receive our newsletters
join Friends of FPMT
Lama Zopa Rinpoche News and Advice
Incense puja at Mount Taranaki in New Zealand, May 2015. Lama Zopa Rinpoche has been wanting to do puja here for some years as is a special place. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
“So, why do we take refuge?,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche asked during a 2013 refuge ceremony at Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore. “To be free from pervasive compounding suffering, from where the suffering of pain and the suffering of change arises – to be totally free from that, forever.
“To be able to help sentient beings, we have to be free from suffering. For example, if we are drowning in mud, how can we help others? If we are drowning in water, how can we help others? If we have no arms, how can we save others? To free ourselves from this suffering is not to achieve blissful peace for ourselves, but to help other sentient beings. The most important thing is to be able to help other sentient beings. We need to be free from suffering to do this.
“Just to be free from the lower realms, we don’t need to take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. We don’t need these three. Even if we just remember a monk or nun – somebody we have devotion to – when we die, we will never get reborn in the lower realms at the time of death. Even if we remember one Sangha to whom we feel devotion, or if we think of the Heart Sutra, for example, or some mantra or prayer that we remember, we will never get reborn in lower realms.
“But to be free from samsara – from the pervasive compounding suffering – we need to take refuge. We need to take refuge in Buddha who revealed the path, who revealed the teaching, and the actual refuge. Buddha is like the doctor and Dharma is like the medicine. The actual refuge is Dharma, like the medicine for sickness. Then, the Sangha is like the nurse. The Sangha becomes an example, helping us actualize refuge, Dharma, within our heart. That is Sangha. We need all three to have refuge, to be free from the pervasive compounding suffering from where true suffering arises. Until we are free from this, we suffer in samsara constantly, endlessly, from beginningless rebirth. We can’t help sentient beings perfectly; we cannot help others perfectly without mistakes.”
Excerpted from “The Real Refuge” section of “Seeing How the I Exists” (http://bit.ly/seeing-how-the-i-exists) made available by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
Learn more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), and Rinpoche’s vision for a better world. Sign up to receive news and updates.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Geshe Thubten Wangchen and Geshe Jampa Tharchin at Chandrakirti Centre for the consecration of a Guru Rinpoche statue, Nelson, New Zealand, May 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
“The wisdom realizing emptiness gives us the possibility to escape from problems forever,” said Lama Zopa Rinpoche in a 1990 teaching in Florence, Italy. “Achieving this ultimate happiness mainly depends on this realization. As I mentioned before, only the wisdom realizing emptiness can directly eradicate the ignorance which is the root of the whole samsaric suffering.Therefore, we should feel extremely fortunate and attempt to learn more, to listen, reflect and meditate more. As much as possible, in our everyday life we should attempt to meditate on emptiness even for a minute or a few seconds, especially once we have heard teachings that reveal the unmistaken view and we have some basic understanding of what ultimate nature means. Realizing emptiness gives us the opportunity to be free from the whole of samsara and all suffering.
“So, we should not waste time, we should not waste the opportunity. We must meditate as often as possible, even for a few seconds. We must meditate. Not meditating on emptiness, or not even remembering it for even one day is a great loss. Meditating on emptiness itself becomes great purification. For example, when it comes to purification methods in tantra and sutra, reading the Prajñaparamita teachings is one of the methods. Meditating on emptiness is one of the most powerful purifications.
“Even if you are doing Vajrasattva meditation, you are still advised to remember emptiness. The Vajrasattva recitation-purification becomes very powerful by remembering emptiness. Making offerings to these scriptures or copying them and meditating on them, are all regarded as very powerful purification practices. Anyway, you should not waste the opportunity, especially if you have studied these teachings and have some basic understanding of them. Even rising doubts about emptiness has a great effect – it shatters samsara into pieces.”
