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Learning
through tuning in to our own dignity
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The Vidyadhara Institute is the name of Gampo Abbey's
monastic college, or SHEDRA. It was inaugurated in
the Fall of 1999 in response to a request from our
Abbot, the Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. Vidyadhara
refers to the Dharma title of Chogyäm Trungpa
Rinpoche, the founder of Gampo Abbey. In Sanskrit,
vidyadhara means holder of knowledge.
Chögyam
Trungpa Rinpoche had a great concern for education
in general and for the learning of Buddhist teachings
in particular. He also had great confidence that people
could learn properly if they could tune in to their
own dignity. In 1980 in a public talk entitled Buddhism
in America , he said:
"In
order to study and learn properly, we have to pull
up our own socks. There is no savior or god of knowledge
who descends on our heads, so that one minute we're
dumb and the next minute we are brilliant. Everybody
has to prove themselves."
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In-Depth
Study and Practice for Monastics and Lay People
The
Vidyadhara Institute provides an in-depth study program
of the Buddhadharma for the monastics and the lay community
of Gampo Abbey. Participants in this program are encouraged
to develop a thorough understanding of the view of the Foundational
Vehicle, the Mahayana and the Vajrayana through engaging
wholeheartedly in the practice of study, contemplation and
analytical meditation.
Those
attending Shedra for an entire year, the two terms in a
given year are complemented by periods of intensive formal
practice such as the Yarne retreat, silent weeks and personal
retreats.
Please Note: You must have been a resident at Gampo Abbey for at least one month prior to the beginning of Shedra in order to participate in the program.
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