Share your experience

Our guides explain the options. What students need most is the view from inside: what it was really like to study, teach or work there. If you have that experience, we’d love to hear it.

Have a chatEasiest

A relaxed 30–40 minute Zoom conversation. No preparation needed: we ask the questions, then turn it into a written interview and a few short clips for you to approve.

Or write

Prefer writing? Send a short article of 800 to 1,500 words, or answer the questions below and we’ll help shape it.

What we’re looking for

  • How you chose, applied for and paid for your programme
  • A year of learning Tibetan, Sanskrit, Pali or Classical Chinese
  • Life as a student at a shedra, monastery or university abroad
  • Advice from teachers for people starting out
  • Working or volunteering at a Dharma centre or retreat centre
  • Your route into translation, chaplaincy, publishing or research

How it works

  • A conversation is recorded (video or audio only, as you prefer) and becomes a written interview and a few short clips; it may also become a podcast episode.
  • If you'd rather write: 800 to 1,500 words in English. A rough draft is fine.
  • Your name, a one-line bio and, if you like, a photo and a link to your profile. Or stay anonymous.
  • Nothing goes live without your approval, and you can cut anything you like.
  • You're free to share or publish it elsewhere too. It's unpaid for now.
  • If you talk about an institution you work for or study at, we add a short note saying so.

The kind of questions we ask

In a chat we pick a few of these and follow the conversation. If you’re writing, answer the ones that fit, in as much or as little detail as you like.

If you studied there

  1. What were you looking for, and why did you choose this programme or place?
  2. How did you apply, and what helped (or what would you do differently)?
  3. How did you pay for it: scholarships, savings, work?
  4. What is a normal week like: classes, practice, study, life outside?
  5. What was harder or easier than you expected?
  6. What practical things should someone know: visas, housing, costs, health, language?
  7. What has it led to, or what are you doing next?
  8. One piece of advice for someone considering it.

If you teach

  1. What do students most often misunderstand when they start?
  2. What makes the difference between students who thrive and those who struggle?
  3. How should someone prepare in the year before they begin?
  4. Which resources (books, courses, dictionaries, teachers) do you recommend, and why?
  5. What can students realistically achieve in one, three and five years?
  6. Where does this study lead: careers, practice, translation, research?