Sing, Sing, get the Swing!
It is almost frightening how fast my three years of studying at RYI in the BA program have passed by. Now there are only a few weeks of the final semester left and therefore, I
would like to take the opportunity to share my experiences of my third study year with you. I made two major decisions regarding my study plan which I have not regretted and which I would like to recommend to you because they have benefited me a lot.
The first is my decision to start with Sanskrit. If you are thinking about doing so, too, please ignore all ominous voices whispering what a horribly difficult language Sanskrit is. It is not! In fact, it is just about singing. Kashinath and Paul in combination offer a unique way of studying this beautiful poetic language at RYI. The reason why I think that Sanskrit is not a difficult language is that there is not really much to understand in terms of linguistics. At the end of the day it is all about singing – and taking one's time to do so. Of course, Sanskrit is a complex language with many flexions of all kinds of nouns, with conjugations of verbs and with plenty of Sandhi rules to paste the sounds together which means that there is a lot to memorize. But whenever you feel overwhelmed by all these different forms and paradigms, just start singing your slokas, flexions and conjugations and try to get the swing of it!
Where else, if not here, will you get the chance to recite the Bodhicharyāvatāra in its original language, guided by the mesmerizing voice of Kashinath Mahodayaha (who by the way is an internationally acknowledged expert)?! He will teach you how to do the music while Paul breaks the grammar down in an easy, clear and straightforward way.
The second decision I made after having completed the basic first two years of both Classical and Colloquial Tibetan was to build up on this foundation by diving into the "cold water" of the untranslated Dwags po Thar rGyan (Jewel Ornament of Liberation) philosophy class – only to find out that it's rather like lukewarm water to swim in with the life belt of an English translation. What helped me at first was to go through the Tibetan original together with the translation as far as possible in advance during the holidays which did not take as much time as you might think and which kept me going during the break. Having equipped the Tibetan original with my notes accordingly for which I got scolded by a Lama because I had used red colour, so be careful! I found out soon that I understand most of Loponla's equally as fast as brilliant speech without the translation hidden under my bench. And if I don't, there is no reason to get desperate; he is always happy when students ask questions. Having to do without a translator is moreover an excellent training for my poor listening comprehension and concentration ...
Generally, I really enjoy the Tibetan way of "jumping like a tiger, creeping like a turtle and digesting like a lion" in terms of discussing a philosophical work. For me this is a question of respect for the precious teachings that we receive here. In Western philosophical classes the focus
is usually on the Tiger's jumps, which means to devour as much material as possible within a short time. Speaking for myself, I have to admit that, although I like short cuts, I am rather the turtle or lion type of student when it comes to the "juicy stuff"; I am a slow eater and digester. If you also prefer that, you will enjoy the way of studying which I recommend for these philosophical classes:
Do a little bit of review and/or preview every day by reading the sections of the day in Tibetan aloud, and do it repeatedly. Once again, this all comes down to singing and the more you sing, the more you get the swing. Stick to the original language unless you absolutely need to look into the
translation to get the meaning right. The more often you read the text in Tibetan, the better you keep it in mind, the more fluent your reading gets and the better you comprehend. If you are ready to invest this time, you will literally sing your way into the exams free from stress, since you will become firm regarding the idioms and spelling of the Dharma language and get a feeling for its "groove". If you know the text well, you will be able to give correct answers without any problems, so don't be afraid that you can't do philosophy exams in Tibetan. Apart from that, isn't it
joyful to be able to recite a sūtra quote by heart, just as the monks and nuns do?
This all sounds like a lot of time to invest but in fact, the Dwags po Thar rGyan class barely takes me much more time than the basic language courses of the first year did. On the other hand, it is a language course of a special kind that integrates both philosophical thinking and plenty of useful Dharma terminology. So if you are thinking about doing it, don't hesitate! You can certainly make it!
At last, you might wonder what the photo below has to do with Gampopa's Dwags po Thar rGyan. It has a lot to do with it, since it shows an essential aspect of our studies which I haven't mentioned, yet: the relevance for our daily lives. Here we are putting Gampopa's advice into practice with regards to the paramita of generosity by giving material things to sentient beings within the field of destitution. You can look this up in chapter twelve of the Dwags po Thar rGyan – in Tibetan, if you like ;)
~Judith from Germany
would like to take the opportunity to share my experiences of my third study year with you. I made two major decisions regarding my study plan which I have not regretted and which I would like to recommend to you because they have benefited me a lot.
