As a preliminary introduction to my upcoming publication,
I will argue here that we can understand Yogacara in a
different light if we look at what preceded it rather than
what succeeded it. As an example, we will look at the
relationship between alaya-vijnana and vijnapti in light of
the use of the term vijnapti in the Twenty Verses. Other
examples of this preferred perspective are the various
places in which, first the ‘reality’ of object and then the ‘reality’
of mind (citta) are successively deconstructed on the
path. The Dharmadharmatâvibhâga is an excellent source
for this deconstructive approach.

Professor Waldron teaches courses on the South Asian religious traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism, Tibetan religion and history, comparative psychologies and philosophies of mind, and theory and method in the study of religion. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, after three years of research at Otani University, Kyoto, Japan. His publications focus on the Yogacara school of Indian Buddhism as well as its dialogue with modern thought. Professor
Waldron has been at Middlebury College since 1996 and has over the years taught numerous courses at Rangjung Yeshe Institute, affiliated with Kathmandu University in Nepal. His monograph, The Buddhist Unconscious: The Ālaya-vijñāna in the Context of Indian Buddhist
Thought was published by RoutledgeCurzon in 2003. An introduction to Indian Yogacara entitled Making Sense of Mind-Only: the Dependent Arising of Indian Yogacara Buddhism is forthcoming (2023) with Wisdom Publications. 

The talk was entitled "Making Sense of Mind-Only: a Constructivist Interpretation of Yogācāra Buddhism". He spoke with students and participants at RYI on Nov 9, 2022.

Prof. Bill Waldron - "Making Sense of Mind-Only"

Phakchok Rinpoche is recognized for his vast knowledge and deep understanding of Buddhadharma. His teachings are known to be clear, practical, and applicable to our daily lives.
During this interactive session, Rinpoche will focus on talking about studying and translating the Dharma. Rinpoche has requested that students submit questions in advance about this topic, and he will answer as many as possible during the session.
This is a rare chance to receive teachings and advice directly from a genuine master who has dedicated his life to practicing and spreading the Dharma.

Phakchok Rinpoche - "Studying and Translating the Dharma"

Ani Choying Drolma is a distinguished Buddhist nun, acclaimed singer and awarded humanitarian. Trained under meditation master His Eminence Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, she excelled in Buddhist meditation, chants, rituals performances and ceremonies. Her singing talent was discovered by American guitarist Steve Tibbetts, leading to her international music career with 16 albums. Ani Choying has served as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and is renowned for her humanitarian efforts. She founded the Nuns’ Welfare foundation and Arya Tara School to support education for girls, the Aarogya Foundation for affordable dialysis services, and various other initiatives for community welfare. She is recipient of multiple awards and recognitions.

Ani Choying Drolma, known worldwide for her performances of Buddhist chants, will speak about the value of Buddhist education for women, and share her experience as a Buddhist nun and as a practitioner. This guest lecture will be open for questions from RYI students and the audience. She spoke with students and participants at RYI on25th July.

Ani Choying Drolma - "Q&A session with Ani Choying Drolma"

David Germano teaches and researches Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia, where he is a professor, as well as directs the Tibet Center. He has lived for years in Tibetan communities, where he has studied Buddhist philosophy and contemplation, and done extensive community engagement work. His personal scholarship has focused on the Great Perfection (rdzogs chen) tradition in its many dimensions. For over a decade, he led large scale explorations of contemplative ideas, values, and practices in relationship to scientific frameworks and creative applications in higher education in service of facilitating student flourishing. Currently he leads the Generative Contemplative Initiative, which explores contemplation as a generative human capacity with distinctive lexicons, grammars, and contexts and considers how we can design better contemplative futures.

The Seminal Heart (snying thig) tradition of the Great Perfection (rdzogs chen) begins with eleventh century Tibetan revelations of extraordinarily innovative new scriptures,
becomes dominant among Nyingma lineages by the fourteenth century, and has continued as such into the present. However, the difference in narrative, philosophy, practice, and community between these origins and contemporary realities is extraordinary, though the tradition stresses continuity throughout with the original scriptural sources. These striking transformations are not significantly acknowledged by Tibetan authors, apart from scattered references to discontinued practices, lost texts, and attenuated transmissions; there is even less attempt to explain or theorize these vast differences. I will offer a history and theorization of these changes to make sense of the drivers and significance of these patterns of profound continuity and discontinuity. I will also offer specific markers to utilize to appraise any given Great Perfection tradition relationship to this dominant influence. He spoke with students and participants at RYI on 18th Sept 2024.

