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Making Life Meaningful
It is extremely important for us to know how best to lead our daily lives. This depends upon our knowing what is a spiritual action and what is not, the difference between what is Dharma and what is not Dharma. The benefits of having this knowledge are incredible, infinite.- Lama Zopa RinpocheThis could be the most important book you ever read. In it, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gives us the answer to the perennial question of how to integrate Dharma with our daily lives - not only Dharma, but the best Dharma, the determination to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It contains a public talk explaining the purpose of life in general and the practice of guru devotion, a wide array of techniques for transforming ordinary actions into causes for enlightenment and advice on establishing a daily practice. By putting these precious teachings into practice, beginners and advanced students alike will truly be able to make the lives highly meaningful.This book is made possible by kind supporters of the Archive who, like you, appreciate how we make these teachings freely available in so many ways, including in our website for instant reading, listening or downloading, and as printed, audio, digital and multimedia books. Our website offers immediate access to thousands of pages of teachings and hundreds of audio recordings by some of the greatest lamas of our time. Our photo galleries and our ever-popular free books are also accessible there. Please help us increase our efforts to spread the Dharma for the happiness and benefit of all beings. You can find out more about becoming a supporter of the Archive and see all we have to offer by visiting LamaYeshe.com. Thank you!
142 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2001
15 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Thubten Zopa
147 books36 followersLama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche (Tibetan: ཐུབ་བསྟན་བཟོད་པ་, Wylie: Thub-bstan Bzod-pa, often published as Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the spiritual director of The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, is held to be the reincarnation of the Sherpa Nyingma yogi Kunsang Yeshe, the Lawudo Lama. Rinpoche was born in 1946 in Thami, not far from the cave Lawudo, in the Mount Everest region of Nepal, where his predecessor meditated for the last twenty years of his life. While his predecessor had belonged to the Sakya tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, the Lawudo Lama himself had been a great master of the complete tantric teachings of the Nyingma tradition.
Rinpoche left Thami when he was about 4 years old and was put in a Monastery that was very close to the border of Nepal and Tibet. Rinpoche stayed at this Monastery for several years until he went to Tibet and took getsul ordination in 1958, and continued his studies in Domo Geshe's monastery in Phagri, Tibet.
In 1959 Rinpoche escaped from Tibet and continued his studies in Sera Jhe monastery in Buxa Duar, in the north of India. This is where the Indian Government housed the monks from Sera, Ganden and Drepung Monasteries who wanted to continue their studies, along with monks from the other sects. It was at Bux a Duar that Rinpoche became the disciple of Geshe Rabten Rinpoche and then of Lama Thubten Yeshe. Frida Bedi then invited him to join her school for incarnate lamas in Dalhousie where they were given the chance to learn English for 6 months. Upon the completion returned to Buxa Duar and his studies.
Lama Yeshe and Zopa Rinpoche's contact with Westerners began in 1965 in Darjeeling, when they met Princess Zina Rachevsky from Russia. She became the Lamas' first Western student. In 1969 they founded the Nepal Mahayana Gompa Center at Kopan, above Boudhnath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal. At the insistence of Zina Rachevsky the Lamas started to teach courses on Buddhism for Westerns at Kopan.
In 1971 Rinpoche took gelong ordination from His Holiness Ling Rinpoche in Bodh Gaya. By 1975, twelve centers had started. In 1976, the growing worldwide organization was named by Lama Yeshe 'the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition'(FPMT). The FPMT is an organization devoted to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and service.
There are 147 FPMT centers and projects worldwide as of March 2007.
FPMT currently has 8 standard Buddhist education programs that are taught in many of the centers. Two of these, the Masters Program and the Basic Program are committed courses of 6 and 5 years of study respectively. Based on the great philosophical texts studied in the monasteries of Tibet, FPMT holds to rigid standards of translation and has a passion for authentic texts to ensure that complete accuracy of the meaning found within these profound texts is not forfeited in the transmission from East to West.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche has many other projects around the world; one of the most important is the 500ft Maitreya Statue that Rinpoche is building in Bodh Gaya that will include schools, hospitals and other social projects such as Leprosy clinics (these social projects are already in existence and have been functioning for the last
15 years). Some of the other projects that Rinpoche has founded are Sera Jhe food fund – which offers breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday to 2700 monks. The Lama Tsong Khapa Teacher Fund offers an allowance to the
main 100 teachers in the Gelukpa tradition from various monasteries. Rinpoche also has a number of other funds that are for building holy objects, such as Stupas, prayer wheels etc. Rinpoche has a very strong interest in collecting texts from all the different traditions.
Rinpoche left Thami when he was about 4 years old and was put in a Monastery that was very close to the border of Nepal and Tibet. Rinpoche stayed at this Monastery for several years until he went to Tibet and took getsul ordination in 1958, and continued his studies in Domo Geshe's monastery in Phagri, Tibet.
