FPMT News Around the World

His Holiness the Dalai Lama reading sutra on Vulture’s Peak, India, 2002

“Although a bit belatedly, it’s the time of year to happily reflect on what our international sutra reading group accomplished ‘virtually’ in 2012,” Doc O’Connor Nemoto, director of Do Ngak Sung Juk Centre in Tokyo, wrote in a recent email. The Japanese center has a “virtual” sutra reading program, where participants from around the world read a specific sutra at the same time twice a month.

In her email, Doc quotes Yangsi Rinpoche’s advice on sutra recitation published in Mandala’s January-March 2013 issue:

The purpose of practice is merit accumulation and purification, and if we read just a portion of a sutra, it is effective for both of these. You don’t need to read all the sutra at once. I’ve been doing a translation of a text with my class at Maitripa College, and it says that if you read even only one shloka, one verse, of a text about emptiness, there is even more merit in that than doing millions of offerings.

“So with this thought of all the positive we created not only for ourselves but what we’ve spread around the world,” Doc continues, “let’s analyze the numbers from 2012:”

• 3 – number of languages our readers read in (Japanese, English, Chinese)
• 9 – number of countries we had readers (Japan, USA, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, India, Canada, China/Hong Kong)
• 24 – number of times we read
• 30 – average number of people who read each time
• 91 – total number of Sutras of Golden Light read
• 131 – total number of Sanghata Sutras read

“How absolutely wonderful! With heartfelt appreciation to each and every one of you, especially Jean Chen for organizing on average 22 of her friends and family to join in with us. Thank you, thank you!” wrote Doc.

Mandala rejoices with Do Ngak Sung Juk Centre and all participants in their virtual sutra reading group.

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