RYI STUDENT BLOG

One of my favorite terms in Tibetan is རྟེན་འབྲེལ་ (pronounced "ten drel"), which in Buddhist thought is often translated as "interdependence". In colloquial Tibetan, however, such a term signifies some manner of auspicious or fortunate circumstances, the coming together of wonderful causes and conditions.  This is an appropriate term to describe my experience studying here in Nepal, because of all of the wonderful experiences and in particular the amazing people I have met here. Nepal is a place where people from all over the world gather, and often with some very noble aspirations. Especially here in Boudha at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute, it is incredible how many inspiring people you can meet, all with amazing stories, backgrounds, and goals. Not only that, but the people who live here as well are remarkable. Nepali and Tibetan people are generally very kind and humble, with incredible life stories and experiences and such inspiring faith in the tea...

I have now completed three years studying Buddhist Philosophy with Himalayan  Languages at the Kathmandu University Center for Buddhist Studies, Rangjung  Yeshe Institute (RYI). Fortunately everything went as I wished, I had a really  enjoyable three years at RYI, and did not meet any of the problems I had worried  about. I am so grateful that this program, based upon Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling  Monastery and Khyentse Foundation Scholarship program, has been so successful. I  studied as hard as I could, always remembering their kindness in supporting my study  at RYI. My wish is for everyone to have the opportunity of studying Buddhism at  RYI and to become tolerant people for the sake of all sentient beings and for the  benefit of both this life and coming lives. I cannot express how useful and beneficial  this program is for lay practitioners both from a worldly and religious point of view,  and also often think how wonderful it ...

My time at Rangjung Yeshe so far has been a great learning experience. Firstly, I want to express my immense gratitude to His Eminence Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, for it is due to his kindness and profound teachings that I decided to join Rangjung Yeshe. He has been nothing but warm and accommodating towards myself and other Himalayan students and often expresses his concern about our well being in Nepal. It is a joy and a real luxury to be able to see him so often. The faculty has also been very kind and helpful, and incredibly patient considering my habitual disregard for deadlines. So I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them as well as apologize for any inconveniences caused. As far as institutions of Buddhist Studies go, Rangjung Yeshe is definitely one of a kind. The academic curriculum combines both traditional and modern styles of teaching, so the same classes taught by Khenpos might also require extra reading and research papers. The teachings have been very accessible a...

I have studied Tibetan language for several years before I started studying at Rangjung Yeshe in June, 2013. However, it was a struggle for me to study it in Japan because, as a working person, I didn’t have much time I can devote for studying, and there was (as long as I knew) no systematically designed courses to learn Tibetan. Also, the Tibetan community in Japan is small, so it’s not easy to find a person with whom one can practice Tibetan. I took the summer advanced colloquial course at Rangjung Yeshe in 2013. The course was well designed, and two things really attracted me; there were two language partner sessions, and a khenpo teaching session everyday! I was also able to ask so many questions I accumulated in Japan to the instructor (there was no one to ask grammatical questions when I was in Japan). I feel that my Tibetan language skill has greatly improved within two months. After the summer course, I continued my study at ...