Mandala eZine May 2011

Are you aFriend of FPMT?If not, click here:www.fpmt.org/

friends

BLISSFUL RAYS OF THE MANDALA IN THE SERVICE OF OTHERSBLISSFUL RAYS OF THE MANDALA IN THE SERVICE OF OTHERS

fpmtfpmte-VOL. 4 ISSUE 2

MAY 2011

The Official

Publication of

The Foundation for

the Preservation

of the Mahayana

Tradition

Mandala eZineMandala eZine

The Foundation Store:SENDING DHARMA TO

EVERY CORNER OF THE WORLD

e-Vol 4 ISSUE 2MAY 2011.TheMandala eZine is published as an online quarterly for Friends of FPMT by FPMT Inc.,1632 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97214-4702.

LAMA YESHE’S WISDOM6 Peace Is Your Own Experience

By Lama Yeshe

ADVICE FROMA VIRTUOUS FRIEND10 At the Time of Death,Only My Dharma Practice Can HelpBy Lama Zopa Rinpoche

COVER FEATURE13 The Foundation Store:Sending Dharma to EveryCorner of the World

COMMUNITY FORUM20 Discussion Topic22 Photo Bulletin Board

MEDIA PAGE24 Featured Media

COVERA statue of Lama Thubten Yeshe available fromThe Foundation Store. The original was designedby Denise Griffin. Photo by Noah Gunnell.

fpmt Mandala eZine

CONTENTS

13

14

May 2011 MANDALA EZINE 3

Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive contains recordings and transcripts

of Lama Thubten Yeshe’s and Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings

dating back to the early 1970s—and we’re still growing! Our

website offers thousands of pages of teachings by some

of the greatest lamas of our time. Hundreds of audio

recordings, our photo gallery and our ever-popular

books are also freely accessible at lamayeshe.com.

Please see our website or contact us

for more information

LIFE, DEATH, AND AFTER DEATHby lama yesheedited by nicholas ribush120 pages, free

“Tibetan Buddhism teaches us to understand the death process and trainsus to deal with it so that when the time of crisis arrives and the various illusory visions arise, instead of being confused, we’ll know what’s going on and will recognize illusions as illusions, projections as projections and fantasies as fantasies.”

TEACHINGS FROM THE MEDICINE BUDDHA RETREAT

by lama zopa rinpocheedited by ailsa cameron458 pages, $20

Teachings from Land of Medicine Buddha October-November 2001

KADAMPA TEACHINGSby lama zopa rinpocheedited by ailsa cameron288 pages, free

Commentary on essential piecesof advice from Kadampa Geshes.

*plus shipping charges of$1 per book ($5 minimum)

* plus shipping charges of

free books!*


Mandala is the official publica-tion of the Foundation for thePreservation of the MahayanaTradition (FPMT), an interna-tional charitable organizationfounded more than thirty yearsago by two Tibetan Buddhistmasters: Lama Thubten Yeshe

(1935-1984) and LamaThubten Zopa Rinpoche. FPMT is now a vibrantinternational community with a network of over 150 affiliate centers,projects, services and study groups in more than thirty countries.

Editorial PolicyRecurring topics include: Buddhist philosophy; Education; Ordinationand the Sangha; Buddhism and Modern Life; Youth Issues; FPMTActivitiesWorldwide; Lama Yeshe and his teachings; Lama Zopa Rinpocheand his teachings; His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his teachings, amongmany other topics.Writers, photographers and artists, both amateur and professional,

are encouraged to submit material for consideration. Mandala currentlydoes not pay for publishable content; we credit all photos and other workas requested.

Mandala, in addition to the Mandala eZine, is published quarterlyand is available via the Friends of FPMT program. Additionally, bothpublications are supplemented by online stories published exclusively at:www.mandalamagazine.org

Friends of FPMT is a donor program composed of Friends workingtogether to support FPMT’s global activities.To learn about Friends of FPMT levels and benefits, contact us or

visit: www.fpmt.org/friendsMandala is published in January, April, July and October.Mandala eZine is published in February, May, August and December.

Managing Editor and PublisherCarina [email protected]

EditorLaura [email protected]

Assistant Editor, Advertising & SalesMichael [email protected]

Art DirectorCowgirls [email protected]

Friends of FPMT ProgramHeather [email protected]

FPMT, Inc.1632 SE 11th Ave.Portland, OR 97214-4702

Tel: 1 503 808 1588Fax: 1 503 232 0557Toll free USA only1 866 241 9886

FPMT Board of DirectorsSpiritual DirectorLama Zopa Rinpoche

Board MembersKhenrinpoche Geshe LhundrupVen. Roger KunsangVen. Pemba SherpaKaruna CaytonAndrew HaynesPeter KedgeTim McNeillTara MelwaniAlison MurdochPaula de Wijs-Koolkin

www.mandalamagazine.orgwww.fpmt.org

ABOUT MANDALA

fpmtFF RR II EE NN DD SS OO FF

FOUNDATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE MAHAYANA TRADITION

By becoming a Friend of FPMT you can stay connected to

all that FPMT has to offer including Mandala Publications,

the FPMT Online Learning Center and various complimentary

resources offered at the free level. We're confident we've designed

a level that is perfect for your budget, studies and practice.

