Dzongsar Khyenste Rinpoche and Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche at the
Rangjung Yeshe Institute ceremony.
FIVE PROJECTS:
Promoting Higher Education in
Buddhist
Studies
One of the priority areas identified by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche at
the founding of Khyentse Foundation is to promote the academic study of
Buddhism at major universities and Buddhist institutes around the
world. It is Rinpoche's wish for Buddhism to be included as a major
subject of study in the world's academic institutions so that the right
view and correct information can be taught and studied, analyzed
and researched, and ultimately understood and propagated, in the proper
way.
Encouraged by the success of the Khyentse Distinguished Chair at UC
Berkeley, the Foundation is embarking on a number of initiatives to
explore ways to maximize efforts and resources to strengthen higher
education in Buddhist studies. This issue of the Communiqué focuses on some of those efforts.
At the Berkeley reception in August, 2007 to celebrate the
establishment of the Khyentse Chair, Rinpoche joyfully proclaimed,
"Today I feel I have established a hundred monasteries." It will
require collaboration and input from many individuals and like-minded
organizations to establish many other such chairs. Let us work together
as a community and aspire to establish "hundreds more
monasteries" by supporting, enhancing, and strengthening Buddhist study
programs and faculty in institutions of higher learning all over the world.
More information and news, see the Five Projects page of the KF web site.
Khyentse Foundation Partners with
The new Khyentse-Rangjung Yeshe Institute
Scholarship
was announced on December 7, 2007, at a gathering of more than four
hundred
people at Kathmandu's Hyatt Regency to celebrate the first decade of
the
Rangjung Yeshe Institute (RYI). The Khyentse-Rangjung
Yeshe
Institute
Scholarship will expand opportunities for students at RYI,
one of the premiere Buddhist study programs in Asia. The December event
was
part of the 5th Annual Symposium on Buddhist Studies. Presentations
were made by Dzongsar Khyenste Rinpoche, Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, Dr.
William Waldron, Dr. Janice Willis, Dr. John Makransky, and Dr. John
Dunne.
Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche
and a group of his close students formalized the Rangjung Yeshe
Institute
in 1997 as a year-round study program for foreign students at
Rinpoche's Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. Since
then, several
hundred students from more than forty nations have participated in the
Institute's long-term programs in Buddhist Studies, which focus on
classical
Buddhist philosophy as transmitted by the Tibetan tradition, along with
Buddhist languages such as Tibetan and Sanskrit.
Most of these students
are able to pay for their own tuition and living expenses
on
their own. However others, often from Nepal, India, and Tibet, find it
difficult to raise money for these expenses. RYI has addressed this
issue by
keeping
tuition to a minimum and offering nominal financial assistance. The
Khyentse-Rangjung Yeshe Institute Scholarship enables RYI to offer
increased support to needy and worthy students. To be
eligible for the scholarships, students will be required to show real
financial
need, have a solid academic record for at least one semester of prior
studies at RYI, and maintain that same level of successful academic
performance. In addition, students will be asked to do some kind of
service, either at RYI or the larger community. This service will
be
arranged so that it does not interfere with the students' academic
pursuits.
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's Address at RYI
Recruitment for
Khyentse Chair at
UC Berkeley
In
July, 2007, the University of California at Berkeley advertised for
a candidate to fill the new position in Tibetan Buddhism.
The
ad generated
tremendous interest in the field. Applications came
from all over the world, including Australia, Canada, England, Germany,
The
Netherlands, and the United States. Campus interviews for this position
will be
held in late January and early February, 2008, and a decision will be
made shortly thereafter. The successful applicant is expected
to
join the faculty in
the academic year beginning July 1, 2008.
Ad for Khyentse Chair at UC Berkeley
The Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and the Department
of South and Southeast Asian Studies invite applications for a
tenure-track or
tenured position in Tibetan Buddhism, with a preference for candidates
within 12 years of receiving their Ph.D. The position will be held
jointly in
both Departments. The Departments encourage interdisciplinary
approaches (literature, religious studies,
history, anthropology, visual culture), but all candidates must have
advanced facility in the textual traditions of Buddhism in Tibet.
Accordingly,
expertise in classical Tibetan as well as facility in the modern
language is required. Moreover, candidates should ideally have facility
in Sanskrit
and/or Chinese or another relevant language of the Asian Buddhist
tradition. The successful candidate is expected to contribute to the
undergraduate
and graduate programs in both sponsoring Departments, as well as to the
Ph.D. degree offered through the Group in Buddhist Studies. The
successful
candidate will, upon appointment or promotion to Full Professor, be
eligible to hold the newly endowed Khyentse Chair in Tibetan Buddhism.
