish-fulfilling one, therefore from your side offer her every single benefit that you can, because she is the most important one!”
Continuing, Rinpoche said, “Your mother is cherished most by numberless bodhisattvas, not just by one bodhisattva, but by numberless bodhisattvas … For the numberless bodhisattvas, your mother is more precious than the whole sky filled with wish-granting jewels—not only filled with dollars and diamonds but with wish-granting jewels … Now the buddhas, Shakyamuni Buddha and all the buddhas cherish your mother most, more than Buddha himself … Numberless bodhisattvas cherish her most, they work for her.”
Rinpoche concluded, “Therefore you can see how important it is for you, due to your connection with your mother this time, every single benefit that you can offer her—this is the best offering to numberless bodhisattvas and numberless buddhas. You can see that even offering a small benefit to her is the best offering!”
Read the full teaching here:
https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/your-mother-most-kind-most-dear-most-precious
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation, and community service.
- Tagged: lama zopa rinpoche, motherhood
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CORRECTED, May 11—This post has been corrected. We apologize for the errors that appeared in this blog as it was originally published on May 10.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche—who has been touring Mongolia this month, giving teachings, blessings, and initiations—visited Dolma Ling (Dulmaling) Nunnery in Ulaanbaatar on May 2.
The Dolma Ling existed long in the past, but was partially destroyed in the 1930s along with many other religious sites in Mongolia. Greater religious freedom in the 1990s led to initial steps to re-establish the site, and in 2001, the temple and grounds were offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche. The nunnery’s original building, which is unique and beautiful, is still to be found at the site, and is awaiting restoration.
Rinpoche spent time talking with the Dolma Ling nuns about improvements needed at the nunnery, and discerning next steps for moving forward.
Dolma Ling is located on the same land as the Lamp of the Path soup kitchen. This much-needed social service project offers lunch to more than eighty homeless people a day in a small building.
“The soup kitchen is small but very inspiring! Particularly in the winter, it seems to be a lifesaver for the many homeless people in this area, which is quite a poor area and a long way from other services,” Ven. Holly Ansett reported. “The project grows its own vegetables during the short spring/summer growing season, which was very heartening for us to see.”
On May 3-4, Rinpoche and about twenty-five others, including several monks and the abbot from Idgaa Choizinling Monastery (ICM) in Ulaanbaatar drove for close to seven hours into the Gobi Desert (southeast towards China). Halfway there, Rinpoche and the group stopped for a picnic lunch; monks from ICM had come the day before to set up a beautiful ger (a Mongolian tent or yurt) for the group where they offered lunch. Although a sand storm made getting from the vehicles into the ger a bit tumultuous, once inside, everyone found it very cozy. The ger was set up in a place called Choyr. In the past, there was a monastery there with 1,500 monks, but this was destroyed in the 1930s. Not far away was a very blessed rock carving of Hayagriva Garuda Vajrapani. Thus Choyr is considered a holy place. The area was under the ocean millions of years ago, and the rocks there are unusual and known for containing fossils.
The next day the group visited Khamar Monastery, which is located in a desert—very stark and dry, with not a tree in sight. When Rinpoche arrived, the monks were doing Tara practice; they quickly offered Rinpoche a mandala offering. Rinpoche also met Danzan Ravjaa Rinpoche, who is the 9th incarnation of the Lama of the Gobi. Rinpoche also visited the small nunnery next door to the monastery.
Next Rinpoche went to Shambhala land—an area of stupas, temples, and other monuments reputed to be a gateway to the legendary Shambhala—to visit caves where past meditators stayed in retreat.
From there, Rinpoche and the group headed back to Ulaanbaatar. As they drove, they passed many herds of wild horses, goats, sheep, cows, and camels. Rinpoche stopped a number of times to bless the animals. He had a portable loudspeaker and, in the hope of leaving imprints, recited many prayers and mantras, such as the long and longest Chenrezig mantras, the Medicine Buddha mantra, the Maitreya Buddha mantra, the Namgyälma mantra, and lamrim prayers.
“Many times the animals actually listened, ears pricked. When we stopped to bless the wild mares, for example, they actually ran up to the side of the car where Rinpoche was reciting so they were close. It really seemed that they wanted to be able to hear his voice,” Ven. Holly said.
On the way back to Ulaanbaatar, the group stopped at the same ger as before for a late lunch, and the monks from ICM requested an oral transmission from Rinpoche. He gave a short teaching and oral transmission in the ger of the Four Mindfulnesses, a teaching by Manjushri to Lama Tsongkhapa. Rinpoche gave the teaching and transmission in Tibetan, and they were translated into Mongolian and English. The group left the ger as the sun was setting, and the whole sky turned red. “It was an incredible sight,” reported Ven. Holly, “The desert views were breathtaking!” The group arrived back at FPMT’s center in Ulaanbaatar at midnight.