Become A Friend of FPMT! www.fpmt.org/friends

6 MANDALA EZINE May 2011

Lama Yeshe’sWISDOM

What interferes with a good death, whatmakes you fearful, is the graspingmind. Any object that causes grasping

attachment to arise while you’re dying becomesa source of confusion and leads to a bad next life.Some Westerners don’t like to hear about

rebirth but most people feel that somethinghappens after death, whether you call it rebirthor not. That’s good enough. Whether you sayrebirth exists or not, as long as you feel fromyour heart or even intellectually that somethingcontinues beyond this life, that’s good enough.Traditionally, Tibetans who are going to die

soon give all their possessions away so that atthe time of death they own nothing. That’sfantastic. When I was a young, inexperiencedmonk, seeing the older ones give everythingaway and die perfectly helped me a lot. It gaveme confidence. Of course, we can all under-stand this intellectually, but to actually seeothers doing it makes you feel you can do ityourself. That’s very important.… Of course, many people are scared of

death because first, they think it’s going to be adisaster, with much difficulty and suffering, andsecond, they believe that after death they’regoing into great misery. Their projection andpresumption is that this is what’s going tohappen. In order to stop that worry – even ifyou can’t transfer your consciousness – if youcan lessen your self-cherishing and attachmentto your own body and position and increaseyour loving-kindness for others, that’s absolutely

good enough to alleviate fear of death and thenext life and guarantee yourself a good rebirth.A dedicated attitude itself is peaceful, so this isthe way to ensure a good death and freedomfrom worry of a bad rebirth – even if you can’ttransfer your consciousness.Not only can your consciousness transfer

to a pure land, it can also go into another body.The mind is really powerful. Through medita-tion and concentration you can heat or moveobjects. Through the power of your mind youcan also eliminate emotional disturbance –attachment, confusion and so forth, which isactually the main point of practicing Dharma.In other words, you can completely changeyour mind; you can change your misery intohappiness.However, the question is, do you really

want to or not? Are you truly seeking or not?If you are a true seeker, you know intuitivelythat you can do something. That’s the powerof the human mind. Don’t make limitedjudgments of yourself. We all have goodthoughts, positive thoughts, which can bedeveloped infinitely. That’s the beauty ofhuman consciousness; it has limitless potential.We all have a little loving-kindness – that smallamount of loving-kindness can be developedinto infinite loving-kindness.The nature of loving-kindness is peace and

happiness. The nature of self-cherishing andattachment is misery and confusion. So, tohave an easygoing and happy life you have to

PeaceIs Your Own ExperienceBy Lama Yeshe


be willing to correct your attitude,believe that you can indeed doit, and be prepared to put in theeffort required. A weak mindeliminates all potentiality.The reason we feel trapped is

because we’re so attached to ourbody. We pretty much identifyour body as “me.” The true fact,however, is that your body is notyou. Your bones are not you. Yourreal essence is your consciousness,which has neither shape nor color.It’s a materialistic attitude thatthinks, “I’m the body.” That’s fun-damentally wrong thinking. “I ammy body” becomes “My body isnice, so I’m nice; my body is ugly,so I’m ugly; my body is happy, soI’m happy.” That’s the wrong atti-tude. Somebody can be slicingchunks of flesh off your body butyour mind can be blissful, peacefuland tranquil. It’s possible.That’s thepoint. Your body can be sick butyour mind can be completely radi-ant and blissful. Somy point is thatyou should abandon all concepts of“My body is me.”… The thing is that Buddhism is not

saying that you exist permanently or that theyou of this life goes on unchanged to the next.When Buddhism talks about rebirth it’s sayingthat your consciousness changes shape, takesanother body. Why? Because anyway, you’reconstantly grasping at something, so whenyour relationship with this body finishes younaturally grasp at something else. At that point

your consciousness takes another body andthat’s the reason Buddhism calls it rebirth.Rebirth doesn’t mean taking this body intoyour next life.The basic understanding is that after you

die your consciousness continues and carriesyour experiences with you. If you understandthis, you can relax. You don’t have to makeyourself completely busy: “This twentiethcentury life, I have to do everything; I have toexperience everything in this life.” There are so

Lama Yeshe during a three-week retreat at Camp Arrowpines on LakeArrowhead, east of Los Angeles, USA, 1975. Photo by Carol Royce-Wilder.


