Group photo of participants at the 2026 Planetary Crisis Summit at Nalanda Monastery. Photo courtesy of Nalanda Monastery.

On the weekend of September 5–6, 2026, Nalanda Monastery hosted the third FPMT Planetary Crisis Summit, “A Buddhist Approach for a Better Future.”

The aim of this event was to bring Buddhist awareness to a world in crisis. We believe that Buddhist practices based on wisdom and compassion have the potential to address the root problems of environmental destruction and contribute to a peaceful world.

What Do We Mean by Planetary Crisis?

But what exactly do we mean by planetary crisis? The term “planetary crisis” encompasses all the many, seemingly unassailable, challenges that humankind faces today. Some of us feel strongly that global warming is the chief problem that needs to be tackled; others say it’s our increasing consumption and pollution, or the loss of topsoil and biodiversity; others still believe the crisis in education and social inequality is of utmost importance, or that the focus should be on the emotional and psychological factors that perpetuate the culture of individualism that makes our current predicament appear so hopeless. The Planetary Crisis Summit draws upon all of these challenges with the acknowledgment that they are not disparate from one another, but instead are symptoms of wider systemic issues that make up our interconnected reality.

This summer we experienced unprecedented heat waves, droughts, and fires across Europe, and on August 26, devastating floods in Nepal’s Rasuwa-Bhotekoshi area claimed 1,451 lives and left 5,745 people missing, according to government figures. Around the world we now experience what scientists have warned about for decades. Global warming has begun to exceed the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius. Out of the nine planetary boundaries, global warming is just one of the seven thresholds that we have already crossed! When the life-sustaining ecosystems start to collapse, what is at stake is no less than the survival of our planet. Since industrialization we have developed such powerful technologies that now humans are shaping the natural world, and potentially even destroying all life on earth.

We live in a time of crisis, and we need to act. Not out of anger or confusion, but through love and a deep understanding of the root of our global problems.

How can we make a difference as Dharma practitioners? We think the teachings of the Buddha offer many solutions to the current crisis, because at the root it is a crisis of the mind. All the problems and suffering humans are causing today basically come from the delusions and wrong views in our minds, like the concept that we are separate from the natural world. Therefore the solutions, too, must come from the mind—like the understanding of dependent arising and interdependence from which love and compassion can emerge. That’s why the world needs Dharma more than ever!

In this difficult time of environmental crisis and social breakdown, many people are desperate, looking for solutions and guidance. Buddhism has a lot to offer, but we need to reach out to the world. As Buddhists we can offer profound insight, helping people to understand the root of our problems and suffering, and showing the world how to change one’s attitude, find inner peace, and act out of love and compassion instead of greed and hatred.

Two Days of Imagination, Wisdom, and Compassion

With this motivation Nalanda Monastery organized the third Planetary Crisis Summit. We invited speakers, teachers, and meditation leaders for our shared morning program, which was followed on Zoom by other FPMT centers, groups, and individuals. There was a rich program of inspiring presentations, talks, discussions, and meditations skillfully facilitated by Ven. Jampa Gyaltsen.

Ven. Jampa, Planetary Crisis facilitator at Nalanda Monastery, with guest speakers David Midgley and Andy Wistreich at the 2026 Planetary Crisis Summit. Photo courtesy of Nalanda Monastery.

The first day of our event was dedicated to Imagination: imagining the future we want to create. The future doesn’t just happen; it is created by our visions, dreams, and imagination. In order to create a better future, we first need to imagine it.

The second day was about Wisdom and Compassion: creating our future through wisdom and compassion. The ecological and social crises we currently face arise from a mistaken view of separation. Buddhist philosophy offers a corrective perspective of interdependence and compassion, and therefore a Buddhist-informed transformation of consciousness is a powerful means toward resolving the crisis.

The days started with a video presentation by Serkong Rinpoche and Geshe Tenzin Zopa. Our online and onsite speakers included Andy Wistreich, David Midgley, Rob Hopkins, Brother Phap Lai from Plum Village, and Nalanda monks Ven. Tenzin Sherap and Ven. Tenzin Michael. It was a wonderful experience to come together with thirty people in our gompa and several FPMT centers, groups, and individuals online as we explored how we as practitioners can make a difference in our lives and how our Dharma practice can offer real solutions in the face of the planetary crisis.

We enjoyed learning how to use our creativity and imagination to create a vision for the beautiful future we would like to see. Together we explored how the Buddha’s teachings of wisdom and compassion can be put into practice to make it happen. We feel it is a good way to make the Dharma teachings relevant to what is happening today.

In the afternoons, David and Andy skillfully facilitated workshops and group activities based on “The Work That Reconnects” by Joanna Macy. By listening to the various presentations, we learned new ways of seeing. By discussing the topics, deeply listening to each other, and meditating, we connected with each other and the world around us.

The Power of Community

Participants gather in the gompa at Nalanda Monastery for the 2026 Planetary Crisis Summit. Photo courtesy of Nalanda Monastery.

As individuals we can be overwhelmed by the bad news, the state of the world, and what needs to be done. There is only so much we can do, but as a community, joining our efforts, we can inspire others and create a movement that has the power to accomplish what nobody thought possible. This weekend, coming together as a group, we really experienced this power of community; we found inspiration, hope, and joy. Knowing that our practice can make a difference, we continue our efforts to reduce suffering and make the world a better place for all sentient beings.

Please watch this video of Day 1 of the FPMT Planetary Crisis Summit:

With gratitude to Ven. Tenzin Michael, for sharing this story,

Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service. 

New Editions

The long-awaited revised The Intermediate Practices of Vajrayogini – a Self-Initiation Manual, FPMT Vajrayogini Series, Volume 3, is now available at the Foundation Store!

It contains the Vajrayogini self-initiation sadhana by Phabongka Dechen Nyingpo, The Banquet of Great Bliss: The Maṇḍala Rite of Venerable Vajrayoginī, the Powerful Lady Nāro Khecarī. A number of updates and improvements have been made in this edition, including a review of the translation against the Tibetan source text for greater accuracy, further copyediting, and the transliteration of all Sanskrit terms and mantras. You can also find an updated edition of updated Quick Path to Khechara: An Abbreviated Vajrayogini Self-Initiation.

These practices are restricted to those who have completed the 100,000-mantra enabling retreat (lerung) of Vajrayogini and the subsequent pacifying fire offering.

We are also happy to share a new edition of A Compilation of Tsog Offerings to Vajrayogini, which now includes The Melody of the Wings of Dancing Bees: A Tsog Song composed by Trijang Rinpoche. This Vajrayogini tsog song is also included in The Intermediate Practices of Vajrayogini – a Self-Initiation Manual.

The Vajrayogini tsog offering is commonly done daily during a Vajrayogini retreat. Generally, tsog offering is done on dakini days on the Tibetan calendar 10th and 25th.

By popular request, a new Six-Session Guru Yoga is created featuring Tibetan phonetics. The English-only translation is also available for download as a bundle with the new edition.

Updates

The following Vajrayogini sadhanas suitable for daily practice have been updated:

• Vajrayogini Short Sadhana – Lama Zopa Rinpoche Practice Series

Based on Phabongkha Dechen Nyingpo’s text and arranged according to the instructions of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, it is part of the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Practice Series, a special collection of practice materials that serves to present and preserve Rinpoche’s lineage of practice, oral instructions, and translations.

• A Short Daily Practice of Venerable Vajrayogini Naro Khechari

The original short sadhana of the deity, composed by Phabongkha Dechen Nyingpo.

• A Clear Arrangement of the Abbreviated Way to Meditate on the Quick Path to Great Bliss – Middle Length Vajrayogini Sadhana

An abbreviated version of the long sadhana containing the elements of all the eleven yogas.

• The Quick Path to Great Bliss – Long Vajrayogini Sadhana

This long sadhana is traditionally restricted to those who have received an oral commentary on the text. Students who have received permission from their lamas, or the blessing initiation of Vajrayogini from Lama Zopa Rinpoche, may read and practice this sadhana without any further requirements.

Please browse the full catalog of our practice materials.

Foundation Store Resources

You can order printed copies of selected Foundation Store titles through Amazon’s print-on-demand service in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the USA. In the item description, click the link for the Amazon marketplace closest to you. The Foundation Store also offers a selection of prayers and practices available for 1-click download.

These practices are restricted to those who have completed the 100,000-mantra enabling retreat (lerung) of Vajrayogini and the subsequent pacifying fire offering. If you are unsure whether you are qualified or not, please email us at education@fpmt.org. 

Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.

The Power of Mandala: Creating and Offering the Universe, a new book by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Wisdom publication, 2026.

Drawing on traditional Buddhist cosmology, Lama Zopa Rinpoche guides readers through visualizing the whole universe as a mandala and offering it to the merit field. The book gives detailed instructions for the long thirty-seven-heap mandala and the short seven-heap mandala. It also explains the outer, inner, secret, and absolute mandala offerings. A prayer for offering the three poisons is included, and the book emphasizes dedicating the merit to the enlightenment of all sentient beings.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche stresses that the visualization should be clear and extensive. In an extract from the book, he shares Lama Tsongkhapa’s concise advice on mandala offering: “clear and many.” He explains that when we visualize the mandala clearly and multiply the offerings in our imagination, we accumulate extensive merit.

The book is illustrated with full-color photographs of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe with students, images of mandalas and mandala sets, and diagrams showing the different parts of the practice.

A Special Discount

Wisdom Publications is offering students 20% off The Power of Mandala through November 10. Use the code MANDALA20 at checkout. The book is available in paperback and an ebook.

You can read the extract, “Clear and Many,” on the Wisdom Experience website.

Take a look inside the book: The Power of Mandala: Title Page and Contents.

Find out more and order your copy from Wisdom Publications.

Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service. 

One hundred Buddha statues were offered to His Holiness the Dalai Lama on October 17, 2026. Photo courtesy of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

[I would like] for FPMT to offer service to His Holiness the Dalai Lama as much as possible and to be able to fulfill His Holiness’s wishes. This is the highest priority for the organization.—Lama Zopa Rinpoche

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the greatest source of inspiration for FPMT and a vital force in preserving and spreading the Dharma. In his praise of His Holiness, Lama Zopa Rinpoche emphasized the importance of His Holiness’s role in ensuring the continuation of the Buddha’s teachings, which offer the medicine to heal the suffering caused by delusions and negative karma.

His Holiness, in turn, praised Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s unwavering dedication to serving the Buddha’s teachings and all sentient beings, highlighting the importance of combining our efforts in this shared mission.

The offering builds on previous milestones of the Offering Buddha Statues to His Holiness the Dalai Lama Project:

• In 2020, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered 1,000 Buddha statues to His Holiness.
• In 2023, a further 1,000 statues were offered during a long life puja for His Holiness.
• In 2025, another 100 statues were offered during the long life puja celebrating His Holiness’’s ninetieth birthday.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama receives the offering of Buddha statues at his residence in Dharamsala, India, on October 17, 2026. Photo courtesy of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Through the power of these holy objects, all who see or come into contact with them have the opportunity to purify negativities and accumulate merit. Each statue is crafted individually from the very beginning. Rather than purchasing finished statues, each Buddha is carefully created as an offering and a spiritual practice in itself.

