Intermediate Courses
We are very happy to offer courses for students who are ready to explore Buddhist Philosophy even more deeply. These courses offer a rare opportunity to study specific topics or texts with experienced teachers in small groups - if you have the time, grab the opportunity!
These courses are for students who already have a fairly stable understanding of the core concepts within Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy; here at Tushita, our courses follow a traditional presentation of teaching known as the Lam-Rim (The Graduated Path to Enlightenment).
This is a systemized overview of Buddhist Philosophy and students of other traditions may not be familiar with some aspects of it. Therefore our Intermediate courses assume a solid understanding of the Lam-Rim and acceptance onto these courses has a pre-requisite of:
- Previous attendance at an Introduction to Buddhism course at Tushita, Root Institute, Kopan Monastery or a similar Lam Rim course or formal Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy equivalent.
If you do not have such experience, we will recommend that you take one of our excellent Introduction to Buddhism courses beforehand (equally appropriate for beginners as well as those with some background knowledge). This is also the case even if you have studied within another tradition; specifically, a 10-day Vipassana course is not sufficient preparation to take one of our Intermediate Level courses. If this applies to you, you may find this FAQ informative.
Typical Schedule
(please note that the exact schedule may vary slightly from course to course)
DAY 1
- 1:00pm Check-in
- 2:30pm Welcome and Introduction Talk
- 3:30 - 4:30pm Teaching Session 1
- 5:00 - 6:00pm Teaching Session 2
- 6pm Dinner
- 7:30 - 8:15pm Guided Meditation
COURSE DAYS
- 6:45 - 7:30 am Guided Meditation
- 7:30am Breakfast
- 9:00 - 10:00am Teaching Session 1
- 10:00 - 10:30am Break
- 10:30 - 11:45am Teaching Session 2
- 11:45am Lunch
- 2:00 - 3:00pm Teaching Session 3
- 3:00 - 3:30pm Tea Break
- 3:30 - 4:45pm Teaching Session 4
- 4:45 - 5:15pm Break
- 5:15 - 6:00pm Guided Meditation
- 6:00pm Dinner
- 7:30 - 8:15pm Guided Meditation
LAST DAY
- 6:45 - 7:30am Guided Meditation
- 7:30am Breakfast
- 9:00 - 9:45am What comes next? Talk
- 10:00 am Advice for further study/practice and Feedback session
- 12:00 - 1:00pm Picnic Lunch
- 1:00 - 3:00pm Check-out
Course Dates
For a listing of all of our courses, please consult our Calendar of Events.
Click here for a list of Intermediate Course dates.
Registration
To register for an Intermediate course, please read ALL of the above and below information about the course. Then complete the on-line registration form in the Registration section of this website or visit the Tushita Office. Please don't email just to ask about availability on the course; usually there is enough space even up to a few days before the course, and you'll save both yourself and Tushita staff save time and effort by just completing the form!
- Check-in time is 1pm on the first day of the course. If you arrive after 2pm, you may lose your place to people on the waiting list.
Please Note: Most of our accommodation is dormitory-style and rooms can NOT be booked in advance. We have a very small number of single rooms, and a very high demand for them. Please let us know if you are of a mature age (i.e. over 50) or have a physical condition which would prioritise you for a single room; although we can’t guarantee any particular kind of room, we will do what we can to make you comfortable given our limited resources. See this link for more information about how our room allocation system works. For other queries please visit Frequently Asked Questions.