Mandala Magazine Oct-Dec 2011

MandalafpmtOCTOBER - DECEMBER 2011

BLISSFUL RAYS OF THE MANDALA IN THE SERVICE OF OTHERS

T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I CA T I O N O F T H E F O U N DA T I O N F O R T H E P R E S E R VA T I O N O F T H E M A H AYA N A T R A D I T I O N

Rememberingthe Kindness

OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2011

Wisdom Publications

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Gathered here are selections fromMind Training: The Great Col-lection, Thupten Jinpa’s masterful rendering of the earliest com-pilation ofmind training (lojong) texts forThe Library of Tibetan

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October - December 2011 MANDALA 5

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fpmt MandalaCONTENTS

OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2011 ISSUE 53 MANDALA (ISSN10754113) is published quarterly by FPMT Inc, 1632 SE 11thAve, Portland, OR 97214-4702, USA. Printed by Journal Graphics, Portland, Oregon, USA. Periodicals postage paid at PortlandOR. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Mandala, 1632 SE 11th Ave, Portland OR 97214-4702

COVER: Lama Zopa Rinpoche with His Holiness the Dalia Lama in the room above His Holiness’ temple in Dharamsala, March2005. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

ROAD TO KOPAN: Meher BabaClearly Told Me in a DreamBy Ven. Thubten Wongmo

DHARMA IN THEMODERN WORLD: SociallyResponsible InvestingBy Adrian Dec

RECOVERY AND ADDICTION: ItDoesn’t Need to Be Either/OrBy Amy Cayton

COOKING WITH BODHICHITTA:Vegan Pumpkin “Cheesecake”By Tsultrim Davis

… additional photos, completeinterviews and much more atmandalamagazine.org!

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6 FROM THE EDITORS

8 TEACHINGS AND ADVICE

COVER FEATURE12 REMEMBERING THE KINDNESSof His Holiness the Dalai Lamaand the Courageous Peopleof Tibet

22 PRACTICING DHARMAIN DAILY LIFE

SPECIAL FEATURE24 MOTHER, FATHER, TEACHER,FRIEND: The IncomparableKindness of Kopan’sTreasured Khensur RinpocheLama Lhundrup Rigsel

30 EDUCATION

36 TAKING CARE OF OTHERS

39 FEATURED PROJECT

40 YOUR COMMUNITY

46 FROM THE VAULT

48 FPMT NEWS AROUNDTHE WORLD

64 FEATURED CENTER

67 FPMT DIRECTORY

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE HIGHLIGHTSMandala publishes EXCLUSIVE ONLINE articles to supplement our printpublication. Each issue features several articles available only online!

The October-December 2011 issue includes …

6 MANDALA October - December 2011

From the EDITORS

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 orvisit: www.fpmt.org/friends

Mandala is published in January, April, July and October.Mandala eZine is published in February, May, August and December.

Managing Editor and PublisherLaura [email protected]

EditorCarina [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 MembersKhensur Rinpoche Lama LhundrupVen. Roger KunsangVen. Pemba SherpaKaruna CaytonAndrew HaynesPeter KedgeTim McNeillTara MelwaniAlison MurdochPaula de Wijs-Koolkin

www.mandalamagazine.orgwww.fpmt.org

ABOUT MANDALA

DEAR READER,

As we wrap up this issue ofMandala with all theusual last-minute stresses, I notice how easy it isfor me to take things for granted – havinghealthy food to eat, indoor plumbing, a

computer that works. I fail to appreciate how generous andconsiderate my co-workers, friends and partner are to me.Moreover, I forget the amazing and profound care I receivefrom my teachers and the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Thatis why I feel so fortunate to have spent the last two monthsworking on this issue, dedicated to remembering the kind-ness of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Dharma Kings,Shantarakshita, Padmasambhava and the Tibetan people;as well as a special tribute to Kopan’s Khensur RinpocheLama Lhundrup Rigsel. If you are like me, some days youneed to be reminded to feel sincere gratitude and to developa practice of remembering kindness.

This is my first issue as managing editor of Mandalamagazine, a position in which I’m thrilled to serve. Helpingme non-stop has been Carina Rumrill, an outstandingmentor and the out-going managing editor. Carina willcontinue working withMandala in a supportive, part-timecapacity. She’s stepping back to spend more time with herfamily, which includes a newborn baby boy. Carina’s hardwork and passion have takenMandala to the next level. Hersincere dedication to FPMT shines through in the thought-ful and far-reaching issues she put together during hertwo-and-a-half-year tenure. I’m truly grateful for Carina’skindness. I also want to extend my sincere thanks to KopanMonastery, and many others, for help with our tribute toKhensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup.

What a mandala of kindness! Please rejoice with me.Laura Miller

NEW from Snow Lion

by Gen LamrimpaTrans. by B. Alan Wallace

by Association of Nepalis in the AmericasIllustrated by Palden Choedak Oshoe

by Gina Rose Halpern

by Tenzin Wangyal

New from best-selling author

TENZIN WANGYAL

Trans. by Cyrus Stearns


Teachings and ADVICE

This section features the precious teachings and advice of FPMT teachers, lineage lamas and notableBuddhist scholars.

Lama Yeshe wearing a ceremonial crown of the fivedhyani buddhas for the Tara statue procession, KopanMonastery, Nepal, 1976. Photo courtesy of theLama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

Lama Yeshe spoke with Geoff Jukes just after HisHoliness the Dalai Lama came to visit IstitutoLama Tzong Khapa in 1982 – the end of HisHoliness’ month-long tour of FPMT centers inEurope. This teaching comes in response to Geoff ’squestion: “Do you think His Holiness coming toEurope has any special significance?”

In the West there are many forms of Buddhism and manycenters established by the students. I feel that we are havingsome success, that Buddhism is helpful forWestern people.For that reason, I feel that Buddhism is not something forpeople who are only into meditation; I think Buddhism hassomething for society and the entire Western world.

… His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the figure, the topleader politically and spiritually. Tibetans believe he is a greatleader in this world – which is very rare! For His Holiness tocome to the Western world is the insurance that Buddhismhas been established culturally in the various countries andcenters, that Buddhism is not some kind of trip. It is insur-ance that Buddhism is something cultural, something trulyand sincerely involved in serious work, and is becoming part

of the future for the Western world. I really feel that HisHoliness coming to Europe is like Guru Shakyamunicoming to this earth to make firm the Dharma, the wisdom-light that is the path to liberation for all European people.Now with His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s blessing, and allthe European Dharma students and those teachers whowork dedicating their lives to Western people, Dharmaquickly becomes more significant and successful.

To bring the Dharma to the Western world is not aneasy job.There are a lot of misconceptions within theWesternenvironment, and they have to be addressed and purified bycoming to understand the true picture of Buddhism. Ithink His Holiness is the light to purify all kinds ofnegativities that are vibrating – objectifying Buddhism and,

HIS HOLINESSIS THE LIGHTTO PURIFYNEGATIVITIESBy Lama Yeshe

LAMA YESHE’S WISDOM


We have to understand what Buddha did in orderto be able to reveal the three baskets of teachings,the 100 volumes of the Kangyur. The Buddhataught these sutra and tantra teachings to ussentient beings, which includes you. To sentientbeings, which includes you, the Buddha taught the84,000 teachings which come in three baskets; andthe Hinayana, Mahayana Paramitayana and Maha-yana Secret Mantra Vajrayana. Buddha completedthe merits of wisdom and the merits of virtue inorder to actualize the whole entire path andachieve the dharmakaya and rupakaya – so that hecould reveal the path to us sentient beings. Thatmeans including you. Buddha has included you; hehasn’t left you out. “Sentient beings” includes you.

After completing the path and achievingenlightenment, Buddha wanted to clearly showhow to achieve the whole entire path to enlighten-ment; how to achieve the happiness of future lives,liberation from samsara and full enlightenment.That is why the Buddha taught all those 100volumes.

The Buddha sacrificed his life. He practicedcharity for three countless great eons – not only for

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, April 2010.Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

WHAT BUDDHA DID FOR YOUBy Lama Zopa Rinpoche

ADVICE FROM A VIRTUOUS FRIEND

within Buddhist circles, holding on to sectarianism. I thinkHis Holiness is the completely equanimous representativeof not only the Tibetan tradition, but of the entire world’sreligions: he is the universal representative.

Therefore, especially at this critical time, I think HisHoliness the Dalai Lama’s coming is very important for allpeople, not only for religious people, but even non-religiouspeople, to make the world community harmonious. HisHoliness’ message, from my understanding when listeningto his lectures, is universal love, universal compassion, andfor each of us to take universal responsibility to bringuniversal people to happiness. Somehow everybody under-stands that message.

I think the Dalai Lama’s coming is an incredible,incredible blessing. I and the Western people really feelsomething very unusual now that His Holiness has come.There is some kind of incredible harmony and goodunderstanding between everyone in our global community.I think this understanding brings better peace, liberationand harmony to the world. I think it is very importantbecause His Holiness teaches the best way for harmoniousdevelopment, individually and universally. �

The complete interview is available on Bringing Dharma tothe West, a DVD from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive(www.lamayeshe.com) featuring Lama Yeshe’s 1982 interviewswith Geoff Jukes and Brian Beresford about Buddhism coming tothe West, the development of FPMT centers and related topics.


hours, days, months or years. He practiced charity for eonswith his own limbs, eyes and whole body. He gave his entirebody to the tigress and her cubs. He gave his warm bloodto spirits. These are not the only stories of charity; they arenumberless. He did this numberless times to complete themerits of transcendental wisdom and the merits of virtue –like for a billion-dollar project you need to raise a billiondollars. He did this, numberless times, to achieve the dharma-kaya and rupakaya, in order to reveal the whole entire path,in detail, to ultimate happiness, liberation and full enlight-enment; to bring us there.

It is most amazing for us to make charity of even oneeye to one sentient being.We can’t do that. But the Buddhasacrificed his life and made charity to sentient beings forthree countless great eons. Can you imagine?

Then, he practiced morality. Relating to your ownexperience of practicing morality, you know how difficultit is. Even though we take many vows, it doesn’t mean thatwe are able to practice them. It is very difficult. But theBuddha gave up his life for sentient beings, including your-self, and practiced charity and morality purely – not forthree days, months or years, but for three countless greateons. That is amazing. He practiced completely, totally,purely for sentient beings, including oneself. The Buddhadid that for you.

Not only that, but he practiced patience for threecountless great eons. When sentient beings gave harm tohim, he practiced patience. They criticized him and hepracticed patience. Even one sentient being who he hadbenefited so much, but who criticized him back – especiallyfor that being, he generated even greater compassion thanfor others. Buddha especially generated great compassionfor the sentient beings who harmed him. From his side, hegenerated even stronger patience. Buddha practicedpatience for three countless great eons for sentient beings,that includes you, for your benefit.

On top of that, Buddha practiced perseverance, themind that is happy in virtue, in doing virtuous activities.For the sake of each and every single sentient being, evenif one has to experience the Inexhaustible Hot Hell, inwhich the suffering is the heaviest and the length of timeit is experienced is the longest. Even if one has to experi-ence this hell suffering for eons equaling the number ofdrops of the Pacific Ocean, one never allows one’s mind tobe upset. Even if you have to suffer so much, you generate

compassion for sentient beings.The Buddha did that for us sentient beings, that

includes you. You are not left out; you are included. Thatmeans the Buddha did all that for you, practiced persever-ance for three countless great eons for you.

Then, he practiced firm contemplation for threecountless great eons for sentient beings; that includes you.Then, the Buddha did the paramita of gone beyondwisdom for three countless great eons for sentient beings,for you. The Buddha did that.

We can’t imagine what the Buddha did. Then, afterachieving enlightenment, he gave all these teachings toreveal the path to achieve liberation, ultimate happiness andenlightenment. The Buddha taught all these teachings toshow the path for us sentient beings, including yourself, tobecome free from oceans of samsaric sufferings, and tobring sentient beings, including you, to enlightenment.

The Buddha, himself, by completing the merits ofwisdom and the merits of virtue for three countless greateons, achieved the holy two kayas in order to reveal all theseteachings, the 100 volumes to sentient beings, that meansincluding yourself. By achieving that, then he taught allthese teachings for you. He gave and left them in this worldfor you.

In theTibetan monasteries, there are so many scriptureson the shelves – the Kangyur, Buddha’s teachings, and thenalso the Tengyur, the commentaries by pandits and yogis.When we see all those texts, it is very good to remember,“The Buddha taught all these for me.” When you think ofall the teachings the Buddha left in this world for you, itdefinitely inspires you to learn as much as possible.

What I am saying here today is remember what theBuddha did for sentient beings, how he sacrificed his lifefor sentient beings and for you. He sacrificed his life forthree countless great eons. Each of these practices was donefor three countless great eons. If you remember that, theneven if for so many years you have sacrificed for Dharmaand worked for sentient beings, it is nothing. Compared tothat, it is nothing. It is unbelievable comfort compared towhat Buddha did. �

Teaching by Lama Zopa Rinpoche from Living in the Path,Instruction 02: Refuge and Bodhichitta. Extracted and editedby Kendall Magnussen, July 2011.

This and other teachings are available through the FPMT OnlineLearning Center: http://onlinelearning.fpmt.org

Teachings and ADVICE


A TEACHER TELLS US WHY

HELPING OTHERSAND IMPROVING THE MINDARE BOTH IMPORTANT

Both are important. First, if we do not have pure motivation,whatever we do may not be satisfactory. Therefore, the firstthing we should do is cultivate pure motivation. But we donot have to wait until that motivation is fully developed be-fore actually doing something to help others. Of course, tohelp others in the most effective way possible, we have to befully enlightened buddhas. Even to help others in vast andextensive ways we need to have attained one of the levels ofa bodhisattva, that is, to have had the experience of a direct,non-conceptual perception of the reality of emptiness and tohave achieved the powers of extra-sensory perception.Nonetheless, there are many levels of help we can offer others.Even before we have achieved these qualities we can try toact like bodhisattvas, but naturally our actions will be less

effective than theirs. Therefore, without waiting until we arefully qualified, we can generate a good motivation andwith that try to help others as best we can. This is a morebalanced approach and better than simply staying some-where in isolation doing some meditation and recitations.Of course, this depends very much on the individual. If weare confident that by staying in a remote place we can gaindefinite realizations within a certain period, that is different.Perhaps it is best to spend half our time in active work andthe other half in the practice of meditation. �

His Holiness’ answer is taken from Commentary on the EightVerses of Thought Transformation, a teaching given by HisHoliness in Dharamsala in October 1981. The full text isavailable freely on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive:www.lamayeshe.com/index.php?sect=article&id=381

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Chenrezig Institute, Australia, June 2011. Photo by Bonnie Jenkins.

READER QUESTION:

Is the whole purposeof Buddhist practiceto improve ourminds or actually todo something to helpothers?What is moreimportant?

ANSWERED BY HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA

Remembering the KINDNESS

Remembering the Kindnessof His Holiness the Dalai Lama

and the Courageous People of Tibet

A SIMPLE BUDDHIST MONK

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama,TenzinGyatso, is known throughout theworld asa living symbol of peace and compassion.This “simple Buddhist monk,” as heoften refers to himself, was born as LhamoDhondrup on July 6, 1935, to a farming

family, in a small hamlet located in Taktser, Amdo innortheasternTibet. At the age of three he was recognizedas the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, ThubtenGyatso.

His Holiness has received dozens of awards, hon-orary doctorates, medals and prizes in recognition ofhis message of peace, nonviolence, scientific inquiry,inter-religious understanding, universal responsibil-ity and compassion. His Holiness has also authoredmore than 72 books and has traveled to more than 62countries spanning six continents. He has met withpresidents, prime ministers and crowned rulers ofmajor nations. He is the spiritual leader of millions ofTibetans and non-Tibetans alike.

In 1950 His Holiness assumed full political leader-ship of Tibet after the Chinese People’s LiberationArmy (PLA) invasion of the eastern province ofKham. While the Chinese believe that Tibet has beenpart of China since the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368),Tibetans have maintained an independent identityand systems of governance separate from China forover a millennium. The Tibetan government in placewhen the PLA invaded was founded in 1642 by theGreat Fifth Dalai Lama.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Chenrezig Institute, Eudlo, Queensland, Australia,June 2011. Photo by Bonnie Jenkins.

Few lives in history have spoken as deeply to the goodness of the human spirit as the life of HisHoliness the 14th Dalai Lama…. His simple demeanor and joyful humor have endeared him to

millions of people around the world. – www.kalachakra2011.com

If you do what pleases His Holiness, it is the best thing you can do in your life, the most importantthing in your life is done. It is the quickest purification, the best cause for attaining the path.Then, all the people who also participate have a strong connection to His Holiness, and so he

can guide them from life to life until enlightenment.– LAMA ZOPA RINPOCHE



THE COURAGEOUS TIBETAN PEOPLE AND THE SITUATION OF TIBET

Most Tibetans do not celebrate, as Chinese officialsmaintain, that the PLA invasion “liberated” them

from feudal serfdom. Rather, they decry how “liberation”resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Tibetans,the destruction of over 6,000 Tibetan monasteries andcultural centers, and the repression of human rights. Nearly140,000Tibetan refugees now live in exile around the world.For them, “liberation” has also meant loss of their homeland.

Today historic Tibet has been divided by the Chinesegovernment into regions and prefectures. The TibetanAutonomous Region encompasses only the central area andsome of the eastern regions of historic Tibet. Tibetans alsolive in parts of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and YunnanProvinces. But the borders drawn between Tibetans arenot as much a concern to His Holiness as the violence,environmental degradation and oppression experiencedwithin those boundaries.

In 1987, His Holiness, with the help of world leaders,attempted to persuade officials from the People’s Republic ofChina to engage in dialogue about the future of Tibet, offeringhis Five Point Peace Plan, which included a call for democraticfreedoms and human rights. At the European Parliament inStrasbourg in 1988, he stated explicitly that he was not seekingindependence for Tibet, but rather a genuinely autonomousspecial status within China, calling this a “Middle-WayApproach.” The Chinese response, however, was to initiate asevere crackdown within Tibet, leading to the declaration ofmartial law in 1989, just a fewmonths before the protests andmassacre in Tiananmen Square. This same year, His Holinessreceived the Nobel Peace Prize.

Since then, His Holiness has become well knownaround the world. Many international leaders have urged

the Chinese government to negotiate with him. But in thelast two decades Chinese leaders have tightened restrictionsonTibetans, enacting a policy that declares Tibetan religionseditious and links the practice of religion to loyalty to theDalai Lama.

Following demonstrations around the Olympic Gamesheld in China in 2008, His Holiness said, “Chinese brothersand sisters, I assure you I have no desire to seek Tibet’sseparation. Nor do I have any wish to drive a wedgebetween the Tibetan and Chinese peoples. On the contrarymy commitment has always been to find a genuine solu-tion to the problem of Tibet that ensures the long-terminterests of both Chinese and Tibetans.”

In 2011, the Dalai Lama announced his retirementfrom politics, stepping down from his position within theCTA. With this, the position of highest-ranking officeholder in the government in exile became the democrati-cally elected Kalon Tripa. In April 2011, Lobsang Sangay,a Tibetan refugee, legal scholar, and senior fellow at the EastAsian Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School in theUnited States, was voted to the position.

An interview with Kalon Tripa Lobsang Sangay was filmed atFPMT’s Kurukulla Center in Medford, Massachusetts in April andcan be viewed on the BBC: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13190731

REMEMBERING THE KINDNESS: THE MASTER,THE DHARMA KINGS AND THE ABBOTBy James Blumenthal, Ph.D.

Near the beginning of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s newestprayer,Remembering the Kindness of His Holiness theDalai

Lama and the Tibetan People [see page 22], Rinpoche invokes

On March 10, 1959, Tibetans in Lhasa believed HisHoliness to be in danger of capture by the Chinese military.In response, people in Lhasa rose up against the Chinese,resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilianTibetans and the destruction of the Sera, Ganden andDrepung Monasteries. Within days of the uprising, HisHoliness secretly left Lhasa and escaped to the safety ofIndia. In April 1959, he established the Central TibetanAuthority (CTA), more commonly known as the TibetanGovernment in Exile, inDharamsala, a city in northern India.

For the next twenty years, His Holiness continued hispractice and study of Buddhism. With the kind support ofIndia, he established the Tibetan refugee community witha constitutional democracy, functioning school systems,

commerce, monasteries and nunneries, medical facilitiesand refugee clinics.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama at “Happiness & Its Causes” conference,Sydney, Australia, June 2011. Photo by Kunchok Gyaltsen.



four of the key figures in the early establishment of Buddhismin Tibet more than a millennium ago: Songtsen Gampo,Trisong Detsen, Shantarakshita and Padmasambhava. Hemakes an aspiration that their wishes be immediatelyfulfilled. So who were these people? And why are they soimportant that among all the possible masters to invoke ina prayer for His Holiness, these four were chosen?

Like His Holiness the Dalai Lama himself today, all fourof these figures were critical in the maintenance of authenticDharma and the establishment of pure teachings in newlands.We often speak of the 14Dalai Lamas with the currentDalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, as the 14th. All are consideredto be emanations of Chenrezig (Skt. Avalokiteshvara), theBuddha of Perfect Compassion, who is said to have a specialrelationship with Tibet. Traditional sources tell us that therehave been many other emanations dating back far beforeGendun Drub (1391-1474 CE), the first Dalai Lama,including the two Dharma kings invoked in Rinpoche’sprayer, Songtsen Gampo (c. 6th CE) and Trisong Detsen(740-798 CE).