Excerpted from “Meditation on Emptiness and Tong-len (Taking and Giving)” (http://bit.ly/meditation-on-emptiness-and-tong-len) made available by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
Learn more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), and Rinpoche’s vision for a better world. Sign up to receive news and updates.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Geshe Thubten Wangchen from Dorje Chang Institute blessing water with students to pour from the boat into the strait between the north and south islands of New Zealand, May 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche returns to New Zealand’s North Island to continue his teaching tour. Rinpoche’s teachings in Auckland at Dorje Chang Institute will be webcast LIVE on FPMT’s Livestream page:
- May 22: Teaching on How to Have a Happy, Meaningful Life, schedule to start at 7 p.m. New Zealand time
- May 23: Teaching on How to Have a Happy, Meaningful Life, scheduled 4 – 7 p.m. New Zealand time
- May 25: A Chat about Death, approximately 3 – 5 p.m. New Zealand time
Recordings of Rinpoche’s teachings at Mahamudra Centre and Chandrakirti Centre can be watched now on Livestream.
Higher quality recordings will be made available at a later date on Rinpoche Available Now.
See Rinpoche’s Schedule for more details on upcoming teachings.
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.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Geshe Wangchen and Geshe Tharchin blessing the large Buddha statue at Chandrakirti Centre, Nelson, New Zealand, May 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
“First, the I from beginningless rebirths – the way the I is perceived by us, it appears to us as truly existent, existing from its own side,” taught Lama Zopa Rinpoche at a refuge ceremony at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore in March 2013. “The real I appears like that. The real I is not in the head, not in the legs, not in the toes, not in the head, not in the brain, not in the nose, not in the ears, not in the fingers. The real I is not in the toes, not in the legs, not in the stomach, and not in the kaka. You are not living in the kaka. The real I is not living in your throat; it’s not in the beating heart. What else is there? The real I is not in the lungs. We can’t find it; we can’t find any details; we can’t find it in any detailed place. When we check, the real I is not anywhere. Normally we think it is here, we point here [to the chest]. Happy or sad, we point here. Or if somebody says: “Are you telling me? Me!” We always point there.
“When we don’t examine, when we are not aware, it is like that. We are following the wrong concept, ignorance, holding I, action, object, everything, as truly existent, in particular, somewhere in the chest, somewhere there. But when we look for it; when we check in the heart, liver, lungs, the real I is nowhere to be found.
“For this real I to be happy, we do all kinds of things. If we have power, we make wars and kill millions, millions, millions of people. This has happened already, many times in this world. That is in a big way. Then in a small way, we kill the enemy to get happiness for this I, for the real I. But when we look for it, if we go through an x-ray or we are in the hospital and our body is cut open, we cannot find it. But believing it is there, we kill many millions of people in the world, or we kill just one person, the enemy. Killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, telling lies, all the alcohol – all this is to get happiness for this real I, which is not there. From the hair down to the toes, it cannot be found at all.
“In daily life, the hallucination is there, somewhere there, in the chest, one hundred percent, no question. No question, we believe it one hundred percent. Then we do everything for that, to get happiness for that – even negative karma, anything, telling lies, cheating. Our whole life is spent like that, to get happiness for this I. Even in business, we cheat others to get happiness for this I. If somebody criticizes us or blames us, then we make a court case and we put them in prison. We spend so much money on court cases, to put others in prison, we do anything we can to the person we don’t like or who harms us.
“Can you imagine, how we use our whole life is like that, to get happiness for the real I which we can’t find there? This real I is not there. We can’t find it anywhere. Life is like that, a hallucination, a total hallucination. It is very interesting to really check the life.”
Excerpted from “Seeing How the I Exists” (http://bit.ly/seeing-how-the-i-exists) made available by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
Learn more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), and Rinpoche’s vision for a better world. Sign up to receive news and updates.
Video of Rinpoche’s teachings from New Zealand, both live and recorded, can be found on FPMT’s Livestream page.
