Global Mani Retreat team, Dharamsala, October 17, 2026. Photo by Ven Tenzin Choklang.

On Saturday, October 17, 2026, ten representatives of the Global Mani Retreat team traveled to Dharamsala from all corners of the world for an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

1. Dale Davis, FPMT, Inc. board member
2. Selina Foong, GMR coordinator and FPMT regional coordinator for East and Southeast Asia
3. Frances Howland, GMR assistant coordinator and FPMT regional coordinator for South Asia
4. Ven. Thubten Gyalmo, resident Western teacher at the Mongolian FPMT center Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling 
5. Shanti Yajnik, co-director at Tushita Meditation Centre, India 
6. Andrey Lomonosov, director at Ganden Tendar Ling, Russia
7. Cristian Cowan, GMR sessions for FPMT North America and spiritual program coordinator at Vajrapani Institute, California
8. Irina Hueso Roldán, GMR Spanish parallel series and FPMT national coordinator for Spain
9. Harald Weichhart, GMR multimedia manager and FPMT media resource manager
10. Jasmine Mohtashami, GMR graphic designer and people and community manager at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London

On behalf of the entire FPMT organization, the group offered the Mani practice, together with one hundred Shakyamuni Buddha statues, for His Holiness’s good health and long life.

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

Harald says: “Seeing His Holiness the Dalai Lama in person is a rare opportunity. It was a great honor to be part of the Global Mani Retreat group in McLeod Ganj and to represent FPMT as we offered His Holiness this year’s 100 Buddha statues.

“At 91, His Holiness looked to be in good health and seemed to defy his age. He does not speak with those attending, but each of us could place a personal request with him. Simply holding His Holiness’s hands is an experience of a lifetime.

“The atmosphere at the temple was magical. By coincidence, the Geshema graduation ceremony was happening at the same time, with the nuns debating in full force all around us.

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

“Our group was wonderful and full of joyful people, and everybody connected right away, whether we had met before or not. Many of us had to overcome real obstacles just to get there. Andrey topped them all. His flight was canceled, then airport security held him over his bell and he missed the next flight by five minutes. He traveled via Amritsar instead and arrived just in time. Clearly, it was meant to be.”

Upcoming Teachings

Khandro Tseringma Rinpoche will offer a teaching on Sunday, October 25, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (UTC). The topic is “How to Generate Chenrezig in Daily Life.” The closing session will take place on Saturday, November 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (UTC).

You are welcome to follow all the details of the Global Mani Retreat on our webpage and to join the Facebook Group. You can send your mantra count through this form until Monday, November 2, 2026, 8:00 a.m. (UTC)

With under two weeks left in the retreat, the numbers reported are already outstanding! We look forward to sharing the grand total at the Closing Session on Saturday November 7th.

With gratitude to Harald Weichhart for sharing this story, and to the entire GMR team led by Selina Foong 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.

Animal blessing at Tara Institute, Oct 4, 2026. Photo courtesy of TI.

On October 4, 2026, Tara Institute in Australia celebrated World Animal Day, an international day of action for animal welfare. The community gathered for an animal blessing ceremony, an animal liberation, and candle offerings for lost or ill pets. Their event reflects the wishes of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who has taught extensively on benefiting animals.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche wished for FPMT centers to host animal blessing events to bring new people to the Dharma and to benefit all the animals. In his words: ” The pets and the people get so much benefit from these events. This is a new thing that I would like to start. As much as possible for there to be animal blessing events when I visit the centers.”

The Dharma community offered an animal blessing ceremony led by Geshe Lobsang, an animal liberation, and candle offerings in remembrance of lost or ill pets. Forty dogs, one cat, and one chicken took part in the animal liberation, and twelve containers of worms were given a second chance to live out their natural lives.

Animal blessing ceremony led by Geshe Lobsang, Photo courtesy of TI.

By holding these practices, the community at Tara Institute is helping to realize the wish of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche and his vast vision for the animals’ lives. Lama Zopa Rinpoche shared about animal blessings: “The purpose is to bring peace to the animals and to make their lives meaningful, so sooner or later they can be fully awakened and achieve highest happiness.” 

There are many ways we can help animals, including rescuing them from untimely death, caring for their health, and helping plant imprints that purify their karma, create merit, and become the causes that can ripen their future enlightenment.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has explained the benefits of the practice of animal liberation: “By doing prayers and chanting powerful mantras for the animals, they receive a higher rebirth and liberation. This practice purifies immediately the oceans of samsaric suffering.”

Lama Zopa Rinpoche blessing a dog at an animal blessing in Moscow, Russia, 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Tara Institute also raised funds for the FPMT Animal Liberation Fund as part of its World Animal Day activities. The fund has supported ongoing animal liberations throughout the FPMT organization for many years, including weekly liberations and blessings. The Animal Liberation Fund and has also offered substantial support to projects that rescue and benefit animals like Kopan Monastery’s Animal Liberation Sanctuary, and others.

Animal Liberation Resources Available

FPMT Education Services has also published a number of prayer and practice resources that are available to engage in animal liberation practice at home, including ebooks and PDFs, a printable liberation bug catcher tool designed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and audio recordings. .

Resources for Benefitting Animals 

• Advice page for benefiting animals
• Recitations for Animals audio album
• Charity to Ants PDF
• Animal Liberation Tools
• Liberating Animals from the Danger of Death PDF
• Blessing the Animals in the Ocean PDF
• Liberating Animals eBook & PDF
• The Five Powerful Mantras for Liberating Sentient Beings from the Lower Realms:
• Wish Fulfillment for All Animals: Their Happiness and Liberation—Powerful Buddha Names and Mantras and the Benefits of Reciting Them

Thanks to Tara Institute and to everyone who takes part in these practices, helping Rinpoche’s wishes for benefiting animals become a reality. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has taught extensively on methods for benefiting sick and dying animals. You can find Rinpoche’s advice on the “Advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche” page and also on Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive’s“Lama Zopa Rinpoche Online Advice Book”   and “Benefiting Animals”

To learn more about FPMT’s Animal Liberation Fund, which directly supports Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s wishes to protect animals from danger and expose them to the Dharma, and to offer support to ongoing animal liberation activities, visit the Animal Liberation Fund page online.

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.

In addition to precious advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe, we are happy to share many causes for rejoicing from last month, and we hope you will take the time to enjoy news and updates from around the world, including a roundup of recent beneficial activities supported by FPMT Charitable Projects.

You will also find information on new study and practice resources and opportunities available to you, and important changes in the organization. 

Please read this month’s newsletter in its entirety. 

Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.

Here she shares what she has learned in the role so far, and what it might offer centers across the FPMT mandala.

Ven. Thubten Drolma, JBC executive director, with Miguel Espinosa, JBC carpenter and artist, and Robin Bath, JBC trustee. JBC, 2026. Photo by JBC London.

What Prompted JBC to Create this Role?

Maintaining relationships with volunteers and community members takes sustained investment. Other volunteers often did this work, but people move on, roles go vacant, and communication styles differ. Investing in community is investing in the Dharma, and a center’s long-term success depends on healthy, responsible, and transparent relationships with its volunteers and community members.

What Turns a Visitor into a Community Member?

A visitor becomes a community member at two key stages: first, when they’re new, before they’ve started courses or formed a relationship with the Dharma; and later, when they begin offering service, a time when interpersonal challenges can cut their time at the center short.

The answer often lies hidden – how many parts of someone’s identity are we speaking to? Are we making space for communal vulnerability, for productive tension, for random joy? Are we able to hold the business of tight deadlines amidst Lama visits, while also sitting with community members in crisis (and take care of ourselves at the same time, knowing when to say no and take a day off)?
Investing in community work is fundamentally investing in the Dharma, ensuring that centers continue to benefit beings for many more years.

When I first discovered the Dharma, it struck me how different Buddhist organisations that I visited had different kinds of communities: in some of them, people practiced together daily, taking on much responsibility amidst busy lives, travelling great distances to see each other, helping each other move and taking care of one another during hospital visits.
In others, people met once a year, and communication was fragmented. There was a lot of movement in service positions, groups that folded, and people who left the dharma entirely was normalized.

The Dharma was wonderful everywhere – but the quality of community was different.

And the more I started becoming engaged at Jamyang London Buddhist Centre (JBC), studying the Exploring Buddhism course and volunteering for Lama visits, the more I asked myself: How can I safeguard this incredible community I have found?
And when the new position of People & Community Manager was advertised at JBC I knew that my spiritual home too understood that community doesn’t sustain itself – it needs tending.

