Congrats to the Maitripa Class of ’09!

Earlier this Fall, Portland, Oregon’s Maitripa College was given degree-granting authority from the State of Oregon, marking the fulfillment of one the school’s most important goals: to be able to offer credentialed higher education in the Buddhist tradition in America.

This year also marks the end of the curriculum for Maitripa’s first class of graduate students, who will be recognized in the school’s first graduation ceremony in January.

Several Wisdom authors have an ongoing role in Maitripa College’s development: Yangsi Rinpoche (author of Practicing the Path) was a co-founder (along with Dr. James Blumenthal) and the school’s visiting faculty includes Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Geshe Sopa Rinpoche, Jeffrey Hopkins, Dr. Jose Cabezon, and Dr. Jan Willis.

Our congratulations to them for their collective achievement, and to the graduating students who shall follow in their footsteps!

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Unconventional advice from a Buddhist master, on the page and on the web

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the Spiritual Director of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a master at explaining Buddhism’s radical but effective methods for transforming suffering into happiness, as practiced and taught by Tibetans for a thousand years.

Much of his most helpful direct advice to real practitioners has been collected in a Wisdom book, Dear Lama Zopa. Whatever your question or concern, it’s a good bet that Rinpoche has an answer that will surprise and enlighten you — and, lighten your mood. You can also find newly-added advice from Rinpoche any time on the FPMT’s website, here.

And don’t miss How to Be Happy, Rinpoche’s latest book, which Mandala calls “the perfect gift for family and friends who may not have had the good fortune to meet Lama Zopa.”

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