RYI STUDENT BLOG

Spending years in the school, I was roughly introduced about my own culture and religion by my teachers and elders. But still there were a lot of things that I didn’t know about Buddhism. Hence, after the completion of class 12, I took the opportunity to follow my interest and under the recommendation from one of my relatives, I came here to study at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute. Being part of the Shedra community for the last one year was truly enriching and experiencing moment. And I really have the feeling that learning in the Buddhist environment is the most innovative way for a Buddhist beginner to study. There is a natural flow of curiosity when the environment itself helps us to generate more seeds of encouragement to work harder. I have met different kinds of people in this course of time. They all are so nice and supportive. Every day in the Shedra was great joy learning and discussing with friends and teachers. Exploring thoughts and sharing suggestions with frie...

The Great Stupa of Boudhanath The first time I arrived at the Great Stupa of Boudhanath, I had heard of a legend… the legend of the poultry woman and her sons building a stupa and the pure aspiration to bring the Dharma to the barbarous lands of Tibet.  These three sons were later reborn as the King Trisong Deutson, Santarkshita, and Guru Padmasambhava.  It was due to their pure aspiration and great kindness that the Dharma flourished in Tibet and is still available for us to study today.  It was also due to the kindness of translators, risking their lives to travel from Tibet to India to study Sanskrit for many years in an unfamiliar land and return to translate the Dharma into their own language, Tibetan.  It is thanks to teachers, such as Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and Rangjung Yeshe Institute, which provides a place for Westerners to do such a study of Buddhism and the Tibetan language.  We are given an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the...