Dharma Wheel

Namdrol wrote: Well, from a Vajrayāna perspective it is more subtle than that i.e. mind and body have the same relation as a flower and its scent. They are inseparable; without one, there is not the other.

The mind/body dualism is a sutrayāna thing.

In Vajrayāna mind (སེམས) and the vāyu (རླུང) are completely inseparable. In the teaching of Dzogpachenpo, not only are they inseparable, but Guru Rinpoche remarks to Yeshe Tsogyal that mind and vāyu are synonymous with one another. You can discover this by reading the མཁའ་འགྲོ་སྙིང་ཐིག་རྒྱབ་ཆོས.

N

Excuse me for offtopic.

Namdrol, can you teach us tibetan via internet, mails or skype, to study tibetan texts, for basic talking and so on?


This question has been split from the topic "The entrance of wishlessness" and a new topic created in the Language forum.

Regards,
rt

Mariusz wrote:

Namdrol wrote: Well, from a Vajrayāna perspective it is more subtle than that i.e. mind and body have the same relation as a flower and its scent. They are inseparable; without one, there is not the other.

The mind/body dualism is a sutrayāna thing.

In Vajrayāna mind (སེམས) and the vāyu (རླུང) are completely inseparable. In the teaching of Dzogpachenpo, not only are they inseparable, but Guru Rinpoche remarks to Yeshe Tsogyal that mind and vāyu are synonymous with one another. You can discover this by reading the མཁའ་འགྲོ་སྙིང་ཐིག་རྒྱབ་ཆོས.

N

Excuse me for offtopic.

Namdrol, can you teach us tibetan via internet, mails or skype, to study tibetan texts, for basic talking and so on?

I can assist people who already have basic Tibetan if they have questions. But to learn grammar and so on, you really need an in person instructor. You can try to learn Tibetan through Shang Shung, or a university.

N

Namdrol wrote: I can assist people who already have basic Tibetan if they have questions. But to learn grammar and so on, you really need an in person instructor. You can try to learn Tibetan through Shang Shung, or a university.

N

I don't know the basic, but thank you to be willing to help me if I would know.

Mariusz wrote:

Namdrol wrote: I can assist people who already have basic Tibetan if they have questions. But to learn grammar and so on, you really need an in person instructor. You can try to learn Tibetan through Shang Shung, or a university.

N

I don't know the basic, but thank you to be willing to help me if I would know.

You should not have that much trouble finding someone to help you, depending on where you live.

Namdrol wrote: You should not have that much trouble finding someone to help you, depending on where you live.

When tibetan masters are teaching openly or pirivate dzogchen or tantra in tibetan and it is translated for westerners, do you often notice someting important is lost in translation? It is possible to completely practice dzogczen and tantra in english?

Mariusz wrote:

Namdrol wrote: You should not have that much trouble finding someone to help you, depending on where you live.

When tibetan masters are teaching openly or pirivate dzogchen or tantra in tibetan and it is translated for westerners, do you often notice someting important is lost in translation? It is possible to completely practice dzogczen and tantra in english?

Yes, and yes.

N

Mariusz wrote:

Namdrol wrote: I can assist people who already have basic Tibetan if they have questions. But to learn grammar and so on, you really need an in person instructor. You can try to learn Tibetan through Shang Shung, or a university.

N

I don't know the basic, but thank you to be willing to help me if I would know.

Since you're on your own like me, I recommend "Introduction to Classical Tibetan" by Stephen Hodge if you want to start learning Tibetan.

Namdrol wrote:

Mariusz wrote:

Namdrol wrote: You should not have that much trouble finding someone to help you, depending on where you live.

When tibetan masters are teaching openly or pirivate dzogchen or tantra in tibetan and it is translated for westerners, do you often notice someting important is lost in translation? It is possible to completely practice dzogczen and tantra in english?

Yes, and yes.

N

Is it difficult to learn to read Tibetan?

It looks incredibly complex. Not because it's an abiguda, but because of the extra "r"s and stuff, and how some sounds appear but aren't explicitly in existence. What comes immediately to mind is say ’Bras-spung and Bkra-shis-lhun-po for Drebung and Tashilhümpo respectively.


What is the verb conjugation and noun declension like? Complex, like Sanskrit or Latin, or more simple?

Keshin wrote: It looks incredibly complex. Not because it's an abiguda, but because of the extra "r"s and stuff, and how some sounds appear but aren't explicitly in existence. What comes immediately to mind is say ’Bras-spung and Bkra-shis-lhun-po for Drebung and Tashilhümpo respectively.

Reading the script is not difficult at all, just a matter of learning a few rules.

R

ratna wrote:Reading the script is not difficult at all, just a matter of learning a few rules.

Awesome; are there a few or many rules?

Is there anywhere I can learn more about these rules?

Keshin wrote:

ratna wrote:Reading the script is not difficult at all, just a matter of learning a few rules.

Awesome; are there a few or many rules?

Is there anywhere I can learn more about these rules?

I vaguely remember from many years ago that a book by Parfionovich, Written Tibetan Language, did a good job summarizing these rules.
Otherwise, Tournadre's Manual of Standard Tibetan is a more current textbook.

R

What comes immediately to mind is say ’Bras-spung and Bkra-shis-lhun-po for Drebung and Tashilhümpo respectively.

I'm not at my home computer, otherwise I would type your Wylie out in Tibetan Uchen...but anyway, here goes:

Tibetan is written left to right, like most Western scripts, but also vertically, as well as horizontally. In other words, letters can get "stacked" atop each other.

In the case of 'bras.pung, the apostrophe represents a small "a", which is a prefix letter, with no real effect on pronounciation. "Ba" is subscribed with "ra," or "Ratak" (literally the "tail of Ra," or the bottom half/stroke)...this combination is pronounced as a cerebral retroflex, which sounds to our ears like "Dra." Now, the vowel is lengthened from "ah" to "Ay" sound due to the silent "sa" (much the same way our English "silent e" can lengthen a preceeding vowel...).

So, your first syllable is pronounced "Dray..."

"Pung" is easier, as there's no stacking...simply "pa" with a "u" vowel marker called Shabkyu underneath, and a final Ng.

The "Pa" sounds a lot like our "B" though I find it to be more precisely halfway between an unaspirated "p" sound and a round, labial "Ba."

See? Easy, right?

I'd recommend a teacher.....learning the script doesn't take long at all, once you know the rules. Reading at any speed takes practice. And grammar and vocabulary take time and practice.