Programs Intermediate/Advanced Courses

Intermediate/Advanced 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 and Advanced courses assume a solid understanding of the Lam-Rim and acceptance onto these courses these pre-requisites:

One should have participated in a 10-day residential introductory course to Tibetan Buddhism, such as those offered at Tushita Meditation Centre and Kopan Monastery (or similar Lam Rim studies and practice).

Or completed both parts of Tushita’s online program (as offered from March 2020 – March 2022):

The links, above, take you to Youtube playlists of the 10th instance of these courses in March – April, 2022. Recordings of all instances are linked from Programs > Online Program.

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 Intermediate/Advanced Courses

Typical Schedule

Example Intermediate/Advanced Course Schedule
DAY 1 – CHECK-IN
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 – CHECKOUT
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

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

Guidelines for Behaviour

Rules of Discipline
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).
Basic Course Discipline
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 Etiquette
“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).

 

Registration

  • To register for an intermediate or advanced course, please read ALL of the above and below information about the course.
  • Then complete the online registration form in the Registration section of this website.
  • Please don’t email just to ask about availability on the course; there will be enough space (unless indicated on our homepage that this course is full or has a waiting list), and you’ll save both yourself and Tushita volunteers time and effort by just completing the form.
  • For our student’s convenience and to make the Dharma teachings as accessible as possible we keep this registration process as simple as possible.
    Unfortunately up to 50% of the people who register don’t show up for courses! This results in long waiting list and a lot of uncertainty.
    Therefore places on our Intermediate and Advanced courses and group retreats will now be confirmed only after a non-refundable / non-transferable (to different course or person) deposit is received from the applicant. See this FAQ for more information.
  • If after being confirmed for a course you realize you cannot attend this course please let us know asap about your cancellation, so we can give your spot to somebody else. In case you Confirm and then don’t show up to the course, you will be considered as a “No Show”. After two “No Shows” you will be prohibited from registering for future courses. 
  • Check-in time is 1pm on the first day of the course. If you don’t arrive on time, 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.
Register Online

You can register by filling out our online form.

Please make sure you have read the information on this page first.