Help Needed For Book Transportation March 15, 2009
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At the request of H.H. Sakya Trizin, and in accordance with the wishes of Khenchen Appey Rinpoche, Dr. Khenpo Ngawang Jorden, IBA’s inspiring teacher and respected scholar, will be leaving his professionally paid post at the University of Chicago to serve as Headmaster of IBA, in charge of IBA’s full range of year-round educational programs.
In order for Khenpo Jorden to bring his entire library to IBA, to share with other scholars and researchers, he will need some assistance from patrons who understand the potential value of his collection as a resource for IBA.
This library of unbound Tibetan pechas, bound books in Tibetan, and books in English contains some irreplaceable volumes, as well as others that are unobtainable in Nepal, and some which, although obtainable, would be far more costly to replace than to transport.
A small fund of $825. US was raised by some of Khenpo Jorden’s students to help with the library moving costs before an estimate was obtained. Now, an international relocation company has given Khenpo Jorden a detailed estimate of approximately $3500. US for the cost of packing the books into a container, conveying it by sea to Calcutta, and transporting it by ground from the seaport to the IBA, where the library will be unpacked. The books are estimated to weigh approx. 1,500 pounds, and to take up over 200 cubic feet, after packing.
It would be a considerable gain for IBA to have these well-chosen and highly relevant books, both for Philosophy study and for Translation resources. But without help, it would be a heavy expense for Khenpo Jorden to bear, when he is already forgoing a professional’s Western salary in order to donate all of his personal talents, abilities and specialized experience for the rest of his teaching career, for the sake of IBA’s students.
If you can help or if you know someone who is willing to help with these shipping costs, please contact Khenpo Jorden : <njorden(insert “at” symbol)uchicago.edu>, or follow our website’s links to a PayPal donation form, and specify that your donation is to be applied towards Khenpo Jorden’s Book Transportation Fund.
There is some urgency in this request for assistance, since Khenpo Jorden has a very limited amount of time to finalize the book transport along with so many other arrangements before he relocates to IBA in June.
Your assistance in finding this help is greatly appreciated and will indeed benefit many.
Abhidharmakosa : 1st Two Chapters November 27, 2008
Posted by Karen in Courses, International Buddhist Academy, Personal Perspectives, Studies.Tags: Abhidharmakosa, Vasubandhu
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IBA’s two-month course for 2008 brought a dedicated group of students into a concentrated study of the first two chapters of Vasubandhu’s fourth century classic, the Abhidharmakosa-bhasya, his autocommentary on the Abhidharmakosa, an exhaustive analysis of phenomena. The autocommentary critiques and refines the reasoning central to Vasubandhu’s own earlier studies in the light of his later realizations. Vasubandhu’s conversion by his brother Asanga ( who also wrote a valuable study of the Abhidharma ) brought him into the centre of the budding Yogachara-Mahayana school, whose influence eventually spread widely throughout the Buddhist world.
As Khenpo Jorden explained, the traditional monastic college method of transmitting an in-depth understanding of Buddhist philosophy is accomplished through presenting the views of successive Buddhist schools in the order that each arose. This method increases comprehension of the more subtle and profound later schools through studying each school’s set of tenets sequentially. It also allows the development of an informed appreciation of the earlier schools’ foundational contribution to Buddhist philosophical exploration.
Khenpo Jorden’s clarity and his ability to assist us in tackling the Sanskrit terminology which appeared in almost every line of Vasubandhu’s work, was comforting to those of us who were baffled by the subject matter (and even more baffled to see it expressed in unfamiliar words). Eventually we students were able to let go of trying to find English equivalents for the Sanskrit terms and accepted them as new words with new meanings.
In addition to having the steady leadership and guidance of Khenpo Jorden in each day’s teaching, we had other valuable resources. Firstly, the review class was conducted with admirable skill and intensity by one of IBA’s senior students, Inge Riebe, who translates texts for His Holiness Sakya Trizin. Review class preparation was very thorough and students’ questions were handled in depth and detail. Secondly, IBA was fortunate to be hosting Khenpo Akkar, visiting from Samye monastery, Tibet. Khenpo Akkar accepted Khenpo Jorden’s invitation to answer some students’ questions on Abhidharma topics, at several of our open air question sessions in the garden, with Khenpo Jorden translating.
All of us who completed this course were in awe of our teachers, who have studied the entire eight chapters of this challenging book. Many of us will welcome an opportunity to study more of it, and to gain more familiarity with the refined language of Sanskrit, an ancient doorway into many treasures.
Shantideva’s Classic, Part one! July 2, 2008
Posted by Karen in Blogroll, Courses, International Buddhist Academy, Personal Perspectives.add a comment
Sixty-five students from more than thirty different countries, ( including Russia, Guatemala, Switzerland, Peru, New Zealand, Estonia, South Africa, Belgium, Georgia, The Netherlands, Argentina, Honduras, Brazil and Portugal ) have registered for studies at the International Buddhist Academy in Kathmandu this year. Such a genuinely “International” atmosphere stimulates a great deal of appreciation for what we share in common as practitioners, no matter where we are from.
The great value we have placed on receiving authentic Dharma teachings from highly qualified teachers led many of us to travel half-way across the world to study the Bodhicharyavatara, a renowned classic by one of the greatest realized Buddhist masters and scholars of ancient India, Arya Shantideva. Since this powerful text contains so many direct and vivid reasonings regarding each aspect of practice in the Paramitayana, it has been divided into two parts, the first part taught this year, and the second part, (another month-long course), in 2009.
