Sarnath International Nyingma Institute

This July, SINI is offering a 4-day retreat at Ratna Ling, California, exploring the Six Paramitas with Khenpo Kunga Dakpa, Tsering Gellek, and Barry Schieber. Through study of the Bodhicaryavatara, contemplation, and K*m Nye practice, participants will explore how these traditional teachings can become living practices. All details here: https://retreat.sinibridge.org

Last call, 5 days left to apply!
We're looking for a Buddhist Education Correspondent & Podcast Producer for the Three Cups Podcast. If you're passionate about Buddhist education, meaningful conversation, and giving monastics a platform — we want to hear from you.
🔗 Apply: forms.gle/tNSwYpca9t5arq1h7
🌐 sinithreecups.org/podcast
📅 Deadline: April 17, 2026

We're pleased to share that one of Rinpoche's long-term students, Doug Nurnberg, has recently been featured in an interview on Steve James' Guru Viking Podcast:
https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep355-the-accidental-buddhist-doug-nurnberg

We hope you enjoy it as much as we have. Doug is a longtime friend of SINI, who through his labor and mentorship has been a foundational contributor and stalwart support to SINI. Volunteerism, community and service, as Doug gently reminds us throughout the interview, can nurture and sustain us in times of personal and societal challenge. We're also pleased that Steve James will be working with monastics, in collaboration with SINI, on creating a first-of-its-kind Tibetan-language podcast. Stay tuned for details.

Whether talking with volunteers or the participants of SINI's many programs and events, the traits mentioned most often are the unique and unparalleled opportunities SINI presents to connect with and live alongside traditionally trained monastics with advanced degrees in Buddhist studies in an environment that is both scholastic and accessible. For those interested in Buddhism and the Vajrayana path, SINI truly is distinctive. Not only is the institute located in Sarnath, one of the most important holy pilgrimage sites and the location where the Buddha first turned the wheel of the Dharma over 2,500 years ago, but SINI is the temporary home for monastics interested in learning English, studying translation, and deepening their understanding of the interface between traditional monastic life and the demands of modern lay experience.

SINI presents many opportunities to participate in and contribute to collaboration along a bridge where tradition meets modernity. For some, volunteering as a teacher in the English for Dharma Purposes program provides a multi-year in-depth opportunity to live and share alongside monastic English students:
https://www.sinibridge.org/english-for-dharma-purposes/

For others who may have studied Tibetan, SINI's translation programs offer opportunities to collaborate with monastics in helping to translate sacred ancient texts of the Kangyur Karchag into modern languages. SINI has also hosted university students interested in short-term summer residential experiences in the hill stations of northern India who conduct English conversation groups and dyads while offering coursework in personal areas of expertise for SINI's monastic students.

For those interested in an in-depth visit to Buddhist pilgrimage sites while simultaneously learning from monastics, the Four Noble Truths program is unparalleled:
https://fournobletruths.sinibridge.org

In the expert hands of SINI staff, volunteers and monastics, participants visit the ancient sites of Sarnath, Varanasi, Nalanda, Rajgir, and Bodhgaya. The monastics also accompany the participants to the Nyingma Monlam, an annual peace ceremony located where the Buddha first attained enlightenment in Bodhgaya, and attended by over 10,000 devotees annually. Participants consistently rate the program among the most memorable experiences of their lives.

If you have an interest in learning colloquial and classical Tibetan, SINI offers courses in both. Whether participating in SINI's colloquial Tibetan language courses developed by Franziska Oertle and well known for their innovative and joyful approach to language learning, or a more deep dive into classical Tibetan as featured in the ancient texts, our experienced and qualified teachers will guide your way. https://www.heartoftibetanlanguage.com

In thanks to the Khyentse Foundation for its generous support and in collaboration with Tergar Institute, SINI is expanding its 3 Cups Teacher Training activities:
https://www.sinithreecups.org

In addition to conducting in-person training at SINI and bringing together monastics from throughout the Himalayan region, we are developing Tibetan-language resources to develop culturally responsive pedagogical methods for an ever-changing world, conducting on-site training activities at monasteries and nunneries, and ultimately developing a train-the-trainer model with both online and in-person components.