Songtsen Gampo played a central role in the earlyestablishment of Buddhism in Tibet. The current DalaiLama describes Songtsen Gampo’s efforts on behalf of theTibetan people as resulting “in a complete change in theTibetan outlook … shifting the focus to the inner work-ings of the mind and heart.” According to traditional his-tories he married two princesses who were both devoutBuddhists and subsequently considered to be incarnationsof Tara. They so inspired Songtsen Gampo that heconverted to Buddhism and began the first formal supportof Buddhism as a state patronized religion in Tibet. As a

devout practitioner, he built major and minor Buddhisttemples all over Tibet.

At the time Tibet did not have a written script so thepious king sent Tibetan scholars to India to develop ascript so they could produce books in Tibetan. They werealso instructed to study the Dharma and to learn Sanskrit.This was all in the service of facilitating the enormousproject of translating the Buddhist canon into Tibetan.Moreover, Songtsen Gampo is said to have transformedsome early Tibetan legal codes so that they would accordmore with the Buddha’s teachings. These were based onthe ten virtues and restraint from their opposites as well aswhat he referred to as the “sixteen human dharmas,”which have been the inspiration for FPMT’s UniversalWisdom Education project 16 Guidelines for Life [see page33]. All of this helped to lay the groundwork for theflourishing of the Dharma that was to come.

AsTibetan histories recount,Trisong Detsen, the secondof the great Dharma kings, was considered to be a reincar-nation of Songtsen Gampo and thus another in the line ofprevious lives of the Dalai Lamas. He had taken rebirth againin Tibet to help further facilitate the flourishing of theDharma there. Trisong Detsen went on to be one ofBuddhism’s greatest patrons, helping to establish SamyeMonastery, the first among many monasteries in Tibet;inviting dozens of great Buddhist masters to come teach; andsponsoring the extensive work of translating the SanskritBuddhist canon (as well as some Chinese and Pali texts) intoTibetan.

Shantarakshita (725-788 CE) was abbot of NalandaMonastery and arguably the greatest Buddhist scholar in


India. Trisong Detsen’s enthusiasm for the Dharma was sostrong that his minister invited Shantarakshita to Tibet.Shantarakshita’s impact on the development and shape ofTibetan Buddhism was enormous! He helped to found andwas the first abbot of Samye Monastery. He instituted asystem of scholastic education in Buddhist topics andclassical Indian philosophy that was modeled on the systemof the great Indian universities like Nalanda and is stillutilized in slightly modified form in the large monasticuniversities today. Shantarakshita was the primary figurewho taught Tibetans how to study and do philosophy, howto analyze and present arguments, how to debate, why thestudy of competing philosophical views was important, thegraduated path to enlightenment, and so forth. And he wasthe most influential teacher of both sutra and vinaya(monastic ethics, etc.) during the early dissemination ofBuddhism in Tibet.

Shantarakshita’s impact did not stop with what he didbut included who he encouraged Trisong Detsen to inviteto Tibet, including Padmasambhava and Kamalashila.When Samye Monastery was first being established,according to traditional histories evil spirits caused hailstorms and other interferences. Shantarakshita encouragedKing Trisong Detsen to invite the powerful tantric masterPadmasambhava to come deal with the problem. Shan-tarakshita went to Nepal himself to extend the invitationto Padmasambhava who was in a cave at Parping at thetime. Padmasambhava responded quickly and went to

Tibet. He converted all the evil spirits in Tibet toBuddhism, establishing them as Dharma protectors andclearing the way for the completion of Samye Monasteryand the establishment of the Dharma in the Land ofSnows. Padmasambhava went on to be the great teacher oftantra in Tibet during this early period. In addition to theteachings he gave to his close disciples, Padmasambhava issaid to have left “treasure” (terma) teachings in variouslocations and in the minds of future masters to bediscovered at the most appropriate time for the disciplesof future eras. These treasure texts continue to be foundup to the present day.

In short, it is difficult to overstate the tremendousimpact and benefit the master (Padmasambhava), theDharma kings, and the abbot (Shantarakshita) had on thedevelopment of Buddhism in Tibet. Were it not for theirwisdom, compassionate skillful action and unboundedvision, it is difficult to imagine how the Dharma could havetaken such powerful roots in Tibet and the pure lineageshave remained as they have to this day.

James Blumenthal, Ph.D., is currently an associate professor ofBuddhist philosophy at Oregon State University and professorof Buddhist Studies at Maitripa College. He is the authorof The Ornament of The Middle Way: A Study of the MadhyamakaThought of Shantarakshita along with dozens of articles in schol-arly journals and popular periodicals on various aspects ofBuddhist thought and practice. He is currently finishing workwith Geshe Lhundup Sopa on Steps on the Path: Vol. IV, acommentary on the “Calm-Abiding” chapter of LamrimChenmo by Tsongkhapa.

From left: Tibetan women in traditional chubas at the Kalachakra for World Peace 2011, Washington D.C., USA, July 2011. Photo by Wonderlane. Theday before Losar, McLeod Ganj, India, 2010. Photo by Kriis Liao. Modern Lhasa, Tibet as seen from the Potala Palace, 2009. Photo by Magnus Manske.Songtsen Gampo created by Bertrand Cayla in the Jokhang at FPMT International Office, Portland, Oregon. Photo by Tom Truty. Padmasambhava atGreat Stupa of Universal Compassion, Bendigo, Australia. Photo by George Manos.



FPMT’S RELATIONSHIP TOHIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA[Lama Zopa] Rinpoche is someone who follows my guidancesincerely, very expansively and with one hundred percent trust.He possesses unwavering faith and pure samaya; not only has hepure samaya and faith but whatever I instruct, Zopa Rinpochehas the capability to accomplish it. So whatever dedicationsLama Zopa Rinpoche makes, I also pray to accomplish this andyou should do the same thing.

– HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA, DECEMBER 2006.

Whenever possible, FPMT adopts His Holiness theDalai Lama’s advice. And when appropriate, FPMT

acts to help support Tibet’s struggle for autonomy asadvised by His Holiness.

As explained by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, FPMT’srelationship with His Holiness is definitive: “The mostimportant thing, the heart thing for FPMT, however manybillions of projects we have, the most important thing is todo what pleases most His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”

This respect and gratitude for His Holiness held byFPMT also extends to all Tibetans. “It is important to repaythe kindness of the Tibetan people, who have preserved thecomplete Buddhadharma, not only Vajrayana but the wholepath; they have preserved all the teachings for a long time,”Lama Zopa Rinpoche commented in 2008. “Due to thiswe non-Tibetans are able to receive the complete teachings,enjoy and make our lives meaningful.”

Every year, FPMT offers a long life puja for HisHoliness and supports His Holiness’ efforts such as thisyear’s Kalachakra for World Peace event in WashingtonD.C., USA.

FPMT’S FIRST REQUEST TO HIS HOLINESS

In 1979 FPMTmade its first official request to His Holinessthe Dalai Lama to give teachings in centers of the newlyforming organization. FPMT repeated the invitation in 1980and again in 1981. Upon the last request, His Holiness ac-cepted. When Lama Yeshe heard the good news, he com-mented that his “job had been successful.” His Holinessvisiting Lama Yeshe’s centers guaranteed their future growthand the success of Lama’s work to establish Buddha’s teachingsin theWest.

During the tour, which occurred in September andOctober 1982, His Holiness visited three European FPMTcenters – Nagarjuna Institute in Spain, Institut Vajra Yoginiin France and Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy. It was byall accounts a tremendous, auspicious success. Since this firstinvitation, many FPMT centers worldwide have been blessedto host His Holiness for public talks and empowerments.

See page 8 for more of Lama Yeshe’s reflections on His Holiness’1982 European tour.

HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMAIN AUSTRALIA, 2011

From June 9–19 of this year, His Holiness the Dalai Lamataught publicly in eight venues in Australia, fromMelbourne to the Sunshine Coast to Perth. Three FPMT centers– Karuna Hospice Service, Vajrayana Institute and ChenrezigInstitute – hosted events.

CHENREZIG INSTITUTE’SAMAZING VISIT FROM HIS HOLINESSOn June 16, Australia’s Chenrezig Institute, located in Eudlo,welcomed 4,000 people to take part in a one-day teachingwith His Holiness. Chenrezig Institute was the first FPMTcenter in the West and now it is the very spot where LamaZopa Rinpoche’s beautiful new dedication prayer for HisHoliness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people (see page 22)was offered.

By Maureen Walsh, center director, Chenrezig InstituteIt was perhaps the biggest day in the history of the SunshineCoast hinterland town of Eudlo, population 852. Streetswere closed to traffic; police and state emergency servicesvolunteers directed the 4,000 people attending the events atChenrezig Institute (CI) to the showgrounds and thedesignated park-and-ride facilities. Once through intensivesecurity checks, ticket-holders in excellent cheer joinedqueues for a bus through the bush and into the center.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with His Holiness in the room above His Holiness'temple in Dharamsala, March 2005. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang. HisHoliness the Dalai Lama during his 1982 tour of Europe, organized by FPMT.Photo by Thubten Yeshe. Courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

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His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrives at Chenrezig Institute in Australia to give teaching to4,000, June 2011. Photo by Bonnie Jenkins.


In the newly-renovated gompa, the CISangha and 500 members, joined by all of theFPMT geshes from Australia and New Zealand,didn’t have long to wait for His Holiness toarrive. The helicopter arrived 45 minutes earlierthan expected! Panic! But thankfully everyoneand everything was ready. His Holiness blessedthe gompa and listened to a short presentationabout the study program, which follows FPMTeducation programs from the 16 Guidelinesthrough to theMasters Program.

As suggested by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, werequested His Holiness’ guidance on integrat-ing the teachings into our daily lives in orderto make our lives meaningful. His Holinesswas very impressed with the depth andbreadth of the study program. He remindedus that ritual for ritual’s sake doesn’t meananything, it doesn’t change our minds, andthat we must always keep in sight the end goal– buddhahood. He also spoke on the impor-tance of shamatha (calm abiding) as necessaryto furthering one’s practice of compassion andwisdom.

After a brief lunch, activity moved to theGarden of Enlightenment, a memorial stupagarden constructed over the last 16 years, whereover 3,500 had gathered to hear His Holinessspeak on “Secular Ethics and DevelopingCompassion.” His Holiness blessed the stupas,gardens, and the ashes of those in the Gardennow and those who will come in the future.

The Dalai Lama commented on the beautyand “freshness” of the surrounding bushland,before launching into a lively talk. The messagehe seemed intent on delivering to the studentswho had been invited to attend from govern-ment, independent and religious schools acrossthe region was the importance of promotingcompassion and inner peace – not throughreligion but through secular education, sayinghis ultimate dream was to see a curriculum ofsecular ethics implemented globally, in all levelsof education.

“Secularism is not disrespectful of religion,it is respectful of all religions,” he said. “WeHis Holiness at Vajrayana Institute's 2011 "Happiness & Its Causes" conference.

Photo by Kunchok Gyaltsen.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Garden of Enlightenment. Photo by Bonnie Jenkins.



must develop a sense of compassion, respect and a genuinesense of concern for the well-being of all people.”

Asked by a student what his greatest achievement was,he laughingly answered, “I achieved refugee status!” Hewent on to explain that had he stayed inTibet his life wouldhave been largely ceremonial and “not much use.” Now hecould meet with spiritual leaders and scientists from aroundthe world and make a difference, he said, but also spendtime with lots of ordinary people too.

In his closing statement, he leaned into the crowd as ifto emphasise his final point: “We are the same. Emotionally,physically, mentally – we are the same. It is a good achieve-ment to be normal, to mix with others, to not be reservedand to make people laugh.”

As he left, the helicopter did three laps of the clear bluesky above the center and thousands of people smiled andwaved goodbye as one.

Chenrezig Institute has put together a beautiful booklet of their37-year history culminating in this historic visit from His Holiness.It is available through their website (www.chenrezig.com.au)and serves as a great inspiration for other centers wishingto document their own history and milestones. ChenrezigInstitute also created a wonderful slideshow of His Holiness’ visit,available on their Facebook page.

YOUTH FORUM AT KARUNA HOSPICE, BRISBANE

His Holiness participated in a youth forum at FPMT’sKaruna Hospice Service on June 15. He connected

on a personal level with the difficulties faced by youngpeople, sharing examples from his own life to help themto feel more hopeful and empowered to realize theirpersonal aspirations. The event was part of Karuna’s fifthannual Kindness Week and was especially planned toallow many of the marginalized and disabled participantsto connect with His Holiness and ask questions relating totheir personal situations. Many of the 3,000 attendingwere young people.

www.karuna.org.au

HAPPINESS & ITS CAUSES, SYDNEY

On June 17, His Holiness joined in the Science of MindForum within the “Happiness & Its Causes” confer-

ence hosted by FPMT’s Vajrayana Institute in Sydney. HisHoliness participated in a discussion with world renownedscientists on the questions: How can we change our minds toenhance our happiness? What does science say about com-passion and empathy? And how can we support our young

people to lead happy andmeaningful lives? More than 2,000people attended this extraordinary event.

www.happinessanditscauses.com.au

THE 2011 KALACHAKRA FOR WORLDPEACE EVENT, WASHINGTON D.C., USA

Hundreds of FPMT students, and over 10,000 peoplefrom all over the world gathered from July 6–16 in

Washington D.C., USA to participate in the Kalachakrafor World Peace Event, led by His Holiness and hosted bythe Capital Area Tibetan Association. According to HisHoliness, “The initiation to the Kalachakra is one of themost important ... because it takes everything intoaccount: the body and the human mind, and the wholeexternal aspect – cosmic and astrological. We firmlybelieve in its power to reduce conflict and we believe it iscapable of creating ... peace of spirit and therefore peacein the world.”

At least 35 International Mahayana Institute monksand nuns attended the teachings and the empowerment,including Sangha from Nalanda Monastery in France aswell as from Malaysia, Australia and North America.Thanks to the incredible generosity of a student and bene-factor, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and FPMT were a JewelSponsor of the event. According to IMI’s Ven. CarolCorradi, “It was an incredibly well-organized and diverseevent.”

Mandala’s Michael Jolliffe kept a daily blog of his experienceat the events (available on the Mandala website) andextensive information, including a download of the programbooklet andmuchmore, can be found on the event’s website:www.kalachakra2011.com.

HIS HOLINESS IN FRANCE, AUGUST 2011

FPMT’s Institut Vajra Yogini and Nalanda Monasteryjoined with seven other FrenchTibetan Buddhist centers

in hosting His Holiness the Dalai Lama inToulouse, Francefrom August 13–15. His Holiness offered two days ofteachings on Middling Stage of Meditation by Kamalashilaand gave a public talk on “The Art of Happiness.” MaitripaCollege’s Yangsi Rinpoche taught at Insitut Vajra YoginiAugust 2–8 on Kamalashila’s text in preparation for theteachings.

Watch Télématin’s French-language news report featuring IstitutVajra Yogini, Yangsi Rinpoche and His Holiness the Dalai Lama:www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2142613336656


THEIR LIMITLESS KINDNESSIn his recently composed dedication prayer, Remembering the Kindness of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the TibetanPeople, Lama Zopa Rinpoche avows the profound importance of His Holiness, the Dharma Kings, Shantarakshita,Padmasambhava and the Tibetan people in general. It is because of them that the "sun of Tibetan Buddhism has nowrisen in the West." Due to their limitless kindness, we are able to lead meaningful lives.

We hope this featured story focused on His Holiness’ extraordinary life, the Tibetan people and their struggle, thegreat masters of the past, and FPMT’s unshakable dedication to the wishes of His Holiness enables you to rememberand rejoice in their incredible kindness and inspires you to deepen and expand your personal Dharma practice. As LamaZopa Rinpoche has advised, if you do what pleases His Holiness, there is no better thing to do with one’s life.

We share this dedication composed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for the Kalachakra for World Peace Event 2011 inWashington, D.C.:


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May all the wishes succeed of the one savior of all sentient beings – His Holiness the Dalai Lama.May Tibet gain autonomy immediately.May the pure Dharma shine fully in Tibet and China and the rest of the Worldand may there be perfect peace and happiness.May no one experience war, famine, sickness, or dangers of the elements, such as earthquakes.May all beings live with bodhichitta – cause no harm and only benefit others.May FPMT, its students and benefactors, always fulfill His Holiness’ wishesin all the future incarnations and become wish-fulfilling for all sentient beings. �

Please visit mandalamagazine.org for more on His Holiness' recent activities and teachings.


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Practicing Dharma in DAILY LIFEThis section provides advice, resources and inspiration for practicing Dharma in daily life.

FEATURED PRACTICE:

As this issue’s Featured Practice, we share Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s newest dedication prayer, Remembering theKindness of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and theTibetan People, a prayer that embodies FPMT’s heartfelt gratitudeto His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people in general for sharing their liberating wisdom with us.

Rinpoche has said he would like this prayer to be recited throughout the FPMT organization and has advisedto always recite this prayer when making dedications following the Prayer that Spontaneously Fulfills allWishes. A free download inclusive of both prayers can be found on FPMT's website (www.fpmt.org) on LamaZopa Rinpoche's "Advice" page under "Center and FPMT Organization."

REMEMBERING THE KINDNESS

Lama Zopa Rinpoche requests when looking at this photo, “Please dedicate for auspiciousness that this is His Holiness returning to Tibet.”


Colophon from Lama Zopa Rinpoche: George Farley, who for many years served on the FPMT Board, requestedme a number of yearsago to write a prayer for Tibet. At that time I thought there was no need to do so, because there already was a prayer for Tibet thatHis Holiness the Dalai Lama himself had written, as well as the short and long prayers for the fulfillment of His Holiness’wishes. There-fore I suggested to George that he make his request to His Holiness the Dalai Lama instead.

When I recently arrived in Eaglehawk, Australia to visit Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery and Atisha Centre, where they are building theGyantse Stupa3, I remembered George’s request. I thought that it would be important especially for Western people who had becomeBuddhist to remember the great kindness they had received from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Padmasambhava, the Dharma Kings,Shantarakshita and the Tibetan people as awhole. While thinking how important it is, in addition to providingwhatever help to Tibet thatthey can give, for these Westerners to at least direct their thoughts and wishes to the welfare of the Tibetan people, this prayer came tomy mind. I composed it especially for the success of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s wishes, and in particular for the Tibetan people, andfor there to be perfect peace and happiness in the world and for all sentient beings to achieve enlightenment.

Composed and translated by Lama Zopa Rinpoche on June 4, 2011 in Eaglehawk, Victoria, Australia. Transcribed by Ven. Holly Ansettand edited by Jon Landaw.

REMEMBERING THE KINDNESS OF HIS HOLINESS THEDALAI LAMA AND THE TIBETAN PEOPLE

1 This includes Westerners, Chinese and Indian people, and so forth2 The perfect human body is beneficial temporarily (for achieving the happiness of future lives), ultimately (for achieving the happiness of liberation andfull enlightenment), and in just even one second (by enabling you to use every moment to achieve these happinesses)3 The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion

By Lama Zopa RinpocheThe object of refuge of myselfAnd of all transmigratory beingsIn all our lifetimesIs the embodiment of the Three Jewels,The all-encompassing Three Refuges in one:The Guru: the Wish-granting Jewel, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The Master: Padmasambhava,The Dharma Kings: Songtsen Gampo and Trisong Detsen,The Abbot: Shantarakshita,And the numberless Holy BeingsWho preserved and spread the Buddha Dharma in Tibet;And the Tibetan people who practicedAnd served Buddhism so faithfully for a thousand years,As well as those who, along with many others1,Died sacrificing their lives for Tibet and His HolinessMay all their positive wishes be fulfilled immediately.

Due to their limitless kindness,The sun of Tibetan Buddhism has now risen in the West,Which is a dark land.But now that I have met with the Dharma,I have received the perfect human bodyEnabling me to lead a meaningful life2.

Our Refuge and Savior, the Supreme One: His Holiness the Dalai LamaAnd the Tibetan people have been so kind to us!Remembering this we make the following dedicating prayers:

May all His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s wishes be successful immediately;May the Snow Land of Tibet achieve pure freedomAnd develop the Buddha Dharma even more than before in Tibet;And may all mother transmigratory beings achieve enlightenment quickly!

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Lama LHUNDRUP

Mother, Father, Teacher, Friend:The Incomparable Kindness of Kopan’s

Treasured Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup Rigsel

Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup Rigsel (known throughout the world as Lama Lhundrup) wasborn in Tibet in 1941 to a poor peasant family. He joined Sera Monastery while still a boy, and in1959 fled from the Chinese invasion of Tibet to India. In Buxa Duar, the refugee camp in north-

eastern India where many of the monks were sent by the Indian government, he met Lama Yeshe andLama Zopa Rinpoche, and studied with great masters such as Geshe Rabten and others.

In 1972, Lama Yeshe sent a letter fromKopanMonastery in Nepal to Lama Lhundrup, who was thenliving in Mysore, India, helping to rebuild Sera Monastery. The letter said, “I have some monks, can youteach them? If so, then please come.”

Lama Lhundrup wrote back to Lama Yeshe that he didn’t feel he had enough knowledge to teach,but that he would very much like to see him and could perhaps come for three months. The abbot of

Anyone who has had the good fortune to visit KopanMonastery in Nepal over the last 40 years has mostlikely been met by the gentle smile of KhensurRinpoche Lama Lhundrup Rigsel, who served KopanMonastery in a variety of capacities for nearly fourdecades. He was officially bestowed the title of abbotby the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in2001, although he unofficially held the positionsince the time of LamaYeshe’s death in 1984. In July,Lama Lhundrup stepped down from that role due toadvancing cancer.

In this issue, Mandala wishes to highlight hisincredible service to preserving and spreading theDharma and to realizing the wishes of Lama Yesheand Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Lama Lhundrup’s tirelesswork and limitless kindness, offered to thousands ofstudents at Kopan as well as to his students inSingapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, stand out asan inspiration to us all.

As we go to press in late August, Lama Lhundrupcontinues to manifest a worsening condition and isquite ill. We will post updates to this story as theybecome known at mandalamagazine.org. You mayalso find all official FPMTupdates, including updatesregarding Lama Lhundrup’s health at fpmt.org.Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup Rigsel, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, March 2011.

Photo courtesy of Jo Hathaway.


Sera Je told Lama Lhundrup at his departure, “You havepermission for only three months, so when you arrive thereyou tell him [Lama Yeshe] that you cannot stay any longer,and then you immediately come back.”

When Lama Lhundrup arrived at Kopan, Lama toldhim, “You must become a teacher for my boys.” By thistime, Kopan Monastery, which had been established in1971, was looking after about 30 young monks from LamaZopa Rinpoche’s Mount Everest Center in Lawudo and theneed was growing for someone to oversee the young monks’studies. Lama Lhundrup accepted Lama Yeshe’s request andremained faithfully at this post until July 2011, when theresponsibility of abbot of Kopan was passed on to GesheThubten Chonyi.

Lama Lhundrup received his geshe degree from SeraMonastery in 1987. He traveled to Sera Je for the finaldebate, and it has been said that his debate was one of themost entertaining and brilliant debates in Sera’s recenthistory.

Since 1972, nearly 800 monks have been educated atKopan Monastery, including the 370 who are in residencetoday. Kopan House at Sera Monastery, part of TsawaKamsen, now houses around 80 Kopan monks on their wayto becoming geshes. Kopan monks also study at GyumeTantric College and at the Central University of TibetanStudies in Sarnath. Six resident geshes of FPMT centers arefrom Kopan. In 1986, the Kopan Nunnery, KhachoeGhakyil, was established and since that time approximately450 nuns have been educated there including the 350currently in residence.

Karuna Cayton, current FPMT board member whoworked side by side with Lama Lhundrup at Kopan from1975-1988, said, “The impact that Kopan, through itsmonks and its courses, has had on thousands of livesthroughout the world is amazing. I believe it is accurate tosay that without Kopan there would be no FPMT centers.

Khenrinpoche Geshe ThubtenChonyi, born in Nepal in

1962, was ordained by Lama ZopaRinpoche in 1974. Khenrinpochehas been resident teacher atAmitabha Buddhist Centre (ABC)in Singapore since 1999. In July2011, he was requested to take over from KhensurRinpoche Lama Lhundrup as abbot of KopanMonastery. Geshe Chonyi was the first Kopan monk tobecome a lharampa geshe, completing his studies atSera Je Monastery and Gyume Tantric College. Afterspending some time teaching at Kopan Monastery,Geshe Chonyi was asked by Lama Zopa Rinpoche toteach in Singapore. For the time being, he continues toteach at ABC eight months a year, spending the rest ofthe year at Kopan, where he says his goal is to “continuewith what already exists and to maintain the monasteryand nunnery well as it was before.”There will be a formalenthronement of KhenrinpocheGesheThubten Chonyilater in the year at Kopan.

From left: Lama Lhundrup at Kopan, 1973. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. Kopan Monastery in 1972. Photo courtesy of Lama YesheWisdom Archive.

Kopan Monastery's New Abbot


And without centers, countless students may never havemet Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lama Yeshe or the Dharmapath. And without Lama Lhundrup, perhaps there wouldbe no Kopan.”

In addition to the hundreds of monks and nuns LamaLhundrup took care of over the past 40 years, he also hasmany students in Singapore,Malaysia andHong Kong wherehe would travel on regular occasions to give teachings. Severalthousand students have attended the annual meditationcourses offered at Kopan over the years and Lama Lhundrup’simpact on and benefit to those students, through givingrefuge vows, teachings and advice, and in turn the impactthose students ended up having on others, cannot becalculated.

“Of course there were many other important figures inthe early development of Kopan such as Lama Pasang, GelekGyatso, Tenpa Choden and a host of volunteers,” Karunasaid, reflecting on Kopan’s development. “But it was LamaLhundrup who was always there. He was the glue that heldLama Yeshe’s vision together, both before and after Lamapassed away in 1984. Lama Lhundrup felt responsible forevery wish Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche had forKopan. When Lama Lhundrup felt he had let Lama Yeshedown he would have the same look on his face that a motherhas when not being able to provide her child with safety andnurture. But, at the same time, after being reprimanded byLama Yeshe – while I would be upset, often stunned andspeechless – Lama Lhundrup would turn to me and softlygiggle. He knew Lama Yeshe’s love. Lama Lhundrup knew hewas doing his best. He knew we would get better and wewould fulfill all of Lama Yeshe’s wishes. Lama Lhundrup

understood Lama Yeshe’s extraordinary qualities and wasnever fooled by the mere manifestations Lama Yeshe woulduse to guide living beings.”

One of Lama Lhundrup most significant accomplish-ments at Kopan was establishing the philosophy studiesprogram that leads to a Geshe degree. The program wasofficially recognized in 2010 and has produced around 15rabjampa geshes already with many more coming. Becauseof Lama Lhundrup’s years of dedicated effort, KopanMonastery joins the three great Gelug monasteries (Sera,Gendun, and Drepung) and Tashi Lhunpo as institutionsbestowing Geshe degrees to its monks.

Lama Lhundrup also established philosophy studies forthe nuns of Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery. In a few years, therewill be the first nuns obtaining the rank of geshema becauseof this work. Lama Lhundrup also took responsibility foroversight of Rachen Nunnery and Mu Monastery in Tsumand Shedup Ling Monastery in Solu Khumbu.

Lama Lhundrup helped to establish the Nepal GelugGreat Monlam Prayer Festival which Kopan leads everyyear. He also helped to create the Nepal Gelug EducationForum with all of the Gelug monasteries in Nepal comingtogether every year to debate during Jayang Guncho, theannual inter-monastic debate. In 2010, the first GelugExams were held for these monasteries. The exams arean important step in continuing philosophy studies atSera Je.

“Lama Lhundrup showed patience and care for everystudent and visitor of Kopan,” GesheThubten Sherab, whoserved as headmaster of Kopan Monastery’s school for fouryears, toldMandala. “He worked day and night, taking care

Lama LHUNDRUP

From left: Karuna Cayton, Pam Cayton, Nick Ribush, Thubten Tsering and Lama Lhundrup in the office at Kopan circa 1981. Photo courtesy of KarunaCayton. Lama Yeshe teaching at Kopan, 1974. Photo by Ursula Bernis.


of and listening to the grievances and problems of monks,nuns, students from around the world and all the visitorswho come for advice and guidance. He responded withgreat concern, care and compassion but without anycomplaints or sense of pride. He was always trying to solveproblems peacefully whenever they arose, without anyonegetting hurt or sad.”

Lobsang Drolkar, a student from Amitabha BuddhistCenter in Singapore, said in 2010, “Lama Lhundrup hasmade Kopan into a place where many students have hadthe experience of truly coming home. Over the years, I’vehad many opportunities to observe the way Lama Lhun-drup works his magic on visitors and students alike – hisall-embracing openness and kindness, the way he breaksout into peals of laughter, the paternal way he would graspone’s hand as he listens so attentively to what one has tosay (even when it’s gibberish!).”

Geshe Chokley, a Kopan monk who was head teacherin Tsum, related how from even 20 years previously, “LamaLhundrup really looked after all the small monks as amother would, wiping noses and dressing them. Hededicated his whole life for the monks and nuns, and thatthey become good makes him satisfied and happy.”

Ani Tenzin Jangsem, manager of Khachoe GakyilNunnery, said in July, “The kindness of Lama Lhundrupcannot be compared or measured. Even with his busyschedule, he would come down to the nunnery to teach usand give advice to the young nuns, tell them about the 10non-virtues, how to be kind to others, how to have a goodheart, etc. Other times he would teach the senior nuns howto chant. The nuns came from remote places such as Tibet

and other parts of the Himalayas. Whatever the nuns arecurrently enjoying – the nunnery being well known aroundthe world, for example – this is all due to the kindness andblessing of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and hard work and guid-ance of Lama Lhundrup.”

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the Kopan communitybecame very concerned about Lama Lhundrup’s healthtowards the end of 2010. After several requests, LamaLhundrup accepted the invitation to seek Western medicaladvice in Singapore and traveled there in early January,where he was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed withmetastatic stomach cancer in mid-January 2011.

Jo Hathaway, a palliative care nurse from New Zealandand a student of Lama Lhundrup who has been staying atKopan since January 2011 to help take care of him, toldMandala the following in July:

“Right from the first day that Lama Lhundrup camehome to Kopan from the hospital in Singapore, hisapproach to illness was different from any other ‘patient’ Ihave cared for. As we began discussing new routines forfeeding, Lama Lhundrup sat swinging the end of hisrecently inserted stomach feeding tube around in the air,laughing as he exclaimed, ‘Look, my new mouth!’

“No matter what the situation, Dharma is always thefirst thing on Lama Lhundrup’s mind,” Jo said. “Physicalneeds just don’t rank as highly for Lama Lhundrup as theydo for most ordinary beings and he doesn’t seem to paymuch attention to any changes in his body. This can makeour job of trying to keep a handle on what’s happening alittle tricky because, unlike most seriously ill people, henever complains of anything. Ever.

From left: Lama Lhundrup at Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s long life puja at Kopan, 2009. Photo courtesy of Wolf Price: Wanderwolf Media(wanderwolf.com). Lama Lhundrup at Kopan, 2003. Photo courtesy of Kopan Monastery.


Lama LHUNDRUP

“Lama Lhundrup’s wish to make others happy alsotakes precedence over his own welfare. When we becameconcerned that physiological changes in his body mayindicate that he was experiencing pain, I tried to ask himabout it. The conversation started out well, ‘Do you haveany pain?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Can you show me where the pain is?’‘Around here.’ Then I fell into ‘concerned nurse’ modewhile asking the next list of questions. Instead of answering,Lama Lhundrup said to me with a relaxed smile, ‘You don’tlike pain?’ ‘No, of course not, Khenrinpoche’ was myperplexed reply. (Nobody likes pain, right?) Lama Lhundrupsimply responded, ‘Then I don’t have pain.’ And with that,turned back to his text and continued his evening prayers.End of conversation, end of my reason to be worried.

“Another time when we were again discussing pain Iasked him how he would like us to treat it,” Jo continued.“He replied, ‘It’s better to experience it, for the sake of allsentient beings.’ Lama Lhundrup used the manifestation ofillness to practice tonglen for others and he often tellspeople to send all their worries and sicknesses to him sothey can be free from suffering. These days, I suspect out ofcompassion for us and to ease our worry, Lama Lhundrupaccepts a small amount of pain relief medication, justenough to enable him to concentrate well when doing hisprayers and practices but without the need for, or intentionof, stopping the experience of pain completely. His views onillness are definitely extra-ordinary!”

According to Karuna Cayton, Lama Zopa Rinpochetold those upset about Lama Lhundrup’s illness, “You don’t

need to worry about Lama Lhundrup because he has spenthis life fulfilling Lama Yeshe’s wishes.” Reflecting on this inearly August, Karuna said, “I think this quality of LamaLhundrup’s is just one of the qualities that make him soremarkable. Lama Thubten Yeshe was a visionary lama, arebel of sorts, a renaissance man. In traditional Tibetansociety, particularly the society of monastics, innovation wasviewed suspiciously. And yet, Lama Yeshe saw the writingon the wall for the exiledTibetans andHimalayan Buddhistsand while his ideas might have seemed radical, Lama Lhun-drup, from my experience, never faltered in attempting tofulfill Lama Yeshe’s dreams. Lama Lhundrup knew LamaYeshe’s extraordinary attributes and thus attempted to carryout Lama’s ideas often upon faith alone.”

In 1995, Lama Lhundrup reported toMandala:My main job is to make sure that all the monks have a

good education and develop a good attitude, then we arefulfilling Lama Yeshe’s wishes. So in the end, all these youngboys, after they finish classes, after 15 years, they know at leastTibetan language, writing, reading, also general philosophy, sothey can become translators, teachers, whatever. I want them tobe good quality, to have a good heart; yes, this is my aim. …This is Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa’s main monastery; theyhave no time, so I need to do this work for them. With that Iam very happy.

With Lama Lhundrup’s health becoming increasinglydelicate, Karuna Cayton and Osel Hita decided they wouldmake a brief visit to pay respects to their old friend andteacher. They arrived at Kopan on July 4, unannounced

Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup with his two attendants Ven. Thubten Kunkhen and Ven. Lobsang Thardoe and Jo Hathaway, his palliative care nurseand student, Kopan, August 24, 2011. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang. Lama Lhundrup and Osel at Kopan, July 2011. Photo courtesy of Jo Hathaway.

Dharma Journeys Pilgrimage

— Check out our website www.dharmajourneys.com for full itinerary and pictures —

… formerly Chasing Buddha

Tenth ANNUAL Pilgrimage to INDIA and NEPALTuesday, October 18 to Sunday, November 6 from Varanasi, India

Visit the holy places of Lord Buddha in INDIA: Sravasti, Kushinagar, Nalanda, Vulture Peak, Bodhgaya and Sarnath. AND NEPAL: Boudhanath,

Swayambunath, Parping and Lumbini Daily practices and teachings Includes a three-day retreat at Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu

Land cost from US$3800 plus air to Varanasi, India and returning home from Kathmandu, Nepal.

Himalayan High Treks CST 2085690-40

241 Dolores StreetSan Francisco, CA 94103, USAPhone (in US): (800) 455 8735+1 (415) 551 1005Fax: +1 (415) 861 [email protected]

PROFITS GO TO LIBERATION PRISON PROJECT. A PROJECT OF THE FPMT,

IT SUPPORTS THE BUDDHIST PRACTICE OF PEOPLE IN PRISON WORLDWIDE.

www.LiberationPrisonProject.org+1 (415) 701 8500

Venerable Tenzin Chogkyi

�e people on the trip were all kind, helpful and wonderful traveling companions.

I miss them already!JEAN KASOTA,

2008 India Pilgrimage


with the exception of Ven. Roger Kunsang and Lama ZopaRinpoche knowing in advance they were coming. Duringtheir six-day stay, they visited with Lama Lhundrup almostdaily. It was also the first time that Osel had been back atKopan in 13 years, making it a homecoming for him aswell. At the request of Rinpoche, Osel gave heartwarmingtalks at both Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery and in the maingompa at Kopan.

“I refer to Lama Lhundrup as my ‘friend,’” Karunaexplained to Mandala. “I do not mean this in an arrogantor derogatory way. He is my kalyanamitra, my spiritualfriend. If you knew Lama Lhundrup, then I believe youknow what I mean and you most definitely see him as yourfriend also.”

A Western student who has been at Kopan 20 yearsmade the following observation about Lama Lhundrup: “In allhe made Kopan into the monastery it is today. He addedone piece after the other, with patience and loving care, seek-ing advice from many and following the instructions of hisgurus. These efforts unfolded into the Kopan Pure Land.”

The life, accomplishments and dedication of KhensurRinpoche Lama Lhundrup Rigsel are worth celebrating. As

a young monk, he dedicated himself to serving Lama Yesheand Lama Zopa Rinpoche and spent the next 40 yearsperfectly carrying out their wishes and caring as mother,father, teacher and friend for countless others. As LamaZopa Rinpoche offered in praise years ago, Lama Lhundrupis “one lama you can completely trust.” Please join theentire FPMT community in rejoicing in Khensur RinpocheLama Lhundrup’s tremendous dedication to preserving andspreading the Dharma and for caring for Kopan, the veryheart of the FPMT organization. �

In July of this year, the office of Kopan sent out the followingrequest: Our Most Kind Guru Lama Zopa Rinpoche advisedtoday that it would be very beneficial for Khensur Rinpoche ifthose who have karmic connections with him (e.g., have re-ceived advice, oral transmission, other teachings, or takenrefuge with him) can do the Ksithigarba practice as many timesas possible.

Many pujas and prayers are being done for Lama Lhundrup atKopan and by students around the world.

You can find the Ksithigarba practice, updates on KhensurRinpoche Lama Lhundrup’s health as well as more reflectionson Lama Lhundrup from Geshe Thubten Sherab, KarunaCayton, Ani Tenzin Jangsem, Jo Hathaway and others atwww.mandalamagazine.org.


EDUCATIONThis section focuses on FPMT’s religious and secular work to educate and transform the hearts andminds of people everywhere.

FPMT EDUCATION SERVICESFPMT Education Services is the education department of FPMT International Office and developsstudy programs, practice materials and trainings designed to foster an integration of four broad educa-tion areas: study, practice, service and behavior. These programs and materials are available throughthe FPMT Foundation Store, the FPMT Online Learning Center and FPMT centers worldwide.

I think there is magic in the Palestra, Istituto Lama TzongKhapa’s top-floor venue with distant views of the LigurianSea. Ten years earlier, in that very room, FPMT EducationServices hosted a conference that gave rise to theDiscoveringBuddhism program. Now, on the advice of Lama ZopaRinpoche, a second and equally inspired conference tookplace. FPMT’s first international translation conference –Taking Up the Challenge of Translating Buddhism –marked the start of a new era of FPMT translation work.The conference spanned eight unforgettable days, givingEducation Services the opportunity to get buy-in and helpon a topic that generally generates fear and loathing in theheart of many a translator: the standardization of terminology.

Maitripa College founder and president Yangsi Rinpochegave perspective and sublime inspiration at the start by

speaking on the conference’s timing. “From the point ofview of the external conditions, if this conference had beenheld 30 years ago, it would have been too soon as there wasstill chaos in the field of Buddhist translation and therewould not yet have been a solid basis for discussion,”Rinpoche remarked. “If it had been held 30 years from now,it would have been too late as translators would by then betoo stuck on their ideas and choice of terminology and anopen discussion would have been impossible. In addition,the time is ripe for such a conference to take place in that akind of collective karmic interest in translation has begunto evolve. … I think it is a very auspicious time.”

Senior translator Gavin Kilty concurred with Rinpoche’ssentiment, reminding us that Trisong Detsen had organizedthe first conference of translators in the 8th century at

Taking Up the Challenge of Translating Buddhism:

FPMT’S First InternationalTranslation Conference By Merry Colony

From left: Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Ven. Detchen and Ven. Dechen


Samye. One thousand four hundred years then passed, andnow in the last two years there have been two other majortranslation conferences: the launch of the ambitious projectby the Khyentse Foundation to translate the Kangyur in 100years into English – 84,000: Translating the Words of theBuddha – hosted in March 2009; and the InternationalConference onTengyurTranslation hosted by the AmericanInstitute of Buddhist Studies in collaboration with theCentral University of Tibetan Studies in January 2011.

Our first two days were dedicated to a presentationand discussion with Mariana Orozco, senior lecturer ofthe Department of Translation and Interpretation at theAutonomous University of Barcelona, who spoke on transla-tion theory and methodology, clarifying that “translationtechnique” occurs at the level of the term, while “transla-tion method” occurs at the level of the text. Translationmethods include literal translation (most useful for people

learning the source language), philological translation (whichincludes footnotes to learn more about the context in whichthe author wrote the text), interpretative-communicativetranslation (the most widely used form of translation), freetranslation (for poetry and the like), and “beyond” translationadaptation (which includes simplification, additions, etc.).

For example, while sutras should ultimately be translatedphilologically with footnotes explaining translation decisions,background, etc., an interpretative-communicative translationof the same text could be done for a different audience. Inshort, Mariana turned upside down the misconception thatbeing true to the author means translating her wordsverbatim and opened our eyes to the fact that simply know-ing Dharma and the source language, without acquiringtranslation competence, will not make for a good translator.

Yangsi Rinpoche added that “a classical translator needsto really understand the text. He or she needs to get to thebones, not just to the skin, to see what lies behind thewords, to really understand the philosophy. This is becausewhat the words are saying is very limited compared to whatis behind the words. A translator needs to come to anunderstanding of all those complex ideas, and then,through that, come up with the best translation possible.”

Exemplifying this approach, Gavin spoke movingly ofhis engagement with this process. First, he reads the text infull. Then slowly going over one point or one passage againand again, he has mental discussions with the author. Alonein his room he explains the meaning to others and debatesit out loud in Tibetan to the point when he becomes theauthor explaining the text to an audience. And only at thatpoint, when the meaning is fully revealed, does he thenopen a blank page and compose the intent in English.

In regards to learning Tibetan, Rinpoche emphasizedthat this could easily start at more centers. Many suggestionswere also gathered for how to more thoroughly prepareFPMT’s Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Programme(LRZTP) students for interpreting at centers. Spain’s fore-most interpreter, Ven. Nerea Basurto, so clearly touched byhaving interpreted for His Holiness and other great lamas,added that “interpreters in training should receive inspira-tional talks by other interpreters who can speak on theincredible joys of the job.”