His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama with Dale Davis, FPMT, Inc. board member, Dharamsala, October 17, 2026. Photo courtesy of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

These offerings are made on behalf of the entire FPMT organization and all the kind benefactors whose support makes this work possible. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone involved, including the donors, volunteers, and the communities at Kopan Monastery and Tushita Meditation Centre, who help bring this project to completion year after year.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, McLeod Ganj, India, 2008. Photo courtesy of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

We are especially happy that through these ongoing offerings we are continuing to fulfill Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Vision for FPMT. Rejoicing in what has been accomplished, we are already preparing to begin creating the next 100 statues that will be offered in 2027.

Please enjoy this short video from this year’s offering, showing the statues and His Holiness’s arrival.

If you would like to support next year’s offerings, please visit the Offering Buddha Statues to His Holiness the Dalai Lama Project page to learn more.

To help ensure grants like this continue toward holy objects, all are welcome to offer a donation of any amount to the Holy Object Fund. 

The News Roundup is a digest of short community highlights from FPMT centers and individuals around the world, as part of our ongoing effort to nourish the “family feeling” and bring back the “News Around the World”  and “News in Brief” sections previously featured in the print Mandala magazine that so many of us have missed! This list of stories is not exhaustive, —just a sample of all the great activities happening in the FPMT family worldwide. Please also stay tuned for our upcoming roundup of beneficial activities around the world undertaken on Lhabab Duchen (November 1) which we will share soon. 

We hope that reading these highlights will inspire you to rejoice in the family feeling and good works happening in our global FPMT community!  If you would like to share photos or details from your center, we would be happy to include them in the upcoming edition.

Holy Objects | Prayers & Practices | Milestones | Compassion in Action | Interfaith | Community | International FPMT Family

Holy Objects

Artist Sonam restoring holy statues at O.Sel.Ling Centro de Retiros. Photo courtesy of the O.Sel.Ling Centro de Retiros Facebook page.

(Spain) O.Sel.Ling Centro de Retiros is hosting the artist Sonam, who has come from Nalanda Monastery in France to restore several of the statues in the gompa! We rejoice in this offering of skill to the holy objects of O.Sel.Ling.

(US) Kadampa Center is rejoicing in the work being done on its stupa! Thanks to many volunteers, as well as artist Jampal Lama and project lead Trina Smith, the center has almost completed the repainting of this beautiful and sacred object. 

(US) We rejoice with Vajrapani Institute in celebrating forty years of its beautiful Enlightenment Stupa. We are grateful to everyone who has helped bring stupas around the world to life, contributing to the realization of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Vision!

(US) At Shantideva Center last summer, Geshe Tenley noticed that some of the statues’ faces were worn or damaged and cautioned that it was not auspicious to let them stay that way. The center was fortunate to have an experienced Tibetan artist, Sonam Rinzin, who used real gold to restore the faces of the altar’s large central Buddha and several of the smaller ones. In addition, he opened the eyes of a couple of other statues. Congratulations to Shantideva Center on the completed restoration! 

Map showing the locations where Rinpoche’s relics are enshrined in French Polynesia. Photo courtesy of the Naropa Meditation Center Facebook page.

(French Polynesia) The Naropa Meditation Center on October 8 participated in the global Black Guru Rinpoche Statues Project, an initiative of Tibetan Buddhism, initially founded by Kathok Moktsa Rinpoche, to contribute to eradicating disasters, resolving conflicts, and promoting peace in the world. Here is the map of the sites where Rinpoche’s relics are enshrined in French Polynesia. These relics contain relics, texts, amrita pills, and more. We rejoice with Naropa Meditation Center and everyone who participated in this magnificent project in French Polynesia and around the globe.

Prayers & Practice

Long-life puja for Geshe Doga. Photo courtesy of the Tara Institute Facebook page.

(Australia) Tara Institute has been offering a puja of long life for Geshe Doga since 1998. The tradition began following a request for advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche when Geshe-la was in the hospital experiencing back and leg pain. Rinpoche advised that there were no obstacles to Geshela’s health, but recommended that Tara Institute offer the Sixteen Arhats Puja five times, with more than 500 sets of offerings.  This year, thirty-nine sangha members and more than 200 people gathered for this auspicious occasion. In preparation for the puja, Tara Institute invited students to undertake the White Tara sadhana and mantra recitation over the six weeks leading up to the occasion. In all, twenty-six students participated, completing an extraordinary 815,960 mantra recitations. 

One-day Chenrezig retreat led by Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi at Amitabha Buddhist Centre. Photo courtesy of Amitabha Buddhist Centre’s Facebook page.

(Singapore) Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi at Amitabha Buddhist Centre in led two special practices in October. On October 17, he enabled participants to deepen their Dharma practice and cultivate greater compassion through the blessings of Chenrezig. The one-day retreat consisted of a Chenrezig sadhana practice, guided meditations, and mantra recitations. On October 24–25, during the Medicine Buddha Healing Festival at the center, Khen Rinpoche led long pujas together with the Sangha from Kopan Monastery, who arrived earlier to prepare for the weekend. On Saturday, participants offered a Medicine Buddha puja with 1,000 offerings, followed by a White Mahakala puja, and on Sunday a White Umbrella Deity puja. Students gathered to pray for peace, their loved ones, and all sentient beings.

(India) Tushita Meditation Centre was honored and delighted that His Eminence Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche accepted the request to give the Vajrasattva Jenang on October 22. We rejoice with the Tushita Meditation Centre and everyone who received this precious transmission.

(India) The entire monastic community of the Sera Jey Monastery has united to mark the anniversary of a historic milestone for Tibet and global peace: on October 17, 2007, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama was honored with the United States Congressional Gold Medal. In a joint statement, the Abbot, former Abbots, Tulkus, Chief Disciplinary Master, Chant Master, Administration, Heads of Departments, and Khangtsens, alongside the member monks, conveyed their collective joy on this memorable occasion. The prestigious medal was bestowed in deep recognition of the Dalai Lama’s outstanding and enduring contributions to peace, non-violence, human rights, and interfaith understanding, as well as his unwavering leadership in promoting democracy, freedom, and peace for the Tibetan people. For the Sera Jey community, the anniversary serves as a profound moment to reflect on His Holiness’s lifelong message of universal responsibility and compassion, which continues to inspire millions across the globe.

(Canada) Lama Yeshe Ling Centre continues its commitment to peace in our world by reciting the Sutra of Golden Light on the first Saturday of every month. On Saturday, October 3, students met on Zoom once again, helping to fulfill the wishes of Lama Zopa Rinpoche to create the causes for peace in our world and in our own lives. In Australia, too, the Tara Institute’s students are continuing their Friday evening group recitations of the sutra, in person and online, and have now reached a total of 3,116 recitations. 

Milestones

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama granted an audience to Australian FPMT students and Geshe Phuntsok Tsultrim. Photo courtesy of Tibet.Net’s Facebook page.

(India) On October 14, His Holiness the Dalai Lama welcomed more than 280 devotees at his residence in Dharamshala, including a pilgrimage group of around 165 organized by Chenrezig Institute in Australia. Many members of FPMT centers in Australia were present, along with Chenrezig Institute’s resident teacher, Geshe Phuntsok Tsultrim; board member, Calvin Yu, Miffi Maxmillion, SPC of Langri Tangpa Centre; and Iwona, Alex, and Jim from Buddha House. During the audience, Geshe Phuntsok Tsultrim offered His Holiness 135 long-life Lama Tsongkhapa statues, along with prayers for his long and healthy life. You are welcome to watch the video here.

(Australia) Hayagriva Buddhist Centre has announced that Geshe Ngawang Rabga, a lharampa geshe (the highest grade) of Sera Jey Monastery and former resident geshe at Root Institute in Bodhgaya, will join the center as its new resident geshe. We rejoice with Hayagriva Buddhist Centre in welcoming Geshe Ngawang Rabga! 

(Australia) Hayagriva Buddhist Centre member Wayne Tinlin is volunteering at Project 108, together with some 40,000 other volunteers, to raise 108 Stupas of Enlightenment in a single day in Bhutan. 

(Australia) François Schick is continuing his Buddhist pilgrimage on the new Stupa Walk, an 808-mile (1,300-kilometer) route from the Australian Buddhist Vihara in Katoomba, one of Australia’s first established Buddhist monasteries, to the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, which he expects to reach by mid-December.

(Australia) Congratulations to Tara Institute, which, thanks to generous sponsors, has made the teachings given by Venerable Geshe Doga at Tara Institute in 1988 available once again,  releasing a new booklet featuring the teachings on the Ganden Lha Gyama Commentary and Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga, edited and compiled by Mark Fernandes, with the Tibetan source material translated by Sandup Tsering. The booklet was launched on October 10, giving students the opportunity to study and practice this profound material.

(France) Congratulations to Nalanda Monastery for obtaining approval for its renovation project of the barn at the retreat center, Maitreya Pure Land, to create a space for hosting group or solitary retreats at reasonable cost. They plan to begin the renovation in 2027 and complete the work before the end of 2028.

(Spain) Congratulations to Tekchen Chöeling Center! This month marks one year since the center moved. A year of work, perseverance, and joy; also, of course, of overcoming obstacles.  The center looks forward to continuing growing and contributing to the world as a place of personal growth, peace, understanding, and love, so necessary in these times. Thank you to Tekchen Chöeling Center and to all the FPMT centers in the world for your incredible efforts to benefit all!

Compassion in Action

Animal rescue organized by FPMT Mongolia. Photo courtesy of FPMT Mongolia’s Facebook page.

(Mongolia) On October 6, the Great Khulna Preservation Center, thanks to the donations received for its animal rescue efforts, rescued 18 more sheep, bringing the total number of sheep to 120. In accordance with the vision of Lama Zopa Rinpoche for Mongolia, all these aged sheep, goats, horses, and cows will be herded and fed until the end of this generation, and all donations are dedicated solely to this cause. We deeply rejoice in the merit of this animal rescue effort!

(Australia) Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha Hospice on October 18 presented the South Australia Death Festival, a warm, community-led gathering about what it means to be human. For one day, it opened a space to explore death, dying, grief, and remembrance with honesty, creativity, and compassion. We rejoice in this compassionate space for the whole community.

(UK)  Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW) this autumn announced the launch of A Mindful Heart, a comprehensive twelve-session downloadable course designed specifically for facilitators, teachers, session leaders, and anyone who brings groups together in their community. Inspired by Pam Cayton’s Creating Compassionate Cultures program, this toolkit equips educators, community leaders, and mindfulness teachers to guide transformative journeys of inner growth. We look forward to seeing how these tools help create safe, trusting spaces for genuine connection in our communities.

