Discover the spiritual heritage of FPMT UK, guided by the wisdom of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Thubten Yeshe, and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Explore the legacy of compassion and enlightenment that inspires our journey.
Within the heart of FPMT UK lies a lineage steeped in profound wisdom and boundless compassion, led by the venerable figures of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Thubten Yeshe, and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. This lineage forms the spiritual backbone of our teachings and practices, connecting us to a rich tradition of enlightenment and altruistic service. As we navigate through our journey, the lives and teachings of these great masters serve as a guiding light, illuminating the path toward inner peace and the betterment of all beings.
His Holiness the 14th the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, is the head of state and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. He was born Lhamo Dhondrub on 6 July 1935, in a small village called Taktser in northeastern Tibet. Born to a peasant family, His Holiness was recognized at the age of two, in accordance with Tibetan tradition, as the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama, and thus an incarnation Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion.
“If you help others with sincere motivation and sincere concern, that will bring you more fortune, more friends, more smiles, and more success. If you forget about others’ rights and neglect others’ welfare, ultimately you will be very lonely.”
1935-1984
Lama Thubten Yeshe was born in Tibet in 1935. At the age of six, he entered Sera Monastic University in Tibet where he studied until 1959, when as Lama Yeshe himself has said, “In that year the Chinese kindly told us that it was time to leave Tibet and meet the outside world.” Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, together as teacher and disciple since their exile in India, met their first Western students in 1965. By 1971 they settled at Kopan, a small hamlet near Kathmandu in Nepal. In 1974, the Lamas began touring and teaching in the West, which would eventually result in The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition. Lama Yeshe died in 1984.
“Be wise. Treat yourself, your mind, sympathetically, with loving kindness. If you are gentle with yourself, you will become gentle with others.”
1946-2023
Lama Zopa Rinpoche was a Tibetan Buddhist scholar and meditator who for 30 years oversaw the spiritual activities of the extensive worldwide network of centers, projects and services that form the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) which he founded with Lama Thubten Yeshe.
Rinpoche’s vision was vast and included the proliferation of many charitable and beneficial activities. Among many projects dear to Rinpoche’s heart were the two Maitreya Projects…
“Practice with the bodhisattva attitude every day. People can’t see your mind; what people see is a manifestation of your attitude in your actions of body and speech. So pay attention to your attitude all the time. Guard it as if you are the police, or like a parent cares for a child, like a bodyguard, or as if you are the guru and your mind is your disciple.”
Under Rinpoche’s guidance, FPMT plans to build two large statues of the future Buddha, Maitreya, in Bodhgaya and Kushinagar in India; The Sera Je Food Fund, which offers three vegetarian meals a day to all 2,500 monks studying at Sera Je Monastery in south India; Animal Liberation events around the world, at which creatures, big and small, are freed from immediate harm or blessed every year– the total number of animals liberated to date (by Lama Zopa Rinpoche or those inspired by him) is over 200,000,000 and counting! Rinpoche is also utterly dedicated to fulfilling the wishes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama wherever and whenever possible.
Rinpoche’s kindness is legendary. More details of Rinpoche’s ongoing philanthropy can be followed through the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund News.
Born in the Mount Everest region of Thami in 1946, Rinpoche was recognized soon afterwards by His Holiness Tulshig Rinpoche and five other lamas as the reincarnation of the great yogi Kunsang Yeshe. Rinpoche was taken under the care of FPMT’s founder Lama Thubten Yeshe, soon after leaving Tibet, in Buxa Duar, India, in the early 1960’s. Rinpoche was with Lama Yeshe until 1984 when Lama Yeshe passed away and Lama Zopa Rinpoche took over as spiritual director of FPMT.
As the home of authentic Buddhist teachings within the Tibetan Gelugpa tradition in the UK, we are part of the international Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) family and support His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
We are a network of Buddhist Centres, Projects, Study Groups and a Retreat Centre who work together to fulfil the wishes of our Founder Lama Thubten Yeshe and Spiritual Director Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche.
