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.

Upcoming Courses

• For a listing of all our courses, please consult our Calendar of Events.

• Click here for a list of all our upcoming Intermediate-Level Course descriptions and dates.

Typical Schedule

(please note: all phenomena are impermanent - the exact schedule may vary slightly from course to course)

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.

• 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.

It is only possible to stay at Tushita if you are taking one of our residential courses/retreats or are an established Buddhist practitioner doing your own formal Buddhist retreat of a minimum of 10 days duration.

Since Tushita is a semi-monastic meditation centre and not a guesthouse, we ask all of our retreatants and visitors to observe the following rules of discipline in order to maintain an atmosphere conducive to inner reflection and meditation:

• Respect all life: do not intentionally kill any living being, even small insects.
• Respect others' property: do not steal or take anything not freely given.
• Be honest and straightforward: do not lie or intentionally deceive others. This is easy when observing silence!
• Be celibate: no sexual activity. This also includes no holding hands, hugging, massages and other physical displays of affection.
• Be alert and mindful: avoid intoxicants such as alcohol, drugs and cigarettes (we encourage you to stop smoking while here, but if this is impossible, one can smoke at a designated place within the centre boundary).
• Be considerate of others' silence: keep silence in the appropriate areas and at all times during residential courses, especially in the Gompa and the dormitories. No singing or playing music and in general, maintain a quiet demeanor while on the property.
• Be considerate of the monks and nuns: dress respectfully (please no shorts above the knee, tank-top shirts or tight and revealing clothing).

In order to keep the atmosphere conducive to inner reflection and spiritual pursuit and to minimise distractions during the course, students on our residential courses and retreats are asked to abide by our basic code of discipline listed below.

• Please settle all outside communication before the course begins. Telling friends and family that you will be out of contact for the duration of the course and sticking by that decision significantly reduces distraction from investigation into the workings of your own mind! Likewise, please settle your travel arrangements etc before you come to Tushita!
• You are expected to observe silence (no talking at all) from the evening of the first day until the end of the course.
• Do not leave Tushita property for the entire course.
• Participants must attend all sessions of the course and come to sessions on time.
• Please put all communication / entertainment devices (laptop / mobile phones /cameras / MP3/CD players) etc into our safe at check-in.
• Please be gentle in your behaviour and sensitive to fellow group members.

"Gompa" is a Tibetan word which we use for Meditation Hall. Because a Gompa is the location of study, meditation and devotional practices, Buddhists consider them to be holy places. In this tradition, the following modes of behaviour are considered respectful in a Gompa and we ask you to follow them while here:

• Do not point your feet towards the teachers, the altar or any holy object.
• Do not put Dharma materials – prayer books, texts, Dharma books or notebooks with Dharma in them – on the floor, or sit or step over them.
• Do not lie down or do any yoga exercises in the Gompa at any time.
• No idle chit-chat in the Gompa (ie. You can ask the teacher questions during class, but do not talk with other students).

Thank you so much for your support.