Rangjung Yeshe Institute, in partnership with Kathmandu University – Centre for Buddhist Studies, offers a two-year MA program in Buddhist Studies.

The MA program combines graduate level seminars with extensive research in original primary source literature and languages. The aim of the program is to introduce students to the methods and skills involved in mature academic research and to develop their ability to undertake independent research projects within the field of Buddhist Studies.

During the first year of study the emphasis is on developing the necessary competence in classical Tibetan and Sanskrit to conduct research in Buddhist primary literature as well as gaining familiarity with the methodological approaches to academic Buddhist studies.

Rangjung Yeshe Institute is pleased to announce another year of its intensive Translator Training Program. The program is designed to allow students to become oral translators in 12 months, capable of serving as an interpreter for a Tibetan teacher giving basic Buddhist teachings.  The program will be offered at an Intermediate Level, which assumes a year of prior training in both Colloquial and Classical Tibetan language.

As the program is offered to fill a real need for oral interpreters in the Tibetan Buddhist world community, graduates of the program should intend to serve as an interpreter for a Tibetan Buddhist teacher or community upon completion of the program.

The Centre for Buddhist Studies is pleased to announce its 9^th Summer Studies Program of intensive language training and Buddhist study courses for international students.

The 2012 language programs offer a full immersion into Tibetan, Sanskrit, and Nepali languages. The Buddhist Studies program provides a living exposure to Buddhist philosophy and a practical introduction to the richness of personal meditation training. All summer programs are fully accredited by Kathmandu University.

Classes are held within the Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery complex, just a few minutes walk from the Great Stupa of Boudhanath in the Kathmandu Valley. Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling is one of Nepal's largest monasteries and houses more than 225 monks and lamas. The abbot of the monastery, Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, is a well-known Buddhist teacher who often leads seminars on meditation and Buddhist philosophy in Nepal and around the world.

The township of Boudhanath, a community with many Tibetan monasteries, has grown up around the Great Stupa, said to house the relics of the previous Buddha, Mahakashyapa. The area is home to many revered teachers and a pilgrimage point for many others. It is a major resettlement area for Tibetan Buddhists, and students of the 2012 Summer Studies program will have ample opportunity to learn about and immerse themselves in the local Tibetan culture.

 

 

Applications will open October 1, 2011 - Check back here for more information.

 
At the links below, you will find all relevant information pertaining to the programs being offered. For additional information, please contact the administration.

1. Tibetan

 

2. Sanskrit

3. Nepali

4. Buddhist Studies

Welcome to details about the annual RYI Fall Seminar on the theories and practices of Tibetan Buddhism. Specially designed for a Western audience, the seminar will be held in the spacious main temple at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery in Boudhanath, the “Buddhist heart” of Kathmandu Valley. Teachings will be offered each morning for 10 days by the monastery's abbot, Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. These talks will be translated from Tibetan into English by a skilled professional translator. Depending on the availability of more translators, simultaneous translations will also be made into German, Danish, French, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Chinese.

 

Despite his reliance on a translator for communicating the more subtle intricacies of Buddhist philosophy, Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, an incarnate high Lama of the Kagyu tradition, has a good command of the English language. For more than 35 years, he has been instructing a vast and growing number of students, of nearly every nationality, in meditation and Vajrayana practices. With a concise, lucid and humorous approach, Rinpoche imparts the very heart of the Buddhist teachings, revealing the natural simplicity of Enlightened Mind.

During the first half of the seminar, Rinpoche will provide the audience with an introduction to the fundamental teachings of Buddhist practice and philosophy common to all Buddhist schools. During the latter half of the seminar, participants will be guided through a discussion of the more esoteric and profound perspectives, applications and doctrines of both Mahayana and Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhism, including a clear explanation of the viewpoints of Madhyamika, Mahamudra and Dzogchen.

Throughout the seminar, Rinpoche encourage questions and manages, even with large audiences, to engage listeners in lively personal dialogues. In this way, the listener is able to effortlessly unfold the very quintessence of the Buddha's message.  

 

 

9:00am - 09:45am:	Sitting meditation guided by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche.
09:45am - 10:00am:	Break, with light refreshments served in our garden;  People may then ask personal questions to Rinpoche.
10:00am - 11:30am:	Formal teachings given by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche
11:30am - 12:00pm:	Informal question & answer session
After Teachings:	Enjoy light refreshments served in our garden
Thursday	Break Day between the two sets of 5-days teachings.

The distinguished Nyingma Vajra Master, Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche - 4th incarnation of Terchen Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa - will offer to those interested three important Vajrayana empowerments symbolizing Guru, Yidam and Dakini. The exact program schedule for the empowerments will only be announced during the main seminar. No extra fee is required for the initiations, but spontaneous offerings are welcome.
 
Tuition for the 10-day Fall Seminar will be approximately US$125 (one-hundred and twenty-five dollars) payable at the time of registration.  

Pre-registration for the seminar will be possible from 10:00am to 3:00pm the day before the seminar start at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling's Main Office on the ground floor of the monastery. Registration will also be possible on the first and second days of the Seminar. Sorry, we are unable to accept seminar or retreat registration prior to the beginning of the seminar. Early registration has not been necessary because there has always been enough seating in our spacious temple so that everyone is comfortable. Seating will be mostly on cushions on the carpeted floor, however for everyone’s convenience chairs will also be available.

Rangjung Yeshe Institute's Annual Retreat

After a few days of rest, a separate program consisting of 3 days of a formal "practice-intensive" retreat will be offered.  This will take place in the quietude of our hermitage, Nagi Gompa, located in the foothills of Mt. Shivapuri overlooking Kathmandu Valley or else in our Asura Cave Retreat Center in the hills overlooking Pharping Valley. Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche will lead the retreat and he will decide on the theme, whether emphasizing dzogchen, mahamudra or both. The translated daily teachings will focus on guided meditation instruction and daily group practice.

The exact program schedule for the retreat will be announced during the early days of the main seminar at the monastery. Without exception, attendance at the retreat will only be possible if the participant has attended the main Fall Seminar.

Tuition for RYI’s Retreat will be approximately US$75 (seventy-five dollars) payable at the time of registration or half-way through the main seminar.  

Unfortunately, our overcrowded monastery is unable to provide daily living accommodations for seminar participants.  However, clean, comfortable and very reasonably-priced guest houses are conveniently located within a 5-minute walk from the monastery.  Moreover, the 5-star Hyatt Hotel is a short drive or a 10-minute walk from the monastery.

For valuable information on the area, lodging, health advisory and so forth, visit our Shedra website at www.shedra.com. If you are planning to attend the retreat, please bring a sleeping bag and sleeping pad.

Should rooms be available, accommodations will be quite basic. If you require more privacy than can be found sleeping inside the temple hall with other retreatants, you should consider bringing a comfortable tent.  Camping is welcome if the retreat is held at Nagi Gompa, but will not be possible if the retreat is held in Asura.

 

For additional information regarding the seminar or retreat, write to: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Each year, several scholars from around the world visit Rangjung Yeshe Institute to do research for their graduate, post graduate, or independent projects. Rangjung Yeshe Institute offers the unique opportunity to study with monastic professors and benefit from the rich resources of a vibrant monastic institution of learning as well as a broad community of western trained scholars. Research affiliation is offered through Kathmandu University.

To enquire further about the possibilities for doing your research at Rangjung Yeshe Institute, please contact the administration.