RYI STUDENT BLOG

    Normally socializing can be a bit difficult especially when we are new students. However, joining in Shedra Futsal Group made my social life easy and fun.  Every semester, we RYI students make up teams and play together in an Arena. For me, Shedra Futsal Group became the bridge to connect with others shedra students and teachers of RYI.  It is coherent that there are many benefits of playing soccer. It increases our aerobic capacity, lowers body fat, increases bone strength and improves cardiovascular health and so on. These are just few health benefits of playing soccer.  On top of that, there are many social benefits by engaging in soccer group.  Personally, this is the best thing that I always look forward on Friday. The wonderful thing is that I get to burn my unwanted fats and most importantly, I get to socialize with other students, teachers besides my class mates.  What I really like about Shedra Futsal Gro...

It’s been 8 months …..8 months… The first day of orientation in the big classroom was when I saw so many faces. They were going to be a part of my stay here in Kathmandu. And before I realized, we were a big family. It felt like we have been together since forever. The atmosphere and the energy at the shedra and in Boudha was so accommodating.  As days, weeks and months passed, everyone so close to eachother , fighting like kids and taking care of eachother in times of need. Rushing to class and getting other school work completed had to be balanced with this big family. Friends from Kathmandu went out of their way to make students from outside Nepal to feel so welcomed and comfortable.  Welcoming us into their homes with arms wide open, made us feel like we were still at home. They took the effort to be the guide while taking us to see beautiful outskirts of Katmandu. Laughter was and is always a daily dose in our lives. Who said people who study do not have a se...

Kora around the great stupa tends to end our evenings. Less people and noise inspires a sense of  sincerity difficult to cultivate during the day.  As a student of Rangjung Yeshe Institute, our days are quite  busy, and the focus is on study and reflection. The early bedtimes of residential Boudhanath makes it  easy to set aside one method of progressing along the path for another. I have found such appreciation  and practicality in this great stupa of ours. Lucky to have the opportunity to study at an institute that has  an appreciation for the unity of study and practice, I make aspirations to understand and engage in the  day’s lesson.  Coming from Bhutan, the blessings and places of power that are spread throughout my country are said  to be limitless. Yet, here, I am fortunate in that I am studying and contemplating the teachings, and am  motivated by more than just the transformative power of this historic place.  M...

The Lonely Mango or ‘How to share a terrace with three dogs, cockroaches, ants and other little critters and experience Boudha with eyes and ear, nose and mind.’ August 2014. Close to Boudha, on a roof, a 5th floor, between monasteries, views, a panoramic view, the Kathmandu valley view. Green hills, grey sky, green-grey, lead-grey, silver-grey, black-grey, dark  blue-grey. Light blue holes within the clouds allow a moment to realize infinity. It is the rainy season. The scent of sandalwood, cinnamon, patchouli, cloves and undefined herbs, drifting smoke, deep-fried  pastries, vegetable fried rice mixed with the odour of urine and burning trash are passing my sense of  smell. Peals of bells, garlings, couch shell trumpets and drumming noises swirl through the air, adding to the chanting of  monks and nuns. Birds are screaming, babies crying, dogs barking. One neighbour’s water pipe is  running and running and running....The bladder is calling. ...