Khenpo Jamyang Tenzin taught using an English translation of the root text, and consulted a Tibetan commentary. But additionally, to our great benefit, he also drew deeply from his own experiences of monastic life. The challenges and responsibilities that we imagine to be unique to our “house-holder” existence were revealed by our beloved Khenpo as the ever-present constants of human life everywhere. Our Khenpo’s honesty about his struggles, and his advice to us, was refreshing and generous, and set the tone for our own introspective tasks, guided by Shantideva’s courageous self-examination and rigorous destruction of all excuses for harm and ignorance.
All of us who experienced this course on the Bodhicharyavatara have shared an opportunity to take home something infinitely precious, something to nourish with our growing understanding.
The chapter on Patience (Forbearance) was deeply challenging, a vast and daunting topic, both for contemplation and for practice. I hope that my efforts to better develop Patience over the coming year will bear some fruit, and that through such efforts, I will be more ready to meet the great Arya Shantideva’s presentation on Meditation and Wisdom, for the second part, in summer 2009. Please join us then!
IBA’s Post-Graduate Leadership Training Program March 1, 2008
Posted by Karen in Courses, IBA news, International Buddhist Academy, Studies.Tags: IBA, leadership program, monk sponsorship, post-graduate training
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Beginning in late September of this year, the IBA will be expanding its educational role to offer a three-year Post-Graduate training program for a very dedicated group of young monks. Participants in the program will already have completed their monastic training and attained a high academic standing in Buddhist Philosophy. These young monks will also be highly motivated to serve others through their development of leadership skills.
Each participating monk will choose to study either Mandarin Chinese or the English language. Training in oral and written Translation and courses in Computer Literacy and Accounting will also advance their capabilities in Communication and Administration. The skilled mentoring of their teachers will be both example and guide for the monks’ Leadership learning experiences.
This specialized training will take place for three consecutive years during the eight months in which International students are not in residence at the IBA for their program of Buddhist Philosophy and study of the Tibetan language. The IBA summer courses will continue to occupy the Academy’s focus during the months of June, July, August and half of September. During those months when students from around the world are in residence at the IBA, the monks in the three-year Post-Graduate training program will be visiting their families, friends, or their home monasteries.
Many of the student monks will be from Tibetan refugee families. Most of those entering this program will have no funding at all for their studies, and need to rely on sponsors for their tuition and their room and board expenses, which total approximately $40. US dollars per month. It is hoped that some sponsors will be able to make a full three-year commitment of support. Shorter commitments and group sponsorships are also important ways of accumulating the resources needed by the monks in order to complete this intensive program.
Supporters of the IBA can help to welcome the new Post-Graduate program by assisting in organizing sponsorships. Though these monks are without financial resources, their determination, focus, Dharma knowledge and personal qualities have earned them a place in this educational initiative.
It is extremely important for the bright and capable young monks of the next generation to receive opportunities such as this in order to enable them to make the fullest possible contribution to their communities.
Helping just one of these future leaders will result in bringing benefit to so many others!
Our web-site will be updated over the next few months to give some background information on individual monks requiring sponsorship, and more information on the Post-Graduate Leadership Training program. If you wish to donate now, please go to our “How To Help” section for information on bank transfers, and, eventually, other payment methods.
Khenpo Jorden’s visit to Victoria, Canada December 27, 2007
Posted by Karen in IBA news, International Buddhist Academy, Personal Perspectives, Sakya.add a comment
The IBA’s Khenpo Jorden recently made a five-day visit to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, from Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., where the Khenpo teaches at the University of Chicago. The visit was sponsored by Geshe Tashi Namgyal’s Victoria Dharma Centre, and was greatly enjoyed by those members (of Sakya Thubten Kunga Choling), whose beloved teacher, Geshe-la, is 85 years old, and is still teaching (and teasing) his students.
In addition to informal meetings with Geshe-la and members of the Centre, Khenpo Jorden translated for two of Geshe-la’s teachings: Chandrakirti’s Seven-Part Reasoning on the Selflessness of Persons,and The Wisdom of Hearing & The Four Seals of Buddhist Practice.
In addition to answering his students’ questions, through Khenpo Jorden’s translations, Geshe-la also directed questions towards his students, as is his custom, to see if his teachings had been understood. There was a lot of laughter as well as learning, and Geshe-la really enjoyed Khenpo Jorden’s presence.
The Khenpo also gave a public Dharma teaching at the University of Victoria, titled “The Basis, the Path, and the Result of Buddhist Practice”, with the Two Truths as the Basis, the Two Accumulations as the Path and the Two Kayas as the Result. There were many interesting questions which allowed additional mini-teachings by the Khenpo. As a special treat for his audience of approximately 65 people, Khenpo Jorden offered a very moving recitation of a prayer, in English translation, (usually titled “The Tibetan Prayer for Peace”) followed by a most exquisite and subtle chant of the same prayer in Tibetan, a truly memorable gift to the audience of practitioners.
Before he left Sakya Thubten Kunga Choling, the Khenpo was presented with a videotape of his public teaching and with a set of three DVDs containing digital sound recordings of almost three hundred of Geshe-la’s teachings, from 1984 to 1997, for the IBA archives.
The Victoria Buddhist Dharma Society’s members look forward to a return visit from the Khenpo, whose kindness in accepting their invitation was greatly appreciated.
