FPMT Online Learning Center

The Seven-Limb Prayer is found in, and is the basis of, many practice texts, including The King of Prayers and Lama Chopa. This powerful method was taught by the Buddha as a means to accumulate merit and purify negativities, whereby we create the cause to experience every happiness up to enlightenment. In this module, Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches the benefits of each limb (Prostration, Offering, Confession, Rejoicing, Requesting to Remain, Requesting to Turn the Wheel of Dharma, and Dedication) and how to practice them in the most effective way.

In eleven short videos—extracted from the Light of the Path Retreat 2014—Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains step-by-step and very clearly what we need to do to achieve the realizations of the lamrim. A short guide and other helpful materials based on Rinpoche's teachings have been compiled to help put this advice into practice. 

In this module of Living in the Path, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gives a commentary to Atisha’s Light of the Path to Enlightenment during a series of retreats, called Light of the Path, held in North Carolina, USA. Currently Lama Zopa Rinpoche's  introduction to the text is available. Additional teachings will be added as the commentary progresses.

The foundation of the path to enlightenment is the realization of guru devotion – seeing the guru as a buddha. On the basis of this, one makes offerings, offers service, and, most importantly, obtains advice and follows it. There is no quicker path to enlightenment than this. In this module, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gives pith instructions for how to generate this realization and how to take advantage of the guru-disciple relationship for maximum benefit.

In this module, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gives teachings on the subject of the precious, or perfect, human rebirth and shows us how all our happiness comes from practicing Dharma.

In "Cutting the Concept of Permanence" Lama Zopa Rinpoche points out the big mistake we make in not keeping the reality of death present. Like most reflections on death, these teachings are meant to inspire us to use our precious human life well, right now, while we still have it. But in particular these teachings bring us to develop bodhichitta through engaging in the practice of tong-len, or "taking and giving." It involves imagining that we take others' suffering upon our self-cherishing and give our happiness to them, and is done for the purpose of developing compassion and love. 

This teaching is based on Pabongka Rinpoche’s Heart Spoon (or The Most Essential Advice): Encouragement Through Recollecting Impermanence, perhaps one of the most graphic and heart-wrenching poems on death ever written. It is also a strong admonishment to stop postponing our practice of virtue and use our lives well. As Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, without meditation on impermanence and death, we will continue to wait for the perfect conditions, thinking, “Not now, but later I will practice Dharma.”

In this module of Living in the Path, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains how everything comes from our mind: everything that appears to us comes from our karma (the mental factor intention) as well as from our mind labeling it and our mind projecting the hallucination of true existence on it. The teachings also include a variety of methods to help stop anger and develop patience based on understanding karma and emptiness.

In this module of Living in the Path, Lama Zopa Rinpoche shows us that mind and karma – rather than external conditions – are the source of all our happiness and suffering. Rinpoche bases this teaching on two verses from the Dhammapada taught by the Buddha as well as the following verse from Shantideva's Engaging in the Bodhisattva's Way of Life:

In Abandon Stretching the Legs, Lama Zopa Rinpoche reflects on a short verse that tells us to give up being lazy and thereby "Abandon stretching the legs," to understand the nature of samsara and samsaric pleasures and thereby "Give up entering samsara," and to do as "Vajrasattva, urges again and again" by generating bodhichitta and striving to achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.

In this module of Living in the Path, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains the essence of lojong, a Tibetan term often translated as “thought transformation” or “mind training,” which refers to practices for training the mind to use suffering and problems in the path to enlightenment, whereby we become able to transform kaka (suffering and problems) into gold (a method for attaining the lasting  happiness of full enlightenment). 

In this module of Living in the Path, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gives detailed and very clear teachings on the extremely important subject of emptiness, the realization of which is necessary to achieve both liberation from samara and full enlightenment. 