To learn more and offer support to FPMT’s Nepal Earthquake Support Fund, which will be used for immediate relief and rebuilding, visit:
https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/
For “Prayers and Practice for Earthquake in Nepal,” see:
https://fpmt.org/edu-news/prayers-and-practices-for-earthquake-in-nepal/
For continuing updates and news from Kopan Monastery and other FPMT centers and projects in Nepal affected by the earthquake, please visit our “Updates from Nepal after the Earthquake” page:
https://fpmt.org/nepal-earthquake/
Lama Zopa Rinpoche blessing the sentient beings in the ocean before Auckland flight to Nelson, New Zealand, May 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
On May 15, Ven. Roger Kunsang shared this from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings at Chandrakirti Centre on his Twitter page:
Lama Zopa: Nothing happens by itself without causes and conditions. Outside is a condition, not the principal cause. Most think outside.
Ven. Roger Kunsang, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s assistant and CEO of FPMT Inc., shares Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent pith sayings on Ven. Roger’s Twitter page. (You can also read them on Ven. Roger’s Facebook page.)
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings at Chandrakirti Centre can be watched now on FPMT’s Livestream page.
For continuing updates and news from Kopan Monastery and other FPMT centers and projects in Nepal affected by the earthquake, please visit our “Updates from Nepal after the Earthquake” page:
https://fpmt.org/nepal-earthquake/
To learn more and offer support to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund visit:
https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/
For “Prayers and Practice for Earthquake in Nepal,” see:
https://fpmt.org/edu-news/prayers-and-practices-for-earthquake-in-nepal/
More information, photos and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s homepage. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche via email, sign up to Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Mahamudra Centre, New Zealand, May 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
On May 10, Ven. Roger Kunsang shared this from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teaching at Mahamudra Centre on his Twitter page:
Lama Zopa: Thought transformation is not to stop the problem. It is to use it to make it highly beneficial in the path to enlightenment.
Ven. Roger Kunsang, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s assistant and CEO of FPMT Inc., shares Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent pith sayings on Ven. Roger’s Twitter page. (You can also read them on Ven. Roger’s Facebook page.)
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings at Mahamudra Centre can be watched now on FPMT’s Livestream page.
For continuing updates and news from Kopan Monastery and other FPMT centers and projects in Nepal affected by the earthquake, please visit our “Updates from Nepal after the Earthquake” page:
https://fpmt.org/nepal-earthquake/
To learn more and offer support to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund visit:
https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/
For “Prayers and Practice for Earthquake in Nepal,” see:
https://fpmt.org/edu-news/prayers-and-practices-for-earthquake-in-nepal/
More information, photos and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s homepage. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche via email, sign up to Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche after landing at Nelson on New Zealand’s South Island on the way to Chandrakirti Centre, May 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche traveled from New Zealand’s North Island to its South Island to continue his teaching tour, which is being made available as much as possible via web streaming. Video of these teachings, both live and recorded, can be found on FPMT’s Livestream page.
On May 16-17, Rinpoche teaches at Chandrakirti Centre. FPMT’s media team is hoping to be able to offer a live webcast of these teachings, but are still checking to see whether the internet bandwidth quality will be strong enough. You can sign up to receive updates on FPMT’s Livestream page (click the green “Follow” button).
Rinpoche’s teachings in Auckland at Dorje Chang Institute will be streamed live:
- May 22: Teaching on How to Have a Happy, Meaningful Life, schedule to start at 7 pm New Zealand time
- May 23: Teaching on How to Have a Happy, Meaningful Life, 4 – 7 pm New Zealand time
- May 25: A Chat about Death, approximately 3 – 5 pm New Zealand time
Rinpoche’s teachings at Mahamudra Centre can be watched now on Livestream.
Higher quality recordings will be made available at a later date on Rinpoche Available Now.
See Rinpoche’s Schedule for more details of the teachings.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche blessing the sentient beings and ocean on the way to the airport from Mahamudra Centre, New Zealand, May 2015. “[We were] running late!” Ven. Roger Kunsang shares when posting the photo on his Twitter page.
