Buddha Lotus Painting Contrary to common outsider conceptions of monastic life, the place held by meditative practices (here defined as practices involving states of absorbed concentration) within the everyday practices of the average Tibetan Buddhist monk is quite minimal. Indeed, the majority of monks within the Tibetan tradition we are primarily exposed to at the […]
Category: Shedra
Since I started studying buddhist texts in a more thorough and general way I’ve been curious about the traditional methods of learning and pedagogics used by monastics, and the efficacy of them. Certain practices from a modern outsider’s perspective may seem overly traditional, dated and possibly useless, or at least not the most sensible way […]
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A home away from home
It’s been 8 months …..8 months… The first day of orientation in the big classroom was when I saw so many faces. They were going to be a part of my stay here in Kathmandu. And before I realized, we were a big family. It felt like we have been together since forever. The atmosphere […]
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Shedra Experience
Last semester I took four courses namely: Uttaratantra 202, Buddhist Scripture 204, Buddhist Epistemology 303 and Philosophy 306. I like all the courses which I am attending at the current. Being able to study at RYI let me achieve the fusion of cognition and knowledge. It brings flexibility to deal with people of various countries, […]
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 […]
Congratulations to Cyntia Font Zorrilla, who successfully defended her MA thesis. The dissertation is entitled: A Treasure Revealer’s Inner Life A Study and Translation of Lochen Dharmaśrī’s “Inner” Biography of Chögyal Rigdzin Terdak Lingpa The thesis supervisor was Dr. Philippe Turenne and the External Reader was Dr. Abraham Zablocki, Agnes Scott College, USA. Before coming to study in RYI’s Translator Training Program, […]
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Reading week
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 […]
In 2008 I arrived in Boudhanath to take a break from my job and to study a little bit of Buddhist philosophy. Now, I am still here and am privileged to study – kindly supported by the Tsadra foundation – in the monks’ shedra. At the moment we are studying Chandrakirti’s Madhyamakavatara bhashya. From […]
During a short holiday from our studies in Ranjung Yeshe Insitute, I decided to go to a sacred place of Guru Padmasambhava here in Nepal. I have heard about this place from different masters, but never had the opportunity to go.Tibetans call this sacred spot Chumig Jangchub, ‘The spring of Bodhichitta. In the “Prayer which removes all obstacles […]
Dear Friends, The practice of releasing life is said to dispel obstacles that shorten our life, purify negative karma accumulated by taking life, as well as lengthening our life so that we have more time to accomplish the Dharma. During one of Phakchok Rinpoche’s teachings to students of the Rangjung Yeshe Shedra, Rinpoche encouraged everyone […]