Celebrating Seven Years of FPYB
Dear Friends!
Today is our 7th anniversary as a registered UK charity, and we’d like to share some of the highlights of this past year with you.
Meeting the Masters, Donating Books
In February, Carol and Dmitry visited Yongdzin Rinpoche in Triten Norbutse Monastery, Kathmandu and presented him with copies of our recent publications. As ever, it was a very joyful occasion.
Thanks to very generous sponsorship, in April we were able to attend the final days of the Menri Drubchen Ceremony at Menri Monastery, Dolanji in India. This was a wonderful event, and as well as meeting friends old and new, we had audiences with Menri Tridzin Rinpoche and Pönlob Trinle Nyima Rinpoche and presented them both with several FPYB books.
On the advice of Khenpo Gelek Jinpa, we also made a sizeable donation of FPYB books to Menri Monastery’s impressive library.
For full report see: PRESENTING KYABJE 34th MENRI TRIDZIN WITH FPYB BOOKS (yungdrungbon.co.uk) & Donating FPYB books to Menri Monastery, Dolanji (yungdrungbon.co.uk)
New Videos
In November 2023, we were delighted to host Drubdra Khenpo at FPYB headquarters again. Several practitioners had asked us for recordings of Bönpo prayers, and we were able to record them while he was with us in UK. They are freely available here:
Our First Online Event
Another highlight of Drubdra Khenpo’s visit was an online talk on Magyu tsalung and tummo. This was FPYB’s first online event, and we’d like to thank you all for supporting it.
Lamhla, the Goddess of the Path
To mark the New Year of the Wood Dragon, we released a new translation of a special prayer to Lamlha, the Goddess of the Path, which we made into a tsakali postcard. The prayer is available gratis here @ LAMHLA-THE-GODDESS-OF-THE-PATH_PDF_S.pdf (yungdrungbon.co.uk)
We also printed and donated 150 copies of the postcard to the Triten Norbutse Monastery Shop. Proceeds from sales go directly to the Monastery’s ongoing projects.
All proceeds from the sale of How to Practice Dzogchen in Daily Life also go to Triten Norbutse Monastery via Association Triten Norbutse for the new temple complex.
Articles
This year FPYB published no less than 4 articles, all written by our chairman Dmitry Ermakov:
- Dzogchen & Advaita Vedanta (yungdrungbon.co.uk)
- The Multiverse in Yungdrung Bön (yungdrungbon.co.uk)
- Connections between Siberian Shamanism, Bön and Taoism ⋆ Foundation for the Preservation of Yungdrung Bön (yungdrungbon.co.uk)
We are particularly pleased that we were asked to contribute a biography of Choza Bönmo to The Treasury of Lives @ Choza Bonmo – The Treasury of Lives: A Biographical Encyclopedia of Tibet, Inner Asia and the Himalayan Region
New Books
Of course, our main focus is on producing new books of edited transcripts and translations. However, as the Foundation grows, our small team sometimes find themselves swamped with administrative and technical problems that must be resolved to maintain the Foundation, its website, bank account etc in good working order.
Nevertheless, this year we managed to release several new publications:
In person transmission (not via Zoom etc.) is required for all these texts. If you have tranmission and would like to ordre a copy, you can write to us from Contact us ⋆ Foundation for the Preservation of Yungdrung Bön (yungdrungbon.co.uk) stating clearly which book you want to order, as well as when and from whom you received the relevant transmission/teachings.
First in-person Dzogchen retreat
This spring we began organising FPYB’s first in-person retreat, to be held in Tuscany in October 2024 and led by Drubdra Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin of Triten Nobutse Monastery. As many FPYB publications are restricted, this will also be a perfect opportunity to ask Drubdra Khenpo for transmissions.
Full details here:
Translations
This year the work of FPYB has spread far and wide.
Chinese
We are particularly delighted that a translation of Yongdzin Rinpoche’s precious teachings on The Masters of the Zhang Zhung Nyengyud has been published in mainland China! This is a great achievement.
For full report see: The testaments of Zhang Zhung Nyengyu Masters now translated & published in China / 象雄年居大成就者的言教已经翻译成中文并在中国出版发行 ⋆ Foundation for the Preservation of Yungdrung Bön (yungdrungbon.co.uk)
Italian
As well as Dmitry’s video presentation on Siberian Shamanism, Bön and Taoism, given in Italian last year for Tianwu, Scuola do Medicina Classica Cinese e Arte Taoiste and now available online:
we are collaborating with a small Italian publishing house and several titles are forthcoming.
The article on Choza Bönmo’s inspiring life has also been translated and is available here @ Breve biografia di Choza Bönmo ⋆ Foundation for the Preservation of Yungdrung Bön (yungdrungbon.co.uk)
Russian
Our Russian translation project in collaboration with Khenpo Geshe Rinchen Tenzin’s “Yungdrung Bön Tibetan Culture and Research Centre” («Исследовательский центр тибетской культуры и религии Юнгдрунг Бон») is also progressing well. The translation of Heart Essence of the Khandro titled СУЩНОСТЬ СЕРДЕЦ КХАНДРО: Наставления опыта бöнпо дзогчена, Тридцать символов и смыслов от йогинь Женской Линии духовой преемственности is being printed right now.
Some Statistics
We now have over 3.5K subscribers to our YouTube channel @ Foundation for the Preservation of Yungdrung Bon – YouTube with 17 videos in 3 languages. The most popular to date (20K views) is Drubdra Khenpo’s demonstration of Magyud Tsalung-Tummo out on the fells near FPYB headquarters. The second is a presentation on the Bön Religion, in Russian (14K views), and the third is a message from Yongdzin Rinpoche to Western Bönpos (9.5K views)
Books
Over the past 12 months, Vajra Books in Kathmandu sold 214 copies of FPYB books. We are delighted that we can collaborate to make these precious teachings available to people visiting Nepal, even though FPYB receives on average less than 0.50 US cents per copy sold.
A further 115 copies of the Polish version of Drubdra Khenpo’s teachings on Magyud Tsalung-Tummo were sold 2023-24, published by Okultura.
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support this year. As a small non-profit organisation, we rely on your donations to keep going. Any offering, large or small, is greatly appreciated and is used only to further the preservation of Yungdrung Bön.
Best wishes from FPYB Team!