Prof. David Francis Germano - "The Great Perfection (rdzogs chen"

From a Tibetan Buddhist perspective, our buddha nature is the basic space of our being undivided from vast capacities of awareness, warmth, love, compassion and wisdom. These capacities and qualities are always available below our surface consciousness, but often hidden by our conditioned habits of thought and reaction. One way that Tibetan practitioners start to access them is by bringing to mind the Buddha as an enlightened field of refuge, and experiencing themselves and their whole world as held in the Buddha’s unconditional love, compassion, and wisdom. This evokes the practitioners’ own corresponding qualities of warmth, love, compassion, and openness. In this short course, Dr. Makransky will adapt this pattern of practice from Tibetan Buddhism, with some assistance from modern psychology, to try to make it freshly accessible both for Buddhist practitioners and for people of other faiths and backgrounds. Each session will include explanation, guided meditations, Q&A and discussion. Course book: Awakening through Love (Wisdom, 2007).

John Makransky, PhD, has been Associate Professor of Buddhism and Comparative Theology at Boston College, Senior Academic Advisor for the Centre of Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Nepal, president of the Society of Buddhist-Christian studies, and Fellow of the Mind and Life Institute. He was also one of the leaders of a scholarly movement in the American Academy of Religion to establish a unit dedicated to Buddhist Critical-Constructive Reflection. John has published books and articles that focus on connections between devotion, compassion, and wisdom in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, on adapting Buddhist practices to meet contemporary minds, and on theoretical issues in interfaith learning. He has also developed the sustainable compassion training model of contemplative practice to help modern Buddhists, people of diverse faiths, and those in caring roles and professions generate a more sustaining and unconditional power of compassion and awareness for their lives with others (https://sustainablecompassion.org).

📒 Course Materials 📒  
If you want access to the course material, please register through the link below. 
➡️ https://forms.office.com/r/bCA4yB648M?origin=lprLink
Because this is the result of years of work and precious dharma teachings, donations are encouraged. It allows us to make teachings available to greater number of people.

Dr. John Makransky - Accessing qualities of our buddha nature - Day_1

This presentation examines Tibetan Buddhist music of the Green Tara ritual as performed by the nuns of Thrangu Tara Abbey of the Karma Kagyu tradition in Kathmandu, Nepal. The study explores the Green Tara Sadhana as practiced by the nuns each morning, its music, and how devotion to the Bodhisattva Green Tara is instrumental in the empowerment of female monastics. My research is primarily an analysis of the musical elements and forms of the songs and ritual instrumental music and how the nuns experience the ritual. I also include examples of musical transcriptions in Western notation. This study involves an interdisciplinary mixed research method approach, relies heavily on ethnographic and phenomenological field work in Nepal, and a critical historical analysis of ritual music in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. As a musician, I am particularly interested in the role of music in Tibetan ritual and how ritual and music enrich the lives of the nuns, a subject rarely explored with in the academic community.

Dr. Christine Blice-Baum is a PhD candidate in Religious Studies at UWest, she currently researches the music of the Green Tara Sadhana in Nepal. She holds advanced university degrees in music, theology, and has served as a chaplain for the U.S. Air force. She is an ordained Lutheran pastor with over 39 years of service and teaches meditation.

Dr. Christine Blice-Baum - "The Songs of Green Tara: Tibetan Buddhist Ritual Music of the Nuns of Thrangu Tara Abbey"

There is general agreement among scholars of Rnying ma and Bka’ brgyud traditions that the doctrine known as the inseparability of the two truths (bden gnyis dbyer med) marks the culmination of all Buddhist approaches to truth. As a view grounded in Madhyamaka thought but associated primarily with Buddhist tantric views and practices, it is said to transcend the various bivalent conceptions of truth—predicated on attributions of truth and falsity to allegedly discrete types of perceptions and propositions—that were advanced by the main schools of Indian Buddhist philosophy. In this regard, it is framed as the final cure for metaphysical realism (vastuvāda), the view that the objects, properties, and relations the world contains exist independently of how and whether we perceive, experience, or think about them. This talk explores the genesis, development, and some intriguing philosophical implications of this viewpoint, with a special focus on its explication in the Black Snake Digest (Sbrul nag gyi stong thun) by the 11th century Rnying ma master Rong zom Chos kyi bzang po and a little-known overview of this text by the Eighth Karma pa Mi bskyod rdo rje (1507-1554).

