The following article is from the Spring, 1996 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

Khensur Rinpoche's Arrival Enriches Namgyal Institute's Buddhist Studies Program

With the April arrival in Ithaca, New York, of Khensur Rinpoche (Geshe Wangdak), the former Abbot of the parent monastery, a concentration on advanced studies in Tibetan Buddhism was the focus of the Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies program. At the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Khensur Rinpoche will spend three years in Ithaca as Abbot and resident senior teacher at the Ithaca Monastery and Institute. Three other monks from Namgyal Monastery comprise the teaching staff along with two resident Western scholars, a resident translator and traditional artist, and visiting adjunct faculty, along with special teaching by visiting scholars from the four lineages of Tibetan Buddhism.

Namgyal Institute's Buddhist Studies Program Intensive

Khensur Rinpoche gave a one-week retreat (August 11-18, 1996) on the Gyalwa Gyatso (the highest yoga tantra practice of Avalokiteshvara) initiation and teachings.

The Namgyal program combines intensive training in colloquial Tibetan and literary translation, as well as the curriculum designed by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama for the monks of Namgyal Monastery. For those interested in the Namgyal program and learning up-to-date events information please click here. There are many excellent opportunities to try out the Namgyal program and to meet privately with the monks.


The Namgyal program combines intensive training in colloquial Tibetan and literary translation, as well as the curriculum designed by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama for the monks of Namgyal Monastery.

The Institute accepts full-time and part-time students and the program. Click here for an overview of Core Class or here to apply.

Our two-year core curriculum provides foundational classes in Tibetan Buddhism including sutra teachings, philosophical tenets and Tibetan language. The classes are taught in the evening, by the resident Namgyal monks. The core curriculum of classes is open to men and women who wish to enroll in full or part-time study, taking as few as one course, or all of the courses offered in a given semester. New students are always welcome to apply for classes at Namgyal Monastery. The program is open to both men and women, and can be taken as a complete two year program or one class at a time.

- https://www.namgyal.org

 

Senior students at Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies have completed three years of intensive language training as well as foundational classes in preparation for advanced study. After a brief presentation on Collected Topics, senior students worked on Lo-Rig (Mind and Awareness) using the Tibetan language texts:

"Presentation of Awareness and Knowledge. Composite of All the Important Points. Opener of the Eye of New Intelligence" by Ge-shay Jam-bel Sam-pel and Mind in Tibetan Buddhism by Lati Rinboche and Elizabeth Napper.

Other translation classes are working on the commentary instruction on Guru Yoga (Ganden Lha Gyäma), Hundred Gods of Tushita by H.E. Chöden Rinpoché in conjunction with Mig Tisema prayer to Venerable Lord Je Tsongkhapa and the Tibetan-English text Lectures on Tibetan Religious Culture by Geshe Lhundup Sopa.

Two other classes include commentary on the patience chapter from Shantideva's Bodhisattvacharyavatara (A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life) and foundational practices of Tibetan Buddhism.

Instructors include: Craig Preston, Ven. Tenzin Yignyen, Ven. Tsering Namgyal, Ven. Tenzin Lhunpo, and Lotsawa Palden Choedak Oshoe.

Welcome Tenzin Tethong as New Board Member

Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies is also delighted to announce that Tenzin N. Tethong accepted a position on the Monastery-Institute's Board of Directors. Tenzin Tethong has for over two-and-a-half decades designed initiatives that are at the core of operation of the Tibetan government-in-exile and has earned appointment to prominent positions, including Chairperson (Kalon Tropa) of the Kashag and the Cabinet of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Among his activities in government service, he was Minister (Kalon) and member of the Kashag for five years; Chairperson of the Planning Council of the Central Tibetan Administration which prepared the first five-year Integrated Development Plan of the Tibetan community in exile; Special Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Washington DC (1987-90) and at the Office of Tibet (from its inception in 1973-1987). Tenzin Tethong was a founding member and President of the International Campaign for Tibet, founding member of Tibet House, and founding member and President of The Tibet Fund.

He organized the first visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the United States in 1979 as well as subsequent visits to the US and Canada, established Potala Publications, was founding member of the U.S. Tibet Committee, Editor of Tibetan Review, founding member of the Tibetan Youth Congress and member of the first Central Executive Committee, and Convener of the first Tibetan Youth Conference in Dharamsala in 1970.

Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies:

"Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies in Ithaca, New York, is the North American Seat of the Personal Monastery of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The founding of Namgyal-Ithaca in 1992 marked an important new phase in the history of Buddhism and Tibetan culture in America."

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For the Benefit of All Beings Dalai LamaHis Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama is considered the foremost Buddhist leader of our time. The exiled spiritual head of the Tibetan people, he is a Nobel Peace Laureate, a Congressional Gold Medal recipient, and a remarkable teacher and scholar who has authored over one hundred books.