In 1959 Rinpoche escaped from Tibet and continued his studies in Sera Jhe monastery in Buxa Duar, in the north of India. This is where the Indian Government housed the monks from Sera, Ganden and Drepung Monasteries who wanted to continue their studies, along with monks from the other sects. It was at Bux a Duar that Rinpoche became the disciple of Geshe Rabten Rinpoche and then of Lama Thubten Yeshe. Frida Bedi then invited him to join her school for incarnate lamas in Dalhousie where they were given the chance to learn English for 6 months. Upon the completion returned to Buxa Duar and his studies.
Lama Yeshe and Zopa Rinpoche's contact with Westerners began in 1965 in Darjeeling, when they met Princess Zina Rachevsky from Russia. She became the Lamas' first Western student. In 1969 they founded the Nepal Mahayana Gompa Center at Kopan, above Boudhnath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal. At the insistence of Zina Rachevsky the Lamas started to teach courses on Buddhism for Westerns at Kopan.
In 1971 Rinpoche took gelong ordination from His Holiness Ling Rinpoche in Bodh Gaya. By 1975, twelve centers had started. In 1976, the growing worldwide organization was named by Lama Yeshe 'the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition'(FPMT). The FPMT is an organization devoted to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and service.
There are 147 FPMT centers and projects worldwide as of March 2007.
FPMT currently has 8 standard Buddhist education programs that are taught in many of the centers. Two of these, the Masters Program and the Basic Program are committed courses of 6 and 5 years of study respectively. Based on the great philosophical texts studied in the monasteries of Tibet, FPMT holds to rigid standards of translation and has a passion for authentic texts to ensure that complete accuracy of the meaning found within these profound texts is not forfeited in the transmission from East to West.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche has many other projects around the world; one of the most important is the 500ft Maitreya Statue that Rinpoche is building in Bodh Gaya that will include schools, hospitals and other social projects such as Leprosy clinics (these social projects are already in existence and have been functioning for the last
15 years). Some of the other projects that Rinpoche has founded are Sera Jhe food fund – which offers breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday to 2700 monks. The Lama Tsong Khapa Teacher Fund offers an allowance to the
main 100 teachers in the Gelukpa tradition from various monasteries. Rinpoche also has a number of other funds that are for building holy objects, such as Stupas, prayer wheels etc. Rinpoche has a very strong interest in collecting texts from all the different traditions.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 13, 2022
I just finished the "Making Life Meaningful" book whose wrote by Zopa renpoche la. Bless me more and I will get opportunity to read you others book. I got many Budhichita knowledge through this book. And I again implore you give me blass.
This book all about on 'who to get Budhichitta' and on the other hand 'who to practice it' which book teach us. We all have the natural impulses, that includes leading happy life and overcoming suffering. Many years have passed, whence we were being under influence of religion. In my point of view, I learn about kind of altruism and care for other. If I get inner happiness by caring other beings then I take that this as a reward. As a human beings, I also need happy life and that is a purpose of life. I state that inner peace come from cherishing other. I worried of new generation society because they are grudging, jealous of each other and taking themselves better than other. And like this, this kind of society need to train mind at the same time and I will apply my studies on that. Once we understand the mind training then I believe there wont be suffering more.
New generation wouldn't handle the difficult situation like physical illness and emotional problems. We know that very intimate connection between physical well being and emotional well being. If we face a physical illness there has a medicine to destruct it but if we get under the emotional illness then there is no any medicine. On the same time, it is needed to realize that there are antidotes, which can be use to counter it. Gradually, decrease the force of our negative thought and so on.
This book all about on 'who to get Budhichitta' and on the other hand 'who to practice it' which book teach us. We all have the natural impulses, that includes leading happy life and overcoming suffering. Many years have passed, whence we were being under influence of religion. In my point of view, I learn about kind of altruism and care for other. If I get inner happiness by caring other beings then I take that this as a reward. As a human beings, I also need happy life and that is a purpose of life. I state that inner peace come from cherishing other. I worried of new generation society because they are grudging, jealous of each other and taking themselves better than other. And like this, this kind of society need to train mind at the same time and I will apply my studies on that. Once we understand the mind training then I believe there wont be suffering more.
New generation wouldn't handle the difficult situation like physical illness and emotional problems. We know that very intimate connection between physical well being and emotional well being. If we face a physical illness there has a medicine to destruct it but if we get under the emotional illness then there is no any medicine. On the same time, it is needed to realize that there are antidotes, which can be use to counter it. Gradually, decrease the force of our negative thought and so on.
July 28, 2023
After reading there first 15 pages, which were very good pages, I lost interest.
February 22, 2014
Lama Zopa Rimpoche busca la integración de la compasión y el punto de vista budista en la vida diaria, aquí se describen varias técnicas para aplicar la compasión y las enseñanzas a nuestra vida diaria.
Un buen manual para leer y poner en practica.
Un buen manual para leer y poner en practica.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews