2 Years Practice Program & Online Study

Meditation, Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy and Psychology

Petit Nalanda ( Galerie Photos )

*Sunday June 08 will be the free Information Meeting about this New Program starting in next September!

*Online Program

• INTRODUCTORY PART over 3 months (12 weeks)

  PART 1 over 5 months (21 weeks)

  PART 2 over 5 months (21 weeks)

  PART 3 over 4 months (16 weeks)

This comprehensive two-year program will be offered again in 2025 due to its popularity. Your pre-registration now will allow us to create a new cohort of students and consider a Zoom information session initially, followed by scheduled dates.

Presentation 

The Buddha's teaching is so vast and profound; it was passed down from teacher to student until the development of the great Nalanda University in India, which had 10,000 students at one time. Subsequently, the teachings were transmitted to Tibet and thanks to the intervention of the Tibetan master Tsongkhapa in the 14th and 15th centuries, such systems of study were organized in Tibet as well. They were transmitted to the great masters of our time such as H.H. the Dalai Lama. Furthermore, the Tibetan master Lama Samten came to Canada for the first time more than 20 years ago, and seeing the keen interest of Western students, decided to establish a program of study and practice following the same tradition followed at Gajang Monastery, but adapted for lay Westerners. The monks study for almost 20 years, but the program that Lama Samten developed contains the essence of all this.

2 Years Complete Practice Program

INTRODUCTORY PART over 3 months (12 weeks)

The introductory portion of the course (Understanding Emotions, Meditation for Mental Calm, and Steps on the Path to Happiness: Introduction to Lamrim) will be 50 hours long and will last three months. This introductory portion will begin in 2025. You can participate in this training without planning to complete the full course. A Zoom information session will be held soon for those interested.

This 3-month introductory course (50 hours over 12 weeks) online for France and in-person in Terrebonne, Quebec, will cover the foundation and basics of the essential teachings of meditation and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy offered for several years in the Paramita Center program. Each class will include the teachings as well as meditation periods. If you miss a class, replays will be sent by email.

However, this 3-month introductory part is intended to be a summary of the complete study program of the Paramita Center. You will then have the opportunity to continue the complete program online with elective courses or with the continuation of the complete training in a more in-depth way over 1 year and a half (organized in 3 other parts; two of 5 months and one of 4 months) which will continue in September 2023!!

This is a unique and rare opportunity to participate in all the core courses continuously and thus progress with the same group throughout this period, all in the comfort of your home and without having to stop your usual daily activities. You will be able to immerse yourself in the teachings of meditation, psychology and Buddhist philosophy, accompanied by qualified teachers who will guide you and who can answer your questions.

Session One – Introductory Program: Mind, Emotions, Meditation & Buddhist Philosophy – 45 hours

Every Monday and Wednesday, from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM & 

Once a month, Saturday morning from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Dates: Sept 8th to Dec 3rd (no course on Oct. 13th and 15th), plus one Saturday in September, October and November (dates to be decided)

Participation for the Session One (45 hours) is 350$ CAN

You can register for this program here: https://www.buddhistmeditationtoronto.org/events/meditation-buddhist-philosophy-online-study-practice-program

This first session will include 3 parts:

1. Mind and Emotions (Foundations of Buddhist Psychology) - 15 hours

The Buddha explains that the nature of the mind is clear and luminous, without any impurities. The temporary disturbing emotions that obscure this nature are distinct from it and can be eliminated. In this section, we will explore the world of our emotions, our minds, and the happiness and well-being we can all find in our daily lives.

Text for this lesson: Happiness from Day to Day.

2. Meditation (Introduction to Calm Abiding: How to Bring Calm to Our Mind) - 15 hours

There are several types of meditation. Here, we will explore and practice fundamental meditation, the starting point for our inner peace: meditation for calm abiding (shamatha). We will discuss preparations for meditation, the conditions conducive to calm abiding, posture, breathing, and obstacles to calm abiding and how to overcome them, among other things. We will also study this traditional image.

Study text: How to Meditate.

3. The Path to Happiness by Stages (Lamrim: Complete Teachings of Buddhist Philosophy) - 15 hours

This section will be an introduction to all the topics that will be covered in more detail in the second part (see below).

Study text: The Essence of the Path to Enlightenment.

Main part of the program – Sessions 2, 3 & 4

These are the topics to be covered in Sessions Two, Three and Four. Exact timings, dates and schedule will be provided later.

Session Two: The Buddhist Path to Happiness, Step by Step (Deepening Lamrim: 3 Levels of Happiness, Steps to Achieving It) – 100 hours

In this part, we will study Lamrim in detail, which includes all the topics presented by the Buddha, which makes it possible to achieve three categories of happiness: temporary happiness, ultimate happiness of Nirvana, and ultimate happiness of Enlightenment.

The topics that will be covered include: the precious of human life, impermanence, protection (refuge), karma, the Four Noble Truths, love, compassion, the Mind of Enlightenment, the paramitas, calm abiding, and special insight (shamatha and vipashyana), among others.

Text: The Essence of the Path to Enlightenment

Session Three: Buddhist Psychology & Buddhist Philosophy and Vision – 75 hours

In this section, we will study the mind and all the mental factors that accompany the mind in more detail. This provides a deep understanding of how our mind functions. We will then examine in more detail how the inner path to happiness is constructed through the development of the five paths. Several philosophical elements that help us understand reality will then be discussed, according to the views of various Buddhist thinkers from four main Buddhist philosophical systems.

We will also study the 12 interdependent links to better understand how we spiral into samsara under the power of karma and delusions, as well as how to free ourselves from them.

We will also examine the 10 paramitas (transcendent qualities) that lead us to Buddhahood and how to cultivate them.

Text: Interdependence, Psychology & Philosophy in the Buddhist Path

Session Four: Calm-abiding, Special Insight and Death, Bardo & Rebirth – 50 hours

Deepening Calm Abiding: We will study in much greater detail the fundamental practice that allows us to achieve calm abiding (shamatha), supported here by the qualities of mind mentioned in the Lamrim.

Teachings on Special Insight (Vipashyana): Since the root of samsara and all our suffering is the false belief in an autonomous self, the Buddha's principal teaching is the one that frees us from it: special insight. Here, we will learn how to practice analytical meditation, which realizes emptiness, the absence of inherent existence, which liberates.

Death, Bardo, and Birth: We will study in detail these three fundamental processes that occur naturally and, when purified, produce the Three Kayas of a Buddha.

Texts:  1) How to Meditate, 2) Transcending Death