What is the Foundation Program?

The Foundation Program (FP) provides students with an opportunity to advance their understanding and practice of Buddha’s teachings through systematic study and meditation on the essential teachings of Mahayana Buddhism. Foundation Program students study the following five subjects based on Buddha’s Sutra teachings and their corresponding commentaries by our teacher, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso:

The Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, or Kadam Lamrim, based on the commentary Joyful Path of Good Fortune

Training the Mind, or Kadam Lojong, based on two commentaries, The New Eight Steps to Happiness and Universal Compassion

The Heart Sutra, based on the commentary The New Heart of Wisdom

Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, based on the commentary Meaningful to Behold

Types of Mind, based on the commentary How to Understand the Mind

The Benefits of the Foundation Program

Students in the FP have an opportunity to follow the same training followed by spiritual practitioners for generations, but without having to abandon their modern lifestyle. Over time, students in FP find that their minds change for the better in significant ways: through taking Buddha’s teachings as personal advice and striving to put them into practice in daily life, they gain authentic spiritual experience, solve their daily problems, improve their relationships at work and at home, and develop a good heart.

*Read the benefits of the Foundation Program as presented by NKT founder, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, in England in 1990

New Semester Starts Thursday Night September 5, 6:30pm - 9pm

The New Heart of Wisdom: Profound Teachings from Buddha's Heart

This special presentation of Buddha's teachings by the author of Modern Buddhism, offers truly liberating insights and advice for the contemporary reader. It reveals the profound meaning of the very heart of Buddha’s teachings - the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras. The author shows how all our problems and suffering come from our ignorance of the ultimate nature of things, and how we can abandon this ignorance and come to enjoy pure, lasting happiness by developing a special wisdom associated with compassion for all living beings.

• Understand the relationship between our mind and our world

• A special method for overcoming difficulties in daily life

• Removing obstacles to realizing our full potential

Cost & how to sign up

Cost: $65 per month. (including during months when FP is not in session)

Foundation Program is included in a Level 2 or Level 3 Membership when enrolled.
Teacher Training Program is included in a Level 2 or Level 3 Membership when enrolled.

 All General Program Classes are included within your Level 2 or 3 Foundation Program antdTeacher Training Program Supporting Membership as well as other discounts on courses and retreats. Please email epc@meditationinasheville.org if you are interested in finding out more about enrolling in the foundation program

The Commitments of the Foundation Program

Our General Program classes are offered on a drop-in basis and there are no requirements for attending. As a more structured program of study, the FP does require students to make some basic commitments:

• Students keep the intention to attend every class during the FP term (terms are August through late December and late January through June), and try not to miss more than two classes per term
• Students read ahead and memorize the essential points of the text
• Students memorize the root text and/or the condensed meaning of the text
• Students take one exam per year to check their understanding of what they have studied
• Students attend at least one group meditation / chanted prayer session per week (group meditations are also scheduled at various times).
• Students pay a $65 per month fee (including during months when FP is not in session)