Yungdrung Bön Academy of Higher Studies
On December 22, 1994, the Dialectic and Meditation schools, formally opened. It was the opening of these schools that first allowed Bönpo monks at Triten Norbutse to study and practice on a whole range of subjects from Sutra, Tantra, and Dzogchen, to the general sciences. Initially, only twenty-one monks enrolled in the first class of the Dialectic School. Gradually, however, students from different parts of Nepal and Tibet came to study the teachings of Bön and today, as we mark the Twenty-fifth Anniversary, Triten Norbutse has grown ten-fold, accommodating a student body of more than 200 monks.
At the Yungdrung Bön Academy of Higher Studies, there are two main paths of study: the Dialectic School (Shedra), which confers a Geshe Degree, and the Meditation School (Gomdra), which offers a Drubthonpa Degree. Each monk can choose his own track — in this way, the structure of the college is similar to a standard university. Tempa Rinpoche says,
“My vision of the academy is the study of all elements of Bön. The main focus of the Dialectic School is Bön philosophy consisting of Sutra, Tantra, and Dzogchen, and all the general Tibetan sciences of grammar, poetry, astrology, sacred geometry, and the sacred arts including the construction of thangkas and mandalas as well as learning the art of statue consecration, rituals, and the mastery of sacred ritual music.”
Although initially the Dialectic School offered only a nine year course of study, in 2002, internal discussion among the administrative council, Rinpoches, and teaching staff led to the recognition that it was necessary for Triten Norbutse’s Geshe program to be expanded and extended to a thirteen-year course of study. This structural review has led to a more systematic approach to the curriculum and has established more precise subjects of study that have continued successfully to the present time. With increasing numbers of enrollment at the monastery, it was an important step to make — a development that has undoubtedly improved the quality and management of the Academy.
Dialectic School
The Dialectic School is a thirteen year course of study beginning, in the first year, with the study of Seme Loring logic. This study of logic is continued with increasing levels of complexity for the second and third year. In the fourth year, however, students turn their efforts to studying “The Nine Ways of Bön,” focusing their studies on the texts and teachings of Sutra.
This progresses in the fifth, sixth, and seventh year of studies into a study of the path, Salem and Bumi, based on the Prajnaparamitra — delving deeper and deeper into the text in the latter two years. In their eighth year, students focus on the Uma Madhyamika’s teachings, in their ninth year they focus on cosmology, and in their tenth year they study moral discipline through the Vinaya.
In the eleventh and twelfth years at Triten Norbutse, students are challenged to not merely intellectually study Bön philosophy, but to dedicate and develop their practice of meditation. During these years they deeply study Tantra and must complete their Ngöndros — a preliminary practice of 100,000 prostrations, mantra recitations, and mandala offerings. Finally, in their thirteenth year, students study a form of Dzogchen known as Namkha Truldzö, an extensive logic that seeks to go beyond logic.
In addition to the core teachings of the Dialectic School, students spend the afternoons of their thirteen years at Triten Norbutse studying the Five Tibetan arts and sciences. Beginning with diyig, the Tibetan lexicon, they move gradually on through grammar and then poetry. Additionally, they study basic sanskrit grammar, black or elemental astrology, white astrology or astronomy, sacred geometry, thankga painting, statue consecration, and, finally, basic Tibetan medicine. During the last month of each year, students also dedicate their time to learning certain rituals, chanting, and sacred dance performance.
Meditation School
The Meditation school is a four-year course of study focused on Dzogchen Meditation. The four years are divided into each of the four major Dzogchen cycles: A-Khrid, Drakpa Korsum, Yetri Thasel, and Zhangzhung Nyengyu. Practitioners receive the teachings and practice for one of the cycles each year.
Students are taught for one hour a day and, additionally, have four meditation and ritual practice sessions. The ritual practices include Sang chöd, the morning offering, Chutor, the offering of water, Sur chöd, the offering of burnt food, and Chöd, a practice for cutting through fear that is performed alone at night with melodic chants, drum (damaru), bell (silnyen), and the thigh bone horn (kangling).
Daily routines for students in the Meditation School are generally quite intensive beginning with morning meditation and water offerings, which is followed by a further set of meditation and water offerings. Students then have lunch, which brings them to their afternoon meditation and burnt offering; then, after dinner, they complete their final evening meditation followed by Chöd, and then bedtime.
As they mainly focus on their meditation practice, Gomdra meditators are not required to take general science classes such as grammar.
Exams
There are several different forms of examination for students at Triten Norbutse and in 2007 examinations for debate and writing were added in addition to already extant oral exams.
Oral
The oral examination, the Nargyu, is a fascinating exchange in traditional practice. The examination is held individually, in a single subject of study, and adheres to an old tradition of Bön monastic examination where a student must memorize a root text and recite it orally in front of his main teacher and disciplinarian. However, the process must be initiated in the proper manner following traditional protocol and etiquette. Here, Tempa Rinpoche explains:
“Suppose I memorize a root text. I must first request permission for my teachers presence so I can recite this in front of them. I will come with khata and tea to the teacher and disciplinarian and offer to the Khenpo and Lopön the day before the exam. Then the next day, at Khenpo’s shrine house, I prepare tea for the examiner. Before starting the ritual, I offer incense, butter lamps are lit, then I offer tea. I must recite the text by memory. I am allowed two or three mistakes maximum. If I can’t remember, the examiner can say a few words—prompt me if I don’t remember. But only two to three times allowed. If I cannot, if I miss more, I fail. Then I have to take the exam again—another time. If I pass, then I as the student receive tea and khata from the teachers.”
