Basic Program

	Learning Dharma means less ignorance and more wisdom. It means more light in your life, no darkness in your mind. It means you have more freedom in your life to achieve liberation from samsara and great enlightenment. The more you understand Dharma, the more you can benefit others.
–Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Some of Tibetan Buddhism’s most treasured texts form the heart of the Basic Program. Je Tsongkhapa’s Middling Lam-Rim, Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacharyavatara, the Heart Sutra, Jetsun Chökyi Gyältsen’s Tenets, Maitreya’s Ornament and Tathagata Essence, the Wheel of Sharp Weapons and others guide the practitioner through a comprehensive study of sutra and tantra.

The Basic Program is a five-year, twelve-subject course of studies designed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. It provides a practice-oriented transmission of the Buddhadharma to committed students ready to progress beyond introductory-level study and practice. Its comprehensive curriculum greatly enhances students’ Dharma understanding, establishing a sound basis for ongoing study, practice, retreat and service. FPMT centers worldwide offer the program at a variety of levels; it is also available as a homestudy program.

How it Works

The Basic Program is taught by Tibetan geshes and qualified Western teachers. Study of the standard texts and commentaries is ideally supported by discussions, tests, meditation and short retreats. Students must follow the Basic Program criteria for conduct over the course of their studies: practicing to refrain from killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct (adultery) and intoxicants, while developing their concern for others, awareness of positive and negative states of mind, and in particular developing the practice of patience and the bodhicitta motivation. A review period concluded by the final exam and three months of lam-rim retreat complete the program.

Students may enter the Basic Program at the beginning of subjects as indicated by individual centers. Upon fulfillment of the requirements set by the center and having passed the test for a subject, the Basic Program completion card is signed. When at least the nine subjects of the core curriculum are completed, students may participate in the final exam.

The lam-rim retreat may be done before or after the exam, but should be done after studying the Stages of the Path. Lama Zopa Rinpoche strongly encourages students to do a three-month retreat all at once, but if this is not possible, three separate months of lam-rim retreat fulfill the requirement.

Upon completion of the final exam and retreat, students are awarded the Basic Program completion certificate. Graduates become eligible to serve as teachers and tutors for FPMT education programs.

Homestudy Program

The Basic Program Homestudy series offers the entire curriculum by way of video, audio, or transcript, complete with a wealth of course materials, retreats, discussions, guided meditations, and so forth. By presenting teachings offered at a variety of Basic Program centers, students who cannot study at a center get to know several of our outstanding Basic Program teachers.

Basic Program Homestudy students may study any subjects in any order they wish. If they wish to receive the homestudy completion certificate, the tests that are provided may be sent to FPMT Education Services for grading, and a homestudy completion card is provided. Upon successful completion of at least the nine core curriculum subjects, homestudy students may take the final exam.

While the homestudy completion certificate does not carry any qualification to teach in FPMT centers, homestudy students are encouraged to engage in all components of the program: the behavior criteria, the meditation (at least two half-hour lam-rim meditations per week) and retreat requirement (a one-month lam-rim retreat).

Basic Program Homestudy students discuss BP topics with each other via an online bulletin board, which is monitored by Western Basic Program teachers. The Basic Program FAQ pages help students navigate the program.

To benefit from Basic Program Homestudy, some experience with Dharma study, meditation practice, and skill in doing individual retreat are needed. There are also specific requirements for the tantra subjects. See the Preparatory Study and Practice page to decide if Basic Program Homestudy is right for you!

Basic Program Homestudy is available from The Foundation Store. Some centers offer homestudy alongside their Basic Programs as well.

	I'm finding the Mahayana Mind Training a pretty earth-moving subject. This is a brilliant example of Dharma as a mirror and it is giving me plenty to work on. Venerable George's commentary is crystal clear and his teaching style is very effective. I highly recommend this package.
–BP Homestudy student

The Basic Program Subjects

The Basic Program curriculum was designed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to ensure that students who want to study beyond the introductory level will gain a profound knowledge of the key aspects of the entire Buddhist path. Check out the subject description page for a more detailed description of each of the Basic Program subjects!

Basic Program students study:

• Stages of the Path:  the stages of the path to enlightenment of beings of low, middling, and great capacity
• Heart Sutra: emptiness and the phenomena qualified by it
• Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds: the six perfections – generosity, morality, patience, joyous effort, concentration, and wisdom – and how to practice them in everyday life
• Mahayana Mind Training (Wheel of Sharp Weapons): the law of actions and results, or karma, and the states of mind that shape our future experiences
• Sublime Continuum:  the buddha or tathagata essence that exists within every sentient being
• Mind and Cognition: the way the mind knows phenomena and the mental factors that constitute the basis of our daily experience
• Tenets: the philosophical systems or tenets of the four main schools of ancient Buddhist thought
• Ornament for Clear Realizations and Seventy Topics: the 173 aspects of the enlightened or omniscient mind
• Grounds and Paths of Secret Mantra; Death, Intermediate State and Rebirth; and the Highest Yoga Tantra commentary:  the four classes of tantra with emphasis on the generation and completion stages of highest yoga tantra

The Basic Program subjects may be studied in any order; however, the Stages of the Path (lam-rim) provides the overall context for the other subjects and for meditation practice throughout. Understanding Tenets and Mind and Cognition will help with the ninth chapter of Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds, and Seventy Topics and Ornament will be difficult without studying the other subjects first. The tantra subjects should not be attempted without a good overall understanding and practice of the path.

Highlighted subjects are currently available as homestudy packages. Subjects not yet available as homestudy are planned to be released within the next few years.

FPMT Centers Offering the Basic Program

Australia
Buddha House, South Australia
Chenrezig Institute, Eudlo, Queensland
Vajrayana Institute, Sydney

Brazil
Centro Shiwa Lha, Rio de Janeiro

Czech Republic
Dompipa Study Group, Dolni Podluzi

France
Institut Vajra Yogini, Southern France
Kalachakra Centre, Paris
Nalanda Monastery, Southern France

Germany
Aryatara Institute, Munich

Italy
Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Pomaia, Tuscany

Nepal
Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu

The Netherlands
Maitreya Instituut Amsterdam
Maitreya Instituut Emst

Russia
Aryadeva Study Group, St. Petersburg

Singapore
Amitahba Buddhist Center

Spain
Nagarjuna C.E.T. Madrid , Madrid
Nagarjuna C.E.T. Barcelona, Barcelona
Nagarjuna C.E.T. Valencia, Valencia
O.sel.ling Centro de Retiros, Orgiva (Granada)

Taiwan
Shakyamuni Center, Taichung

United States
Guhyasamaja Center, Washington DC
Gyalwa Gyatso Buddhist Center, Silicon Valley, California
Kadampa Center, Raleigh, North Carolina
Ksitigarbha Study Group, Taos, New Mexico
Kurukulla Center, Boston, Massachusetts
Land of Medicine Buddha, Soquel, California
Liberation Prison Project, San Francisco, California
Thubten Norbu Ling, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Tse Chen Ling, San Francisco, California

CD-ROM for Centers

A CD-ROM with guidelines, translations of standard texts, study materials and Tibetan texts is available to FPMT centers wishing to implement the Basic Program. It is available  from the Foundation Store for FPMT center staff and teachers only. For more general information about this program please write to education@fpmt.org.