Lama Yeshe’sWISDOM

Chod

FPMT Education ServicesProviding Programs and Pract ice Materials For All

Available fromthe Foundation Store: www.fpmt.org/shop

FPMT Prayers and Practices iPod, iPad, and Kindle Ready! MP3 downloads for just $8.00 each!! E-Books 50% off book cost

www.fpmt.org

Daily Meditation onShakyamuni Buddha

Heruka Vajrasattva Tsog,

Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga FPMT Retreat Prayer Book

Heart Practicesfor Death and Dying

Meditations for Children

Prostrations to the 35 Buddhas Essential Buddhist Prayers Vol 1 Essential Buddhist Prayers Vol 2

Extensive Offering PracticeBodhisattva VowsLama Chopa Jorcho

many trips on this earth that you can take. “Iwant to do this, I want to do that ... I want todo the monkey trip, I want to do the chickentrip, I want to do the pig trip ... I have to dothem now, otherwise I’ll miss out. I have onlyone life.” That’s not true – you’ll have manyfuture lives, so there’s no need to rush.By understanding the power of the mind

you find a way to satisfy yourself. That’s veryimportant for all of us. We have to find a wayof satisfying ourselves, of making our lifecontent, rather than living with the feeling thatlife is empty and worthless. You should feelthat your life is the most precious thing, moreprecious than all the money in the world.So, knowing the characteristic nature of

your own consciousness is how you bringpeace into yourself and the world in general,

because it comes to you through your ownexperience. Peace is your own experience, notsomething external. The beauty of peace issomething that has to be experienced, andwith peace comes satisfaction. It has to begenerated within you, and once it has, you cangive it to others. Then you can truly bringpeace to the world. Before bringing peace toothers and the world, you first have to experi-ence it yourself. The opposite of peace isgrasping; the grasping mind is the opposite ofpeace. You can see this within yourself and inthe world around you. �

From Lama Yeshe’s last teaching given in the West,Geneva, Switzerland, September 1983. Excerptedfrom Life,Death andAfter Death,another book freelyoffered by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. Editedby Nicholas Ribush.

FPMT programs available online!

Buddhism in a Nutshell Meditation 101Death & Dying Living in the Path Basic ProgramDiscovering Buddhism

Online Learning Center

Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition

Video teachingsAudio teachings and meditationsWritten transcriptsReadingsDaily practices

•••••

Online Learning Center programs include:

FPMT Media Center:High-defi nition streaming video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Light of the Path teachings

are available in English, French, Spanish, Chinese, and German.

Mindfulness exercises for daily lifeKarma yoga exercisesOnline quizzesOnline discussion forumCompletion certifi cate

•••••

Individual modules available from the FPMT Foundation Store: http://shop.fpmt.org OR become a Dharma Supporter Friend of FPMT and receive free access to all online programs and a subscription to Mandala magazine: www.fpmt.org/friends

FREE! Discovering Buddhism module two, How to MeditateFREE! Living in the Path module one, Motivation for Life

••

http://onlinelearning.fpmt.orgThe Online learning Centre is an absolutely, wonderful incredible resource. Truly, what a gift! Thank you. – Mary, Canada, August 2010


Advice from a VIRTUOUS FRIEND

At the Time of Death,Only My Dharma Practice Can Help

By Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, India, March 2010. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.


This is very logical. Even after an hour, youare more likely to be dead than alive. Whyis it more certain that you will be dead? Sincedeath is definite, it is certain that you will notexist permanently; therefore, death is morecertain than continued existence, even at thistime. Thinking like this is very, very useful.If you check up with your own mind, you

will see that this is not true just because GuruShakyamuni Buddha said so; it is the factualevolution. Because death is more definite thancontinued existence, even at this time, it ismore profitable for you to do something thatbenefits your future lives than to do somethingfor this body alone. You can never be surewhen you will have to leave this body, whenyou will no longer have it. Thinking like this isespecially useful when you become angry, forexample. At such times it is more helpful tothink about death than the profound teachingson emptiness, which is something that youdon’t really understand. Generally speaking,thinking about emptiness is profound, butwhen you are experiencing an immediateproblem, thinking about death is even moreprofound.When you are having a mental problem

with somebody – extreme greed, attachmentto possessions or a person, anger, pride or anyother negative mind states – in order to stopcreating negative karma and make your mindpeaceful, to release confusion, try to think,“Guru Shakyamuni Buddha said that death ismore likely than continued existence, so if I’mgoing to die right now, if my breath is going to

stop right away, what’s the use of being angry?Why be angry, proud or attached?” There isno use whatsoever. You can’t take the personto whom you are attached into your futurelife. It is completely useless. All you are doingis creating the cause of suffering. Thinkinglike this is very useful. Whenever attachmentto other people arises, think, “It is more defi-nite that I will leave this body than remain init. There is no guarantee that I won’t leave mybody right now.” Think in the depths of yourmind that you are about to leave your body.If you do this properly, all of a sudden, the

uncomfortable feeling, the negative mind willsubside or relax. You will see no purpose inbecoming angry; you will discover by yourselfthat it is meaningless. In this way, you won’tcause problems for others and your mind willrelax; you will stop creating negative karma andconfusion. This is really practical; this is usingmeditation in the actual critical time. This isreal, practical meditation. Meditation is a forceto stop problems, not something that you canonly practice very quietly somewhere on amountain. Meditations like these on death aremeant to solve problems; if you don’t use themfor their intended purpose, what’s the point?

