We are happy to provide here a compilation of Dharma talks sourced from many places within the Shedrub Mandala of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. You will find a collection of teachings given by Rinpoche, recorded at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, as well as at his Gomdes and Dharma Houses where he teaches all over the world. You will also find talks from several other teachers within Rinpoche’s mandala, including teachings by Khenpos and Lamas from Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling, and a few talks given by professors connected with the Rangjung Yeshe Institute.

Most of these teachings have never been released before, or were previously released only to a limited audience. These talks are now also available on Dharmasun.org, or on RYI.org—please check out those sites for an even wider selection of Dharma teachings and talks about Buddhism. For the teachings recorded during Rinpoche’s visits to our international dharma centers, we have provided links that will connect you directly to those centers and their current online and onsite offerings.

Over time, more teachings will be made available on DharmaSun.org and RYI.org. In order to notify you of new releases, we will update the Shedrub website and inform you via email. Please subscribe to our newsletter at shedrub.org/connected to receive updates about Shedrub Mandala activities.  If you would like to receive updates specifically about the newly released teachings as these come out, be sure to click “Online Dharma” when you subscribe to the newsletter, to indicate that you want to receive these updates.

– Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche

– Khenpo Karma Gyurme (Tokpa Tulku)

– Lama Tenzin Sangpo

– Lama Tsultrim Sangpo

– Erik Pema Kunsang

– John Dunne

– Thomas Doctor

– Douglas Duckworth

– Catherine Dalton

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Kathmandu, Nepal, July 24, 2020

This teaching in English is also available in French, German, Nepali, Spanish and Russian. Please visit the ‘Heart to Heart Advice’ section on DharmaSun.org https://dharmasun.org/talks/?cat=hha  and use the language switcher to pick your language.

For the Tibetan version, please click – here.

This talk covers essential key points pertaining to all levels of the path, and includes Rinpoche’s heart advice as well as pith instructions given by Gampopa, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, and many other masters. The teaching defines buddha nature as our basic condition, describes the advantages of our precious human life, the importance of meeting a realized master and receiving his or her pith instructions, and finally emphasizes the need to apply these pith instructions with uttermost diligence.

Translated into English by Catherine Dalton

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Kathmandu, Nepal, June 30, 2020

This teaching is available with subtitles in Chinese, English, French, German, Nepali, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian. Please use the CC button in the video player tho choose your language.

In this recent teaching, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche explains how the foundational teachings of the Buddha can help us navigate the difficulties of the present world. Rinpoche says that the best medicine we can apply during experiences of physical and mental distress is kindness. Rinpoche points out that when we have a problem, we generally blame all kinds of outer phenomena; but if we really examine well, we see that the problem is created by us. He explains how the dysfunction of the world is the result of not adhering to natural ethical laws. Furthermore, Rinpoche says we should respect all religions because they have the capacity to heal and help people; and if we are Buddhist, we must take this time to study our tradition and practice well. In this way, we will be able to give rise to the kind heart of karuna and the intelligent mind that possesses knowledge of shunyata. Through this, our life becomes meaningful and allows us to help, serve, and guide others on an ever-helpful journey.

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Kathmandu, Nepal, May 7, 2020

In these teachings, given to celebrate Buddhajayanti (Vesak Day)—the auspicious day commemorating the Buddha’s birth, awakening, and parinirvana—Rinpoche explains that we must use our unique human intelligence to come to genuinely understand and practice the dharma. We followers of the Buddha ought not to waste our lives, but instead ensure that we make our lives meaningful by making time to put the dharma into practice so that we may achieve accomplishment, ideally in this very lifetime. Rinpoche also reminds us of the importance of the Tibetan language as the shared language in which the Buddhist teachings—especially the tantric teachings—have been preserved and passed on by peoples all over the Himalayan region, and of the importance of the monastic sangha in upholding the dharma in the world.
Translated by Catherine Dalton

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Annual Fall Seminar, Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, November 2019

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche teaches that the minds of humans are becoming more skeptical and more doubtful. We say that we are more “civilized,” but the basis of this so-called civilization is an increasing sense of doubt. We study a lot and become highly educated, but we don’t feel deep trust in anything, even our family members and friends. This makes our mind unsettled. As Buddhists we want to help everyone become happy, and we understand that realizing the true nature of phenomena is what brings genuine happiness and frees us from suffering. However, humans have different inclinations and not everybody pursues Buddhism. Therefore, if one wants increased happiness in this life, one can practice three simple things. First, practice contentment by appreciating what you have. Second, create harmony through forgiving each other. Third, let go of jealousy and rejoice in the success of others. Rinpoche says that he applies these practices and to his own mind, and they really do make him happy.
Translated by Heidi Köppl

