RYI STUDENT BLOG

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...

Budhanilkantha Temple lies on the northern side of Kathmandu valley, just below the Shivapuri hill. The temple is associated with the Hindu god, Bishnu. A Bishnu statue of about 3m height in a sleeping position is the main attraction for people. The statue is wholly made out of stone and depicts the god, Bishnu with his four arms sleeping on the serpent-couch. The origin of the temple is yet unknown and unclear. But a famous myth tells that the present day temple was actually a field owned by a old guy named Nilkantha. While plouging the field, the second finger of the right feet of the statue was cut and blood started seeping out. After digging deep, the statue was excavated. The name Budhanilkantha was kept in accordance to the guy who found the statue. The temple houses a gurukul where the students are taught Sanskrit. The daily aarati of the statue that takes place two times a day, in the morning and evening is done by the young student of the gurukul. It seems th...

My classmates and teachers during the summer I had the wish to learn Sanskrit since quite a long time. With the help of a generous  sponsor and much needed motivation, I was finally able to join Beginning Sanskrit  Course during Summer 2016 at RYI. Fortunately, on the first day of orientation, Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche-la invited all the  students for a talk and lunch. He gave us motivational speech regarding how fortunate  we all are to get this chance to learn Dharma by one way or the other. I had been learning Tibetan language too. So, at the end of the talk, I gathered the  courage to go forth to him and ask for blessings in Tibetan language to complete the  course. He was amazed to see me do so and gave me his blessings. I left with the smile  on my face and with confidence that I will be able to do the course no matter what  obstacles may occur. Prayer flags at Namo Buddha So, the classes began. I and my classmates were doing f...

It is almost frightening how fast my three years of studying at RYI in the BA  program have passed by. Now there are only a few weeks of the final semester left and therefore, I would like to take the opportunity to share my experiences of my third study year with you. I made  two major decisions regarding my study plan which I have not regretted and which I would  like to  recommend to you because they have benefited me a lot.               The first is my decision to start with Sanskrit. If you are thinking about doing so, too,  please ignore  all  ominous voices whispering what  a  horribly  difficult language Sanskrit is. It is  not! In fact,  it  is  just  about singing. Kashinath  and  Paul  in  combination  offer  a  unique  way of  studying  this  beautiful  poetic  language  at  RYI...