Do people or material possessionshelp to ease or prevent death?

At the hour of death, even the entire PacificOcean filled with numberless jewels cannotprevent death from occurring. Neither people –relatives, friends or others – nor any amount of

BUDDHA SHAKYAMUNI SAID:It is unsure whether tomorrow or the next life will come first.Therefore, it is more worthwhile and wise to be prepared for thefuture life than for tomorrow.

Advice from a VIRTUOUS FRIEND


personal strength or fame can prevent death.Instead of helping, these things only contributeto greater suffering.

How do my attachments causegreat suffering at death?

At the time of death, we realize that we areseparating from our possessions and lovedones, and tremendously strong attachmentand fear arise. Our worry is far greater thanusual worry, such as that arising from theseparation of a couple or from parents. Thephysical body creates much suffering and,although we have cared more for it than forany other being’s body, it now becomes likeour own enemy.At the hour of death, the king and the

beggar are exactly equal in that no amount ofrelatives or possessions can affect or preventdeath. But who is the richer at the time ofdeath? If the beggar has created more merit,then although he looks materially poor he isreally the rich man. From the Dharma point ofview, the mind that has prepared itself for thejourney into the next life has the real riches.If material possessions and relatives and

friends are so meaningless and ineffectual atthe time of death and cause suffering, becomingenemies, why do we attach so much impor-tance to them and spend so much time caringfor them?We have been attached to the physical

body, providing it with all life’s comforts, yetstill this care has not ended, and it continues tocause us problems. Has this care really anyend? Wouldn’t it be better to spend lifeworking for something that can be finished?Why is your body described as an enemy?

Because as you feel that you are going to

separate from it, you become extremelyanxious; you don’t want to leave it. Instead ofhelping you solve your problem at that time,strong attachment to your body only causesyou to remain longer in samsara, to always betrapped in the circle of the bondage ofsuffering, rebirth and death. And the sametrouble and worry you have with your body –attachment, fear of leaving it, not wanting todo so – you have with your possessions andrelatives; you feel very upset at having to leavethem. Padmasambhava said:

The vision of this life is like last night’sdream. All meaningless actions arelike ripples on a lake.

The dream you had last night was so short;from beginning to end, it was over so quickly.In a dream you might feel as if you have beenon a long journey or spent many years doingsomething, but actually, a dream is just a fewminutes in duration. Whatever good thingshappen in a dream are over quickly. This is onereason why Padmasambhava likens life to adream – they both finish so quickly. Life is overso soon, like a dream. �

Excerpted from Heart Advice for Death and Dying,

an introductory FPMT education program featuring

a collection of teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

andanaudiocoursewithVen. SangyeKhadro.Heart

Advice for Death and Dying is optionally availableas

part of FPMT’s Liberation Box: Tools for a Fortunate

Rebirth, an impressive collection of holy objects and

materials specifically designed topositively influence

a dying person’s mind and ensure a happy rebirth.

The Liberation Box is one of The Foundation Store’s

(the subject of this issue’s cover story) most popular

items and is now available in French and Spanish.


The FOUNDATION STORE

The Foundation Store:SENDING DHARMA TO

EVERY CORNER OF THE WORLD

When you visit FPMT InternationalOffice’s building in Portland, Oregon,you’ll marvel at the beauty of the

holy statues and the sun streaming through thebuilding’s many skylights. You’ll see the faces ofFPMT International Office’s staff and of the

students who study at Maitripa College (whichis housed in the ground floor of the building).What you won’t see, what you won’t evennotice that you are not seeing, is the FPMTFoundation Store. In part, that’s because TheFoundation Store exists as an online shop, but

May our Dharma publications spread all over the worldand in every corner of the world.

- Lama Zopa Rinpoche

White Tara, Manjushri and Green Tara copper statues



the physical location of The Foundation Store’sstaff and warehouse are also part of the FPMTbuilding in Portland. They’re just tuckeddiscretely in the back of the building, behindan unmarked beige door.When you enter the world of The Founda-

tion Store office and warehouse your eyes dartfrom the bright primary colors of prayer flagsand brocade to shiny silver water bowls tomuted bronze bells and dorjes. According toDiana Ospina, the store’s manager, there areover 30,000 items in stock. As you begin totake in the scope of products, you realize howmany shelves are overflowing with Dharmatexts – prayers, practices and commentaries.“The core of The Foundation Store is ineducation materials,” said Diana, “[it’s how]we can support the centers and share theteachings of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and LamaYeshe.”The Foundation Store sells directly to indi-

viduals as well as providing wholesale materialsfor FPMT centers, projects, services and severalother commercial distributors, fulfilling itsmission to make the Dharma widely availablein order to benefit sentient beings.