I was thrilled to join the team at JBC. Having worked in campaigning and volunteer management before, I took note of what made Dharma community engagement seamless and sustainable:

• Transparency and support in offering service. A way in to the center was accessibly advertised and meaningful in shaping the center and held throughout the experience. Resources were designed bottom-up and frequently updated in collaboration with the people they were for.
• Professional and kind communication, time-sensitive and personal, suiting individuals accessibility needs.
• Spaces to be other than “student”, but together – affinity groups such as LGBTQ+ and BIPOC spaces which are easy ways in; or informal, creative spaces in the Kindness Cafe, easy ways to make friends and ask questions on how others engage with the Dharma.
• An openness to name tensions. People are people, and each obstacle can be used on the path, individually and as a community. Fair and clear pathways for listening and resolution help people find a way forward. This is the thinking behind our new Wellbeing Framework, which sets out how we raise concerns, resolve disagreements, and repair harm with care — and which other centers are welcome to draw on for their own communities.

But I want to be honest about something here too – naming tension well is harder than it sounds. People are, understandably, wary of anything that resembles a process, because being asked to “attend” something can feel like an accusation before a word is even spoken. So in practice, we might not name the wellbeing framework or walk through formal steps, which still let people know their voice is fairly valued. Instead, we make space for listening, and where it feels right, gently probe into mind training: whether the situation is really as fixed as it appears, what our own part in it might have been, where compassion for a flawed and struggling person might open something up.

Not everyone wants to talk. Not every conversation resolves. Sometimes people aren’t in a place where continuing to engage is safe or right for them. But being genuinely available, and not shying away from difficult conversations, has made a real difference. The aim was never to keep everyone in the room, or to keep every relationship comfortable – it’s to engage compassionately, safely, and in a way that means the center responded responsibly when it mattered.

What Are the Main Responsibilities of the People & Community Manager?

• HR for staff
• Holding the relationship with our Kindness Café facilitators, who offer free secular activities
• Volunteer infrastructure: keeping records up to date, ensuring everyone completes training, and ensuring equal opportunities, treatment and feedback channels across every department
• The Wellbeing Framework, which lets people raise concerns or questions transparently and know what follow-up to expect
• Supporting the team to onboard volunteers responsibly and sustainably
• The residential Karma Yogi programme, making it sustainable and enjoyable

Iris, a translator, Kate on the Cafe team, Zola from hospitality and Ven Jampa on the ritual attendant team, chatting with Jasmine Photo Courtesy of JBC’s newsletter

How Does the People & Community Role Add Value to Day-to-Day Operations?

The power of community comes from repetition. It’s from these strengths being demonstrated again and again. Being a familiar face. A gradual accumulation of small moments of trust and recognition.

Volunteering creates the conditions for exactly that. When someone commits to turning up regularly, something opens up – relationships deepen, the center starts to feel genuinely familiar, and the teachings begin to find expression not just in meditation but in how we show up for one another. That’s a kind of practice in itself.

On any given week I might be coaching our different coordinators on the various needs of volunteers, training up new facilitation leaders for self-held affinity groups, discussing communication styles with our residential volunteers, writing up HR policies for the team or organizing a day to celebrate our volunteers. I’m also building out our onboarding and resource training systems so that people – whether they’re joining as volunteers or staff – have a real sense of what they’re stepping into and how they belong. A year in, the volunteer infrastructure feels grounded and built-out, and we’re turning our attention to mentoring long-term students into leadership positions, incorporating mind training into the very ethos of our residential program, and so much more – the community speaks, and we listen.

What Concrete Changes have Happened During the First Year?
Much of the first year was systematising: building structures that don’t depend on one person. 

• Volunteer infrastructure that was ad hoc is now sustainable and tangible. Volunteers in every department, remote or on-site, receive the same opportunities and follow-up.
• All community members can raise concerns, such as accessibility needs and special requests.
• We’ve built relationships with long-standing community members and listened to their feedback.
• We’re engaging the local community, for example giving building tours to the Lambeth heritage community.

Two examples show the impact.

Shared structures for volunteers
We replaced ad hoc arrangements with structures that are clear and open to everyone:

• An updated Volunteer Agreement that sets out what is expected and what protections volunteers have, so nothing is left to assumption
• A transparent Wellbeing Framework, available to all, with a clear route for raising concerns and knowing what follow-up to expect
• One digital hub holding every form, resource and way to get involved, so remote volunteers get updates and can take part just as on-site volunteers can

Looking after our people at the front line
Front-facing volunteers and facilitators have taken part in group reflective practice sessions hosted by our Inclusivity Ambassador, Matt, where they can share what it’s like to serve the public. We also held one-to-one conversations with team members and created an incident log where people can flag difficult encounters. Together these give people a space to feel heard.

What Does JBC Hope to Develop Next?

• Bringing back our Inclusivity Ambassadors, championing and mentoring people from minority backgrounds to hold some of our activities.
• Revamping the residential Karma Yogi program around lojong and mind training, so participants leave having achieved something and deeply engaged with the Dharma.

A Thought for the Wider FPMT Community

I’ve been reflecting on what it means for a center to consciously invest in this kind of role, and I think it’s worth sharing with the broader network.

Every center has people at its edges – those who attend regularly but haven’t yet found their way into a deeper sense of belonging, or volunteers who give generously without always feeling fully seen into community, or those who have co-created spaces for years, sometimes decades, but burn out or face immersion aversion. Tending to those people isn’t peripheral work. It’s some of the most important work a center can do.

That doesn’t have to mean a dedicated staff role – it might look very different depending on the size and context of your center. But it does mean asking the question: who is actively looking after the human experience of our community members? Who ensures that volunteers feel valued, that newcomers are genuinely welcomed, and that long-term members are able to take time off?
These questions aren’t secondary to educational programs, they are what keep them alive for many more years to come.

Some lessons from our first year that other centers could adapt:

• Invest in volunteer management. Onboarding more people than you can support means people fall through the cracks. Long-term members get overlooked, treatment becomes uneven and resentment grows.
• Build more than a work relationship. A relationship with volunteers differs from one with employees. If we only turn to volunteers when we need work done, and don’t create safe, transparent ways to communicate, it can damage both the centre and individuals. Social spaces help.
• Build infrastructure that outlives volunteer coordinators. Keep the database current and know who has signed the ethical policies. It’s basic, but it makes a big difference, and it doesn’t require a dedicated post.
• Look after the core team. People who offer service risk giving too much. Ask who is looking after them.
• Create feedback loops. Centers rely on volunteers and community members but rarely have capacity to learn from them. Even small, gradual efforts to hear and act on people’s experiences, including those of people with different abilities, make an impact.

After all, our community spans beyond our center walls and remote students, and includes the entire FPMT family. Building a warm, sustainable and courageous home for the Dharma takes all of our initiative – what a privilege and joy it is to be of service to the Dharma together!

Written by Jasmine Mohtashami, People & Community Manager for JBC. Jamyang is very happy to offer more information about the development of their People & Community Manager role, should any FPMT center wish to pursue creating a position like this to suit their own community’s needs. 

We welcome the submission of news stories from those within the FPMT community. This can be a story about something you have personally completed or accomplished, about someone else who has done so, or about the FPMT center, project, or service of which you are a part. Ideal submissions will give readers reasons to rejoice, share ideas, and create connections between those in the international community. Have something to share? Please let us know!

Sangha at the Guru Rinpoche Bumtsog held at Langri Tangpa Centre in Brisbane.

Over a year in preparation, six months of buying tsok (we had to taste-test before buying in bulk!), a week to set up, two invigorating days to offer, and a week to pack down — that was the Guru Bumtsog 2026 that came very slowly and then suddenly very fast, and then dissolved into rainbows filling our hearts.

We built the room around the drums, literally and metaphorically. The drum is the binding, driving force of the puja, almost shamanistic, consciousness riding on the rhythm. In Guru Bumtsog the drum becomes like a magnetic pulse, drawing in your own energy and that of the universe, and aligning it with enlightened love and compassion. So we placed the drums in the center of the room facing each other, at the end of the seated row, forming a U-shaped configuration, very inclusive for puja.

Gompa with drums prepared for the Guru Bumtsog practice, September 2026, Langri Tangpa Centre, Australia. Photo courtesy of LTC.

One of the drums came from Kopan in a colorfully carved frame and sounded perfect when we unpacked it, but after the reduced humidity of the plane wore off, it went from boom-boom to tack-tack. We replaced it with a synthetic drum after driving all around Brisbane on a detective hunt. It was a kid’s drum with cartoon jungle animals, so I covered it with brocade and painted the inside gold. The other drum was a shaman’s drum from America, also synthetic, and it sounded a little deeper. We commissioned a similar frame from the Men’s Shed, a minimalist echo of the Kopan frame, and Helene 3D printed the Dharmachakra and deer for the decoration.

