Summer Lecture Series: Lara Braitstein, PhD.

Please Join Us in Kathmandu for our second lecture in our summer lecture series!

Lara Braitstein, PhD. 

"Saraha's Adamantine Songs"

This Thursday, June 30th at 5:30 pm

in the Big Classroom

at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery

Guest Lecture: Dr. Klaus-Dieter Mathes

Rangjung Yeshe Institute is pleased to welcome back Dr. Klaus-Dieter Mathes, Professor of Tibetology and Buddhist Studies at University of Vienna.

Dr. Mathes will be offering a lecture on "Gö Lotsawa's Mahamudra-Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhaga"

Thursday, February 24 – 4.00 PM to 5.30 PM

Venue:
The Manjushri Room at RYI/CBS Ka-Nying Shedrup Ling Monastery, Boudha, Kathmandu

Registration:
The lecture is free and open to the public.

For Further Information:
Please call the RYI Office: 4483575

Indian Buddhist Tantric Literature

Problems in the Interpretation of Indian Buddhist Tantric Literature

A seminar with Dr. Harunaga Isaacson (Hamburg University)

February 7 – March 4, 2011

The Centre for Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute is pleased to announce a lecture cum seminar to introduce the study and translation of Indian Buddhist tantric scriptures and commentaries.

The material will be drawn primarily from the Hevajratantra and related tantras and commentaries. In two meetings per week, the literature of this key Yoginītantra cycle will be surveyed. The emphasis will be on extant Sanskrit works although some works available only in Tibetan translation will also be discussed.

In the third meeting each week, practical problems (and possible solutions thereto) connected to translating the Buddhist tantras into modern languages will be discussed. Examples will be drawn from a number of texts, including the Kurukullākalpa , the Mahāmāyātantra, and others. The topics covered will include: how to identify and handle textual error (whether in Tibetan translations or in Sanskrit texts), how to deal with passages that can be interpreted in substantively different ways, how to handle non-standard grammatical forms of Sanskrit in tantras, and how to make use of commentaries in the translations of tantras.

To participate some knowledge of Sanskrit is highly desirable; without it a substantial part of the discussion may be very difficult to follow.

Schedule:
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday: 4.00-7.00 pm

Fees:
Local Students: 1500 Nrs.
RYI International Students: US$ 140
Non-RYI International Students: US$ 200

Registration:
To register for the course, please sign up at the office or via email to Phuntsok Dolma (phuntsok.d@shedra.org).

Join us for the 8th Annual Symposium!

Rangjung Yeshe Institute presents

Two Lectures on the Art History of Newar Buddhism

Kerry Brown, PhD Candidate

Virginia Commonwealth University

Nepal Mandala: Localizing the Sacred in Newar Art

Tuesday, November 9 / 2:45 - 4:15 pm

The Iconography of Dipankara Buddha in Nepal

Friday, November 12 / 2:45 - 4:15 pm

Admission is free and all are welcome - Please join us!

Contemplation, Service and Action

Rangjung Yeshe Institute is pleased to announce a public lecture series by Dr. John Makransky, Boston College, USA.

Contemplation, Service and Action—

Meditations of Compassion and Wisdom for People who Serve Others.

In these lectures John Makransky will discuss ways that meditations of compassion and wisdom may inform and empower service and action for teachers, development and health workers, therapists, community organizers and others in service professions. Included are guided meditations of compassion and wisdom, their relevance for relationship and service, connections to approaches of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Thich Nhat Hanh, and participant questions and discussion.

Venue:

Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, Boudhanath, Kathmandu

Time:

April 5: 1.00-3.00 pm.

April 6: 1.00-2.30 pm.

April 9: 1.00-2.30 pm.

The lectures are sponsored by Rangjung Yeshe Institute and free to the public.

John Makransky is an Associate Professor of Buddhism at Boston College and a senior faculty advisor for the Centre for Buddhist Studies in Boudhanath, Kathmandu. He has taught contemplative practices of compassion and wisdom for service and action in diverse social service and dharma settings, such as Boston College, Harvard Divinity School and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. He is author of Awakening through Love and Buddhahood Embodied, and co-editor of Buddhist Theology.

7th Annual Symposium on Buddhist Studies

RYI is pleased to announce the 7th Annual Symposium on Buddhist Studies

Buddhist Ethics

Speakers:

Dr. Jose Cabezon, University of California at Santa Barbara

Dr. Stephen Jenkins, Humboldt University

Dr. Tom Tillemans, Lausanne University

Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery

Venue:

Hyatt Regency Hotel, Boudhanath, Kathmandu, Nepal

Time:

1.00 pm - 5.00 pm

Saturday, December 12, 2009

The Symposium includes a Silent Auction of many exciting items to benefit the Centre for Buddhist Studies.