History“It all started when we were preparing to go tothe teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lamain Mountain View, California in 2001, organ-ized by Land of Medicine Buddha,” remem-bered Merry Colony, who serves as the directorof FPMT Education Services. “We had justcompleted Essential Buddhist Prayers: An FPMTPrayer Book, Volume 1 and we had the idea tomake some of our smaller practice bookletsavailable in a nice color cover format for sale atthe event.” Education Services pulled togethersix practices that were ready for publication,did their first major printing job and went offto California with a few hundred prayer booksand a few thousand short practice booklets.“When we opened our booth on day one, itwas mayhem,” Merry said. “People were liter-ally grabbing the books. We left with emptyboxes and a confirmed confidence that therewas an eager audience awaiting our educationmaterials.”With that knowledge, Education Services

realized they needed to develop a distributionmethod. At the time Bob Jacobson worked asFPMT International Office’s web developer.“Bob really had the vision of making an onlineshop,” Merry recalled. Bob, working withPatty Ryan who organized the office’s IT at thetime, developed a system that made it easy forsomeone to place an order online and for staffat the office to pack it up and ship it.At first the online shop carried only FPMT

Education Services materials, including thatfirst prayer book, which has now grown intothree volumes of Essential Buddhist Prayers.Over time the shop branched out to supplyritual objects and meditation supplies that

Shelves of meditation supplies in The Foundation Store


Western practitioners needed yet were difficultto find. Eventually the inventory expanded evenmore to include such items as baseball capsembroidered with mantras chosen by LamaZopa Rinpoche and animal liberation tools forcatching insects (and saving them from death).After nine years in business, the store

continues to grow. Last year the store switchedover to new online software called 3dcart,which allows Diana to manage all aspects ofthe online store with technical assistanceprovided by the software company. The resultis a more effective and efficient store, relievingthe International Office’s Technology Depart-ment of overseeing a complicated online system.In 2010, the store received 4,701 orders,

which added up to 27,726 items sold. Half ofthose orders came from outside of the UnitedStates, makingThe Foundation Store an inter-national success. Carefully following Buddhistprinciples for the use of Dharma income, theseproceeds are not used as payment for salaries orfood expenses, but instead support FPMT’scharitable projects, the construction and pur-chase of holy objects and other FPMT services.(For more information, see the 2010 DharmaIncome Report.)

Overview of ItemsVisit The Foundation Store website and with afew clicks, you’ll quickly discover a widevariety of Buddhist study materials and well-crafted meditation supplies available forpurchase.The Foundation Store stocks the entire

collection of materials developed by FPMTEducation Services. You can find practicesspanning from the new publication Charity to

Ants to Preliminary Practice of ProstrationstoMeditations onWhite Tara. And if you areinterested in FPMT’s homestudy programs,The Foundation Store can help. There is evena page dedicated to children’s materials (justin case your 8-year-old daughter wants tomeditate!). There are over 150 differentDharma titles in a variety of formats – printedbooklets, DVDs and CDs as well as down-loadable MP3s, PDFs and e-reader documents.(A complete list of titles is always availableonline.) The store also carries a wide selectionof books on Buddhism by respected scholarsand experienced Dharma teachers.

FOUNDATION STORE TOP SELLERS!EDUCATION MATERIALS:Buddhism in a Nutshell, Heart Advice forDeath and Dying, Altar Set-up and Water BowlOfferings.

AUDIO AND VIDEO:Discovering Buddhism,Mystic Tibet,Recitations at Time of Death

NON-EDUCATION MATERIALS:Lama Zopa Rinpoche Door Mantra,Namgyälma Car Decal, Namgyälma Amulet

Meditation supplies and ritual objects from The Foundation Store



The Foundation Store buys items fromabout 30 vendors from around the world, with95 percent of meditation supplies and ritualobjects coming from Nepal. The store atKopan Monastery in Kathmandu is FPMT’sbiggest supplier of practice items like brocadebook covers, khatas and malas. They alsosupply prayer flags, door curtains, offeringbowls, damarus, dorjes and bells, and severalof the dozen or so varieties of incense that TheFoundation Store stocks. The Kopan store usesthe profits it makes from selling items to TheFoundation Store to support the monastery.Browsing through the inventory of medi-

tation supplies, many items have a special storyof care and blessings behind them. Lawudoincense and Pure Land incenses, for example,are both handmade at Khachoe Ghakyil, the