David Kittelstrom of Wisdom Publications spoke onhow translators and editors can make each other’s lives easier,identifying points from deciding at the onset whether to usefootnotes or endnotes to addressing how to adapt one’s trans-lation to the target audience. Ven. Nerea and Ven. Detchen,

From left: Yangsi Rinpoche, David Kittlestrom and Roger Wright


EDUCATION

New on the FPMT Online Learning Center!Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings from the recent Bendigo, Australia retreat are now available on the Online LearningCenter (see Bodhicaryavatara commentary in "Special Commentaries"). These fabulous teachings are available freely invideo and audio formats.http://onlinelearning.fpmt.org

coordinators of FPMT’s Spanish and French translationoffices, spoke on the incredible progress of the last six years.Jon Landaw shared his expertise as a senior editor of LamaYeshe’s works, advising that when translating Lama Yeshe intoother languages, the translator should not feel they have to betotally faithful to the English, which has already been

changed a lot from the original, but to instead think a lotabout the meaning and be faithful to that. Lama Yeshe’s mainobjective was to communicate, and Jon argued that this mustbe the priority. This view echoed what Mariana had said onday one, that the important thing is the message, not the

words, and that translation is an act of communication.On the fourth day of the conference, we moved into

the heart of the matter at hand – the discussions anddebates leading to the creation of a glossary of FPMT’spreferred translation terminology. Two hundred and fiftyterms had been extracted from Lama Tsongkhapa’sMiddling Lam-rim (FPMT’s first significant translation ofa philosophical text to be published by Wisdom Publica-tions) along with all the current translations of these words.Over the next four days, we engaged in delightfully enter-taining and sublimely inspiring discussion – and only gotthrough 20 terms! (The first term alone, “chö nyi,” oftentranslated as “emptiness,” took two hours.) Those 20 termswere so fully discussed, debated and digested that in theend we were able to reach a consensus on the preferredFPMT standard. As an example of the complexity ofthe matter, take the term “blo” which is commonly trans-lated as “awareness,” “intellect,” “thought,” “knowledge,”“consciousness,” “cognition,” “cognizer,” “discernment,”“rational mind” or “knowing.” Our conclusion at the endof the day’s discussion: “mind” or “awareness,” dependingon whether or not it is a technical discussion of the Buddhistunderstanding of the mind.

When discussing the criteria for choosing a preferredstandard, participants felt there should be a compromisebetween radical, newly coined words and commonly usedor well-established options. For example the term “fournoble truths,” although not literally accurate, is even nowused by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, so it was decided thatfor the sake of progress there will be instances like this whenit is better to choose the most commonly used option.Another example would be the word commonly translatedas “suffering,” which has been translated by others as“anguish” and “dissatisfaction.” But because these terms arenot so widely used, we will inevitably accept “suffering” asthe FPMT standard.

Gavin explained that while Tibetans usually translatethe meaning, if we only translate meanings we may poten-tially lose the link with the Tibetan in terms of the types ofmeaning associated with a word’s etymology. For example,

Merry Colony facilitates the discussions leading to thestandardization of terminology


Universal Wisdom Education (UWE) is FPMT’s program of secular education for people of allages and cultures.

A Message from Alison Murdoch

UNIVERSAL WISDOM EDUCATION

The Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdomis very happy to announce a new name for its activities:Universal Wisdom Education (U WE). The name hasbeen given byOsel Hita with the agreement of Lama ZopaRinpoche. This is particularly welcome seeing that it wasLama Yeshe who originally launched this project in the1980s with the name “Universal Education.” From 2006-11 it was known as “Essential Education.”With UniversalWisdom Education, we enter a new consolidated phase ofdevelopment grounded in our three core values ofauthenticity, validity and accessibility.

In this issue,we’re putting the spotlight onUWEactivityin hospices. In Australia,Malaysia andNewZealand, a rangeof palliative care organizations have been inspired by the UWE program 16 Guidelines for a Happy Life to create theirown specialized version for end-of-life care.With the coordi-nation of ShylaMills, our Australian boardmember, our aimis to develop a specific package of resources, training andsupport for palliative care professionals who want to bringBuddhist-based philosophy and psychology into their work.

The 16 Guidelines programwas launched at Rinpoche’srequest in 2006 and is inspiredby the 16 Human Dharmas ofSongtsen Gampo. As the firstBuddhist king ofTibet, SongtsenGampo decided to give laypeople a simple set of ethicalguidelines that would bring their lives – and eventuallythe whole country – into better shape. The 16 HumanDharmas continue to be recited on a regular basis by chil-dren in monastic schools, but are rarely the source ofteachings within those institutions. Last year, Lama ZopaRinpoche generously spent several weeks with Ven. SteveCarlier, Karuna Cayton and Jon Landaw working on anew translation and commentary. With the arrival ofGabor Reder in June 2011 as our new resources manager,we look forward to creating a new UWE resource basedon this precious text.www.essential-education.org

if “don spyi” is translated as “construct” or “universal,” theetymology of the word as “meaning generality” is lost. Thecommonly translated word “renunciation” (nges ‘byung)similarly has lost the etymological meaning best captured inAlexander Berzin’s “definite emergence.”

The conference ended remembering that Tibetans alsofaced these challenges when translating the Dharma fromSanskrit. The first wave of translation happened 500 yearsafter the Buddha, and it took another 1,200 years tocomplete standardization. So with luck, if we start theprocess now, we may have sorted it out in time for thecoming of Maitreya Buddha!

Summing up the time we had spent sorting throughthe various challenges and solutions discussed, YangsiRinpoche said, “A hundred years from now people will look

back on this conference and see that it made a differenceto their life. They will appreciate that all of you came fromdifferent places to make history, to do something that is ofreal benefit for people’s spiritual path. Your intention, effortand purpose here in the 21st century is similar to that ofthe people back in the time of Padmasambhava and thefounding of Samye Ling….We should be strongly inspiredand think ‘Let’s do it! Let’s start! Let’s move!’”

Yangsi Rinpoche composed Thus I Have Heard: An Offering tothe Participants of the First FPMT Translation Conference, asutra-style piece acknowledging the spiritual significance ofFPMT’s first translation conference. Rinpoche’s audio recordingand transcript of the piece is freely available as part ofMandala’s exclusive online content.

The full conference report is available online at www.fpmt.org.You can find it on the "Education" page under "Translating."


EDUCATION

As palliative care nurses and educators we have alwaysbeen interested in linking our work to our Buddhist beliefs.Unfortunately, due to strict protocols and the medicalmodel, there are limitations to piloting new and innovativeapproaches to the care of the dying.

However, in 2010 Hospis Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)invited UWE to conduct a workshop with their staff. Withthis opportunity came long discussions between UWE staffof how to blend the 16 Guidelines and modern end-of-lifecare techniques. This resulted in the birth of a one-day work-shop entitled 16 Guidelines for End of Life Care which aimsto equip multidisciplinary health clinicians with an under-standing of the 16 Guidelines as well as techniques forincorporating these guidelines into their daily work activities.

The one-day workshop was divided into four sessions,each incorporating both the 16 Guidelines and the phasesof palliative care: preparation, diagnosis, stable, deteriora-tion, terminal and bereavement. The workshop wasdesigned to be followed up with 16 weekly e-mails whichincluded reflective exercises on each of the guidelines.

Alison Murdoch, Shyla Millsand JasonMills facilitated theworkshop attended by 20participants, including pallia-tive care workers, governmentofficials and university staff.Feedback was positive andit has resulted in a varietyof activities being integratedinto the participants’ workactivities.

We have also presentedthe pilot project this year at aspirituality and health confer-ence as well as the Palliative Care Australia conference. Therehas been much interest internationally in the workshop, somuch so that we are currently developing an online version,which is expected to be completed by mid-2012.

For more information contact Shyla:[email protected]

Posters help participants at 16Guidelines for End of Life Careintegrate the 16 Guidelines intotheir work environments.

16 Guidelines for End of Life CareBy Shyla and Jason Mills

Amitabha Hospice Introduces the By Kala Dostal

16 Guidelines in Its Volunteer Caregiver Training CourseIn April 2011 Amitabha Hospice introduced the 16Guidelinesinto our caregiver/volunteer training program, and since thenthe results and volunteer feedback have been amazing!

The training was given over eight weeks. Each trainingevening is about two and a half hours long. In the firstevening of the training we introduce the hospice, thevolunteers and the 16 Guidelines. The second evening isabout the 16 Guidelines: we do brainstorming, read quotesfrom the book and do exercises both with and without 16Guidelines playing cards. The rest of the six evenings arespent mostly in formal hospice training, but we also taketime for a short mindfulness meditation and a 15-minute

debrief on how the week went. For homework participantsare asked to read two guidelines from the book each weekand do the associated exercises.

In August we started offering a 16 Guidelines for Endof Life Care to volunteers and the community in general.The response has been very positive. Most of our trusteesand coordinators have done the 16 Guidelines workshop,so the hospice environment is quite harmonious andrespectful. We strongly recommend other hospices andcenters to introduce the 16 Guidelines in their community.It helps everyone to start talking “the same language.”www.amitabhahospice.org

Engaging children as well as their parents is a cornerstone of a new fortnightly meeting at BuddhaHouse, Adelaide, Australia. Facilitated by Loving Kindness Peaceful Youth, the Adelaide HABITgroup creatively uses the standard HABIT meeting format, including a “children’s space” segment.www.lkpy.org/html/habit.html

Family-friendly HABITBy Jo de Silva

Three-year-old Maya is one of the children who regularly attends the group meetings.


Universal Mandala School’s summer program ended successfully with almost 30children between 3- and 10-years-old attending during the month of July. Wehave become inseparable friends while immersing ourselves in both the Englishand Spanish language.

The program explored the “Great Rainbow Spirit,” that is, concentrating onour ecosystem and our place within it. We paid very special attention to theinterconnection between our natural surroundings, animals and their homes, andhuman impact – inspiring each of us every day to make responsible choices.

The program emphasized friendship, interconnection and change. We paidattention to all of our activities and to the wonderful meanings behind the SevenColors, a learning tool to help us explore the nature of our minds and transformour emotions. Through all of this, we’ve followed our imaginations and enjoyed theuse of music, art, intellectual expression, movement and creative dance, yoga, co-operative games, and gardening. Without a doubt, we have achieved our mission:to become Rainbow Heroes – people able to make a real difference in this world.

In September, Universal Mandala School continues with its workshop on theSeven Steps to Knowledge, Strength and Compassion – there is already a waitinglist. In October, the morning program for children ages 3 to 6 begins. Anotherinspiring journey awaits! �

www.universalmandalaschool.blogspot.com

Universal Mandala School By Belén Köhler


Taking Care of OTHERS

This section highlights the incredible work being done in the FPMT organization aimed at takingcare of others.

ANIMAL LIBERATION

10 MILLION LIVES FOR THE GURU

On July 20, 2011 Amitabha Buddhist Centre (ABC) inSingapore accomplished its mission of liberating 10 millionanimals, all dedicated so that Lama Zopa Rinpoche wouldreturn to perfect health. Started by Fred Cheong on April 25– just days after Rinpoche manifested a stroke – this massiveanimal liberation was done on behalf of ABCwith all FPMTcenters invited to join the effort. By the end ofMay, 10 otherFPMT centers had chipped in for the cause.

Fred has been ABC’s animal liberation champion since2000 when he started the practice on a large scale for thehealth and life of one of his gurus, Geshe Lama Konchog.The number of lives liberated by Fred and ABC crossed the100 million mark in May 2008.

With 11 years of practice, animal liberation at ABC fol-lows a well-rehearsed procedure. The practice is scheduledevery second Sunday of the month, although the pace hadto be picked up to quickly hit the target of 10 million liber-ations for Rinpoche. Sea creatures – predominantly fiveto six types of shellfish and occasionally large fish – werepurchased live from wholesalers for liberation during thethree months it took to reach the goal.

A team of volunteers faithfully helps Fred conductthese ongoing missions. The shellfish are loaded up on atruck and are driven around the block where ABC is located

at least three times, giving the sea creatures the benefit ofhaving circumambulated the many holy objects insideABC’s seven-story building. The animal liberation prayersare done according to the practice given in EssentialBuddhist Prayers, Vol. 2: An FPMT Prayer Book, togetherwith the many mantras advised by Rinpoche. Bottles, andsometimes buckets, of water are blessed by those doing thepractice who recite the mantras and blow on the water. Thewater is poured over the animals just before they are releasedinto the sea. Quite often the animals are brought out to seaon a boat. Sometimes they are released at the beach.

Most of us at ABC who regularly support animalliberation through our donations are on Fred’s text messaginglist, which is used to update us on the latest progress. Thiswas sent on July 20: “Liberating 4,000 kilograms of seashellsnow. Estimated 700,000 animals now. With this liberation,we will hit 10million animals for the swift recovery of KyabjeZopa Rinpoche and Lama Lhundrup. Thanks so much foryour support all this while.” �

Regular animal liberation is an ongoing project at ABC. You cansupport their efforts online: www.fpmtabc.org/donation-1.php

Essential Buddhist Prayers, Vol. 2: An FPMT Prayer Book, whichcontains the animal liberation practice, can be ordered fromthe Foundation Store: http://.shop.fpmt.org

By Ven. Tenzin Tsultrim

From left: Amitabha Buddhist Centre buys five to six different types of shellfish to liberate regularly for the long lives of their teachers. Photoby Jackie Tan. Fred Cheong (right in brown shirt) has helped to liberate 100 million animals over 11 years. Photo by Jackie Tan.


HearingNEPAL brings preventative primary ear care andeducation to as many people as possible, especially inremote villages, schools and monasteries. For those inremote areas where the voice is the only form of commu-nication, hearing loss dramatically affects a person’s qualityof life.

In June 2011, Sue Tuck, Keshab Dangol – our localexpert ear technician from the Nepal Association of theHard of Hearing, our associated clinic near Kathmandu –Ven. Dhargye from Kopan Monastery Medicine BuddhaClinic, and I made a follow-up visit by helicopter toRanchen Nunnery in Tsum Valley, now under the care ofKopan Monastery.

We were warmly greeted by manager Ven. TenzinLhondup, teachers and other nuns, and quickly begansetting up the clinic: primary ear care section, videootoscope, ENT-style ear wax removal and ear syringe equip-ment, and a suitcase full of lotions and potions for earhealth management. Fifteen new clients, who had walkedfor two days, were waiting patiently. Ears were checked forimpacted wax or foreign bodies and hearing levels screened.Further treatment included cleanings, medication admin-istration, primary ear care education, medical specialistreferral, hearing aid fittings and reviews of the hearing aidsettings of last year’s clients.

Hearing loss makes a particularly negative impact onyounger people, who may be unable to develop normalspeech, benefit from schooling and develop socially. Oneyoung man said they “hated” him in his village because hecould not hear correctly.

So it is no surprise when, with a new hearing aid, a 21-year-old woman was moved to tears because she could startto seek some normality with her family and friends, or,when another young man, with renewed hearing, joyfullyannounced that he would be able to get married.

This year, Keshab trained the local Tibetan doctor, Dr.Ven. Thupten Dolkar, in primary ear care and hearing aidmaintenance.We were able to leave batteries, Western med-icines and equipment with her for use throughout the year.

Next year we plan to trek five days down from RanchenNunnery to Arughat in order to run a two-day “ear camp.”Here there is a school where we will have access to morechildren.We will also follow up new fittings made this yearand track those fitted last year who were unable to makethe two-day trip up to the nunnery. �

At the end of 2011, HearingNEPAL will visit Solu Khumbu, LamaZopa Rinpoche’s native region. In 2012, HearingNEPAL will visitSera Je Monastery in order to train local health workers inprimary ear care, check 1,000 little monks’ ears, and fit or followup on hearing aids for as many as possible. You can supportHearingNEPAL’s work by visiting: http://hearingnepal.org

HearingNEPALVisits Ranchen Nunnery

The HearingNEPAL program began in 2009 during theNovember course at KopanMonastery as a karma yoga exercise,inspired by the indelible words of Khensur Rinpoche LamaLhundrup, former abbot of the monastery: “It would bebeneficial if you could take your [hearing health] program toTsum Valley and Solu Khumbu. You must benefit all sentientbeings, using your Medicine Buddha andHeart Sutra practicefor pure motivation and freedom from obstacles.” Since then,Lew Tuck has taken HearingNEPAL to Kopan Monastery,Tawal, Tsum Valley, Solu Khumbu and Sera Je Monastery,providing hearing diagnosis and treatment to hundreds ofpeople otherwise unable to access care.

By Lew Tuck

A TsumValley woman rejoices after regaining herhearing with Dr. Ven. Thupten Dolkar. Black Bearand Rachel Bear wear khatas individuallyblessed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and havebecome popular mascots for HearingNEPAL,June 2010.


Taking Care of OTHERS

In October 2010, after Isabelle, one of the tenants rentingAmitabha Hospice’s house, passed away, there was someuncertainty regarding what practices to do for her,

creating unnecessary stress at an already difficult time.In order to help others avoid this situation, AmitabhaHospice decided to create a new webpage featuring a“Dharma will” template containing Lama Zopa Rinpoche’sadvice on the prayers and practices he recommends before,during and after death, based on his book Heart Practicesfor Death and Dying. We also created a practical, printabletemplate to help Buddhist students create their ownDharma wills. The template contains Rinpoche’s sugges-tions but also has extra spaces where people can add theirpersonal requests.

Students have already begun to make use of thisdocument in preparation for their own deaths. “The structure

and information in the Dharma will relieves me of the workof thinking out how to create an environment that will helpmeleave the body peacefully and in the Dharma,” Anna Fanene,a student with cancer, commented. “As I tick the boxes, I feelvery relieved and content that everyone involved in my deathwill have guidelines on what to do and thus prevent them fromfeeling confused, awkward and useless, not to mention,helpless.” �

You can find Amitabha Hospice’s Dharma will template as wellas other recommend documents on end-of-life care online:www.amitabhahospice.org/

Although having guidelines in your Dharma will greatlyincreases the likelihood of your wishes being carried out, it isalways recommended that you make your Dharma will legallybinding according to your country’s laws.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Heart Practices for Death and Dying isavailable for the Foundation Store: http://shop.fpmt.org

DEATH AND DYING

How to Prepare Your Dharma WillBy Kala Dostal


The International Merit Box Project began in 2001 andwas designed as a method for Lama Zopa Rinpoche’sstudents to add the yoga of generosity to their daily

practice, enabling them to help Rinpoche generate theresources that are the lifeblood of his many projects.

“This practice [of generosity] will benefit the studentsthemselves, making them become wealthy in their futurelives,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche has said. “The practice ofoffering is part of the Seven Limb Prayer, which, even with-out a bodhichitta motivation, creates extensive merits. Witha bodhichitta motivation, making offerings to the buddhasdefinitely and immediately creates the cause to attainenlightenment – no question.”

Participating in the International Merit Box Project isas simple as acquiring a Merit Box kit, doing the shortpractice given in the Merit Box practice book and placinga money offering in your donation box. Then on LamaTsongkhapa Day (December 20 in 2011), you completeyour practice and open up your donation box, count thecontents, and either make a donation online using theVirtual Merit Box, send in a check in U.S. funds or give thedonation to the Merit Box coordinator at your center whothen submits it along with other members’ donations.

On March 31 of the following year, the collectionperiod ends and the grant application review processbegins. In June, Merit Box grants are announced to thecommunity and distributed to recipients.

Each year FPMT centers, projects and services applyfor funding for initiatives related to a wide variety of activ-ities. The publication of Dharma texts, the construction ofholy objects, and the development of educational trainingsand programs are just some of the beneficial initiatives thathave been supported over the last decade. And each year,

the offerings of hundredsof Merit Box participantsare combined together tosupport Lama Zopa Rin-poche’s projects and theinitiatives of many FPMTentities, unifying the FPMTcommunity in a dynamicof mutual support andbenefit.

To help more studentsaround the world partici-pate in the InternationalMerit Box Project and tomore accurately representthe global FPMT community, a new practice kit wasdesigned in 2008. Thanks to the dedicated effort of manytranslators, the kit now contains a booklet with the MeritBox practice in eleven languages and an attractive donationbox printed in four languages.

Since the International Merit Box Project began, overUS$725,000 has been distributed. In 2010, the projectraised US$78,200 in donations that were awarded to 17worthy recipients. All FPMT centers, projects, services andstudy groups are encouraged to apply for funding for theirinitiatives. Applications for 2011 will be accepted November1, 2011 through March 31, 2012. �

To learnmore about the International Merit Box Project and howto acquire your own kit, apply for grants or get the details on the2010 disbursements, please visit: www.fpmt.org/projects/fpmt/merit-box.html

Please visit mandalamagazine.org for more articles on TakingCare of Others, including an update from the Animal LiberationSociety in Nepal.

The International Merit Box Project

Milarepa Center received a 2009International Merit Box grant forthe statue of Padmasambhava inobstacle eliminating posture.Photo by Ven. AmyMiller.

FEATURED PROJECT


Your COMMUNITY

One may serve the Dharmain any number of ways,but few kinds of service

please the eyes more than thedecorative paintings of Gelek Sherpa.The former Kopan monk has trans-formed gompas, shrines, statues andstupas into colorful and inspiringexamples of traditional Tibetan art,profoundly enriching the environ-ment around them.

More than a painter familiar toFPMT centers, Gelek’s life knitsclosely together with FPMT’s history.He was born in 1964 aboveThamo-deng in Solu Kumbu, Nepal, notfar from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’snative village of Thami. When hewas still quite young, his fathertook him to Rinpoche’s MountEverest Center for Buddhist Studiesat Lawudo, where he became amonk and started learning theTibetan alphabet and basic prayers. Gelek remembers lifebeing difficult at Lawudo, having to carry water and washdishes under harsh conditions. But he also remembersmeeting Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche there.When the Mount Everest Center monks moved to KopanMonastery near Kathmandu, Gelek went with them.

While at Kopan, Lama Yeshe told Gelek to paint amerit field that had been printed from a woodblock ontosilk. Gelek was still young and not experienced withpainting deities or applying color to silk. “It was difficult forme to paint, especially [since the figures were] very tiny,”Gelek said. His efforts didn’t go well at first. His water-colors, which he mixed with a lot of water, bled through

the silk. Frustrated, he quit the painting. Lama Yeshe, how-ever, did not tolerate this and disciplined Gelek.

With the help of Ani Jampa Chokyi, who brought somefine brushes and acrylic paint and instructed Gelek to not usetoo much water, and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who gave Geleka picture of the merit field to look at while he painted, Gelekgained some confidence and was able to continue his workpainting the merit field. Gelek also remembers how LamaZopa Rinpoche sent his drawing of amudra toGelek and howRinpoche taughtGelek to apply gold leaf on aMaitreya statue.