Interfaith

Members of the Nelson Tasman Interfaith Council, the Nelson-Tasman Bahá’í, Latter-day Saints, and Zen Buddhist communities, and the sangha of Chandrakirti Meditation Centre gather for an interfaith event. Photo courtesy of Chandrakirti Meditation Centre’s Facebook page.

(New Zealand) Chandrakirti Meditation Centre on October 17 held an interfaith gathering and celebration to come together in prayer, song, and shared intention to celebrate our common humanity, and to extend compassion, healing, and peace to all beings and to the world. They were joined by the Nelson Tasman Interfaith Council and members of the Nelson-Tasman Bahá’í, Latter-day Saints, and Zen Buddhist communities. The center is very grateful to have shared this celebration with everyone who attended!

“Buddhist Relics and Cultural Relics Exhibition and Blessing Ceremony” at Taichung Guangyang Dazang Temple. Photo courtesy of Shakyamuni Buddha Center’s Facebook page.

(Taiwan) Shakyamuni Buddha Center monks on October 5, joined the Dhananjayagupta, Nibbana monks at the Taichung Guangyang Dazang Temple for the “Buddhist Relics and Cultural Relics Exhibition and Blessing Ceremony.” We rejoice in this shared celebration of the Buddha’s relics.

Phara Khenchen Rinpoche and representatives of the Land of Joy volunteer team meet with Theravada monks at Aruna Ratanagiri (Harnham Buddhist Monastery). Photo courtesy of the Land of Joy Facebook page.

(UK) Phara Khenchen Rinpoche and representatives of the Land of Joy volunteers met on October 9 with the Theravada monks of Aruna Ratanagiri (Harnham Buddhist Monastery), a monastery in the Thai Forest tradition and part of the lineage of Ajahn Chah. Visits like this are a reminder that the Buddha’s teachings flow through many streams. Different traditions share the same aspiration to wisdom and compassion.

Community

Community visit to the Asian Civilisations Museum with Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi, organized by Amitabha Buddhist Centre. Photo courtesy of the Amitabha Buddhist Centre Facebook page.

(Singapore) Amitabha Buddhist Centre organized a visit to the Asian Civilisations Museum with Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi on October 4, focused on the Journey to the Sacred Caves of Dunhuang: Buddhism and the Silk Road exhibition. A unique community opportunity to learn more about Buddhist history, art, and the spread of Buddhism across Asia.

(Malaysia) Losang Dragpa Centre started on October 4 a regular lamrim study group to study and reflect on the teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche compiled in the book Lamrim Year: Making Life Meaningful Day by Day. We rejoice that they are helping to fulfill Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s wishes wishes: “The lamrim contains everything we need to take us all the way to the ultimate state of enlightenment.” 

(Romania) White Mahakala Study Group volunteers, after completing the stupa, are working hard on the final mile, building the gates of the land and the walls in the attic for the first visit to Romania of His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche. A big thank you to all the donors, supporters, and volunteers!

(US) Thubten Kunga Ling Center offered a new one-day seminar, “Volunteer Service,” based on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s vast vision of cultivating “service as practice”. The volunteers explored with Venerable Kalden how offering service can benefit ourselves, others, and ultimately the wider world. We rejoice in all the people interested in offering service as part of their practice!

(US) Land of Medicine Buddha just finished the series “Parenting with Compassion and Wisdom,” led by Pam Cayton and following the framework developed over 35 years at Tara Redwood School inspired by Lama Thubten Yeshe’s vision of Universal Education, based on ancient wisdom and contemporary science. We rejoice with all the parents and kids who took part!

International FPMT Family 

GMR Group, Dharamsala, India, October 2026. Photo courtesy of the Global Mani Retreat Group.

(International) On October 17, FPMT Global Mani Retreat (GMR) Coordinator Selina Foong and members of the GMR team had the privilege of meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama to offer him 100 Buddha statues. We are grateful to the entire GMR team led by Selina Foong for their tremendous efforts in organizing this global online retreat. 

October 25, Khandro Tseringma Rinpoche offered a major teaching for the Global Mani Retreat (GMR) on “How to Generate Chenrezig in Daily Life.”

On Sunday, October 25, Khandro Tseringma Rinpoche offered a major teaching on “How to Generate Chenrezig in Daily Life.” The Global Mani Retreat concluded on Sunday, November 1, following five months of practice together. A closing session celebrating this shared effort will be held on Saturday, November 7, with His Eminence Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche kindly joining us for the occasion. The session will also include the announcement of the total number of mantras collectively accumulated during the retreat.  Discover more about the Global Mani Retreat.

We Want to Hear Your Story! 

These highlights are sourced from the social media, newsletters, annual reports, websites, and WhatsApp groups of FPMT centers, projects, and services. If you would like to share your news and highlights with the wider FPMT family, we would be so happy to hear from you! 

In addition to these highlights, please also read longer community news stories and news from around the world!

Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.

Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Tom Vichta, Kathy Vichta, and baby Goodie. Yeshe Khadro and Ann McNeil also appear in the photos. Mooloolaba, Australia, 1974. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

Kathy, Tom, and Baby Goodie on Their Road to Kopan

Lama Yeshe used to say that we should really be grateful to the Chinese because they were the condition for Tibetan Buddhism to leave its isolation in Tibet and spread far and wide, even to this remote area of Australia. An interesting thought and one that could be discussed for a long time. But really, I think the best thing for me to talk about is my own experience of how Buddhism, or more specifically the Tibetan Buddhism taught by my teachers, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, was planted and nourished outside India and Nepal, the countries the Tibetan refugees had, for the most part, fled to from 1959 onwards.

In late 1969, my husband Tom and I escaped from Melbourne and its busy city life for a more natural country life. We found a run-down property in Diamond Valley on the Mooloolah River, where we set ourselves up to grow food, build a house, and raise a family. Many people visited wanting to do the same thing, but for most it was impossible because of the land prices, and they went home disappointed. Tom and a friend found 140 acres (about 57 hectares) of land in Yandina (a town nearby), and were able to divide it into fourteen different sized plots and sell it to fourteen happy people at $100 per acre — thus Starlight Community was born and more than fifty years later it is still running.

Two friends, Nick Ribush and Marie Obst (later Ven. Yeshe Khadro), used to visit from Brisbane on weekends, and one day Nick and Tom went off in their beach buggies through the bush and ended up at a lovely property with a view to the sea. They thought this would be a good place to try the same process that had worked so well at Starlight Community. A farmer walked by, who just happened to own the land, which was 160 acres (about 65 hectares), and when they asked if he wanted to sell it and, if so, how much he’d like for it, it turned out they had enough to buy it, together… and a couple of days later they did. The land didn’t turn out to be quite as easy to divide in the same way as Tom had been able to do in Yandina, and soon Nick and Marie were planning an overseas trip, which would eventually take them through Indonesia and Thailand to Nepal and Kopan Monastery. That was in 1972; we had a young baby, Goodie, and life was very full and happy.

Third Kopan Meditation Course Participants. Nepal. December 1972. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

So… Nick and Marie arrived at Kopan just in time for the third course (November 1972) that two amazing Tibetan Lamas had started to offer to Western students, and decided to stay. During that course Nick began writing enthusiastic letters to friends in Australia, telling them they must come immediately to Nepal — it was the most important thing they could do! We received our letter in Sydney as we were travelling south in our Kombi with baby Goodie, and, quite frankly, it seemed there was no choice — Nick was persuasive, but also it felt as if this was fate… it was something we were supposed to do. Tom had been in Kathmandu in about 1966–67 and already felt some affinity with the Tibetan monks he saw there.

We headed to Canberra, had the baby added to our passports, and planned how to get to Nepal, the cheapest route being via Indonesia, Thailand, and India, with a side trip to Nepal from there. The journey was not easy. Goodie turned one in Indonesia, and I managed to pick up bacterial dysentery along the way, but we made it into Kathmandu — and amazingly ran into friends from Melbourne that first day. Nick’s letters had brought about twelve friends and his lovely mother, Beatrice Ribush, to Nepal to do the next course at Kopan, in April 1973.

I personally had no plan to attend the course  — I had a baby to care for, after all — and really no interest in taking on a spiritual path; Tom had always been interested in spiritual questions and had investigated Buddhism. I set myself up for a month near Boudhanath stupa in a house Max Matthews had lived in, planning to visit Kopan from time to time and have a peaceful month in relative comfort. Almost immediately, there was some kind of currency crisis, and the Nepalese banks stopped changing Australian dollars — and that was all we had! The only place I could afford to stay and eat was Kopan Monastery, where they accepted our Australian money. So, I headed up to ask for help, and it was as if they knew I was coming. Tom had found a little house (actually an upstairs room above where the animals were kept in a little mud-brick house belonging to a Nepalese family). Another lady at Kopan had a little boy about the same age as Goodie, and she had already arranged a Nepali babysitter, so… I had no excuse not to attend the course (although I was excused from the 4:30 a.m. precept sessions).

Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught long sessions about lamrim twice a day, and the approximately 180 students were pretty supportive for the most part, but Kopan was hard going for a Western girl with a baby, no running water, no electricity, and food that was probably quite good, but not suitable for a feeding mother with a colicky child. Goodie was quite ill twice with gastroenteritis, and when I eventually took her down to the hospital outside Kathmandu, I had so little money I had to choose between staying to wait for her tests, or getting transport back to Kopan. That evening I sat in the little library room at Kopan feeling quite miserable, but a tap on the door revealed Lama Yeshe peering in, asking if he could help. I cried and told him what was going on, and he cuddled Goodie and told me to just give her black tea for a couple of days and let her eat some biscuits he blessed and gave me — simple sugar tea biscuits…Of course, Goodie was better almost immediately. Goodie met Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the age of one at Kopan and remained quite close with them when she was small. There is a lovely story Lama Yeshe told (and then it was retold many times, much to my daughter’s embarrassment). He said that one day, when they were eating lunch together, Goodie interrupted Lama to tell him not to speak with his mouth full, that she couldn’t understand him and she could see the food in his mouth. Lama thought this was fabulous: a little child (I think she was three at the time) teaching him something that was actually a vinaya instruction.

Soon I went back to attending Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings, and with Lama Yeshe’s blessing, the teachings came alive for me! I remember we were hearing about the qualities of the Buddha, and I really saw that for me Lama Yeshe WAS a Buddha.

So, we finished the one-month course, took refuge with Lama Yeshe and received our Buddhist names, and we attended our first initiation without knowing much about what was going on, except that it had something to do with Chenrezig…

Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche arriving at Maroochydore airport, welcomed by Tom and Kathy Vichta. Queensland, Australia, 1974. Photo by Wendy Hobbs. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

Bringing the Dharma to Australia: Peace, Love, and the Lamas’ Teachings by the River

Tom Vichta at Chenrezig Institute, August 1976. Photo courtesy of Chenrezig Institute.

