Last Semester at RYI

By -



This is my last semester at RYI!!! Amazing, we are already at the second half of the spring semester. When I started my BA years ago, I thought this time would never come and four years felt like a lifetime. However, now I feel like it was only yesterday I arrived in Kathmandu, and I almost wish I could do the whole thing again. It was so nice to come to Nepal and know absolutely nothing about Nepal! At that time I did not even know that buff momos are better than vegetable momos, and I still enjoyed the Nepali traffic because it was “fun” compared to the traffic back home:) The only bad thing I can say about the early days was that I didn’t realize how amazing an opportunity it is to get to study Tibetan, Philosophy, and so forth in such an amazing monastery, and therefore I was quite lazy. I could have learned the basics of Tibetan and academic paper writing much earlier if I had been smarter back then. In spite of that however, I am so happy that I decided to stay in Nepal and continue to study. I am eternally grateful to Rinpoche, and to all the staff at RYI who have made it possible for me, and all of the other students to stay in Nepal and study here, to learn Tibetan, Sanskrit, and Nepali, to learn about Buddhist philosophy and history and so forth. Actually, it would be impossible to describe how much fun I’ve had here! 
~ Rebecca Sunden

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pharping – The Sacred Site of Asura Cave and Yangleshö

By -
Image
Pharping Azura Cave Monastery Every year Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche leads several seminars and retreats in Asura Cave monastery in Pharping. Many of us have heard that Asura Cave is a very special, yet we are often a bit unsure what exactly happened there and why it is so special. Thus I wanted to share with you, what I have found out so far.  Pharping: Pharping is a small but expanding village about 16 km southwest of Kathmandu, on a hillside above the main valley. Pharping (pronounced "Farping" by the Nepalis) is known to the Tibetans as Yangleshö and also sometimes as Phamting, as some say it is the birthplace of the Phamtingpa, the heart-­‐son of Naropa. Chatral Rinpoche explains that the 'Indian Phamting' (Tib. rgya gar pham thing ) derives its name from the presence of the great hood of the Naga king Lhakmachen or Shesha, which marks it as a site of his power. As such, learned masters of the past used to called it Phanathingu (Tib. pha na thinggu ), which ...
Read more

The Five Best Restaurants in Bouddha for Shedra Students

By -
Image
  Are you new to the Shedra? Not having much money to spend? Have to study a lot? Here comes a brief guide and recommendation to some nice places in Bouddha suitable for the average Shedra student, old time favorites and newly rising stars. Double Dorje 5. Double Dorje:             A cozy small restaurant, run by a sweet old Tibetan woman. It is known to tourists and is a place visited frequently by westerners since it has been recommended by various travel guides as a nice, cozy, local restaurant. Particularly in the evening in the winter, it becomes a great place to study, since unlike the other restaurants it is completely closed and inside. Thus the place stays warm and as long as there are no power cuts the ballon lamps create a warm and home-like atmosphere.             Also if you wish to spend the afternoon there, it is known for its special ho...
Read more

The Hidden Story of the Golden Temple at Patan

By -
Image
There are many stories in Nepal. Because these stories are very interesting-- as last time I had shared the story about the Jacket from the Naga land -- I would like to introduce the story of the Golden Temple in Patan at this time.   When people talk about Patan, the Golden Temple will show up in everyone’s mind. The Golden Temple is one of the famous Buddhist temples in Patan. However, few people know that there was a love story, which was between a king and a queen, behind the holy Golden Temple . Once upon a time, there was a king called Marwad and he had a lovely queen called Pingala. They loved each other very much. As a return for his lovely queen, King Marwad planned to make an image of Shakyamuni as a gift to her. When the image had been finished, another king, from other country, asked for a gift as a sign of good relations with King Marwad’s kingdom. For the people’s safety in the country, Queen Pingala chose to give up the image for the peaceful relationshi...
Read more