Dr. David Higgins received his doctorate from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland in 2012. He subsequently held a position as a Post-doc Research Fellow in the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna where he explored the relationship between Mahāmudrā and Madhyamaka philosophies in Bka’ brgyud scholasticism during the post-classical period (15th to 16th centuries). His research interests include Indo-Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and epistemology with a particular focus on Bka’ brgyud Mahāmudrā and Rnying ma Rdzogs chen doctrines and practices. 

The talk was entitled: Unity of the Two Truths: Some Sources and Implications of a Central Buddhist Tantric Doctrine. Dr David has spoken with RYI on 5th November 2025.

Dr. David Higgins - "Unity of the Two Truths"

This lecture will examine how AI-powered translation tools can disrupt both the cognitive and affective development essential to becoming a skilled translator. We will explore five interrelated cognitive risks such as Cognitive bypassing, Priming effects, Acceptance bias, Reduced retrieval practice, Cognitive offloading. These cognitive risks are intensified by notable affective consequences. When students repeatedly encounter AI-generated translations that feel generic, impersonal, or misaligned with their intended meaning, they often experience frustration and a diminished sense of ownership over their work. Over time, this erodes both their fulfillment and their confidence, leaving them increasingly disconnected from their creative and intellectual contributions.

Maria is a Tibetologist, Dharma translator, and interpreter. She holds a PhD in Buddhist Studies from the International Buddhist College, Thailand (2024), an MA in Translation, Textual Interpretation, and Philology from the Rangjung Yeshe Institute (2019), as well as a PhD in Political Science from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (2011). Her research focuses on the study and translation of Mahāyāna sūtras and śāstras through comparative analysis of Dunhuang manuscripts and Tibetan canonical texts, emphasizing philological inquiry, textual transmission, and the doctrinal development of Buddhist philosophical traditions.

Dr. Maria Vasylieva - "Lost in translation: Why Translators in Training Should Avoid AI Tools"

Delusion has two aspects: seeing what is not there, and not see what is there. In contemplative photography, this means seeing all your thoughts and projections about the subject matter, the photograph you’re making, your excitement about what you’ve seen, instead of seeing what is there—the visual forms that are in front of you. Since the camera only produces images of the visual forms, this practice illuminates the delusion that prevents clear seeing and making vivid images.

Andy Karr doesn’t like to talk about himself very much, but he does talk and write about
Buddhist teachings, particularly the profound paths of the Mahayana and Mahamudra. He is the author of Contemplating Reality, an experiential guide to Buddhist philosophy (Shambhala Publications, 2007) and co-author of The Practice of Contemplative Photography: Seeing the world with fresh eyes (Shambhala Publications, 2011). His latest book, Into The Mirror: A buddhist journey through mind, matter, and the nature of reality will be published by Shambhala in May, 2023.

Andy Karr - "Overcoming Delusion with Contemplative Photography"

Khenpo Chödrak Tenphel Rinpoche - an eminent teacher of the Karma Kagyu lineage who is currently lecturing on tantric views and practices at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery - has accepted Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche’s request to present and discuss Buddhism’s three yānas based on Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye’s Treasury of Knowledge and he spoke with students at RYI on Feb, 4, 5 & 6, 2016 and translated by Dr. Thomas Doctor. 

Khenpo Chödrak Tenphel Rinpoche - "The Three Vehicles" Part-II

Dr. Denis completed her PhD at Laval University in Quebec. She currently teaches at Laval and is the founder of the Sahle Ö Project, which supports higher education for women in Buddhist studies and she spoke with students at RYI on March 18, 2016. 

Diane Denis - "The Structure of the Dharmadharmatāvibhāga and kārikā (DhDhVK)."

Punya Parajuli is currently completing his Ph.D. at Lumbini University and is one of the prominent scholars and translators of Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal. His talk will highlight the contribution of Padmasambhava in the dissemination of Buddhism in the Kathmandu
Valley and particularly his activities in Pharping, Patan, Daman, and Nuwakot. He spoke with student of RYI on June,  29, 2016. 

