Buddhist Studies Program

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The Buddhist studies program is a Knox-approved study abroad program through Antioch University. You can go to either India or Japan. The program is worth 4.5 credits at Knox.

India

If you decide to go to India on the program, you will spend most of your time in Bodh Gaya in the state of Bihar in northern India. Bodh Gaya is home of the Bodhi tree -- the famous tree that the Buddha was sitting under when he achieved enlightenment -- and thus is an extremely important destination for Buddhist pilgrims.

At the monastery

You will live in a Buddhist (Burmese, Theravada) monastery known as the Burmese Vihar, or just the Vihar. You will meditate two times a day, studying with meditation masters in the traditions of Vipassana, Zen and Tibetan meditation. You will also take two classes, choosing from: Modern Buddhist Culture, Buddhist Philosophy, Hindi or Tibetan. At the monastery, you will follow this schedule:

  • Monday - Friday
  • 4:30 a.m. Optional yoga
  • 5:30 a.m. Meditation
  • 6:30 a.m. Breakfast
  • 7:30 a.m. Language Class
  • 8:30 a.m. Class Period
  • 10:00 a.m. Tea
  • 10:30 a.m. Class Period
  • 12:00 p.m. Language Practice
  • 1:00 p.m. Lunch
  • 4:00 p.m. Tea
  • 5:00 p.m. Meditation
  • 6:30 p.m. Dinner

Weekends:

  • Same meditation and eating schedule

The schedule looks intense, but there is actually a reasonable amount of free time, particularly if you opt out of a language class, and it is fairly easy to get excused from class in such an intimate environment.

While living in the monastery you will be asked to follow the five Buddhist precepts:

1. Knowing how deeply our lives intertwine, I undertake the commitment to protect life. (This means don't kill bugs, either.)

2. Knowing how deeply our lives intertwine, I undertake the commitment to only take what is given. (This also means don't use your roommate's hand sanitizer, et al, without permission.)

3. Knowing how deeply our lives intertwine, I undertake the commitment to protect relationships, and be celibate during this time. (The program words this as "abstaining from sexual misconduct." This is sometimes interpreted different ways by different people, but it is emphasized a great deal that the monastery should be a sacred space.)

4. Knowing how deeply our lives intertwine, I undertake the commitment to speak the truth.

5. Knowing how deeply our lives intertwine, I undertake the commitment not to harm myself or others with drugs or alcohol (This really means abstaining from both completely, but especially within the monastery.)

The precepts are not rules that are enforced, but rather are very good suggestions for making the most of your time in India. Their basic aim is to allow you to free yourself from physical and social attachments and complications, a task that is easier when you are surrounded by people trying to do the same thing. Different people follow different ones to varying degrees. Many people regularly swat mosquitoes without blinking, and others interpret "sexual misconduct" as rape or harassment, which is a legitimate interpretation in the non-monastic Buddhist world.

People

You will meet some of the coolest people you have ever met in your life. Make the absolute most of your time with them. Try to get to know everyone. Try to accept everyone. You will be living in very close quarters. Try to follow the precepts for your own benefit and for the benefit of those around you. If Buddhism and India teach you nothing else (highly unlikely), they will hopefully teach you compassion.

Ordinations and Head-shavings

In Theravada Buddhism it is acceptable and even encouraged to ordain as a monk or nun temporarily (about a week), and the program offers this option to interested parties. If you ordain, you will be required to shave your head, wear robes and follow much stricter precepts, for example, no food after 12:00p.m.

There are some who are not completely satisfied with the process of ordination as it pertains to women. It has been noted that the men are given a more complex ceremony and appear to be taken more seriously by the abbot.

There is also the option of shaving your head and not ordaining. If you decide that it is too hot out to have hair, or that you want to let go of your attachment to your hair, or that you think you'll look cool without hair and you want to shave your head, there is a man named Sita Ram who comes to the monastery every day to administer head shavings with a straight razor and give men massages for the fairly low price of 30-60 rupees (about $0.80-1.20). (There is a female masseuse for women.) One benefit to shaving your head is that you will not have to worry about washing grimy hair as often in the cold and mosquito-ridden Vihar showers. Plus you'll probably look cool.

Retreats

There are two meditation retreats offered during the course of the term. Both take place on the other side of Bodh Gaya from the Vihar at a place called the Root Institute. This is a Tibetan meditation retreat center that is slightly out of town and therefore is extremely peaceful. The first retreat is for Vipassana meditation and the second for Zen. Both involve sitting, walking,eating and resting all day for a day or two and complete and constant silence is required for both.

Halloween

Halloween is a blast. There is a program-approved party that takes place in the lounge area of one of the local hotels. Everyone is "allowed" one beer each. (These beers are usually Kingfishers and come in larger bottles than our standard 12 oz.) That being said, many people supplement their beer with cheap whiskey, or more beer.

