RYI STUDENT BLOG

The first time I came to Kathmandu one year ago, I was on my way back from China. At that time, my plan was to stay for a month in order to learn some Tibetan.  Here’s a lesson I learned quickly.  Plans change. My first impression of Boudhanath was that I could eat a variety of food for very low prices. After my time in China, I thought I could once more taste any European food I wanted. I settled down to eat at the Double Dorje ‘Restaurant’. After eating, I no longer knew why people called it restaurant. I later discovered that any place where you can have food is called restaurant in Kathmandu even if the food bears an uncommon resemblance to cardboard. Even so, my fatal error was choosing a mysterious drink called ‘lassi’. The consequences were frequent bathroom visits for a few days.  The silver lining was making the acquaintance of a Tibetan doctor named Dr. Sherab.  I soon felt better. After a few days of exploring the Boudhanath neighborhood, I disco...

Monastery in Pharping in the midst of mustard field I’ve been a student at the Shedra for two years now.  In that time, I have been surprised by how quickly we can integrate what we learned into our lives. The Tibetan language comes naturally here. When class ends, I go out with my Tibetan friends, and we head to the tea shop. There’s nothing like sweet tea, spicy potatoes, and great company!!! Things like this happen every day.  After only a few months here, I was part of the Bodhanath village where everyone knows everyone.  My constant contact with local Tibetans has done wonders for my ability to learn Tibetan. The Shedra exists in a perfect place to support its students’ learning. That said, sometimes I want to escape the small town of Boudha. That’s when I head for my favorite place in Nepal, Pharping or Yanglesho as the Tibetans call it. It is an hour and a half by bus from the Shedra.  Pharping is the sacred place where Guru Rinpoche sta...

The seminar held at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery was an amazing experience for me. The teachings given by Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche touched the core of my heart. I really felt a flow of blessing for all of the people who participated in the program. There were two sections to the program: one included a period of guided meditation, the other included teachings given by Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. Through Rinpoche’s teaching, I realized that everything in this world is mind. If we really know the nature of mind, then and only then can we be free from the suffering of samara. Listening to his words, I understood that I could die at any moment, so this human life is very precious. If everyone, including myself, practices Shamatha and Vipassana, then we can be free from negative thoughts .I also learned that listening to a Dharma teaching is not enough; practice and reflection in life are very important. In the afternoon, Phakchok Rinpoche’s teaching was also great. He shared many of hi...

I never understood the value of learning valid cognition until taking John Dunne’s class on the Facets of Mindfulness this fall.  By observing the process through which our mind makes coherent the vast array of sensory information it receives, the negative emotions which form based upon our feelings about these sensory experiences lose their foothold.   By seeing through analysis that no two experiences can ever be the same, all the expectations of attachment and fears towards aversive experiences —which are based on comparison to “similar” experiences that caused such reactions in the past—no longer have a basis for arising.  All negative emotions necessarily rely on memory of the past and expectation for the future, thus learning to look at the present moment with more and more subtle levels of awareness yields mindstates that are more free and open to see our experience with less and less mental and emotional baggage attached. One example that John used in...

The Buddha himself mentioned in a sutra that a pilgrim who comes and pays respect to the four sublime places will not be reborn in the lower realms.  During this year’s fall reading week, Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche lead a pilgrimage to Bodhgaya as he has for the last twenty-seven years. This time, he also decided to visit the Buddha's other three holy places as well. Many people, including me, decided to join him for this important journey.  People went with different motivations. Some hoped spending a few days in Bodhgaya, practicing under the sacred Bodhi tree and receiving instructions from teachers would help them to reconnect with what is meaningful in their lives. Others sought to reduce physical or mental suffering.  Before going to Bodhgaya, I made aspirations to be able to clear away obstacles for practice, to meet teachers I can aspire to follow, and to receive teachings that would help to transform my mind. Going on pilgrimage is important. Our busy,...

After arriving in Kathmandu late summer 2009 to begin my studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute up until this day quite a lot of events have taken place – externally as well as internally.  Just the fact that one is now living in a country among people with a completely different culture, different habits and so forth from what one might be used to, might trigger one or two weak spots in a westerner and can be quite challenging. But, as much as it can be challenging it is definitely equally fascinating to observe what is going on around one-self and not to mention within one-self.    By looking back at my time here in Boudha and at RYI, I’m really grateful to all the teachers that have helped me (and sometimes pushed me) in my understanding of the sometimes complex ideas regarding the Buddhist philosophy. My teachers that have very generously offered their time in helping me progress in the Tibetan language which definitely requires time and effort.  But mo...

Congratulations go out to Joyadip (Dhammadipa), who successfully defended his Master of Arts Thesis! " A Study of the Vijñaptimātra Doctrine of Vasubandhu and Dharmapāla in the Context of Critiques Found in Candrakīrti's Madhyamakāvatāra". The thesis supervisor was Thomas H. Doctor and the External Reader was Dr. Douglas S.Duckworth from East Tennessee State University, USA.  Joyadip (Dhammadipa), a Bangladeshi Buddhist monk, studied at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, before joining the Master of Arts program at the Centre for Buddhist Studies at RYI.  After his MA graduation Joyadip started working for an E-learning program at a  Buddhist University in Thailand.  Our best wishes for you and we hope to see you again in Boudhanath!