ZAM (Rigpa shop) offering authentic dharma materials - now through its new website!

July 21, 2023Rigpa

ZAM (Rigpa store) has been providing a wide range of dharma materials for over 30 years. How did ZAM come into being and what can you find on the new online shop?

Established in 1991, ZAM’s aspiration and greatest wish is to provide anyone interested in, or already practising Tibetan Buddhism, everything they need to support their study and practice.

The new ZAM team focuses on the quality and authenticity of the products they are offering, procuring ritual items, incense and so on from monasteries in Nepal, India and China, ensuring materials are made according to tradition and under ethical conditions.

How did ZAM come into being?

The name ‘ZAM’ is more than just an ordinary name, it has deeply profound meaning and comes with the blessing of the great master Kyabjé Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. 1988 during a pilgrimage to Sikkim and Nepal, Sogyal Rinpoche sought the advice of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche about whether to start a business importing dharma items to the West for practitioners. It was at that time that Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche gave the name ZAM.

‘ZAM’ is the seed syllable of the mantra of Dzambhala the ‘god of wealth’. The term ‘wealth’ in Buddhism has different levels of meaning and, on an inner level, often refers to our Buddha Nature, which is the greatest richness we possess.

ZAM’s logo is a beautiful calligraphy drawn by Sogyal Rinpoche who said the word ‘ZAM’ has the meaning of a treasure store ‘where everything is plentiful’, ‘anything you want you have’, ‘everything is available there’.

The new ZAM website

Sebastien Feiss took over as the Director of ZAM in September 2021 with the aim of making sure anyone studying the dharma can have the books, teachings, images, thangkas, ritual items and so on that they need to be able to study and practice. The new website is one way to make this easier for us all.

So far the site is in French and English with Spanish and German to follow later in 2023/2024.

On the new ZAM website:

You can easily find a growing range of practice materials, teachings and ritual items
In the future you be able to download digital teachings and practices
In the future there will be a blog sharing things like advice on setting up a shrine, explanation about the tradition behind many of the products available and more.

In addition to the online shop, ZAM has an onsite shop at the Windhorse Boutique at Lerab Ling where its office, print room and distribution ‘factory’ is also located.