“Now that I’ve become more skillful, I have come torealize that Lama Yeshe blessed me by manifesting in theform of three deities,” Gelek said. “He showed wrathful

PROFILE:

This section introduces you to the many remarkable individuals in the organization through profiles,interviews, personal stories and obituaries.

Gelek and an altar he painted, Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington state, USA

Painting the Dharma


action which is like Vajrapani, his mala became like thesymbol of Manjushri’s wisdom sword, and from insidehis heart he showed me compassion like Avalokiteshvara.”

Gelek left Kopan in 1985 to attend the Kalachakrainitiation in Dharamsala and ended up spending the nextfour years at Tushita Meditation Centre, painting LamaYeshe’s stupa, cooking and working in the bookstore.He then attended thangka painting school, due to thekindness of a benefactor. In 1991, Gelek worked withother artists on His Holiness the Dalia Lama’s templein Dharamsala. Then in 1996, Gelek went back to Kopanto paint the new gompa.

Gelek’s largest creative challenge came when he arrivedat Land of Medicine Buddha in Soquel, California in 1998to paint the Memorial Shrine there. “It was a big job,”Gelek said. And Lama Zopa Rinpoche wasn’t there, so hehad to start the work on his own. Over the next five years,Gelek and another Tibetan painter from India, NgawangKunkhen, filled the space with traditional paintings,including murals depicting the 12 deeds of ShakyamuniBuddha and panels of Medicine Buddhas, Chenrezig andthe nyung nä lineage gurus, Taras, dakinis and mantras.A large thangka-style painting of the Medicine Buddhamandala adorns the ceiling. According to the Land ofMedicine Buddha’s website, “Having these powerful imagesinside the Memorial Shrine transforms it into a sacredspace, as merely seeing these images has a powerful positiveeffect on the mind.”

Gelek’s beautiful paintings have spread throughout theWest Coast of North America. Visitors to Vajrapani Institutein California can see his work in murals and decorations onLama Yeshe’s cremation stupa. At Lama Zopa Rinpoche’sWashington state retreat house, Buddha Amitabha PureLand, Gelek has painted extensive altars. And at the FPMTInternational Office and Maitripa College in Portland,Oregon, he has painted a stunning large altar in the Jokhangand other sacred objects.

“To follow traditional Tibetan style, you need to focusdeeply and have patience,” Gelek explained, which is whyhe doesn’t wear his hearing aids when he paints. “It comesbetter that way.”Watching him work, you see a man relaxedand confident in his skills and happy with his vocation.While he frequently receives commissions to do paintings,he also does gold leafing, restorations and repairs of sacredobjects as well as opens the eyes of buddhas. For the times

when demand for his artistic skills slow, Gelek has alsolearned how to do electrical work and plumbing.

Gelek’s parents live in Kathmandu and his brother worksas a translator in Italy. But Gelek likes living in America andbecame a citizen in 2010. In the next year, he is scheduled topaint the Enlightenment Stupa for Universal Peace andEnvironmental Harmony created by Gendun DrubpaCentre in British Columbia, Canada and create decorationsfor the exterior of FPMT International Office’s building inPortland. As for the longer-term future, he says someday he’dlike to try Western style painting with oils, figure drawingand sculpture.

“Both Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche havebeen so kind to make my life not only meaningful but alsouseful in their centers,” Gelek said. “I feel proud and for-tunate to serve there. The motivation with which I joinedthe thangka painting school in Dharamsala and the dedi-cation I made during that time came true. I also owe morethan big thanks to our beloved long-time teacher [atKopan] Lama Lhundrup, who also gave me the opportunityto paint in the new gompa there and also thanks toValentino Giacomin from Italy who sponsored me duringthangka painting school.” �

You can contact Gelek at [email protected]

Seemore of Gelek’s work as part of our exclusive online content.Visit madalamagazine.org.

Gelek and Lama Yeshe’s cremation stupa at Vajrapani Institute


Your COMMUNITY

Your Words is Mandala’s section devoted to the writers among us. Send us poetry, creativewriting, short essays or letters that are inspired by your Buddhist practice and under 1,200 words.

Please send your submissions to [email protected]

YOUR WORDS

KindnessBy Gwen McEwen

Consider kindness –Immeasurable, sustaining, life-giving,mind-nurturing.Contemplate the kindness of Sujatawho offered a bowl of rice,of the Buddha,of his five companions,of his disciples,precious Sangha,precious teachers.

Kindness is all around us.

We are surrounded and sustainedby kindness.Often it is quiet, like Sandburg’s fogthat comes in on little cat feetor it is unnoticedor it takes form, offered byunrecognized bodhisattvas,as opportunities to train andtransform our mind.

For the kindness of others, rejoice.Be kind without fanfare.Be kind in this moment.Be the loving kindness thatsustains othersthat they may rejoice.

You can find more Your Words submissions in Mandala’sexclusive online content. www.mandalamagazine.org

Statue of Songtsen Gampo in Jokhang, Portland, Oregon, USA.Watercolor by Bernard Chanda, Liberation Prison Project student

in Kabwe, Zambia.


Rosaria “Saza” Verro, 48, died inMilan, Italy, April 25, 2011, ofcomplications following abdominalthrombosisBy Paula Verro and Tim Van der Haegen

From her sister Paula Verro:

In 2008 Saza went to Dharamsala tostudyTibetan in the Lotsawa RinchenZangpoTranslatorProgramme (LRZTP).Having successfully completed the two-year program in November 2010, Sazadecided to remain in India for severalmonths in order to spend some timegoing for pilgrimage before returning toItaly. She participated in the KagyüMonlam, attended the teachings of HisHoliness the Dalai Lama in Sarnath,

and completed the recitation of 100,000refuge mantras before returning toDharamsala in February 2011 to packher bags. A few days later she was over-come with severe abdominal pain andwas hospitalized briefly in Kangra beforebeing transferred to Delhi. There sheunderwent an emergency operationduring which much of her small andlarge intestines were removed. At the endof March, Saza was stable enough to flywith me and a doctor to Milan whereshe was admitted into a hospital.Although initially she seemed to beslowly improving, the doctors wereunable to clear the infection whichgradually damaged more and more ofher organs. After two weeks in aninduced coma, Saza passed away.

Saza faced these two months ofconstant suffering and weakness withgreat mental strength. Whenever thepain would lessen, she would reciteprayers and happily talk about Dharma.Her sense of humor never left her andshe often made jokes, even thoughlaughing was painful. She often men-tioned that she wanted to get out of thehospital to get on with her new job oftranslating for Istituto Lama TzongKhapa. She rejoiced whenever shethought about how fortunate she was to

have heard the teachings of and also tohave translated for such great lamas asHis Holiness the Dalai Lama and HisHoliness the Karmapa.

Throughout her illness Saza wassupported by a wide network of people,including many lamas, her friends inthe LRZTP, the community of IstitutoLama Tzong Khapa, and her Dharmacompanions from CentroMuni Gyanain Palermo, all of whom dedicatedextensive prayers for her recovery. Ithink it was because of these prayersthat Saza died with a smile on her face.

From Tim Van der Haegen,director of LRZTP:

Saza was already a translator beforeshe embarked on her journey at

LRZTP.Translating wasn’t a new exper-ience for her, but learning the Tibetanlanguage was, and a rather difficultexperience, she told me. She startedtaking extra classes with an oldTibetanani-la, which eventually resulted in herbeing the only student who startedtranslating even before the classroomstudy was actually over – a refuge cer-emony conducted by Denma LochoRinpoche.

I believe Saza enjoyed her time inDharamsala. Whenever she had the

OBITUARIES

Lama Zopa Rinpoche requests that “students who read Mandala pray that the studentswhose obituaries follow find a perfect human body, meet a Mahayana guru and becomeenlightened quickly, or be born in a pure land where the teachings exist and they canbecome enlightened.” Reading these obituaries also helps us reflect upon our own death andrebirth – and so use our lives in the most meaningful way.

Advice and Practices for Death and Dying is available from the Foundation Store http://shop.fpmt.org

Your COMMUNITY


opportunity, she would sit on thebalcony outside her room, enjoying thesun while studying or working onediting the Italian translations of theBasic Program materials for onlinestudents. Or she would be foundchatting with Paty, her Mexican class-mate and next-door neighbor, with AjjaChondzum, our wonderful LRZTPcook, and with me, her other next-doorneighbor.We shared the school’s kitchenonmany occasions, sharing our culinaryexperiments. We both had a fondnessfor good food, especially cheese!

With the passing of Saza, theItalian Dharma students suffer a greatloss, as she would undoubtedly havebecome an excellent interpreter. In away, she was one already. We shouldrejoice in her efforts, as one of herclassmates, Ven. Khedrub, wrote of herpassing, and in the fact that she livedthe life she wanted to live, in the serviceof the Dharma and other sentientbeings. I hope that a few years fromnow a young child will pull on mytrousers, look up at me, and say, “Hey,Tim-la, you want some parmigiano?”

Ven. Thubten Sangpo, mid-40s,died in Solu Khumbu, Nepal, May21, 2011, of poisoning

Ven. Thubten Sangpo was a seniorFPMT monk who joined the first

monastic community before KopanMonastery was built and was part of theoriginal small community of Sherpamonks living at Lawudo. Born up thevalley from Lawudo in the village ofThami, he was one of the pioneershelping to build Lawudo and becomingone Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s earlieststudents. When the monks ultimatelymoved fromLawudo to Kopan in 1970,Thubten Sangpo was amongst them.

Like the other Kopan monks,

Sangpo was trained in the arts inaddition to the traditional philoso-phical studies and he quickly excelledat painting, a talent that blossomedover the course of the next 35 years.

After several years at Kopan, he leftto care for his aging mother andmentally ill sister, joining Keroc Gompanear Thami. There he continued hisstudies as well as his painting (mainlylandscapes for the tourist trade).Sangpo’s skills caught the eye of thelocal Buddhist community who startedcommissioning him to paint theirmonasteries, thangkas and stupas.Sangpo eventually left landscapepainting behind for good and becameone of the foremost religious artists inthe Khumbu region.

Examples of Sangpo’s art commis-sioned by FPMT projects and studentsinclude the paintings of the 35 Buddhasand Indian pandits hanging in LawudoGompa, the decorations for the twostupas built for Lama Zopa Rinpoche’smother and mother’s incarnation downthe mountain from Lawudo, and thebeautifully adorned interiors of twoprayer wheel houses in Lukla andTeshowk. Many FPMT students whovisited Lawudo also had the good fortune

to have a thangka painted by Sangpowho always fulfilled every request withgreat joy and gratitude.

Sangpo passed away after havingperformed a naga puja in a local villager’shome. He leaves behind a legacy in hisartwork from Lukla-Thami, as well asmany sorry friends and family who willmiss his beautiful smiling face, devotedheart and kind nature.

Ven. Ani Tenpa Sangmo (ElizabethHood), 62, died in Valla, NewSouth Wales, Australia, June 13,2011, of cancerBy Ven. Thubten Chokyi

Although interested in Buddhismsince she was a teenager, Ven.

Sangmo’s study of Buddhism flour-ished when she moved to Sydney.When she took ordination in 2004,she was already quite ill with anaggressive and debilitating cancer.

In 2005 Ven. Sangmo wrote toLiberation Prison Project requesting tobecome a corresponding mentor, andstarted writing to LPP students rightaway with great enthusiasm, wisdom-knowledge and a good heart. Sangmo

regarded hermentoring of LPPDharmastudents as her Dharma practice, whichshe engaged in so very often from herbed at home or in the hospital.

Ven. Thuben Sangpo beside some of his work,1995. Photo by Merry Colony.


Over the past six years, Ven.Sangmo has supported the Dharmapractice and studies of some 46 LPPstudents. An amazing demonstrationof her commitment and sheer deter-mination to benefit others was hercapacity to continue writing to sevenof her regular students right up until aweek before her death.

She made an enormous impactnot just on the inmates she wrote to,but all of us engaged in the project,including other prisoners who readher story in Liberation newsletter andwrote to her to let her know howmuch her courage, clarity and strengthof mind inspired them to continue topractice no matter what difficultiesarose in their own less than idealsituations.

Ven. Sangmo frequently appliedher meditation to healing and relax-ation and shared her personal experi-ence of this with those she wrote to inorder to help them see the power ofmeditation and encourage their practice.

I have memories of her takingturns with the other nuns in leadingearly morning and evening medita-tions while on retreat with Ven.Robina in early 2008 despite herincreasing ill health. Nor did herillness prevent her giving very directand clear advice when requested. Shewas simply determined to get on withliving and her Dharma practice wasintegral to her every breath.

She was never interested, whenasked, to speak about her pain, andalways turned the conversation towhat was being done to help the pris-oners. As His Holiness Sakya Trizinsaid, Ven. Sangmo was a very dedi-cated practitioner, serving prisonersright up to her death. She truly was anemanation body of the Mahayana

aspiration to benefit others.One of her students wrote recently:

Ani, you stay well please. I think of youa lot. Sometimes I imagine you on yourbeach, doing meditation, or maybe inyour garden. You have been a greatexample of dedication to Buddhadharmafor me and I cannot thank you enoughfor that.

Sonia Campanella, 73, died inMexico City, Mexico, July 25,2011, of a strokeBy Luz Bella Ramirez

Sonia was a very active businesswoman, dealing with and export-

ing Mexican fruit, and at the sametime engaged in Dharma studies andpractice for many years. She attendedDharma teachings in many places,and even traveled to Tibet. She also

founded a Buddhist death supportgroup inMorelia that provides help forits members and for other people will-ing to receive Dharma support at thetime of death. Sonia was the firstmember of the group to die, and shefortunately received good Dharmasupport from her group and many ofus within FPMT, particularly from

Ven. Lobsang Tonden, who happenedto be in Mexico City then and fromwhom she had expressed writtenwishes to receive support at the timeof death before becoming ill.

Sonia often attended Dharmateachings at Chekawa Study Group inUruapan and we still remember herenthusiasm at a beach Tara retreat in2006. She was a generous Dharmasponsor and supporter in many ways.

After she had the first stroke twoyears ago, doctors predicted she’d onlylive three or four more days, butfortunately she lived on for another twoenriching years. While still disabled ata nursing home in Mexico City, shebecame a devoted Dharma practitioner,fully engaging however she could. Onceshe was able to write and send emails,she was the most efficient Dharmaadvertiser, forwarding publicity fromall the centers and groups she knewof. To our good fortune, she thenbecame an honorary member of ourChekawa Study Group, and from afarshe took part in all practices we did,read the Sutra of Golden Light every-day as her health permitted, recitedmantras and studied. She was deeplyconcerned about the health of ourmost precious Guru Kyabje LamaZopa Rinpoche when he manifested astroke and dedicated many practices,mantra repetitions and MedicineBuddha pujas to his health.

Lupita Queirolo, one of Sonia’sfriends from the death support groupin Morelia, commented after visitingher just before her death that “[w]efound a light and happy Sonia, livingwhat karma brought to her life eachmorning. ... We found and wereinspired by a Sonia devoted to Dharma,her true refuge that she did not dropeven in the most difficult moments.” �


From the VAULT

Since 1987, Mandala has served as one of FPMT's official publications, bringing topical stories,teachings, news and advice to FPMT’s growing family. Our archive is filled with many treasures:articles, artifacts and images that remain relevant and inspiring year after year. In this section, wepublish some of our favorites from theMandala archive.

Renowned historian, biographer and yogi, Ribur Rinpoche (1923-2006), had a close relationshipwith His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He wrote and composed works at His Holiness’ request and wastrusted with hearing His Holiness’ descriptions of many of his own inner realizations. The followingis an excerpt from a longer article.

The Inner Realizationsof the Dalai LamaFrom Mandala June 2001

By Ribur Rinpoche, Translated by Fabrizio PallottiDuring one of our meetings,His Holiness told me about a time he was readingand meditating on the commentary on Madhyamaka by LamaTsongkhapa. Ashe read about the simile in which a rope at nighttime can bemistaken for a snake,all of a sudden, in deepening his understanding (conventionally speaking, this iswhat he was telling me) all the constructed appearances ceased in his perception,and he had this very strong – even physical – sharp feeling coming through him.For almost 20 days without cease, his mind did not perceive as true whateverappearances appeared to his senses.

Immediately I said, “This sounds like the direct realization of empti-ness,” and His Holiness kind of downplayed it. Keeping it slightly hidden, hesaid, “Well, as far as direct realization of emptiness, probably somethingsimilar – no, not even similar.” And he moved on. This shows conventionally that he’s achieving this kind of realization,and in actuality, he’s Arya Avalokiteshvara.

During another meeting, His Holiness told me, “I’m really paying a great deal of attention to bodhichitta, to greatcompassion and great love. I’m engaging my mind very seriously, and strange things are happening. Even if I hear out-side the cry of a dog who’s been hit by a stone or something, right away I feel pain like I’ve been hit myself.” When hetold me this, strong faith came that this is actually Arya Avalokiteshvara, although on a conventional level he’s showingus ordinary beings the development of great compassion.

Another time when His Holiness just returned from one of his teaching trips to Ladakh, I went to see him, and hesaid, “I’d like so much to liberate animals whose lives are in danger, but I cannot do it around here because there is nospace to put them. I will do it in Ladakh where I have a huge space where I put animals, and I have a lot of sheep.

“One day all of these sheep in the meadow in front of my place came by, and as I was looking at them – at theirstupidity, their pitiful state – I had this overwhelming compassion thinking what a pitiful, pitiful ignorance they are in.It was unbearable.” This is a clear sign of his having developed great compassion.

… We are so fortunate to witness the display of someone who has even conventionally realized bodhichitta andemptiness. Especially with regards to emptiness, those of us who have taken many teachings from His Holiness canunderstand by his very unconventional, profound yet easy-to-understand way of explaining emptiness, that it is only byhaving directly realized emptiness that he could have this understanding. �

Read the full article by Ribur Rinpoche online as part of our exclusive online content for Mandala October-December 2011 atwww.mandalamagazine.org

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FPMT News Around the WORLD

Osel Hita News

OSEL AT KOPANOsel spent a week at KopanMonasteryin July visiting Lama Lhundrup andLama Zopa Rinpoche. It had been 13years since Osel last was at Kopan. Atthe request of Rinpoche, he gave a talkin Tibetan to the Kopan monks andthe nuns at Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery,who all gave a warm response.

To readmore about Osel’s visit to Kopan,see Ven. Roger Kunsang's blog “Life onthe Road with Lama Zopa Rinpoche”at www.mandalamagazine.org/category/on-the-road/

InternationalENLIGHTENMENT FORTHE DEAR ANIMALSFrom Tania Duratovic and Phil HuntEnlightenment for the Dear Animals inpartnership with MAITRI CharitableTrust rescued 10 goats in Bodhgayafrom the butchers and dedicated themerit to the long life of Lama ZopaRinpoche.We had stalls at His Holinessthe Dalai Lama’s events in Australiaand distributed hundreds of flyers andhad petitions available for signature.

www.enlightenmentforanimals.org

GOMO TULKU’S DEBUT SINGLE –RELEASED JULY 28A fresh sound in pop music is oftencredited to the fusion of an artist’sunique life experiences with his music.GomoTulku, the 23-year-oldTibetan-Canadian-American, was recognized asthe 23rd GomoTulku by His Holinessthe Dalia Lama at age 3, and is by nomeans short of unique experiences. He

released his first single, “Photograph,”on July 28.

www.gomotulku.com

INTERNATIONAL MAHAYANA INSTITUTEFrom Ven. Carol CorradiAugust 3 marked Chokor Duchen,Wheel-Turning Day in the Buddhistcalendar and the day on which FPMT’sNinth Annual International SanghaDay was celebrated. IMI Sanghamembers offered a special recitation ofThe King of Prayers for all FPMT centers,projects, services, staff and all of our kindand supportive FPMT family members.“Thank you” multiplied a million timesfrom IMI!

http://imisangha.org

LAMA YESHE WISDOM ARCHIVEFrom Jen BarlowFor those who are missing the blissfulnectar of Rinpoche’s holy speech thesedays remember that LamaYesheWisdomArchive has hundreds of hours ofaudio that you can listen to onlinewhile reading along with the uneditedtranscripts. We also are always updat-ing our links to the many translationsof the Lama Yeshe and Lama ZopaRinpoche’s teachings on our website.See the “Foreign Translations” pageunder the Teachings menu on ourwebsite for a full list.

www.lamayeshe.com

JADE BUDDHA FOR UNIVERSALPEACE DAMAGED AND THENRESTORED!A serious traffic accident damaged theJade Buddha and its throne whiletraveling in its container on a German

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues doingwell with his recovery from a strokehe manifested in April. He is stayingat Kopan Monastery in Nepal andmaintains a strict daily discipline ofexercise, massage, and physiotherapywork to regain control of the right sideof his body. Students are requested notto visit at this time as Rinpoche needsto focus on recovery.

Updates on Rinpoche’s health can befound at www.fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/rinpoches-health-updates-and-practices.html

Lama Zopa Rinpoche turning a prayer wheel with great effort using his right hand. Rinpochedoes three circumambulations at Boudhanath Stupa walking (with help), and then doesseven circumambulations in the wheelchair, each time stopping to turn the prayer wheel,using his right hand. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche Health Update

Osel with the managing nuns of KhachoeGhakyil Nunnery, Nepal, July 2011. Photo byVen. Roger Kunsang.

This section is devoted to reporting and sharing the successes and struggles, storiesand future plans of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and FPMT activity around the world.


highway. Ian Green, who directs theproject, flew to Berlin to meet withthe German restoration experts whorestored the statue. The Jade Buddha’sEuropean tour resumed in Norway onAugust 4, just 13 days after the countryexperienced terrorist attacks in Oslo.