TASCAM DR-05

Lotsawa Punya Parajuli - "The Role of Padmasambhava in the Propogation of Buddhism in Nepal"

The talk was entitled "Yogācāra and Citta-mātra (སེམས་ཙམ་ Mind-Only 唯識)Idealism or Cognitive Critique? A Historical Perspective"
For many centuries the Indian Mahāyāna school of Yogācāra has been interpreted as arguing that external objects do not truly exist, only ‘mind’ does. This ‘received tradition’ has been accepted by most scholars, but it is now being challenged by more historically oriented scholarship. In this talk, I show how Yogācāra is understood very differently when it is interpreted in the context of its own historical milieu, instead of from perspectives articulated only many centuries later. In his Twenty Verses (Viṃśaṭikā), for example, Vasubandhu presents vijñapti-mātra as a critical concept used to introduce the selflessness of dharmas (dharma-nairātmya ཆོས་བདག་མེད་པ 法無我).
This has, however, been interpreted as an ontological claim that only mind (citta-mātra) exists. So, is Vasubandhu presenting standard Mahāyāna doctrine or is he introducing an unwarranted, idealistic ontology, i.e.? What criteria should we use to answer this question?
Prof. Waldron spoke with students at RYI on August 1, 2016. 

Prof. William Waldron - "Yogācāra and Citta-mātra (སེམས་ཙམ་ Mind-Only 唯識)"

John Dunne (PhD 1999, Harvard University) holds the Distinguished Chair in Contemplative Humanities, a newly endowed position created through the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. John Dunne’s work focuses on Buddhist philosophy and contemplative practice, especially in dialog with Cognitive Science and Psychology. He spoke with students at RYI on 27th September, 2016.

Dr. John D. Dunne - "Dharmakīrti and His Followers on Nonduality and the Nature of the Mind"

Erik Pema Kunsang is one of the most highly regarded Tibetan translators and interpreters today. Erik has been the assistant and translator for Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and his sons since the late 1970s. He has translated and edited over fifty volumes of Tibetan texts and oral teachings, and is one of the directors of Rangjung Yeshe Publications. He spoke with students of RYI on 5 December, 2016.

Erik Pema Kunsang - "Study, practice and translation."

Hubert Decleer received a BA in History and Medieval Dutch Literature. He was a student of the great Etienne Lamotte at the University of Louvain, served as a ‘caravan-leader/raconteur’ on London-Kathmandu overland journeys (1965-1981), and was the founding director (1987) of SIT (School of International Training) in Nepal, for which he is presently an advisor. He has published essays on sacred sites of the Kathmandu Valley, Buddhist art, and other topics. A recent collection of essays Himalayan Passages (Wisdom, 2014) celebrates his contributions to Tibetan and Newar studies.

This talk will discuss Dudjom Rinpoche’s (1904-1987) hymn to the Three Great Relic Chaityas of Swayambhu, Namo Buddha and Bouddha, and the Fourth Khamtrul Rinpoche, Tendzin Chokyi Nyima’s (1730-1780) accurate and delightful guide to the sacred sites of the Kathmandu Valley. It will focus in particular on points of controversy such as Khamtrul Rinpiche’s dismissal of certain interpretations as “tales of stupid Tibetans”, and his merciless historical critique--which doesn’t in the least undermine his conviction in the tremendous blessing of these sites. 
He spoke with Students at RYI on June 28th 2017.
The talk was entitled "“Ambrosia for the Ears of the Snowlanders”:
two Tibetan eulogies to the Kathmandu Valley’s sacred sites"

Hubert Decleer - “Ambrosia for the Ears of the Snowlanders”

The Chöd tradition practiced at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery places a much greater emphasis on awareness (rig pa) and devotion than is recognized in academic studies on Chöd. Here the oral pith instructions play an indispensable role. They are the pedagogical instrument which provides a wealth of information, such as differentiation and individualization, and consolidates the components of intellectualism, passionate emotions, and non-conceptual wakefulness.

Tina Lang, born in Austria, has lived in Nepal since 1989. A recent graduate from RYI’s MA program in Buddhist Studies, Tina has been focusing her research on Chöd since 2013. 
The talk was entitled "Chöd Through the Lens of Pith Instructions : Awareness and Devotion in Chöd Practice at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, Nepal"
 She spoke with students at RYI on Nov 1st 2017.

