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Nepal animals need help this Saka Dawa

The animals at Kopan need your help. You would have heard of the deteriorating COVID-19 situation in Nepal. You will also have heard about the number of cases at Kopan Monastery, which had been so fortunate for so long but now has had many cases. A short walk from Kopan lies the Animal Liberation Sanctuary. COVID has had an impact here too. The long period of isolation from international visitors and restricted activity has affected the sanctuary. The small staff cohort has been repeatedly interrupted from their normal activities. There have been disruptions in the ordering and delivery of food supplies.

Taking Advantage of COVID-19

It is a difficult time for us all. Yet the great Buddhist masters have always advised to prepare for the worst and to develop methods to transform problems into something beneficial. Whether you are locked down in isolation in your home, restricted in your movements or simply watching the difficulties of others via the news and social media, there are still ways to make these troubling times an opportunity to help our fellow earthlings the animals. See our other pages for detailed advice, but here are some suggestions: recite mantras and prayers for your pets or play pre-recorded audio from recognised

Prayer Flags at the Sanctuary

Friday 8th February 2019. Today many prayer flags (lung-ta) were put up around the Animal Liberation Sanctuary by Kopan monks and sanctuary staff to celebrate Losar (Tibetan New Year). We were very fortunate that the prayer flags were blessed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche and other monks during a puja yesterday. The monks did another ceremony and offered incense prior to the erection of the colourful 'windhorses'. Prayer flags are a way to bless the environment and all the beings in it as the wind blows over the mantras and spreads the blessings far and wide.    

Please Don’t Hunt

Lama Zopa Rinpoche created this sign out of compassion in the hope hunters would take notice and not kill the animals on this US property.

Monks’ Prayers for Wangdu

Kopan monks did prayers for Wangdu, one of the goats of the Animal Liberation Sanctuary, Nepal, the morning after he died after an ongoing illness. The moment of his death mantras were recited as advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche: “If you come across an animal who is dying, this is the first thing you would recite into their ear.”[10] CHOM Dän Dä De Zhin Sheg Pa Dra Chom Pa Yang Dag Par Dzog Päi Sang Gyä Rin Chhen Tsug Tor Chän La Chhag Tshäl Lo https://youtu.be/JHP3vMHeGdg  

Helping Your Pet at the End

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continually reminds us of the importance of knowing what to do when someone is approaching death. It can come as a surprise, even for those who we know are already more vulnerable. Samaya the cat died from renal failure on the 3rd August 2018. She had kidney disease which was successfully managed for over 4 years although she would have had it before she was rescued. Samaya had been rescued by Tree of Compassion in 2014 from a death row pound. Upon her health check post-rescue, she was found to have kidney disease, aneamia, was very underweight &

Visit to the Sanctuary

Some course participants from Kopan Monastery visited the Animal Liberation Sanctuary - bopping the animals with mantras, taking them around the stupas, giving them lots of pats and all the while trying to avoid the monsoon leeches getting into their socks!  

Listening to Rinpoche Live

Yeshe, a rescue cat, listens with concentration to Lama Zopa Rinpoche & students in Singapore recite the Heart Sutra at the start of teachings. You can join Yeshe by tuning in online to the FPMT YouTube live-streaming channel https://www.youtube.com/c/fpmtinc/live

How to Purify a Dog’s Karma

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with a student's pet dog in Italy recently. The advice below was provided to another student requesting Rinpoche for advice on how to purify his dog's negative karma.   Regarding purification for yourself and your dog, take strong refuge in the Buddha and think that the Buddha sends light to yourself and your dog, and to any other animals or beings you want to think about. Think nectar comes from the Buddha and purifies the negative karma, created from beginningless time, of yourself and the dog and other beings you are thinking about. Then recite the refuge prayer. Keep reciting

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