RYI STUDENT BLOG

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...

I have lived in Nepal for almost one year and I feel extremely fortunate to study Tibetan language at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute (RYI). RYI, being the Buddhist Studies center of the Kathmandu University, is a very unusual kind of an institution considering the Western notions of academic colleges and universities. The most noteworthy feature of RYI is its location in the environment of the Ka-Nying Shedrup Ling monastery. While RYI is based on a modern academic curriculum taught by professors trained in Asian, American and European universities, its neighboring shedra (the monastic school) has monks studying in the intensive Tibetan methods of education. In addition to experiencing the vibrant daily activities at the monastery, I also consider it a privilege to attend classes taught by the Lopons and Khenpos from the Ka-Nying Shedrup Ling monastery. I have had many interesting experiences while studying at RYI, staying at International Buddhist Academy, and being in the sacred city...

Nowadays, people always talk about eating healthy. Therefore, black rice is well-known as the food which has the highest levels of antioxidants. The well-known black rice such as Indonesian black rice and Thai Jasmine black rice are made in those maritime countries. However, there are few people knowing that there is also black rice in Nepal and this kind of black rice had been blessed by the God of kindness—Bungadyah. The history of the black rice in Nepal started from the invasion by a King of Palpa called Mukunda Sen. At the beginning of the invasion, Mukunda ordered his soldiers to dig many trenches and hide all the rice which was harvested from all fields in Nepal. Mukunda was trying to create a starvation in the city. When he attacked the city of Lalitpur, the people in Lalitpur took the image of Bungadyah around the city. The priests performed a ritual bath to the image and asked for protection from the invasion and the starvation. When people realized that Mukunda came ...

It was the craziest, the scariest… It was the smartest step I’ve ever taken, buying myself that ticket to Kathmandu. Let me first say, I do not think a life in Nepal is for everyone. But when reflecting on the more than a year I’ve spent here I’m overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude for what I’ve experienced so far, and also a trust that there is more to come. In my first year at the Shedra I had the great fortune of studying Śāntideva’s, “The Way of the Bodhisattva” – the title says it all. In his text, the first century Buddhist master expounds on the meaning of becoming a bodhisattva and I’d like to share a few thoughts on why the bodhisattva path is just as relevant and perhaps even more challenging within the capitalist societies of today's world. Entering the bodhisattva path is a willingness to transform into a super-human. According to the tradition, bodhisattvas are “… heroic, indefatigable beings…who generate the supreme thought of enlightenment and ...

Staying Healthy: The Need for Unified Prajñā and Upāya ____ -Prajñā-             When I first arrived to Nepal that fateful rainy eve some 4 1/2 years ago, the very first thing I did was brush my teeth using tap-water. The second thing I did was suffer 24 hours of excruciating diarrhea, vomiting, and high fever alone in my cold hotel room. Needless to say, it is a difficult task to stay healthy here in Kathmandu and even more so for the uneducated, naïve individual who arrogantly disregards the many wise bits of advice that can be found within the RYI Student Guidebook. During the course of my studies at RYI I’ve become ill many times, but the worst instance by far was a chronic Giardia infection (known as Giardiasis ) that lasted for almost two continuous years.              Initial symptoms of Giardia include uncontrollable diarrhea, extreme bloat...

As I come to the end of my studies, I find myself more and more worried regarding the direction my path in life shall take in the years to come. My circumstances don’t seem to reflect the circumstances of those around me much, so in many ways I’m forced to play it by ear. “What shall I do?” “How shall I do it?” “Does a viable career path really exist in my future?” “How shall I be able to lay the bricks down upon the path I wish to walk?” A siege of questions such as these have taken it upon themselves to be my  tormentors , and without a valid response to offer them, I find myself taking solace in the faith that allowed me to make it this far to begin with. For when I set out upon this strangest of journeys four years back, I knew even less about how I was going to end up at my destination. Yet I believed so strongly, so strongly that I would still make it nonetheless. It seems that back then the heavens were delighted in my resolve and sought to dance to the tune of...