FPMT nunnery in Kathmandu. (Lawudoincense is particularly special because it makesuse of the plants found in the region whereLama Zopa Rinpoche and his predecessor orig-inate.)Medicine Buddha incense comes from“a traditional Tibetan medical recipe contain-ing 31 ingredients, and produced under thesupervision of Dr. Wangchug in Kathmandu,Nepal,” according to The Foundation Storewebsite, and a silk incense sachet is “hand-made by a family in Nepal and is filled withpure juniper and cedar wood.”The Foundation Store buys sacred art

directly from Nepali vendors recommend byLama Zopa Rinpoche. The store carefullymaintains a large inventory of fine thangkascreated by Pradipkumar Rajbhandari. Theyalso stock a sizable collection of statues,including a 13-inch [33-centimeter] tallGreenTara of gleaming copper as well as smallerstatues of Shakyamuni Buddha and manyother buddhas, deities and great teachersmade of copper and other materials. Thedetailed copper statues come from GautamGift Emporium, a family enterprise in Nepal.The store carries hand-held and table-top

prayer wheels that are made in the UnitedStates in accordance to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s instruction. Each wheel is custom turned frombeautiful hardwood, filled with tens of millionsof copies of the Buddha Chenrezig’s mantraOMMANI PADME HUNG on microfilm andadorned with a beautiful Swarovski lead crystal.Of the many thousand items available in

The Foundation Store, Diana believes theLiberation Box: Tools for a FortunateRebirth is the most special. This collection ofmaterials, assembled according to Lama Zopa

White Tara thangka


Rinpoche’s advice, contains powerful methodsfor ensuring fortunate rebirth for those whohave died or are in the process of dying. Thebox includes various mantras, the LiberationCard for a Dying Person, a Namgyälmamantra card, a Kadampa stupa filled with thefour dharmakaya relic mantras, a powa pillmade by the late master Geshe Lama Konchog,a blessing cord, a copy of Shetor to place on thedying person’s body, Recitations to AlleviatePain and Recitations for the Time of Deathon CD and the books Heart Practices forDeath andDying andHeart Advice for Deathand Dying. The box, which is produced byThe Foundation Store with the help of volun-teers, became available in May 2010. BySeptember, they had sent out 250.“So much went into creating the Liberation

Box. So many people have put work into it.And it was requested by Rinpoche. The nunsin Aptos are involved, consecrating statues.Volunteers bring them up and paint them.Thepowa pill. … Every little thing has a story,”Diana said. “When we hear ‘Please, please, Ineed the Liberation Box,’ I tell you, we run tosend it out. And then we hear back from thecustomer, ‘I never will forget this box.’ There

are so many stories. It is so special how it takeson meaning for each individual.”

StaffDiana Ospina became The Foundation Storemanager in April 2009. She had worked withFPMT as the director of Universal Education(now called Essential Education) several yearsearlier when the International Office was stillin Taos, New Mexico. She left to go back toher home country of Colombia where she dida pilot program of Essential Education. Thenshe worked with at-risk communities in warzones in Colombia, but found the work to bevery difficult and unfulfilling. “I prayed towork for an organization congruent with myvalues and beliefs,” she recalled. “I wroteMerry Colony [who she knew from her earlierwork with International Office] on the Day ofMiracles. She told me that this job was avail-able. And two weeks later, I’m up in Portland.”Samten Gorab is in charge of order ful-

fillment and customer service and is a keycontributor to the store’s harmonious day-to-day functioning. “He makes my day,” Dianasaid. “The moment I walk in the door and seehim, a smile is automatically drawn on my

The Liberation Box: Tools for a Fortunate Rebirth Foundation Store Manager Diana Ospina looks through thestore’s book inventory



face. He’s one of the reasons I’m so happy here.”Samten, who started in the store in January2007, works at the packing station in the ware-house, picking items for orders and preparingthem for shipping. He also answers customerquestions. Merry Colony remembered whenthey hired Samten, “He was the sweetest andthe best of many, many applicants. He knewabout Tibetan culture, he could recognize theTibetan names of items, and his number onepriority was to work in aDharma environment,”she said. When asked how he likes working inThe Foundation Store, Samten replied, “Ship-ping seeds of enlightenment worldwide is themost wonderful job.”“We are able to operate the store with just

Samten and me on staff because we havewonderful volunteers,” Diana said. “Noah,Tom,Louise, Leah and Sharon are so dedicated.” The

Foundation Store volunteers perform activitieslike photographing items for the website, paint-ing the stupas for the Liberation Box and helpingout with various tasks around the warehouse.Many have offered years of service toThe Foun-dation Store.

