Thubten Zopa Rinpoche
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Thubten Zopa Rinpoche 1946 - |
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| Name |
Thubten Zopa Rinpoche
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| Birth |  Nepal |
| School/tradition | Gelug |
| Thubten Zopa Tibetan: ཐུབ་བསྟན་བཟོ་པ་ Wylie: Thub-bstan Bzod-pa |
Thubten Zopa Rinpoche (born 1946) is a lama from Thami, a village in the Solo Khumbu region of Nepal. Early in life, he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Lawudo Lama, from the same region (hence the title "Rinpoche"). He acquired further religious education at Dung-kar Monastery in Sikkim and would have studied in Tibet if the 1959 Chinese invasion did not occur. Instead his spiritual teacher, Geshe Rabten, entrusted him to the care of Lama Thubten Yeshe.
"Lama Zopa" is most noteworthy as the co-founder, with Lama Yeshe, of Kopan Monastery and the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), as he remains spiritual director since Lama Yeshe passed away.
His books are published by Wisdom Publications. Free transcripts of some of his teachings are available from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. There is an extensive biography of him in the book The Lawudo Lama by Jamyang Wangmo.
Following the advice of Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa pursues the Maitreya Project, a huge Maitreya Buddha statue in Northern India. Originally planned to be built in Bodhgaya (Bihar), the 500 ft (152 m) high statue will be the largest of its kind in the world, planned to be built in Kushinagar. Please refer to the Maitreya Project website.
