Basic Program

five-year residential & online program

About the Program

The Nalanda 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 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 centres and programs in various capacities.

Also available online

We are happy to offer an online study 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

"Those who are going to focus on studying, engaging in intensive study, should put all their effort, all their strength, into doing the studies, and they should have the aim of engaging in very high quality study. In general, when someone tries to find out if a monastery is a good monastery or a not-so-good monastery, he will not make this judgment on the basis of whether this monastery is rich or wealthy, but rather, he will judge it on the basis of whether the studies are going well, if the studies at that monastery are of high quality. So, we should have and protect this vision that in the future this place will be labelled or called the University of Nalanda. In Tibetan Buddhism study is regarded as very important in order to understand reality. This is especially emphasised in the Gelug tradition. At Nalanda we focus on studying key Buddhist texts and integrating our studies with actual experience."

Geshe Losang Jamphel

Abbot of Nalanda

Upcoming Basic Program The next BP will start from January 2023.

Program Curriculum

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 review
Final exam
Three-month lamrim retreat

The BP subject descriptions offer a more detailed description of each of these Basic Program subjects.

How to join

Although the ongoing program is drawing to an end, you can still join us as a resident or online student.

If you consider joining the current BP or the one starting in 2023, please send a message to director@nalanda-monastery.eu.

FAQ

Who is the BP intended for?

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 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.