Taiwan Group Expands Services to Chauntra
Institute
Report from Choeying Lhamo, President of Choskyi Jungne Buddhist Center in Taiwan (正法源學佛院)
DKCL Institute monks drinking filtered water from the new filtration system
A group of medical volunteers, under the auspices of the Choskyi Jungne
Buddhist
Center
in Taiwan, made their second visit of the year to the
Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö Institute in Chauntra, India in late
summer. The group, 29 people in all, included dentists, ear, nose, and
throat (ENT) doctors, Chinese medical doctors, physical therapists,
nurses, water and electrical engineers, kitchen instructors, and family
members
who worked as assistants.
Compared to our visit in March, 2007, many fewer monk-students sought dental
treatment. The dentists concluded that this was the result of the
treatment
that they received during our last visit, and also because they were
taught the correct way of brushing their teeth and using dental floss.
The ENT doctor discovered that
many of the monk-students used their fingernails to dig into their
ears, causing damage and infections. Also, the
students debate sutra in the evenings. Their long debates and loud
voices can damage their vocal cords. If they catch cold and develop a
sore throat,
recovery can take a long time.
The Chinese medical doctor commented that the students' physical
condition had also improved a great deal. He was especially pleased to
see the
students diligently practicing Chinese exercises (切腹功) in the big hall
before breakfast.
The physical therapist provided great relief to those suffering from
stiff neck and shoulders, back pain, and knee and foot injuries.
Based on our previous experience, we had arranged for plenty of
supplies this time, including medical equipment and instruments,
medicines, and even
health food to meet the needs of the students at the Institute, as well
as neighboring monks and lay people.
With the help of a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Taiwan
University and a very experienced water and electrical engineer, an
important project
was finished: a big water filtering machine was installed at the
entrance to the canteen, which filters out all the bacteria, heavy
metals, and other
harmful impurities in the water. Hopefully this installation will
improve the health of the students by minimizing stomach and intestinal
infections, hepatitis, gall stones, kidney infections and kidney
stones, and so on.
We also examined the students' meals as well as their eating habits,
and we discovered that their meals were not nutritionally balanced, not
appetizing, and seemed boring. Therefore the students took a lot of
food on their plates because they were hungry, but most of it ended up
in
the trash can. After discussion with the Khenpos, it was decided to
hire a more experienced chef at a higher salary to prepare delicious
and
nutritious food for the students. Talks were given on the concept of
not wasting food, as well as on cherishing one's blessings, and we
heard that
big improvements have already been made.
Constructive suggestions were also made about other environmental
issues, such as methods of garbage disposal and how to maintain the
cleanliness and
orderliness of the public areas--gardens, common spaces, bathrooms, and
dorm rooms.
Considering the small size of our group, huge efforts were contributed
during this visit. The group members made additional pledges to donate
a
basketball court for the school, a bean curd machine, and more water
filtering machines.
Khenpo Kunga Wangchuk showed his appreciation and gratitude for the
medical group's donations and work by performing a Green Tara initiation for us,
with scarves for souvenirs.
(Translated into English by Florence Yeh.)
Khyentse Foundation Long-Term Policy
on Endowed
Chairs
In October, 2007, on the recommendation of KF advisors Gene Smith, Steven Goodman, and Richard
Dixey, the Foundation
adopted a five-point long-term policy on promoting endowed chairs:
1) A major aim of Khyentse Foundation is to promote the development of Buddhist Studies in major academic
institutions.
2) For such an initiative to bear fruit, it is important to
promote centers of excellence where the support of the
Foundation will give a "critical mass" of scholarly and academic
activity in any particular institution or restart an important
tradition of study in
institutions where it has been lost.
3) To be considered, institutions should be able to demonstrate a willingness and knowledge and
track record of working with the "living traditions" of Buddhism.
4) To identify such institutions, it is suggested that the
Foundation sponsor a research effort to catalog all major academic
centers that offer or promote Buddhist Studies, according to criteria that align with points 1, 2 and 3.
5) The Foundation should then rank these institutions and consider
solicitation of donations toward the establishment of endowed
senior lectureships as well as endowed professorial positions at those
academic institutions that meet KF standards and criteria for such
funding.