Tina Lang - "Chöd Through the Lens of Pith Instructions"

The Hevajra (Tib. kye rdo rje) is a key yoginī tantra that emphasizes the teaching of inseparable bliss and emptiness. Over the last two months Khenpo Chödrak Tenphel Rinpoche has taught the Hevajra Tantra to a gathering of resident and visiting scholar-practitioners at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling’s monastic college. We are extremely fortunate that he has accepted our invitation to give teachings over two consecutive days at Rangjung Yeshe Institute on this highly influential tantra.
Khenpo Chödrak Tenphel Rinpoche was born in the Kham province of East Tibet in 1950. He started his studies at age 9 at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, near the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa Rangjung Rigpé Dorjé. From age 26 to 31, after having completed his training in linguistics, dialectics, philosophy and epistemology, Khenpo Rinpoche studied the Buddhist tantras. He directed the Nalanda Institute of Higher Studies of Rumtek Monastery as well as the Karmapa International Buddhist Institute (KIBI) in Delhi. He figures today among the main teachers of the 17th Karmapa Thaye Dorjee. He spoke with students at RYI on March 5th and 6th 2018.

Khenpo Chödrak Tenphel Rinpoche - "THE HEVAJRA TANTRA: Key Points for Study and Practice" Day 2

The talk will focus on conflicting models of ultimate reality and its realization developed by Tibetan thinkers. It will consist of three parts. First, I will address the approach of an ecumenical Tibetan thinker Shakya Chokden who argued that despite conflicting interpretations of reality developed by Madhyamaka and Yogācāra systems, when put into contemplative practice, those systems are equally effective in dispelling all obscurations and achieving buddhahood. Borrowing from Shakya Chokden’s interpretive approach, I will then explore whether and how conflicting interpretations of Madhyamaka developed by two rival Tibetan thinkers—Tsongkhapa and Gorampa—are reflected in contemplative practice. In the final part, I will address the broader question of relationship of conceptual models of reality and mind on the one hand, and contemplative experience on the other, focusing in particular on how those models are built into contemplative practice and how they are used for explaining it.

Yaroslav Komarovski (Ph.D. University of Virginia, 2007) is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. His research focuses on Tibetan interpretations of Madhyamaka and Yogācāra approaches to reality and related epistemological, philosophical, and contemplative issues. In particular, he focuses on the writings of a seminal Tibetan Buddhist thinker Shakya Chokden (1428–1507) who articulated a startlingly new reconsideration of the core areas of Buddhist thought and practice. He spoke with students at RYI on 20th June 2018. 
The talk was entitled "WHEN PHILOSOPHY BECOMES PRACTICE
Exploring the Relationship between Buddhist Models of
Reality and Contemplation"

Yaroslav Komarovski - "WHEN PHILOSOPHY BECOMES PRACTICE"

The Heart Sūtra, bhagavatī-prajñāpāramitā-hṛdaya in Sanskrit or bcom ldan ‘das ma shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa’i snying po in Tibetan, belongs to the class of Mahāyāna sūtras called the “Perfection of Wisdom” (Prajñāpāramitā). It is one of the shortest texts and condenses the entire wisdom of all the prajñāpāramitā sūtras. The teachings of the Heart Sūtra are deep and subtle as they express the profound view of the emptiness of all phenomena, and thus carry a lot of blessings.

Khenpo Pema Namgyal was born in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal in 1986. When he was nine years old he was ordained by Kyabje Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche at Ka Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery. He studied in the monastic college, the Sangye Yeshe Higher Shedra for nine
years. Upon completion of his Shedra studies in 2007, he became a Lopon and began teaching the monastic monks. In 2013, based on his brilliant qualifications and personal achievements, he was awarded the title of Khenpo from Kyabje Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. He gave teaching at RYI on 23rd June 2018.

Khenpo Pema Namgyal - "Introduction to the Heart Sutra" Day1

The Heart Sūtra, bhagavatī-prajñāpāramitā-hṛdaya in Sanskrit or bcom ldan ‘das ma shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa’i snying po in Tibetan, belongs to the class of Mahāyāna sūtras called the “Perfection of Wisdom” (Prajñāpāramitā). It is one of the shortest texts and condenses the entire wisdom of all the prajñāpāramitā sūtras. The teachings of the Heart Sūtra are deep and subtle as they express the profound view of the emptiness of all phenomena, and thus carry a lot of blessings.