On May 6, Rinpoche went to visit the FPMT center in Darkhan, in Northern Mongolia, the Golden Light Sutra Center (GLS), which is a four-hour drive north towards the border with Russia. On the way were beautiful mountain landscapes, though with hardly any trees. Again, the group saw many animals, including wild horses, sheep, goats, and cattle. Rinpoche stopped over and over to bless animals, and the drive took extra time due to this. The group was accompanied by the abbot of ICM as well as Geshe Thubten Zopa from Sera Je Monastery. Geshe-la is assisting the tantric college at Ganden Monastery in Ulaanbaatar, and also teaches at the FPMT center in Ulaanbaatar, Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling. While in Darkhan, Rinpoche had a short meeting with the board of GLS center, a short TV interview, and enjoyed both lunch and dinner with the governor of Darkhan province, and with the city governor who is on the GLS board.
The next day Rinpoche visited Ganden Tara Monastery and gave oral transmissions of the Thirty-Five Buddhas and Seven Medicine Buddhas, and a prayer to spread the teachings of Lama Tsongkhapa to the thirty or so monks. Rinpoche then gave a public talk to more than 300 people. In the talk, he gave advice on how to meditate on emptiness, including how to do one’s daily activities with the mind in emptiness and live one’s whole life doing all activities from this mind.
Leaving Darkhan, the group drove the four hours back to Ulaanbaatar, again stopping a number of times to bless the many animals along the road.
Rinpoche’s teachings before the Great Chenrezig Initiation at Idgaa Choizinling Monastery—organized by Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling—will be streamed live on FPMT’s YouTube channel, on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Facebook page, and on FPMT’s Facebook page.
The live-streamed teachings are scheduled for:
- May 10, 7 p.m. local time (GMT+8)
- May 11-12, 6 p.m. local time (GMT+8)
Watch here on FPMT’s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/fpmtinc/live
PLEASE NOTE: Live webcasts of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings are now on YouTube. We will no longer be streaming Rinpoche’s teachings from Livestream.com. Please bookmark this YouTube link for live video of the teachings in Mongolia and Rinpoche’s other future live-streamed teachings:
https://www.youtube.com/c/fpmtinc/live
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation, and community service.
- Tagged: animals, fpmt mongolia, lama zopa rinpoche, mongolia, video
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You can watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche teach live from Mongolia May 10-12!
Rinpoche’s teachings before the Great Chenrezig Initiation at Idgaa Choizinling Monastery—organized by Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling, the FPMT center in Ulaanbaatar—will be streamed live on FPMT’s YouTube channel, on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Facebook page, and on FPMT’s Facebook page. The live-streamed teachings are scheduled for:
- May 10, 7 p.m. local time (GMT+8)
- May 11-12, 6 p.m. local time (GMT+8)
Watch here on FPMT’s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/fpmtinc/live
Rinpoche arrived in Mongolia in late April and has traveled into the Gobi Desert, visiting sacred sites and a monastery there, and then to Darkhan, Mongolia’s second largest city, where Golden Light Sutra Center is located.
Rinpoche last visited Mongolia in 2013 when he taught for several weeks at Idgaa Choizinling during a month-long 100 million mani retreat, hosted by FPMT Mongolia. Read about the visit in “Rejoicing in the 100 Million Mani Retreat in Mongolia,” from Mandala January-March 2014.
PLEASE NOTE: Live webcasts of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings are now on YouTube. We will no longer be streaming Rinpoche’s teachings from Livestream.com. Please bookmark this YouTube link for live video of the teachings in Mongolia and Rinpoche’s other future live-streamed teachings:
https://www.youtube.com/c/fpmtinc/live
Rinpoche’s schedule of teachings can be found here:
https://fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/schedule/
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation, and community service.
- Tagged: fpmt mongolia, ganden do ngag shedrup ling, lama zopa rinpoche, mongolia, rinpoche available now
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Lama Zopa Rinpoche has arrived safely in Mongolia, traveling from Nepal. Rinpoche is staying at the FPMT center in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, called Ganden Do Ngag Shedrub Ling Center. He will also be visiting the Golden Light Sutra Center in Darkhan, Mongolia.
Rinpoche was greeted by enthusiastic supporters on his arrival in Mongolia, enjoyed a vegetarian “Mongolian hotpot” with his hosts, and met with Dharma center members and their children.