For continuing updates and news from Kopan Monastery and other FPMT centers and projects in Nepal affected by the earthquake, please visit our “Updates from Nepal after the Earthquake” page:
https://fpmt.org/nepal-earthquake/
To learn more and offer support to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund visit:
https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/
For “Prayers and Practice for Earthquake in Nepal,” see:
https://fpmt.org/edu-news/prayers-and-practices-for-earthquake-in-nepal/
More information, photos and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s homepage. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche via email, sign up to Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche doing prayers at Mahamudra Centre, New Zealand, May 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
A second big earthquake has hit Nepal. Ven Roger Kunsang writes from New Zealand:
“The earthquake hit near Everest and Namche [in Solu Khumbu quite close to Lawudo and Thame]. The first measured 7.4, and then there was another soon after. I have talked to Kopan and others in Nepal, and in brief, this is what we know so far in relation to FPMT:
- Kopan and Khachoe Ghakyil monks and nuns are all fine (the ones who were at the monastery and nunnery); buildings have more damage … cracks are bigger in some place, but nothing actually collapsed.
- Lawudo – Ani-la Ngawang Samten (Rinpoche’s sister) and others, no serious harm but shaken up a little. Ani-la said a lot of damage this time in Khumbu area. The main gompa at Lawudo has collapsed … the wall on the kitchen side, other damage also in other areas of Lawudo. Now the place is in a pretty bad state.
- Ganden Yiga Chozin, Pokhara – Drolkar says she and others are fine.
- Thame area … more houses collapsed, so far have not heard of serious harm or deaths.
- Other areas … Tsum, Chailsa and Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Centre … haven’t got updates yet.
- Kathmandu has had a lot of houses and buildings collapse … initially they are saying that there seems to be more damage than the first quake … they say many of the houses that got damaged but didn’t collapse now have collapsed.
People were just starting to get moving again … now they are really shaken up … the reality of possibly more to come is strong.”
Ven. Fran writes from Kopan Monastery:
“We are all okay, sitting in the garden and making jokes how we are now earthquake-qualified.
But it was scary again, nearly as strong as the first one. No more additional damage at Kopan, but in Kathmandu, a lot of half broken houses now completely collapsed. We could see the dust clouds rising directly after the earthquake.”
Kopan Monastery shared on Facebook:
“Lot of houses collapsed and many fresh damages occurred. Kopan monks went immediately to help at a three-story house that collapsed at Kopan, ward 13. People returned back to open places as quake occurred 8 times within a few-hour interval.”
Lama Zopa Rinpoche has been doing prayers with students in New Zealand.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with students doing prayers after hearing about second big earthquake in Nepal, Mahamudra Centre, New Zealand, May 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
For “Prayers and Practice for Earthquake in Nepal,” see:
https://fpmt.org/edu-news/prayers-and-practices-for-earthquake-in-nepal/
You can read more details of how FPMT is assisting with short-term and long-term aid to Nepal.
To offer support to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund visit:
https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/
For continued news from Nepal, see our Updates from Nepal After the Earthquake:
https://fpmt.org/nepal-earthquake/
Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the way to consecrate the stupa at Mahamudra Centre, Colville, New Zealand, May 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche began teaching in New Zealand over the weekend at Mahamudra Centre. Rinpoche taught on “Working for Peace – Pacifying Inner and Outer Turmoil.”
Rinpoche also reconsecrated the stupa at Mahamudra Centre. Due to water leaking into the central chamber of the stupa and creating serious damage to the contents, the stupa had to be repaired and resealed as well as completely refilled and redecorated in 2012.
Video of Rinpoche’s teaching at Mahamudra Centre is available for streaming.
