About Nalandabodhi

Nalanda translates as "the place that confers the lotus (of spirtual knowledge)," and was the name of the great Buddhist university that flourished for some 1800 years in ancient India. Bodhi translates as "enlightenment."

Nalandabodhi Vision

Under the direction of The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche , Nalandabodhi was established as a nonprofit organization dedicated to continuing the genuine lineage of Tibetan Buddhism within the modern international community. Since Nalandabodhi's inception in 1997, Rinpoche has, under the Nalandabodhi umbrella, established main centers and study groups in the US, Canada, Europe and Asia.

The main activities of Nalandabodhi are to:

1. Provide students with a complete, graduated curriculum of Dharma study and a path of practice, along with appropriate text books and materials
2. Publish the oral commentaries of important contemporary teachers
3. Pursue the translation and publication of religious texts by significant historic teachers
4. Support communication between the western and international Buddhist sanghas Study and Practice Curriculum

Education And Meditation Program

In accordance with the vision of contributing to an authentic transmission of the Buddhadharma to contemporary students, The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche has designed a complete, progressive curriculum providing in-depth training in study, reflection and meditation.

A graduate of the Kagyu shedra founded by the Sixteenth Karmapa and a leading scholar of Kagyu educational traditions, Rinpoche, additionally, has spent many years living and teaching in the West. This exceptional combination of training and experience uniquely qualifies Rinpoche to adapt the traditional study and practices of Tibetan Buddhism to our modern international communities—in the West as well as the East. To this end, Rinpoche has designed a modern curriculum for Western lay students based on the traditional Kagyu shedra (or monastic university) curriculum.

In 1998, the Venerable Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche graciously assumed the position of Spiritual Director of Nalandabodhi and currently works closely with Rinpoche on the development of all phases of the curriculum. Formal study at Nalandabodhi Dharma Centers presently consists of a Hinayana - Mahayana curriculum, in a format utilizing source book materials, lectures, discussion groups and exams. This curriculum is also available in a home-study and partially in an online format. Many students who wish to develop their study and practice may not have access to a local dharma center or may be unable to attend regularly formal teachings or other practice programs. Rinpoche's home-study curriculum allows students, wherever located, to follow an authentic, in-depth course of study and practice when the support of a local center is not available. Nalandabodhi students study and practice within the lineages of the Nyingma and Kagyu traditions held by Rinpoche

Nalanda West

Nalanda West is Nalandabodhi's international center for the study and practice of the teachings of wisdom and compassion that originated in India over 2500 years ago. Our Seattle facility, inaugurated in 2005, offers a gateway in the Western Hemisphere to the living inheritance of insight and skillful means embodied in the storied traditions of Nalanda University.

At Nalanda West, we present the authentic tradition of Buddhist study, meditation, and compassionate activity through a regular schedule of programs, including trainings in philosophy and logic, meditation retreats, leadership and arts workshops and special topic seminars, such as health and well being, dramatic arts, and the Buddhist view of death and dying. Nalanda West maintains its own website at www.nalandawest.org.

Preserving Buddhist Arts And Hearts

Buddhist Ritual and Ceremony

Nalandabodhi supports Buddhist chaplains in the West by developing English-language liturgies and ceremonies appropriate for major life events such as weddings, baptisms and funerals. Additionally, Nalandabodhi works with Buddhist chaplains in hospital and hospice environments to formulate skillful methods for applying Buddhist principles to their work.

Bodhi Heart - The Tibetan Refugee Support Project

This project primarily organizes sponsorships for the education of Tibetan Refugee children as well as providing financial aid to refugee families in need of medicine, food and clothing. In addition, it provides monks and nuns with financial assistance to enable them to continue with their studies and to assist with food, clothing and medical requirements.

Resources For Study and Practice

Nalandabodhi Publications

Nalandabodhi Publications has, to date, published several books, transcripts and practice manuals currently in use by the Nalandabodhi sangha. Several other publications, for public distribution, are in development. Essential activities include the archiving, transcribing, editing and publishing of the recorded teachings of The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche and other major contemporary lineage holders, such as Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche. More on publications at this website.

Multi-Media Materials

Drawing on the growing archives of The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, selected audio and video taped teachings are available to supplement the study and practice curriculums.

Translations

The translation project provides accurate and literal translations of classical religious texts by historic Buddhist teachers with a balance of traditional and modern methods of presentation.

Bodhi

Bodhi is a quarterly magazine, which features the dharma teachings of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche and The Dzogchen Ponlop, Rinpoche, as well as providing their teaching schedules and periodic information on the activities and projects of Nalandabodhi. Articles by guest contributors, interviews, sangha news, poetry and artwork are also featured. More on Bodhi at Bodhi Online.