While in Mongolia, Rinpoche is expected to give Dharma talks, a Great Chenrezig Initiation, and a long life initiation. Dharma center members are planning to offer him a long life puja.
Rinpoche’s schedule of teachings can be found here: https://fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/schedule/.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation, and community service.
- Tagged: fpmt mongolia, lama zopa rinpoche, mongolia
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In March 2017, Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited the village of Chailsa, in Solu Khumbu, Nepal. Among various activities there, he visited Sagarmatha Secondary School. More than two years ago, FPMT took on the commitment of sponsoring this school, which has about 120 students, with its Social Service Fund. Kopan Monastery oversees the management of the school.
Chailsa is in Solu Khumbu, north-eastern Nepal, the district where Lama Zopa Rinpoche was born and where many Himayalan Buddhists live. Chailsa is in the southern part of the district near Salleri, the district headquarters. The area is remote but still reachable by jeep—a day-long drive from Kathmandu over difficult roads.
Rinpoche blessed the school and was welcomed by the children with a traditional dance. He gave a talk to them, giving them an explanation of how to do water bowls. He also sponsored a picnic for the children and their teachers. The school provided prizes for the children’s exams, which Rinpoche handed out. Rinpoche and Kopan are working to identify the needs of the schoolchildren so they can ensure that the necessary donations are organized.
In the village, Rinpoche gave a lung and some commentary for the Vajrayogini three-year retreat privately to some students, one who is planning to soon do the retreat. He also gave a short commentary to the local gompa keeper of the torma gyatsa practice. Finally, he offered an Amitabha long life initiation with teachings.
Rinpoche also visited Thubten Shedrup Ling. This monastery, located in Chailsa, is under the care of Kopan Monastery, which took it over in 2004. It has only a few dozen residents, and with the help of Kopan, it has been partially rebuilt. It offers an opportunity for young people to receive a monastic education, to live in their vows in a monastic environment, and study and practice the teachings of the Buddha.
Rinpoche is also trying to locate land in Chailsa on which to keep goats and other animals whose lives have been saved.
On the trip, Rinpoche also went to Thubten Chöling, a large monastery built by the late Trulshik Rinpoche in the 1960s in Junbesi, which is near Salleri and on the Jiri-Everest trekking trail.
One of the greatest living masters of the Nyingma and rime traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, Trulshik Rinpoche, who passed away in 2011, was one of Rinpoche’s gurus. While at Thubten Chöling, Rinpoche offered to sponsor a portion of the costs of a stupa being constructed there. He paid his respects to Trulshik Rinpoche’s holy body (which is in a mandala house above the altar), made prayers, and made offerings to each of the approximately 400 Sangha present. Rinpoche’s assistant, Ven.Roger, requested the Sangha to do an extensive Medicine Buddha puja for Rinpoche’s health and long life, following the advice of Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme).
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation, and community service.
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Lama Zopa Rinpoche cares deeply about animals and uses every possible opportunity to bless them with prayers, mantras, holy objects, and other means. A short video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche blessing sentient beings in a lake in Washington State, US, appears below.
Rinpoche also avoids eating other living beings. He is a vegetarian and often urges his students not to eat meat. He gave the following advice in 2014.
Rinpoche said, “About meat, I would like to say, please reduce eating meat, as it does so much harm to others and even to one’s own body. This is not just belief, it’s now even accepted scientifically. If you can avoid meat, it’s so good. Wow, wow, wow!”
Rinpoche focused on avoiding meat as the most compassionate approach, saying, “All the buddhas and bodhisattvas will be so happy with you, just as a mother loves her beloved child, cherishing her child so much. When her child does something good that makes the mother so unbelievable happy. So if possible, abandon meat or cut down eating meat. The conclusion is that if less people eat meat, that means more animals won’t suffer from being killed. That’s the benefit, so please think about this.”
Rinpoche also advised considering carefully the teachings of the lamrim. “Don’t think about the pleasure of eating [meat] without thinking about reincarnation, karma, and the lower realms. Instead of just thinking about the pleasure of eating meat, think about the suffering of the animals when they are being killed, and think of yourself being at the butcher’s place, about to be killed. How does that feel? If you’re about to be killed, like the animals, how does that feel? Do you like that? If you really think Dharma is to not harm sentient beings, then don’t eat meat, or at least eat very little.”
Rinpoche added that one can remain healthy without meat, explaining, “Not eating meat is OK. So many young people in the West don’t eat meat and are still healthy; they can supplement their diet with other things. So many people [are vegetarian] now, young and old, and its increasing more and more.”
Watch Rinpoche bless living beings in Omak Lake in Washington State, US, on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/zoFxyLZPUiQ
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation, and community service.
- Tagged: animals, compassion, lama zopa rinpoche, lama zopa rinpoche video short, vegetarianism, video
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During a road trip from Washington State to California in November 2016, Lama Zopa Rinpoche chanted a guru devotion prayer along with a CD that was playing in the car. See the video of him chanting below.
Rinpoche frequently speaks about the importance of guru devotion. In his book The Heart of the Path, he explains the real meaning of “guru.”
“When we think about what guru really means,” says Rinpoche, “we have to think about the absolute guru. We have to go beyond the conventional guru to the absolute guru, the real meaning of guru. And what is the absolute guru?” Rinpoche answers, “It is the dharmakaya, the transcendental wisdom of nondual bliss and voidness. It is eternal, with no beginning and no end … This dharmakaya pervades all existence; there’s no place that the dharmakaya, the holy mind of the buddhas, does not cover.”
Rinpoche goes on to quote the text Ornament of Mahayana Sutras (Skt: Mahayanasutralankara), by Maitreya Buddha, who writes:
Just as the innumerable beams of the sun mix to perform the one activity of illuminating the world, in the uncontaminated sphere of dharmakaya the innumerable buddhas mix to perform the one activity of illuminating with transcendental wisdom.
Rinpoche explains the quote, saying, “In the dharmakaya the countless buddhas mix to perform the one action of guiding sentient beings, of making the transcendental wisdom of omniscient mind appear in the minds of sentient beings.The dharmakaya, the absolute guru, is the completely pure holy mind … When sunlight dispels eternal darkness, we see objects clearly. When the buddhas dispel our inner darkness, our minds are completely illuminated.”
“It is helpful,” Rinpoche concludes, “to remember this quotation from Maitreya Buddha when we begin each session of guru yoga practice.”
Watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche chant a guru devotion prayer on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/h4UQ_QtJDzk
Read the full teaching in chapter 19 of The Heart of the Path by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Purchase the book from the Foundation Store and support FPMT’s International Office and its Dharma activities.
Hard copy: https://shop.fpmt.org/Heart-of-the-Path–Hard-Copy_p_814.html
Ebook: https://shop.fpmt.org/Heart-of-the-Path-eBook_p_2360.html
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
- Tagged: guru devotion, Heart of the Path, khandro kunga bhuma, lama zopa rinpoche, lama zopa rinpoche video short, tenzin osel hita, video
19
Dharma in the City
Do we have to go to a retreat center or a faraway country to really meditate?
Way back in 1979, Lama Zopa Rinpoche responded to this question with a teaching on how to practice Dharma in the city.
Rinpoche said, “We don’t have to live in a hermitage in order to generate the realizations of the steps of the path … The whole thing is mind, so whether we are in the city or in the country, or while we are working, there is a way to gradually generate the realizations of the steps of the path to enlightenment.”
Rinpoche explained, “Each day, while we are working, living with our family, living in the city, we can leave impressions of the stages of the path to enlightenment in our mind, by making sessions of one hour or half an hour each day, similar to those who live in the hermitage … Do some sessions in the morning or evening, then in the daytime, in the break times, be aware—constantly watch the mind; watch the actions of the body, speech, and mind. As much as possible practice lamrim in the break times, and by watching the mind we know what action the body is doing, what action the speech is doing, what action the mind is doing, we are able to recognize. Then also we find out when delusion is arising or not arising; we recognize whatever the delusion is and when it is about to arise. While it is arising, remember the teachings and the different meditations, and apply them …
“Try to remember bodhichitta and practice bodhichitta … Whatever activity we are doing, try to relate it to the practice of bodhichitta. If our daily activities are not possessed by attachment, clinging to the happiness of this life; if we watch the mind and control the unsubdued mind with the meditation techniques, then the motivation is not possessed by the attachment clinging to the happiness of this life and all our actions become Dharma, the cause of happiness.”
Rinpoche concluded, “Then as we remember bodhichitta, as we relate with the practice of bodhichitta, any activity that we do with the practice of bodhichitta—all our work in the factories, on the ships, or in business—becomes the cause to achieve enlightenment. If our activities are done with the motivation of bodhichitta, they become the bodhisattva’s practice. So even if we live far away from the guru—in the city or with our family—there is a possibility of doing this.”
Find the original teaching here:
https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/practicing-lam-rim-householder
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
- Tagged: bodhichitta, city, lama zopa rinpoche, lamrim, mind training
17
Kopan Nunnery has its first two geshemas. They are Geshe Namdrol Phuntsok and Geshe Jangchub Gyalmo, who graduated with their Geshe degrees in 2016 after an intense program lasting more than twenty years. Lama Zopa Rinpoche met with them in November 2016 at Kopan Nunnery to congratulate them—and to watch them debate philosophy, a skill they honed during their years of study (see video below).