Debate
Tsod dyug, the debating exams, are held weekly and are attended by all students enrolled in the Dialectic School. Each monk must twice, over the course of the year, stand up and debate all the other monks one by one. For this monk, it is a significant examination — he must answer every question and justify his answer based on logic and reference to specific texts. Furthermore, he must support a tanja, a thesis, and according to how well he manages his thesis, the teachers assess his comprehension.
Although these debates occur weekly, there is also a larger annual debate exam that is reformatted to ensure the participation of all students. The exam questions are prepared beforehand by the teachers on rolled up parchment and they base their questions on anything from that year’s teachings. Students must study thoroughly. On debating day, the debater stands up, picks up a scroll, and has it read to him by one of his teachers — he must debate for eight minutes and if his points are irrelevant to the subject, he will have points deducted.
The scoring is done by four judges, each of whom can give a maximum of 25 points. The total, which is out of 100, is totaled up at the end and represents the student’s final score. Judges score the debater on the basis of their style, understanding of the subject matter, and memorization of relevant texts — those who are unable to attain more than 65% fail and cannot join the rest of their classmates in the next year. Instead, they must stay in the same class until they achieve adequate understanding and are able to pass the exam. The exams usually take place in November and December.
Written Exams
Each year a written exam, called dri dyug, is given. As is the case with the oral exam, questions are prepared by teachers beforehand and are not known by the students. On the day of the exam, all the monks are brought together in one place with their teachers and the disciplinarian overseeing. Before sitting for the three-hour exam, each student is checked by the disciplinarian and a witness to make sure that they are not carrying any texts or notes with them. Students are also given a personal identification number for the exam to ensure that whoever grades the exam doesn’t know whose test it is.
For the written exam, if the students receive a 60% or greater on the exam, they are able to matriculate to the next level of study. The written exam is evaluated mainly on the basis of content, but writing style, and spelling can factor into the final grade.
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The oral, written, and debating exams, however, are not the only requirements for the students to progress in their studies. There are also weekly dictation and writing exams, and in the general sciences, poetry must be presented. Additionally, assignments such as writing a paper in the study of black astrology, completion of a complete astrology or birth paper must be completed in the study of black astrology, and students are required to make a complete astrological or birth chart.
Building the Vessel: Development of Monastic Infrastructure
Meditation Room (Gomdra):
Initially, meditation classes were held in a small room that sat below the existing monastery and beside the entrance gate; it housed, at most, ten monks and was built in 1987. The current meditation room, located in the center of the monastery, was built in 1997, graciously sponsored by Madam Gudrun of Paris, France, and can host twice as many monks as were previously able to meditate together.
The first meditation session of the day begins at 4:30 a.m. for the Gomdra students and although some students choose to meditate in their own rooms, the meditation room is available to them four times a day for one and a half hour sessions. Gomdra students also use the meditation room for ritual purposes — rituals such as Sang (incense), Chutor (water offering), Sur (fire and burnt food offering), Chöd (a practice of cutting through fear), Tsog (monthly, communal offering of the universe), and Tsalung practice (breathing and visualization to create inner heat) are held here frequently.
There are also several annual practice retreats held in the meditation room: Drenpa Namkha is the first of them and lasts for a week while the Tummo retreat, which Gomdra students participate in once during their four years of study together, is held for 100 days.
Medical Building (Menzhi Khang):
The Menzhi Khang Medical School building was one of the more recent additions to Triten Norbutse. It was graciously sponsored and built in 2009 by the Kalpa Group (a foundation established by Loel Guinness that has been deeply involved in Bön cultural preservation).
The medical building houses, among other things, a clinic, a medical storeroom, a raw herb storeroom, a kitchen, a small dormitory for monks, and classrooms. The top floor of the building also doubles as a community hall, primarily for the elderly local community who come every Saturday to visit, perform prayers, and gather.
It is also not uncommon for patients in critical condition to come from far places, such as Dolpo in far northwestern Nepal, where a relatively large Bönpo population resides, to pass their final days at the monastery. For these patients, several hospice rooms are reserved.
There are currently nine to fifteen medical students and nearly half the building alone is dedicated to preparing delicately made herbal medicines. However, after the passing of the great Amchi Gege Lama (1940-?), the former head of the medical school, the enrollment numbers of medical students has decreased.
Monk’s Residence (Drashak):
Currently, there are more than 200 monks that reside at the monastery. They are housed primarily in two buildings dedicated to providing accommodations for the monastery’s students. The newest residence, built in 2008, sits alongside the older residence and together they house the vast majority of Triten Norbutse’s monks. The youngest monks, however, are housed separately in a small dormitory that is watched over and regulated by an elder monk.
Nonetheless, despite five of the residence’s rooms being designated as classroom space, Tempa Rinpoche says,
“We still aspire for more classroom space! Classrooms now take place in the bedrooms of the teachers as per tradition—but the rooms are too small to house all the classes. When the weather is nice, we have open air outside classes, but when it is cloudy, rainy or cold, this is challenging.”
On completion of their studies, many of Triten Norbutse’s monks have returned to their community monasteries in Tibet or Dolpo.