The Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive manages the audio and video recordings, transcripts and advice, formal and informal video, and images of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche collected over the past fifty years, from the early 1970s through to 2023.
The work of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive falls into two categories: Preservation and Publication.
PRESERVATION
Preservation involves managing the collection of audio recordings, unedited and edited transcripts, photos, videos, and rare historical artifacts—pre-digital images, and analog film and audio—sourced from Dharma centers and private collections around the world. Original media are digitized and catalogued, after which they are stored safely while being kept accessible for further work.
The collection is being migrated to AssetBank, a digital asset management system that ensures the collection will be safely preserved and easily managed for future generations. LYWA works collaboratively with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) to maintain all archival materials in AssetBank.
Other archiving activities include organizing audio transcription and producing checked transcripts that are made available to editors or others doing research on or practicing these teachings. We also work with images of the Lamas, preserving and digitizing the originals, cataloguing them in our image archive of over 75,000 images, and optimizing them for use in digital and print publications.
Few Tibetan Buddhist archives in the world can claim such a vast wealth of resources. For practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism in general, and students of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche in particular, the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive (LYWA) is an invaluable resource for authentic Buddhist teachings. The archival preservation ensures the integrity and continuity of the Tibetan Gelug lineage of Lama Tsongkhapa, as taught by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
PUBLICATION
We prepare materials for publication through various avenues including books for free distribution and sale, ebooks on a wide range of readers, social media, multimedia, audiobooks, podcasts, videos on our YouTube channel, lightly edited transcripts and free audio on our website, and a monthly e-letter. We also support the translation of LYWA publications into more than eighteen languages.
Irrespective of the medium, the teachings and other assets require a significant amount of work to prepare them for publication and distribution:
- Teaching transcripts are checked for errors, edited by a team of editors and published in various formats—in print, as ebooks and on our website.
- Images are edited by LYWA digital imaging specialist, David Zinn, then published in our Image Gallery and shared with our partner organizations.
- Video and audio recordings are formatted and prepared for publication, with the addition of subtitles as required.
- Letters and personal advice given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to students worldwide are lightly edited and posted regularly to Lama Zopa Rinpoche's Online Advice Book.
To become familiar with all of the offerings on our website, see our Getting Started page. To order our books and ebooks, visit our Online Store. You can also read more about Who We Are and view our brochure.
The Archive was established with virtually no seed funding and has developed solely through the kindness of our Members and Supporters. We are indebted to you all. Read more about how to support the work of LYWA here.
The Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive is a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible, nonprofit corporation dedicated to the welfare of all sentient beings and totally dependent upon your donations for its continued existence. Thank you so much for your support.
The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition
The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) is an international organization of Buddhist meditation study and retreat centers, monasteries, publishing houses, healing centers and other related activities founded in 1975 by Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche. At present, there are more than 160 FPMT centers, projects and services in over forty countries worldwide.
The FPMT has been established to facilitate the study and practice of Mahayana Buddhism in general and the Tibetan Gelug tradition—founded in the fifteenth century by the great scholar, yogi and saint, Lama Je Tsongkhapa—in particular.
The FPMT website www.fpmt.org offers teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and many other highly respected teachers in the tradition, details about the FPMT’s educational programs, an online learning center, a complete listing of FPMT centers all over the world, and a link to the FPMT Store.
The FPMT Online Learning Center makes FPMT education programs and materials more accessible to students worldwide. All of the online programs provide audio and/or video teachings of the subjects, guided meditations, readings, and other support materials. Online forums for each program provide students the opportunity to discuss the subject matter and to ask questions of forum elders. Additionally, many retreats led by Lama Zopa Rinpoche are available in full via audio and/or video format.