While many people have commented on the great benefits the geshemas will bring to others by teaching and mentoring, what benefits will their studies bring to them?
In a letter sent to a student in 2014 on the merit of in-depth Dharma study, Lama Zopa Rinpoche pointed out that those who follow their guru’s advice to undertake serious study create tremendous merit. Speaking directly to such students, he stated that this merit “means unbelievable, most unbelievable imprints are left on your mind. It means even if you don’t actualize the path in this life, because of doing this study and purifying so much, in the next life you will meet the Buddha’s teachings and be able to learn, because you have purified so much past negative karma and obscurations. This helps to achieve a higher rebirth, a perfect human rebirth, to meet the Dharma again and to become so expert and through that to have realizations through practicing, and not only that, to be able to go to nirvana and to enlightenment. That is so great!”
Rinpoche continued, saying, “That means each time we are studying, we are fulfilling our Guru’s wishes, so we are becoming closer to enlightenment each time. We become closer to being free from samsara, and closer to enlightenment. So this is what has been happening all these years that you have been studying, doing homework, attending classes, these are the benefits of that. So you have gained unbelievably, so much … Therefore you should rejoice, it is most unbelievable, your whole life should be filled with incredible joy and happiness.”
“Among all the sentient beings,” Rinpoche concluded, “the amount of people who are Buddhists is so small. Then from those who are Buddhist, those who have the opportunity to study are very rare. Then to be able to find a qualified teacher who can teach philosophy, it’s so, so rare. So you can rejoice, it’s unbelievable.”
Join Lama Zopa Rinpoche in rejoicing at the graduation of the geshemas. Watch them debate in front of Rinpoche and Rizong Rinpoche, former Ganden Tripa (head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism), at Kopan Nunnery, Nepal, in November 2016:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SexrtqnobdM&feature=youtu.be
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation, and community service.
14
Every year Ven. Roger Kunsang, on behalf of the FPMT organization, checks with one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus or Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme) to determine what practices should be done to help create the conditions for Lama Zopa Rinpoche to have good health for the coming year. Khadro-la has recently advised that some prayers need to be recited, together with the completion of a number of pujas.
The prayers Khadro-la advised are the Vajra Cutter Sutra and the Dependent Arising: A Praise of the Buddha (Tendrel Topa).
We are requesting everyone to join in and keep track of their recitations of these prayers during the rest of this Tibetan year! At the end of the Tibetan year (i.e., just before Losar 2018) we will ask everyone to send us the number of prayers recited and will offer the total number of accumulated recitations to Rinpoche. It would be very beneficial if all FPMT centers, projects, services, and study groups can arrange regular recitations of these prayers.
Please use the following dedication (ideally, in addition to the usual FPMT dedication prayers):
For Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche to always have perfect health and to always be free of obstacles; and for all Rinpoche’s Dharma projects around the world to be highly successful, including all FPMT centers, projects, and services.
The pujas advised by Khadro-la will be offered in a number of monasteries every month until the end of this Tibetan year. Any contributions to help cover the costs of the pujas will be greatly appreciated. Donations can be made to the FPMT Puja Fund.
In addition, there will be an extensive long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, on April 23, 2017. Everyone is welcome to attend!
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
12
Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave a wonderful teaching on the Seven-Point Mind Training (also called Seven-Point Thought Transformation) on February 5, 2017, at Root Institute in Bodhgaya, India. The mind training (Tibetan: lojong) text Rinpoche taught was by Kadampa Geshe Chekawa.
A video of this three-hour teaching appears below. It can also be found on Rinpoche Available Now, FPMT’s website of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s latest teachings online.
Rinpoche taught Geshe Chekawa’s well-known text by following a verse commentary on it by Lama Tsongkhapa, entitled in English as Mind Training in Ornamental Words or Twenty-Seven Verses on Mind Training.
At a long life puja offered to him last year in Singapore, all FPMT centers requested Rinpoche to teach lojong, on the advice of Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme). She had indicated that giving this particular teaching would help ensure Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s long life.
Watch Rinpoche teaching the Seven-Point Mind Training on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/Jbf0ZcNLZmM
See more videos of teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Root Institute in 2017 at Rinpoche Available Now:
https://fpmt.org/media/
Get a free PDF of Geshe Chekawa’s mind training text through the Foundation Store:
https://shop.fpmt.org/The-Seven-Point-Thought-Transformation-PDF_p_3542.html
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
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