The symposium is free of charge, everyone is welcome!

The Bridge: Article on Studying at RYI

In January 2009 the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley visited RYI to learn about Buddhism and share their own experience of Christianity with faculty and students at RYI.

Following the visit, the JSTB journal, The Bridge, published an article about this visit, which can be read here:

http://www.jstb.edu/publications/bridge_spring09.pdf

Meditation Seminar with Khenpo Jampa Donden

Rangjung Yeshe Institute is pleased to announce a short course on Buddhist Meditation by Khenpo Jampa Donden.

Venue: Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery.

Time:
Saturday, October 10: 2.00 - 3.30 pm
Sunday, October 11: 10.00 - 12.00 am

Tuition:
International: Nrs. 500
Local: Nrs. 200

Registration should be done in person at the RYI office at the monastery.

A Survey of Buddhist Ethics

RYI is pleased to announce a seminar on Buddhist Ethics by Dr. Stephen Jenkins (Humboldt University).

The course will explore the Buddhist ethics of compassion from a variety of perspectives and in terms of some basic ethical categories. While addressing definitions and philosophical underpinnings of loving kindness and compassion the seminar will also consider historical and hermeneutical issues in the interpretation of compassion in abhidharmic, Mahāyānist, and tantric modes of Buddhist thought.

Dates: Nov. 2 – Dec. 4, 2009.

Time: Tuesday and Friday, 1.00 - 2.30 pm

The seminar is open to the public. However, preregistration at the RYI offices is required.

Guest Lecture: Dr. Per K. Sorensen

Rangjung Yeshe Institute is pleased to announce a guest lecture by Dr. Per K. Sorensen (University of Leipzig).

Title: Studying Tibetan History

Time: Friday, September 4, 9.15-10.15 am

Venue: Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, Boudhanath, Nepal

The lecture is open to the public and free of charge

RYI Online Learning Course Begins

This year’s Online Learning course at Rangjung Yeshe Institute starts on Monday 31st August 2009 so you now have only a few days left to register! To help you decide whether the course is for you, we have provided a week’s trial of materials on the website at www.shedra.org/moodle (follow the links for Trial Course).

On the homepage you will also find a video of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche talking about Online Learning and explaining the significance of the inaugural text, the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā by Nāgārjuna.
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Follow Rangjung Yeshe Institute Online Learning (RYI Online) on:

YouTube http://www.youtube.com/RYIonline and Twitter http://twitter.com/RYI_Online

New Book: Mipham's Luminous Essence

Luminous Essence by Jamgon Mipham

Foreword by H.H. the Dalai Lama

Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee, Snow Lion Publications

I have no doubt that interested and initiated practitioners of the Guhyagarbha Tantra cycle of practices will derive great benefit from reading and relying on this explanatory text. – From the foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The Luminous Essence (gsang snying spyi don ’od gsal snying po) is a complete introduction to the world of tantric thought and practice. Composed by the renowned Tibetan master, Jamgon Mipham (1846-1912), the text provides an overview of the theory and experiential assimilation of a seminal tantric scripture, the Tantra of the Secret Essence (Guhyagarbha-tantra). Embodying the essence of tantric practice, this text has been a central scripture in Tibetan Buddhism for well over a thousand years. Mipham’s explanation of this text, here translated for the first time, is one of the most celebrated commentaries on the Tantra of the Secret Essence, which today occupies an important place in the tantric curriculum of Tibetan monastic colleges.

The Luminous Essence is a specialized guide meant for initiated tantric practitioners. To fully appreciate and assimilate its message, it should be studied under the guidance of a qualified teacher by those who have received the appropriate empowerments, reading transmissions, and oral instructions.

Online Learning to begin at Rangjung Yeshe Institute!

Rangjung Yeshe Institute is pleased to announce the launch of its Online Buddhist Studies program - making the Buddhist classics available to anyone, wherever they live.

The inaugural course provides students with traditional teachings on Nagarjuna’s Knowledge—Root of the Middle Way (Mūlamadhyamakakārikā); perhaps the most important Buddhist philosophical scripture of the Indian tradition. Additional lectures and discussion groups provide a broader historical and cultural context for assimilating the teachings in today’s world.

