RYI STUDENT BLOG

Dear friends, On my last break from school I headed to a valley in north Nepal, close to the border with Tibet, called Langtang Valley. From the beginning I knew this trek was going to be different than all my other wanders in the mountains. I won't say much about the breathtaking view in this valley, or about the peaceful, kind character of the people living in the high mountains. But I do want to tell you about the little kids living there. While traveling there I noticed that many of the young kids of the villages stay at home throughout the day, something that forced their parents to divide their time between their demanding jobs and housework and the demands of child care. I wondered what the reason was that the kids stay at home all day, every day. After some talks with the local Tibetan people I found out that there is no school in the upper part of the valley. So the kids are facing three options: attend the closest school (which is two days walking distan...

Nepal is certainly not a rich country regarding the material properties of the people who live here. Sometimes it is simply heartbreaking to see how many hardships people have to undergo in their daily lives while we students from the West are so fortunate to be able to choose how and where we want to live. Nevertheless, Nepal is certainly very rich regarding spirituality and it is sometimes amazing to see how strong people can be in their minds. I would like to tell you about one person who I admire for her mental strength. She is one of these persons who have nothing, not even a family to rely on, which is so important for all Nepali people. I do not even know her name because she is not able to speak properly. Walking is also difficult for her, probably due to a Polio disease in her childhood. These are really bad conditions for a person living on the street, not only in Asia. She might be about my age, maybe younger, who can estimate the age of people who live on the stre...

Friends celebrating completion of semester In one of my classes, I heard of a mental and emotional ability, which a Bodhisattva needs to develop on the path of preparation in the Mahayana. This path is one out of five paths that describe the training of a Bodhisattva. And this ability that one develops on the path of preparation is the ability to be comfortable with groundlessness. In studying the teachings on emptiness, as in the discussion of the 9 th chapter of the Bodhicaryavatara, the Lopon got asked continuously: “If things are not as substantial as they seem: aren’t I to fall through the floor?” This is one kind of groundlessness that arises when listening and contemplating the teachings on emptiness. A little bit of falling through the floor is actually right now happening to those RYI students who enter summer break. If only for a short month or for three months: there won’t be a schedule and the routine that carried us through the last two semesters is no more...

Last Fall in September 2011, I joined Rangjung Yeshe Institute for BA degree. In Spring, I went up to Pullahari Rigpe Dorje Institute to continue my third year. So, I could not study at RYI last Spring from January to March 2012. But this year from June to August 2012, I attended the summer course in Buddhist Studies.  Presently, I am in the second year of the BA and taking five courses this semester. Every morning from Monday to Friday 8:00am-9:00am I attend philosophy class of Thirty Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva Commentary by Chos Kyi Dragpa. Then alternately 9:15am-10:45am I attend History of Buddhism and Specialized Studies classes. Next 11:00 am -12:30 pm I attend Uttaratantra Sastra class Commentary by Jamgon Kongtrul Yonten Gyatso. Then I have lunch break and self study time for the rest of the day. On Monday and Thursday 4:00pm-5:30pm I attend Translation Project class in translating Uttaratantra Sastra Commentary by Gyu Mipham Rinpoche. As I have to write many academ...

Have you ever experienced a feeling “I don’t have enough time?” Last year I got quite stressed, even had to take the Tibetan medicine called “Agar,” because sometimes it was difficult for me to fall asleep. This year I’m using the system developed by Russian scientist Alexander Lubishchev. He used to calculate and write down how much time each of his actions takes, and he had been doing that every day for about 60 years of his life. At the end of each day, each month and each year he created the report showing how much time he spent doing what. In that way, he was able to know how much time exactly it takes to read each of the books he read, write each of the treatises and articles he wrote, how much time he had been communicating or resting or doing sport. As en experiment, I’m trying to do the same. At first glance, it might seem weird, complicated, boring, dualistic and so on, but it really helps you to get to know yourself better. The first aim of that is, of course, to ...

On Wednesday evenings we meet up to meditate together for an hour and a half. The Tergar Boudha Meditation group is given on donation basis and open for all. As we put up posters for the group, quite a lot of people passing through Boudha see them and drop in. Some are coming to try meditation for the very first time! Others are more experienced meditation practitioners and might come regularly to the group and a few are Shedra students wanting a community to practice with.       I am now beginning my last semester in the BA program at RYI and looking back, it has been very valuable to have this weekly meditation group, connecting with other meditation practitioners and as a compliment to the studies at the Shedra. Being a Shedra-student can be a bit tiring and stressful at times, especially since it often feels like an endless stream of things to learn and analyse, with the profound philosophies such as Madhyamaka and Yogacara to get into, practicing tr...