Long Life Puja Fund

	To understand why a long life puja is essential, we must understand the value of the Guru. He is our guide in this life, the bardo, and future lives. He is immensely important. It is not a case where if we ask him to live he will, and vice-versa, but that to offer such a ceremony purifies our own broken samayas.
–Geshe Lama Konchog

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Long Life Puja held for Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Tushita Meditation Centre, India, November 2011. Photo by Kalleen Mortensen.One of the most moving ceremonies in Tibetan Buddhism is the long life puja for a teacher, an elaborate display of devotion towards a spiritual guide comprising heartfelt prayers and praises, and a procession of symbolic offerings. The purpose of the long life puja is for students to purify the mistakes that occur in relationship to their teacher, and to create the causes and conditions to continue to receive benefit from that teacher for a very long time.

The essential practice for creating the cause for the Guru's long life is harmony between students.  Additionally, our devotion to our teachers is best expressed by following their advice, which includes offering service. By maintaining harmony, following our teachers’ advice and offering long life pujas, FPMT students are accumulating the merits so that our precious gurus will stay in the world with us for a long time.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche also mentions regularly that offering long life pujas is a cause for one's own long life.

An important priority for FPMT is offering long life pujas every year for our immeasurably precious teachers: His Holiness the Dalai Lama and our Spiritual Director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche. All FPMT centers, projects and services as well as many FPMT students contribute to these annual pujas.

The Long Life Puja Fund was highlighted as Mandala magazine's Featured Project in Juy-September 2010.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered the following advice in response to requests by students to help them understand how best to prolong the life of the guru, and how to avoid obstacles that can cause him sickness and a shortened life. More....

Long Life Puja for His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Lama Zopa Rinpoche requested the FPMT organization to offer a Long Life Puja to His Holiness the Dalai Lama every year. FPMT International Office has taken on this responsibility for twenty years, and will continue to do so, on behalf of the entire organization.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, March 2008. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and the greatest source of inspiration for the FPMT. Service to His Holiness is one of the primary aims of FPMT. Service to His Holiness is one of the primary aims of FPMT. Lama Zopa Rinpoche calls His Holiness “the great treasure of infinite compassion embracing all sentient beings, the sole source of benefit and happiness of all sentient beings, and the sole refuge of all sentient beings.” Read more about His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

As the spiritual guide for six million Tibetans, as Lama Zopa Rinpoche's guru, as a recipient of the Noble Peace Prize, and as an ambasador for promoting each individual's universal responsibility toward humankind and the environment, His Holiness serves as a living symbol for world peace.

The latest long life puja for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which FPMT helped to sponsor, was at the end of the Kalachakra initiation (Dec 31 2011 - January 10 2012) in Bodhgaya, India.

 "In Praise of His Holiness the Dalai Lama" was composed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Praise to His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a collection of comments from Lama Zopa Rinpoche's Online Advice Book

Long Life Puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Five dakinis in front of Lama Zopa Rinpoche during long life puja, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 29, 2012. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.The annual long life puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche, offered on behalf of the entire FPMT organization, is held after the legendary November course at Kopan Monastery in Nepal or after the organization’s international CPMT meeting.

When the long life puja is offered at Kopan Monastery, over 1,000 attendees, made up of November course participants, monks, nuns and local Sherpas, participate. The ritual itself is the extensive Lama Chöpa with an added request to the dakinis, a moving plea by the students for the five dakinis who have come to take away the teacher to a pure land to allow the students’ teacher to remain with them on earth.

The most recent long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche was on December 29, 2012 at Kopan Monastery in Nepal.

April 2013 update: Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drolma (Khadro-la) recently indicated that for Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s health and long life FPMT needs to offer more long life pujas to Rinpoche with the offering and request to the five dakinis.

As a result of this advice FPMT, through the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Long Life Puja Fund, will now be making a donation to every single long life puja that is offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche in addition to sponsoring the annual long life puja.

Please watch a moving video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche's long life puja in Bodhgaya, India January 2, 2012, offered by all the monks of Sera Je Monastery, Kopan Monastery and FPMT. Filmed and directed by Matteo Passigato.

Please watch a long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery, May 2010.

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