RYI STUDENT BLOG

It has been about eight years since I started studying at the RYI. If I were commencing my studies in Nepal now I believe this is a simple piece of advice I would benefit from listening: Be healthy. It is very important to keep ourselves healthy while studying the Dharma, in both body and mind. If we are willing to take studies seriously, it can be very to neglect this fact. As many times I did it, I thought that if I had warned a friend not to fall on the same hole I would have written something meaningful here. The ways are particular. Go for walks. See the temples, the mountains. Don’t waste much of your limited days in Nepal there too. But make sure you are healthy. This is important. You have probably heard that we need the two wings of method and wisdom to fly, haven't you? But before flying we must stand. And to stand we need these two forms of health: of body and mind. These are our two legs that give us the first jump in the air. Without those, we'd be...

I came to wherever I am for the purpose of solving a problem. This might be same for all of you with many different colors, languages, status, and beliefs. Such a problem surely exists not only in human beings like me but also in all conscious, wishful, and desirous beings. To put it very simply this business of solving a problem is to increase the happiness by reducing the unhappiness I experience throughout a day, month, and year. If there is one entity about, which I can claim a true existence about it, it will be the wish that I have for the increment of happiness. Even sublime beings as Bodhisattvas do not want other beings suffer, which actually indicates they wish for the increment of happiness of all beings. So I truly believe such a wish is truly there both in my microcosm and macrocosm. Unfortunately, in the process of seeking the happiness I wish for, I conversely experience so much unhappiness endlessly without control and will. Having been a...

Kathmandu is the capital city and the largest city of Nepal with a population of 1.5 million. It is my first time here in Kathmandu, Nepal and what brought me here is my decision to study Buddhist philosophy. I feel very much blessed to be here and especially to be able to study in this holy land. I couldn’t ask for a better condition.   I started my course in Rangjung Yeshe Institute in august last year, 2018. I am very much satisfied with all the classes I take. I will definitely learn a lot and most importantly become a better human being. I am rather taken aback by how well the teachers and the students are here. Being a school of Buddhist studies, I realised how different it is from the other institutes or universities. Anyone I met has been very kind and helpful all this time. Also to mention how simple and calm the environment is at the institute. Everyone respects one another which I really appreciate. Since, the institute is very close to the main Boudha Stupa...

Truckin’ The last 100 days in Boudha, as I approach the end of my first semester of study at Rangjung Yeshe and first time in Nepal, remind me of that line from the Grateful Dead song Truckin’:   Sometimes the lights all shinin’ on me, other times I can barely see. But lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip it’s been. Such an odd choice of adjectives and perhaps song lyrics isn’t to convey a lack of enjoyment or signal discontentment, don’t get me wrong. The learning has been tremendous. Just that lessons have coalesced, spontaneously and unexpectedly across my windshield. I hope I don’t miss my turning. I decided three years ago I wanted to study Buddhism and I still think my understanding of the subtle and profound Dharma is basic and contrived. But the last three months have felt like I’m heading somewhere. I can’t explain why, but it’s a feeling I have. A friend here at RYI, who’s wiser than I will ever be, ove...