You can see photos of the restorationproject online: http://jadebuddha.org.au/en/gallery/jade-buddhatraffic-accident

FPMT Regional andNational OfficesEUROPEAN REGIONAL MEETINGFrom Annelies van der HeijdenIn May, 45 staff members from centersin 13 countries arrived at the beautifulnew Panchen Losang Chogyen Centrein the heart of Vienna to attend GuruPuja tsog and kick off the weekend-longFPMT European Regional Meeting.FPMT Europe is an active region with61 projects in 19 countries with manydifferent languages and challenges. Itwas a true delight and important tocome together again to share, socializeand network, especially formore isolatedDharma friends and for new studygroups.Words cannot express the amaz-ing, delicious efforts put in by our manyhosts. Vielen Dank!

[email protected]

NORTH AMERICANREGIONAL ACTIVITIESFrom Amy CaytonMany FPMT centers in North Americahosted Dagri Rinpoche and manystudents were able to benefit from Rin-poche’s teachings and presence. FPMTBay, a collaborative group of NorthernCalifornia centers andprojects, sponsoredHis Holiness Sakya Trinzin to give aninitiation with teaching on Four-ArmedChenrezig. The centers and projectsworked harmoniously together to rent a

space in Santa Cruz as well as providetsa-tsas and offer information abouttheir projects and centers. Four hun-dred people attended from all aroundthe greater Bay Area, the Tibetan com-munities and other traditions.

[email protected]

AustraliaQUEENSLANDEIGHT SOLITARY NYUNG NÄSAT LANGRI TANGPA CENTREFrom Miffi MaxmillionKaren Wallwork, a member of LangriTangpa Centre, went on the ultimateadventure and completed eight nyungnäs by herself, offering 111,000 manis,dedicated to the recovery of Lama ZopaRinpoche. “Sure, some sessions wereabsolute shockers. My bulging stomachand skinny biceps changed places, lipbalm became a treasured possession,and words like beings, lotus andcourage sounded like beans, lettuce andporridge,” Karen said. “Other sessions,especially on the silent days, I couldn’twait to start. My discomfort felt like theurging of sentient beings in all realmsfor me to continue, and my glass malatransformed into the crystal tears ofChenrezig right there in my hand.”

www.langritangpa.org.au

SOUTH AUSTRALIABUDDHA HOUSE TURNS 30

Rinpoche sent a special message viatwo photos and offered a “large birth-day cake for the 30th birthday of Bud-dha House. Big enough that all receivea good piece of absolutely deliciouscake from the best cake maker in town.It should be a beyond-blissful experi-ence, starting with just themere amazingawesome sight of it up to the mergingof it with the tongue!”

“People were delighted that Rin-poche had insisted that it be the mostdelicious cake we could buy – and itwas,” center director George Manossaid. “It was a very successful nightwith some older students returningand many newer ones. Thank you toInternational Office, FPMT Australiaand especially Rinpoche for being partof our celebrations.”

www.buddhahouse.org

TASMANIAVEN. TENZIN CHOGKYI VISITSCHAGTONG CHENTONGFrom Ven. Lindy MailhotIn July and August Chagtong Chen-tong hosted Ven. Tenzin Chogkyi wholed a rich and varied program that waswell attended by old and new, youngand not so young. Offerings includedBuddhism in a Nutshell,Meditation 101and mini retreat days. There were twowonderfully interactive presentationsat The Quakers Friends Senior Schoolto fifty 14- to 16-year-old students whowere studying Buddhism, particularlylooking at Tibet after the 1950s.

www.chagtong.org

VICTORIATHUBTEN SHEDRUP LINGFrom Ven. LhundrupDuring Rinpoche’s retreat in April themonastery was host to approximately24 guests – a large number for us. A

Lama Zopa Rinpoche holds up his handwrittenmessage for Buddha House, July 2011. Photoby Ven. Roger Kunsang.


quiet and cold winter followed. Finalwork on the new accommodationblock has continued as well as land-scaping. Our intention now is to beginthe final stage of building early nextyear by laying the foundation for atwo-story gompa/ abbot’s residencethat will be completed as donationscome in.

www.tslmonastery.org

AustriaPANCHEN LOSANG CHOGYENGELUGZENTRUMFrom Eric LeopoldInMaywehostedVen.LobsangNamgyel,who gave teachings on peaceful livingand dying. Aweek laterGesheTashi gavethe first part of his teaching on dying,rebirth and the bardo. The second partfollows in September.

www.fpmt-plc.at

CanadaGENDUN DRUBPA CENTRE

From Dianne NoortThe summer rain was well needed buthas delayed our stupa painting. Duringour intensive weekend seminar ontantra with Jon Landaw, we went out toour stupa site for a wonderful boxedlunch picnic. During our visit, Jon gavea wonderful talk on stupas stating thatall stupas are connected all throughoutthe world!When he asked if we had any

relics, Ven. Chönyi said yes, that wehave five relics from Geshe LamaKonchog and one from Geshe Dhar-gyey. Jon became quite emotional whenhe heard the name of Geshe Dhargyeyas Geshe-la was his root teacher. It isamazing to realize that Jon is also veryconnected to our stupa ... and toGendun Drubpa.

Gendun Drubpa is now an FPMTcenter (we have graduated from beinga study group)! This has given usimpetus to pursue the creation of whatwe will call our “town center” – therental and renovation of an olderhouse close to the downtown core ofWilliams Lake.

www.gendundrubpa.com

EnglandLAND OF JOYFrom Andy WistreichLand of Joy is the name given by LamaZopa Rinpoche to a project which willcreate a Buddhist retreat community inthe UK. The plan is to purchase a largeproperty in an inspiring location on theBritish mainland, on which to con-struct group and solitary retreat facilitiesand a contemplative community. Thethree-year-old project is focusing oncreating merit to raise £3-5 million[US$5-8million]. Following Rinpoche’sadvice we have had White Dzambhalaand Four Dakinis statues made inNepal for making torma offerings to, aswell as sponsoring many pujas, prayersand offerings.

www.landofjoy.co.uk

JAMYANG BUDDHIST CENTRE LEEDSFrom Lorri TolanJamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds hasmoved, but only a few doors away,from number 21 to number 31 St.Paul’s Street. Everything was carried

carefully along the pavement where,normally, lawyers in suits walk to theirwork. Prayer flags are now an integralpart of the city’s financial quarter!

www.jamyangleeds.co.uk

JAMYANG BUDDHIST CENTRELONDONFrom Michael Murrayand Sally BarraudThis summer Geshe Tashi taught lam-rim on Wednesday evenings to about40 people each night. The center alsoreceived our first batch of Rinpoche’snewest version of the combined LamaChöpa and Jorchö text. Since Rinpochemanifested a stroke the center hasoffered the Medicine Buddha puja onsite five evenings a week. This culmi-nated in a nine-day retreat on theMedicine Buddha practice in late July.

Jamyang had a spontaneous sur-prise visit by Osel and Gomo Tulku!They had just flown in from Aus-tralia on a long flight and were prettyexhausted when they arrived atJamyang. We gave them a guided tourof the building, then GomoTulku hadto rush off to the airport. Osel joinedus for lunch and then spent time withEsther in the Universal Wisdom Edu-cation office and Anna in the Repayingthe Kindness office and chatted toJamyang staff.

www.jamyang.co.uk

GermanyDIAMANT VERLAGFrom Claudia WellnitzThis year’s publications of DiamantVerlag include the German transla-tions of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s bookWholesome Fear and 16 Guidelines for aHappy Life by Alison Murdoch andDekyi Lee Oldershaw. We have alsopublished a small booklet with guided

Circumambulating the stupa with Jon Landaw



meditations on emptiness called DieDinge sehen, wie sie sind (Seeing Thingsas They Are) by Claudia Wellnitz,which tries to show the usefulness ofthinking about emptiness for solvingthe problems of daily life. Presently weare looking for people wishing tosponsor the German translations ofLama Yeshe’sWhen the Chocolate RunsOut and Kathleen McDonald (Ven.Sangye Khadro)’s Awakening the KindHeart.

www.diamant-verlag.info

TARA MANDALA CENTERFrom Maria KrumingResident teacher Dieter Kratzer withwife Maria and center director MariaKruming together with a small groupof students went to Nepal fromMarch–April for three weeks wherethey visited holy places and attended anine-day meditation course led inGerman by Dieter. In May we werevisited by famous thangka painterAndy Weber, who was happy to visithis home country. He showed his greatskills to an admiring group of people.

www.tara-mandala.de

IndiaTARA PURE LAND NUNNERYAND EDUCATION CENTREFrom Frances HowlandThe Tara Pure Land Nunnery andEducational Centre in Sarnath, India,a branch of Kopan’s Khachoe GhakyilNunnery since 2010, is a place for full-time Tara practice. Fifteen nuns livethere and take turns reciting the Praisesto the 21 Taras around the clock. Inaddition, every morning the Four Man-dala Offering to Cittamani Tara and theWhiteTara puja are performed. Duringthe day the nuns attend classes thatinclude English and Hindi. The nuns

stay for one year and are then replacedwith other nuns from the nunnery.Support for daily Tara praises and thenuns at Tara Pure Land Nunnery canbe offered through KopanMonastery’swebsite.

[email protected]

TUSHITA MEDITATION CENTREFrom Gillian BollHere atTushita, we’ve had a remarkablemonsoon. Traditionally it’s low touristseason, but this year we’ve broken ourlargest-ever attendance record for our“Introduction to Buddhism” courses –TWICE! A course in June had 92students. Then our June 30–July 9course had 94! All the more surprisinggiven the fact that check-in took placeduring a massive downpour. This wastwice the number of students we hadthis time last year, and overall, ourstudent intake continues to rise.

Most of our courses recently havebeen led by Masters Program graduate,Glen Svensson, butwe’ve also had a num-ber of special guest teachers includingGeshe Kelsang Wangmo (currently theworld’s only female geshe!) who led theJuly 5–11 course.

www.tushita.info

IndonesiaTHE YOUTH RETREAT EXPERIENCEWITH POTOWA CENTERFrom Guido Schwarze

A yearly retreat for high-school studentsis one of the very popular activitiesoffered by the members of PotowaCenter. Since 2006, young retreatantsand the retreat organizers from PotowaCenter have shared Dharma wisdom,meditations, and discussions.This year’syouth retreat was held at a beautifulmountain retreat resort located about75 kilometers [47 miles] from Jakartaand was attended by about 40 partici-pants. The final recitation of the FilialPiety Sutra was especially blessed asthe young people passionately prayedand opened their hearts to love andcompassion.

www.potowa.org


June 30–July 9, 2011 group at Tushita Meditation Centre

Photo by Nevie Lim


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




IsraelLAMA ZOPA RINPOCHE ONNATIONAL TV IN ISRAELFrom Ven. Thubten ChoekyiIn July Lama Zopa Rinpoche appearedon nationalTV in Israel – a verymovingmoment for all involved, even thoughRinpoche was miles away at KopanMonastery at the time. I’d published apoetry book and in a TV interview, Iasked to show a recent picture ofRinpoche standing with his huge glow-ing smile next to an enormousMedicineBuddha statue he had offered us in Israel.They saw the picture, immediately said,“Yes!” and showed it for a long time.

[email protected]

ItalyKUSHI LING RETREAT CENTREFrom Claudia WellnitzOn May 1 Kushi Ling celebrated its10th anniversary. Many friends andmembers gathered for a joyful day ofprayers, food and music. After about ayear of work we were able to completethe construction and filling of our newlarge prayer wheel. It is 2.5-meters [8-feet] high and 2-meters [6.5-feet] wideand contains millions of manis, othermantras advised by Lama Zopa Rin-poche, as well as a set of the Kangyurand the collection of Lama Tsong

Khapa’s writings. It is a great joy to seethe wheel in the middle of greenmeadows when one looks out of thecenter’s windows.

www.kushi-ling.com

SHENPEN SAMTEN LING NUNNERYFrom Ven. Sangye KhadroShenpen Samten Ling is a virtual nuns’community located at Istituto LamaTsong Khapa in Pomaia, Italy. Thename, which means “place of concen-tration benefiting others,” was given byLama Zopa Rinpoche during a visit toPomaia in 1989. Recently, a large pieceof land near Pomaia village has beenpurchased and plans are underway tobuild both a monastery for the monksand a nunnery for the nuns. Currentlythere are around 20 nuns of eight dif-ferent nationalities, who live within ornear the Instituto. Most of the nuns arestudying the Masters Program withKhensur Jampa Thegchog, now in itsfourth year.

www.iltk.org

MalaysiaJANGSEM LINGFrom Ven. Sonam YesheJangsem Ling’s Kuan Yin (Chenrezig)and White Dzambhala statues were

installed on their base foundation onSaka Dawa. After a year of planningand fundraising, the statues’ magnifi-cent forms were successfully enthroned.At heights of 25 feet [7.6 meters], thestatues stand majestically over a gentlysloping hill. The success of the KuanYin project is due to the many benefac-tors and volunteers. Most importantly,it is due to the great kindness of GesheTenzin Zopa for conceiving the ideathat was whole-heartedly endorsed byLama Zopa Rinpoche.

www.jangsemling.com

MexicoNEW RESIDENT GESHEBy Victor MedinaFPMT Mexico is composed of fourcenters, five study groups and one retreatcenter.We are happy to welcome GesheLobsang Khedup as the resident gesheof Centro Bengungyal in Aguasca-lientes and Centro Khamlungpa inGuadalajara.

Geshe Lobsang Khedup has beengiving teachings on lam-rim as well asDiscovering Buddhism. In July he taughtat Khedrup Sangye Yeshe Study GroupinMorelia and in August at Padmasam-bhava StudyGroup inDurango.We arealso fortunate to have Rebecca Cuan,graduate of Lotsawa Rinchen ZangoTranslator Programme 5, as Geshe-la’s(proudly Mexican) interpreter.

www.bengungyal.org

CENTRO RINCHEN ZANGPOFrom Jampa ShanemanRinchen Zangpo Center in Torreónjust finished consecrating a 20-foot[6-meter] stupa in Canatlán, DurangoThe consecration was attended by 80students from the Durango andTorreón centers. The stupa is on landfor a Buddhist retreat and retirement

Ven. Thubten Choekyi and picture of LamaZopa Rinpoche shown during TV interview.

Kushi Ling’s new prayer wheel



community in a valley of apple orchardsat the endof the SierraMadremountains.

www.rinchenzangpo.org.mx

MongoliaDOLMA LING NUNNERYFrom Ven. Thubten GyalmoVen. Tsen-la stayed at Dolma LingNunnery from March–June at therequest of Lama Zopa Rinpoche toassist the Mongolian nuns in imple-menting a new daily schedule. Fromher own long time experience as a nun,Ven. Tsen-la was able to offer wisecounsel to our nuns on etiquette andthe key points of living well withinordination.

www.fpmt.org/projects/other/mongolia/dolma-ling-nunnery.html

GOLDEN LIGHT SUTRA CENTERFrom Roy FraserOver Tsagaan Sar (Mongolian newyear) 80 people participated in GoldenLight Sutra Center’s seven-day andseven-night continuous recitation ofthe Sutra of Golden Light. For HisHoliness’ Birthday on July 6, weorganized a city-wide “KindnessCampaign” with the help of a verygenerous sponsor from the UnitedStates. Like many of our activities, wehad good media coverage and the

event culminated in a joint puja andteaching on kindness at the localtheater with monks from all the localmonasteries sending representatives tochant His Holiness’ long life prayerand other prayers.

An outreach group of Golden LightSutra Center, Aryadeva Study Group,has been established in Erdenet, a two-to three-hour drive from Darkhan andthe students have been helping to sharetheir Dharma knowledge and experi-ence with this new group. Last year talkswere given at a local monastery inSharyn Gol, about a two-hour drivefrom Darkhan. There is really no limitto the potential for spreading theDharma in theMongolian countryside.Ven. Sarah Thresher has visited to offerteachings and guidance.

www.fpmt.org/projects/other/mongolia/darkhan.html

NepalKOPAN MONASTERYFrom Ani FranKopan is very busy these days, withpeople from all over the world drop-ping in to pay their respects to KhensurRinpoche Lama Lhundrup. Variouslong life pujas have been offered overthe past few months, attended byDagri Rinpoche, Khadro-la, SerkongRinpoche, and many others lamas. InJuly Yangsi Rinpoche spent a few daysat Kopan where he recited the Lamrim

Chenmo in Khensur Rinpoche LamaLhundrup’s room on the advice ofLama Zopa Rinpoche.

Kopan and its residents are veryblessed to have Lama Zopa Rinpochestaying here. Kopan monks are con-tinuing to do extensiveMedicineBuddhapuja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche everySaturday morning. At the nunnery allnight Tara practice is scheduled quitefrequently, and many recitations of theSutra of Golden Light have so far beencompleted by the monks and nuns.

www.kopanmonastery.com

TWIN LONG LIFE PUJA SPONSOREDBY MALAYSIAN CENTERSFrom Losang Dragpa Centre’s Newsletter

In July the four Malaysian centersoffered long life pujas to Lama ZopaRinpoche and Khensur Rinpoche LamaLhundrup. About 50 Malaysians flewto Kathmandu to represent our fellowmembers and friends at this grandprayer offering to the two pillars ofFPMT andKopanMonastery. Even theelements seemed to understand thesignificance of this occasion because justas the two lamas were descending thestairs to enter the gompa, in the sky infront of the gompa, there were twinrainbow-like beams of light, linkingtogether into a single beam of light!

www.fpmt-ldc.orgKhensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup with Ven.Kunkyen, his attendant

Long life pujas for Lama Zopa Rinpoche andKhensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup in July atKopan

New stupa in Canatlán, Durango, Mexico



NetherlandsMAITREYA INSTITUUT AMSTERDAMFrom Paula de WijsFor two months, since the day weheard that Lama Zopa Rinpoche hadmanifested a stroke, Maitreya InstituutAmsterdam held a daily MedicineBuddha puja for his quick recovery andto help prevent a recurrence. Manyled pujas for the first time, and thislearning experience has been mostappreciated by all. At the time ofwriting this, we have just completedthe two months and had the final pujaon our volunteers’ day, which alsoauspiciously fell in the month of SakaDawa. Even by manifesting illness,Rinpoche has been helping us to learnand bringing us together, for which wecontinue to be most grateful!

www.maitreya.nl

New ZealandCHANDRAKIRTI CENTREBy Phillipa Rutherford

We are thrilled to have Geshe JampaTharchin as our new resident geshe.He was born in Tibet in 1969 andbegan his studies at Sera Je Monas-tery in India at 21, completing hisLharampa Geshe degree in 2009. Hetaught for a year at Khachoe GhakyilNunnery in Nepal before coming toNew Zealand in early June. Geshe

Tharchin had a whirlwind tour ofsouthern New Zealand and Australiaduring His Holiness’ visit to theregion, meeting many geshes andcatching up with old Tibetan friends.Celia Smith is our interpreter. We alsowelcome Ven. Yonten, a nun fromChenrezig Institute, who has come tolive at Chandrakirti Centre to helplook after our precious geshe.

www.chandrakirti.co.nz

MAHAMUDRA CENTREFrom Ven. Nangsel

We had a very full year and the center isthriving. Rob (Milarepa) Bloor has beenworking on our holy object projects.The snow lions are up on beautifulstone plinths, prayer flags are flying, thenew stupa garden is done and flowergarlands will go up this summer, and thefour prayer wheels that will go aroundthe stupa have arrived. The centerhosted an eight nyung nä retreat in Julyand is now preparing for the NovemberVajrayogini retreat and a busy summerprogram with Ven. Tenzin Chogkyi.Work also continues on the develop-ment of the addiction program.

www.mahamudra.org.nz

PolandLOPON CHOK LANG STUDY GROUPFrom Ven. Lhundrub JinpaThe study group has been study-ing Atisha’s Lamp for the Path. My

translation happens to be the onlyPolish translation of it so far. Specialthanks to Kasia Fidek for warm-hearted and excellent organization ofall aspects of our group’s meetings!

www.Zbigniew-Modrzejewski.webs.com/Loponchoklang

RomaniaGRUPUL DE STUDIU BUDDHISTWHITE TARAFrom Thubten SaldonIt is a great joy to have here for the firsttime an impressive collection of pricelessDharma books that were in the sameroom as the Maitreya Project HeartShrine relics when they visited Romania.

[email protected]

SingaporeAMITABHA BUDDHIST CENTREFrom Tan Hup ChengAmitabha Buddhist Centre started itssecond cycle of the five-year BasicProgramwith a super-sized intake of 231students attending Module 1: Stages ofthe Path (lam-rim). The unexpectedlylarge turnout of students is an encour-aging sign of a growing interest amongthe community toward the study of theDharma. The Basic Program is taughtby ABC’s resident teacher, GesheThubten Chonyi, with the assistance ofVen. Tenzin Gyurme, ABC’s spiritualprogram coordinator cum Tibetaninterpreter. (Ven. Gyurme is a LotsawaRinchen Zango Translator Programmegraduate.)

www.fpmtabc.org

SloveniaCHAGNA PEMO STUDY GROUPFrom Mirjana DechenIn June we had the most preciousopportunity to meet with GesheLosang Sherab. He taught us how to

Geshe Jampa Tharchin

Snow lion on its new plinth at MahamudraCentre


sing morning prayers and answeredmany of our questions. We also hadour first Transformative Mindfulnessonline tele-session with Dekyi LeeOldershaw, and Tong-nyi Nying-jeLing in Denmark arranged for us towatch Ven. Robina Courtin teachingthere. In September we had our firsttwo-day Chenrezig retreat led by JimiNeal.

