RYI STUDENT BLOG

For my family back in the west, in their minds “living in Nepal and studying Buddhism” is defined as “studying this crazy ancient philosophy, under the guidance of elderly monks (who would never in their life eat meat) and practice kungfu – in Tibet”. A girl at work gently reminded me how Buddhists- especially the monks- do not eat meat . As great as it sounds, in reality as all of us who study at RYI know, this is really just not the case. Somehow for them ‘Ne paul ’ is a country very much off their mental radar. I am frequently asked by distant family members who have heard rumours of ‘someone in their family’ who lives in Nepal. “What’s it like living in Tibet?” they say. And once I finally convince them I actually live in Nepal, they ask where it is. It’s like when we hear names of countries such as Mali or Angola, we know they are in Africa, however many of us do not know exactly where. Once I explain it’s a tiny country, smaller than the UK, tucked nicely between India an...

  Once, in the middle of a conversation, someone asked me: “Why are you here at RYI?” For a few seconds, many things came to my mind, but my answer was pretty straightforward: “I am here because I want to study the Dharma”.  Later on, I thought that this was an interesting question; a question I have asked myself several times throughout the academic year in different ways. Usually, at the beginning of the semester, when everything is smooth and relaxed, the question arises as a joyful expression: “Why have not I come here earlier?” However, with the stress for the assignments and the exams, the question turns into a more comic expression. Sometimes with a certain rebellious mood: “What the heck am I doing here?” Or some other times even with a deep existential inquiry: “What is the real meaning of all these studies?” Luckily, all these questions vanish when the exams are over and I am enjoying my holidays…   Nonetheless, I want to answer again this questi...

             After three years of intense study at Rangjung Yeshe’ s BA program , I leaped into the Translation Training Program (TTP) – a twelve -month intensive course that trains for the capacity to orally interpret basic Buddhist teachings from Tibetan to English. The TTP adventure begins with the Summer Program – a highly concentrated curriculum that condenses a one-year syllabus into eight weeks. As such, I somehow did not choose to do the summer program; I just had to do it as the beginning of the TTP. Among the many courses available (Classical Tibetan, Sanskrit, Pali, and others) I enrolled in Advanced Colloquial Tibetan. Now, retrospectively, I feel very grateful for having had an incentive to step into the summer program experience; it was undoubtedly a great source of learning and it significantly improved my capacity to both understand and speak Tibetan. The intensity of the program is definitely challenging but if you can flow with...

It has been about eight years since I started studying at the RYI. If I were commencing my studies in Nepal now I believe this is a simple piece of advice I would benefit from listening: Be healthy. It is very important to keep ourselves healthy while studying the Dharma, in both body and mind. If we are willing to take studies seriously, it can be very to neglect this fact. As many times I did it, I thought that if I had warned a friend not to fall on the same hole I would have written something meaningful here. The ways are particular. Go for walks. See the temples, the mountains. Don’t waste much of your limited days in Nepal there too. But make sure you are healthy. This is important. You have probably heard that we need the two wings of method and wisdom to fly, haven't you? But before flying we must stand. And to stand we need these two forms of health: of body and mind. These are our two legs that give us the first jump in the air. Without those, we'd be...

Rangjung Yeshe Institute is a great place as well as rich in providing various means and methods for learning Buddhism. It conducts programs such as Chod practice, meditation practice, holds seminars and conduct teachings and empowerment from Rinpoches. Among all the programs, this semester the guest lecture classes were really wonderful and encouraging.  All the guest lecturers were amazing in their field of expertise, however Lama Shenpen Hookham really stood out for me. She is a great scholar as well as a serious practitioner. Moreover, she was trained for so many years in the Mahamudra and Dzogchen traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Lama Shenpen basically talked about Shentong view on Buddha-nature. Her main point was that Buddha-nature was not newly produced by walking on the path rather it is our true nature that is perfectly present in us from the beginning-less time. Lama Shenpen’s talk was full of life and refreshment. She was sharing her experience and meditatio...