There is sometimes a costume contest. Some of the many stand-out costumes in the fall of 2006 included The Little Prince, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Aladdin, a palm tree and Gumby.

Buying Clothes

In the informational packet sent out to participants before the program, they tell everyone to bring minimal clothing because it will be more appropriate to wear Indian clothing. This is truer for the women than the men. Many men wear western clothes. But if you are a woman and are not appropriately covered, you will probably be asked by one of the professors/administrators to change your clothes. Being appropriately covered means wearing clothing that isn't too tight and that does not even come close to riding up above your belt line. Also, you cannot show your ankles, so shorts and shorter skirts are out of the question.

You may be told to buy much of your clothing in Delhi during orientation, because Bodh Gaya is somewhat lacking in actual clothing stores. But there are a plethora of tailors in Bodh Gaya, and going to the tailor is generally an experience worth having. They may take a few tries to get your measurements right, but will probably come close enough in the end.

Living in Bodh Gaya

While the monastery is usually the essence of a calm, safe and relaxing environment, Bodh Gaya can be a little overwhelming at times. There are bicycle rickshaws, tour buses, large SUV-like cars and auto-rickshaws, as well as people, cows, goats and dogs all over the dusty streets. Silence is rare, and you are likely to hear bells, horns, yells and cars all day, as well as the Muslim call to prayer broadcast over a loudspeaker five times a day from the center of town. (This latter sound is actual quite wonderful, especially if you're listening from the monastery's outdoor hallway at sunset.) But despite the chaos, the town is colorful and fascinating.

The Mahabodhi temple complex sits at the center of town, with a large stupa at the second generation Bodhi tree. There are pilgrims from all over East and Southeast Asia, many of them monks. You can always hear chants and bells all around, and there are plates and plates of offerings of bright orange marigolds. People go to the Mahabodhi temple a great deal during the semester on their own to meditate, circumambulate or just sit and absorb it all. There is also a sit at the Mahabodhi at the end of each type of meditation training.

Health

You will get sick. The illnesses possible are many and varied and frequently involve gastro-intestinal troubles. You will probably talk about your bowel movements a lot. This is actually quite a nice way to break down barriers in your interactions with people, as everyone will talk about it and pretty soon it won't seem inappropriate at all, which is satisfying as it is a natural human function. Everybody poops.

There is a very nice doctor in town, and Dianeah -- the yoga instructor and wife of the program director, Robert -- is well versed in natural remedies and maintains a large cabinet of medical supplies of all kinds. Dianeah highly recommends that everyone buy some grapefruit seed extract in the states and take it every day in order to strengthen the immune system. (Note: This is not to be confused with grape seed extract, which is merely a mild antioxidant.) Some people swear by the grapefruit seed extract, and others say it does nothing. If nothing else, it can't hurt and it might help.

You will also want to have a nalgene, or another type of regularly re-usable water carrier. To keep from getting dehydrated, you should drink lots and lots and lots of the Vihar's purified water. You can also buy re-hydration salts at various places in town. These are called "electral" and come in a couple of different "flavors." Electral was once described by a participant on the fall 2006 program as "blowing the kool-aid man." But it will definitely help keep you hydrated and the taste might even grow on you.

The Asian Toilet

Don't be alarmed. It looks intimidating at first, but many people find that once they start using it regularly, it is preferable to the western style. Squatting is a much more natural alignment for your body to be in while defecating, and you will want to streamline this process as much as possible.

Beware of the half-Asian toilet. This looks more like a toilet, but is shorter than a western toilet and has foot pads on either side of the seat, the idea being that you can choose to either sit or squat, but the truth being that both are difficult.

Independent Study

After ten weeks at the monastery, you will embark on a journey to a Buddhist destination of your choice, do original research on a Buddhist-related topic of your choice.

Note: Your choice may be effected by financial concerns; the program does not compensate you for travel expenses and it is, of course, much cheaper to take a train to another part of India than to buy a plane ticket to Thailand. That being said, some people do choose to travel to different countries in Southeast Asia to carry out their research. There are usually several countries every year that the administration will not let you go to due to safety concerns. In recent years these have included Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Common destinations include:

  • Dharamsala (Home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and a large Tibetan refugee community)
  • Darjeeling
  • Sikkim (You need a special visa to travel here, but it is easy to get and the program helps you out with this)
  • Thailand
  • Myanmar (Burma is also occasionally on the blacklist)

Past Participants

Students from Knox who have participated on the India Buddhist Studies program in recent years include:

Japan

The branch of the program in Japan, commonly referred to as Japantioch, is not pre-approved by Knox, but students have in the past obtained permission to go.

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