[email protected]

SwitzerlandLONGKU CENTERFrom Marianne FrischknechtThe number of members at our centercontinues to grow. We also doubledour board to six members, and nowhave a spiritual program coordinator,which really makes board members’lives easier! We are very grateful tohave experienced teachers coming on aregular basis, such as Dagri Rinpoche,Geshe Tashi, Geshe Thubten Soepa,Geshe Sherab, Ven. Namgyel, StephanPende Wormland and others. Ven.Rita Riniker has spent several monthsin our center, helping us in so manyways with teachings, practice days,leading meditations and giving advice.

http://fpmt.ch/fpmt

United StatesCALIFORNIAGYALWA GYATSOBUDDHIST CENTERBy David JeffordsIn June Gyalwa Gyatso BuddhistCenter sponsored a well-attended two-day workshop entitled “Where DoOurAddictive Patterns Come From?” It wastaught by Ven. Chonyi (Dr. DianaTaylor) and based on her Book

ENOUGH! A Buddhist Approach toFinding Release from Addictive Patterns.In July GGBC became a bronze-levelsponsor of the American CancerSociety’s 24-hour Relay for Life.We didthis to put our practice into action andraise awareness of GGBC in Campbell.

We also hosted Santa Clara Uni-versity’s professor Dr. David Gray, whotalked about “Tsongkhapa on theStages of Insight Meditation,” a paperhe co-authored with Robert Thurman.Also Ven. Geshe Ngawang Dakpa gavecommentary over four Saturdays thissummer on Songs of Spiritual Experienceand Tubten Pende returned to GGBCfor a series of teachings.

http://gyalwagyatso.org

LAND OF CALM ABIDINGFrom Chuck WalbridgeDagri Rinpoche visited Land of CalmAbiding in late June. He toured theland, visited retreat cabins, madeofferings, conferred a Chenrezig jenangon the group and performed anincense puja. There have been manychanges at Land of Calm Abiding inthe last year. Ven. Strider and Ven.Pemo have moved out after many yearsin retreat. Ven. Roger Munro beginshis new four-year retreat.

http://landofcalmabiding.org

LAND OF MEDICINE BUDDHAFrom Denice MacyIn May we were blessed to offerteachings by Choden Rinpoche onthe Lamrim Chenmo. Ven. SteveCarlier began teaching the BasicProgram with teachings on the HeartSutra. Ven. Chonyi Taylor arrivedin June and taught several classes,including a short retreat on her newbook about addiction called ENOUGH!At the end of June, we were delightedto welcome Dagri Rinpoche to Landof Medicine Buddha to teach for thefirst time. We walked the land withRinpoche and he stopped and offeredblessings including at our 100,000stupa site.

www.landofmedicinebuddha.org

TARA HOMEFrom Nicole MacArgelTara Home, which provides end-of-lifecare, has established our non-profitstatus. We also said goodbye to onelovely resident, who died peacefullywith the love and prayers of her familyand 40 Tara Home volunteers. We arelook forward to many rewarding yearsof service!

www.tarahome.org

Longku Center’s “flying” 21 Taras



MASSACHUSETTSKURUKULLA CENTERBy Tsultrim DavisOn Wheel Turning Day, KurukullaCenter community members and friendsliberated 534 lobsters – over 600 pounds[273 kilograms]! – into the AtlanticOcean. Almost as exciting was the inter-national media coverage we received.Links to the article and photos can befound on Kurukulla’s Facebook page.

In recognition of InternationalSangha Day, Kurukulla Center invitedSangha members from all Buddhisttraditions to join us, celebrating alltraditions and the Dharma they sharewith sentient beings. We joyfullyhosted two dozen monks and nunsfrom all parts of the state.

www.kurukulla.org

MONTANAOSEL SHEN PHEN LINGFrom Bob JacobsonIn July about 20 people attended theOsel Shen Phen Ling picnic to celebrateHis Holiness’ birthday, includingmem-bers, friends and the Tibetan familiesliving in Missoula. After the picnic, weall sat together in the gompa, offeredkhatas to His Holiness and recitedprayers together for His Holiness’ longlife. This is a fun annual event we sharewith our Tibetan friends.

www.fpmt-osel.org

NEW MEXICOTHUBTEN NORBU LINGFrom Rowena MayerThubten Norbu Ling celebrated Inde-pendenceDaywithVen.RobinaCourtin.She gave an engaging talk on “TrueIndependence: Breaking Free of theEgo.”Her enthusiasm was contagious,and to meet a high level of interest,resident teacher Don Handrick hasbegun a new round of teaching on thebodhisattva vows.

www.tnlsf.org

NEW YORKSHANTIDEVA MEDITATION GROUPFrom Mary EsbjornsonAt Shantideva Meditation Group, we

feel a momentum and new enthusiasmaround our intention to create a centerin New York City. Highlighting ourefforts was “Cultivating the GoodHeart: Tibetan Buddhist Teachings onCompassion & Wisdom,” a seriespresented in June that included teach-ings with Ven. Constance Miller andDon Handrick and culminated in aten-day residency with Ven. RobinaCourtin, whose public talk at TibetHouse attracted over 100 students.

A leadership team/board of direc-tors has been established, and we areplanning spiritual education programs,developing an infrastructure, andtaking the steps to incorporate as anot-for-profit. We are thrilled that newstudents are coming forward to makedonations and to offer service asvolunteers.

[email protected]

NORTH CAROLINAKADAMPA CENTERFrom Barb BaranskiKadampa Center has started construc-tion of its Kadampa stupa. Lama ZopaRinpoche selected its location, justoutside our large western windows andwithin sight of both the railroad anda busy roadway where 11,000 vehiclesgo by daily. The foundation for the15-foot [4.5-meter] stupa has beenpoured, and mantras are ready to gointo the final structure. Nepali artist

Kurukulla Center celebrates International Sangha Day

Former center director of Osel Shen Phen LingDeanna Sheriff chats with the children of theTibetan families living in Missoula. Photo byBob Jacobson.

Ven Robina Courtin holding a bone relic ofLama Yeshe, which Jennifer Kim brought to theMedicine Buddha puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche

A correspondence coursethat provides astructured approach todeepen your knowledgeand practice of TibetanBuddhism.

Established in 1999 and recentlyupdated, it has over 600 graduatesworldwide. This precious two-yearcourse offers study, supportive tutors,Q & A sessions, meditation, learningactivities and online discussion.

Geshe Tashi Tsering, JamyangBuddhist Centre’s resident teacherand course creator, is renowned formaking Buddhism accessible andrelevant to modern day life.

Courses start every 4 months inJanuary, May and September. Formore information and to apply, visit:www.buddhistthought.org

This course is part of theFoundation for thePreservation of the Mahayana

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FBT graduates can continue theirstudies by joining Geshe Tashi's LamrimChenmo correspondence course

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Jhaula Lama (Jampel), who came to Kadampa Center afterfinishing work on Kurukulla Center’s stupa, is crafting thefine details. The new 21Tara statues that bless the altar andour monthly Tara group practices were consecrated.

www.kadampa-center.org

OHIOMANJUSHRI STUDY GROUPFrom Julie ThomasWe inaugurated the Manjushri Study Group in Youngstown,Ohio by participating in a world-wide recitation of theGoldenLight Sutra during Losar of this year. Since then we have beenstudying the FPMThomestudy courseBuddhism in aNutshell.We also listen to the CD compiled byVen. AmyMiller on thistopic and it has generated some genuine interest and desire forongoing discussion. We had the pleasure of hosting Ven.Losang Drimay who taught on the Three Principles of the Pathin June.Her thoughtful presentations andmeditation exerciseswere very inspiring to the study group members.

http://manjushristudygroup.blogspot.com

VERMONTMILAREPA CENTERFrom Ven. Amy MillerWhen I learned that Ven. Dagri Rinpoche would be comingto Milarepa Center this year following the Kalachakrainitiation in Washington, D.C., I thought Rinpoche andhis attendants might enjoy a road trip back up the EastCoast of the United States. We saw the historic sights ofPhiladelphia, including Independence Hall where theDeclaration of Independence and the Constitution weresigned, then went on to view the Liberty Bell andconcluded with a visit to the famous science museum, TheFranklin Institute. In New York City, we saw a large14th-century Chinese mural of Medicine Buddha in his

pure realm. Rinpoche was so excited that he insisted we takebodhisattva vows right there in front of the mural, whichwe of course immediately did. Back in Vermont at MilarepaCenter Rinpoche gave a wonderful weekend program.

On July 31, the center held its Third Annual MilarepaFestival Day. This year, the featured performance was theSera Monastery monks on their 2011 World Peace Tour.The monks enchanted the crowd of more than 100 peoplewith their ritual chanting and offered long life prayers forgood health and healing.

www.milarepacenter.org

UruguayTHUBTEN KUNKYAB STUDY GROUPFrom Marilena MolinaroWe have no words to thank all the kindness, generosity,patience, humility and hard work of all the FPMT and IMImembers who encouraged and helped us to become thisnew study group. �

[email protected]


Dagri Rinpoche visited the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia

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Featured CENTER

Our Brief HistoryThe center was founded by LiseLotte Brooks and Maria Damsholtin 1996 after meeting with LamaZopa Rinpoche at Jamyang Centrein London that year. Rinpoche likedthe idea of a center in Copenhagen,Denmark and gave the burgeoninggroup a name: Tong-nyi Nying-jeLing, the Center for Wisdom andCompassion. From the very begin-ning, the center started a volunteerhospice service, the Center for Con-scious Living and Dying, which hasbeen very active and helped numerouspeople to a peaceful passing. Thecenter also includes a small pub-lishing house, Dharma Wisdom, with five books trans-lated and published in Danish. In 2009 we reached amilestone, renting our new, big premises in the center ofCopenhagen and welcoming our wonderful residentialteacher Stephan Pende.

Activities in the CenterTong-nyi Nying-je Ling has many activities every day,presenting and practicing the Dharma in many ways. Ourmain regular activities consist of mindfulness meditation onTuesdays, which attracts more and more people, even some-times too many for the limited size of the gompa! Thurs-days we have theDiscovering Buddhism program, also beingattended by many people. These are the regular programstaught by our resident teacher, Stephan Pende, but we alsohave some experienced students who lead the traditionalpractices such as pujas and sutra recitations. In additionthere are other regular activities such as a DiscoveringBuddhism study group, mindfulness for students, and mind-fulness and dreaming courses. Further we host manyweekend courses with visiting teachers, most recently Ven.Robina Courtin and Ven. Rita Riniker. And in the begin-ning of August, Alan Wallace led a shiné retreat. By havingthis variety of activities, Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling tries to hold

several different gateways open for introducing people to theDharma while still offering more advanced courses forexperienced students.

The Value of VolunteersOne of the main reasons for many people being able to cometo the center and benefit from the teachings andmeditation isthe collective effort of themany volunteers running the center.All of the people working for the center are volunteers,except for the center’s resident teacher who gets a smallmonthly donation. That Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling is able torun the center on a volunteer basis shows how dedicatedand how important many people find the center to be.Monthly volunteer meetings are held where the volunteergroups organize themselves and initiate many projects.Although things are discussed between the volunteers andwith the board before projects are initiated, we have foundit to be a great strength to give the volunteer groups free-dom to work fairly independently as this really empowerspeople and makes them feel trusted.

Organizing His Holiness’ VisitOne of Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling’s main successes of 2011 wasour participation in organizingHis Holiness the Dalai Lama’s

Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling’sStrategies for Success By Rasmus Hougaard, center director

Alan Wallace leading a shiné retreat at Tong-Ni Nying-Je Ling in August 2011


visit to Denmark. This project not only strengthened andcreated new links in the network of Tibetan Buddhist centersin Denmark, but it also strengthened the bonds within ourown center because of our service activities related to theevent. For example, many people from Tong-nyi Nying-jeLing volunteered to work as crew during the event, whileothers organized the center’s stand. In general the audiencewas quite diverse, and we even organized a large group ofCEOs from major Danish and foreign corporations.

Harmony as Our StrategyBefore we had a resident teacher we wondered why peoplekept on coming to the center. They did not come to receivegreat teachings; inexperienced as we were, we could notoffer that. However, we soon realized that the harmoniousand welcoming atmosphere we created around our weeklyDharma evenings attracted many people. Harmony has foryears been top of the list of our annual strategy plan. Wetruly believe harmony to be the most powerful means forsuccess and growth.

How is Harmony Maintained?As most staff in Dharma centers will know, we tend to getattached to things being in a certain way. That is natural.The Dharma is precious to us. However, the result is thatour ego starts to play a role in the way we think, speak andact in the center. More than one ego tends to create friction,particularly in Dharma centers. To counteract this Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling starts any meeting with the clear moti-vation of only thinking, speaking and acting according towhat will help the center and its users. We strive to parkour egos outside the center door.

Harmony is obviously closely related tohow we treat our guests. A Dharma centerhas one objective: serving its guests. How-ever, they should not be over-served. Yearsago we realized that the most powerful wayof making people return to the center was togive them responsibility. When people getresponsibility they take ownership and willsoon feel at home. Inviting people to activelyparticipate in all kinds of practical things isa great way of making people feel includedand as a part of the family.

Young PeopleOur center has always been gifted with many youngpeople. They bring much fresh and positive energy. Foryears it has been part of our strategy to keep on attractingyouth. How do we do that? We have purposely includedyoung people on our board for years. That brings theyoung energy into the core of the center. It also results indecisions and activities that attract more young people.When new young people come to the center for the firsttime, we make an effort of speaking with them and try toinclude them in our activities. One of the main reasonswhy young people come is that our resident teacher,Stephan Pende, appeals strongly to them. His teachingstyle is very direct and practical, giving simple and pro-found advice on finding meaning and happiness in life.We are truly gifted with him as our teacher.

The FutureWe are starting to out-grow our current premises. Withup to 60 guests on the Tuesday mindfulness evenings ourspace is getting too small. Also, it is becoming difficult tofit all the activities we like to offer into the schedule. Ourvision for the near future is to move to a larger locationwith more teaching rooms and possibly a café, library andother things. Also, we are aiming at being able to host aresident geshe within some years. We believe Lama Yeshe’scall for “thinking big” is the fastest way to achieve ourgoals. The growth of the center during the past five yearsconfirms this and we are confident we will make it if webelieve in it. �

www.fpmt.dk

Tong-nyi Nying-je Ling volunteers Geske and Hanne attheir booth during His Holiness the Dalai Lama's visit toCopenhagen


N e w Z e a l a n d

i s h o s t i n g a t h r e e m o n t h

This life changing retreat will

combine The Yoga Method of Vajrasattva

and the Path of

Vipassana.

The retreat will be aimed at the

completion of 100,000 mantras and training in the practice of

vipassana.w w w. m a h a m u d r a . o r g . n ze m a i l : s p c @ m a h a m u d r a . o r g . n z

Te l : + 6 4 ( 7 ) 8 6 6 6 8 5 1

Vajrasattva RetreatWith Venerable Antonio Satta

25th August - 25th November

2012

Mahamudra Centre forUniversal Unity

MAITRIPA COLLEGE

Photo: Venerable Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche (r), Spiritual Director of FPMT, with Yangsi Rinpoche (l), Geshe Lharampa & President of Maitripa College; taken on Mount Hood on the occasion of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s 2009 visit to Maitripa College in Portland, Oregon ~ Photo by Marc Sakamoto

Master of Arts in Buddhist Studies (MA) Understand Buddhist philosophy in Tibetan & Western scholastic contexts Develop a range of meditation techniques with opportunities for advanced tantra studies Integrate Buddhist concepts into community service Translate Classical Tibetan with Western scholars & Tibetan masters

Master of Divinity (MDiv) Apply in-depth training in Buddhist thought & meditation Train in a systems theory approach to transforming suffering in one’s life & community Prepare for Chaplaincy or other work as agents of positive change in the world

Maitripa College Degree Programs:

Embark on the Path to Enlightenment A four-part series designed & taught by Yangsi Rinpoche Study the philosophy & meditation practices of the lamrim (the stages of the path to enlightenment) Available onsite in Portland, Oregon & online

www.maitripa.org ~ 503-235-2477

Continuing Education & Distance Learning (Online) Classes Available

FPMT DIRECTORYThis directory is a listing of centers, projects and services worldwide which are under the spiritual direction of Lama ZopaRinpoche and the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). You can find a complete listing with

address and director/coordinator information on the FPMT website: http://www.fpmt.org/centers/directory.htmlPlease contact [email protected] with any updates to your listing.

Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpochec/o FPMT International Office

FPMT International Office1632 SE 11th AvenuePortland, OR USAwww.fpmt.orgTel: (1) (503) 808 1588

Projects of FPMTInternational Office include:Amdo Eye CenterFPMT Puja FundLama Tsongkhapa TeachersFundSera Je Food FundStupa Fundwww.fpmt.org/projects

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS

Enlightenment for theDear AnimalsDenistone East, NSW Australiawww.enlightenmentforanimals.orgTel: +61 (2) 9808 1045

International MahayanaInstituteSan Francisco, CA USAwww.imisangha.org

Lama Yeshe Wisdom ArchiveLincoln, MA USAwww.LamaYeshe.comTel: +1 (781) 259 4466

Liberation Prison ProjectAshfield, Australiawww.liberationprisonproject.org

Lotsawa Rinchen ZangpoTranslator ProgrammeDharamsala, Indiahttp://lrztp.blogspot.com/

LKPY: Loving KindnessPeaceful YouthUnley, SA Australiawww.lkpy.orgTel: +61 (4) 0695 0726

Maitreya Project Internationalwww.maitreyaproject.org

Universal Wisdom EducationLondon, United Kingdomwww.essential-education.orgTel: +44 (0) 20 7820 9010

FPMT REGIONAL ANDNATIONAL OFFICES

Australian National Officewww.fpmta.org.auTel: +61 (2) 4782 2095

Brazilian National [email protected]: +55 (47) 9127 3314

European Regional Officewww.fpmt-europe.orgTel: +31 (0) 20 627 3227

Italian National [email protected]

Mexico National Officewww.fpmt-mexico.orgTel: +52 (987) 869 2222

Nepal National [email protected]: +977 (1) 442 4091

North American (USA andCanada) Regional [email protected]: +1 (831) 334 2777

South Asian Regional [email protected]: +91 (98) 1802 7901

Spanish National Officewww.fpmt-hispana.orgTel/Fax: +34 (91) 445 6514

Taiwan National Officewww.fpmt.twTel: +886 (2) 2523 0727

FPMT CENTERS, PROJECTSAND SERVICES

ARGENTINA (Tel Code 54)

Yogi Saraha Study GroupBuenos Aires

[email protected]: (11) 4541 7112

AUSTRALIA (Tel Code 61)

New South Wales

Kadam SharawaBuddhist InstituteCopacabanawww.kadamsharawa.orgTel: (0402) 688 620

Kunsang Yeshe CentreKatoombawww.kunsangyeshe.com.auTel: (02) 4782 1263

Vajrayana InstituteAshfieldwww.vajrayana.com.auTel: (02) 9798 9644Resident Geshe:Geshe Ngawang SamtenResident Teacher:Wai Cheong Kok

Queensland

Chenrezig InstituteEudlowww.chenrezig.com.auTel: (07) 5453 2108Resident Geshe:Geshe Lobsang JamyangResident Teacher:Ven. Tenzin Tsepal

Projects of Chenrezig Institute:The Enlightenment Projectfor Purification and [email protected]

The Garden of Enlightenmentwww.chenrezig.com.au/content/view/42/146

Cittamani Hospice ServicePalmwoodswww.cittamanihospice.com.auTel: (07) 5445 0822

Dewachen Study GroupMackaywww.dewachen.infoTel: (07) 4954 5188

Karuna Hospice ServiceWindsorwww.karuna.org.auTel: (07) 3632 8300

A project of Karuna Hospice:Karuna Bookswww.karunabooks.com.au

Langri Tangpa CentreCamp Hillwww.langritangpa.org.auTel: (07) 3398 3310

South Australia

Buddha HouseTusmorewww.buddhahouse.orgTel: (08) 8333 2824

De-Tong Ling Retreat CentreKingscotewww.detongling.orgTel: (08) 8559 3276

Tasmania

Chag-tong Chen-tong CentreSnugwww.chagtong.orgTel: (03) 6267 9203

Victoria

Atisha CentreEaglehawkwww.atishacentre.org.auTel: (03) 5446 3336Resident Geshe:Geshe Konchog Tsering

The Great Stupa ofUniversal CompassionBendigowww.stupa.org.auTel: (03) 5444 2440

Shen Phen Ling Study [email protected]

Tel: (02) 6059 8104

Tara InstituteBrighton Eastwww.tarainstitute.org.auTel: (03) 9596 8900Resident Geshe:Geshe Lobsang Doga

Thubten Shedrup LingEaglehawkwww.tslmonastery.orgTel: (03) 5446 3691Resident Geshe:Geshe Konchog Tsering

Western Australia

Hayagriva Buddhist CentreKensingtonwww.hayagriva.org.auTel: (08) 9367 4817Resident Teacher:Ven. Thubten Dondrub

Hospice of Mother TaraBunburywww.hmt.org.auTel: (08) 9791 9798

AUSTRIA (Tel Code 43)

Panchen Losang ChogyenGelugzentrumViennawww.fpmt-plc.atTel: (1) 479 24 22

BRAZIL (Tel Code 55)

Centro Shiwa LhaRio de Janeirowww.shiwalha.org.brTel: (21) 9322 0476

CANADA (Tel Code 1)

Gendun Drubpa CentreWilliams Lakewww.gendundrubpa.comTel: (250) 398 5681


Lama Yeshe Ling CentreOakvillewww.lamayesheling.orgTel: (905) 296 3728

CHINA (Tel Code 852)