KF Supporters Get Creative
Special Events
Although Khyentse Foundation does not encourage spending resources on
special events, we welcome supporters to be creative in their own
independent
fund-raising
activities. A number of recent events illustrate how friends of the
Foundation have come together to raise money.
One donor, Sarah
Wilkenson, decided to turn a birthday party into a fundraiser by asking
her friends to give to KF instead of to her. Close to
$1000 was raised through her efforts efforts, and everyone enjoyed the evening, which took
place under tents on the lawn. Khyentse Foundation provided brochures for Sarah
to
distribute to guests, most of whom were not familiar with the
Foundation before the party.
If you are interested in coordinating an event, please contact Noa Jones.
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by Peter Skilling
Abstract of a paper originally prepared for the conference "Aspects of Buddhist Studies," hosted
by
the International Buddhist College at Penang, Malaysia in August, 2006
In the past two decades the field of Buddhist studies has changed
radically. In part this is a natural result of rapid globalization--emigration,
travel, and electronic communications--which has brought increased
contact between Buddhist groups and Buddhist cultures around the world.
But I do
not intend to deal with this sweeping social change here. My interest
is the availability and study of primary sources, primarily textual,
but also
epigraphic, archaeological, and iconographic. I will limit myself
primarily to Indian and Indic Buddhism--that of South and Southeast
Asia, but the
radical change of which I speak extends to all fields of the academic
study of Buddhism, including Tibet, Central Asia, and China, Korea,
Japan, and
Vietnam.
Primary sources that have been published in recent decades have changed
the map of Buddhist studies. The Gandhari manuscripts--by far the
oldest
Buddhist manuscripts extant--have revealed the textual traditions of
the Northwest, perhaps of the Dharmaguptaka school. Newly identified
texts have
given access to the Sammitiya or Pudgalavadin tradition. The Dirghagama
from Gilgit offers a rich collection of Sarvastivadin sutras. Studies
of the
Pali literature of Siam, where several hundred Pali texts remain in
manuscript, unstudied and unedited, show that the study of Pali is by
no means a
closed book. The Schoyen manuscripts have revealed new forms of
Buddhist Sanskrit and have given us precious fragments of Indian texts
hitherto known
only from translations. Sanskrit manuscripts from Tibet have begun to
be published, including a complete Vimalakirtinirdesa. Numerous new
inscriptions
and artefacts from South and Southeast Asia have been discovered, and
new Buddhist sites continue to be excavated in India and elsewhere.
Careful text editions, new translations, new studies, have all advanced
our knowledge. The publication of numerous vernacular texts, especially
in
Siam, offers rich new resources for the study of narrative and ritual.
New lexicographic and electronic tools have made research both easier
and more
demanding.
Most of the advances I have mentioned belong to the realm of the
specialist. The textbooks and histories for the student of religion or
the general
public have lagged far behind, and even the monumental works of the
past, such as Lamotte's "History of Indian Buddhism," are seriously out
of date.
Many of the received truths and fundamental categories of the past can
no longer be sustained, and the very history of Buddhism needs
reformulation.
The challenge we face is to continue to study primary sources, but at
the same time present the results of our research in an accessible
form, all
the while subjecting our presuppostions and categories to a constant
critique. And this must be tempered by an awareness of how little we
know - and how
much there is to learn.
Peter Skilling is a Fellow of the Lumbini International Research
Institute (Lumbini, Nepal) and a Special Lecturer at Chulalongkorn
University (Bangkok, Thailand). He is founder of the Fragile Palm
Leaves Foundation (Bangkok), a project dedicated to the preservation,
study, and publication of the Buddhist literature of Southeast Asia.
KF Initiates Major Survey
on
Buddhist Studies
One of Khyentse
Foundation's primary aims is to promote the development of Buddhist
Studies in major
academic institutions throughout the world, particularly at
institutions where support will create a "critical mass" of scholarly
activity. By
providing support in the form of endowed chairs such as the one at UC
Berkeley, the Foundation hopes to inspire others to help strengthen or
restart
an important
tradition of study in academic institutions, especially in countries
with a strong Buddhist heritage, such as Indonesia,
Afghanistan, India, Cambodia, and others.