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Annual Fall Seminar, Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling, Kathmandu, Nepal, November 2019

During the 2019 Fall Seminar at Ka-Nying Monastery in Kathamandu, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche explained the profundity of the Four Mind Changings, the essential contemplations that turn one’s mind toward the Dharma. When we contemplate the preciousness of our human life, the impermanent nature of phenomena, the reality of karmic cause and effect, and the suffering that pervades conditioned existence, we become soft and compassionate. From that state, our Buddhist practice will become easier and more effective. By truly applying these crucial teachings, experience will increase and liberation will dawn – easily and with joy!
Translated by Heidi Köppl

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Tara’s Triple Excellence Retreat, Asura Cave, Nepal, November 2015

This talk encapsulates the Buddhist path through a powerful stream of heartfelt advice. Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche touches upon the continuity of delusion through the bardos of our lives, and offers essential instruction on how to disrupt this continuity through knowing impermanence and letting go of attachment. Rinpoche gives pith instructions on how to give rise to the mind of awakening, how to dispel our fear, and how to engage in the extraordinary methods of the Vajrayana. This talk is both vast and profound, inspiring us to take up the practices of a true bodhisattva.
Translated by Heidi Köppl

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Annual Teachings at Carlton (formerly Antioch) Buddhist Studies Program, Bodhgaya, India,  October 2018

Part 1: What does Dharma mean?

In this comprehensive introduction to Buddhism, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche teaches that while science is largely concerned with the study of objects, Buddhism is primarily concerned with the consciousness that perceives those objects. In this expansive teaching, given in Bodh Gaya, Rinpoche introduces us to essential Buddhist investigations pertaining to the way things appear versus the way things actually are, encouraging us to explore the question: What is freedom?
Translated by Catherine Dalton

Part 2: The Path to Realization

Building off the explanation of selflessness offered in Part 1, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche moves into a discussion of our intrinsic nature, defining it as the innate capacity to know and the innate capacity to love. Rinpoche encourages us to look inside and determine whether those qualities really are innately present within us. Rinpoche then moves into a clear description of the path to liberation, beginning with avoiding the ten non-virtues, proceeding to the cultivation of great love and compassion, engaging in the Vajrayana view and methods, and arriving at the genuine realization of emptiness.
Translated by Catherine Dalton

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Gomde California, June 2019

In this teaching Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche emphasizes that the heart of Buddhist practice is to sustain the motivation to gain realization in order to liberate all beings and establish them in a state free from suffering. This altruistic mind of bodhicitta is the nature of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. It is with this motivation that we study, contemplate and meditate on the teachings, as well as prepare for the main part of Vajrayana practice. Rinpoche clearly states that our ultimate refuge is the nature of mind – rigpa. If we have prepared correctly and possess the necessary qualities of devotion and pure perception, and if we have met a qualified guide who embodies the Three Jewels, then when we go to practice, this realization of rigpa will dawn by itself.
Translated by Catherine Dalton

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Gomde Denmark, August 2018

In this teaching Rinpoche offers a moving talk on impermanence. Rinpoche offers teachings on the purifying power of performing prostrations sincerely, and emphasizes the importance of creating places where people can study and practice the Dharma in order to gain experience and realization. Rinpoche then explains impermanence in terms of the six bardos, and describes what it is like to take rebirth among the six classes of beings. Clearly identifying the absence of any lasting happiness to be found in samsara, we gain confidence that our only option is to seek liberation. Rinpoche describes the various obscurations that block our liberation and teaches that reflecting upon death can powerfully propel us forward to enter, practice, and perfect the dharma.
Translated by Heidi Köppl 

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Gomde Germany-Austria, August 2019

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche elaborates of the Four Seals of Dharma: All conditioned things are impermanent; all defiled things are painful; all phenomena are empty; nirvana is peace. Rinpoche reminds us that we are born deluded, are deluded during the day, and even more deluded in the dream state. Therefore, Rinpoche tells us: tame your mind! The best knowledge is to know there is no self.  The best quality is altruism. The best instruction is to always watch your mind. The best remedy is to know that nothing has real nature. The best sign of accomplishment is the reduction of negative emotions.
Translated by Catherine Dalton into English and by Heidi Köppl into German

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Gome Pyrenees, September 2018

