Buddhist meditation, psychology & philosophy

For this course you need to register via our website

A Two-Year Journey in the Common and Uncommon Preliminary Practices

Introduction to FPMT Ngöndro Lamrim Training
The Lamrim - "Stages of the Path" in Tibetan - is a systematic presentation of the entire Buddhist path to Awakening, written by the great Tibetan master Je Tsongkhapa in the 14th and early 15th century, based on writings of the Indian master Atisha. It arranges every essential teaching of the Buddha into a single, coherent, graduated sequence tailored to your mind, exactly as it is right now. Its true power lies not in study alone, but in practice. Each teaching is carefully arranged to meet the mind where it is and guide it-step by step-toward genuine change.
The uncommon preliminary practices (ngöndro) are powerful methods to purify the mind and prepare it for lasting transformation.
Over a period of two years, the FPMT Ngöndro Lamrim Training (NLRT) offers 16 months of training in the common and uncommon preliminary practices. The training is designed to generate the motivation that supports the development of calm abiding, special insight, and tantra. By cultivating the inner qualities needed to ease unskillful patterns of mind that are the cause of hindrances on the path, it facilitates deep transformation.

Aims
The training helps establish a consistent daily meditative practice in support of its overall aim: to engage in contemplative meditation in a way that genuinely transforms the mind's outlook on the world and gives one's life a new direction. Students gain a deep understanding of how to accumulate merit and purify unskillful karma while cultivating a healthy relationship with the Three Jewels and their teacher. The emphasis is on learning to meditate in a personally tailored way, in accordance with one’s psychological makeup and life conditions.

About the teacher
Venerable Losang Gendun has spent nearly four decades in Buddhist practice, and has been living as a fully ordained gelong in the Tibetan tradition for the past twenty years. His training spans ten years of monastic study across France, India, Nepal, and Myanmar, and more than four years in solitary retreat in the Tibetan Mahayana and the Burmese Theravāda traditions.
For the past eighteen years he has taught Buddhist philosophy, psychology, and meditation worldwide within FPMT, serving the vision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. In 2023, as a gesture of gratitude to his teachers, he founded The Buddha Project (TBP), offering long-term guidance for serious meditators.

Who is it for?
The training is designed for students with a solid grounding in the Lamrim or an equivalent Dharma background - particularly for those seeking structured support in their practice, for those preparing for śamatha, vipaśyanā, and especially tantra, or for those encountering challenges in their meditative practice. While not a prerequisite, the training forms an excellent preparation for the FPMT In-Depth Meditation Training.

Format
The NLRT teaching sessions are prerecorded. Each week, a 90-minute teaching together with 2 guided meditations are uploaded. On other days, advanced students contribute additional guided meditations. The teacher, Venerable Gendun, offers regular online Q&A sessions.

Introduction
Join us in studying the special techniques of mind training (lojong) that allow us to transform problems into happiness. Together we will discuss the profound statement by Lama Zopa Rinpoche that we should “learn to like problems as much as ice cream” and explore how this remarkable statement can be implemented through wise and insightful techniques. We will explore the disadvantages of self-centeredness and the immense advantages of cherishing others.
🎥 - Click here for an introduction to the topic

Discovering Buddhism is designed for people who wish to gain basic knowledge on and/or deepen their understanding of the key Buddhist concepts. You do not need to be a Buddhist or have previous knowledge.

Annelies van der Heijden
Annelies is a Dutch, registered FPMT teacher and qualified mindfulness teacher. She is actively involved with the Maitreya Institute and with the FPMT organization since 1997. She has been a teacher for many years and facilitates program activities at both the Maitreya Institute in The Netherlands and within the FPMT organization worldwide. She has a background as a dietician, shiatsu therapist and yoga teacher.

For this training you need to register via our website.

Introduction
The Way of the Bodhisattva or The Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (the Bodhicaryavatara), Master Shantideva’s stunning missive, is one of Buddhism’s most cherished and transformative texts. It is a rare blend of wisdom, courage, radical compassion, and unapologetic honesty about what it means to serve others in a messy, complicated world. Across centuries, practitioners have returned to this text not only for insight, but for orientation:

• How do we keep our hearts open when life is difficult?
• How do we work for the benefit of others without burning out?
• How do we walk the Bodhisattva path with steadiness, spaciousness, and clarity?

This ongoing evening course, taught by Ven. Amy Miller, offers a fresh, accessible commentary on Shantideva’s teachings, making them immediately relevant to modern practitioners—especially those who have taken the Bodhisattva vows or who dedicate their lives to helping others. Even if you’ve done the Basic Program course on this text, Ven. Amy presents a practical approach with exercises, meditations, and reflections to further assist students.

Ven. Amy Miller
Ven. Amy is an international Buddhist traveling teacher and nun. She is well known for her way of teaching making the Buddhist wisdom easily available to students by connecting it to our daily lives.