We travelled a little more and went home exhausted, but wanting to continue to follow the path we had found. Tom, in particular, wanted to learn more and to see whether this Eastern wisdom would relate to the Western lifestyle. He returned to Nepal alone for the fifth course in November 1973 and really got into it.

After the course, Lama Yeshe sent him off to Tushita Meditation Center in Dharamsala for a retreat in his own cabin there, and then he travelled to Bodhgaya to meet up with the group coming from Kopan for teachings and Kalachakra Initiation with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It became very important to Tom to check whether these Buddhist teachings would be applicable in Western life. It was during those special days in Bodhgaya that Tom asked Lama Yeshe to come to Australia and was quite surprised when Lama Yeshe immediately said, “Give me a ticket, dear, and I’ll come!”

Lama Yeshe arriving at Maroochydore airport, welcomed by Kathy Vichta. Queensland, Australia, 1974. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

I hadn’t heard from Tom for ages, but then, in mid-January, I received a phone call at the friend’s place where I was staying in Brisbane — an excited call from Varanasi. Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche were coming to Australia in August 1974, and we were to organise a Kopan-style meditation course in September!

Chenrezig Institute, Australia, 1975. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

We lived on a farm in the bush five miles (about eight kilometers) from the nearest very small town (with a river that often flooded our road, keeping us in or out). We had electricity, but of course there were no computers in those days, no emails… and we had no phone and quite frankly no money. Tom had sold our second car to be able to go back to Kopan the second time. We had to go to the local post office to receive or make a phone call. And yet, once Tom arrived home, we started planning. Across the river from our farm was a lovely big flat paddock next to a beautiful clear river — cow pasture, quite lush and green. We called it Magic Valley (because lots of magic mushrooms grew there). Tom approached the local family who leased it from a timber company to run their cattle there, and asked if we could use it for a month. Amazingly, with a few instructions about leaving it the way we found it, they agreed!

The circus tent, later the gompa, hired at Diamond Valley. The lamas taught their first retreat in Australia at Diamond Valley in southeast Queensland, August 1974. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

It was the decade of pop festivals, and really the plans started that way. We built simple cabins for Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the hill. We hired a huge circus tent — big enough to hold two hundred people or more — and another, smaller army tent to use as a field kitchen, and made arrangements for providing vegetarian meals for up to 200 people, grinding our own soy coffee and having a local baker provide hundreds of healthy rolls a day. The portable toilets of the ’70s were somewhat more primitive than today’s portaloos, but these were hired and placed in a row in the valley, as well as a tin shed which served as office and shop (and my sleeping quarters from time to time). There was no power on the site and everyone brought (or even built) their own accommodation. We truly had no experience and very little money and yet somehow it came together.

Ven. Yeshe Khadro came ahead early and helped us get ready, especially to prepare the text which Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Nick Ribush had put together for Kopan courses and that we printed for the people coming to Diamond Valley using the ‘Roneo Machine’ at the local school.

The kitchen/dining area, Chenrezig Institute, Australia 1975. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

Without a phone or social media or much advertising, somehow the word got out, and by the end of August, around two hundred people made their way to Diamond Valley to camp in the bush, wash in the river and sit in a tent listening to teachings that most of them knew nothing about for a whole month! People volunteered to help cook and clean, and one amazing man even came every day with his four-wheel drive and trailer, to remove the “buckets” from the toilets! So incredibly kind! After a quick trip to the US and some time in Melbourne, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche finally landed in the tiny Maroochydore airport in Queensland at the end of August 1974, with a tall Canadian nun called Ann McNeil, in time to start the first–ever lamrim course in the West, in Diamond Valley, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. They were met by people who had come early to help with the preparations, a group that included people who are still involved today, like Colin Crosbie (a previous director who is still living at the Institute and currently chairs the executive committee), Krissie and Garrey Foulkes (another previous director), and Elli and Lindsay Pratt (yet another previous director who lives nearby). They were greeted at the valley by others, many of whom had met them at Kopan and were to go on to open centers in other parts of Australia.

Lama Yeshe at Chenrezig Institute, Australia, 1975. Photo courtesy of Chenrezig Institute.

After a few frantic, incredibly busy days, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche settled into the rather primitive rooms that had been built for them on the hillside, the kitchen started providing nourishing meals, and we all settled into many hours of teachings and meditations in the tent.

Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Tom Vichta, Chenrezig Institute, Australia, 1974. Photo of Wendy Hobbs. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche would teach lamrim from the text that had been prepared, The Wishfulfilling Golden Sun, twice a day, and Anila Ann McNeil would lead discussions and meditations. Then, when people were feeling a little overwhelmed — like they couldn’t take any more — Lama Yeshe would come to give a special talk and have us all in stitches, inspired and happy, and able to go on!

I found it all very full-on, with a two–year-old at my feet, and begged my mother for help. She very kindly came up from Melbourne to look after Goodie for over two weeks, bearing the primitive living remarkably well. A British monk, Phra Khantipalo, who had spent twelve years in Thailand, was staying with us, and it was quite an advantage for him to be able to drop in for a cuppa and explain a little about Buddhism to my Presbyterian Scottish mother. She loved the lamas, of course, especially Lama Yeshe, but found them quite difficult to comprehend. Even Tom’s mother dropped in with a partner, and they parked their caravan in the valley for a few days — and were similarly delighted by dear Lama.

Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Yeshe Khadro and Ann McNeil, blessing the prayer-flag pole, Chenrezig Institute, Australia, 1976. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

Moving Forward: Building the First FPMT Center 

Construction of the gompa at Chenrezig Institute, 1975. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

About two–thirds of the way through the course, Ann McNeil called a big meeting in the tent to see what people wanted to do after the course. A great number said they really wanted to continue to learn and practise what Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche had been offering them so generously; they wanted something to continue after Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche had left. Three pieces of land were suggested — our own farm in Diamond Valley, a property near Maleny, and the 160 acres (about 65 hectares) in Eudlo that Tom and Nick had found in 1972. Money was pledged and we started to think in earnest about how to move forwards. Lama Yeshe was quite definite that it would not be on our farm — that was our home, and the Institute would be HIS! He checked carefully with one of His Holiness’s tutors, Trijang Rinpoche. Then Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited the Eudlo land that Tom and I (and Nick and Ven. Yeshe Khadro) had offered. At that stage it was an unused dairy farm, with no access or facilities but a great view of the sea. Tom was feeling very uncomfortable that this was not such an appropriate place, but Lama Yeshe noticed his discomfort and, with a big hug, assured him it was absolutely perfect.

Lamas and students walking to the land, Eudlo. Australia, 1974. Photo Courtesy of Kathy Vichta.

At the end of the course, in September 1974, students walked a few kilometers along the river and up to the new land with Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche (others made the precarious drive in with tables and cushions and tsog). On the lawn where Nick and Tom had first decided to buy the 160 acres (about 65 hectares) of bushland, on the spot where the Chenrezig Gompa now stands, a moving puja was offered by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche accompanied by our visiting Theravadin monk Phra Khantipalo. The land was consecrated and blessed and named “Chenrezig Institute for Wisdom Culture.” Lama explained that,  just as a culture is used to turn milk into yogurt, the wisdom taught at the Institute would be the catalyst for Buddhism to grow and bless countless beings. Many years later I was asked to transcribe a talk that Lama Yeshe had given about what a country center should be like. It was as if he was describing Chenrezig Institute: a little difficult to access, distant from towns, an expansive view, peaceful surroundings, with room to develop a diverse community, etc.

Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Phra Kantipalo, a Theravadin monk , during the consecration puja of the Chenrezig Insitute, 1974. Photo Courtesy of Chenrezig Institute.

At the beginning we just worked day by day, happily following Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s wishes. Honestly, I usually felt that we were just following a natural path laid out by our teachers and didn’t think of the “bigger picture” very much. But Lama Yeshe told us to plan for a long time — I don’t remember if it was fifty or five hundred years, but to us, in our early twenties, it seemed very long. In retrospect, years later, we could see that there were centers growing all over the world and that was exciting and inspiring!

Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the entrance of the gompa with Ven. Ann McNeil, Ven. Max Mathews, and Dr. Nick Ribush. Chenrezig Institute, 1975. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

To her surprise, after the consecration of the land, which would become Chenrezig Institute, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche announced that Anila Ann McNeil would stay to help establish the new Institute, and we all sadly said goodbye to Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche…

Anila Ann and a group of the Diamond Valley students stayed on with us at Diamond Valley at first. The group planned and meditated together and went up to the land to clear and plant as often as they could. First they managed to build a small hut where the old farmhouse had originally stood. After some time Anila Ann announced that she simply had to move up to the property or it would never really get going. So, in January of 1975, she moved in, together with a student who arrived on the road as we were taking her up there: Eion Meades, the first resident! Tom and the others staying with us still went up every day on Tom’s trusty tractor, and gradually things started to grow. 

Tom Vichta with Elli Pratt, Nigel, and Yana Bowen at the first open-air office at Chenrezig Institute, set up for the first course, 1975. Photo courtesy of Chenrezig Institute.

Miraculously, by May 1975, the gompa had been built… The land, high on the slopes, was in danger of slipping, so it was decided to build on secure brick piers. Inside, on a large wooden floor (lovely hardwood bought from the local Eudlo mill), posts made from trees cut on the property held up a soaring roof, and the back wall was completed with small rooms built in on each side. It was an amazing feat. All the materials, including huge beams, joists, and rafters, had been carried by hand up the hill from the only area a truck could access — carried by many hands. When everyone was getting concerned about their lack of building experience, Steve, a long-haired builder, walked up the road offering to help; these kinds of things happened often.

Lama Yeshe thanking Tom Vichta, 1975. Photo coutesy of Chenrezig Institute.

At first, with a small child, I was not so closely involved in the day-to-day happenings. Of course, when Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche came to Queensland I found a way to be with them as much as possible, but Tom was the one who worked with Anila Ann McNeil and really got the Institute going. To raise funds for the Institute, I started small businesses, things I could do at home with Goodie at my feet: first, a clothing business, because people didn’t have comfortable clothes for sitting in meditation, which developed into a huge range of clothes and accessories; then the sale of second–hand gorgeous jackets and kimonos sent by a student who had moved to Japan; and, most successfully, porcelain wind chimes that I designed and made, block printed with Tibetan symbols and mantras. Years later we would see these in homes all across Australia and the world.

Lama Yeshe, and Lama Zopa Rinpoche leading a puja. Chenrezig Institute, Australia, 1975. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

By the time Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche returned in May 1975, the gompa was ready for them to teach — roll-down blinds had been erected to keep out the wind and rain, and I still laugh when I remember the new altar being painted and brought in at the back of the gompa just in time for Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche arriving at the front. Anila Ann now moved into one of the back rooms of the gompa, and the first little cabin was made into a kitchen which, with outside areas roofed by orange builders’ plastic, fed nearly two hundred people for the four weeks of the first course at the new Institute!

