A Place Where the Dharma Feels Alive
I took this photo when I finished school one day, chancing
upon the monks who had just finished their evening Puja. Their yellow robes
were rather conspicuous
against the white walls and marble ground. This reminds me of some words said
by previous masters in those commentaries, that one should respect even tiny
pieces
of red or yellow cloth,
as they are representations of the auspicious Three Jewels. In this so-called "time of degeneration", we are still able to study full-time
the dharma, the scientific method that brings mundane and super-mundane
benefits to both ourselves and others, and get to call ourselves practitioners, I guess for this, or for this scene alone, I am already grateful.
This is my first time in this country.
As a first-year BA student at Rangjung Yeshe Institute, my focus here is on the
Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy. The language course here is very
intensive: Before
I came here, I’ve finished the alphabet and pronunciation courses by myself,
but still, being bombarded by
both classical and colloquial Tibetan grammars is something very exciting yet unforeseen.
It takes some effort
before one’s brain could react the random sounds and grammatical system as a
language, but after
that, everything becomes natural and easier to follow. I call this Phase 1 of
adults’ "Language Acquisition". I noticed soon enough that the way
this language system is presented at class is actually fairly scientific, which
must have involved much pedagogical
research of the teaching staff. This is especially true with the Colloquial
class where one could experience a wonderful blend of grammar explanation,
games, dialogues and boost session…
What strikes me most at Rangjung Yeshe
is its inclusive atmosphere. Not only
I found myself surrounded by classmates from across the world as either
Buddhist practitioners or non-believers, but more importantly, I noticed that
Buddhism itself is studied in a two-stream manner: we have both Khenpo classes
teaching classical Buddhist texts like Bodhicaryāvatāra, and also history and
culture classes in which Buddhism is studied as a subject within the academic
arena. Personally, I consider this a secular extension of the Rimé
spirit, with me myself being part of this
Buddhism modernism. As a practitioner following the Nyingma school, I feel a
strong sense of belonging here. The dynamic vibes of RYI renders itself a
wonderful incubator of modern dharma practitioners, scholars, and scholar-practitioners,
I am glad that I get to witness its actualization.
China
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