We had spent the previous “holidays” constructing geshe thrones, with the bases from the Men’s Shed, decorating them with found antique objects from my mother’s cupboards, [Inta McKimm, who founded the Langri Tangpa Centre], with new mass-produced imitation Louis XIV flimsy wood carvings we painted gold, and with small metal dragons and flaming Norbu headers from Nepal. Like embroidering with wood, each throne-back had its own theme — the Rustic Nepali, the French Chateau, the Naga King… Geshe Zopa was so impressed! He said: “Why do we need to send for overseas? We can make them here, just as good!” Spending many construction hours to “offer a throne” created the merit for the coming year of preparations to go well and everything to come together on the day. 

With the seats of enlightenment set, and the drums in prime position, we could start layering the decorations and piles of offerings. One hundred jams, three hundred pieces of fruit, six swirl-turrets of chocolate, nine double-decker platters of coconut slices and wasabi peas, a fence of chips standing guard, and a mountain of biscuits arranged in peaks along the window ledges. The flowers on the main altar were about five feet (1.5 meters) high, framing the Buddha, with the gold-leaf tsa-tsas and other holy objects underneath like presents under a Christmas tree. The ‘torma’ was a three-tiered glass container of white sugar almonds, red jaffas, and blue jellybeans; a sturdy spinal column of OM AH HUM.

Financially, it took a courageous commitment! But FPMT Australia impressed upon us the importance of generosity. Over the weekend, more sponsorships came in: many people donated; one sangha member donated $500 to the puja; and an anonymous benefactor donated $20,000 to replace the cracked gompa windows.

Flower Team for the Guru Bumtsog practice, September 2026, Langri Tangpa Centre, Australia. Photo courtesy of LTC.

Behind the scenes was much more than the hard work of setting up marquees and serving breakfast and lunch and homemade cakes and chai — there were hidden moments of exquisite care. Barbara came to me and said, “I’ve lost a quite precious thing — someone gave it to me and I wrapped it in a serviette and it’s been cleared away with the cups.” So I enlisted Maureen and Gary, who had prepared our sanitary plan and cleaned all the bins in preparation — one bin for recycle cups and plates, one for toilet rubbish — which turned out to be greatly appreciated and not overkill at all! They tipped over and searched through every bin. Barbara found the takeaway cup with the half-eaten banana bread still in the bottom — but no precious thing! They kept looking, unwrapping, burrowing, until — success! There it was, still wrapped in a serviette, right near the cup, at the bottom of the third bin! That makes it clear that the care and kindness of the LTC volunteers are the beating heart of Guru Bumtsog. Twenty volunteers tag-teamed, serving and sitting in on a session, working harmoniously to bring this event to fruition.

A heat wave hit Queensland over the weekend, the searing sun a tangible reminder of the perils of samsara, beautiful but deadly. It’s hard to appreciate the enormous merit we create deep in this karmic storm; — redirecting climate change, social dislocation, wars, and glacial upheavals. These global crises hovered in the back of our minds, a continual backdrop as tangible and oppressive as the heat. The Guru Bhumtsok prayers became a cry in the wilderness for all sentient beings, and a balm for the mind.

Prayers for the Guru Bumtsog practice, September 2026, Langri Tangpa Centre, Australia. Photo courtesy of LTC.

They say that when people sing together, your heartbeats begin to synchronize. We feel it when suddenly in the Twenty-One Tara Praises we are all chanting in unison, literally creating harmony within our hearts. The same thing happens when you set off a bunch of metronomes; over a short time they all synchronize. A puja, and especially one as energetic as a Guru Bhumtsok, does this with our own mind – we are harmonized with each other and with the enlightened energy of Guru Rinpoche, drawn into his gravitational field, forcefully aligned with altruism and wisdom. There were moments in the puja where people said they were transported to some parallel reality, suspended there in continual reverence, connected for a moment to Guru Rinpoche’s world. It also helped that many of us already knew the tunes, as we have been doing Lama Chopa together for years, and recently added Guru Rinpoche prayers on protector days along with the usual praises to Mahakala and Hayagriva.

Geshe Rabten from Atisha Centre, Geshe Tsultrim from Chenrezig Institute, Geshe Choden from the Tibetan community and Geshe Tenzin Zopa for the Guru Bumtsog practice, September 2026, Langri Tangpa Centre, Australia. Photo courtesy of LTC.

Geshe Tenzin Zopa, who so kindly and enthusiastically led the weekend’s events, said, “The Geshes mentioned again and again in last few days that this Guru Bhumtsok has been one of the best arrangements as far as concerned of organisations wise, as well as the perfections and energy of the pujas etc. All areas were perfect and we are rejoicing so much in the vast merits.” 

We easily reached the 100,000 tsog offering count, as well as Lama Tsongkhapa guru yoga each morning and offering Lama Chopa in the final sessions. The geshes stayed in a “geshe palace,” and all the sangha had a rare opportunity to catch up with each other over delicious lunch and beautiful table settings.

Dharma goodie bag contents for the Guru Bumtsog practice, September 2026, Langri Tangpa Centre, Australia. Photo courtesy of LTC.

The goodie bags — Dharma show-bags full of delight and surprise — were our offering to all the attendees. We scoured the cupboards discovering many blessed objects – mani pills, Hayagriva powder, long life pills. But all the packaging was in Tibetan – which was which? On the day we were labelling them, Ven. Yeshestomo visited from Dharamsala, and she got on WhatsApp and conferred in real time with her tutor to translate the mysterious packets for us. We prepared a mini bubble maker with the verse from the Diamond Cutter “A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream…”. We made a puzzle book on Guru Rinpoche and LTC with excellent prizes for anyone who completed all three. Everyone received a welcome khata, a Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive (LYWA) book, a long-life mantra bracelet, blessing cords from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, robes from offerings at Bodhgaya, and we also offered the sangha long-life pills. 

Prayers for the Guru Bumtsog practice, September 2026, Langri Tangpa Centre, Australia. Photo courtesy of LTC.

During the puja a continuous flow of people offered khatas to the geshes and to the thrones of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and His Holiness, and red envelopes to all the sangha. Over the weekend Demi developed a system where we could contribute to a pool of offering money and put our names on the roster for each session. Then Demi divided the money between 20 or so envelopes, and we offered in pairs during each session. As the weekend progressed the pool of money grew rather than diminished! This was a cultural adaptation that meant everyone could be involved no matter what amount they could offer.

One attendee said: “I’m so inspired by what you have developed at Langri Tangpa Centre. It feels you have a real family feeling for members that develops their minds and hearts very well. It makes me wish I lived in Brisbane again.”

And one of the volunteers said: “Thank you Miffi, Stacey, Maria, Ian for being such exceptionally gifted and compassionate Captains of this huge life raft of Dharma to lift all sentient beings quickly out the ocean of samsara to enlightenment. Much appreciated to be part of this journey.”

Thank you! Thank you everyone who came along, who donated, who prayed — and you too who are rejoicing! I hope to meet you all someday in the wonderful land of Orgyen!

With grateful thanks to Miffi Maxmillion for submitting this thoughtful piece! 

You can read more about the previous Guru Bumtsog practice in Australia. 

The FPMT Australia Community’s Second Annual Guru Bumtsog

The Power of Guru Rinpoche: The Heart-Opening Guru Bumtsog Experience

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.

His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche and the pilgrims in Anuradhapura Sri Maha Bodhi tree .

For many FPMT students, His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche needs little introduction. A former abbot of Namgyal Monastery — His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s own monastery in Dharamsala — and one of the most highly regarded lamas of the Gelug lineage, Rinpoche has for decades been treasured by Sanghas around the world for the clarity of his teaching and the warmth of his presence.

From July 18-25 2026, Rinpoche led a group of students from Mongolia, Singapore, Australia, and beyond on a pilgrimage to Sri Lanka — a country not usually associated with Mahayana Buddhist activity, but one whose place in the history of the Dharma runs far deeper than most of us realize. Over nine days, the pilgrimage brought Theravada and Mahayana practitioners together in ways not seen on the island for centuries. This is an account of that journey, told partly in the words of Venerable Tenzin Lekdron and partly in the words of fellow pilgrims and the Sri Lankan people who welcomed them.

Venerable Tenzin Lekdron met His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche briefly in Bendigo, Australia. Not long after, she was asked if she would be available to accompany Rinpoche and his Mongolian and Singaporean students on a pilgrimage to Sri Lanka — an invitation she was delighted to accept.