Registration for the fall semester 2009 is open from June 15! Lectures can be taken on an individual basis or for academic credit.

To learn more, go to www.shedra.org

Guest Lecture by Dr. Giacomella Orofino

Rangjung Yeshe Institute announces a guest lecture by Prof. Dr. Giacomella Orofino, University of Napoli.

Topic: The Early History of the Kalacakra Tradition

Date: Wednesday, April 15
Time: 4.15 - 5.15 pm
Venue: The Big Classroom, Rangjung Yeshe Institute, Boudhanath

The talk is free and open to the public!

Buddhism and Cognitive Science (postponed)

(Note: this seminar has been postponed until further notice due to a scheduling conflict)

CBS is honored to announce a time intensive seminar with Dr. Georges Dreyfus (Williams College) from October 12-23, 2009.

What Can Buddhism Contribute to Cognitive Science?

The course examines some of the ideas and practices that buddhism might contribute to the contemporary discussions about the mind among mind scientists. We will start by examining some of the assumptions and main views of contemporary cognitive sciences. Then we will examine a few topics such as consciousness, the self, embodiment and emotions, and discuss the standpoint that modern buddhist thinkers might adopt on these difficult topics. In doing so, we will examine some of the buddhist ideas but we will mostly focus on the contemporary discussions and see to which degree some modern views, particularly those belonging to husserl's phenomenological tradition and varela's enactive approach, might be compatible with Buddhist views.

Georges Dreyfus was a monk in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition for many years, and eventually became the first Westerner to obtain the degree of Geshey Lharampa. He currently teaches at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA.

For more information and to register, contact: admin@shedra.org

RYI Short Courses Spring 2009

Four Stakes that Bind the Life Force by Patrul Rinpoche
March 9-20 (Monday to Friday)

The Four Stakes that Bind the Life-Force is Patrul Rinpoche‘s explanation on one of the core concepts found in the development stage literature of the Nyingma tradition. Despite its condensed nature, this treatise addresses all aspects of the development stage, distilling the key points of this difficult subject into four main points, or “stakes,” that capture the essence of this stage of practice. Although the “four stakes” concept presented here is unique to the Nyingma School, in terms of content, Patrul‘s explanation is relevant to all forms of development stage meditation.


Seven Points of Mind Training by Langri Tangpa
March 30 - April 10 (Monday to Friday)

The Seven Points of Mind Training is one of the earliest and most beautiful Tibetan teachings on the practice of mind training. In seven pithy pieces of advice, this text shows how to transform ordinary samsaric experience into the heroic way of awakening of the bodhisattva. This classic teaching of the Great Vehicle has been a cherished instruction at the heart of Tibetan Buddhism for many centuries, inspiring practitioners to the actualization of compassion and wisdom.

All courses will be offered at the Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, 
Kathmandu, Nepal, and translated into English.

Registration for All Courses should be done in person at the RYI office 
in the Monastery during the week before the start of the course in question.

Fees:
International – 1,000 NRs.
Local – 500 NRs.

Catherine Dalton from CBS Wins Prestigious Award

On November 19 more than 1,700 students from various faculties at Kathmandu University graduated. In addition to the many Nepalese students, a total of 351 students from various countries including Austria, Bangladesh, Canada, Japan, Norway, Tanzania, United Kingdom, United States of America, Zambia, Srilanka and India obtained their degrees.

Among all the graduate students, CBS MA student Catherine Dalton won the prestigious Chancellor Gold Medal award for obtaining the highest grade average at the post-graduate level. The award was given to Catherine Dalton by the Chancellor of Kathmandu University, the Prime Minister of Nepal, Mr. Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

Lectures on Interreligious Dialogue

Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, Friday January 23rd

2:15 – 3:15 pm

Father Robert W. McChesney, S.J., The coordinator of Cross Cultural Initiatives at The Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley will be presenting a lecture on Jesuit Religious Vision & Spiritual Practice.

3:30 – 4:30 pm

Dr. Thomas Cattoi, Assistant Professor of Christology and Cultures at The Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley will be lecturing on his book entitled “Divine Contingency: Towards a Comparative Theology of Divine Embodiment.”

Dr. Abdul Kalam visits Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling

On November 17, 2008, Dr. Abdul Kalam, former president of India, visited Nepal to preside as the Chief Guest at the yearly convocation ceremony of Kathmandu University. During his brief visit to Nepal Dr. Kalam took time off from a busy schedule to visit Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery in Boudhanath, Kathmandu.

It was a personal wish of Dr. Kalam to visit a Buddhist monastery while in Nepal and as Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery is also home to the Centre for Buddhist Studies (CBS) at Kathmandu University this monastery was chosen as the venue for this visti. Dr. Kalam was greeted at the monastery gates by the Abbot and co-founder of CBS, Ven. Tulku Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche along with senior monks and all the faculty and students at CBS.

Following a brief tour of the main shrine hall Dr. Kalam and Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche proceeded to have a private conversation in the abbot’s shrine room at the top floor of the monastery. During the meeting the two scholars had a vigorous and warm exchange on the nature of Buddhism and global responsibility. In particular the topic of Buddhism and science was discussed in great detail and both Dr. Kalam and Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche were pleased to share their respective areas of expertise in a conversation of fresh inquisitiveness, humor and mutual respect.

Also present at the meeting were Vice Chancellor at Kathmandu University, Dr. Suresh Raj Sharma, the Indian Ambassador to Nepal, Mr. Rakesh Sood, and several other professors and scholars from Kathmandu University and CBS.

Padmasambhava Meditation Retreat

Rangjung Yeshe Institute

ANNOUNCES

Padmasambhava Meditation Retreat at Asura Cave in Pharping

December 15-21, 2008

The Retreat will be held at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery's traditional meditation retreat center at Asura Cave in Pharping, a picturesque village on the southern rim of the Kathmandu Valley. It is led by Lama Tenzin Sangpo and consists of teachings and meditation on Padmasambhava according to the Trinley Nyingpo Sadhana Practice as well as silent meditation.

To attend the retreat it is a requirement to have received the empowerment for this practice. Chokling Rinpoche has been requested to offer this empowerment on December 1.

Accommodation will be in double rooms. Please bring your own bedding (bed and mattress are provided).

Cost
6.000 NRs. Internationals
3.000 NRs. Locals
Price includes teachings, accommodation in double rooms and all meals.

Registration: at the Shedra office or via email: claudia.roth@shedra.org
Registration deadline: November 30

Since space is limited the retreat may fill quickly, so register early to secure your place.

For Additional Information call us at 4483575 or email: claudia.roth@shedra.org

Workshop on Relative Truth

Kathmandu University, Centre for Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute is pleased to announce a philosophical workshop entitled:

Analytic Philosophers and Asianists on Buddhism: What is Conventional Truth and What's True about it?

Speakers and participants:

Dr. Georges Dreyfus (Williams College)
Ms. Bronwyn Finnegan (Auckland University)
Dr. Jay Garfield (Smith College)
Dr. Guy Newland (Central Michigan State U.)
Dr. Graham Priest (U of Melbourne)
Dr. Mark Siderits (U. of Seoul)
Dr. Koji Tanaka (Auckland University)
Dr. Sonam Thakchoe (U of Tasmania)
Dr. Tom Tillemans (U of Lausanne)
Dr. Jan Westerhoff (U. of Durham)

Date and time: November 26, 2008 from 2.00 to 6.00 pm

Venue: The Kirtipur Room at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Boudhanath, Kathmandu, Nepal

The workshop is open to the public and free of charge - everyone is welcome.

Symposium on Buddhist Studies

6th Annual Symposium on Buddhist Studies

Buddhism Translated: Language, Transmission and Transformation

Speakers:
Dr. John Dunne, Emory University
Dr. Sara McClintock, Emory UNiversity
Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery
Dr. Tom Tillemans, Lausanne University

Venue:
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Boudhanath, Kathmandu, Nepal

Time:
1.00 pm - 5.00 pm
Saturday, December 13, 2008

The symposium is free of charge, everyone is welcome.

Visiting Lecture: Dr. Alexander von Rospatt

On November 7, 2008, Dr. Alexander von Rospatt (UC Berkeley) will visit CBS to give a lecture entitled:

Remarks on a little studied section of the Yogācārabhūmiśāstra: The Bhāvanāmayī Bhūmiḥ and its Treatment of Practice.

The Yogācārabhūmiśāstra, which the tradition attributes to Asaṅga, is the foundational work of the Yogācāra school. The talk will first give a brief overview of this work and the current state of
research, and then deal in more detail with one particular section, namely the so-called Bhāvanāmayī Bhūmiḥ (which survives in form of an as yet unpublished Sanskrit manuscript, and in Tibetan and Chinese translation). Particular attention will be paid to its treatment of practice.

The talk will take place at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery at 9.30 am. The talk is free and everyone is welcome.

