Introduction

From December 6–18, 2018, Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught the students of the fifty-first Kopan course, the one-month intensive lamrim course given each year at Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, the principal monastery of the FPMT. 

This ebook presents twelve lectures given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche during this meditation course. In the teachings, Rinpoche gives an overview of the path to enlightenment, and explains that the antidote to the sufferings of samsara is meditation on emptiness. The teaching given during the long-life puja offered to Rinpoche on December 17 is not included here, however, you can watch the video here. The meditation course concluded with a Vajrasattva initiation on December 18. Prior to the empowerment, Rinpoche taught on Vajrasattva and explained how to purify our negative karma.

These teachings were simultaneously transcribed and then edited by Ven. Joan Nicell and simultaneously checked for errors by Tania Duratovic and Laura Haughey. They have been subsequently lightly edited by Gordon McDougall. The lightly edited transcripts of the teachings are now available on the LYWA website and in ebook format. You can also download or read the PDF online.

You can watch video of all of Rinpoche’s lectures from Kopan 2018 here. To watch, listen to or read more teachings by Rinpoche, go to Rinpoche Available Now webpage on the FPMT website.

You can read a comprehensive glossary of the Buddhist terms in this book on our website.

ABOUT THE LYWA KOPAN EBOOK PROJECT

In 2024, LYWA launched 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 yearly lamrim courses at Kopan Monastery visit KopanMonastery.com.

Visit our Teachings page to find more Kopan course transcripts and many other teachings. 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!