RYI STUDENT BLOG

As a reader there are innumerable books to get yourself immersed into. Books can bring us everything, namely; wealth, power, merriment, grief, humility, desire, wisdom, ultimate bliss, as well as hell, and so forth. Yet, without reading books no one improves or reaches merriment or blissful states. As human beings we are by nature supposed to creep towards the virtuous life without any pause. This whim or vigor to do so is the best gift we have for all other beings. To be a virtuous and kind loving person towards others, reading books takes precedence for every single one of us. Well then how to be a virtuous and kind loving person through reading books is to be selective between right and wrong. Just one right book one can bring us all the ample insights that we could ever need.  Since the fact that we are all caught up in this samsaric marsh, all we have to do is just to follow or read the books by those great saints who have already extricated themselves from the marsh...

From when our friendship begun, he gives no clue, and even I know not whence this  beginningless started its voyage. But, I am curious to know how all this began, because I have  already started to look for cessation. When all I have is that friendship alone as a support, I  wonder if this search is meaningful. However, though it looks crazy, I have chosen the pursuit to  unshackle the chain of this friendship. When bed, the mother calls me at night, I soon disappear  to nowhere—with no clue where I had been, and for how long! It feels like I have gone to the  rest into the lap of my mother, giving up the indulgence that my friends make me do, at least  for a while. But soon, they wake me out from that blissful sleep, and once again under the  persuasion of habit, ego turns to repeat its naughtiness. I know that they are playing with me  and all they had given is but the betrayal. Though it is clear that these doors of senses take me...

Homage to Three Jewels May all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas live long until all sentient beings reach perfect enlightenment     LIFE The   battle for life is a spiritual one. We should be committed to saying a prayer daily for human life The enormity of death is felt by people when they lose someone close to them Knowledge and spirituality are often the light at the end of the tunnel in such moments A human being who has died feels like a torch extinguished. Life is not always freedom, Life is worthless without compassion, Life is what you live today and die beneath, Life depends upon peace, emotions, and happiness, Life is meaningless only if we allow it to be. Religion is not something separate and apart from ordinary life Life is what you make of it Life is not just for enjoying; it allows you to be in any emotion, problem, sickness, death, Every one of us takes our own path in life, We all should know and ask ours...

I have spent most of my adult life in an American university, first as an  undergraduate student, then as a graduate student, then a post-doctoral fellow, and  finally, a professor. Last year, fulfilling a heart-felt wish, I became a full-time student  at Rangjung Yeshe Institute. Despite being a degree-granting institution, a part of  Kathmandu University, RYI has revealed itself, in my experience, to be almost  entirely unlike any university I have ever been involved with before. If I say,  “almost,” this is because, of course, at RYI, many of the activities and structures  appear to be just like those of other institutions of higher education: there are  classes and classrooms, homework, tests, papers, grades, rules and regulations,  administrative procedures, and so forth. So what accounts for the vast difference  that I experience here? Certainly, the setting and the combination of traditional  monastic education and Wes...

One of my favorite terms in Tibetan is རྟེན་འབྲེལ་ (pronounced "ten drel"), which in Buddhist thought is often translated as "interdependence". In colloquial Tibetan, however, such a term signifies some manner of auspicious or fortunate circumstances, the coming together of wonderful causes and conditions.  This is an appropriate term to describe my experience studying here in Nepal, because of all of the wonderful experiences and in particular the amazing people I have met here. Nepal is a place where people from all over the world gather, and often with some very noble aspirations. Especially here in Boudha at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute, it is incredible how many inspiring people you can meet, all with amazing stories, backgrounds, and goals. Not only that, but the people who live here as well are remarkable. Nepali and Tibetan people are generally very kind and humble, with incredible life stories and experiences and such inspiring faith in the tea...

I have now completed three years studying Buddhist Philosophy with Himalayan  Languages at the Kathmandu University Center for Buddhist Studies, Rangjung  Yeshe Institute (RYI). Fortunately everything went as I wished, I had a really  enjoyable three years at RYI, and did not meet any of the problems I had worried  about. I am so grateful that this program, based upon Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling  Monastery and Khyentse Foundation Scholarship program, has been so successful. I  studied as hard as I could, always remembering their kindness in supporting my study  at RYI. My wish is for everyone to have the opportunity of studying Buddhism at  RYI and to become tolerant people for the sake of all sentient beings and for the  benefit of both this life and coming lives. I cannot express how useful and beneficial  this program is for lay practitioners both from a worldly and religious point of view,  and also often think how wonderful it ...

My time at Rangjung Yeshe so far has been a great learning experience. Firstly, I want to express my immense gratitude to His Eminence Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, for it is due to his kindness and profound teachings that I decided to join Rangjung Yeshe. He has been nothing but warm and accommodating towards myself and other Himalayan students and often expresses his concern about our well being in Nepal. It is a joy and a real luxury to be able to see him so often. The faculty has also been very kind and helpful, and incredibly patient considering my habitual disregard for deadlines. So I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them as well as apologize for any inconveniences caused. As far as institutions of Buddhist Studies go, Rangjung Yeshe is definitely one of a kind. The academic curriculum combines both traditional and modern styles of teaching, so the same classes taught by Khenpos might also require extra reading and research papers. The teachings have been very accessible a...