Khenpo Pema Namgyal was born in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal in 1986. When he was nine years old he was ordained by Kyabje Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche at Ka Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery. He studied in the monastic college, the Sangye Yeshe Higher Shedra for nine
years. Upon completion of his Shedra studies in 2007, he became a Lopon and began teaching the monastic monks. In 2013, based on his brilliant qualifications and personal achievements, he was awarded the title of Khenpo from Kyabje Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. He gave teaching at RYI on 24rd June 2018.

Khenpo Pema Namgyal - "Introduction to the Heart Sutra" Day2

Elizabeth Callahan will discuss the classic Buddhist work, Moonbeams of Mahāmudrā, which was written in the sixteenth century and comprehensively presents the entire scope of the Tibetan Kagyu Mahāmudrā tradition. These profound yet accessible instructions focus on becoming familiar with the nature of one’s mind as the primary means to realize ultimate reality and thus attain Buddhahood. Dakpo Tashi Namgyal’s manual for the view and practice of Mahāmudrā is widely considered the single most important work on the subject, systematically introducing the view and associated meditation techniques in a progressive manner.

Elizabeth M. Callahan is a Tibetan translator of the Kagyu tradition. She completed two three-year retreats at Kagyu Thubten Chöling in New York, is a student of Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, and has been a Tsadra Foundation Fellow since 2002. Her previous translations include The Treasury of Knowledge: Frameworks of Buddhist Philosophy by Jamgön Kongtrul and The Profound Inner Reality by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje. She spoke with students at RYI on 10th April, 2019.

Elizabeth M. Callahan - "Moonbeams of Mahāmudrā"

Wulstan Fletcher holds degrees in Modern Languages and Theology (Oxford and Rome). Wulstan completed three-year retreat at Chanteloube, France, 1986–1989. He is a member of the Padmakara Translation Group, Dordogne, France and has been a Tsadra Foundation Fellow since 2001. He is also a teacher of modern languages.
His many translated works include:
• Way of the Bodhisattva, Śāntideva
• The Root Stanzas on the Middle Way, Nāgārjuna
• The Nectar of Manjushri’s Speech: A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva’s “Way of the Bodhisattva,” Kunzang Pelden
• White Lotus: An Explanation of the Seven-line Prayer to Guru Padmasambhava, Jamgön Mipham
As a Tsadra Foundation Fellow he is currently translating Lion Speech, The Life of Jamgön Mipham, by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He spoke with student's at RYI on 22nd April, 2019.

Wulstan Fletcher - "Reflections on Translation"

Khenpo Pema Namgyal was born in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal in 1986. When he was nine years old he was ordained by Kyabje Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery. He studied in the monastic college, the Sangye Yeshe Higher Shedra for nine years. Upon completion of his Shedra studies in 2007, he became a Lopon and began teaching the monastery’s monks. In 2013, based on his qualifications and personal achievements, he was awarded the title of Khenpo from Kyabje Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. Whole teaching was translated by Kaleb Yaniger.  He gave his short course on 6th July 2019.

Khenpo Pema Namgyal - "Eight Verses of Training the Mind by Geshe Langri Thangpa" -Day I

This workshop of five lectures aims to acquaint the student with both the outlines of the historical development of Buddhist philosophical thought in India from the time of the Abhidharma up to Diṅnāga and Dharmakīrti, as well as with the development of key philosophical ideas during this period.
The lectures will cover the following topics:
Lecture 1: Abhidharma
Lecture 2: Madhyamaka
Lecture 3: Madhyamaka & Yogācāra
Lecture 4: Yogācāra
Lecture 5: The logico-epistemological school of Diṅnāga and Dharmakīrti
Jan Westerhoff was educated at Cambridge and the School of Oriental and African Studies. He has taught philosophy at the Universities of Oxford and Durham and is presently Professor of Buddhist Philosophy at the University of Oxford, a Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, and a Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He gave workshop to students at RYI on 9th Sept to 13th Sept, 2019.

Prof. Jan Westerhoff - "The Golden Age of Buddhist Philosophy in India" Day 1

The talk was entitled : "Can We Generate a More Sustaining and Inclusive Power of Compassion for our Lives and Work? Perspectives from Meditation Theory and Social Psycholog"

 Professor Makransky will discuss some perspectives from social, developmental, and evolutionary psychology that highlight the human need and capacity for social connection, care, empathy and compassion.
He will discuss the relation of compassion to empathy, point out some problems with the usual human experience of empathy, and explain how a basic pattern for cultivating inclusive care and compassion, which is central to Tibetan Buddhism and other spiritual traditions, helps solve those problems. Finally, Dr. Makransky will lead us in a brief meditation practice that he adapted from Tibetan Buddhism. The purpose of this kind of adapted meditation is to help Western Buddhists and those in caring roles and professions establish the secure base necessary to support increasingly inclusive and unconditional care and compassion for others in their lives and work.