At beautiful Gomde Pyrenees in the south of France, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche taught on the incredible value of contemplating impermanence. Rinpoche explains that remembering impermanence makes the mind soft and gentle, and that the insight born of this recollection makes us grounded and wise. In that way, our negative emotions decease and our good qualities grow and expand. Rinpoche explains that it is this very contemplation that will lead us to liberation.
Translated by Heidi Köppl

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Dharma House Mexico City, August 2016

In this talk Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche says that instead of attempting to find happiness in unreliable external conditions, we need to understand that the application of Dharma is the only thing that can truly save us. Namely, through acting ethically, through calming the mind, and through gaining insight into the nature of reality, we can find what it really means to be “rich” and “successful.” Kindness is the ultimate healer for oneself and others, and the positivity born of practicing contentment, forgiveness, and rejoicing, is the key to a happier life. Rinpoche gave these teachings in English. Translated into Spanish by Cinthia Font

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Gomde UK, August 2018

We tightly hold many mistaken beliefs, such as thinking that everything is permanent, solid, and existent, or that everything is pleasant and clean, or that there is a truly existent “Self.” In this talk given at Gomde UK, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche teaches that we are stuck at the superficial level of appearances and do not investigate how things really are. Contemplating impermanence and understanding how everything changes continuously is a powerful step to manifesting the qualities of peace, compassion, and wisdom that are present within our very nature. Rinpoche urges us to contemplate, understand, realize, and take to heart the impermanent nature of everything. In this way, our minds become soft, easy, open, and kind. When we have understood impermanence, our journeys become smooth, clear, and joyful.
Translated by Heidi Köppl

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, DharmaHouse Mt. Carmel, Israel

At Dharma House Israel, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche emphasized the importance of proper motivation when listening to the Dharma. We first understand that we are confused due to dualistic perception. Through clinging to duality we circle in samsara. The antidote to this, Rinpoche says, is to study so that we can practice the unity of emptiness and compassion. When we have compassion, all deeds will become the source of enlightenment. In this powerful talk, Rinpoche also touches upon some key points from the final words of the great meditation master, Tsele Natsok Rangdrol.
Translated by Heidi Köppl

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, RYI 10th International Symposium, Kathmandu, Nepal, March 2017

In his opening remarks for RYI’s 10^th  International Symposium in 2017, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche speaks about the benefits of Buddhist practice throughout the ages, into the modern world.  Rinpoche highlights the importance of being a scholar-practitioner, and of studying and practicing Buddhism as a path that leads to liberation and awakening.  Rinpoche speaks about why he founded the Rangjung Yeshe Institute, in order to give students an opportunity to study in both a traditional and a modern fashion, while calling into question the dichotomy between the “traditional” and “academic” study of Buddhism. Most of the talk is delivered by Rinpoche in English, with some translation by RYI professor Dr. Catherine Dalton.

RYI has made the entire 2017 symposium—Transnational Buddhism: Philosophical, Historical, and Anthropological Perspectives—available online.  Click here to watch talks by a number of leading scholars of Buddhism from all over the world.  You will find talks by Dr. John Dunne, Dr. Ana Cristina Lopes,  Khenpo Urgyen Tenpel,  Dr. William Waldron, Dr. Karin Meyers, Dr. Klaus-Dieter Mathes, Dr. Gregory Sharkey, S.J., Dr. Alexander von Rospatt, Dr. Ong See Yew, Khenpo Tsondru Sangpo, Dr. Douglas Duckworth, Dr. Anne MacDonald, Dr. Jin Y. Park, and Dr. Jonardon Ganeri, as well as two panel discussions—one focused on philosophy and another focused on history and anthropology.

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Kathmandu, Nepal, May 7, 2020

दश अकुशल कर्म त्यागेर दश कुशल कर्म सदा अँगालेर एक दिन मात्र नभई सदैव बुद्ध शिक्षा पालना गर्नु जरुरी छ। विशेषत: तलका तीन बुँदा सम्झनु अत्यावश्यक छ:

१) सर्व संस्कार अनित्य हुन्।
२) सर्व प्राणीहरु हाम्रा आमाबुबा भईसकेका छन्।
३) सर्व धर्म शून्यता हो।

