Job Discussion Forums

[Dolma]

Hello-
I am a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner and am wondering if anyone on the board has undertaken teaching as a way of enabling/financing your Buddhist study. Has anyone volunteered as a teacher at a gompa or vihara? What are the best countries for teaching and dharma study? I taught briefly at a monastery school in Nepal and found the experience to be wonderful, both in terms of deepening my practice and getting good teaching experience. I am looking to quit my current job in NYC after saving some money and looking for a TEFL job in Asia, but still haven't decided on which country. I might go somewhere like Thailand or Taiwan to start out, get my TEFL cert, volunteer in Nepal for 6 mos.-1 year, move on to Korea to top off my savings, then China... Any thoughts? Thanks and Namaste.

[Wisco Kid]

I also practice Vajrayana and have been teaching in Asia for 2 1/2 years. Before I started teaching, I lived in Thailand for about a year and a half. I taught in Taiwan for 3 months, Korea for 5 months, Thailand for 1 year and now I'm in Japan.
If you have good self-discipline and are motivated, then you should of course be able to continue your dharma practice anywhere.
If you are not too concerned with saving up a lot of money, then I highly recomend coming to live in Thailand for a year. While you won't find old ladies spinning prayer wheels everywhere like in Nepal, you will find a country where the Buddhism is still a very visible and living tradition. If you are open-minded and look at the form of Buddhism practiced in Thailand as following the Buddha's teachings purely, and don't degrade it by considering it an "inferior vehicle", than you can also learn a lot. There are temples and monks all over the place. And the monks follow a stricter discipline than the Mahayana monks: the don't eat after noon, they never make physical contact with women, and they go out everymorning barefoot with their alms bowls to collect that day's food.

On the otherhand, you won't find any Lamas, as there is no Vajrayana community that I'm aware of. If it is very important for you to have regular contact with other vajrayana practicioners, then you might be better of going to Taiwan, where the Tibetan tradition has a growing following. On the whole, though, religion in Taiwan is mostly based on Taoism and ancestor worship, with most activity geared towards praying for financial success and other samsaric interests. But you can definitely make more money in Taiwan. My friend saved up $10,000 last year.

You can also save a lot of money in Korea, but from my own personal experience I would not recomend going there. For one thing the loudspeaker-equiped produce trucks that constantly circle the neighboorhood are not very conducive to meditation.

I wish you good luck with whatever road you take.
PM me if you'd like more specific info.

-Konchok

[Dolma]

Tashi delek Konchok,
Are you Drikung Kagyu by any chance? My refuge name is also Konchok(or Kunchog, or Konchog). My root lama is H.E. Garchen Rinpoche, who is coming back to NYC in a couple of weeks.
If I were to go to Thailand I would miss my Vajra brethren but as you say I can practice anywhere. There is an active Drikung sangha in Malaysia and perhaps I could fly there once in a while when the lamas visit, depending on my teaching schedule. It seems like airfares are cheap, much cheaper than taking Amtrak from NYC to DC as I do now whenever Rinpoche is teaching there. I don't look down on Theravada as inferior(at least try not to... ), like Chogyam Trungpa said long ago Vipassana meditation is the foundation of all Vajrayana practice. I think Tibetan dharma centers here in the US don't emphasize it enough, so if I could study Vipassana in Thailand it would only be a benefit to my practice. I love Thai food(the hotter the better) and after reading about the tropical fruit I am ready to go! I am also thinking of Taiwan specifically for the reasons you mention, good money and many lamas have sanghas there, including Garchen Rinpoche and HH Penor Rinpoche. I have also been studying Qigong so that would be another avenue to explore. Thanks for your advice, since you have taught in many countries it's very helpful to me. Namaste, Dolma

[kuberkat]

Quite a surprise to find not only one but TWO enlightened questors here. Dharma, I am afraid, is not the deliberate purpose of too many TEFLers in Asia, especially where the money is good. (Samsara...)
Though I am nowhere near as dedicated as either of you, dharma was an important motivator in my heading for TEFL in Asia, though nowadays I'm settling for Kismet (in the middle East.)
Near five years in Taiwan brought me a great deal of learning, but also some rude awakenings on what seems to be televangelical Buddhism there. Some Buddhists do have sublime little vegetarian buffets, though, and if you can cross the language barrier, instruction in meditation and Qigong (especially for healing others, unlike in more westernised versions) is available. Taiwan can be a bit of a spiritual trial with its overpopulation and brutal pollution, but it also has great beauty and some very kind-hearted people, and if you want to get involved in local dharma projects, check out the Tzu Chu Fouhndation at http://www.tzuchi.org/. Most significantly, you can buy more free time for study or dharma thanks to the high salaries (and most TEFL jobs are part-time).
Thank you both for bringing some light to this forum. The deeper the mud, the more beautiful the flower.

[wix]

I think Taiwan is a good choice if you are specifically interested in Tibetan Buddhism. There are a number of Tibetan Lamas resident here and many others visit regularly. Although most of the activities are oriented towards Taiwanese people and in Chinese language, you will find people there that speak English, in particular many of the lamas themselves.

FPMT have centres in Taiwan. Thrangu Rinpoche has a number of centres. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche also has a centre. You can find the addresses via their websites.

Also look at some of the Taiwanese Buddhist organisations. In particular Dharma Drum Mountain which has a weekly meditation group for foreigners in Taipei.

You can find some relevant links here: Buddhism in Taiwan

I also suggest having a look at the Asia directory of Buddhanet. There you can find the addresses of Buddhist organisations in Asia that give teachings in English or welcome English speaking people.