John Makransky, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Buddhism and Comparative Theology at Boston College, senior advisor for Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche’s Centre of Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute, former president of the Society of Buddhist-Christian studies, and co-founder of the Foundation for Active Compassion and Courage of Care Coalition. For the past eleven years, in consultation with his Tibetan teachers, John has been teaching meditations of innate compassion and wisdom that he adapted from Tibetan Buddhism for Western Dharma students and for those in caring roles and professions. For this, John developed the Innate Compassion and Wisdom Training model (ICT), which is being applied to empower a more sustaining and unconditional power of care and compassion, beyond “compassion fatigue,” for teachers, healthcare providers, social workers, therapists and activists. He spoke with students at RYI on Sept. 23, 2019.

Can We Generate a More Sustaining and Inclusive Power of Compassion for our Lives and Work?

Prof. John Makransky's workshop was entitled : "We are Already Held in the Qualities We Seek: An Introduction to Innate Compassion Training."

Dr. Makransky will present the theory and practice of the Innate Compassion Training Model (ICT) that he has introduced to both Western Buddhists and to people in caring roles and professions. For Western Buddhists, these forms of practice can help energize and further inform their existing contemplative and ritual practices. Each session includes lecture, meditation exercises, and Q&A.

To generate inclusive and unconditional love and compassion and the wisdom that supports them, a secure base of trust and confidence in the source of those qualities is essential. In Buddhist traditions, such a base of trust is instilled in large part by devotional practices, where practitioners experience themselves and their world to be held by those who have actualized the same unconditioned compassion and wisdom that they themselves seek to realize, i.e., the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. This kind of practice comprises the “receptive mode” of ICT. This receptive mode of meditation can help strengthen the trust needed to settle more deeply into the source of compassion and wisdom found in the deep nature of our minds. Note that attendance at all four sessions is strongly encouraged, although participants may miss sessions if necessary.

John Makransky, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Buddhism and Comparative Theology at Boston College, senior advisor for Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche’s Centre of Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute, former president of the Society of Buddhist-Christian studies, and co-founder of the Foundation for Active Compassion and Courage of Care Coalition. For the past eleven years, in consultation with his Tibetan teachers, John has been teaching meditations of innate compassion and wisdom, adapted from Tibetan Buddhism for Western Dharma students and those in caring roles and professions. As part of this effort, John developed the Innate Compassion and Wisdom Training model (ICT) that he’ll explain in these lectures. He gave workshop to the students of RYI from 24 - 27th Sept. 2019

Prof. John Makransky - "We are Already Held in the Qualities We Seek" Day 1

Prof. John Makransky - "We are Already Held in the Qualities We Seek" Day 3

Prof. John Makransky - "We are Already Held in the Qualities We Seek" Day 2

Barbara Dilley (Lloyd) (born 1938) is an American dancer, performance artist, improvisor, choreographer and educator, best known for her work as a prominent member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (1963-1968), and then with the groundbreaking dance and performance ensemble The Grand Union, from 1969 to 1976. She has taught movement and dance at Naropa University inBoulder, Colorado, since 1974, developing a pedagogy that emphasizes what she calls “embodied awareness,” an approach that combines dance and movement studies with meditation, “mind training” and improvisational composition. She served as the president of Naropa University from 1985 to 1993.

For this talk, Barbara Dilley will be interviewed by RYI Prof. Diane Denis about how the artistic process, in particular her Dance-Movement practice, can act as a bridge between the study of Buddhism and the embodiment of Wisdom. Together they will look at notions of kinesthetic delight, Buddha Nature, the continuous present, awareness in action, the relationship between body and mind, and how a meditator-dancer’s training informed her work as the President of Naropa University, a position that Barbara Dilley held for many years.

Barbara Dilley - "Embodied Wisdom"

Rangjung Yeshe Institute (RYI) has conducted study programs in Nepal for more than 25 years. Since 2002 RYI has partnered with Kathmandu University offering academic credit for those study programs. In 2009 RYI launched its online learning program. Our aim is to utilise our expertise and experience to enable students from around the world to study Buddhism and Himalayan Languages with us.

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