RYI STUDENT BLOG

Namo Buddha, one of the most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sides in Nepal, was blessed by the Buddha out of his limitless compassion and generosity for sentient beings.   Since then the place has become a sanctuary for pilgrims. It is the greatest source of direct blessing from the Buddha, and the 'classroom' where still anyone can learn the prowess of the Buddha in the course of saving countless ignorant beings from suffering.  Just visiting the cave where the Buddha performed the greatest act of human generosity the area, one is enfolded by the compassion of the Buddha. Spending a few days there, one is removed from afflictive state and levitated in the sphere of blithe. Under the great bless and vision of a Tibetan Bodhisattva, the place’s sanctifying potency has been enhanced, the actual words of the Buddha in thousands volumes are studied with the inspiration that had been planted there by the Buddha.  The learning center, with such a magnificent temp...

Sindhupalchowk  ‘’Mero gau maa jaane ho?’’  The only question I have been asked more times than this is  whether my hair is real or not.  ‘’Will you visit my village?’’ everyone asks after a short  conversation and getting to know each other.  Having grown up in Nairobi, the capital city of  my country, I had become accustomed to people having rather condescending views of the  more rural areas. I and a lot of my friends viewed them as boring places where life was  generally harder and, as such, most of my generation born and raised in Nairobi would not  enjoy trips to the villages where our respective tribes are concentrated.  Here in Nepal  though, I have encountered that more often than not, people take pride in their homelands  and villages, regardless of how simple or humble a background they may come from. It’s  quite a refreshing experience to say the least. It makes me wonder how people from the...

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....

Chö kyi Nyima Rinpoche urges us to become scholar-practitioners. At the same time, Rinpoche and other lamas, khenpos, lop ö ns and the texts themselves often warn us against becoming merely “dry scholars.” The tri-fold approach to studying philosophy that is urged upon as at RYI—listening, contemplating, and meditating—is precisely a method to bring vitality to study, to make it into lived experience. One of the texts that we study is Ju Mipham Rinpoche’s Gateway to Knowledge . It is easy enough to imagine that this compendium of abhidharma, tightly packed with taxonomies, categories and lists, would be a dry philosophical text. As a phenomenology of all that appears and all that we experience, however, I find the more I study it, the more I think about it, the more it is on my mind, then the more the text comes alive and presents itself in life, as life, as if I can read it there everyday, everywhere. For example, suffering—the first noble truth (which Mipham details acc...

I had been studying and living in Bodhanath (Kathmandu) for the last 5 years, benefiting from a unique environment to study and practice Buddhism.  A  couple of months ago, as my classes were finished and my family was waiting for  me in Europe, I had to leave half of my heart in this incredible place and move  back to old familiar Europe.  As I was preparing for this transition, I was so  touched by the warmth of the Rangjung Yeshe Institute community – my  professors, fellow students and close friends. It is extraordinary to have shared  these years with so many brilliant and warm-hearted scholars and practitioners  of all origins and ages. In this little neighborhood, it is impossible to walk home  without meeting a few friends on the way. In this holy place of Bodhanath, we  are constantly suffused with the blessings of the gigantic stupa and the  numerous authentic monastic institutions that have developed...

A classmate recently approached me asking about ways to improve her Tibetan. This is something I reflect on a lot (as I’m sure we all do!)  and, although there must already be  many such lists, I thought I might share a few less common approaches in light of the variety individual  learning-styles. 1.) Wechat (Tib: skad ‘phrin ) For me, Wechat has been of immense benefit. The walkie-talkie style voice chat allows you to listen to messages as many times as needed  until you understand. Once you understand you can response with the possibility of canceling your message before sending in case you make a mistake. This gives you a little more space to recall grammar, words, pronunciation, etc. than in a real-time conversation. There are also  subscription accounts that send you short articles about Tibetan issues in composed in literary Tibetan as well as Tibetan lessons spoken in both  Lhasa and Amdo dialects. This is a really great way to continuous...

I try to keep in mind that when the Buddha attained realization he sat in the forest, unwinking and alone, hesitant to explain what he had discovered. And I try to keep in mind that despite his silence, perhaps the Buddha did teach this nectar-like dharma having attained enlightenment, expounding effortlessly the natural of his realization; and his consolation to his disciples at the time of his passing that in the times to come, he would appear as the very words of dharma, in that each letter would be a embodiment of himself, and, also, his warning that if anyone were to see his body or hear his teachings, they would not have truly met him. The dharma is described to be simplicity beyond words and form and a vastness that encompasses it all; a reality and experience far too uncomplicated and far too complex to think of approaching intellectually. Yet, the Buddha did teach his profound realization, and with unworldly compassion and insight he and his disciples joyfully took up ...