Benefits of the Nagarjuna Training Institute (NTI) courses

> The students come from some of the most deprived and oppressed situations in India, often with a feeling of no hope whatsoever. After a year of Dhamma practice most feel completely transformed, with a new vision of life, and the Dhamma tools to work on it.

> The confidence in the Dhamma and Dr. Ambedkar’s great vision they develop during the year gives them energy to share what they have learnt with many others in their villages and towns.

> The different Scheduled caste communities in India do not usually cooperate with each other, even after they have become Buddhists. At the Nagarjuna Institute they relate to each other just as Buddhists and not in terms of the caste they have come from. This in itself is an enormous contribution to a truly democratic society. The intensive practice for a year with other Buddhists from all over India means they cease to identify with the old untouchable caste but just as Buddhists.

> The ex-students make up a network covering over 19 states in India. This is the basis for organising local activities, retreats and lecture tours, making a very significant contribution to the development of Buddhism in these States.

> Many have started social projects. A group of the first students started two hostels in Tamil Nadu for children who suffered from the Tsunami.

Nagaloka Premises

Nagaloka has also been developed as a centre for interaction between Buddhist followers of Dr.Ambedkar, Buddhists from different backgrounds in India and Buddhist from abroad. Dr. Ambedkar saw Buddhism as a means of bringing about social change based on individual practice. However his followers come from the poorest and most socially deprived sections of Indian society and have little or no resources themselves. They are by and large isolated from other Buddhists in India and from the wider Buddhist world. In India this is due largely to the history and circumstances of their conversion. The cause of this isolation is due to poverty on their behalf which inhibits their travel to the wider Buddhist world and ignorance on the part of others due to lack of communication. As a result most of the newly converted Buddhistshave had little contact with other Buddhists. If they do experience positive contact with other Buddhists they have an enormous amount to gain from a sense of brother and sisterhood, and the confidence that that brings. Other Buddhists have just as much to gain from contact with them, in the figure and approach of Dr. Ambedkar, in his conviction that Buddhism could bring about a social revolution, and in the energy and inspiration of so many of his Buddhist followers. Every year Nagaloka has many visitors from abroad, especially from UK, Taiwan, Korea and Europe. Some of them come to attend festivals, others come to help teach the Dhamma.

Nagaloka is situated on a 15 acres campus just outside Nagpur. On the campus there are the following buildings, all designed combining modern architecture with the ancient Buddhist style.

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