Rangjung Yeshe InstituteFor 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 […]
Bodhicaryavatara class 2008 (happy people) Reunion 2013 (still happy) In September 2008 assembled a motley group of people from all around world in Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche’s shrine room for a welcome reception. We had all made the excellent decision to come to Nepal to do the BA in Buddhist studies here at RYI. Although we did not know […]
With the recently ended fall semester in the back and the new semester in front, I feel a fresh wind of motivation blowing through my entire body and mind. It seems that this opportunity of study, leads me and my fellow students along a journey of unpredictable and spontaneously unfolding landscapes. Outwardly, in my meetings […]
“Wooow! Here I am back again! And I will go for the second year!” This is what I thought last week when I found myself lying once again on my back-breaking Nepali mattress inside my tiny student’s apartment that I had swapped for my fancy German two-and-a-half-room-apartment one year before. At that […]
The Great Stupa of Boudhanath The first time I arrived at the Great Stupa of Boudhanath, I had heard of a legend… the legend of the poultry woman and her sons building a stupa and the pure aspiration to bring the Dharma to the barbarous lands of Tibet. These three sons were later reborn as […]
The first time I came to Kathmandu one year ago, I was on my way back from China. At that time, my plan was to stay for a month in order to learn some Tibetan. Here’s a lesson I learned quickly. Plans change. My first impression of Boudhanath was that I could eat a variety […]
After arriving in Kathmandu late summer 2009 to begin my studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute up until this day quite a lot of events have taken place – externally as well as internally. Just the fact that one is now living in a country among people with a completely different culture, different habits and so forth […]
Tenpel and a young friend near Jarung Khashor. Once back home in Brazil, I heard that in the middle of an immense valley in the Himalayas there was a great white stupa, where the awakened masters of the past and present would come from days and months of walking to pay homage. It is said […]
You have probably noticed that living in Nepal is somewhat different from living somewhere in the civilized world. Aside from the usual things you need to take care of – such as finding dwelling of suitable size and cost, in Nepal you need to solve many other issues. For example, over half of the year, […]