“I could see two great opportunities in this journey,” she recalled. “The first was to meet with the head of all Theravada Buddhist lineages in Sri Lanka, the Malwatte Mahanayaka Thero, and to further that relationship. The second was to offer the Sri Lankan people a rare and extraordinary chance to receive the Avalokiteshvara empowerment — a ceremony that had not been given on the island since the twelfth century.” Here we share the story of this pilgrimage from Ven. Lekdron:

His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche fulfilled both wishes, and many others, meeting every situation with extraordinary kindness and wisdom in a country as volatile as it is unpredictable. The Malwatte Mahanayaka Thero shared that he had visited Lhasa ten years earlier and, through what he saw there, had developed great admiration for Tibetan practitioners — for their courage and their commitment to the Dharma. “We cannot imagine organizing so many monks in a single monastery, thousands, what it takes to feed and educate them. I admire them very much,” he said. When His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche asked if he had any advice, the Mahanayaka Thero replied: “Unity is the most important thing among us. No matter what path we follow, we must be united.”

Most Venerable Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera. The Malwatte Mahanayaka Thero,  the chief prelate of the Malwatta Chapter of the Siam Nikaya in Sri Lanka.

His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche also shed light on just how special Sri Lanka has been in the history of Buddhism, explaining that the Buddha is said to have visited the island more than three times, with references to this found in the Kangyur and Tengyur. Sri Pada, one of the island’s most sacred mountains, is said to be a place where many teachers taught Sutra and Tantra — a rare glimpse into a past most of us can barely imagine.

Stephanie McGrane, a pilgrim from Atisha Centre in Bendigo, shared:

“On 18 July 2026, the day of Chökhor Düchen, His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche offered the oral transmission of Chapters 4 and 5 of The Sutra of Sublime Golden Light (31-chapter version) in Sri Lanka, in the peaceful garden setting of the Walpola Rahula Buddhist Institute. The Institute is renowned for welcoming people of all faiths to participate in its meditation programs, making it a particularly meaningful setting for this auspicious occasion. Approximately 80 people attended in person, while a further 750 joined online. It was truly an international gathering, with Sri Lankan nationals sitting alongside members of Jhado Rinpoche’s pilgrimage group from Mongolia, Malaysia, Ukraine, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and many other countries.”

Welcoming His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the event was that it had been confirmed only a week beforehand. Despite this short notice, the FPMT family spread the word with remarkable speed, enabling 750 people around the world to join the precious transmission online — a response that reflects the deep yearning people have to connect with authentic Dharma masters such as His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche, and to take part in activities that contribute to peace and harmony throughout the world, the very benefits traditionally associated with sutras such as The Sutra of Sublime Golden Light. Venerable Dhammananda, the Institute’s current resident teacher, called it an auspicious event, noting that its founder, Walpola Rahula Thero, was among the earliest monks to work for Buddhist unity. It was, she said, a fitting way to mark Chökhor Düchen before the group set out on pilgrimage to the island’s holy sites.

The Empowerment of 1000-Armed Chenrezig, Anuradhapura

His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche during the Empowerment of 1000-Armed Chenrezig, Anuradhapura

Hirushan, facilitator and translator for the Tara Lanka study group, offers the following account:

His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche bestowed the empowerment of 1000-Armed Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara) at the historic Abhayagiri Stupa Monastery in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, on the twentieth day of the sacred Esala month, according to the Pali lunar calendar.

The ceremony brought together 120 people, including 53 pilgrims — Rinpoche’s students from Mongolia and devotees from Australia, Singapore, France, and Sri Lanka. Significantly, around 25 Sri Lankan Theravada monks also took part, together with local Sri Lankan devotees, with the coordination of Venerable Pepiliyawala Narada Thero, coordinator of the Pali and Sanskrit Exchange.”

His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche during the Empowerment of 1000-Armed Chenrezig, Anuradhapura

Sri Lanka has a profound and ancient connection with the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. The Karandavyuha Sutra preserves two remarkable stories linking Avalokiteshvara with the island of Simhala, an ancient name for Sri Lanka, the Land of the Sinhalese. In one account, Avalokiteshvara manifests as a divine horse and helps the Bodhisattva Gautama Shakyamuni escape the Rakshasis who held him captive on the island. In another, Avalokiteshvara appears as a handsome prince, subdues the Rakshasis, and teaches them the Dharma.

Abhayagiri and the Bodhisattva Tradition

The Abhayagiri monastery holds significant archaeological evidence connecting it to the Mahayana and Bodhisattva tradition. A marble statue discovered at the summit of the stupa’s sanctum depicts Amitabha Buddha flanked by the Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta, and a bronze statue of Avalokiteshvara has also been found at the site. Another notable structure, identified as an Abhisheka Mandapa, is thought by scholars to have been used for the ritual ablution (abhisheka) of Buddha and Bodhisattva statues — and possibly for ritual initiations or tantric empowerments.

Tales of Three Nuns

The story of this empowerment can also be traced through the lives of three remarkable Buddhist nuns whose histories, in different ways, connect Sri Lanka, the Buddhist monastic tradition, and Avalokiteshvara.

First, Arahant Sanghamitta Mahatheri, sister of Arahant Mahinda Thera — who formally introduced Buddhism to Sri Lanka in the third century BCE. Arahant Sanghamitta later travelled to Sri Lanka carrying the sacred sapling of the Sri Mahabodhi, still venerated today in the holy city of Anuradhapura. She established the bhikkhuni ordination lineage in Sri Lanka, which later spread as far as China at its height before eventually disappearing in later centuries.

Second, Bhikshuni Lakshmi, associated with the lineage of the 1000-Armed Avalokiteshvara practice and, through it, with the tradition of Nyung Nä retreat. According to the traditional account, she was born in Oddiyana and abandoned by her family after contracting leprosy. With profound faith in the Compassionate One, she undertook twelve years of intense Chenrezig practice, sustaining herself on one meal every two days, until she encountered Avalokiteshvara directly and attained enlightenment.

Third, Venerable Tenzin Lekdron, a Sri Lankan-born Australian nun, who requested that His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche bestow this sacred empowerment in Sri Lanka. She played a leading role in organizing the ceremony, with the support of the Tara Lanka Study Group.

A Tradition That Never Completely Disappeared 

Although the Mahayana tradition institutionally declined and largely disappeared from Sri Lanka after the twelfth century, veneration of the Bodhisattvas — particularly Avalokiteshvara and Tara — continued for centuries, gradually becoming woven into mainstream Theravada culture. Avalokiteshvara survived on the island in a particularly distinctive form: the deity known today as God Natha, one of Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist deities, is widely understood by scholars to be connected with Avalokiteshvara, although he is popularly identified with Maitreya.

Seen this way, the empowerment of 1000-Armed Chenrezig at Abhayagiri is more than an isolated, contemporary Buddhist ceremony. It marks a meaningful moment in the revival and reconnection of Sri Lanka with a strand of its own ancient Buddhist heritage — one in which Theravada, Mahayana, the Bodhisattva ideal, and the long veneration of Avalokiteshvara have intersected throughout the island’s history.

A young Sri Lankan student named Sahan summed up the day best:

“When I heard the Avalokiteshvara abhisheka was being given in Sri Lanka by a prominent Tibetan Rinpoche, I dropped everything and made my way to Anuradhapura. I am familiar with Avalokiteshvara practice and the mantra, as I join Tara Lanka events. What I saw in the Abhayagiriya hall was beyond anything I could have imagined — Theravada and Mahayana monks sitting side by side, a Tibetan lama offering empowerment with rituals unfamiliar to us, and all of us participating as though it were the most ordinary thing. I can say this was a miracle. I know Sri Lanka, and I know that for such an event to happen, and come to completion without incident, was a miracle. Please keep coming back, offering us opportunities to follow the Bodhisattva path. I am so very grateful to all of you. It’s not easy for us to travel, so please come to us.”

With special thanks to Venerable Tenzin Lekdron for sharing this story, to Amitabha Buddhist FPMT Centre in Singapore for sponsoring the Avalokiteshvara thangka used in the empowerment, to all the pilgrims for their offerings at the holy places visited, and to the Tara Lanka study group members for their hard work.

Jhado Rinpoche is currently on tour in Europe. Please see the full schedule to take advantage of the opportunities available. 

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 ANi Karin at the 11th Meditation course, 1978, Kathmandu, Kopan Monastery, Nepal. Photo courtesy of Ven. Karin Valham.

Thubten Chokyi: As FPMT celebrates 50 years, it’s truly a delight to have this precious opportunity to hear from Ani Karin Valham, who was ordained at Kopan in 1975 and stayed. So, Ani Karin, thank you for agreeing to share a glimpse of your personal biography and a few highlights from your journey in ordination, drawing on your vast wisdom and experience. First of all, Ani Karin, can you talk a little bit about what brought you to the Dharma? I believe you were traveling, and you ended up in Sri Lanka, and the guy at the photo shop suggested you go to Kopan because you were interested in meditation. So how did that happen?