To this end, an
exploratory committee has been formed to gather the information
necessary to assess
the state of Buddhist Studies in the world today and to evaluate which
programs might most benefit from support by KF
and other like-minded organizations. A major objective of the survey is
to identify important gaps in existing Buddhist Studies
programs,
in order to ascertain whether KF can effectively help fill those
gaps. The committee includes Gene Smith, founder of the Tibetan
Buddhist Resource Center; Peter Skilling, founder of the Fragile Palm
Leaves
Foundation; and Khyentse Foundation advisors Richard
Dixey and Steven Goodman.
The research team, which includes Isaiah Seret, Lynn
Hoberg, Brian Mahanay, and
Cangioli Che,
has already
embarked on identifying the top religious studies departments and the
most-published Buddhist Studies professors. They've begun to compile a
list of
universities that give master's degrees in Buddhist Studies, as well as
a list of recipients of those degrees over the past ten years. They are
in
the process of designing a questionnaire that volunteers worldwide can
use to gather the necessary information.
If you are interested in helping to research universities, especially in Europe and Australia,
please contact Isaiah
Seret.
Download our project outline
to learn more about this survey initiative. We welcome your feedback.
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche Invited to Speak at
Yale
On January 25, 2008,
Yale
University will welcome Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche to campus. The day will
include
an
afternoon of informal discussions with members of the Yale community on
studying Buddhism in the
university setting and a public event in the evening called "Projecting
the Dharma: Film and the Transmission of Buddhism to the West."
Friday, January 25 at 7:30pm
Levinson Auditorium
Yale Law School
127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö Institute in Chauntra, Himachal Pradesh,
India is a respected institute of higher education in the Buddhist
philosophical tradition. The shedra has a faculty of highly trained
khenpos and hundreds of students enrolled in an intensive nine-year
graduate program. Each year the students undertake the study of two
major texts or commentaries, together with other subjects such as
logic, grammar,
monastic discipline, and poetry. Through its Endowment for Monastic
Education, Khyentse Foundation supports the students at DKCL with food,
clothing,
and other basic needs.
Monks Continue English
Program at DKCL Institute
by
Pema Maya
The students in the
Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö Institute English classes are coming to
the end of their second year in the programme. Ninety students are
enrolled in four different classes, ranging from Beginner to
Intermediate
levels.
While the Class 1
Beginners progressed from the alphabet to simple conversational
English, Class 2
are learning the fundamentals of grammar. Class 3
is a Pre-Intermediate skills-based course. Up-to-date learning
materials and styles are used to extend listening, reading, speaking,
and
writing skills. In addition, students are issued graded readers with
CDs for self-study reading and listening practice. Topics based on the
readers
are discussed in class--one covered this year was the "conflict
diamond" trade, and the reading and discussion were followed by
activities
connected with the film Blood Diamonds (the monks are still imitating Solomon and Danny Archer).
The students from
Class 4 have had a demanding year working through an Intermediate-level
grammar
text. Most of them also attend the optional
Saturday "Dharma English" classes, and were encouraged to come along to
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's teachings on "Wisdom and Method" at Deer
Park in
November. The students were reportedly amazed by Rinpoche's teaching
style in the English medium setting. They understood enough to
get the
gist
of the topic and enjoy some of the jokes. It was a very special
and inspiring experience for the monks. Next up is a class talk by
Sudhammacara
Bhikkhu, Ven. Ryodo Yamashita on his twenty years as a monk and teacher
in the Soto Zen and Burmese forest traditions.
Concerning programme
structure: with the support of the monastery's khenpos we are bringing
our
assessment processes into line with the philosophy
exams, and in 2008 we will be running all the classes in our five year
curriculum plan. It will be possible for capable students to complete
the
curriculum over four years, as those who have completed their
philosophy studies can choose to focus solely on English to complete
two classes
(Levels
4 & 5) in their final year.
Our three goals--to
produce philosophy graduates and khenpos capable of teaching dharma in
English,
of translating dharma texts from Tibetan into
English, and with the skills to manage monastery business--are
beginning to become tangible. The graduates of the Institute carry a
wealth of dharma
knowledge, and could be of benefit to many beings in future.
For more detailed information on the English Language Programme curriculum and volunteer
opportunities, please contact Pema Maya.
Matching Funds Math
Monthly donations from
the
Khyentse Foundation
Matching Funds Program account for 66% of the funds needed to fill the
gap between income generated by investments (calculated at 5%) and
projected
spending.
To participate, you can do any of the following:
for more information.
THANK YOU
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