receive our newsletters
join Friends of FPMT
Berthe Jansen defending her dissertation, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands, February 2015. Photo by Bert Molenaar.
Director of Maitreya Instituut Amsterdam Paula De Wys-Koolkin shared this achievement from past Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Programme (LRZTP) graduate Berthe Jansen:
On February 24, 2015, Berthe Jansen was awarded her Ph.D. at Leiden University in a ceremony rich in tradition and attended by family, friends, geshes, lama colleagues and mentors. Although the formal procedure itself was beautiful and impressive, many of those present were most moved by the knowledge that Berthe had earned her degree through sheer hard work and perseverance.
Berthe was sponsored by Maitreya Instituut to follow the FPMT’s interpreter training course, LRZTP, in Dharamsala from 2003 to 2005, and she graduated at the top of her class. She then moved back to the Netherlands with her young daughter Pema to work as an interpreter for Maitreya Instituut. She did that for two years while also studying at Leiden University, where she received her BA in Languages and Culture of India and Tibet in 2008. She then went on to study Tibetan and Himalayan Studies at Oxford University, receiving her M.Phil. with distinction in 2010.
Returning to Leiden, she began work on her Ph.D., and successfully defended her thesis – The Monastery Rules: Buddhist Monastic Organization in Pre-modern Tibet – by answering questions put to her by a panel of eminent scholars and professors from several European universities.
The setting was perfect for these impressive proceedings. Leiden University was founded in 1575, and the wood paneled room lined with centuries-old portraits, and the gowned dignitaries presiding over the occasion, emphasized the achievement that began in Dharamsala more than 10 years before.
Since then, while working on her studies, she has found time to be a single mother, did linguistic counter-expertise for immigration lawyers, and has been a freelance interpreter of Tibetan for several Buddhist teachers, including His Holiness the the Dalai Lama, Amnesty International, lawyers and courthouses, Dutch television, and some Dutch documentaries.
In a letter she wrote after her graduation from LRZTP to Ven. Kaye Miner, then the director of Maitreya Instituut Emst, Berthe said:
“I will definitely pray for the success of the Maitreya Instituut, and for that matter, the whole of the FPMT, now and whilst in Tibet. And not to forget, I’m extremely grateful that the Maitreya Instituut gave me the opportunity to study with the LRZTP; it’s something I won’t lightly forget, and therefore I’m greatly indebted to the center, FPMT and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.”
Berthe Jansen defending her dissertation, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands, February 2015. Photo by Bert Molenaar.
Mandala brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read on Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.