Who is Nara Loka?
My name is Igor Vasiliev
For many years, I have been popularizing Buddhism (Buddha Dharma) and educating people about the philosophy and practice of Buddhism in Russian and English.
What I do
(01)
Make videos about Buddhism
(02)
Sometimes give live lectures
(03)
Host audio podcasts and write articles
(04)
If people ask, I answer questions
What I do not do
(01)
I do not sell courses
(02)
I do not have groups of disciples
(03)
I do not use neural ai to generate answers
(04)
I do not have any third-party advertising
(05)
I do not sell paid teachings
(06)
I do not sell paid consultations
(07)
I do not use ai to create my materials
(08)
All my materials are freely available to everyone
What tradition and school do I follow?
- Tradition: Mahayana
- Approach: Rimé (non-sectarian)
- Philosophy: Chittamatra-Svatantrika Madhyamaka
- I am a layperson (upasaka), not a monk.
- I have been practicing for over 23 years, with more than 10 years of intensive practice.
- I have taken the bodhisattva vows.
- I do not practice or study Tantra, only Mahayana sutras and the Pali Canon.
My lecture at a Buddhist Festival of Good Fortune
Entry was free for everyone. No one paid me. I paid no one.
The topic of the lecture was "Modern Western Buddhism"
The topic of the lecture was "Modern Western Buddhism"
- DiplomaDiploma in the philosophy of Buddhism from the Sanskrit tradition of Nalanda University, studied under Geshe Dorji Damdul
About My Teachers for the Teachers' Tree
I took the bodhisattva vows and strengthened my Refuge with His Holiness the 41st Sakya Trichen Ngawang Kunga.
He is a hierarch of the Sakya school, founded in 1073. His Holiness's root teachers were the abbots of Ngor Monastery, Ngawang Lodro Shenpen Nyingpo and Kansar Shabdrung, Lama Ngawang Lodro Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, the great Nyingma yogi Dodrupchen Rinpoche, Phende Khenpo, Sakya Khenpo Jampel Sangpo, Deshung Rinpoche, and the head of the Tsar tradition, Chogye Trichen Rinpoche.
I studied Buddhist philosophy with Geshe Dorji Damdul.
He studied at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, Gyudmed Tantric College, and Cambridge University in the UK. He holds the Geshe Lharampa degree (Ph.D.), which he earned at Drepung Loseling Monastic University.
Geshe Dorji Damdul's teacher was Geshe Yeshe Thabkhe Rinpoche. He was born in 1930 in Lhokha, Central Tibet, and became a monk at Drepung Loseling Monastery at the age of thirteen. After completing his studies in 1969, he was awarded the highest academic degree in the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism – Geshe Lharampa. In 1972, Rinpoche received the title of Professor of the Indian tradition of Buddhist philosophy at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies. Rinpoche is considered one of the most outstanding scholars of both the Madhyamaka tradition and Indian Buddhism in general. He taught at the School of Buddhist Philosophy in Leh (Ladakh) and at Sanskrit University in Sarnath.
I studied Buddhist philosophy with Geshe Ngawang Samten.
He received a master's degree from the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS) in Sarnath and then the Geshe Lharampa degree from Ganden Monastery in India. Geshe Ngawang Samten worked as an assistant professor in the research department and later as a professor in the department of Buddhist philosophy at CIHTS. From 2001, he held the position of Director and Vice-Chancellor of this institute for over 20 years. He has also been a visiting professor at universities in the USA, Australia, and Austria.
In 2009, the President of India awarded him the Padma Shri, one of the country's highest civilian awards, in recognition of his contributions to education and literature. In 2016, the Government of India honored Geshe Ngawang Samten with the Vesak Sammam award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the preservation, development, and promotion of Indian philosophy, art, and culture both in India and abroad, as well as his immense contribution to the propagation of Buddhist studies and the creation of academic institutions.
I also learn from the lectures of contemporary teachers such as:
Geshe Yonden Sodnam
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Dr. Alan B. Wallace
The 14th Dalai Lama
Mingyur Rinpoche
Dr. Alexander Berzin
Pema Chödrön
Thubten Chodron
I study the Pali Canon extensively and in detail.
He is a hierarch of the Sakya school, founded in 1073. His Holiness's root teachers were the abbots of Ngor Monastery, Ngawang Lodro Shenpen Nyingpo and Kansar Shabdrung, Lama Ngawang Lodro Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, the great Nyingma yogi Dodrupchen Rinpoche, Phende Khenpo, Sakya Khenpo Jampel Sangpo, Deshung Rinpoche, and the head of the Tsar tradition, Chogye Trichen Rinpoche.
I studied Buddhist philosophy with Geshe Dorji Damdul.
He studied at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, Gyudmed Tantric College, and Cambridge University in the UK. He holds the Geshe Lharampa degree (Ph.D.), which he earned at Drepung Loseling Monastic University.
Geshe Dorji Damdul's teacher was Geshe Yeshe Thabkhe Rinpoche. He was born in 1930 in Lhokha, Central Tibet, and became a monk at Drepung Loseling Monastery at the age of thirteen. After completing his studies in 1969, he was awarded the highest academic degree in the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism – Geshe Lharampa. In 1972, Rinpoche received the title of Professor of the Indian tradition of Buddhist philosophy at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies. Rinpoche is considered one of the most outstanding scholars of both the Madhyamaka tradition and Indian Buddhism in general. He taught at the School of Buddhist Philosophy in Leh (Ladakh) and at Sanskrit University in Sarnath.
I studied Buddhist philosophy with Geshe Ngawang Samten.
He received a master's degree from the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS) in Sarnath and then the Geshe Lharampa degree from Ganden Monastery in India. Geshe Ngawang Samten worked as an assistant professor in the research department and later as a professor in the department of Buddhist philosophy at CIHTS. From 2001, he held the position of Director and Vice-Chancellor of this institute for over 20 years. He has also been a visiting professor at universities in the USA, Australia, and Austria.
In 2009, the President of India awarded him the Padma Shri, one of the country's highest civilian awards, in recognition of his contributions to education and literature. In 2016, the Government of India honored Geshe Ngawang Samten with the Vesak Sammam award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the preservation, development, and promotion of Indian philosophy, art, and culture both in India and abroad, as well as his immense contribution to the propagation of Buddhist studies and the creation of academic institutions.
I also learn from the lectures of contemporary teachers such as:
Geshe Yonden Sodnam
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Dr. Alan B. Wallace
The 14th Dalai Lama
Mingyur Rinpoche
Dr. Alexander Berzin
Pema Chödrön
Thubten Chodron
I study the Pali Canon extensively and in detail.