Rainbow over the gompa, Chenrezig Institute, Australia, 1975. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

Under the Guidance of the Lamas 

Both Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited us often during the early years, and these were very special times when they would give many instructions about how to develop the Institute. There would be meetings with the director(s), the committees, and many of the longtime students and residents, at which the lamas gave advice about the education programs, the creation of holy objects and even the family life of students. These instructions were recorded and, although completion sometimes took many years, they were followed. We had to make development plans for the local council regularly and always tried to run major plans past Lama Zopa Rinpoche. It gave us so much more confidence in our plans.

Lama Yeshe and Yeshe Khadro with Tom and Kathy Vichta and Goodie. Chenrezig Insitute 1981. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

There would also be joyful days of fun and celebration. The children loved to perform for the lamas! Lama Zopa Rinpoche wrote a whole script around the twelve links, and it was performed to much hilarity. One year Geshe Lama Konchog tried to train a group to perform Cham dances. Costumes were sewn long into the night, and the performance was one we will always remember!

Lama Zopa Rinpoche speaking with Kathy Vichta in the gompa, Chenrezig Insitute, Australia,September 1987, Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

It was wonderful to see how people took Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice to heart and involved themselves in these projects joyfully: for example, the beautiful Namgyalma Stupa dedicated to Lama Yeshe and completed in 1992; the Twenty-one Taras statues which are now in a special Tara Shrine room under the main gompa; the very large Chenrezig thangka painted by Peter Iseli and requested by Lama Zopa Rinpoche (he was very specific with details, and he also designed and donated it to be hung on holy days and during celebrations); the glorious Garden of Enlightenment — one central stupa surrounded by seven smaller ones — where smaller stupas containing blessed ashes rest in beautiful tropical gardens, inspired by Lama Zopa Rinpoche and blessed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2011; and, most recently, in 2026, the magnificent new Thousand-Arm Chenrezig statue.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and students circumambulating Namgyalma stupa at Chenrezig Institute, 1987. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

To be perfectly honest, not everything was smooth sailing, and harmony was not always maintained as we would have hoped. Groups of people with strong energy do have disagreements from time to time. But the connection to Lama Zopa Rinpoche and FPMT was always very important. We tried to make sure Lama Zopa Rinpoche continued to visit whenever we could arrange it, inviting him very often, and praying he would come. When there were many people at the Institute who had not met Lama Zopa Rinpoche, keeping that connection was very important, and the older students worked hard to keep it strong.

Tom Vichta assembling the base of the large prayer wheel at Chenrezig Institute, 1994. Photo courtesy of Chenrezig Institute.

Teachings with Lama Zopa Rinpoche were always powerful. It was like a light shining directly into my heart. Even in those times when I really didn’t understand what he was teaching, the faith that he and Lama Yeshe were perfect teachers would mean that I would investigate not whether what he said was true, but how it was true. I can say that the most life-changing teaching I received from Lama Zopa Rinpoche is in his little book Transforming Problems into Happiness. He has taught this lojong method many times, but in the 1980s, I used to carry the early version of this little book with me and sometimes just let it fall open and take that page as my lesson for the day. So profound then and still now…

Balancing Dharma Life and Family

In late 1984, Lama Zopa Rinpoche asked me to take on the role of director. I was quite overwhelmed; I was a housewife and mother with no organisation experience, but he assured me I’d be fine, and I really loved the close connection. In 1984, Tom’s mother very unexpectedly gave us some money, and, without much deliberation, we used it to travel to Kopan to take part in the Vajrasattva retreat Ven. Gyatso was leading after the passing of Lama Yeshe. On arrival, we hired a motorbike and drove straight up to the front of the Kopan Gompa. I saw Lama Zopa Rinpoche coming out and Ven. Roger rushing out, seemingly trying to stop our meeting… It turned out that Rinpoche was actually doing the preparation for an initiation and not speaking, but he seemed to know we were coming. We were led upstairs to the roof of the old gompa (on the way stopping to meet a very young Tenzin Zopa) and sat down with Lama Lhundrup and Geshe Lama Konchog. Afterwards Ven. Roger explained that I was to be asked to be director at Chenrezig Institute — it felt like the venerable lamas on the roof were ‘checking me out’. I have always suspected that this was all set up in advance.

I remember going to my first CPMT meeting as director in 1985, being amazed and delighted by the wonderful family of students of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and the fabulous things they were already achieving all over the world!

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Kathy Vichta, Chenrezig Institute, Australia, 1991. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

I was director for about ten years and felt a very strong and precious link to Rinpoche, especially during those years. There were many times when I felt he directly answered my prayers (sometimes immediately) and “knew” exactly what I was going through. It was also beautiful that Goodie could “hang out with” Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche as she grew up, and with other wonderful lamas like Geshe Thinley, Geshe Sopa, Geshe Lama Konchog (and later his incarnation, Phuntsok Rinpoche), Lama Osel, Ribur Rinpoche, and many more. I can see that many of her beliefs have been formed by those meetings during her formative years. My husband was, of course, a great support both financially and emotionally. He often had to take over running the home and family when I went off to meetings or became so busy I would sometimes have to stay at the Institute.

Lama Yeshe with Gudrun (Goodie) Vichta, Tom and Kathy’s daughter. Chenrezig Institute 1974. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

It was interesting that my Dharma practice became much stronger during those hectic years, in spite of how busy and stressed I would sometimes become — I felt it was important to attend pujas, teachings, and special events, and to do retreats, and somehow I managed. Later, when my daughter was away studying herself and I had stopped being director, I was able to take up full-time study of the FPMT Basic Program and soon became the coordinator of the program at Chenrezig Institute, which grew in an amazing way. We were very fortunate to have an extremely learned geshe, Khensur Rinpoche Geshe Tashi Tsering, along with a very well-educated Western monk, Ven. Jampa Ignyen (who came to us after fifteen years at Sera Monastery), and a star of the FPMT Translator Program, Voula Zarpani, come together to create something very precious. Khensur Rinpoche Geshe Tashi Tsering was resident teacher at Chenrezig Institute from 1990 to 2009, when His Holiness requested him to go to Gyudmed Tantric College, first as Gegur and then abbot — a very special opportunity!

For young people who want to raise a family and stay connected to the Dharma, I can only show them the example of how to live a Dharma life as well as they can and share those values with their children. Lama Yeshe was very clear in one of the talks he gave at Chenrezig in the early days that parents should NOT neglect their children in order to attend teachings — that was their first responsibility… Lama Zopa Rinpoche has given some wonderful advice about how to care for and “educate” children, and many centers (including Chenrezig Institute) have special children’s programs.

Spreading Love and Compassion Since 1974

I could go on and on — it is now more than fifty years’ history, but what I am trying to express mostly is that the inspiration and pure teachings of our precious lamas lived on in us, and in the amazing effort of those early people and the thousands since… Through their efforts, we have been able to make our gompa, kitchen and grounds glorious, especially with the many holy objects advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche bringing inspiration to our many visitors. A monastic community has been established and supported, and we have provided a rich teaching program and accommodation and meals for many.

The physical situation, the roads, and the buildings have certainly changed. Life was very primitive at first. The property had great potential but no entry road, no electricity, no easy water supply, and of course no gompa and no accommodation. Over the next fifty years the Institute was transformed through the generous donations and incredible hard work of many hundreds of devoted students.

And that energy has continued throughout the fifty years I have been involved at Chenrezig Institute. Literally thousands of people have given their time and effort — and their donations — to enable this beautiful Institute to continue. They have attended teachings, attended and led retreats, meditated and taught meditations.

20th Anniversary celebrations at Chenrezig Institute. Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Kathy Vichta at Namgyalma stupa. September 1994. Photo Credit Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

We celebrated the twentieth anniversary in 1994 with great excitement, with teachings and pujas and the consecration of our second prayer wheel. Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught a four-week course as he had in 1974 and invited all the geshes from the region to join him in pujas, consecrations and celebration for a week afterwards. Smaller celebrations were held on the thirtieth and fortieth anniversaries (again with dear Lama Zopa Rinpoche), and then a huge celebration again on the fiftieth anniversary. I think a great way to show what wonderful development was achieved over this time is the photobook I prepared for that big fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Institute in September 2024.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the eight stupas that are part of the Garden of Enlightenment at Chenrezig Institute, Queensland, Australia, September 2014. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

All these things have been accomplished through the immeasurable blessings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. They generously gave us the teachings and encouraged us to follow them, but, so much more than that, they inspired us; they showed us their perfect example of pure, immeasurable love and compassion and their endless energy to help all sentient beings every minute of every day.

More than fifty years later, we sincerely rejoice in all the years of dedication and truly joyous effort which has brought us to this point. May all the teachers and students and centers of FPMT flourish forever!

Kathy Vichta offers a statue and a request to Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the end of the event at Chenrezig Insititute. June 2018.

With heartfelt thanks to Tom and Kathy Vichta for sharing this precious personal account.

Watch the history of Chenrezig Institute in this beautiful documentary by Ben Philipps.

Read more about The Origin of Tibetan Buddhism in Australia, a documentary made by independent filmmaker Małgorzata Ola Dobrowolska when she was volunteering at Chenrezig Institute.

The photobook of the center’s development, prepared by Kathy Vichta for the huge fiftieth anniversary celebration, can be viewed here

Discover the story of Chenrezig Institute

To read more about Chenrezig Institute, please visit FPMT’s stories and news about Chenrezig Institute.

Are you an early student of FPMT who was there at the beginning? Do you have a story to share about how you met Lama Yeshe or Lama Zopa Rinpoche or the impact they have had on your life? Have you personally achieved or actualized a request, advice, practice accomplishment, or project given to you by Lama Yeshe or Lama Zopa Rinpoche? We want to hear from you!

Please explore all of the resources we have compiled related to FPMT history. We look forward to all of your creative ideas on how to bring this year-long celebration to your own local activities and personal practices! Please use the hashtag #50YearsFPMT in your social media posts so we can all be connected in this way. 

Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation, and community service.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Stupa of Complete Victory, Kopan Monastery. 29 Octpber 2026. Photo Ven.Lhundrup Topgye

The magnificent Stupa of Complete Victory that is being built at Kopan Monastery to create the causes for the swift return of our precious and kind guru, Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, is nearing completion. We are so honored that His Eminence Ling Rinpoche will preside over its consecration in December.

On August 24, 2026, the thirteen rings, sun, and moon were placed atop the stupa following a special puja that blessed the mantras. Before installation, the mantras, special substances, and precious pills were carefully placed within each ring. Work has continued on the exterior decorations, and Buddha statues are being installed in the gompa beneath the stupa.

Special puja held on the occasion of the placement of the thirteen rings on the Stupa of Complete Victory at Kopan Monastery, August 2026.

Placing the thirteen rings, sun and moon on the stupa.

Filling each of the thirteen rings with special mantras, substances, and precious pills.

