Between November 29 and December 13, 2019, Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught the students of the fifty-second Kopan course, the one-month intensive lamrim course given each year at Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, the principal monastery of the FPMT. The course was held in the newly finished Chenrezig Gompa and had a new record attendance of about two hundred and seventy people.
This was just before COVID19 hit and the world went into lockdown for two years, which Rinpoche used to give daily thought transformation teachings from Kopan, with the aid of an ever-increasing number of soft toys. Here, however, his main emphasis is on emptiness. Using the wonderful verse, “A star, a defective view, a butter lamp flame…” over several days he explores how the cause of all our problems stems from misreading reality. Rinpoche, a master at teaching emptiness, does so here in great depth and with great clarity.
These teachings were simultaneously transcribed and then edited by Ven. Joan Nicell and simultaneously checked for errors by Tania Duratovic, Laura Haughey and Ven. Tenzin Tsomo. They have been subsequently lightly edited by Gordon McDougall.
There are links to video excerpts within the text. To access these stand-alone short videos, which focus on a specific topic, simply click on the relevant link within the text. You can also find a complete list of video extracts on the FPMT’s Essential Extracts webpage.
You can find all of Rinpoche’s lectures from Kopan 2019 here, along with two discourses by Khadro-la, given during this course. To watch, listen to or read more teachings by Rinpoche, go to Rinpoche Available Now webpage on the FPMT website.
About the LYWA Kopan eBook Project
In 2024, LYWA is launching a new project which involves publication of a series of ebooks of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings from the Kopan meditation courses held annually at Kopan Monastery in Nepal since the early 1970s. All of Rinpoche’s teachings from the annual Kopan courses will be converted into ebooks, including those already published on our website and those not yet published.
The Kopan courses began in April 1971 with a ten-day program attended by about a dozen people. From these early beginnings, the Kopan courses evolved to become an annual event with over two hundred attendees from all over the world. Read more here about how the Kopan courses began.
Kopan Monastery is the heart of the FPMT, the international organization founded by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche to preserve and spread Mahayana Buddhism worldwide. The Kopan meditation courses were life-changing for countless students, and this is where many students met the Lamas, received teachings and became Buddhist. For more information about attending the annual lamrim courses at Kopan Monastery visit KopanMonastery.com.
LYWA’s Kopan ebook project is possible due to the generous support of donors like you. Your contribution plays a vital role in ensuring that these timeless teachings continue to inspire and transform lives for generations to come. Thank you!
