Basic Program — Nalanda Monastery

FPMT Basic Program

five-year residential & online program

2023 - 2028

About the Program

Upcoming FPMT Basic Program in 2023 The next BP with Geshe Jamphel will start in September 2023.

Brief introduction

Nalanda’s FPMT Basic Program is a five-year full-time comprehensive course of study, discussion and meditation based upon sutra and tantra texts traditionally studied in the Tibetan Buddhist Gelug tradition, culminating with a three month retreat. As a full-time residential program in a monastic setting, Nalanda is able to offer a unique approach to study and meditation to both Western monastics and committed lay practitioners.

The program has been specifically designed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to provide a balanced approach to the combination of academic education and the practice of meditation that characterise the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, making the study and understanding of the philosophical subjects of immediate and practical benefit. The FPMT Basic Program has been structured around a schedule of teachings, review classes, and discussion groups alternated with meditation retreats so as to encourage the integration of the teachings into one’s practice with the purpose of gaining a personal experience of them.

This program is ideally suited for those who consider ordination as a life-long commitment. The focused approach of a five year full-time residential study program will give students the opportunity to integrate practical Buddhadharma into their lives rather than just on an intellectual level.

Students who graduate from the program by fulfilling all BP completion requirements, including attendance, behaviour, service, retreat and meditation, and tests and the final exam, are eligible for the FPMT registered teacher procedure, and can serve in FPMT centers and programs in various capacities.

Program Curriculum

Download detailed English version

Download detailed French version

Download detailed Spanish version

BP Staff

Geshe Losang Jamphel

Course Teacher

Geshe Jamphel was born in a small village outside Lhasa, Tibet in 1960. After ordaining as a monk at the age of 19 in 1979, he fled Chinese-controlled Tibet for India to further his studies in 1982. While originally intending to join the recently re-established Ganden Monastery, after a meeting with High Holiness Dalai Lama upon arriving in India, Geshe-la decided instead to join Sera Je Monastery. After completing his formal studies of Sutra at Sera Je and attending Gyuto Tantric college for one year, Geshe-la was awarded the Geshe Lharampa degree in 1999. The Geshe Lharampa degree is the highest recognition of scholastic knowledge in the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Months after completing his tantric 1studies, Geshe Jamphel arrived at Nalanda Monastery in the Winter of 2000 to assume the title of resident teacher. At that time, there were few monks and no formal curriculum of studies. However, after the completion of expanded facilities in 2007 and a years-long campaign of loving encouragement by Geshe-la, Nalanda commenced its first FPMT Basic Program in 2008. In addition to teaching this Basic Program and many other shorter teachings, Geshe-la has taught an FPMT Masters Program from 2014 to 2020 and an extensive commentary on the Calm Abiding and Special Insight chapters of Lama Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim Chenmo in 2021-22. In addition to teaching at Nalanda, Geshe-la travels frequently to Barcelona to give teachings at Centro Nagarjuna, another FPMT-affiliated center. Geshe-la was appointed abbot of Nalanda Monastery in 2007 by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Venerable Sonam Tharchin

Tibetan – English interpreter

Born in Munich, Germany, Venerable Tarchin was ordained as a monk in 1999. After studying Tibetan language in Dharamshala, India at the Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program, he has been translating for Geshe Jampel since 2005. He translated for Geshe-la during Nalanda’s first FPMT Basic Program from 2008 to 2012, Nalanda’s first Master Program from 2014 to 2020, the recent two-year Lamrim Chenmo commentary, and many other teachings. Venerable Tarchin shares, “What I like about Geshe-la’s teaching style is that he welcomes students to ask questions at any time during the teachings, and that he will often weave practical advice into the more intellectual subjects. Geshe-la makes the teachings very alive.” Venerable Tarchin was appointed director of Nalanda Monastery by Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 2021.

Chistophe Rotiel

English – French interpreter

Chistophe Rotiel has been studying at Nalanda since 2008, completing both the FPMT Basic Program and the FPMT Master Program. Since 2021, he has been serving as French translator for Geshe Jamphel’s commentary on the Calm Abiding and Special Insight chapters of the Lamrim Chenmo. A close student of Geshe Jamphel and a knowledgeable scholar in his own right, Nalanda is pleased to have Christophe translating for the upcoming FPMT Basic Program.

Gregory Vaugon

FPMT Basic Program Coordinator and French Teaching Assistant

Gregory Vaugon met Buddhism at the Kalachakra center in Paris, where he took refuge with Geshe Losang Jamphel. He travelled to Nepal and did the November course in 2007 at Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu. Returning to France he joined Nalanda Monastery and took novice ordination in 2008, completed the FPMT Basic Program 2008 – 2012 and helped with interpretation from English to French. In 2013 he decided to give back his monastic vows, then travelled to Indonesia where he worked as a French and English teacher and was exposed to various Buddhist traditions.

Since 2016 Gregory has interpreted from Tibetan to English and French in various Buddhist centers in Europe. He has kept contact with Nalanda and done various courses in the monastery. Now his wish is to continue to study the Dharma, train his mind and serve people and places that offer opportunities to learn and practice the Dharma.

Schedule

Weekly Schedule

English

Español

Download BP Detailed schedule in English

Download BP Detailed schedule in Spanish

Topics

En Español

Breakdown

Online BP

We are happy to offer an online study option. The online study platform includes live-streamed classes, review classes via Zoom and the possibility to meet and interact with other students. Root texts, commentaries, and a range of supplemental study materials are provided in English, French, and Spanish. Recordings of all teachings and Q&A sessions will be made available for students to listen to at any time. Online students will have a teaching assistant assigned specifically to them. In addition, they will have the option to send in questions for Geshe Jamphel to be read aloud during weekly question and answer sessions.

Online students wishing to attain a BP Home Study certificate from the FPMT are required to complete exams for every subject, a three-month final review, a final comprehensive exam, and a one-month Lamrim retreat.

Prices

	Scholarship	Standard	Sponsor	Monks & Nuns
	Monthly	Monthly	Monthly	Monthly
Single Room with shared bathroom	595 €	685 €	775 €	200 €
Double Room with shared bathroom	420 €	515 €	615 €	200 €
Non Residential Study without lunch	105 €	135 €	155 €	75 €
Non Residential Study with lunch	155 €	195 €	235 €	150 €
Study online	55 €	95 €	135 €	50 €

Click here for a breakdown of suggested donations.

Questions

Contact the Basic Program Coordinator at basic-program@nalanda-monastery.eu

FAQ

Who is the BP intended for?

The FPMT Basic Program is of interest to the majority of students regularly attending centers, in particular those who are ready to commit themselves to long-term study and meditation. The program is less academic and demanding than the traditional Geshe Studies or the Masters Program, and can be followed residentially or online.

What is so "basic" about it?

The BP offers a good, all round, basic Dharma training covering to some degree, all aspects of the teachings. It’s an excellent basis for further practice or study.

What can I expect from the BP?

If all components are successfully completed, students should have developed a good understanding of the Dharma and its application to daily life. They should also have learned how to meditate. This will be a good basis for more advanced study, retreat or less formal practices, such as social service informed by a Buddhist world view. Students may also go on to assist with programs in centres, leading discussions and meditations, for example, or in some cases even teach.

Reflections on the BP...

"A very interesting and varied program set in the beautiful grounds of Nalanda Monastery in the South of France. The curriculum comprises beautiful classical texts such as Shantideva´s “Way of the Bodhisattva”; inspiring texts such as the “Sublime Continuum” that proves we all have the potential to reach the highest levels on the spiritual path, through to the more technical texts such as “Buddhist Tenets” or “Mind and Mental Factors”, that makes us look at the complexity of our own minds.

Our teacher, Geshe Jamphel, has lived in the West for over 20 years and is able to communicate with us in three different languages, although he still prefers to teach in Tibetan – much easier for him as he did his studies in his own language. Back in Sera-Je (his monastery in India) he is well-known for the sharpness of his debating skills, having attained his degree with the highest honors. Geshe-la is translated by Ven Tharchin, who knows how to convey what is being taught with accuracy which is often coupled with a great sense of humor as well! There´s actually nothing “basic” in this five-year program, as it slowly leads us to think about ourselves and the world around us while looking at these foundational texts, which themselves trace their origins to the great masters from ancient Nalanda monastery in India centuries ago. Studying, going to review classes and discussing with our colleagues causes us to increase our confidence: not just in ourselves, but also in the dharma, because we begin to see how it works!

In all, a great opportunity for coming to join this group of people from different cultures and backgrounds to discover what this rich Tibetan spiritual tradition has to offer to anyone looking to deepening their spiritual path. "

"In 2008, I had the chance to join Nalanda Monastery to study the FPMT Basic Program with Geshe Jamphel.

This was an incredible opportunity to study the Dharma full-time and go deeper. At the time I was doubtful of the need to go so far in the study but Geshe Jamphel and Ganden Tri Rinpoche insisted on the importance of the study, so I pursued these studies until the end and then did the three-month retreat.

Today, having also completed the FPMT Masters Program, I can say with certainty that studying these precious texts in depth with Geshe Jamphel, who has dedicated his whole life to the study of the Dharma, was an essential experience for my practice. The wisdom of study is the preliminary to the wisdom of contemplation, which is the preliminary to the wisdom of meditation, and this program integrates these different aspects.

I thank Geshe -la and the monastery from the bottom of my heart for this rare and precious opportunity."