The First class

On April 8, 2015, Drubgyud Tenzin Rinpoche lead a ceremony to welcome the new class of 52 monks—what we are calling the Lhuk Group—who will be receiving secular and non-secular education at Chökyi Gyatso Institute.

The two-hour event was an auspicious start to the boys' education. The goals were to make them feel welcome, to let them know how special these classes will be, and to create a good foundation for a successful year ahead. The new monks will study for four hours daily. Drubgyd Tenzin Rinpoche has created a new two-year curriculum for teaching dharma to young monks which will be taught by Lopon Dechen one hour every day. Lopon Pema Longdrel will teach one hour of Tibetan grammar and Lhomon Education's Lopon Dawa will be teaching basic Math, science, geography and art based on the LME Framework. Also, fr the next 5 months Laurence Shepherd will be teaching English as a visiting instructor. All were on hand for the ceremonial first day of class.

The ceremony started with a butter lamp offering. Drubgyed Tenzin Rinpoche explained that by lighting candles we hope to dispel the darkness of our minds. Then each student then lit a candle and were lead to the newly refurbished classrooms. They were introduced to the basic daily routine and rules of our classroom - lining up, mindfully placing their shoes, sitting for 3 minutes of meditation, and saying prayers. The arrangement of shoes along the corridor of the class building looked very neat and clean. This practice encourages every day mindfulness and helps students realize that the mindfulness can be part of their daily lives.  Rinpoche talked about  the seven point meditation posture- the back straight, the legs crossed, the hands folded below the navel, the chine tucked in slightly, the eyes looking in front, the tongue be held against the upper palate, and the lips should slightly open and how to anchor our mind on our breath.

 

All the lopons and Rinpoche plan to work together and meet on a weekly basis to make sure that there is synergy between the various subjects being taught so that the boys learn to relate their dharma studies with the world around them. Lopon Dechen's first unit is on the Life of the Buddha, therefore Lopon Dawa will teach about identity, the meaning of names, family trees with a special focus on history and geography.

While all monks will be studying together for their Buddhist studies, the LME and English classes have been divided into three groups based on previous education experience. Most of the boys have completed class 3 but some are uneducated and some have completed up to class 7. This differentiated class environment is one of the key challenges to teaching at the monastery.

It is remarkable that in a day and age when many monasteries have lower enrollment, CGI will be increasing its numbers by almost 50% with this new group of monks.