New Book: Mipam on Buddha Nature

Mipam (’ju mi pham rgya mtsho, 1846-1912) is one of the most prolific figures in the history of Tibet and his works continue to be widely studied across the Tibetan cultural region and beyond. Mipam on Buddha-Nature is an overview of Mipam’s view. Drawing upon a wide range of discourses in Mipam’s works, Douglas Duckworth shows how the Great Perfection permeates his writings on the Middle Way and Buddha-nature.

Each chapter illuminates the meaning of Buddha-nature and emptiness to expose a recurrent theme throughout Mipam’s works: the ground of the Great Perfection within the dialectical unity of presence and absence. The book brings together many important topics across a wide range of Mipam’s works and offers new translations from several of his important texts.

Buddha-nature is arguably the most important doctrine in Buddhism. For Mipam, Buddha-nature is equivalent to the true meaning of emptiness; it is the ground of all and the common ground shared by sentient beings and Buddhas. The ground, which is the unity of the two truths, is the foundation of the path of the Nyingma school of Buddhism. Since the view of this ground is the basis of meditation, the correct view is of utmost importance in the Buddhist tradition. This book is thus essential to Buddhist scholars and practitioners alike.

Dr. Douglas Duckworth is an instructor at the Centre for Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute and a contributor to the curriculum development at CBS.

RYI Group Photo 2008-2009

Students and teachers at Rangjung Yeshe Institute, October 2008.

Pilgrimage of Hope visits RYI

On October 4 a large group of Australian high school students visited Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery. Led by Brother James, an Anglican Solitary, the students had come to Nepal on "A Pilgrimage of Hope" during which time they volunteer at social work projects, such a caring for the sick, elderly and dying.

The students, who all have an interest in inter-religious dialogue had come to the monastery to meet Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and to listen to his famous Saturday Talk in the temple. Rinpoche spoke to the group about ways to increase our potential as humans through contentment in our daily lives and acts of kindness and benevolence towards others. Afterwards, several of the students mentioned that the meeting with Rinpoche had been the highlight of their time in Nepal. Both Rinpoche and the participants on the pilgrimage enjoyed the meeting greatly and expressed the wish that in the future further exchanges can be organized. The meeting was facilitated by Dr. Gregory Sharkey, SJ, who is a regular instructor at Rangjung Yeshe Institute.

TBRC Donates Manuscript Collection to RYI

On Saturday, September 27, Gene Smith from the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center (TBRC) in New York visited Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery to donate a complete copy of the digital scans currently held by TBRC.

The scans, which were donated on a computer hard drive, encompass a total of 4000 volumes of classical Tibetan text including all the words of the Buddha (the Kangyur) and their Indian commentaries (the Tengyur). In addition, the collection contains all the central texts for the study and practice traditions upheld by the monks and lamas at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling.

TBRC has donated its scanned holdings to both the monastery and the Rangjung Yeshe Institute and this is sure to become a wonderful resource for both monks and laypeople at these institutions as they study the richness and depth of the Buddhist textual tradition. The scans were received by Chökyi Nyima in a ceremony in the main temple at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery.

Meeting of IABU in Bangkok

From September 13-15, Rangjung Yeshe Institute attended the first summit of the IABU (International Association of Buddhist Universities, www.iabu.org), held in Bangkok, Thailand. The IABU is a new organization, created to increase cooperation and interaction between universities and colleges that draw inspiration from the living Buddhist tradition in their teaching methods and academic perspective.

Attending the summit at the invitation of the IABU were the two senior lecturers at RYI, Khenpo Sherab Dorje and Khenpo Jampa Donden, as well as the Director of Studies, Andreas Doctor. The three days of meetings culminated in the creating of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by more than 100 Buddhist member universities including RYI. Apart from participating in the discussions on the structure and future of the IABU, the two khenpos also performed prayers for the conference together with other scholars from the Tibetan institutions as representatives of the Vajrayana tradition.

Ornament of the Great Vehicle Sutras

Another semester is underway and a class on the Ornament of the Great Vehicle Sutras is now being offered. This important text is one of the “five treatises of Maitreya” and lays out the vast and profound path of the Great Vehicle. The text is taught with two commentaries: one by Khenpo Zhenga and one by Lama Mipam. Both Khenpo Zhenga and Lama Mipam were instrumental in revitalizing the tradition of scholarship in eastern Tibet in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and their works have continued to hold a central place in the curriculum of Buddhist monastic colleges. Their two commentaries are particularly interesting to study in tandem because of the contrasting styles of the authors: Khenpo Zhenga primarily comments on the Indian scriptures and Mipam incorporates the Tibetan commentaries of his tradition.