Construction began in October 2023 with a groundbreaking ceremony and prayers, and the actual building commenced in January 2024. By October 2024 the stupa had reached the vase level, and in January 2025 the many precious and holy objects were placed inside, including the Kangyur and Tengyur, the life tree positioned at the center of the stupa, forty trillion mantras inscribed on nanotechnology film, and various other sacred items. The following months were devoted to the intricate and beautiful decorations of the stupa, the gompa, and the meditation rooms below. By November 2025, some of the finest artists had undertaken extensive work on the decorations adorning every level of the stupa. The thirty-two smaller stupas that will surround the main stupa have been carved in sandstone in India and are now on their way to Kopan Monastery.

The thirteen rings rising on top of the stupa symbolize the complete path to full awakening and Buddhahood. The crowning sun and moon represent the union of wisdom and compassion, guiding practitioners on the path to enlightenment. 

Placing the ornamental frame on the stupa.

Detail of the thirteen rings, sun and moon.

Some of the beautiful ornaments adorning the Stupa of Complete Victory.

Beneath the stupa, the gompa is also taking shape. A Thousand-Armed Chenrezig statue has now been installed. This new gompa will be dedicated to special retreats and group practice.

Interior of the gompa.

Gompa beneath the stupa.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered this advice to students on the benefits of building a stupa:

“By building a stupa, without words we are continually liberating so many sentient beings. Every day, the stupa plants the seed of enlightenment and purifies anybody who sees, touches, remembers, talks or dreams about the stupa. This includes insects that touch the stupa. The stupa is meaningful to behold, and it liberates many sentient beings, insects and humans, every day.

“When the wind touches a stupa—especially if it has the four dharmakaya relics inside—the wind becomes blessed. Then, wherever the wind goes and whoever it touches, it liberates them from the lower realms, by purifying their negative karma. When rain falls on the stupa, that water liberates any being it touches—all the worms in the ground etc, are liberated from the lower realms. It is similar with dust.

“We can build stupas to inspire people without even teaching Dharma. However many hundreds and billions of years the holy object lasts, it continues to liberate many sentient beings every day, freeing them from the lower realms, causing them to actualize the path, liberating them from samsara and bringing them to enlightenment. After we die, even if we are in another universe, in the hell realms or a pure land, wherever we are, the stupa that we built or helped to build, is continually benefiting sentient beings. It is incredible how we can continually benefit sentient beings by building a stupa.“

Enjoy this video of circumambulating the stupa:

We sincerely thank everyone who has worked, and is still working, to actualize the stupa: the kind donors, and the sangha, architects, engineers, construction workers and artists for all their hard work.

May the merit created through this collective effort contribute to the swift return of our precious Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the fulfillment of all his vast wishes for sentient beings, and the flourishing of the Dharma throughout the world. 

We are joyfully looking forward to the consecration of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s stupa at Kopan Monastery on December 11 and of the memorial stupa dedicated to Khensur Rinpoche Lhundrup Rigsel at Kopan Nunnery on December 14.

Please read more about the holy objects supported through the Holy Objects Fund and Lama Zopa Rinpoche Stupa of Complete Victory.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khandro Tsering Kunga Bum-ma on Lhabab Duchen offering puja at Swayambhunath Stupa, Nepal, October 2021.

On November 1, we celebrate Lhabab Duchen, one of the four great holy days in the Buddhist calendar, commemorating the day the Buddha Shakyamuni descended to Earth from the God Realm of the Thirty-Three after teaching the Dharma to the gods and his mother, Mayadevi, who died seven days after his birth and was reborn there. It is a day that reminds us of the Buddha’s great compassion and kindness, and offers a powerful opportunity to create virtue and dedicate merit for the welfare of all beings.

For many practitioners, Lhabab Duchen is a time for reflection, gratitude, and rejoicing in the countless acts of loving-kindness, generosity, and Dharma activity taking place around the world. According to Buddhist tradition, the merit created through virtuous actions on this holy day is multiplied 100 million times, making it a particularly meaningful occasion for practice and auspicious activities.

The extensive prayers and offerings carried out on Lhabab Duchen were established by Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 1995 through the Puja Fund and they have continued year after year ever since. They are dedicated to the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the flourishing of the Dharma, and the success and protection of FPMT and its activities for the benefit of sentient beings.

Extensive offerings at Chenrezig Institute, Australia.

This practices and offerings happening on Lhabab Duchen include recitations of the Prajnaparamita Sutra by Gyudmed Tantric Monastery; Lama Chopa, the King of Prayers, and the Chanting of the Names of Manjushri by Kopan Monastery; and Medicine Buddha Puja and other prayers by Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery.

Offerings will also be made to holy objects and sacred sites. The Boudhanath and Swayambhunath stupas in Nepal will be freshly painted, and new umbrellas will be offered to their pinnacles. In Bodhgaya, India, a new set of robes will be offered to the main Buddha statue at the Mahabodhi Temple.

Precious Dharma texts will be printed, including the Golden Light Sutra, Arya Sanghata Sutra, Vajra Cutter Sutra, Sutra of Great Liberation, and Amitayus Long Life Sutra. The Stupa Fund will be sponsoring the creation of tsa-tsas of Mitukpa, the Three Long Life Deities, and Kadampa stupas. Meanwhile, through the Animal Liberation Fund, 700 animals will be liberated, protecting living beings and embodying compassion through meaningful action.

Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Zong Rinpoche at Manjushri Institute, UK, 1978. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

This year, we are also honoring the anniversary of Zong Rinpoche’s parinirvana with tsog and other offerings to the Sangha at Ganden Shartse Monastery. This is a profound opportunity to create merit in connection with a great master whose teachings continue to inspire students across many countries and cultures.

Lhabab Duchen is also an extraordinary occasion to make offerings to and support the ordained Sangha and we do this through the Puja Fund, offerings will be made to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and all of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus, to the Sangha in our IMI communities, and to all of the thousands of ordained Sangha who are performing pujas and prayers on this auspicious day. By supporting the Sangha, we help create the conditions for the precious teachings to be preserved, practiced, and transmitted for the benefit of future generations.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche also gave advice on which individual practices to perform on this special merit-multiplying day.

Above all, Lhabab Duchen is a day for rejoicing: in the Buddha’s compassionate activity, in the prayers and offerings being made throughout the global community, and in the collective efforts of so many people working to bring benefit to sentient beings.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche wearing his mantra hat and jacket someone had just offered, joking with Sangha at Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington State, USA, November 2016. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

We can rejoice in every Dharma text printed, every holy object created, every animal protected, every offering made, and every prayer recited. We can also rejoice in the kindness of the monastics performing these practices and of the donors, benefactors, volunteers, and supporters who help sustain them.

Those who wish to participate through offerings or sponsorship are welcome to do so. Most importantly, everyone is invited to rejoice in these virtuous activities and dedicate the limitless merit for the happiness and wellbeing of all beings.

Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.

Since it began on May 17, the FPMT Global Mani Retreat has included teachings from Khen Rinpoche Geshe Thubten Chonyi; a rare oral transmission and commentary from His Eminence Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche; a teaching on Bodhicitta from His Eminence Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche; a teaching on practicing compassion through the profound view of emptiness from His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche; and the latest teaching, “How to Generate Chenrezig in Daily Life,” from Rangjung Neljorma Khandro Tseringma Rinpoche. After five months, the Global Mani Retreat will conclude on Sunday, November 1, and a closing session celebrating five months of practice together will be held on Saturday, November 7. His Eminence Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche will kindly join us at this closing session.

Among the many causes for rejoicing, the most recent was the audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, attended by Global Mani Retreat coordinator Selina Foong and representatives of the Global Mani Retreat team. We also rejoice in the milestone reached by FPMT Mongolia during their fourteenth annual 100 Million Mani Retreat, which was part of the official Global Mani Retreat program. Held at Idgaa Choizinling Dratsang in Ulaanbaatar, the retreat drew between 150 and 250 people a day and accumulated 109,208,246 mantras, passing its goal of 100 million.

Here Selina Foong, Global Mani Retreat coordinator and FPMT regional coordinator for East and Southeast Asia (ESEA), reflects on how the retreat unfolded and shares the meaningful experiences and blessings of a journey to Dharamsala, India, to make offerings to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other precious teachers.

GMR Group, Dharamsala, India, October 2026. Photo courtesy of the Global Mani Retreat group.

The FPMT Global Mani Retreat is truly an unprecedented worldwide effort to celebrate FPMT’s fiftieth anniversary year. 

Conceptualized only in January 2026, I can still clearly recall the heady mix of sheer excitement, wide-eyed awe, and genuine trepidation at this very idea. From “WHAT?? An event lasting more than five months?!” to “WOW, this is giving me goosebumps”, and everything in between. As speaker after speaker started to respond positively to our invitation and the program took shape, I too sat back and gasped :“WHAT?!” 

 And that is how it all started. A simple wish to fulfill one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s vast visions for FPMT—holding 100 Million Mani retreats—quickly snowballed into this massive event, with participation from all corners of our global FPMT community together with high lamas we had only ever dreamed of inviting. Month after month since our launch on May 17, 2026, the retreat’s amazing progress continued to manifest before our very eyes. Every session was unique; every session was special. On top of it all, FPMT Mongolia hosted its fourteenth 100 Million Mani Retreat, which was also part of our overall program this year. Everything unfolded so smoothly that I had to continually pinch myself.

Buoyed by this tide of powerful blessings as we approached the retreat’s conclusion, a small group of us representing the Global Mani Retreat team had the good fortune to travel to Dharamsala, India, in October 2026 to offer our Mani practice as well as 100 Shakyamuni Buddha statues on behalf of the entire FPMT organization. It was a trip filled with joy and wonder. As Andrey Lomonosov, director of Ganden Tendar Ling, Russia, said, “This magic is unimaginable. We are so blessed to be able to come and give such offerings to His Holiness. I feel this was all enabled by His Holiness himself, and that we all as a Dharma family are protected by His Holiness. This is the first time I felt it. It is so amazing!”

And indeed the blessings were palpable, collectively for all of FPMT, as well as for the ten of us there who somehow found ourselves together at the same time, in the same place, in front of the holy ones we aspire to one day become. There was a sense of recognition between us, and we immediately felt like family. It was profoundly joyful.

His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama with Selina Foong and Ven. Thubten Gyalmo, Dharamsala, October 17, 2026. Photo courtesy of OHHDL.

Our FPMT group audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Saturday, October 17, was part of a larger public audience. On a beautifully clear morning, we lined up with our hearts thumping. All the early chaos of security checks, ascertaining queue positions and locating the Buddha statues to be offered (!) melted away as we approached His Holiness. A strange blanket of calm descended upon me as I found myself in front of His Holiness after Dale Davis, member of the FPMT Inc. board, had greeted him extremely movingly. Time seemed to stand still as the words tumbled out of my mouth. All I now recall is His Holiness repeatedly patting me on the face and hand as I explained and presented him with the Global Mani Retreat greeting card, and how his face lit up brightly at the sight of Chenrezig on its cover… all the while with a sea of smiles surrounding us.  