The first is my decision to start with Sanskrit. If you are thinking about doing so, too, please ignore all ominous voices whispering what a horribly difficult language Sanskrit is. It is not! In fact, it is just about singing. Kashinath and Paul in combination offer a unique way of studying this beautiful poetic language at RYI. The reason why I think that Sanskrit is not a difficult language is that there is not really much to understand in terms of linguistics. At the end of the day it is all about singing – and taking one's time to do so. Of course, Sanskrit is a complex language with many flexions of all kinds of nouns, with conjugations of verbs and with plenty of Sandhi rules to paste the sounds together which means that there is a lot to memorize. But whenever you feel overwhelmed by all these different forms and paradigms, just start singing your slokas, flexions and conjugations and try to get the swing of it!
Where else, if not here, will you get the chance to recite the Bodhicharyāvatāra in its original language, guided by the mesmerizing voice of Kashinath Mahodayaha (who by the way is an internationally acknowledged expert)?! He will teach you how to do the music while Paul breaks the grammar down in an easy, clear and straightforward way.
The second decision I made after having completed the basic first two years of both Classical and Colloquial Tibetan was to build up on this foundation by diving into the "cold water" of the untranslated Dwags po Thar rGyan (Jewel Ornament of Liberation) philosophy class – only to find out that it's rather like lukewarm water to swim in with the life belt of an English translation. What helped me at first was to go through the Tibetan original together with the translation as far as possible in advance during the holidays which did not take as much time as you might think and which kept me going during the break. Having equipped the Tibetan original with my notes accordingly for which I got scolded by a Lama because I had used red colour, so be careful! I found out soon that I understand most of Loponla's equally as fast as brilliant speech without the translation hidden under my bench. And if I don't, there is no reason to get desperate; he is always happy when students ask questions. Having to do without a translator is moreover an excellent training for my poor listening comprehension and concentration ...
Generally, I really enjoy the Tibetan way of "jumping like a tiger, creeping like a turtle and digesting like a lion" in terms of discussing a philosophical work. For me this is a question of respect for the precious teachings that we receive here. In Western philosophical classes the focus
is usually on the Tiger's jumps, which means to devour as much material as possible within a short time. Speaking for myself, I have to admit that, although I like short cuts, I am rather the turtle or lion type of student when it comes to the "juicy stuff"; I am a slow eater and digester. If you also prefer that, you will enjoy the way of studying which I recommend for these philosophical classes:
Do a little bit of review and/or preview every day by reading the sections of the day in Tibetan aloud, and do it repeatedly. Once again, this all comes down to singing and the more you sing, the more you get the swing. Stick to the original language unless you absolutely need to look into the
translation to get the meaning right. The more often you read the text in Tibetan, the better you keep it in mind, the more fluent your reading gets and the better you comprehend. If you are ready to invest this time, you will literally sing your way into the exams free from stress, since you will become firm regarding the idioms and spelling of the Dharma language and get a feeling for its "groove". If you know the text well, you will be able to give correct answers without any problems, so don't be afraid that you can't do philosophy exams in Tibetan. Apart from that, isn't it
joyful to be able to recite a sūtra quote by heart, just as the monks and nuns do?
This all sounds like a lot of time to invest but in fact, the Dwags po Thar rGyan class barely takes me much more time than the basic language courses of the first year did. On the other hand, it is a language course of a special kind that integrates both philosophical thinking and plenty of useful Dharma terminology. So if you are thinking about doing it, don't hesitate! You can certainly make it!
At last, you might wonder what the photo below has to do with Gampopa's Dwags po Thar rGyan. It has a lot to do with it, since it shows an essential aspect of our studies which I haven't mentioned, yet: the relevance for our daily lives. Here we are putting Gampopa's advice into practice with regards to the paramita of generosity by giving material things to sentient beings within the field of destitution. You can look this up in chapter twelve of the Dwags po Thar rGyan – in Tibetan, if you like ;)
~Judith from Germany
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