Kadampa Study Programs
Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, founder of the New Kadampa Tradition, has designed three special Study Programs for the systematic study and practice of Kadampa Buddhism that are especially suited to the modern world: the General Program, Foundation Program, and Teacher Training Program. These programs help us develop our wisdom, cultivate a good heart and maintain a peaceful state of mind.
General Program
Basic Buddhist view and meditation.
General Program (GP) classes are held at Rameshori Buddhist Center and at our many neighborhood branch locations throughout the week. These classes provide a basic introduction to Buddhist view, meditation, and practice that is suitable for beginners and also includes advanced teachings and practices of both Sutra and Tantra.
Foundation Program
For intermediate and advanced students - some commitments required.
Dates: Sundays 4:30pm, resuming 9/6
Locations: Sandy Springs Cost: $70 per month (No one turned away for lack of funds)
Teachers: Resident Teacher Gen Kelsang Mondrub
The Foundation Program is a structured study program designed to enable the student to gain a deeper understanding and experience of Buddha's teachings. Geshe Kelsang has said,
"Our present understanding and experience of Dharma is quite superficial. We are like someone who has entered a huge food store and seen many things but sampled only a few. We may have received many different teachings from many different Teachers, but we have taken in very little, just a few morsels. Therefore our actual experience remains superficial. There is a gap between us and the Dharma. It feels as if Dharma is there and we are here. Our mind is not mixed with Dharma and so we cannot apply it in our daily lives. As a result our ordinary everyday problems remain.
For example, we may have received many teachings on Lamrim and read many books. Intellectually we find it relatively easy to understand and we accept it all, but we find it difficult to integrate into our daily lives, and so we cannot use this Dharma to solve our daily problems. When we study Dharma our mind remains passive, like someone watching television. It does not engage in the subject and mix with it. Therefore our daily life and our Dharma remain completely separate and unrelated. Why is this? It is because we are not studying systematically according to a specially designed program. If we just pick at Dharma randomly we will never gain a deep and stable experience, and our wisdom will never become like a full moon."
The Foundation Program is just such a program. With weekly reading assignments from the text, as well as discussions and meditations on the week's readings, The FP creates the conditions for us to develop deep inner experience of the teachings.
The Foundation Program is a systematic study of six texts by our teacher, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. These include:
- Joyful Path of Good Fortune - a commentary to Atisha's Lamrim instructions, the stages of the path to enlightenment.
- Universal Compassion - a commentary to Bodhisattva Chekhawa's Training the Mind in Seven Points.
- Heart of Wisdom - a commentary to the Heart Sutra.
- Meaningful to Behold - a commentary to Bodhisattva Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life.
- Understanding the Mind - a detailed explanation of the mind, based on the works of the Buddhist scholars Dharmakirti and Dignaga.
- Eight Steps to Happiness - a commentary to Bodhisattva Langri Tangpa's "Eight Verses of Training the Mind".
This September, we started the amazing book, Understanding the Mind by our Spiritual Guide and great Meditation Master and Scholar, Ven. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, so it's a perfect time to jump-in. Learn about the very thing that is creating your reality, creating you, your relationships, and your spiritual path...your own mind!
The Foundation Program, especially designed by Ven. Geshe Kelsang, is for those seeking more structure for their spiritual development and more commitment to their own spiritual path. This Program is the very heart of Rameshori Center. Drop-in to check it out.
Although everyone has a mind, most of us have only a vague understanding of its nature and function. Why is it necessary to understand our own mind? The reason is that all happiness and suffering depend on the mind, and so if we want to avoid suffering and find true happiness we need to understand how the mind works and use that understanding to bring our mind under control. Only in this way can we improve the quality of our life, both now and in the future.
The first part of the book explains the nature and function of the different types of mind, and how we develop and increase knowledge and understanding. The second part of the book explains primary minds and mental factors. Here the emphasis is on distinguishing virtuous states of mind from non-virtuous states of mind so that we can cultivate the former and abandon the latter.
If you are sincerely interested in making your spiritual practice an important part of your life, please consider the Foundation Program. If our spiritual practice remains weak and unstructured, we will never achieve the results we desire.
For those wishing to join the Foundation Program, you may attend up to three classes before deciding if you want to join the Program. Unlike the General Program classes we offer, participating in the Foundation Program does entail some commitments. Please contact our Foundation Program Coordinator to learn more.
Class Structure
The Foundation Program class meets each week, Sundays at 4:30pm. Students are also strongly encouraged to attend the Wishfulfilling Jewel puja on Sundays from 3:00pm - 4:00pm. The class schedule is:
| 4:30 - 5:15 | Prayers and Meditation Practice |
| 5:15 - 6:15 | Oral Transmission and Commentary |
| 6:15 - 6:45 | Break |
| 6:45 - 7:30 | Renew Motivation, Oral Transmission and Commentary |
| 7:30 - 8:00 | Paired Discussion |
| 8:00 - 8:15 | Group Discussion, Method of Integration and Meditation |
| 8:15 - 8:30 | Class Announcements and Dedication Practice |
The fee is $70 per month for the Foundation Program (at the Center or by correspondence). This monthly course fee also entitles FP students to discounts for other events and to attend General Program classes at no additional charge. No one is turned away for lack of funds; to arrange alternative payment arrangements, please contact our Foundation Program Coordinator.
Foundation Program via Correspondence
If you live far outside Atlanta, or for valid reasons cannot attend study class every week, yet you would like to sincerely participate in the Foundation Program, please contact our Education Program Coordinator to register or for more information about the Correspondence Program.