Foundation Program

Foundation Program is a special opportunity to study and practice Buddha’s teaching in a in a more in depth formal study program.  It is our advanced class, and we recommend people attend a few General Program classes before considering participating in this class.  However, it is open to everyone at anytime.

The New Heart of Wisdom is an extraordinary book. It reveals the direct and hidden meanings of Buddha’s Perfection of Wisdom Sutras in a way that we can apply them to our modern life.

As soon as we start reading we feel as if we are transported back to 567 BC listening to Buddha himself as he delivers the Sutra on Massed Vultures Mountain.

Then reading Venerable Geshe-la’s commentary to the Sutra we are brought immediately to the present day and see clearly how the profound meaning of this Sutra can be applied to solving the problems of modern life and to transforming our daily life into the path to liberation and enlightenment.

And when we read in the appendices how to apply the meaning of the Sutra to Tantric practice and experience the union of profundity and clarity, we see how it is possible to complete this journey swiftly through practicing the union of Sutra and Tantra.

What could be more precious?

Interested? Students wishing to join FP may attend a class before registering.  Simply show up to a class.

For more information please call 806-787-2499 or email info@meditationinlubbock.org

Additional Information:

The purpose of the Foundation Program is to provide a systematic presentation of particular subjects of Mahayana Buddhism to enable practitioners to deepen their knowledge and experience of Buddhism.

Five Subjects

The program comprises the following five subjects, based on Buddha’s Sutra teachings and the corresponding commentaries by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso:

1. The Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, based on the commentary Joyful Path of Good Fortune
2. Training the Mind, based on the commentaries Universal Compassion and Eight Steps to Happiness
3. The Heart Sutra, based on the commentary Heart of Wisdom
4. Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, based on the commentary Meaningful to Behold
5. Types of Mind, based on the commentary Understanding the Mind

Benefits of the Foundation Program

The benefits of studying and practicing these texts are as follows:

Joyful Path of Good Fortune – we gain the ability to put all Buddha’s teachings of both Sutra and Tantra into practice. We can easily make progress on and complete the stages of the path to the supreme happiness of enlightenment. From a practical point of view, the Stages of the Path is the main body of Buddha’s teachings, and the other teachings are like its limbs.

Universal Compassion and Eight Steps to Happiness – we gain the ability to integrate Buddha’s teachings into our daily lives and solve all our human problems.

Heart of Wisdom – we gain a realization of the ultimate nature of reality. By gaining this realization we can eliminate the ignorance of self-grasping, which is the root of all our suffering.

Meaningful to Behold – we transform our daily activities into the Bodhisattva’s way of life, thereby making every moment of our human life meaningful.

Understanding the Mind – we understand the relationship between our mind and its external objects. If we understand that objects depend upon the subjective mind, we can change the way objects appear to us by changing our own mind. Gradually we shall gain the ability to control our mind and in this way solve all our problems.

Further information

Read Wishfulfilling Jewels for Dharma practitioners by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso