basic program
five-year residential & online program
about the program
The 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 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 a view to 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 at 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 final exam, are eligible for the FPMT registered teacher procedure, and can serve in FPMT centres and programs in various capacities.
Also available online
We are now happy to offer an online studying option. The online study platform includes live-streamed classes, all course materials, review classes via Zoom and the possibility to meet and interact with other students.
Encouragement for study
Program Syllabus
- Stages of the Path to Enlightenment
- Mahayana Mind Training
- Engaging in the Bodhisattvas Deeds
- Mind and Cognition
- Tenets
- The Tathagata Essence
- Heart Sutra
- Ornament of Clear Realisations
- Death, Intermediate State & Rebirth
- Grounds and Paths of Secret Mantra
- Three-months lamrim retreat
The BP subject descriptions offer a more detailed description of each of these Basic Program subjects.
how to join
Even though the program is already going on, you can still join us as a resident or online student.
If you consider joining current BP or the one starting in 2023, please drop a message to director@nalanda-monastery.eu.
FAQ
The Basic Program is of interest to the majority of students regularly attending centres, 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 part-time as well as full-time.
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.
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 practice such social service, informed by a Buddhist worldview. Students may also go on to assist with programs in centres, leading discussions or meditations, for example, or in some cases even teach.
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