During December, Kathmandu is cold. Especially in the early morning and the late evening, it is cold outside as well as inside. Most of Nepali houses lack heating system and running hot water, which means that wearing many layers of cloths, patching one's body with hot water bottles and drinking hot chia are the common ways to keep oneself cozy and warm. For many Nepalese the day starts early, much earlier than the sun's awakening. Around 4am the sounds of neighbors engaging in household activities (cleaning, cooking, and so forth) and the footsteps of those who are walking towards the stupa or heading to catch a bus are already audible. Nepal starts before sunrise, especially at times where the monasteries open their doors early morning to invite both lay and monastics to practice together.  Such was the case in December 2018 when, during the course of one month, 450 people (approximately 95% from the Himalayan region and the other minority from countries such as Vietnam...

One day I was returning with two full buckets of water in my hands.  I heard someone call my name. As I looked sideway, I saw an old woman, far elder than I have ever seen. With keen eyes, she gestured me to come up. Then only did I recognize that she was my grandmother. But she had changed a lot. She looked old. Her strong muscles had given away. Her long hairs were uncombed and all over her shoulder and face. Even with all the clothes she put on, she looked skinny.  Once a beautiful face was now nothing but lines of skins.  I bowed to her and took a sit close to her: “How are you?” Her voice was just a muffle. “I’m fine, how about you? I found out that she had been sick for more than a week or so. Her feet were swollen and she was having continuous fever. As I looked closer, I saw her thin limb, shrinkage chest.  There was not much left of her. Her health really was deteriorating. When I asked if she had consulted the doctors or had taken any medicine, s...

After contemplating for several months, I have decided to write about the utter simplicity of solitude. Recently, in our Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra class, we studied about the physical and mental solitude. One of the key components of my experience of solitude is to allow oneself to heal. Thích Nhất Hạnh, in his book called Silence , indicated that resting is a precondition for healing. Thầy pointed out that when we humans have illness, we worry too much and do not allow ourselves to relax at all. This makes us suffer even more. On the other hand, when animals in the forest get wounded, they find a place of solitude and rest completely. Even food or any other concern becomes secondary at that time. In my experience as well, when solitude and fasting are combined together, one can truly rest to heal.  As I study Buddhist Philosophy and try to fathom the academic reading materials, I often long for an extended solitude. Because it is only then, that we slowly but steadily assim...

Method of Studies at RYI                 Being a student in RYI, I gain various knowledge and learning experiences. RYI offers various courses, such as languages, Buddhist Studies, and textual Buddhist treatises, from both traditional Tibetan Buddhist teachings and modern academic perspective. The combination of two perspectives enables me to acquire both academic knowledge and practical experiences.                   By studying Nepali and Colloquial Tibetan in RYI, I gain both grammatical and experiential knowledge. Master class taught by the professors contains grammar, structure, syntax, and so forth. While doing language partners, I can experience Nepali and Tibetan cultures through the medium of local Nepali and native Tibetan speakers. Also, doing Sanskrit and Classical Tibetan here, I not only understand vario...

Every fall, Rangjung Yeshe Institute (RYI) conducts the seminar based on teaching and empowerment from Rinpoches: Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Phakchok Rinpoche and Tsikey chokling Rinpoche. This year (2018, Nov 15-21), all old and new disciples of Rinpoches from everywhere throughout the world were participating the seminar. Seminar this year has been exceptionally uncommon for us all on the grounds that Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche has given us extremely significant and down to earth instruction of Dzogchen (great perfection). The teaching was based on the instructions called “naturally liberating whatever you meet” by Khenpo Gangshar Wangpo. Rinpoche guided us through this teaching for ten days. Rinpoche started off from the ten virtuous actions to be embraced and ten non-virtuous actions to be abandoned and finally Rinpoche guided us to recognize our nature of mind. We had Rinpoche teaches us the instruction until lunch break and toward the evening we had lama Tenzin, who guided us ...