Mahayana Buddhist Assoc.(Cham-Tse-Ling)North Point, Hong Kongwww.fpmtmba.org.hkTel: 2770 7239

COLOMBIA (Tel Code 57)

Centro YamantakaBogotáwww.yamantakabogota.orgTel: (311) 251 0993

CZECH REPUBLIC (Tel Code 420)

Dompipa Study GroupDolni Podluziwww.dompipa.czTel: (412) 373691

DENMARK (Tel Code 45)

Tong-nyi Nying-je LingCopenhagenwww.fpmt.dkTel: 33 13 11 08Resident Teacher:Stephan Pende Wormland

Projects of Tong-nyiNying-je Ling:The Center for ConsciousLiving and Dyingwww.cbld.dk

Dharma Wisdom Publishing

FINLAND (Tel Code 358)

Tara Liberation Study [email protected]: (50) 353 2886

FRANCE (Tel Code 33)

Editions Vajra YoginiMarzenswww.vajra-yogini.comTel: (05) 6358 1722

Gyaltsab Je Study GroupIle de la [email protected]

Institut Vajra YoginiMarzenswww.institutvajrayogini.frTel: (05) 6358 1722Resident Geshes:Geshe Tengye andGeshe Tenzin Loden

Kalachakra CentrePariswww.centre-kalachakra.comTel: (01) 4005 0222Resident Geshe:Geshe Drakpa Tsundue

Nalanda MonasteryLabastide St. Georgeswww.nalanda-monastery.euTel: (05) 6358 0225Resident Geshes:Geshe Losang Jamphel andGeshe Sonam Ngodup

Thakpa Kachoe Retreat LandMarseillewww.thakpakachoe.comTel: (612) 918 949

FRENCH POLYNESIA (Tel Code 689)

Naropa Meditation [email protected]

GERMANY (Tel Code 49)

Aryatara InstitutMünchenwww.aryatara.deTel: (89) 2781 7227Resident Teacher:Ven. Fedor Stracke

Diamant VerlagKaltern, Italywww.diamant-verlag.infoTel: +39 (0471) 964 183

Tara Mandala [email protected]: 9951 90235Resident Teacher: Dieter Kratzer

GREECE (Tel Code 30)

Gonpo ChakdukLing Study [email protected]: (210) 762 7189

INDIA (Tel Code 91)

Choe Khor SumLing Study GroupBangalorewww.cksl.inTel: (80) 4148 6497

Maitreya Project [email protected]: (551) 2342 012

MAITRI Charitable TrustBodhgayawww.maitri-bodhgaya.orgTel: (631) 2200 841

Root InstituteBodhgayawww.rootinstitute.comTel: (631) 2200 714

A project of Root Institute:Shakyamuni BuddhaCommunity HealthCare Centre

Sera IMI [email protected]

Tushita MahayanaMeditation CentreNew [email protected]: (11) 2651 3400

Tushita Meditation CentreMcLeod Ganjwww.tushita.infoTel: (1892) 221 866

INDONESIA (Tel Code 62)

Lama Serlingpa BodhicittaStudy [email protected]

Potowa CenterTangerangwww.potowa.orgTel: (21) 9359 2181

ISRAEL (Tel Code 972)

Shantideva Study GroupRamat [email protected]: 3 736 6226

ITALY (Tel Code 39)

Casa del Buddha dellaMedicina (AssociazioneDare Protezione onlus)Livornowww.associazionedareprotezione.it

Centro Lama Tzong [email protected]: (0422) 300 850

Centro Muni GyanaPalermowww.centromunigyana.itTel: (0327) 038 3805

Centro Studi CenresigBolognawww.cenresig.orgTel: (347) 246 1157

Centro Tara CittamaniPadovawww.taracittamani.itTel: (049) 864 7463

Centro Terradi Unificazione EwamFlorencewww.ewam.itTel: (055) 454 308Resident Geshe:Ven. Tulku Gyatso

Chiara Luce EdizioniPomaia (Pisa)www.chiaraluce.itTel: (050) 685 690

Istituto Lama Tzong KhapaPomaia (Pisa)www.iltk.itTel: (050) 685 654Resident Geshes:Khensur Jampa Thegchok andGeshe Tenzin Tenphel

Projects of IstitutoLama Tzong Khapa:Shenpen SamtenLing Nunnery

Takden Shedrup Targye LingMonastery

Kushi Ling Retreat CentreArco (TN)www.kushi-ling.comTel: (347) 2113471Resident Geshe:Geshe Dondup Tsering

Sangye Choling Study GroupSondriowww.sangye.itTel: (39) 0342 513198

Shiné JewelryPomaia (Pisa)www.shinegioielli.itTel: (050) 685 033

Yeshe Norbu -Appello per il TibetPomaia (Pisa)www.AdozioniTibet.itTel: (050) 685 033

JAPAN (Tel Code 81)

Do Ngak Sung Juk CentreTokyowww.fpmt-japan.orgTel: (070) 5562 8812

LATVIA (Tel Code 371)

Ganden BuddhistMeditation CentreRigawww.ganden.lvTel: 2949 0141

MALAYSIA (Tel Code 60)

Chokyi Gyaltsen CenterPenangwww.fpmt-cgc.blogspot.comTel: (4) 826 5089Resident Geshe:Geshe Deyang

Jangsem Ling Retreat [email protected]

Kasih Hospice CareSelangorwww.kasih-hospice.orgTel: (3) 7960 7424

Losang Dragpa CentreSelangorwww.fpmt-ldc.orgTel: (3) 7968 3278Resident Geshe:Geshe Tenzin Zopa

MAURITIUS (Tel Code 230)

Dharmarakshita Study [email protected]: 258 3054



MEXICO (Tel Code 52)

Bengungyal CenterAguascalienteswww.bengungyal.orgTel: (449) 973 5550Resident Geshe:Geshe Losang Khedup

Chekawa Study [email protected]/Fax: (452) 523 5963

Khamlungpa CenterZapopanwww.khamlungpa.org.mxTel: (33) 3122 1052Resident Geshe:Geshe Losang Khedup

Khedrup Sangye YesheStudy [email protected]

Tel: (443) 308 5707

PadmasambhavaStudy [email protected]: (6181) 711 102

Rinchen Zangpo CenterTorreonwww.rinchenzangpo.org.mxTel: (087) 1712 6873

Serlingpa Retreat CenterZitacuarohttp://calendarioretiroserlingpa.blogspot.com

Tel: (715) 153 9942

Thubten Kunkyab StudyGroupCoapawww.meditadf.blogspot.comTel: (552) 325 5861

Vajrapani Tibetan BuddhistStudy [email protected]: (958) 587 0902

Yeshe Gyaltsen CenterCozumelwww.fpmtcozumel.orgTel: (987) 869 2222

MONGOLIA (Tel Code 976)

Drolma Ling NunneryUlaanbaatarwww.fpmt.org/mongolia/nunnery

Golden Light Sutra CenterDarkhanwww.fpmt.org/mongoliaTel: (1372) 28856

Enlightening MindUlaanbaatarwww.fpmt.org/mongoliaTel: (11) 330 463

Ganden Do Ngag ShedrupLingUlaanbaatarwww.fpmt.org/mongoliaTel: (11) 321 580

NEPAL (Tel Code 977)

Ganden Yiga Chözin BuddhistMeditation CentrePokharawww.pokharabuddhistcentre.com

Tel: (61) 522 923

Himalayan BuddhistMeditation CentreKathmanduwww.fpmt-hbmc.org

Khachoe Ghakyil NunneryKatmanduwww.kopannunnery.orgTel: (1) 481 236Resident Geshes:Geshe Lobsang Zopa,Geshe Tsering Norbu,Geshe Konchog Nodrup,and Geshe Losang Chodak

Kopan MonasteryKathmanduwww.kopanmonastery.comTel: (1) 482 1268Resident Geshes: KhensurGeshe Lhundrup Rigsel,Geshe Lobsang Sherab,Geshe Lobsang Nyendrak,Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen,and Geshe Tashi DhondupResident Teacher:Ven. Karin Valham

Projects of Kopan Monastery:Mu GompaChhekamparwww.fpmt/projects/tsumResident Geshe:Geshe Jampa Tsundu

Rachen NunneryChhekamparwww.fpmt/projects/tsumResident Geshe:Geshe Jampa Tsundu

Thubten Shedrup LingMonasterySolu KhumbuResident Geshe:Geshe Thubten Yonden

Lawudo Retreat CentreSolu Khumbuwww.lawudo.comTel: (1) 221 875

THE NETHERLANDS (Tel Code 31)

Maitreya Instituut AmsterdamAmsterdamwww.maitreya.nl/adamTel: (020) 428 0842Resident Teacher:Ven. Kaye Miner

Maitreya Instituut EmstEmstwww.maitreya.nl/emstTel: (0578) 661 450Resident Geshe:Geshe Sonam Gyaltsen

A project of MaitreyaInstituut Emst:Maitreya Uitgeverij(Maitreya Publications)Emst

NEW ZEALAND (Tel Code 64)

Amitabha Hospice ServiceAvondalewww.amitabhahospice.orgTel: (09) 828 3321

Chandrakirti TibetanBuddhist Meditation CentreRichmondwww.chandrakirti.co.nzTel: (03) 543 2015Resident Geshe:Geshe Jampa TharchinResident Teacher:Alan Carter

Dorje Chang InstituteAvondalewww.dci.org.nzTel: (09) 828 3333Resident Geshe:Geshe Thubten Wangchen

Mahamudra CentreColvillewww.mahamudra.org.nzTel: (07) 866 6851

POLAND (Tel Code 48)

Lopon Chok Lang Study GroupWarsawwww.Zbigniew-Modrzejewski.webs.com/Loponchoklang

ROMANIA (Tel Code 402)

Grupul de Studiu BuddhistWhite TaraJudetul [email protected]: 4829 4216

RUSSIA (Tel Code 7)

Aryadeva Study GroupSt. Petersburgwww.aryadeva.spb.ruTel: (812) 710 0012

Ganden Tendar Ling CenterMoscowwww.fpmt.ruTel: (926) 204 3164

SINGAPORE (Tel Code 65)

Amitabha Buddhist CentreSingaporewww.fpmtabc.orgTel: 6745 8547Resident Geshe: KhenrinpocheGeshe Thubten Chonyi

SLOVENIA (Tel Code 386)

Chagna Pemo Study [email protected]: (40) 573 571

SPAIN (Tel Code 34)

Ediciones DharmaNoveldawww.edicionesdharma.comTel: (96) 560 3200

Nagarjuna C.E.T. AlicanteAlicantewww.budismoalicante.comTel: (66) 387 124

Nagarjuna C.E.T. BarcelonaBarcelonawww.nagarjunabcn.orgTel: (93) 457 0788Resident Geshe:Geshe Losang Jamphel

Nagarjuna C.E.T. GranadaGranadawww.nagaryunagr.orgTel: (95) 825 1629

Nagarjuna C.E.T. MadridMadridwww.nagarjunamadrid.orgTel: (91) 445 65 14Resident Geshe:Geshe Thubten Choden

Centro Nagarjuna ValenciaValenciawww.nagarjunavalencia.comTel: (96) 395 1008Resident Geshe:Geshe Lamsang

O.Sel.Ling Centro de RetirosOrgivawww.oseling.comTel: (95) 834 3134Resident Teacher:Ven. Champa Shenphen

Tekchen Chö LingOntinyentwww.centrobudistaontinyent.esTel: (96) 291 3231

Tushita Retreat CenterArbúcieswww.budismotibetano.net/tushitaTel: (97) 217 8262

SWEDEN (Tel Code 46)

Tsog Nyi Ling Study GroupRanstawww.fpmt.seTel: (0224) 200 22

Yeshe Norbu Study [email protected]

Tel: (0707) 321 793

SWITZERLAND (Tel Code 41)

Gendun Drupa CentreMuraz/Sierrewww.gendundrupa.chTel: (27) 455 7924

Longku CenterBernwww.fpmt.chTel: (31) 332 5723

TAIWAN (Tel Code 886)

All Taiwanese centers areaccessible through:www.fpmt.tw

Bodhicitta CultureEnterprise PublishingFongyuanTel/Fax: (2) 8787 8019

Heruka CenterCiaotouTel: (7) 612 5599

Jinsiu FarlinTaipeiTel: (2) 2577 0333Resident Geshe:Geshe Gyurme

Shakyamuni CenterTaichung CityTel: (4) 2436 4123Resident Geshe:Geshe Ngawang Gyatso

UNITED KINGDOM (Tel Code 44)

Jamyang Buddhist CentreLondonwww.jamyang.co.ukTel: (02078) 208 787Resident Geshe:Geshe Tashi Tsering

Jamyang BuddhistCentre LeedsLeedswww.jamyangleeds.co.ukTel: (07866) 760 460

Jamyang CoventryStudy GroupCoventrywww.coventry-buddhists.com

Khedrup Je Study [email protected]: (0758) 356 7309

Land of Joywww.fpmtukretreat.co.ukTel: (07949) 595691

Saraswati Study Groupwww.saraswati.org.ukTel: (01458) 252463

Yeshe Study [email protected]

Tel: (01229) 885 329

UNITED STATES (Tel Code 1)

Arizona

Manjushri Wisdom CenterTucsonwww.manjushriwisdomfpmt.orgTel: (520) 971 1681

California

Gyalwa GyatsoBuddhist CenterCampbellwww.gyalwagyatso.orgTel: (408) 866 5056Resident Teacher:Ven. Losang Drimay

Land of Calm AbidingSan Simeonhttp://landofcalmabiding.orgTel: (303) 945 4977

Land of Medicine BuddhaSoquelwww.landofmedicinebuddha.orgTel: (831) 462 8383

Tara HomeSoquelwww.tarahome.orgTel: (831) 477 7750

Tara Redwood SchoolSoquelwww.tararedwoodschool.org

Tsa Tsa Studio / Center forTibetan Sacred ArtRichmondwww.tsatsastudio.orgTel: (415) 503 0409

Tse Chen LingSan Franciscowww.tsechenling.org

Tel: (415) 621 4215Resident Geshe:Geshe Ngawang DakpaResident Teacher:Emily Hsu

Vajrapani InstituteBoulder Creekwww.vajrapani.orgTel: (831) 338 6654

Colorado

Lama Yeshe HouseStudy [email protected]: (303) 447 0630

Florida

Land for Nagarjuna’sSutra and TantraDharma Study [email protected]: (941) 745 1147

Tse Pag Me Study [email protected]: (813) 783 1888

Tubten Kunga CenterDeerfield Beachwww.tubtenkunga.orgTel: (954) 421 6224Resident Geshe:Geshe Konchog Kyab

Indiana

Chenrezig Study GroupEvansvillewww.chenrezig.orgTel: (812) 425 2100

Massachusetts

Kurukulla CenterMedfordwww.kurukulla.orgTel: (617) 624 0177Resident Geshe:Geshe Tenley

Wisdom Publications Inc.Somervillewww.wisdompubs.orgTel: (617) 776 7416

Montana

Osel Shen Phen LingMissoulawww.fpmt-osel.orgTel: (406) 543-2207

New Mexico

Thubten Norbu LingSanta Fewww.tnlsf.orgTel: (505) 660 7056Resident Teacher:Don Handrick

Ksitigarbha TibetanBuddhist CenterRanchos de [email protected]

New York

Shantideva Meditation GroupNew [email protected]

North Carolina

Kadampa CenterRaleighwww.kadampa-center.orgTel: (919) 859 3433Resident Geshe:Geshe Gelek Chodha

Ohio

Manjushri Study Grouphttp://manjushristudygroup.blogspot.com

Oregon

Maitripa CollegePortlandwww.maitripa.orgTel: (503) 235 2477Resident Geshe:Yangsi Rinpoche

Texas

Land of Compassionand WisdomAustinwww.austinfpmt.orgTel: (512) 280 8687

Vermont

Milarepa CenterBarnetwww.milarepacenter.orgTel: (802) 633 4136

Virginia

Guhyasamaja CenterCentrevillewww.guhyasamaja.orgTel: (703) 774 9692Resident Geshe:Khensur Lobsang JampaRinpoche

Washington

Pamtingpa [email protected]: (509) 223 3003

URUGUAY (Tel Code 598)

Thubten Kunkyab [email protected]: 2708 3501

What does it meanto be an FPMT Center,

Study Group,Project or Service?

If a center, project or service isaffiliated with FPMT, it meansthat it follows the spiritualdirection of Lama Zopa Rin-poche. It means that centersand study groups use FPMT’seducational programs andmaterial, created in the uniquelineage of Lama Yeshe andLama Zopa Rinpoche.

Each FPMT center, projector service is incorporated indi-vidually (is a separate legalentity) and is responsible for itsown governance and finance.

All FPMT centers, projects,services and study groupsfollow the FPMT Ethical Policy.

FPMT study groups aregroups which are using thisstatus as a probationary periodbefore a group becomes a legalentity and a full FPMT center,project or service.

FPMT study groups are notyet affiliated with the FPMT, andtherefore do not have the sameresponsibilities as a center orproject, financially or adminis-tratively.


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Snow Lion+1 (800) 950 0313

www.snowlionpub.com

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+1 (866) 251 3674shop.fpmt.org

AUSTRALIAKaruna Books

+61 (07) 3632 8380www.karunabooks.com.au

AUSTRIAShedrup Ling

+43 (699) 12151291www.shedrupling.at

ENGLANDWisdom Books

+44 (0) 20 8553 5020www.wisdom-books.com

FRANCEBoutique Vajra Yogini

+33 (05) 63 41 34 31institutvajrayogini.fr/boutique.html

Centre Kalachakra+33 (01) 40 05 02 22

www.librairie-kalachakra.com

GERMANYAryatara Institut

+49 (089) 2781 [email protected]

HONG KONGCham-Tse-Ling+852 2770 7239

[email protected]

INDIARoot Institute

+ 91 (631) 2200 714/2200 [email protected]

Tushita Meditation Centre+91 (1892) 221 866

www.tushita.info

ITALYChiara Luce Edizioni

+39 (050) 68 56 90www.chiaraluce.it

Progetto Liberazione Nella Prigionec/o Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa

[email protected]+39 (050) 68 56 54 (int. 5)

NEPALKopan Monastery+997 (1) 4821 268

www.monasteryshop.org

NETHERLANDSMaitreya Instituut Emst

+31 (0578) 66 14 50www.boeddhaboeken.nl

NEW ZEALANDChandrakirti Meditation Centre

+64 (3) [email protected]

SPAINEdiciones Dharma+34 (96) 560 3200

www.edicionesdharma.com

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Kyabje Choden Rinpoche is one of the great lineage lamas of our time, holding many precious and rare lineages of Sutra and Tantra. His Eminence has given numerous teachings and transmissions in Sera Monastery, South India, often with up to 2000 monks attending. He has taught throughout Europe, South Asia, Mongolia and USA with thousands of practitioners taking novice ordination in the course of his travels outside Tibet.

Two Rare Opportunities for Highest Yoga Tantra Inititation and Instruction from a Living Master:

CHODENRINPOCHE

H I S E M I N E N C E

The six yogas of Naropa are presented as the yoga of tummo, illusory body yoga, bardo yoga, clear light yoga, dream yoga, and phowa. Within the secret treasure house of highest yoga tantra instruction, the six yogas of Naropa, have long been held most dear to the heart of great yogis. These extraordinary meditation techniques, transmitted in great secrecy for many generations, cause the dissolution of all conceptional thoughts, such as fears and expectations, and allow our true nature of inner peace and great bliss to manifest. Highest yoga tantra can swiftly lead a practitioner to the state of enlightenment, that is the union of conventional pure illusory body and ultimate clear light.

MARCH 20 – MARCH 22: CALM ABIDING Teachings and Guided Meditation. There are no prerequisites or commitments.

MARCH 24 – MARCH 25: HERUKA FIVE DEITY INITIATION Prerequisites: Refuge | Commitments: Six-Session Guru Yoga daily, for the remainder of their life. MARCH 28 – APRIL 1: SIX YOGAS OF NAROPA Prerequisites: Must have obtained initiation in highest yoga tantra. There are no commitments related to these teachings.

FOR BOOKINGS, ACCOMMODATION & INFORMATION: www.AwakeningVajraAustralia.org Email: [email protected] Tel: +61 2 9337 1337

In 2012 Rinpoche will confer the main part of the Vajra-Garland containing 38 initiations and blessing rituals of various deities including Yamantaka, Heruka, Vajrayogini, Hevajra, Kurukulla and the Five Buddha

is a cycle of 46 different initiations originating from the great Indian master Abhayakara-gupta (d.1125) and rearranged by Lama Changkya Ngawang Lozang Choden (1642-1714).

VOWS AND COMMITMENTS: Daily six-session guru yoga | Recite “om-ah-hum” mantra 7x per day | Bodhisattva and tantric vows.

GROUP BOOKINGS: Pick Up at Airport by Sera Monks | All Meals (vegetarian) | Accommodation at Sera Monastery | Pilgrimage to Holy Sites | Offerings

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Australia: [email protected] Europe: [email protected] Malaysia: [email protected] New Zealand: [email protected] Sera Monastery: [email protected] Singapore: [email protected] Taiwan: [email protected] USA: [email protected] NOTE: Foreigners need to obtain PAP permit for Sera Monastery that must be submitted at least 3-4 months in advance. Contact us to arrange.

VAJRAVALI CYCLE OF INITIATIONSSERA MONSTERY, SOUTH INDIA

SIX YOGAS OF NAROPA | HERUKA INITIATION | CALM ABIDING

BALMAIN TOWN HALL, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

Documents

Mandala Magazine Oct-Dec 2011