The Foundation Storeand WholesalersThe Foundation Store sells wholesale materialsto about 60 FPMT wholesalers, which areFPMT centers, projects, services and studygroups.Wholesalers get a discount of 40 percentoff of most education material and 10-20percent off of most meditation supplies. Theyalso have 90 days to pay for their orders.Effectively, a center can order several dozencopies of a prayer book at a discount for itsmembers and have three months before theirpayment is due. In this way, The FoundationStore serves the larger FPMT community bymaking Dharma readily and affordably avail-able.The store also sells to about 25 non-FPMTwholesalers, who have different terms. Amazonis the store’s largest wholesale customer, buyingFPMT books and DVDs. To learn more aboutsetting up a wholesale account, please visit TheFoundation Store page onwholesale terms andconditions.

The FutureOne of the primary concerns for The Founda-tion Store is to enlarge its sales outside of theUnited States. In collaboration with FPMTEducation Services, morematerials are becomingavailable in several languages besides English.Discovering Buddhism is now available inFrench, Spanish and German. Liberation

HUM Card by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, several kinds of incenseand a silk incense sachet

Tool Box is available in French and Spanish.And several other items in French, Spanish,Vietnamese, Chinese, and Tibetan are avail-able with new selections being added.The biggest challenge the store faces for

domestic and international sales is the high costof shipping and, in addition, customs chargesfor its international customers. In response tothis, the store offers a majority of the FPMTEducation Services materials as electronicdownloads. The store currently has 107 itemsavailable via download – including EssentialBuddhist Prayers Volume 1 and Volume 2 –that can be downloaded as PDFs or in e-readerformat and read on a device like Kindle and iPad.

Advancingthe Mission of FPMTThe success of The Foundation Store is likethat of so many FPMT activities; students sawan opportunity to spread Dharma and tookaction. From the seed idea of making a book ofBuddhist prayers more widely available, TheFoundation Store organically blossomed. It’sgrowth and success benefits not only the organ-ization and its centers, but students who livefar from qualified teachers; artisans and craftpeople in Nepal who create the statues, incenseand other ritual items that the store sells; thesick and dying who are helped by the Libera-tion Box; all the beings who see the holy images

and hear mantras; as well as countless others.Moreover, The Foundation Store gives everycustomer an opportunity to practice generositywith each order. Charitable donations toFPMT projects made through the store in2010 added up to $13,706.There is no doubt The Foundation Store

is essential to advancing the mission ofFPMT. Every day as Dharma materials andtexts like practice books, protection itemsand prayer flags spread across the globe, TheFoundation Store is supporting the studies ofFPMT students worldwide and helping fulfillthe wishes of Lama Zopa Rinpoche andLama Yeshe. �http://shop.fpmt.org


The Foundation Store ships Dharma materials worldwide

Discussion TopicWHAT ARE YOU PERSONALLY DOING TO PREPARE FORDEATH OR TO HELP OTHERS AT THE TIME OF DEATH?Please send your responses to [email protected] or post them on Facebook!

Responses will be printed in the August issue ofMandala eZine.

Community FORUM


Drawing by Emma Bramma-Smith


RESPONSE TO LAST ISSUE’S DISCUSSION TOPIC

How do you feel about receiving Dharma online?

Linda Merle, Arnold,Pennsylvania, USA:I think it’s wonderful! It makes the Dharmaavailable to those who live in remote areas,are housebound, and have schedules andcommitments. For example, I am a studentin the online Masters Program at IstitutoLama Tzong Khapa, though I live inwestern Pennsylvania. I lack the finances tocommit to a residential program, but I canstill get access to these teachings. I candownload lessons and study at my conven-ience and fit it into my life. This is the firsttime ever that people not living in amonastery have been able to study the fivegreat texts in a manner similar to Tibetanmonks. It’s fantastic to think that peopleare studying emptiness all over the planet– today! And it is all due to online Dharma.… I would very much like to see someyoung person use gaming software to createsimple debates. Then we could even learnto debate online.

Grace Yeo, Singapore:Environmentally friendly!

Kalu Davies, Cairns,Queensland, Australia:I think it is fantastic in terms of accessibility.You can get to it anytime and anywhere;also it is cheaper and more environmentallyfriendly to produce and distribute, whichmeans you can reach a greater audience.

The main problem I foresee though is thepossibility of misunderstanding; feedbackcan be essential. I teach a first year univer-sity science class and although I consider theinstructions to be clear and easy to follow,many of the students disagree until I explainit a different way. This could possibly bemitigated by online forums or discussionboards, particularly if they are supervised bymore experienced students and/or teachers.

Kathie Evans,Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, USA:I actually prefer receiving the Dharmaonline. This keeps me from having so manyholy pieces of paper that I have to find a wayto burn. I find that I get an entire magazineand there are only a few things that I want tolook at or read, but I have a whole stack ofthings to burn. I really would rather getemails or electronic magazines than paperfor this reason.

Wm Tan, Singapore:Able to read anytime, anywhere ... amazinglyfortunate.