यो धर्मदेशना गत मङ्गसिर महिनामा, बौद्धस्थित श्री कान्यिङ शेद्रुप लिङ गुम्बा (सेतो गुम्बा)मा श्रद्धेय गुरुवर छोकि निमा रिन्पोछेको नेतृत्वमा आयोजित आर्य तारा त्रि-उत्तम ध्यान शिविरको परिवेशमा रहेको छ। दैनिक ध्यान अभ्यास गर्नको निम्ति अनलाईन संरचनामा बनेको यस आर्य तारा त्रि-उत्तम ध्यान अभ्यास कार्यक्रम तीन भागमा रहेको छ। यस भिडियोमा शिविरको यो धर्मदेशनामा पहिलो भाग अर्थात् पहिलो उत्तमको परिचय दिईएको छ। रिन्पोछे भन्नुहुन्छ, “दुर्लभ मनुष्य जीवनको आधार सहित कल्याणमित्ररुपी प्रत्ययबाट बोध प्राप्त गर्नको निम्ति धर्मदेशना प्राप्त गरेर मोक्ष मार्गमा लाग्नाले पक्कै पनि बोधीज्ञान प्राप्त गर्न सकिन्छ।“ यस भिडियोमा रिन्पोछेले पहिलो उत्तम अन्तर्गत प्रारम्भिक अभ्यास अर्थात् चार मति शोधन मध्ये दुईवटा मति शोधनमा पहिलो मति शोधन “दुर्लभ मनुष्य जीवन” र दोस्रो “अनित्य” को व्याख्या गर्नुभएको छ।

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Kathmandu, Nepal, July 24, 2020

གདམས་ངག་ལམ་གྱི་གསལ་སྣང་།

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Kathmandu, Nepal, May 7, 2020

༈ འཕགས་པ་གནས་བརྟན་སྡེ་པའི་ལུགས་བཞིན་༧

འགྲོ་བ་ཀུན་གྱི་མ་འདྲིས་པའི་༧ མཛའ་བཤེས་ཆེན་མོ་༧

སྟོན་པ་ཐུབ་པའི་་དབང་པོའི་སྐུའི་འཁྲུངས་སྐར་གྱི་ཉིན་༧སྐྱབས་རྗེ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་ཉི་མ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་མཆོག་ནས་སངས་རྒྱས་ཆོས་ཚོགས་ཀྱི་བཀའ་ཁྲིད་བསྩལ་གནང་བ།

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, DharmaHouse NYC, June 2019

ཕྱི་ལོ་༢༠༡༩ ཟླ་ ༦ ས་གནས་ ནིའུ་ཡོག་ཆོས་ཁང་དུ།༧སྐྱབས་རྗེ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་ཉི་མ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་མཆོག་ནས་ཧཱི་མ་ལའི་སློབ་ཕྲུག་དང་བོད་རིགས་སློབ་མ་འགའ་ལ་བསྩལ་གནང་མཛད་པའི་བཀའ་སློབ།
བརྗོད་བྱ་ཐོག་མར་བོད་ནས་བཙན་བྱོལ་དུ་ཕེབས་པའི་གླེང་གཞི་དང་ཐོག་མཐའ་བར་གསུམ་དུ་དགེ་བའི་བསྐུལ་མ་དང་སྒོམ་འཁྲིད་བཅས། (སྟོད་ཆ།)

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Gomde Scotland, August 2019

At Gomde Scotland, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche emphasized the importance of becoming educated in “the science of mind,” through studying, reflecting, and meditating upon the actual causes for happiness and suffering. By understanding the conceptual mind we will come to understand the nature of mind, which is achieved through unifying wisdom and skillful means. First, Rinpoche says, we engage in practices that involve effort in order to tame the conceptual mind. Knowing this, we apply the skillful methods of making prostrations, making offerings, confessing, and rejoicing. Rinpoche then teaches from the text entitled “Advice from old Vijaya,” emphasizing the Four Mind Changings and training in the altruistic mind of bodhicitta. Rinpoche teaches that by contemplating the Three Jewels, our devotion and pure perception will increase. When all of these conditions have been brought together, we have laid a foundation for genuine and beneficial meditation.
Translation by Heidi Köppl

Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Gomde Ukraine, 2017

In this talk given at Gomde Ukraine, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche teaches that from the Dharmic perspective, human beings have a lot of freedom compared to animals and other types of sentient life. Our current situation as a human is special because we can fundamentally transform the negative aspects of our mind into positive and beneficial aspects. This brings happiness and joy. Although this is possible, we are nonetheless always concerned with very temporary moments of happiness and don’t fully enact this fundamental unwavering change. Practice exists to dissolve confusion, which in turn allows us to take control over the appearances that currently enslave us. Through understanding the interdependent nature of phenomena, we come to understand emptiness. Through understanding emptiness, we are liberated. Rinpoche encourages us to reflect and apply the teachings immediately; there is no time to waste.

