Since 1 August 2020, Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) Sangha have been coming together as a global community reciting “Thangtong Gyalpo’s Prayer” to reduce the suffering caused by the COVID pandemic.
This 1 August marks its first year – a milestone that the founders themselves would have preferred not to reach. The “prayerathon” initiative, formally known as the Thangtong Gyalpo Prayerathon, arose because of the suffering of the world from COVID. Nevertheless, just as a bodhisattva remains until the suffering of all beings is extinguished without qualification, as long as COVID continues to dominate lives and headlines, the prayerathon will continue to benefit beings.
The 24-hour prayerathon is the brainchild of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, is organized by the International Mahayana Institute (IMI), the FPMT organisation for monks and nuns, and hosted by the Chenrezig Institute Multimedia Team.
Everyone—including Dharma centers and individuals—is welcome to join the Thangtong Gyalpo Prayerathon by watching the weekly livestream on the Chenrezig Institute YouTube channel and following along with their own copy of the text. The Prayerathon runs each Saturday from 9:30am to Sunday 9:30am GMT+10.
The global pandemic has wreaked havoc on ordinary people’s lives and, in ways we do not even know yet, changed how we live forever. Deepening the Buddhist presence in our daily lives is one way in which we can weather the ongoing storm, especially as the Delta variant ravages the Global South and infections rise in the United States and Europe.
See more
Chenrezig Institute YouTube channel
Join the Weekly Online Thangtong Gyalpo Prayerathon (FPMT)
Advice to Protect Yourself and Others from the Coronavirus (FPMT)