The class is taught by Khenpo Jampa Donden, who trained at Dzongsar College (which is one of the monastic colleges established by Khenpo Zhenga) under the late Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk. The translator is Dr. Douglas Duckworth, who has a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and recently published a book on Mipam entitled Mipam on Buddha-Nature (SUNY, 2008). Students from all over the world have come to partake in what promises to be an “international feast on the nectar of Dharma!”

Fall Semester Classes Begin

On September 1 the fall semester at Rangjung Yeshe Institute began. This year 30 new students from around the world are joining the program for a total of 68 students attending classes at the Institute.

The classical texts that are offered this fall are The Way of the Bodhisattva by Shantideva and Ornament of the Mahayana Sutras by Asanga and Maitreya using the commentaries of Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham.

In an exciting development, as the senior students develop their proficiency in Tibetan, an increasing number of classes are being offered where the students study philosophy directly in Tibetan from Khenpos and Lamas. This semester four such classes are taught only in Tibetan for students from our third and fourth year:

1) Kun bzang bla ma'i zhal lung (Words of My Perfect Teacher)
2) bShes-pa’i springs-yig (Letter to a Friend)
3) Spyod ‘jug sgom rim (Meditation on the Way of a Bodhisattva)
4) Lha rdzas me tog phreng wa (The Divine Flower Garland)

Moreover, this year RYI is honored to host philosophy courses with two distinguished guest lecturers. Dr. John Dunne from Emory University will be teaching a course in the philosophy of the great Buddhist thinker Dharmakirti and Dr. Klaus Dieter Mathes from University of Hamburg will teach a research course on Mahamudra and readings in Sanskrit for the MA students.

Sri Lanka Donates Encyclopedia of Buddhism to CBS

On July 23, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Nepal, Mr. Sumith Nakandala, visited CBS and donated a set of the Encyclopedia of Buddhism, sponsored by the Government of Sri Lanka, to the research library at CBS. The encyclopedia was received by Greg Whiteside, Principal at CBS.

6th Annual Symposium of Buddhist Studies

On December 13, 2008, the Centre for Buddhist Studies and Rangjung Yeshe Institute is hosting the 6th Annual Symposium of Buddhist Studies. This topic for this year’s symposium is Buddhism Translated: Language, Transmission and Transformation. Among the speakers this year are Dr. Tom Tillemans (Lausanne University), Dr. John Dunne (Emory University), Dr. Sara McClintock (Emory University), and Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche (Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery).

The symposium is held at the Hyatt Regency in Boudhanath, Kathmandu on December 13, 2008, from 10 am – 6 pm. The event is free to the general public and everyone is welcome.

Partnership with The University of Naples "L'Orientale"

This summer Centre for Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute joined in a partnership with The University of Naples "L'Orientale" in Naples, Italy. The partnership will promote cooperation between the two institutions regarding student and faculty exchange and joint research activities. The Centre for Buddhist Studies looks forward to working with L’Orientale on these important projects in the years to come.

Short Course

This month RYI is offering a short course on Jigme Lingpa's classic, Staircase to Akanishta. The course, which is taught by Khenpo Sherab Dorje, will introduce Jigme Lingpa's famous treatise on the development stage, and cover the key points of this profound practice. The course begins on Friday, February 22, and will run for three or four weekends according to the following schedule:
Fridays: 4.00-5.30 pm
Saturdays: 8.00-9.30 am
Sundays: 8.00-9.30 am
Pre-registration by February 20 at the RYI office in Boudhanath, or by email (admin@shedra.org) is required.
Tuition: Local: 450 rps.
International: 1800 rps.
Rangjung Yeshe Institute admin@shedra.org

Learn Tibetan Calligraphy

From February 18 – April 11, RYI is offering a two-month introduction course in Tibetan Calligraphy. The course, which is free and open to everyone, is a rare opportunity to learn the art of Tibetan calligraphy. In the course students will learn to write Tibetan classical scripts using traditional calligraphic tools, such as the bamboo pen. The course is taught by the calligraphy teacher at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, Mr. Sangpo. Time: Mondays and Wednesdays 5.00-6.00 pm. Venue: Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, Shedra Classroom no. 1. Although the course is free, prior registration by February 15 at the RYI office in Boudhanath, or by email (admin@shedra.org) is required.