Translated by Heidi Köppl into English, and by Maria Vasylivea into Ukrainian

Khenpo Tokpa Tulku, Gomde Germany-Austria, July 2018

In this series of talks, esteemed scholar-practitioner, Khenpo Tokpa Tulku, describes how each of us fully possesses the potential for realization, but that we are obscured by afflictive emotions and cognitive obscurations. In order to free ourselves, we need to walk a spiritual path that effectively diagnoses our deluded state of suffering and applies the remedies to remove it. Khenpo Tokpa Tulku explains that through studying, contemplating and meditating, and through endeavoring in the three trainings of discipline, concentration, and wisdom, we are able to transform our subconscious mind in such a way that it naturally discerns what is correct and incorrect, leading us to a state of freedom. Furthermore, Khenpo elaborates on the foundational teachings of dependent origination and the Four Seals of Dharma, and the correct view of reality, as well as the various vehicles of Buddhism. Khenpo says that ultimately our job is to attain the realization that liberates us from the torments of hope and fear.

In this talks given to students during RYI’s Buddhist philosophy class on The Sublime Continuum by Arya Maitreya, Khenpo Karma Gyurme (also known as Khenpo Tokpa Tulku) covers the following topics:

In the first talk, he explains what marks the beginning of the bodhisattva path and the distinction between a noble bodhisattva and an aspiring bodhisattva. Furthermore, he explains the difference between emotional compassion and wisdom-based compassion. He introduces the four means of magnetizing, a skillful method used by Bodhisattvas to benefit others.

In the second talk, he expands on the four means of magnetizing; generosity, pleasant speech, teaching according to the needs of beings, and being consistent in conduct. He explains how noble bodhisattvas implement these methods and provides practical advice to aspiring bodhisattvas on how to engage with them. The translation is by RYI’s translator, Anya Zilman.

Lama Tenzin Sangpo, Annual Fall Seminar, Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling, November 2019

Using Ju Mipham Rinpoche’s commentary on The Treasury of Blessings as a reference, our esteemed Lama Tenzin Sangpo elaborates on the fundamental methods we use to practice correctly and sincerely. These teachings cover a lot of territory, pertaining to motivation, view, prostrations, offerings, body posture, visualization, shamatha, mudra, mantra, and vipashyana. Through engaging authentically with each of these dimensions of practice, we acquire the merit to become blessed through our sadhana practice, thereby transforming our experience into purity. In this way, we go beyond Buddhism as a conceptual construct and enter into the true meaning of the teachings.
Translated by Heidi Köppl and Catherine Dalton

Lama Tsultrim Sangpo, RYI Buddhist Studies Summer Program, Gomde California

In these practical teachings given at Gomde California, Lama Tsultrim Sangpo offers an accessible explanation of the Eight Verses of Training the Mind by Geshe Langri Thangpa. These lojong teachings are primarily about relative and absolute bodhichitta, and how we train our conditioned mind to approach and access ultimate truth. First, we are taught the importance of acknowledging the kindness of others and of reducing our pride. Next, we learn how to abandon negative emotions, the source of all our difficulties and how train in patience, the supreme austerity. We are taught how to bring unpleasant words on to the path as part of the heart of the lojong teachings, and how to remain patient when someone returns our kindness with abuse. We then receive a summary of the verses as methods for awakening. In the final verse on wisdom, Lama Tsultrim Sangpo teaches us how to approach the eight worldly concerns from the perspective of a genuine practitioner.
Translated by Catherine Dalton

Erik Pema Kunsang, DharmaHouse Mexico City, 2018

This is the first session of the second day of teachings given by Erik Pema Kunsang. The teaching opens with a Q&A immediately following a meditation session, during which Erik teaches the specific method of slightly elongating an exhale as a means of finding relief from the negative emotions. Erik calls this method “the gentle sigh” or “yielding from the inside.” Here, we learn how to yield the grip of the daily battle, but nonetheless stay present.