Ani Karin: Yes, it’s, of course, a long story, but it doesn’t have to be so long. Let me just start from when I was in Sweden. I’m from Stockholm in Sweden. When I was young—18, 19 years old—finishing school, I had no idea what to do with my life. Not the faintest idea.

But slowly, gradually, I gravitated towards wanting to do some social work. I always felt happier with people, you know, and doing something for people, even if it’s just small. My mother didn’t think I was going to be very studious in my life, so she suggested I become a secretary. That was the limit of what she thought I could manage. Since I had no idea myself at all, I just went along with it and went for two-year training as a secretary. I have much use for that training, actually, though I never became a secretary.

I got a good job afterwards and saved up some money for traveling, because I was always into traveling in my free time to look at new places and meet people. So this time, I thought if I’m going to go for a long education as a social worker, I need to take a break first.

That break took me to Sri Lanka. I was going to travel for 6 months, then go back and go to school—I promised my parents. I had no particular aim; I just liked to travel around from place to place. There were no mobiles, no internet—nothing. You were completely on your own if you went somewhere where they weren’t used to tourists.

Somehow, I spent time there and came across my first Buddha statue—a beautiful, smiling Buddha statue. I got really impressed by that and started to wonder what he actually taught. In Sweden, we were not religious people, so you hardly ever had contact with Buddhism in those days back in ’73.

I traveled around there, then went to India and up to Darjeeling, where I also met Buddhists and drank my first Tibetan tea. Then I went slowly, gradually to Thailand, and again—Buddhists! I was surrounded by Buddhist people wherever I went for some reason.

Then I went down to Indonesia; that was my end station. There, I visited the most beautiful temple in Borobudur. They were restoring it, so we couldn’t go out there normally, but after some time we managed to talk them into giving us permission. We went out there three times, and every time, sitting on top meditating was so special. You really felt you were in the presence of the Buddha, and there I decided I must learn to meditate properly in order to see what the Buddha really taught.

From then on, wherever I went, I was looking for teachings. Eventually, I came to Northern Thailand, in Chiang Mai. I was in a monastery, and a German monk there said, “We don’t teach here, so you can’t stay in the monastery. But you may want to go to Nepal; there’s a monastery there that does courses for Westerners.” That was my introduction to Kopan.

He tried to teach me the Wheel of Life and Dependent Arising. I was sort of intrigued, but left with more questions than answers because it’s very complicated when you hear it for the first time.

So I hurried up a little bit to get to Nepal. I didn’t know the exact date the course was going to start, but it so happened that I arrived on the second day—the 2nd of November. It was in Kathmandu that I met the man in the photo shop who also told me about Kopan. Two people actually guided me in that direction. So, yeah, I came to Kopan in ’74, and the rest is history.

Lama Yeshe with Ven. Karin Valham, Lama Lhundrup, Lama Pasang and Kopan monks at a picnic in Bhalaju, Kathmandu Valley, 1976. Photo courtesy of Ven. Karin Valham.

Thubten Chokyi: So how did it eventuate that you decided to ordain while at Kopan?

Ani Karin: I think that was the easiest decision I ever made in my life. It was the first decision I made that didn’t involve my parents or outside guidance. That was the first time I realized: this is for me.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche was teaching the course sharing his profound wisdom and compassion with us, and Lama Yeshe appeared now and then to teach us how to integrate Buddhas teaching in daily life. It changed my mind completely. Even if I didn’t understand reincarnation or the difficult subjects, the whole atmosphere and the kindness of the Western monks and nuns who were already there, the wonderful teachings completely changed your mind overnight.

I was a very skeptical person, but I couldn’t refute the basic Tenets of Buddhism, even though it was just my first course. After that, I took the November course every year for 5 years. You go deeper and deeper and find a clearer faith in the teachings, that makes a big change. Once those clean seeds start to grow, there’s no limit to what you want to understand, it rolls on by itself

After the course we did a one month lamrim retreat and then Rinpoche gave the eight Mahayana precepts and refuge, as well as a Vajrasattva initiation. I took all of that as it came. I felt it was completely right. I’m not a person who jumps into things spontaneously—I’m a very cautious person—but here, I felt I had come home in terms of the Dharma teachings. I felt so safe and secure.

After that I did a retreat, I had a meeting with Rinpoche that didn’t go very well, because I’m so ignorant! Out of the blue, Rinpoche  said, “You have to go home and see your mother.” “Why?” I blurted out! But of course, he was right. I had to go and see my parents to ask for permission to become ordained. So I did that during the summer, came back, and took my first ordination vows. Since then, I’ve felt true happiness.

Rinpoche with Ani.Karin with French translation of her book on lam rim, Nepal 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang

Thubten Chokyi: What are some of the challenges you faced over the years?

Ani Karin: It was mostly in the beginning—there were a lot of challenges from my own side with attachments. You have to expect that problem when you think about renouncing the eight worldly concerns (eight worldly dharmas). Taking ordination is a sign of renunciation, so you become much more aware of the dangers of attachment, but it’s hard to eliminate. Sometimes you get very emotional or disturbed, I had to change so many habits, and so many things, rather than trying to say something wrong.

After about 2 years, when I overcame that initial phase, I became happier and happier. I still feel very happy about what I did.

Thubten Chokyi: What has sustained you in such longevity of ordination over all these years? What do you think is the key?

Ani Karin: Staying close to the Lamas. I always tried to be where the Lamas were as much as I could manage, I was trying to be close to them.

Also, I always liked all the Sangha. Having gratitude and recognizing that we are supported by the Sangha—and that we are the Sangha—sustains you.

Lama Yeshe and Ani Karin at Istituto Lama Tsongkhapa, Italy, 1983. Photos donated by Merry Colony.

Thubten Chokyi: For Westerners who are thinking about ordination, what are some things you think they need to consider before taking that step?

Ani Karin: Everything is so well-organized now compared to the ’70s! If someone is thinking about ordination, it is a must to go to a pre-ordination course to hear directly from the Sangha what it is really like and what one needs to prepare.

It’s wise to spend at least 3 to 5 years taking basic program teachings, studying, and meditating.

Living in a community is also absolutely essential. Now there are monasteries opening up, like Nalanda, there are a few other smaller ones in different places, as well as Kopan or Dharamsala. Dharamsala is a very inspiring place. Whatever one can manage, it is most important to live in a community and not stay alone by oneself or get lost in the world.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Ani Karin Valham, at Insitut Vajra Yogini , France 2019. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Thubten Chokyi: Is there any other word of wisdom you’d like to share?

Ani Karin: Lama Yeshe always used to say, “Use your own wisdom, dear.”

Wisdom comes little by little. It is best not to be satisfied with the amount of wisdom we currently have, but to keep growing the inner wisdom. Because people are functioning in different ways, Dharma works in different ways. The more you understand, the more you can benefit others in daily life. Your work in the centers becomes more satisfying the more you have studied and prepared yourself. Whatever it’s in the monastery, or in the centers, or anywhere, the more wisdom you have, in the sense that the more you have studied.

Thubten Chokyi: Wonderful! Thank you so much, Ani Karin. It has been really wonderful to hear your story and share this from the heart.

Ani Karin: Thank you! Bye-bye

Ani Karin during the 2025 CPMT at Kopan monastery, Nepal.

With grateful thanks to Ven. Thubten Chokyi for conducting this interview and to Ani Karin for graciously sharing her story!  Please read her original Road to Kopan story published in Mandala in 2012, “She is Not Looking for Another Man.”

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 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.

Kopan Sangha after performing a Fire Puja dedicated to the victims of Rasuwa floods, September 11.
Source: Kopan Monastery School Facebook page.

More than a month has passed since the devastating floods of August 26 in the Rasuwa-Bhotekoshi area, and the focus of humanitarian efforts has gradually shifted from search and rescue operations to relief, recovery, and helping families rebuild their lives.

According to the latest government report, as of September 21, the disaster has claimed 1,451 lives, while 5,745 people remain missing. The full extent of displacement is still difficult to determine. Many families have lost their homes or can no longer safely return to them, yet not everyone affected by displacement is captured in official records.

According to United Nations sources, nearly 4,000 displaced people were living across 37 displacement sites in Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Dhading, and Kathmandu. However, many others are staying with relatives or host communities, or renting accommodation independently, often as families move out of overcrowded temporary shelters or seek alternatives to displacement centres. Among those affected are some of the most vulnerable members of society, including 1,685 pregnant women, 8,933 breastfeeding mothers, and 7,048 children under the age of five. In total, an estimated 22,100 children are among those affected by this tragedy.