Having only received traditional scholastic teachings on the dharma, I had a challenging experience studying at RYI in the beginning. Before coming to RYI I have received numerous teachings from different lamas, khenpos and rinpoches, always in the traditional way, sitting in a low position in a temple and receiving the instructions and teachings as the nectar that will guide you to liberation. Thus, when I first came into a classroom with a western Buddhist scholar talking about Buddhism from an etic perspective, I was basically shocked and puzzled. Initially, I thought it was interesting to look at the whole picture of Buddhism from another perspective than the one I was familiar with. However, I also had to write academic papers with my own opinions on the different subjects we were studying in class; and to express my thoughts in English, which is not my native language. This was even more challenging, since I had never written an academic paper before. Therefore, I felt l...

Pemba Prayag Sherpa Pemba Prayag Sherpa In one point of our life, we all will face death as death is inevitable. I’m sure we were all annoyed, disappointed and worried when someone explained us about death for the first time in our childhood. I always wondered why there is such phenomena called death! My earlier understanding of the death that it separates us from oneself (one’s body), parents, beloved ones and our belongings made me so sad and helpless, helpless in the sense that no one can bring the deceased back to life, and I acknowledged that. The tragedies of death of our beloved ones have caused us the great amount of grief and suffering. All of us have gone through this. Moreover, the news about the death tolls from accident, wars and so forth make us even more concerned and trigger us to imagine about the enormous suffering that deceased victims experiences in such incidents. Such experiences, undoubtedly bring us the fear about the death that one will have  to...

The Joy of Learning My journey to RYI has been an unexpected one! My decision to transition from practicing music therapy to studying full-time within a time span of mere months has been a process both challenging and motivating. My engagement in this course has introduced me to Buddhist philosophical texts, history and language studies of Tibetan and Sanskrit. Not only that, I feel greatly blessed to have gotten the opportunity to receive various Dharma practices. This has been possible because RYI sits right amid the Seto Gompa Monastery (Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling), under the vigilant guidance of Venerable Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, whose residence is on the top floor of the same academic building. In addition, one can behold the majestic view of the Boudhanath stupa right from the academic building itself, what a blessing! Talking about the classrooms, there is a traditional style of seating arrangement, with cushions spread out on the floor; I must admit that sitting cross-legg...

We all have particular aims and goals in our lives. Our childhood begins learning from our surroundings, mostly from our parents or whoever raises us. We grow up in competitive environment, learning to acquire things of our need.  So how we are nurtured determines our behavior and nature. Whatever in us, is nothing but ascribed and prescribed by other than us. There is nothing to which we can refer, ‘Its purely/only mine’, or any thing to what we can say, ‘It’s purely me’. The very beginning phase of our body itself is formed by the combination of seeds of our parents. Buddhist negates existence of self, which can be examined by analyzing the emptiness nature of all phenomena. Even sociologically, as we just discussed before, everything in us is resulted from external factors. We are nothing but a product of our society. Most of us agree that happiness is the prime concern of our life. We tend to seek and understand happiness in the attainment of our goals.  Howev...

             When I decided to study Buddhism at RYI, I had three main reasons to do so: first, I wanted to make the Dharma a bigger part of my life, and as the lazy person that I am, forcing myself to spend every day reading and learning about it for about 4 years seems like the right ting to do. Second, I was convinced that Buddhism was the only thing that I would not lose interest in after studying it for a couple of years. And finally, I have just always really been in love with Nepal after my first visit in 2007, so living here seemed like a pretty natural thing to do. Now, after more than a year of studying here, I think it is time to check my reasons again and see in how far they still matter. Prayerflags reflect in a little pond – seen on a hike to Nagi Gompa 1. Has the Dharma become a bigger part of my life? Definitely. Being surrounded by it 24/7 I would really have to make an effort to not be influenced by i...