In this urban retreat Erik walks us through the traditional vehicles of Buddhism, beginning with the common vehicle of how to be a decent human being, and then continuing into the Shravakayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Erik conveys the deepest teachings in a relatable and simple way, supplemented with practical exercises.
Translated into Spanish by Martin Burillo, and Tatiana Tagle

Erik Pema Kunsang, Gomde UK, 2017

Esteemed teacher and translator, Erik Pema Kunsang, encourages us to straightforwardly understand what is happening within our own minds. As Buddhist practitioners, we should not end up like a doctor dying of a disease even though the medicine is within reach. It is up to us to take the medicine of practice each time something is wrong. Erik teaches that simply through the application of attention we are able to gain certainty in the absolute nature of our mind. This is what genuinely heals us, and the first step to this is becoming calm, shamatha. The second step is vipashyana, seeing clearly. Erik offers an easy framework for training by applying attention as we count 21 breaths. He encourages us to be childish and down-to-earth in our observation of our mind. We don’t need to be clever, intelligent and “grown-up” in our approach to meditation practice. Erik then leads a meditation session, inquiring about the audience’s experience and showing us how to identify what is happening in our minds. This teaching was the first session of a 5-day long practice-retreat.

Erik Pema Kunsang, Gomde Germany-Austria, 2018

In this teaching seminar given at Gomde Germany-Austria, Erik Pema Kunsang, one of the world’s most experienced and respected Tibetan translators, teaches about shamatha with love. In his humorous and easy-going style, Erik explains that samsara is a momentary attitude of mind based upon the expectation of finding joy in some other place or time. The constant longing for some “happiness out there” is truly exhausting, and in order to be at ease we must take a break from the continuous cycle of hope and fear. Meditation practice allows us to find gaps in this continuity of deluded grasping, and expands those gaps into periods of genuine rest. In this way, we can perforate reality so that our lives become more transparent and open from the inside. If it is possible to free this mind, Erik suggests, then perhaps it is also possible to genuinely help others.
Translated into German by Birgit Meiche

Dr. John Dunne, RYI Buddhist Studies Summer Program, Gomde Germany-Austria, Summer 2019

In these talks, given as part of RYI’s 2019 Buddhist Studies Summer Program at Rangjung Yeshe Gomde Austria, Dr. John Dunne focuses primarily on the Indian Buddhist philosopher Dharmakīrti. He examines, in his very engaging and humorous style, the nature of perception, and in particular the way in which awareness operates in both dual and non-dual modes. He also discusses the philosophical developments of a number of different Buddhist schools and challenges our common assumptions regarding the way we know things, how we can ever reliably attain knowledge of even an ordinary kind, let alone knowledge about ultimate reality, how mind can validly know and experience outer objects and even itself, and what the ultimate nature of awareness might be like.

Dr. Thomas Doctor, Annual Fall Seminar, Ka Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, November 2018

In this illuminating talk, Prof. Thomas Doctor explains the central tenets of the Mind-Only school and explains their relevance within a wider framework of Buddhist philosophy. Then, Professor Doctor elaborates clearly on the Madhyamaka School of thought, explaining its main philosophical orientation with reference to Indian and Tibetan sources. Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche has stated that Dr. Doctor is a true Madhyamaka expert, and is uniquely skilled in presenting Madhyamaka through succinctly and clearly providing the essential philosophical points to be grasped. Rinpoche often says that once we have clarified the highest philosophical view through reasoning, we have opened up a wide rode that we can speedily take to realization.

Dr. Douglas Duckworth, RYI Buddhist Studies Summer Program, Gomde Germany-Austria, Summer 2019

In this talk Dr. Douglas Duckworth speaks about the Tibetan tradition of study and practice, and in particular the teachings of buddha nature, focusing on the views of one of the greatest Nyingma scholars of the last century, Ju Mipham Rinpoche. Douglas speaks to Mipham Rinpoche’s role in the development of modern monastic shedras, and his way of bringing the yogic tradition of the pith instructions of the Great Perfection into conversation with the intellectual tradition of monastic study and contemplation.

Dr. Catherine Dalton, Gomde Germany-Austria, Summer 2019

In this talk given during Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche’s teaching seminar at Gomde Austria, Dr. Catherine Dalton draws on her years of traditional study at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling monastery and her experience as a Ph.D. candidate at UC Berkeley, to dispel the notion that one must choose to either approach Buddhism from a critical academic perspective or maintain a faith-based practice of the Dharma. She describes how both approaches can synthesize and enhance each other. “What we are trying to approach through being Buddhist practitioners is the ultimate truth,” Catherine says, “but the ultimate appears in the conventional world inhabited by human beings participating in the tradition. Learning about Buddhism in that way is inspiring – to see the human fingerprints on the divine.” Furthermore, Catherine explains that studying academically in an environment alive with the tradition, such as Rangjung Yeshe Institute, offers a unique framework for the understanding of Buddhism to become clear, rich, and embodied.