Throughout this difficult period, the FPMT Emergency Relief Fund, together with Kopan Monastery and Kopan Nunnery, has continued to provide support to affected communities in a variety of ways.

On September 11, along the banks of the Trishuli River, Kopan Lama Gyupa offered a Fire Puja dedicated to those who lost their lives, those who remain missing, and all those suffering in the aftermath of the floods. Kopan monks and nuns dedicated prayers for those affected — that they receive protection, strength, and all the resources they need to recover from this disaster.

On September 21, Kopan Monastery contributed NPR 3 million to the Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund. The donation was formally presented to the Honorable Finance Minister by representatives of the monastery as a gesture of solidarity with those affected by the Rasuwa-Bhotekoshi floods.

Kopan representatives providing direct assistance to families affected by the Rasuwa floods, September 25, 2026. Photo courtesy of the Kopan Monastery Facebook page.

Further relief efforts continued on September 25, when FPMT Inc., Kleine Hilfe Deggendorf e.V., Yeshe Norbu Appeal, and Kopan Monastery Helping Hand provided direct financial assistance to families impacted by the disaster. Many people who have lost their houses are now in Kathmandu suddenly needing to pay for rent in a major city. It is deeply moving to see people arriving with dignity and hope despite everything they have lost and endured. 

Buddhist ritual items offered to Ama Chodingmo Haku Monastery in Rasuwa, September 28, 2026, Photo courtesy of the Kopan Monastery Facebook page.

On September 28, essential materials for performing prayers and rituals (pujas) were also provided to Ama Chodingmo Haku Monastery in Rasuwa, helping to support both the monastery and the surrounding community during this challenging time. Thanks to these combined efforts, more than 840 families have received direct assistance. We are deeply grateful to every partner, volunteer, and donor whose generosity has made this support possible.

While these activities have provided much-needed immediate relief, attention is increasingly turning toward longer-term recovery. Kopan Monastery is exploring ways to support families as they begin the difficult process of rebuilding their lives and restoring stability.

The global response to the FPMT Emergency Relief Fund has been truly inspiring. In the first month after the fund was established, more than 1,000 individual donors and 21 organizations from around the world contributed to the effort. This remarkable outpouring of kindness and compassion provided hope at a time when it was needed most.

Kopan Monastery is carefully assessing needs and allocating assistance accordingly. Each case is being considered individually to help ensure that support reaches people facing the greatest hardships. Government plans are also looking toward longer-term resettlement, including providing safer land for families whose homes were lost along the Trishuli River. Kopan Monastery is pleased to support this long-term vision and remains committed to helping affected communities move toward a safer future.

We rejoice in the compassion and generosity of every donor who has contributed to this effort. Your support is bringing practical assistance, hope, and comfort to people facing unimaginable challenges.

Kopan Sangha walking along the banks of the Trishuli River, September 11, 2026. Photo courtesy of the Kopan Monastery School Facebook page.

On behalf of everyone at the FPMT Emergency Relief Fund, Kopan Monastery and Kopan Nunnery, thank you for your kindness and solidarity. We sincerely hope that recovery from this disaster will continue steadily in the months ahead, and we will keep you informed of relevant developments and future relief efforts.

You can read more about the emergency response here.

The FPMT Emergency Relief Fund provides immediate support to communities connected with FPMT around the world. The fund assists people and families affected by natural disasters, emergencies at FPMT centers and projects, and other urgent situations where immediate help is needed.

H.E. Serkong Rinpoche at Institut Vajra Yogini, France, July 2026. Photo by Rommy Johnson.

There is a particular kind of joy that moves through the FPMT mandala when a beloved teacher travels from center to center, and this summer, that joy followed His Eminence Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche across Europe. From late May through early August, H.E. Serkong Rinpoche journeyed from center to center, teaching, listening, and sitting with students old and new — and everywhere he went, the warmth of family feeling was unmistakable.

H.E. Serkong Rinpoche at the FPMT Center Muni Gyana in Sicily. June 6–7, 2026. Photo by Rommy Johnson.

The tour opened in Italy at Manjushri Lotsawa (May 29 – June 2), where students gathered in person and online for a hybrid presentation of Kamalashila’s Stages of Meditation — a fitting beginning, grounding the tour in the very foundations of the path. From there, H.E. Serkong Rinpoche traveled to the FPMT Center Muni Gyana in Sicily (June 6–7) for teachings on the Key to the Middle Way, and stayed on for a few more precious days, offering an intimate question-and-answer session on June 8, an evening conference on June 9 and the oral transmission of the Uttaratantra on June 10. Students who had waited months, some years, to sit with H.E. Serkong Rinpoche again found themselves welcomed back as though no time had passed at all.

H.E. Serkong Rinpoche at Nalanda Monastery, France, June 29, 2026. Photo by Rommy Johnson.

On June 29, H.E. Serkong Rinpoche paid a special visit in France to Nalanda Monastery, offering two teachings in a single day. The first explored the inseparability of conventional and ultimate truths in sutra and tantra, while the second turned to the heart practice of generating bodhicitta and exchanging oneself with others, drawn from Lama Chöpa Lamrim Verse (LC 90–95). It was a day that moved seamlessly from philosophical depth to the tender, practical work of opening the heart — exactly the kind of teaching that stays with students long after they’ve left the room.

Dr. Alexander Berzin at Insitut Vajra Yogini. July 2026. Photo by Rommy Johnson

By early July, the tour had carried H.E. Serkong Rinpoche to Institut Vajra Yogini, France, where he taught on Mind Training for Ultimate Happiness (July 2–4). Here, and at several stops to come, H.E. Serkong Rinpoche was joined by Dr. Alexander Berzin ——a long-time student and translator for the previous Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche. Dr. Berzin is also the founder of Study Buddhism and the Berzin Archive. For the summer tour Dr Berzin supplemented the teachings leading review and Q&A sessions, offering his decades of scholarship and his own deep connection to the Serkong lineage in support of Rinpoche’s teachings. Then came one of the summer’s most joyful moments: on July 5, the community gathered in person to celebrate His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s birthday — a day of prayers, laughter, and gratitude, reminding everyone present why this community exists.

From July 6–8, H.E. Serkong Rinpoche traveled to Paris to take part in the first Grand Europe Monlam, a deeply moving prayer festival held alongside His Eminence Ganden Tripa and Their Eminences Sharpa Choeje and Jangtse Choeje. Together, these senior lamas led three days of prayer dedicated to preserving the Buddhist teachings, and dedicated to all those who lost their lives across Europe during the First and Second World Wars, through epidemics, through conflict, and under countless other circumstances. Prayers were also offered for all those currently unwell, and for peace and benefit to spread to all beings everywhere.

H.E. Serkong Rinpoche, and Dr. Berzin at Centre Kalachakra, France, July 2026. Photo credits by Centre Kalachakra’s Facebook Page.

The tour continued at Kalachakra Center (July 8–12), where H.E. Serkong Rinpoche offered a deep exploration of Compassion and Emptiness according to Chandrakirti’s Entering the Middle Way, with Dr. Berzin again lending his support as teaching assistant, before making the final stop at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy for two consecutive programs: Chapter 22 of Clear Words (July 26–29) and Jewel of the Awakened Heart (July 30 – August 2) — once more supported by Dr. Berzin’s presence and guidance.

H.E.Serkong Rinpoche at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy, July 2026. Photo by Rommy Johnson.

On August 9, H.E. Serkong Rinpoche kindly offered online teachings to the entire FPMT community as part of the Global Mani Retreat. The teachings focused on bodhicitta and the seven-point method for developing bodhicitta. H.E. Serkong Rinpoche based his teachings on Maitreya’s Sublime Continuum (Ratnagotravibhaga) — a rich and generous close to a summer of teachings.

On August 9, H.E. Serkong Rinpoche kindly offered online teachings to the entire FPMT community as part of the Global Mani Retreat.

What made this tour so special wasn’t only the depth of the Dharma offered, though that alone would have been enough. It was the reunions in doorways and courtyards before teachings began. It was long-time students who had organized these very same programs years earlier, welcoming Serkong Rinpoche home again. It was newer students, some meeting Serkong Rinpoche for the very first time, discovering the ease and warmth he brings into a room. Across six centers and ten weeks, old friendships were renewed and new ones quietly took root — a reminder that no matter the language spoken or the border crossed, we are all part of the same family.

The Autumn Tour

H.E. Serkong Rinpoche’s Autumn Tour

The journey doesn’t end here. H.E. Serkong Rinpoche’s teaching tour has continued this autumn with an ambitious itinerary spanning Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Wales, Austria, Belgium, and Spain — nearly three months of Dharma activity stretching across the continent. We invite you to read more about his schedule on H.E. Serkong Rinpooche’s website

We warmly invite students and friends throughout the FPMT mandala to join H.E. Serkong Rinpoche wherever this autumn tour brings him — whether gathered in person in a familiar teaching hall or joining from home across a screen. Wherever you are, there is a place for you in this circle. 

With grateful thanks to Rommy Johnson for this report. 

We offer congratulations and thanks to all of the FPMT centers involved in making this tour a success and benefit to so many who received teachings along the 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 Yeshe teaching during a month-long course at Chenrezig Institute, Australia, 1976. Photo from the LYWA Collection.

This extract comes from one of Lama Yeshe’s teachings during his 1975 visit to Australia, collected in The Peaceful Stillness of the Silent Mind (2004), edited by Nicholas Ribush and published by Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, in Chapter Four: Attitude is More Important than Action.

When You Decide to Practice Any Religion

By Lama Yeshe

These days, even though many people realize the limitations of material comfort and are interested in following a spiritual path, few really appreciate the true value of practicing Dharma. For most, the practice of Dharma, religion, meditation, yoga, or whatever they call it, is still superficial: they simply change what they wear, what they eat, the way they walk and so forth. None of this has anything to do with the practice of Dharma. Before you start practicing Dharma, you have to investigate deeply why you are doing it. You have to know exactly what problem you’re trying to solve. Adopting a religion or practicing meditation just because your friend is doing it is not a good enough reason.

Changing religions is not like dyeing cloth, like instantly making something white into red. Spiritual life is mental, not physical; it demands a change of mental attitude. If you approach your spiritual practice the way you do material things, you’ll never develop wisdom; it will just be an act. Before setting out on a long journey, you have to plan your course carefully by studying a map; otherwise, you’ll get lost. Similarly, blindly following any religion is also very dangerous. In fact, mistakes on the spiritual path are much worse than those made in the material world. 

If you do not understand the nature of the path to liberation and practice incorrectly, you’ll not only get nowhere but will finish up going in the opposite direction. Therefore, before you start practicing Dharma, you have to know where you are, your present situation, the characteristic nature of your body, speech and mind. Then you can see the necessity for practicing Dharma, the logical reason for doing it; you can see your goal more clearly, with your own experience. If you set out without a clear vision of what you are doing and where you’re trying to go, how can you tell if you’re on the right path? How can you tell if you’ve gone wrong? It’s a mistake to act blindly, thinking, “Well, let me do something and see what happens.” That’s a recipe for disaster.

Buddhism is less interested in what you do than why you do it-your motivation. The mental attitude behind an action is much more important than the action itself. You might appear to outside observers as humble, spiritual and sincere, but if what’s pushing you from within is an impure mind, if you’re acting out of ignorance of the nature of the path, all your so-called spiritual efforts will lead you nowhere and will be a complete waste of time. Often your actions look religious but when you check your motivation, the mental attitude that underlies them, you find that they’re the opposite of what they appear. Without checking, you can never be sure if what you’re doing is Dharma or not. You might go to church on Sundays or to your Dharma center every week, but are these Dharma actions or not? This is what you have to check. Look within and determine what kind of mind is motivating you to do these things.

Many countries have their own historical religious cultures, but it’s a misconception to think that simply following these customs makes your actions spiritual. First of all, what is culture, what is social custom? Societal conventions have nothing to do with universal understanding-knowledge-wisdom. And at an individual level, it doesn’t matter where you come from—East or West-your society’s traditions of eating, drinking, sleeping and other worldly activities have nothing to do with religion. If you think they do, your understanding is really primitive. I don’t mean your religion is primitive; I mean your understanding of your religion is primitive—whether you’re Buddhist, Hindu, Christian or anything else, your view of your religion is a total misconception. If you go to your church or temple simply out of custom-“I go because everybody else does”—it’s silly and illogical. There’s no significance. You don’t know what you’re doing or why. If you are going to practice Dharma, meditate, follow the spiritual path, do so with understanding. If you don’t understand what you’re doing or why, don’t do it.

For example, when Lord Buddha formulated the rules of monastic conduct, the vinaya, he said, “If your motivation for becoming a monk or nun is simply to get food, clothing and shelter, you can’t be ordained.” Look at why you became a member of your own religion in the light of what the Buddha said. Often we adopt one faith or another for temporal reasons of reputation or comfort, or because “I like their ideas.” How do you know that you like their ideas? What is it about them that you like? Have you really checked them out? Have you checked to see if those ideas fit your everyday life? Will they bring you spiritual realizations and an everlastingly peaceful mind? Or do they just sound good? “I like their ideas; they sound good.” How do they sound good? You have to check up.

Our grasping, superficial mind is always just looking outside. We never look to see how the ideas we hear suit our daily life. That’s why there’s always a big gap between us—the human beings and the theory and practice of religion. Then, what’s the purpose of that path? It’s completely useless. Our ego is still immersed in its materialistic trip. Some people join a spiritual community because, “It’s so easy. They give me great food and I don’t need to work.” That’s so small-minded. Still, many people are like that. I’m not criticizing anybody in particular; I’m just generalizing. This is just a simple example. You’ll find people likethat in every religion.

Therefore, when you decide to practice any religion, you have to know why. It’s not simply a matter of learning what that religion says. You have to check with your own mind, “Why do I accept this religion’s ideas?” That’s what you need to check. Otherwise, you can study your religion’s philosophy in depth and have a head full of beautiful ideas but still have no clue how those ideas relate to your life. That’s a total misconception of the purpose of religion.

If you think practicing religion means simply learning new ideas, you’d be better off sucking a piece of candy. At least you’d get a little satisfaction; you’d alleviate your thirst for a few moments. If you spend months and years studying new ideas, collecting information, you’re wasting your time; it all becomes garbage. I’m not criticizing religion here; I’m criticizing your primitive mind.

From Chapter 4 of  The Peaceful Stillness of the Silent Mind, by Lama Yeshe. Edited by Nicholas Ribush and published by Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. You can also read this book online and find links to translations.

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.

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. 

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 | International FPMT Family

Holy Objects

Volunteers repaint the stupa under the guidance of artist Jampal Hyolmo at Kadampa Center. Photo courtesy of Kadampa Center’s Facebook page.

(Australia) Tara Meditation Centre’s ongoing stupa project received blessings and gentle advice from Geshe Tenzin Zopa during his visit to the center. He offered encouragement for the construction of the World Peace Stupa in Tsum Valley. 

(Italy) – the Italian group linked to Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, “Stupa Onlus ” was able to fundraise the restoration of twenty-seven old stupas in Ladakh. —a significant effort to preserve these precious holy objects. We rejoice in this collective work for the benefit of all.

(Netherlands) Maitreya Instituut Loenen received a kind donation for its new stupa from Prabin Buddhacharya, a Newar prince from Nepal. The gift includes special materials and objects from sacred places, including white lime from the Swayambhu stupa in Kathmandu, bodhi leaves from Bodhgaya, stones from the Himalayas, a statue, and a vajra.

(Spain) O.Sel.Ling Centro de Retiros has completed the restoration of its Kadampa stupa. We rejoice that this precious holy object has been renewed and preserved for the future generations.

(US) Kadampa Center is repainting and refreshing its precious stupa, originally built in 2013. Community fundraising and volunteer support are making the work possible, with the restoration overseen by the artist who created the stupa, Jampal Hyolmo. We are grateful in everyone helping to renew this precious holy object.

Prayers & Practice

Sangha at the 2026 national Guru Bhumtsok practice at Langri Tangpa Centre, Australia. Photo courtesy of Langri Tangpa Centre’s Facebook page.

(Singapore) Amitabha Buddhist Centre offered a special recitation of the Sutra of Golden Light on September 20, dedicated to pacifying wars and natural disasters, following the advice of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. 

(Australia) Tara Institute  continues its weekly recitation of the Sutra of Golden Light. The total has now reached 3,108 recitations, with students also committed to ongoing daily recitation dedicated to peace and prosperity throughout the world and the long life of our precious teachers. 

(India)  Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre Delhi received a teaching on the Sutra of Golden Light from Venerable Geshe Dorji Damdul on September 8. We rejoice that the community had this opportunity to receive teachings on this precious practice.

(Canada) Lama Yeshe Ling Centre gathered online on September 5, to recite the Sutra of Golden Light, creating the causes for peace in the world and in our own lives. 

(Nepal and Malaysia)  Kopan Monastery, Kopan Nunnery and Chokyi Gyaltsen Center observed the first anniversary of the parinirvana of the 104th Ganden Trisur Rinpoche Jetsun Lobsang Tenzin on September 26. Heartfelt prayers were offered for Rinpoche’s swift return so that he may continue to spread the Dharma and benefit sentient beings, leading them toward the ultimate goal of enlightenment. 

