Tibetan Language Intensive at Gampo Abbey

We invite you to come to Gampo Abbey to study Classical Literary Tibetan Language with our community.

Life at the Abbey during the Intensive

During the Intensive all participants will be expected to live and follow by the rules of Gampo Abbey. Therefore, all participants (like Abbey residents) are required to live by the five Buddhist precepts and adhere fully to the Intensive schedule. The five precepts are: refraining from taking life, refraining from stealing, refraining from sexual activity, refraining from lying, and refraining from intoxicants. The schedule includes daily meditation, attending morning and evening chants and other liturgical ceremonies as well as observing silence during Abbey silent times after 8 in the evening and in the morning before class.

Meditation Practice at the Abbey

Gampo Abbey follows the view and the meditation practices as taught by our founder Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. The Abbey follows the forms and traditions of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Our Abbot, the Ven. Thrangu Rinpoche and Pema Chödrön, our principal teacher, also represent this tradition and view. Shamatha/Vipashyana meditation as taught by Trungpa Rinpoche is the meditation technique shared by all Abbey residents. Central to the practice life of the Abbey are various liturgical ceremonies, such as taking the daily precepts, as well as offering chants and protectors supplications. All participants are expected to participate fully in these.

Deadline

August 1^st, 2005

Cost of the program

$4000 CDN

($3300 US)

50% paid by August 1st

Dates of the Program

Arrival date: September 15^th, 2005

Departure date: December 12^th, 2005

Health and Well-Being

The diet at the Abbey is simple, wholesome and vegetarian - we cannot accommodate special diets. Canned tuna and meat are available on open days. Please be sure that a vegetarian diet will meet your needs. Alcohol is forbidden. Lay residents are allowed to smoke in a designated garden close to the main building. While the discipline and schedule at the Abbey are extremely enriching, they are also rigorous and demanding. Therefore, it is important that you are in good mental, emotional and physical condition for your time at the Abbey.

Daily schedule

We will have class Monday through Friday; Saturday is an open day (no schedule) and Sunday is Nyinthun (all day practice with study period and silence). There will be two two-hour classes per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The morning class will be grammar and the afternoon class will be translation. Although the schedule may vary occasionally, here is a sample schedule to give you an idea of the daily routine:

6:00 House Wake-up

6:30 - 7:30 Morning Chants and Meditation

7:30 - 8:30 Breakfast in silence

8:30 - 12:00 Class and study

12:00 - 1:00 Lunch

1:00 - 5:00 Class and study

5:00 - 6:00 Meditation and Evening Chants

6:00 - 7:00 Dinner

7:00 - 8:00 Meditation or study

8:00 Silence begins

****** Schedule subject to change at teachers request***********

Class level

The class will be taught assuming all participants have fluency in reading and writing. Some knowledge of grammar is also highly encouraged.

Teacher

Dr. Karl Brunnhölzl is an experienced physician and Tibetologist. A Buddhist since 1983, he received his systematic training in Tibetan language as well as Buddhist philosophy and practice from Marpa Institute for Translators in Nepal and India under Director Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. After completing a five-year training in higher Buddhist Philosophy from Germany’s Kamalashila-Institut under Khenpo Lama Thubten, he received the traditional Kagyü degree of "Dharma Tutor" (Tib. skyor dpon) in 1990. Since 1989, Karl Brunnhölzl has been a translator and oral interpreter who, authorized by Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche and The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, teaches Buddhism and Tibetan language courses throughout Europe, North America, and Asia. In 1999, he joined the staff at Nitartha Institute as main translator and principal resource for foundational courses, debate sessions, and the publication of written translations of some of the major treatises in the Kagyü tradition. He is the author of Center of the Sunlit Sky, the first in-depth exposition of the Kagyu Madhyamaka view in a Western language (2004, Snow Lion Publications). Karl Brunnhölzl teaches annually at Gampo Abbey´s Vidyadhara Institute.

How to apply

If you would like to apply, please complete the application form and pay the application fee of $50 CDN. Feel free to call, write, e-mail or fax us with any questions or concerns.

Pleasant Bay, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia B0E 2P0, Canada

Tel: (902) 224-2752 Fax: (902) 224-1521 e-mail: tibetan@gampoabbey.org