RYI STUDENT BLOG

The feeling is indescribable;  I have never studied in a Shedra before. The  atmosphere is so welcoming at the Shedra , it feels like home.  This is my first formal education in Buddhism and I cannot think of a  better place than RYI.  The whole Shedra experience has been and is very over whelming.  Personally, I feel that the classes are not just targeted to readings and  writing but on how one must practice the path too. And that totally makes  sense. And I remember, Chokyi Nyima Rimpoche mentions that we  should be both a practitioner and a scholar.  The way of the Bodhisattva text is very profound  and I feel everyone  must learn this text. The lessons in class help those who practice. As we  learn more and more, I am more aware about my intentions and actions.  Not that I was not aware of them before, but now I am more aware on  the importance of the aspirations, dedications , etc....

  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...

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...

My new path started at the end of he monsoon season of 2012, when I first entered the class in the monastery, grabbed myself a cushion, and tried to understand how I am supposed to cross my legs, and to make them stay crossed, for the next hour and a half. When the Lopon (a term which I had no idea at that time what it meant) entered the class, I stood up like everyone - but unlike everyone else, I stayed frozen in my place, amazed by what's going on around me. Amazed by this new world into which I stepped. When I first landed here my Tibetan vocabulary (or what I thought was Tibetan) was limited to two words: "dalai" and "lama", and honestly, even the meaning of those two I didn't quite understand (it turns out they are Mongolian loan-words), and the only connection I had to the dharma was a picture of me next to a stupa from a trip I once made to India. But still there was something that drew me to come here, to Nepal, to study Tibetan and to try ...

                                                               Dilemma: Life, the living mischievous paradox, one way always imposes upon us the tiring and tear bringing shocks of despondency experienced after departure of futile lifeless excitement, and pain preceded by the unfulfilled strong – misleading desires. While on the other, it rouses a hope, cautious indulgence in which could bestow upon us the mastery over suffering, and lead us to the pinnacle of everlasting bliss, which in turn ends all our sufferings and wanderings. Life, when this paradox is understood, the journey ends, and the search completes. But how to understand it? How to untangle it? Whom to ask? And where to go? It seems to be an unsurmountable mystery, endless search and unanswerable question, and for me and many others, RYI is the junction wh...

For those readers who have never been here, Boudhanath (or Boudha) is hosting one of the world's biggest stupa, an amazing monument; blinding white, compact, it contains Buddhist relics and it takes 5 minutes to circumambulate it ("making kora") — as most local devotees (a mixed crowed of Nepali, Tibetans and even Westerners) use to do daily. It lies about 11 km from the center of Kathmandu.  The neighborhood grew exponentially in the past 30 years so that what used to be a remote place lost in the fields is now a part of Kathmandu city. But even so, I have this strange impression to travel back in time everyday, during my 10 minutes walk to school. I find myself in a medieval Asian village.  I once had a book of drawings depicting ancient times Japanese craftsmen, sitting on the floor, busy with their task, their body folded in a very peculiar pose. In Boudha, as in the whole Kathmandu valley, they still make metal sculpture with a traditional method called ...

At the middle of the semester, it is always good to take a little bit of rest from all the study, which  is why we have reading week. But for some reason, this week is not called “relaxing week”.  For  sure, we all like to relax a little bit, but if they call it “relaxing week”, we may just relax too much!  So I’m in favor of the present name, “reading week”. Moreover, at least for me, this time is how it  looks like. Some like to use this week to travel and visit some places in Nepal or even India, others to practice,  others to advance in writing essays or doing homework, and maybe in many cases to do a little bit  of everything. This time for me, as part of my subjects’ work this semester, I’m doing quite a bit of reading,  particularly on the Lotus Sutra and related articles, as well as memorizing verses for the philosophy  class. As part of the Translation Project class, I’m also translating a couple of public teachings from...

As a result of my short but fruitful experience in the first year of the BA program, I thought it could be worthwhile to give some unpretentious advice that might be of benefit for any student of the Shedra; even though they are destined especially to the new comer students. If you are one of these fortunate people, welcome to RYI. I hope these lines are helpful to you. First of all, don’t lose your heart. Probably you have already heard about the great amount of energy that studying in a reputed place like RYI demands: memorizing scores of words a week, writing multitude of papers, studying complex topics of philosophy, and so on. In first place, you must be confident that such goal is completely attainable for anyone. However, since probably you will need to strive and this endeavour might not be a piece of cake, be ready to push yourself. If you try to do things well, perhaps you will reach the point where you will feel at least slightly overwhelmed by the work y...

The Yolmo Valley After a busy week of mid-term exams, it was great breathing the air of the mountains in Yolmo. Yolmo is about six hours from Kathmandu, and although the bus ride can be very challenging, the views on the way are fantastic! Once you arrive you’ve got to walk up the mountains, but this sacred valley is really worth the walking effort. Not being of very high altitude, few tourists go there, but its beauty and special sites make it a great place for hiking and visiting. As it’s explained in The Guide to the Hidden Land of Yolmo by Khenpo Nyima Dondrup, this valley was visited by Guru Rinpoche. One cave where he practiced is not hard to reach, in the lovely village of Melamchi, and close by is a place where he gave teachings. The most renowned cave, Yangdak Chok, is quite high up and difficult to reach, as there aren’t any lodges on the way, hopefully another time I’ll be prepared enough to reach it. Marpa, on knowing of Guru Rinpoche’s visit, and also of...