David Kelly,London, UK:It is a great luxury to be regularly updatedand sometimes gently reminded! It alsomakes information manageable: we all havebusy lives and online access makes it easierto be in the loop and feel connected.


Photo Bulletin BoardSend us a photo of you or a group with an issue ofMandala and we’ll post it on our bulletinboard in the next eZine. This is an excellent opportunity for us to visualize the amazing

international community of teachers, students and friends that make up the FPMT family.To see more of the FPMT community reading theirMandalas, visit our Facebook page.Send your photos to [email protected] or post them on Facebook!

Community FORUM

Lama Zopa Rinpoche HelenMiller, San Francisco, California, USA Llary Zang, Santa Cruz, California, USA

Some of the students from Choe Khor Sum Ling in Bangalore, India. Choe Khor Sum Ling recently hosted His Holinessthe Dalai in January 2011. A three-part recording of his public talk, “Finding Happiness in Troubled Times,”

is available through the FPMT Online Learning Center.


Ven. Tingyel, Ven. Choekyi and Ven. Thekchok,some of the founders of Shantideva Study Group in

Ramat Gan, Israel.

From left: Merry Colony, Laura Pellati, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Ven. Joan Nicell with Prof. Massimo Bergamasco of the Sant’AnnaSchool for Advanced Studies. Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa has worked with the Sant’Anna School for Advanced Studies to offer

a fully accredited residential and online Basic Program from January 2012 to December 2013.

Johan Suykerbuyk, a student and volunteer atMaitreyaInstituut, sits in his shrine at home in Veenendaal, The

Netherlands.


Media PAGE

Featured MediaFEATURED AUDIO:“Request to Chenrezig”By the Nuns ofKhachoe Ghakyil Nunnery

“Request to Chenrezig” comes from Praises to Chenrezig, a collection of haunting melodiespreformed by Tibetan Buddhist nuns from Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery in Nepal. Praises toChenrezig features a selection of devotional prayers from the nyung nä practice, a well-knownintensive two-day ritual consisting of keeping special vows, fasting, silence, prostrations andmantra recitation, all aimed at developing boundless compassion. The practice is unique formany reasons, one of them being that it was established by a fully ordained Indian nun,Bhikshuni Lakshmi, reported to have attained enlightenment during the 10th century. Therecording is available on CD through the The Foundation Store.

FEATURED VIDEO:“Meditation on Diamond Cutter Sutra”By Lama Zopa Rinpoche

In this excerpt, Lama Zopa Rinpoche leads a meditation on the famous set of similes found atthe end of the Diamond Cutter Sutra: “As a star, a visual aberration, a lamp, an illusion, dew, abubble, a dream, lightning, and a cloud – view all the compounded like that.” Rinpoche’s“Meditation on Diamond Cutter Sutra” is a teaching with plenty of space for meditation and isbest enjoyed by setting aside 20 quiet minutes in order to fully participate. This excerpt comesfrom the Living in the Path’s first instruction course, “Diamond Cutter Meditation,” freelyoffered to the public on FPMT’s Online Learning Center.


FEATURED PICTURE:“Anila Ann at Chenrezig Institute, 1975”Photographer Unknown

Early on, Lama Yeshe developed his first students to be independent and able to give teachingsbased on their own experience to the growing number ofWestern Buddhists interested in learn-ing the Dharma. This was particularly useful as the number of centers grew, making it impos-sible for Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche to visit all of them for extended periods. In thisphoto from 1975, Anila Ann (Ann McNeil) is giving a talk at Chenrezig Institute, FPMT’sfirst center in Australia. You can read a recent exclusive interview with Anila Ann McNeilfrom Mandala April-June 2011’s online content. This photo comes courtesy of the Lama YesheWisdom Archive.


WORKA DAY

for RINPOCHE

Learn how you canWork a Day for Rinpoche

Join your fellow workers onFacebook

W E A L L H AV E A W O R D F O R G E N E R O S I T Y:

慷慷慨慨 ggeenneerrøøssiitteett vvrriijjggeevviigghheeiidd ssuuuurreemmeeeellssuuss kkaaggaannddaahhaanngg--lloooobbhhààoo pphhóónngg 寛寛大大なな ggéénnéérroossiittéé ggeenneerroossiittàà GGrrooßßzzüüggiiggkkeeiitt щедрость

ggeenneerroossiiddaaddee kkeemmuurraahhaann ggeenneerroossiitteett ggaavvmmiillddhheett GGeenneerroozziittaatteeaa

Practice generosity with your own International Merit Box kit, now available in eleven languages.Email [email protected] for more information and to obtain your own Merit Box kit, or visit

www.fpmt.org/meritbox If you are already an International Merit Box participant, thank you for practicing generosity today, and throughout the year, in support of FPMT projects worldwide.

THE INTERNATIONAL

MERIT BOX PROJECT

Documents

Mandala eZine May 2011