His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama with Dale Davis, FPMT, Inc. board member, Dharamsala, October 17, 2026. Photo courtesy of OHHDL.

Following Dale Davis and me were the rest of our group members, each taking their turn to offer a Buddha statue and receive His Holiness’s blessings: Ven. Thubten Gyalmo, resident Western teacher at the Mongolian FPMT center Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling; Cristian Cowan, GMR sessions co-coordinator for FPMT North America and spiritual program coordinator at Vajrapani Institute, California; Irina Hueso Roldán, GMR Spanish parallel series and FPMT national coordinator for Spain; Andrey Lomonosov, director at Ganden Tendar Ling, Russia; Harald Weichhart, GMR multimedia manager and FPMT media resource manager; Jasmine Mohtashami, GMR graphic designer and people and community manager at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London; Frances Howland, GMR assistant coordinator and FPMT regional coordinator for South Asia; and Shanti Yajnik, co-director at Tushita Meditation Centre, India. Rejoice!

The blessings continued to rain down on this very special day.  

The Global Mani Retreat group at New Serkong House, the residence of His Eminence Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche, Dharamsala, India, October 2026. Photo courtesy of the Global Mani Retreat group.

We paid a visit to New Serkong House, where Gen Thubten Sherap and Abishek, the kind attendants to His Eminence Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche, showed us around and introduced us to some extremely precious holy objects. His Eminence Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche had kindly offered a powerful teaching on “Bodhicitta” for our Global Mani Retreat, so it was without question that we would pay a visit to his residence even in his absence (as he was then in the midst of a European tour)— and what’s more, to chomp on the juicy apples from his orchard! What nobody had expected, however, was that His Eminence himself would personally leave us a voice message all the way from Austria, during our actual visit. Even his attendants found the timing to be incredibly auspicious. So of course, our entire group sent a raucously joyful voice message right back. It truly felt like His Eminence was right there with us, in that holy room.

His Eminence Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche with the Global Mani Retreat team, Dharamsala, India, October 2026. Photo courtesy of the Global Mani Retreat group.

A delicious (and extremely large) lunch at Tibet Kitchen later, and it was on to the next highlight of our day—an audience with His Eminence Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche at his beautiful residence in the hills. His Eminence was extremely jovial, and expressed great happiness at our Mani retreat. He repeated several times how very important Chenrezig practice is, and how Mani recitations can bring peace not only to our world, but to the entire universe. He also encouraged us to continue offering this Mani retreat, year after year! By the time we left, it proved impossible to wipe the smiles off our faces, and we all felt as light as air.

There was in fact one more highlight on this most special of trips. The day before our “Special Saturday”, we visited Tushita Meditation Centre, where a delicious lunch was generously offered to us before we spent some time at Lama Yeshe’s Memorial Stupa, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s room, and the Hayagriva Room. The power was palpable, and the experience was deeply meaningful.

The Global Mani Retreat group at Lama Yeshe’s Memorial Stupa, Tushita Meditation Centre, Dharamsala, India, October 2026. Photo courtesy of the Global Mani Retreat group.

We bade goodbye to each other after only a short time together, but I think we all knew deep down that the magnitude of the occasion and the camaraderie we forged will stay with us till the end of our days. And that it was on the basis of all sentient beings that we arrived at this point, and so it was for all sentient beings that we experienced this deep happiness. We are fortunate ones indeed. May the lives of our gurus be long and may Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s unmistaken reincarnation swiftly return!

Written by Selina Foong, Global Mani Retreat coordinator and FPMT ESEA regional coordinator. Please also see a previous inspiring report about this event from Harald Weichhart -GMR multimedia manager and FPMT media resource manager.

With Our Deepest Gratitude to Selina Foong

As retreat coordinator, Selina has guided this retreat with great dedication, joy, and care. She and her team offered the international FPMT family a retreat on a scale we have never attempted before, helping fulfill one of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s most cherished wishes and celebrating FPMT’s fiftieth anniversary by bringing us together to practice, create the causes for peace, and support the long life and activities of our precious teachers. As shared in the recent FPMT Inc. Board update, this was the first project to bring students from all over the world together, and the results have been very encouraging. Selina, thank you so much for your kindness and tireless work overcoming every professional and personal challenge that occurred during this period! We rejoice in all you have made possible, and we are so grateful to you and to everyone on your team.

Here is a message of thanks from Lama Zopa Rinpoche, from a teaching Rinpoche gave at the end of the 2000 Mani retreat at Chenrezig Institute. It is excerpted from the revised second edition of Teachings from the Mani Retreat, recently released by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive:

… I think this practice is really fantastic. It is something that you find more and more inspiring—not something that becomes more and more boring. The more sessions you do, the more inspiring it becomes. That is very good. The more you develop your compassion, the more you see the kindness of sentient beings and how much they are suffering, and you then don’t find any hardship in doing retreat or nyung nä. Not finding any difficulty in doing the practice is a sign of receiving the blessing of the deity… Again here I would like to thank very much everyone who has been doing the retreat, especially the Sangha, who have been the main ones. From the bottom of my heart I thank all of you who have participated in any of the sessions from time to time. Thank you very, very much. And I thank very much also the sponsors and benefactors. You are always in my prayers, and I will dedicate the merits.

Excerpt from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Teachings from the Mani Retreat, page 162. Teaching given at Chenrezig Institute, Australia. December 2000. Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

The Global Mani Retreat Enters Its Final Days

The Global Mani Retreat will conclude on Sunday, November 1, and a closing session celebrating five months of practice together will be held on Saturday, November 7. His Eminence Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche will kindly join us at this closing session, which will also include Ven. Roger Kunsang, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s holy shrine, the umzes (chant masters) of Kopan Monastery, a video recording of the audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and more. You are welcome to send your mantra count through this form until Monday, November 2, 2026, 8:00 a.m. (UTC). The numbers reported so far are already wonderful, and we look forward to sharing the grand total at the closing session.

Recordings of many sessions, together with the slideshows that preceded them, are available on the Global Mani Retreat YouTube channel. To keep up with all the details, please visit our webpage and join the Facebook group. You can also read Teachings from the Mani Retreat online or listen to an audio recording from the 2000 retreat.

With gratitude to Selina Foong, Global Mani retreat coordinator and FPMT ESEA regional coordinator for sharing this story, and to the entire GMR team for their tremendous efforts in organizing this global online retreat.

Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.

Lama Yeshe in Berkeley, California, 1974. Photo donated by Judy Weitzner.

… It is a common mistake to think that a religious person is someone who is afraid of new and potentially challenging situations that might threaten his or her beliefs. Since true religion is the very light of wisdom, why should a religious person ever be afraid of darkness? The nature of light cannot be affected by shadows. Similarly the clean, clear light of wisdom-knowledge cannot be disturbed by confused and foggy states of mind. Nor is the spirit of scientific investigation in any way contrary to true religion. After all, scientific experiments do not contradict the light of the sun and moon, so why should they be opposed to the light of inner wisdom?

The weak-those who lack the discriminating eye of wisdom-accept religious beliefs passively. Having no background in philosophic thought and ignorant of the reasons supporting their faith, they experience great uneasiness when someone questions their beliefs. Such people often live closely guarded lives, fearful of encountering someone or something that might shatter their insecure spiritual foundation. This attitude, however, is not the fault of religion but of their own limited understanding. True Dharma leads in exactly the opposite direction. It enables one to integrate all the many diverse experiences of life into a meaningful and coherent whole, thereby banishing fear and insecurity completely.

Of course, the type of philosophy and logical thinking that underlies true religious belief is not exactly the same as that taught in schools. Mathematical logic, for instance, enables you to deal with a certain strictly defined external problem in a reasonable manner. The original problem is restricted in scope, and the solution that is found completely satisfies it. Dharma logic, however, has a much higher and all-encompassing goal. It deals with inner problems and looks for solutions to the most important question in life: how to find happiness and avoid suffering for oneself and others. When you arrive at solutions using such Dharma logic, you find that you have not merely answered one isolated problem but have discovered the interrelatedness of many inner processes previously thought to be unconnected. This type of reasoning is very demanding, for you must continually check up and investigate the many “hows” and “whys” you uncover. But it is also ultimately more satisfying, because it affects the very quality of your life.

How do you apply this inner Dharma logic? Perhaps you feel unhappy, and, as a result, the thought of hatred starts to arise within you. Rather than passively observing this process or being swept along involuntarily, you should investigate what is happening. Try to discover why you are unhappy, and consider whether hatred is an appropriate response. In other words, ask yourself if what you are about to express will improve your situation or not. Making such an analysis is not an act of neurotic self-preoccupation. Rather, it is a way to illuminate an answer to your problems.

Such questioning, then, is a process of causation in that it leads to a solution. It is the same process enacted by a scientist who tries experiment after experiment in order to come up with the best answer to his or her problem. While making inner experiments, you should ask yourself a series of questions in the same way. By doing this properly you will develop and mature spiritually, and as a result you will overcome the uneasiness and dissatisfaction gnawing at you. You will be able to analyze your growing hatred, for example, and discover not only its causes but an effective way to lessen and eventually eliminate it. […]

It is very worthwhile to look closely into the nature of your feelings and investigate what goes on in your consciousness, mind, psyche, or whatever you wish to call it. This is so worthwhile-who could ever deny it? Do religious doctrines teach a more effective approach for attaining true peace of mind? Are science and philosophy opposed to this method of investigation? Not at all. In fact, a background in philosophy, as stated before, only strengthens the realizations gained from such inner explorations. Without such solidity to your beliefs, you might feel you have an answer to a particular problem only to see it disappear when someone questions you about it. Psychological solutions should not be as flimsy as this.

Let us look deeper into the nature of feelings. Whether they are happy, unhappy, or neutral, most feelings arise from mistaken discriminations. Such discriminations are mistaken because they are based on false projections of the mind, which keep you from perceiving the true nature of reality. This is true of the reality of any phenomenon, outer or inner, animate or inanimate. Feelings do not arise only when one human reacts to another. They can occur in relation to anything. In most instances of conflict there is an object, and your disturbed feelings about it are the subject. These may be thought of as distinct and separate from one another as when one feels, “I hate that person”—but in fact your feeling has somehow created this object. By this I mean that the object of your feeling has nothing whatsoever to do with the reality of any external phenomenon. It is merely the painted projection of a falsely discriminating mind.

Therefore it is really quite simple to deal with potential sources of mental conflict. Merely remember that whatever arouses disturbing feelings within you is but a conception of a mistaken, superstitious mind. Investigate the object in these terms and you will be able to gain a clearer view of what is happening without resorting to a very complicated line of reasoning. Just experiment with your life. Whenever you are perceiving, acting, or feeling, check up immediately to see if you might be cheating yourself. Or, more accurately, see if your mind, projecting unreal discriminations onto the objects you perceive, might be cheating you by causing conflict and disturbances.