Rinpoche will remain in New Zealand for three weeks, giving teachings at Chandrakirti Centre, Dorje Chang Institute and Amitabha Hospice Service. Rinpoche is scheduled to travel next to Australia as part of his eight-country tour that runs through the end of September. For more details, please see Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Schedule on FPMT.org.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche consecrating stupa at Mahamudra Centre, New Zealand, May 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
For continuing updates and news from Kopan Monastery and other FPMT centers and projects in Nepal affected by the earthquake, please visit our “Updates from Nepal after the Earthquake” page:
https://fpmt.org/nepal-earthquake/
Learn more on FPMT.org about our Social Service Fund, which includes emergency relief and rebuilding in Nepal. To make a donation to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund visit:
https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/
More information, photos and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s webpage. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche via email, sign up to receive FPMT News.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche in front of a Thousand-Armed Chenrezig statue, which is the main statue in the new gompa at Kopan Nunnery, Nepal, April 30, 2015. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
“The benefits of reciting the Compassion Buddha mantra are infinite, like the limitless sky,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche said in July 2000.
“Even if you don’t have much intellectual understanding of Dharma, even if the only thing you know is OM MANI PADME HUM, still the happiest life is one lived with an attitude free of the eight worldly concerns. If you live your life with the pure attitude free of attachment clinging to this life and simply spend your life chanting OM MANI PADME HUM – this six-syllable mantra that is the essence of all Dharma – that’s the purest Dharma.
“It looks very simple, very easy to recite. But if you think of the benefits, it’s not at all simple. Here, I’d like to mention just the essence of its infinite benefits.
“Reciting the Compassion Buddha mantra just once completely purifies the four defeats of breaking the four root vows of self-liberation and the five uninterrupted negative karmas.
“It is also mentioned in the tantras that by reciting this mantra you achieve the four qualities of being born in the Amitabha Buddha pure land and other pure lands; at the time of death, seeing Buddha and lights appearing in the sky; the devas making you offerings; and never being reborn in the hell, hungry ghost or animals realms. You will be reborn in the pure land of Buddha or as a happy transmigratory being.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche opening the new gompa at Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery, the Kopan nunnery, after the earthquake, April 30, 2015. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
“When one who recites 10 malas a day goes swimming, whether in a river, an ocean or some other body of water, the water that touches that person’s body gets blessed.
“It is said that up to seven generations of that person’s descendants won’t get reborn in the lower realms. The reason for this is that due to the power of mantra, the body is blessed by the person reciting the mantra and visualizing their body in form of the holy body of Chenrezig. Therefore, the body becomes so powerful, so blessed that this affects the consciousness up to seven generations and has the effect that if one dies with a non-virtuous thought, one is not reborn in a lower realm.
“Thus, when a person who has recited 10 malas of OM MANI PADME HUM a day goes into a river or an ocean, the water that touches the person’s body gets blessed, and this blessed water then purifies all the billions and billions of sentient beings in the water. So it’s unbelievably beneficial; this person saves the animals in that water from the most unbelievable suffering of the lower realms.
“When such a person walks down a road and the wind touches his or her body and then goes on to touch insects, their negative karma gets purified and causes them to have a good rebirth. Similarly, when such a person does massage or otherwise touches others’ bodies, those people’s negative karma also gets purified.
“Such a person becomes meaningful to behold; being seen and touched becomes a means of liberating other sentient beings. This means that even the person’s breath touching the bodies of other sentient beings purifies their negative karma. Anybody who drinks the water in which such a person has swum gets purified. …”
You can read the entire teaching from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on “The Benefits of Chanting OM MANI PADME HUM,” part of FPMT Education Services “Mantras” resource pages.
Learn more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), and Rinpoche’s vision for a better world. Sign up to receive news and updates.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche arriving at Mahamudra Centre in Colville, New Zealand, May 5, 2015. Photo courtesy of Mahamudra Centre for Universal Unity on Facebook.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche arrived at Mahamudra Centre, in Colville, New Zealand, which is on the Coromandel Peninsula on New Zealand’s North Island. On May 9-10, Rinpoche is scheduled to teach at Mahamudra Centre on ”Working for Peace – Pacifying Inner and Outer Turmoil.”
Rinpoche will remain in New Zealand for three weeks, giving teachings at Chandrakirti Centre, Dorje Chang Institute and Amitabha Hospice Service. Rinpoche is scheduled to travel next to Australia as part of his eight country tour that runs through the end of September. For more details, please see Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Schedule on FPMT.org.
