As president of the Tibetan Women’s Association, Rinchen Khadro was the inspiration and energy behind many of the social welfare projects to help the Tibetan refugee community in India. 

American nun Ven. Thubten Chodron talked to Rinchen Khadro (in October 1992) about her views about social work activities.

From Mandala November-December 1999.

FMPT News Around the World

Kadampa stupa construction at Kadampa Center, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, May 2012

Kadampa Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, is making impressive strides with its project to build a new Kadampa stupa. The center reports, “For two months, we had been designing and building all the remaining concrete parts for the stupa ‒ an ‘upper cylinder’ to complete the vase section, a lid for the cylinder, and a harmika. These have all been built to sizes and shapes that we have been taught by Jampel Lama, who of course is with us every day in person, and by his comrades who are back in Nepal.”

Jampel watches as the assembled upper cylinder, lid and harmika are moved by forklift.

With the aid of a forklift, center members moved the concrete pieces weighing well over 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms) each, making sure they all fit together.

With the completion of the last concrete parts, the stupa is ready for the blessing and filling ceremony. At the blessing ceremony, the cylinder will be filled with mantras and precious substances, and then the lid and harmika will be lifted into place and the ceremony completed.   

Jampel, who supervised the construction and decoration of the stupa at Kurukulla Center, will be adding more decorations to the harmika. You can see some of the decorations (above) that have already been completed on the throne section.

The stupa is situated in view of both passing drivers and those traveling by train on nearby tracks as advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. 

With 159 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

Adèle Hulse remembers some of the experiences that her son T.Y. had early on as a young resident of a Dharma center, concluding that ultimately her wish is to let him “find his own way in Buddhism.”

From Mandala July-August 1998.

FPMT News Around the World

Lama Yeshe meditating in the botanical gardens, Berkeley, California, 1974. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

It’s no surprise that meditation continues to draw the media’s attention. More and more, its positive effects on the mind and body are being documented by scientists and its techniques are being taught in clinical settings. A 2007 national survey in the United States found that “9.4 percent of respondents (representing more than 20 million people) had used meditation in the past 12 months – compared with 7.6 percent of respondents (representing more than 15 million people) in a similar survey conducted in 2002.” In fact, U.S. National Institute of Health has a dedicated webpage on meditation’s health benefits, which include helping with anxiety, pain, depression, stress, insomnia and coping with chronic illness. All signs indicate this interest will only continue to grow. The inaugural International Symposia for Contemplative Studies recently brought together more than 700 neuroscientists, educators, and contemplative scholars from around the world to share cutting-edge research on the nature and workings of the human mind. We can sincerely rejoice in the benefits that people throughout the world may experience from this increased interest in and use of meditative techniques.

But for students of Mahayana Buddhism, a meditation practice has benefits beyond improved health (which is still important). Developing the ability to calm the mind facilitates one’s ability to progress towards enlightenment, when one can be of most benefit. Fortunately, FPMT offers many resources online to support the development of this kind of meditation practice. Discovering Buddhism’s Module 2 “How to Meditate” is available free of charge on the Online Learning Center as well as instruction on shiné or calm abiding meditation. In addition, Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive offers many teachings from Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and other qualified teachers on meditation. These resources are freely available to you to deepen your Mahayana meditation practice and to share with others who might want to take the altruistic path of Dharma.

With 160 centers, projects, and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

How do we maintain a selfless attitude without falling into the co-dependent, helper/enabler syndrome – especially when complicated by low self-esteem issues? This is how Tubten Pende responded.

From Mandala August-September 2006.

Read interviews with two amazing Colombian youths that are a part of Children’s Movement for Peace, nominated in both 1998 and 1999 for a Nobel Peace Prize. Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Ven. Roger Kunsang met the five teenagers chosen to represent the movement in their 1999 Nobel nomination last year in Los Angeles, where they visited local high schools and were being interviewed for a CNN documentary.

From Mandala September-October 2000

FPMT News Around the World

Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling Director Massimo Corona reports the recent uncovering of a VHS tape from a decade ago, featuring the former CEO of FPMT Mongolia Ueli Minder and Thubten Gyatso (Dr. Adrian Feldmann). The rough but fascinating video documents some of FPMT’s early contributions to the restoration of Buddhism in Mongolia. The 13-minute video, now available on FPMT Mongolia’s YouTube channel, includes footage of the renovation of a historic monastery located near Ulaanbaatar where Drolma Ling Nunnery, the first residential Tibetan Buddhist nunnery in Mongolia, was established. Also making a brief appearance in the video is Ven. Bakula Rinpoche, who greatly contributed to the return of Buddhism in Mongolia.

The history of Buddhism in Mongolia is rich, going back to the third century B.C.E. But with the rise of communism in the 1920s and Mongolia’s close alignment with the Soviet Union, Mongolian Buddhists suffered heavy oppression, witnessing the extensive destruction of monasteries and temples and the purging of an extraordinary number of monks and lamas in the late 1930s. The relighting of the lamp of Buddhism in Mongolia signifies the strength and determination of Mongolians to reclaim this nearly lost aspect of their cultural heritage.

Be sure to check out more of Mandala’s recent coverage of Mongolia.

With 160 centers, projects, and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

This account of a day with Lama Zopa Rinpoche comes from Ven. Thubten Jinpa, Kopan Lama Gyupa, who has often served as Rinpoche’s second attendant and was with him recently in Dharamsala, India. Incredibly inspiring!

From Mandala July-September 2009.

FPMT News Around the World

His Holiness the Sakya Trizin with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, April 2012. Photo courtesy of Sakya Drolma Phodrang.

During April, FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche, along with Dhakpa Rinpoche and Dagri Rinpoche, were in Dehradun, India, receiving initiations from His Holiness the Sakya Trizin. Many others from the Sakya tradition, including Sangha from the Sakya Monastery and Nunnery, also took part in the ongoing Wangya Norbu Tangwa (Garlands of Jewels of Hundreds of Initiations) transmission. This is the fifth year the Sakya Trizin has been giving this very long series of initiations.

Dhakpa Rinpoche (far left) and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Dehradun, India, April 2012. Photo courtesy of Sakya Drolma Phodrang.

Several years ago, Lama Zopa Rinpoche requested to receive this transmission as the lineage of some of the initiations had already died out in the Gelug tradition. Rinpoche and FPMT’s Preserving the Lineage Fund have been the main sponsors of the initiation series and long life puja for His Holiness the Sakya Trizin. The Preserving the Lineage Fund supports the transmission of rare Mahayana teachings through initiations and oral transmissions, thereby allowing future lamas and students the benefits of receiving the Buddhadharma through an unbroken lineage.

With 160 centers, projects, and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Dagri Rinpoche, Dehradun, India, April 2012. Photo courtesy of Sakya Drolma Phodrang.

Ven. Gyalten Wangmo describes Dorje Chang Institute’s organized effort to gather enough sponsors to save 60 Kaimanawa wild horses from being slaughtered in New Zealand in celebration of Saka Dawa.

From Mandala October-December 2009.