We always think that it is someone else who is causing our problems and robbing us of happiness. If we look carefully, however, there is no such enemy to be found. From beginningless time, throughout countless lives, and from the moment of our birth until now, we have been cheating ourselves. You may think, “I never act that way; I’m a good person.” But you will never gain absolute understanding if you look at things in such a simplistic way. Investigate your mental attitude toward things and discover how you impose your mistaken projections onto the people you meet and onto all other phenomena as well.

Most of the time, we paint: we put our own limited interpretation on everything. You can discover this tendency even without resorting to an analysis of the ultimate nature of reality. Merely taking into account the relative, conventional appearance of things, ask yourself, “Who am I? What am I?” A certain definite picture of who it is you think you are will appear suddenly on the relative level of truth. Now subject this self-image to close scrutiny. “Is this who I really am? Do I in fact appear this way to everyone all the time?” When you do such an investigation honestly, this painted image will fade. As you see it disappear into unreality, you will discover for yourself how distorted your perception of other phenomena must be as well. You will see that your painted, sensory world is but the product of mistaken projections, and that the feelings aroused by such a fictitious universe keep you shuttling back and forth between elation and despair. This circle of dissatisfaction, built on illusion, is samsara itself, and your investigation will show you that it is fashioned within your own mind.

If you train yourself to look at things in this way, you will never think that your problems are the fault of society, your country, your father or mother. You will realize that the problem is within you. In order to prepare yourself for this task of self-analysis, you first need some instruction in how to think clearly. This will help you put in order the many diverse mental phenomena you will uncover. In addition, as certain truths are not immediately obvious, they must be shown to you beforehand by a trusted guide. It is in this sense that there is a doctrinal aspect to this process of self-analysis as well. But the true force of this investigation is your own unmistaken wisdom-energy, which will give you powerful control over your life.

There is no danger involved in accepting this way of experimenting with your everyday experiences. There is nothing tricky or misleading about such a practical philosophy. You see that your mental problems arise from painted projections of an illusory world. Fooled by this illusion, you falsely discriminate certain feelings to be “good” and others to be “bad.” But this illusory world is no one’s world. Whose could it be? Investigate! My projection of “California” is no one else’s projection. That is why Buddhist philosophy says that in this respect, all phenomena are created by your own mind. These words have a profound, essential meaning that cannot be discovered by the hypocritical, intellectually polluted mind. You must experiment and experience yourself the illusory nature of your projections. Only in this way will you be able to perceive the underlying reality.

Investigation is active. Meditation does not mean sitting in a corner and doing nothing. It is not like that at all. No matter what you are doing or whose company you are in, you can always be checking, can’t you? This is something that is always possible to do. It would be a complete misunderstanding of Buddhist meditation to think that it is designed for lazy people who do not want to work. “All those meditators do is sit around, eat, sleep, and go to the toilet!” People with no understanding can think this if they wish, and even some meditators may feel this way. But a true meditator is someone who takes full responsibility for his or her growth and development. He or she should not be so afraid of everything that it becomes necessary to hide in a corner. Buddha never intended meditation to be anything like that. A small and imperfect understanding of Dharma or religion may give rise to insecurity and a desire to withdraw from reality. But true meditation is an active, alert confrontation that pierces through illusion to the very heart of reality.[…]

You have such a precious, powerful opportunity to do something truly meaningful with your existence. But before you accept the practice of Dharma, religion, or any other form of mental culture, you must clearly decide what offers you the most in life. Can you really expect to find satisfaction in the maze of worldly desires, or must you search deeper for the source of true joy? If you never discriminate and make a clear decision on this matter, your acceptance of a path-religious or otherwise will be merely superficial. There will be little spiritual growth without a foundation deep within your own personality. Nothing clearly beneficial will arise in your mind because it will remain covered in fogginess and conflicting emotions. So please look inward, decide what is truly best for you, and discover the pure nature of your mind.

Thank you so much.

This teaching is drawn from Wisdom Energy: Basic Buddhist Teachings, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe, published in 1976 by Wisdom Publications and edited by Jonathan Landaw. 

Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Ven. Robina Courtin. Kopan Monastery, Nepal, 2019. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang

There are many Buddhist practices, but the very essence is developing a good heart: love and compassion. This means we want to help sentient beings as much as possible and not harm them in any way. This is the basis of morality, of ethics, and within that lies the whole of the Dharma. Within that there are all the beneficial attitudes that we need to cultivate: equanimity, generosity, patience, loving kindness, and especially bodhichitta.

Living our life with a good heart is so important for the happiness-temporary happiness and the ultimate happiness of enlightenment of the six-realm sentient beings: the hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, gods and demi-gods, as well as the intermediate-state beings. Your good heart is so important for the happiness and peace of the numberless beings of this world, the people and the animals; for the happiness of your country, your family, your society, your organization. Their happiness depends upon your good heart, comes from your good heart. This is the most important thing in life.

A good heart is the very meaning of life. If we can hold the welfare of all beings in our heart in whatever we do, we will never harm others again. Wherever we are, whatever we do, whoever we are with, if we always remain aware that the purpose of our life is to help others, to give happiness to others, we will never create the causes of suffering, either for ourselves or others. Then we become the source of happiness for everybody around us—every being—and they become the cause of our enlightenment.

Everything we do in our daily life should be fueled by the wish to make others happy. When we meet people we should feel that our job in meeting them is to make them happy. When we eat we should feel we are eating to get the energy to help others. When we work we should feel our job is to benefit others. When we walk, every step is in order to benefit others.

Whenever we see an insect we should think that we are here to give happiness to that insect. Whenever we hear a bird we should think that we are here to give happiness to that bird. Whenever a friend phones we should think that we are here to give happiness to that friend. Whenever we have a confrontation at our office we should think that we are here to give happiness to the person who is confronting us.

Whatever we do we should think, “I am doing this to make others happy. This is my job; this is my purpose in life.” From the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep this should be the motivation for every action we do. With a good heart, with a mind sincerely wishing to benefit others, our life will make sense.

Excerpted from How to Face Death without Fear: A Handbook by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, available from the FPMT Foundation Store. For your information, the book is being updated and the new edition will be published next year by Wisdom Publications. 

Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.

2026 TDSS Students and facilitators Kalachakra Centre September 2026. Photo courtesy of  Kalachakra Centre’s Facebook page.

The success of this TDSS was made possible through the expertise, guidance, and dedication of senior facilitators Andy and Annelies. We extend our gratitude to both for their thoughtful leadership and commitment to supporting participants. This seminar also provided a valuable training opportunity for emerging facilitators. We welcome Ven. Thubten Jamyang and Ven. Tenzin Palmo as they prepare to lead future TDSS.

The 2026 TDSS marked a new phase in training and support for registered teachers, prospective teachers, facilitators, and meditation leaders across the FPMT network. Designed to accommodate diverse schedules while preserving the depth and warmth of in-person connection, the seminar, used a three-part learning format:

1. Pre-seminar online modules: Through the Maitripa online platform, participants could engage in self-paced foundational study delivered by Ven. Yonten and Namdrol Adams. Core topics included the ethical qualities and discipline of a Dharma teacher, adult learning styles, trauma-informed pedagogy, and inclusive facilitation practices.
2. In-person residential seminar: Held over four days at the peaceful Kalachakra Retreat Center, the residential gathering offered immersive discussions, peer sharing, and hands-on practicum sessions focused on practical teaching application.
3. Post-seminar reflection: A final integrative module encouraged ongoing reflection, journaling, and goal setting, helping participants carry their learning forward into their teaching environments.

Beyond developing practical teaching skills, the seminar created meaningful opportunities for teachers and students to connect, share personal reflections, learn from one another, and build lasting relationships with peers across the FPMT community.

2026 TDSS Students and facilitators Kalachakra Centre September 2026. Photo courtesy of  Kalachakra Centre’s Facebook page.

Ven. Tenzin Palmo shared: 

“The TDSS brought together a diverse group of people from different backgrounds and with varied experiences—both ordained and lay—all united by an interest in teaching and sharing the Dharma through effective approaches … we explored the nuances of helpful versus unhelpful teacher qualities, alongside different teaching and learning styles. Through interactive pair and group discussions, we formulated ideas, shared insights, and received feedback in a safe, supportive environment. Throughout the program, we were encouraged to view every activity through a dual lens: participate while evaluating each technique for our future facilitation toolkits.

“A full day spent designing an introductory Buddhist course highlighted the complexity of curriculum planning. It revealed a wide range of approaches, as well as the joys and challenges of small-group collaboration. On the final day, an emergent dialogue on ‘what we can do in a world that is falling apart’ brought challenging reflections, yet left us with a sense of hope and togetherness. At the start, we were cautioned that we might not leave with answers to every question—but we left with plenty of food for thought and a rich network of new connections.”

Ven. Lobsang Gyaltsen shared:

“I think I can safely say that there was a sense of connection between us, and it felt supportive. We heard new approaches that some of us will probably use in our future teaching. For example, we learned to build a course together, which many of us had never done before. It was challenging for some, but in the end everyone found a way to work together, and the results were very good. There were older teachers, newer ones, and aspiring teachers, and each of us could take something helpful from wherever we were.

“One benefit is that teachers come together, share, and learn from one another, which can help us find better ways to present the Dharma to Western audiences. I think learning to collaborate is very beneficial; it also brings mutual respect, humility, and more wisdom. Because the TDSS asks how we can share the Dharma effectively, it creates a special space to explore that question. As teachers, we can get caught in our habits and don’t always take the time to think deeply about these questions, so the seminar opens a window to do so. For new teachers, it can be very supportive, giving them methods to develop their teaching skills. For more experienced teachers, it offers new approaches and a chance to share with peers. Older teachers can share their experience, and newer teachers can bring fresh perspectives.”

Participant Josep Manresa commented: 

“After this seminar, I will no longer feel alone when preparing courses, teaching them, or sharing the Dharma… because I will carry with me the inspiration, the tools, the skills, the humanity, the kindness, and all the other richness that we have shared during these four days at the Saint-Cosme Kalachakra Center. I will no longer feel alone because I now know that there are other people like me who are also engaged in preparing courses, teaching them and who care about finding the best way to share the Dharma.”

Participant Tahlia Lin said:

“Annelies and Andy guided us with the utmost care, wisdom, and professional expertise. We explored many key concepts related to teaching and sharing the Dharma within the FPMT framework. Through group discussions, course planning exercises, and the development of essential soft skills for “holding the space” for students, we gained a wealth of practical tools and insights. Participants openly shared their ideas, experiences, and perspectives, which greatly enriched the learning process for everyone. I left the training with renewed motivation, greater confidence, and a very joyful mind.”

Read here to find out more about either hosting or attending a Teacher Development Service Seminar or email the FPMT Service Seminar Coordinator on  fpmtss@fpmt.org

With gratitude to the entire TDSS team led by Wendy Ridley for their tremendous efforts in organizing this seminar.

Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.