Losang Namgyal Rinpoche and volunteers from the Namgyal Rinpoche Foundation, Kathmandu, Nepal, May 2015. Photo courtesy of Losang Namgyal Rinpoche on Facebook.
Losang Namgyal Rinpoche, a Kopan monk and a lama for the Tamang people, oversees the Namgyal Rinopche Foundation, which has organize much emergency aid and relief for earthquake victims and has been coordinating efforts with Kopan Monastery. He shared this message on Facebook:
“Thank you very much to all volunteers and those who are supporting those noble causes. I’m very moved to see our members helping tirelessly everyday. I also like to thank my Guru Kyabje Lama Thupten Zopa Rinpoche and FPMT for kind help. Thukje Che.”
Kopan Monastery continues its emergency relief work, traveling hours outside of Kathmandu to deliver supplies to earthquake-affected people. You can find more about their work on the Kopan Monastery School Facebook page.
For more updates and news from Kopan Monastery and other FPMT centers and projects in Nepal affected by the earthquake, visit our “Updates from Nepal after the Earthquake” page:
https://fpmt.org/nepal-earthquake/
To learn more and offer support to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund visit:
https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/
For “Prayers and Practice for Earthquake in Nepal,” see:
https://fpmt.org/edu-news/prayers-and-practices-for-earthquake-in-nepal/
Visit FPMT’s Facebook page to find more frequent updates and news.
More information, photos and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s webpage. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche via email, sign up to Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche departing from Kopan Monastery, Nepal, May 4, 2015. Photo by Ven. Sarah Thresher.
After completing the Most Secret Hayagriva initiation late at night on May 3, Lama Zopa Rinpoche departed from Kopan Monastery in Nepal on May 4 to begin a worldwide teaching tour. Rinpoche travels first to New Zealand’s Mahamudra Centre, where he is scheduled to teach May 9-10.
The Most Secret Hayagriva initiation at Kopan Monastery had been scheduled for April 27-30. Even after the devastating earthquake of April 25, Rinpoche decided to offer the initiation, which was given in the main gompa at Kopan Monastery, beginning on the evening of May 2.
Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi offering the mandala to Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the beginning of the Most Secret Hayagriva initiation, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, May 2, 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Kopan Monastery monks continue to lead emergency relief efforts, going out to offer aid packages to people in villages outside of Kathmandu. They are coordinating their efforts with Losang Namgyal Rinpoche‘s organization and together hundreds of families are receiving emergency aid in a direct and organized way.
On May 1, the first shipment of aid arrived in Thame, the birthplace of Lama Zopa Rinpoche located near Lawudo Gompa in the remote Solu Khumbu district. Five Kopan monks traveled with the supplies, which were flown to Lukla and then helicoptered to Thame. The monks helped organize the distribution of tents for 190 families. Most structures in the area received significant damage making them uninhabitable.
Emergency relief supplies arriving in Thame, Solu Khumbu district, Nepal. May 1, 2015. Photo courtesy of Tara Melwani on Facebook.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered US$50,000 through FPMT’s Nepal Earthquake Support Fund for emergency relief in Thame. Cherok Lama Sherpa, who is also from the area, is raising money and contributing to this relief effort as well. A second shipment of food is being organized and will be delivered as soon as possible. Cherok Lama Sherpa will be arriving in the area this week to personally offer help and view the destruction.
Relief supplies being distributed in Thame, Nepal, May 1, 2015. Photo courtesy of Tara Melwani on Facebook.
For the latest updates and news from Kopan Monastery and other FPMT centers and projects in Nepal affected by the earthquake, visit our “Updates from Nepal after the Earthquake” page:
https://fpmt.org/nepal-earthquake/
To learn more and offer support to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund visit:
https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/
For “Prayers and Practice for Earthquake in Nepal,” see:
https://fpmt.org/edu-news/prayers-and-practices-for-earthquake-in-nepal/
More frequent updates and news can be found on FPMT’s Facebook page.
More information, photos and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s webpage. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche via email, sign up to Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.