RYI STUDENT BLOG

(Photo credit: Tree:   Emily Polar)              In the middle of each semester at RYI there is a week long break called ``reading week.´´ Although some do use this time to focus on studying and reading, which is wonderful,   it is also known amongst certain students as the retreat or trekking week.             Not knowing whether I wanted to trekk or stay in retreat during this break, I ended up joining some friends who had plans of doing a pilgrimage to Helambu, also known as Yolmo. Which proved to be a great decision!             It is surprising how such an amazing place lies within a few hours from Boudhanath, and how easy it can be to get there! It only takes one (crazy and cozy) Nepali bus from a nearby bus station, which took us around 5 hours leaving early morning to get to Timbu ( a smal...

This year (2017), on September, RYI Students along with the Staffs went to  Sankhu for pilgrimage trip. It was an amazing experience for all of us. Sankhu is  an ancient Newar town located in the North-Eastern corner of Kathmandu valley. Sankhu was once an important stop on the old trade route from Kathmandu to  Lhasa (Tibet), but this historic settlement was severely damaged by the  2015 earthquake, so it is under renovation process. The temple of Vajrayogini is one of identity of Sankhu. It is situated on the middle of hill. The goddesses are  worshiped with high beliefs, by both Hindu and Buddhist. This place is also known as the Eighty Siddhas as there are four caves where the  Siddhas of India are said to have stayed. The oldest inscription found in Sankhu is  dated 538 AD. There was a myth which says the Vajrayogini temple was built by  King Prakash Malla in 1655. It is one of the best attractions of Sankhu for national  and in...

Namo Buddha, one of the most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sides in Nepal, was blessed by the Buddha out of his limitless compassion and generosity for sentient beings.   Since then the place has become a sanctuary for pilgrims. It is the greatest source of direct blessing from the Buddha, and the 'classroom' where still anyone can learn the prowess of the Buddha in the course of saving countless ignorant beings from suffering.  Just visiting the cave where the Buddha performed the greatest act of human generosity the area, one is enfolded by the compassion of the Buddha. Spending a few days there, one is removed from afflictive state and levitated in the sphere of blithe. Under the great bless and vision of a Tibetan Bodhisattva, the place’s sanctifying potency has been enhanced, the actual words of the Buddha in thousands volumes are studied with the inspiration that had been planted there by the Buddha.  The learning center, with such a magnificent temp...

One of the best things of studying in Nepal is definitively the amount of holy sites which can be visited. As I had visitors coming to Nepal this summer, it was a great chance to visit again many of these sites, such as Swayambunath, Namo Buddha or Pharping. We also went to Lumbini, where I had been before, yet this time I also got to visit the ruins of the ancient city of Kapilavastu, where prince Siddhartha lived till, at the age of 29, decided to renounce the kingdom. What the archaeologists have identified as the ruins of Kapilavastu, the capital of the Sakya kingdom, are located around 30 kilometers to the west of Lumbini, near the present town of Tilaurakot. Thought little remains of what was the residence of the prince Siddhartha, today mostly covered by forest, perhaps the most impressive is the wall, very wide and solid, surrounding the whole town, its undulations being witness to the movements of the ground from the time it was built. ...

During last our reading week a group of RYI students went to Lumbini (in present-day Nepal), the birthplace of the lord Buddha Shakyamuni (563 BCE to 483 BCE) on pilgrimage by bus. It was 232 km from Kathmandu city, but the road there was very good quality. We left at 7:30 am from Kathmandu city and we arrived there around 8 pm, but as it was dark we could not see much further than the bus station. There was no electricity at that time but the sky was bright and full of stars. Then we contacted our friend lama Lhag Pa, and he welcomed us to his monastery, the ‘German Monastery’ (a Tibetan Buddhist monastery sponsored by Germans). He invited us to stay in his monastery until we returned, and the monastery cooked for us every day.   The next day I walked outside and looked around. The landscape was full of trees and grass, especially rich kusha grass. In Tibet kusha grass is a holy grass because the lord Buddha Shakyamuni achieved enlightenment while sitting on a b...

The Buddha himself mentioned in a sutra that a pilgrim who comes and pays respect to the four sublime places will not be reborn in the lower realms.  During this year’s fall reading week, Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche lead a pilgrimage to Bodhgaya as he has for the last twenty-seven years. This time, he also decided to visit the Buddha's other three holy places as well. Many people, including me, decided to join him for this important journey.  People went with different motivations. Some hoped spending a few days in Bodhgaya, practicing under the sacred Bodhi tree and receiving instructions from teachers would help them to reconnect with what is meaningful in their lives. Others sought to reduce physical or mental suffering.  Before going to Bodhgaya, I made aspirations to be able to clear away obstacles for practice, to meet teachers I can aspire to follow, and to receive teachings that would help to transform my mind. Going on pilgrimage is important. Our busy,...