(Taiwan) Jinsiu Farlin began a forty-nine-day Dharma Assembly for the Protection of the Nation and the Pacification of Disasters by the Medicine Buddha on September 7. The collective practice includes prayers for peace, an end to war, freedom from disasters and epidemics, and the well-being of people of all ages. 

(Australia) Langri Tangpa Centre welcomed students from around Australia on September 5–6 for the national Guru Bhumtsok or Guru bumtsog practice. This powerful practice, offered every two years, was led by Geshe Rabten from Atisha Centre, Geshe Tsultrim from Chenrezig Institute, Geshe Choden from the Tibetan community and Geshe Tenzin Zopa. There were 110,000 tsog offerings with extensive prayers dedicated to the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the fulfillment of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s holy wishes, the actualization of his unmistaken reincarnation, world peace, and those affected by recent disasters. We deeply rejoice in this meaningful collective practice.

Milestones

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

(India) Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program students have completed their first year of study. We congratulate the students on this milestone and wish them success as they begin their second year.

(France) Kalachakra Centre hosted the Teacher Development Service Seminar (TDSS) Europe Course from September 23–26, facilitated by Andy Wistreich and Annelies van der Heijden. Sixteen people attended, supported by volunteers who helped make this an harmonious and meaningful experience.

Compassion in Action

Students and speakers Andy Wistreich and David Midgley at the 2026 Planetary Crisis Summit, Nalanda Monastery, France, September 5–6, 2026. Photo courtesy of Nalanda Monastery’s Facebook page.

(Italy) Yeshe Norbu Appello per il Tibet raised funds through its Helping Hand initiative for the recent Nepal emergency, the Rasuwa floods of August 26. A team of monks with nursing training and volunteers from Kopan Monastery has begun providing essential support to more than 300 families who lost their belongings. The team will continue distributing essential supplies and hopes to reach communities in more remote areas. We are grateful for this compassionate response.

(Italy) Centro Thubten Kunkyen introduced Tibetan Buddhist meditation to teenagers during the 2026 Festival of Languages at the University of Naples L’Orientale. The students responded positively to the experience. We rejoice in everyone who took part and hope this first encounter with the Dharma will become a meaningful seed for the future.

(France) Nalanda Monastery hosted the 2026 Planetary Crisis Summit on September 5–6, bringing together around thirty people in the gompa and more than forty individuals or groups online. The summit explored how wisdom and compassion can help us face and hopefully reduce the effects of climate change. 

(Italy) Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa (ILTK) hosted on the latest week of September the annual Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (DIM-MID), in celebration of the center’s 50th anniversary. The gathering brought together ordained members of different religious traditions to reflect on and share their spiritual paths. A wonderful interfaith opportunity for meaningful dialogue, mutual understanding, and shared reflection on spiritual life.

Geshe Tenzin Tenphel, resident teacher at ILTK, and Venerable Raffaello Longo with participants from different traditions at ILTK, September 2026. Photo courtesy of ILTK.

International FPMT Family 

The FPMT Global Mani Retreat continues to bring the international FPMT family together to practice, create the causes for peace, and support the long life and activities of our precious teachers.

On September 12, Geshe Thubten Sherab led the group practice, encouraging students to contemplate deeply and connect with the practice from the depths of their hearts. Detailed visualisations were offered during the Mani mantra recitation, giving this extended period much meaning and filling it with compassionate light.

On September 19, Ven. Robina Courtin led the group practice and reminded students of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice that even one kind thought can immediately purify the air energy and eventually manifest as good health in the physical body and mind, as they are inextricably connected.

On September 26, Kabir Saxena led the Chenrezig sadhana, with an introduction of Dr. Nick Ribush. Kabir Saxena’s dedication ended with a heartfelt wish for FPMT to continue to flourish and benefit others.

The final Chenrezig group practice session will be led by Ven. Lhundrup Jamyang on October 11.

Upcoming Major Teaching: Khandro Tseringma Rinpoche will offer the final teaching on October 25.

Closing Session on Saturday November 7– Details to come!**Running in tandem with these main sessions are Chenrezig Group Practice sessions offered in Spanish and Italian; as well as in English for those in North American time zones.** Please check our Facebook page for all upcoming opportunities. 

Join the FPMT Global Mani Retreat, a precious opportunity to gather in unity, generate collective merit, and deepen our community connections. The mantras we recite together until November 1 will be offered at the conclusion of the retreat for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

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.

Beautiful Nyung-na altar at Institut Vajra Yogini, France.

One of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) was to sponsor people who make a serious commitment in this life to complete 1,000 Nyung Na retreats. Institut Vajra Yogini (IVY) in France to help fulfill this vision, kindly began to host the retreats every year, and it has offered the 108 Nyung Na retreats each year since 2011.  This year IVY has finished the fifteenth series of 108 Nyung Na retreats -from November 2025 to June 2026- led by Ven. Charles, and already planning the sixteenth series of Nyung Na retreats, for November 16, 2026 – June 20, 2027 with experienced monastic and lay practitioners, such as Ven. Amy, Ven. Losang, and Brigitte Lucas.

Each year, food and accommodation for a number of participants undertaking the 108 Nyung Na retreats is now sponsored by the FPMT Practice and Retreat Fund. You can read about this grant in a recent report from FPMT Charitable Projects. 

The Nyung Na retreat at Institut Vajra Yogini

Practitioner during the Nyung Na retreats at Institut Vajra Yogini, November 2025–June 2026, led by Ven. Charles. Photo courtesy of Institut Vajra Yogini.

The Nyung Na retreat is a two-day intensive practice that includes taking the twenty-four-hour Mahayana precepts every day, with the addition of complete fasting and silence every second day. There are three sessions of about three hours each day, including meditation, prostrations, and mantra recitation. It is a powerful, effective, experiential practice that can be done by anyone with respect and faith for the practice. Lama Zopa Rinpoche has highly praised the Nyung Na retreat as a supreme method for transforming the mind.

The number of participants can vary from as few as six to as many as twenty. Long-term participants enjoy practicing in a bigger group, as the retreats can be more powerful when more people take part. Resident teacher Geshe Loden is always willing to give advice, and retreatants also benefit from the inspiration and advice of highly realized lamas who visit the Institute.

Rejoicing in Ven. Charles and His Fifteen Years of Guiding the Nyung Na Retreats

Rinpoche and Ven. Charles, 2017. Photo by Lobsang Sherab.

We rejoice in the fifteen consecutive series of Nyung Na retreats held at Institut Vajra Yogini under the inspiring guidance and mentorship of Ven. Charles Trebaol. He has personally completed thousands of Nyung Nas, and many students call him “bodhisattva Charles”—as Lama Zopa Rinpoche once did. For beginners and experienced practitioners alike, Ven. Charles has been an inspiring retreat leader, and over these fifteen years he has guided many retreatants with his compassionate advice. His own commitment to the practice reflects the kind of commitment Rinpoche hoped to support in others.

The fifteenth series (November 2025 to June 2026) was the latest he led, and we rejoice that 128 people joined to do at least one complete Nyung Na, which is a two-day retreat. Others, especially locals and volunteers, joined for single sessions. No one completed all 108 Nyung Nas in this series. To make the retreats accessible to more people, Institut Vajra Yogini also offered morning sessions online every day, as well as one complete two-day retreat online once a month, so more students could take part from home.

Ven. Charles has now left for a well-deserved one-year solitary retreat. With deep gratitude for these fifteen years, we wish him every success in becoming one with all the qualities of Chenrezig.

The Upcoming Nyung Na Retreat: The Sixteenth Series

Fifteen Consecutive Years of Nyung Na Retreats at Institut Vajra Yogini, November 2025–June 2026, led by Ven. Charles. Photo courtesy of Institut Vajra Yogini.

To continue fulfilling Rinpoche’s Vast Visions, Institut Vajra Yogini has started preparations for the sixteenth series of 108 Nyung Na retreats, which will run from November 16, 2026, to June 20, 2027. With Ven. Charles now in retreat, the series will be guided by experienced monastic and lay practitioners, including Ven. Amy, Ven. Losang (Rita), and Brigitte Lucas. The retreats are led sometimes in French and sometimes in English, and can be followed simultaneously in other languages.

Please join us in rejoicing in fifteen consecutive years of Nyung Na retreats at Institut Vajra Yogini and feel very welcome to engage residentially or online in the upcoming retreat. 

Reach out to Institut Vajra Yogini directly writing at spc@institutvajrayogini.fr  for information on upcoming studies, retreats, and volunteer-study programs.

If you would like to support Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s wish to support these important retreats, you are welcome to offer any amount to the Practice and Retreats Fund