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more detail with one particular section, namely the so-called Bhāvanāmayī Bhūmiḥ (which survives in form of an as yet unpublished Sanskrit manuscript, and in Tibetan and Chinese translation).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.