We are extremely delighted to announce that a total of US$108,000 has been raised through the Merit Box Project in 2004! This is a clear sign that the project is working and that every year more FPMT centers and more individual students of Lama Zopa Rinpoche are participating. On one hand, all of these students have accumulated an incredible amount of merit by offering to one’s holy guru, who is the most precious offering field. On the other hand, the money collected is extremely helpful to support several projects which are always in need of money. Therefore, let’s all rejoice for this double-sided success: for ourselves and for Rinpoche’s charitable projects.
- FPMT Mongolia - $25,000
- Universal Education - $7,000
- Maitreya Project Universal Education School at Bodhgaya - $10,000
- FPMT Translation Fund - $8,000
- FPMT Puja Fund - $10,000
- Prajnaparamita Writing Project - $5,000
- Washington Retreat House (property planning) - $1,500
- Land of Calm Abiding - $10,000
- Maitreya Project - $15,000
- Segyu Monastery Food Fund - $12,500
- Medical help for severely burnt injuries of the monk, Kunga - $3,000
- Airfare for teacher to Yamantaka Center, Colombia - $1,000
If you want more specific information on the projects benefited by this year’s Merit Box Project, you can click on the link of the above list or visit the FPMT website (http://www.fpmt.org/). Some of the projects of the above list are related to requests for help that were addressed directly to Lama Zopa Rinpoche and about which we do not have any information. In fact, this makes us even happier because this project is really fulfilling our guru’s personal wishes.
Let’s conclude this message with a quote from Lama Zopa Rinpoche himself.
“So as I mentioned before, if you don’t accumulate merit nothing works. No matter how many wealth vases you make, no matter how much feng shui you have done to your house, nothing works if you haven’t accumulated the merit before. So for development of the center, to solve all the financial problems, with money then you have more facilities, then you can benefit more sentient beings, there is more place for sentient beings to live and to do practice. So it’s not limited you see. Otherwise you can benefit only a small number of people, like how many you can fit into the room. So anyway to be able to receive many people at the center, to be able to benefit, all that has to come from merit, good karma.”
FPMT Inc.
Executive Director