On behalf of the many of us who have had the good fortune to connect with the SINI family, whether through service and volunteerism, prayer requests made through our website, participation in one of SINI's numerous projects and events, joining in pujas and chanting, or many of the other activities hosted through SINI, we welcome you. We invite you to take the time to explore our website. These days, in particular, it seems we feel an increasing thirst for the wisdom of ancient knowledge and guidance and a visceral yearning to connect with the goodness and beauty in our hearts and minds. If this resonates with you, we welcome you to explore more of SINI's offerings and look forward to hearing from you soon!
https://www.sinibridge.org

Now accepting applications for a Buddhist Education Correspondent & Podcast Producer!
We are developing the Three Cups Podcast and looking for a thoughtful interviewer to bring it to life. Join us in giving voice to monastics, sharing their stories, and exploring the challenges facing Buddhist education in the modern world.
🌐 Full details here: https://www.sinithreecups.org/podcast
🔗 Application form: https://forms.gle/tNSwYpca9t5arq1h7
📅 Deadline: April 17, 2026

What a fantastic day! Congratulations to our dear graduates of the English for Dharma Purposes Program.

Good morning, dear respected teachers, students, friends, and family. Welcome to the Sarnath International Nyingma Institute's English for Dharma Purposes Program graduation ceremony. We are so happy to be together on this auspicious occasion.

The name of our program is English for Dharma Purposes, and if you look closely at each individual word—English, FOR, Dharma, Purposes—you realize that this is indeed a very big program.
The English language, with more than several hundred thousand words, has a long history with many linguistic rivers contributing to its ever-expanding ocean. The word Dharma and its meaning are even more vast. Combined, the work of connecting English for Dharma Purposes is, in many ways, inconceivable. Yet for the past three years, our graduating students have done just that, practicing and embracing the inconceivable connections and gaps between their mother tongue and the English language.
I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the key pillars of support that have made this program possible. My first note of appreciation goes to Tarthang Rinpoche, the founder of this institute and my father. It is through him that all the main instructions of my life flow.

To the Khyentse Foundation, and in particular Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, I extend my deep appreciation. On behalf of all of SINI, we thank you for your generous support and guidance. To our first principal, Khenpo Choephel, who continuously and actively prays for the well-being of all, and especially our mission, I offer a deep bow of appreciation. To our current principal, Khenpo Ngawang Tsundu, and assistant principal, Khenpo Ngawang Choephel, thank you for your kind leadership and support. Thank you to Dr. Woedo, Ugen Tsering, Rinchen Kyi, Doug, and all staff members for their behind-the-scenes support of this program.

To all of our English teachers—Osha, Jamie, Chami, Sophia, Tanner, and Catherine—and our dear director of the program, Eden Merritt, a very deep bow to all of you for your selfless service and intelligence. You are each wonderful, caring, and noble teachers, and I am sincerely honored to be part of this team. To our dear friends and family, thank you for your continued time, energy, and support every year.

Through our unique three-year English for Dharma Purposes program, monastics develop language proficiency while deepening their understanding of Buddhist philosophy, literature, science, and arts. Students progress through specialized tracks, including translation studies and advanced academic English, preparing them to contribute to the global effort to translate Tibetan texts and provide skillful Dharma teaching worldwide.
SINI's interdisciplinary approach combines traditional Buddhist scholarship with modern educational methods. Our students engage in cross-cultural exchanges, participate in workshops and seminars, and collaborate with international scholars and practitioners. This comprehensive educational framework ensures that ancient wisdom traditions remain vibrant and accessible for future generations while building bridges around the world.

In response to the particular needs of our monastic students, SINI developed its own curriculum. The SINI EDP curriculum is, in many ways, the first of its kind, and we appreciate that both students and teachers have worked with our textbook series, meticulously developed by Eden Merritt over the past five years.
To the students who are graduating today, and to all of you gathered here in Prajna Hall, I offer you my deep respect and congratulations.

I have two messages for you. First, please continue to study and learn the English language so that you can share the Dharma and connect with not only the suffering but also the beauty of this world. Second, I hope you will always consider SINI your home and return again and again. The root meaning of home is to lie down and settle—it is a place where one belongs and a place where one is missed when absent.

As the world evolves and suffering intensifies, I hope you will carry out your work, sharing the fruits of your knowledge and listening deeply to the stories of others. Continue to learn the deeper meaning of the Dharma, to express yourself in as many ways as possible, and to find your own voice and understanding. Though we may be few in number, I have confidence that even one person who is able to connect, communicate, and express the deep meaning of life to another is worthy of all these tremendous efforts.

May your learning journey continue for the rest of your lives. Congratulations, Class of 2026. (Tsering Gellek, Director)

End of Year Newsletter -

End of Year SINI Newsletter Against the backdrop of seismic change in technology, especially in artificial intelligence, much is unraveling and expanding through this new universe. As complexity intensifies, the ordinary seems like paradise: the right to breathe clean air, to hear birdsong, to offer food to a friend, to rest q...

Student recruitment is now closed. Thank you to all who have applied!