In this module of Living in the Path, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gives extensive teachings on how the I that appears to us and that we believe in is a TOTAL hallucination. It includes a wonderful debate with the Kopan November course teacher on not finding the merely labeled I anywhere. Rinpoche skillfully concludes the debate by saying: 

It doesn’t exist on the aggregates, but it exists down below the aggregates. According to you, your merely labeled I exists on your dingwa, down below your aggregates. So your aggregates are sitting on your merely labeled I! 

In short, you are sitting on your merely labeled I. There is your dingwa, there is your merely labeled I, and then your aggregates are sitting on [your merely labeled I]. So you have a double cushion: one is your dingwa and one is your merely labeled I, and your aggregates are sitting on them! 

In this module of Living in the Path, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains the meaning of an often recited verse: 

A star, a defective view, a flame,
An illusion, a drop of dew, a bubble,
A dream, a flash of lightning, a cloud:
See causative phenomena as such.

This verse, which comes toward the end of the Vajra Cutter Sutra, sets out nine analogies, five for impermanence and four for emptiness. In these teachings Rinpoche urges us to practice mindfulness in our daily lives of how we ourselves and all the objects of our attachment, anger, and ignorance are impermanent and empty of true existence. 

This course provides practical ways for thinking about and preparing for your own and others' death. It is suitable for anyone—Buddhist or not—who is interested in learning about death and dying from a Buddhist perspective. As a result of having done this course, you feel much more confident about facing your own death and also for helping others die. 

The course consists of five sessions of teachings, ten guided meditations, ten mindfulness practices to help keep the teachings in mind throughout the day, and many other materials to help you prepare for your own and others' death. The course book, Heart Advice for Death and Dying, includes teachings and meditations by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. How to Enjoy Death, also by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, is highly recommended additional reading.

The course is taught by Ven. Sangye Khadro, a senior American teacher of Tibetan Buddhism known for her engaging, gentle, and down-to-earth teaching style.

This is a free course where you can find everything you need to know if you want to take part in FPMT Basic Program Online:
- a brief introduction,
- the curriculum, including standard texts and subject descriptions,
- the prerequisites for successful study of BP Online,
- how to choose the order in which to study the BP Online subjects,
- how BP Online study is supported by discussion, meditation, short retreats and practice,
- an explanation of the certificate option and the BP Online completion requirements
- and an introduction to the BP subjects by Geshe Jampa Gyatso.

The study of mind, both in its valid and distorted forms, helps develop our understanding of the way the mind knows phenomena. A number of important themes are introduced, including the relationship between subject and object, supramundane (yogic) knowing and the connection between thought and reality. Venerable George Churinoff’s teachings for the FPMT Basic Program at Land of Medicine Buddha are based on Yongdzin Purbuchok’s Explanation of the Presentation of Objects and Object-Possessors as well as Awarenesses and Knowers.

The suggested amount of time needed to complete this subject is three months.

An introduction to Buddhist psychology, identifying the mental factors that constitute the basis of our daily experience and defining the various positive and negative emotions as well as the cognitive states relevant to practice of a liberative path. The FPMT Basic Program teachings by Venerable George Churinoff at Land of Medicine Buddha are based on Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen’s A Necklace for Those of Clear Awareness Clearly Revealing the Modes of Minds and Mental Factors.

The suggested amount of time needed to complete this course is three months.

The four main schools of Buddhist tenets represent the differing levels of interpretation of the sutras delivered by the Buddha. Kurukulla Center’s Geshe Tsulga gives a clear and practical commentary on Jetsün Chökyi Gyaltsen’s Presentation of Tenets, showing how the Madhyamaka teachings on profound emptiness and buddhahood evolve from and complement the more elementary teachings of the Vaibhasika, Sautrantika and Cittamatra schools.

This subject supports a gradual development of insight in emptiness. It is an essential preparation for understanding the wisdom chapters of the Basic Program subjects Stages of the Path and Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds.

The suggested amount of time needed to complete this subject is four and a half months.

