Over its forty years, Samye Ling has offered a variety of teachings, from long, text-based courses given by our most eminent lineage-holders, through an eight-year training programme for retreaters down to simple but vital weekend courses helpful for everyone. This year, we have the pleasure of announcing the launch of two long-term training programmes:
1. Three-year Dharma Study Programme
This is a distance-learning programme, the main basis of the course being a series of monthly study packs, sent by email. These are based on the teachings given over the years at Samye Ling by our main lineage masters. The course is under the direction of Dharmacarya Ken Holmes and is being run in conjunction with his site calm-and-clear.eu. The first year proved immensely popular, with 250 students joining from 15 countries. As those students enter Year Two, we are starting a new intake into Year One, for all those who missed last year's opportunity to join the course.
The ten monthly study packs each year will constitute a complete course in themselves. As an optional extra, giving live teacher contact, there will be four yearly, dedicated study weekends at Samye Ling Monastery, as well as in some local cities. Audio recordings of these will be available for purchase.
There is also an optional intensive study fortnight at Samye Ling. Each year a major text will be taught, in its entirety (this year, The Bodhisattva Way of Life). There is also a student-to-student Internet Forum, for frank open discussion and mutual aid, with limited input, at times, from qualified teachers. When there are enough students in a city or area, a local "live" study group is formed where people can meet face-to-face to discuss the teachings, perk up their enthusiasm, and clarify issues among themselves, or prepare questions for discussion with teachers.
There will be end-of-year exams for those who wish. For further information please visit
here.
2. Traditional Shedra Studies
Starting this year, and over the following five years, six major texts will be presented, one a year. These texts are important components of study in monastic colleges (shedra) and the course will give the opportunity to savour the classical learning process under the guidance of experienced masters.
The texts will be taught over two fortnightly sessions; this year in June and August. the first one will be Chandrakirti's " Entering the Middle Way".
This is the universally-recognised introduction to voidness and Madhyamaka philosophy.
You can see Drupon Rinpoche's explanation of the benefits of the Shedra Studies Course here.