The stages of the path of beings of small, middling, and great capacity are presented in a contemporary commentary to Lama Tsongkhapa’s Middle Length Explanation of the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, offered for the FPMT Basic Program at Nalanda Monastery, by the abbot, Geshe Losang Jamphel, and resident FPMT Basic Program teacher, Geshe Sonam Ngodrub. This subject is rich in guidelines for practical application and includes detailed instructions for meditation and retreat.

The aim of this FPMT Basic Program Online course is for students to acquire a thorough understanding and structured overview of Lama Tsongkhapa’s lamrim presentation, and to develop experience of applying these teachings in daily practice, meditation and retreat. Upon completion, students should be able to conduct their own lamrim retreats and to use the lamrim as a basis and context for their meditation, further study, and daily life experience.

The suggested amount of time to complete this subject is seven and a half months.

Please note that prior study of TENETS and AWARENESSES AND KNOWERS is recommended to facilitate a good understanding of the Calm Abiding and Special Insight sections, which constitute an important part of this text.

In this commentary, offered for the five year residential FPMT Basic Program at Nalanda Monastery, Geshe Sonam Ngodrub gives a detailed introduction to the modes of practice of the perfection of wisdom on the five Mahayana paths, as indicated by the Heart Sutra and its renowned mantra.

Completed with a short guided retreat, this course is aimed at acquiring a thorough understanding of the meaning of this precious text and the different levels of meditation on emptiness taught by it, while also deepening students’ own practice and explaining how to meditate on the Heart Sutra when engaging in the auspicious recitation of it.

The suggested amount of time needed to complete this subject is three months.

The Wheel of Sharp Weapons, composed by the great Indian yogi Dharmarakshita, is among the most esteemed of the celebrated mind training teachings. Mahayana training in perfect altruism is seen as the means to achieve lasting happiness and peace for oneself and others, and Dharmarakshita's Wheel as the supreme means to cut through our true enemies - self-grasping and self-cherishing.

The suggested amount of time needed to complete this subject is four months.

One of the major texts studied in all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, Maitreya’s Sublime Continuum clarifies the meaning of our buddha potential, in particular the emptiness of the mind that allows evolution to a state of complete enlightenment.

Geshe Tenzin Tenphel explains the first chapter for the FPMT Basic Program at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy with a focus on the fourth vajra subject, The Tathagata Essence, drawing from both the root verses and Gyaltsabje’s commentary to offer a concise and lucid explanation of this inspiring subject.

The suggested amount of time needed to complete this subject is five months.

ENGAGING IN THE BODHISATTVA DEEDS, PART 1 comprises the first of a two-part series of teachings based on the Bodhicharyavatara by Shantideva. Geshe Jamphel Gyaltsen, who teaches the residential FPMT Basic Program at Nalanda Monastery in the South of France, explains the Bodhicharyavatara verse by verse with an emphasis on applying the teaching to daily life. Part 1 includes the teachings on the first five chapters.

The course is completed with a short guided retreat and includes meditations and overviews aimed at familiarizing oneself with the bodhisattva aspiration, directing one’s life and actions towards complete enlightenment in order to benefit all beings.

The suggested amount of time needed to complete this subject is four months.

ENGAGING IN THE BODHISATTVA DEEDS, PART 2 comprises the second of the two-part series of teachings on the Bodhicharyavatara by Shantideva. Geshe Jamphel Gyaltsen, who teaches the FPMT Basic Program at Nalanda Monastery in the South of France, explains the Bodhicharyavatara verse by verse. His emphasis is always on applying the teaching to daily life, but when appropriate for his audience and called for by the text, a scholarly approach is included as well.

ENGAGING IN THE BODHISATTVA DEEDS, PART 2 consists of chapter VI to X. Chapter VI teaches on patience in a practical way that leaves no room for excuses; chapter VII expounds on the methods to sustain joyous effort; and chapter VIII offers extra-ordinary instructions for developing concentration. The challenging ninth chapter guides us into the perfection of wisdom by means of dialogues between different schools and tenet systems, and chapter X, the famous dedication chapter often quoted from by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, offers a perfect and inspiring illustration of the perfection of giving.

The course is completed with a short guided retreat; in addition to extra meditations and the study materials provided this should make the second part of this important text more readily accessible.

The suggested amount of time needed to complete ENGAGING IN THE BODHISATTVA DEEDS, PART 2 is nine months.

Maitreya’s Abhisamayalamkara (Ornament for Clear Realization), the basis for extensive study in the Tibetan monastic curriculum, makes explicit what is presented in a hidden manner in the Buddha’s Perfection of Wisdom teachings: the levels of realization related to enlightenment.

ORNAMENT FOR CLEAR REALIZATION, Chapter 4 presents the teaching on Maitreya’s text as offered by Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi for the FPMT Basic Program at Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore.

In accordance with the guidelines for FPMT Basic Program implementation, the focus is on an overview of the Eight Categories that outline the eight chapters of the entire text, and, from the vast content of the fourth chapter, on the Harmonies of Enlightenment. From among the 173 aspects of the three knowers, the subject matter of the first of the eleven topics of chapter four, the 37 harmonies represent the aspects of a buddha’s omniscient mind that are concordant with the practices engaged in by hearers. They include the four foundations of mindfulness, the four legs of magical emanation, the eightfold noble path, etc.

The teachings are interspersed with meditation advice to be explored while studying the subject; the meditations will give the challenging and intricate subject matter a context of contemplation and inspired motivation.

For students interested in exploring the fourth chapter further, ample supplementary study material is provided in various forms, from concise to very extensive.

The suggested amount of time to complete ORNAMENT FOR CLEAR REALIZATION, Chapter 4 is five months.

GROUNDS AND PATHS OF SECRET MANTRA offers a concise overview of the structure of the tantric path, presenting the paths of all four classes of tantra. While not being a guide to highest yoga tantra practice itself, this subject provides a clear overview of its complex path structure. Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche offered the oral commentary on Ngawang Palden’s Illumination of the Tantric Tradition, the FPMT Basic Program standard text for this subject, at Vajrapani Institute in 2003. The perfectly edited transcript of the teachings, published as Principles of Buddhist Tantra, includes the translation of the standard BP text and is the required course book for this BP Online subject.

At the explicit advice of Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, who felt that those with faith would benefit, this teaching on GROUNDS AND PATHS OF SECRET MANTRA is offered without the customary restriction of a prior highest yoga tantra empowerment and its commitments. The subject should not be studied though without extensive prior engagement with the Dharma, and sincere respect for and faith in the Buddhist tantric path.

The suggested amount of time needed to complete this subject is five months.

Seventy Topics is an optional subject for centers offering the FPMT Basic Program; it is not included in the BP review and final exam. The subject is added to BPOL as a complementary course, free of charge. The presentation of the course does not follow the usual BPOL course lay-out; it consists only of a main page, which serves to introduce the subject and the teacher and links to the video recordings. There are thirteen video recordings of the teaching sessions, each approximately two hours long, and starting with a fifteen minute guided meditation. The slides used for the teachings are separately provided in bookmarked PDF format. 70 Topics provides an overview of the Ornament for Clear Realization, the implicit teachings of the Perfection of Wisdom sutras that outline what bodhisattvas need to do in order to become fully enlightened - in addition to realizing emptiness.... The subject is presented here by FPMT Masters Program graduate and experienced teacher and meditation leader Venerable Sangye Khadro, who explains a selection from among the many definitions and divisions, in keeping with the interest of her audience. She generously shares many points of understanding that have touched and inspired her during her studies. Much benefit is to be derived from engaging with these teachings and meditations, whether as a stand-alone course or as an introduction for the study of Chapter 4 of the Ornament. Your enrollment key is 70TOPICS.

The purpose of the forums is for students of FPMT Basic Program Online to explore the content of the BP subjects, supporting each other in the study and practice of the materials presented. The forums will be attended by BP Online well qualified elders who may occasionally post questions and topics for discussion as well.