Foundation for Buddhist Thought

OM AH HUNG

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Syllabus

Content of the Modules

Syllabus
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The Foundation of Buddhist Thought is structured into six four-month modules:
  • The Four Noble Truths
  • Relative Truth, Ultimate Truth
  • Buddhist Psychology
  • The Awakening Mind
  • Emptiness
  • An Overview of Tantric Paths and Grounds
These are some of the subjects covered in each module.

The Four Noble Truths

Looking at each of The Four Noble Truths - suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering and the path that leads to the cessation of suffering - and how they form an overview of the entire Buddhist path.
Topics include:
  •   Suffering: being our own refuge, avoiding the two extremes, taking universal responsibility
  •   Origin: the three types of suffering (of suffering, of change and pervasive), the five aggregates, letting go of clinging
  •   Cessation: the two types of ignorance, cause and effect, the heaviness of a karmic action, dealing with afflictive emotions, the twelve links of dependent origination, cessation
  •   Cessation: liberation and enlightenment, the dharmakaya and the rupakaya
  •   Path: the three trainings (ethics, concentration and wisdom), The Noble Eightfold Path, The Five Paths (accumulation to no-more-learning)

Relative Truth, Ultimate Truth

Looking at relative and ultimate truth and how an understanding of each is vital to progress on the path. Using the progressively subtler views of the four main Buddhist philosophical schools, we look at how our perception of reality is obscured or clarified depending on what we hold to be true.

Topics include:

  •   moving beyond conventional ways of thinking
  •   Buddhist tenets, the four seals
  •   the way the Vaibhasika school sees each truth
  •   the four types of generality according to the Sautrantika school
  •   conceptual consciousnesses and direct perception
  •   the Cittamatra (Mind Only) school and how it views the existence of objects
  •   the definitions of The Two Truths according to the Middle Way schools
  •   the relationship between the Middle Way schools

Buddhist Psychology

Looking at the mind as it is taught in Tibetan Buddhism, particularly the mind and mental factors.
Topics include:

  •   what is mind?
  •   abhidharma and pramana
  •   the differences and similarities between a main mind and its mental factors
  •   divisions of the mental factors according to how they affect our life
  •   three zones of increasing subtlety of unwholesome mental factors
  •   epistemology - the process of the mind, how our mind engages an object
  •   the seven-fold division (wrong consciousnesses to direct perceivers)

The Awakening Mind

Looking at the importance of compassion in our lives and the traditional techniques for developing bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment.
Topics include:

  •   love, compassion and bodhicitta
  •   the difference approaches to the wisdom and method sides of our practice
  •   the seven points of cause and effect method
  •   exchanging oneself for others method (tonglen)
  •   the ten deeds of the bodhisattva

Emptiness

Looking at the most profound view of emptiness - the view that brings release from samsara - as expounded by the Middle Way Prasangika school.

Topics include:

  •   ultimate truth and bodhicitta
  •   the Heart Sutra
  •   the concept of selfhood (object of negation)
  •   the four objections and the seven point analysis
  •   memory and self-consciousness according to Prasangika
  •   the three levels of dependent arising

An Overview of Tantric Paths and Grounds

Looking in depth at what tantra is and what it means to do a vajrayana practice, based on a detailed study of the Guhyasamaja practice. The module is extraordinary in the way this profound and very esoteric subject is made accessible.
Topics include:

  •   unique features of vajrayana
  •   four complete purities
  •   deity yoga
  •   the four classes of tantra
  •   initiations, the lower tantras
  •   concentration on the four branches of recitation
  •   the generation and completion stages within Highest Yoga Tantra

 

 

Methods and material

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For each module there is a book of some 130 - 150 pages written by Geshe Tashi which we ask that you buy yourself.  Each module contains 12 hours of audio teachings that you can either download from the Study Centre, or receive as MP3 tracks burned onto CDs. The teachings are taken from Geshe Tashi's 2008-2009 Jamyang London campus course. There is also a list of optional recommended reading, which you can buy through you local bookseller or online.

To see an example of the one of the chapters in the book, please click here
To download an example of one of the teachings, please click here
To see an example of the guided meditations, please click here

As a student you will use these books and audio teachings and meditations given to you to explore each topic. You will be part of a moderated learning group with a moderator who sends you discussion questions every two weeks. Your active discussion with the other members of your group will bring the topics to life. There are also quizzes, essays and exams.

This mixture of reading, listening, discussing and writing means that you can really come to understand these profound and important concepts. You can read more about each activity by visiting Study Experience.

About buying Geshe Tashi’s books:

You will have to buy Geshe Tashi’s books. Please make sure you have the relevant course book prior to the beginning of each module that you will be studying. Please note that the Tantra book is in the process of being published. We will tell you as soon as it is available.

The 5 published books are:

Module 1: The Four Noble Truths, The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1, Geshe Tashi Tsering, Wisdom Publications, 2005. ISBN: 0-86171-270-6.

Module 2: Relative Truth, Ultimate Truth, The Foundation of Buddhist Thought Volume 2, Geshe Tashi Tsering, Wisdom Publications, 2008. ISBN: 0-86171-271-4

Module 3: Buddhist Psychology, The Foundation of Buddhist Thought Volume 3, Geshe Tashi Tsering, Wisdom Publications, 2006. ISBN: 0-86171-272-2.

Module 4: The Awakening Mind, The Foundation of Buddhist Thought Volume 4, Geshe Tashi Tsering, Wisdom Publications, 2008. ISBN: 0-86171-510-1

Module 5: Emptiness, The Foundation of Buddhist Thought Volume 5, Geshe Tashi Tsering, Wisdom Publications, 2009. ISBN: 0-86170-151-1X

Module 6: Tantra, The Foundation of Buddhist Thought Volume6 , Geshe Tashi Tsering, in production, release date 2011.

You can buy the books from Wisdom Publications in America (http://www.wisdompubs.org/Pages/search_results.lasso) or Wisdom Books in UK and Europe (http://www.wisdom-books.com/Author.asp?AUTH=Geshe+Tashi+Tsering) or Bookwise Internationals (http://www.bookwise.com.au/) in Australia and New Zealand.

You can also buy them new or second hand on Amazon and other on-line bookshops, they deliver to most countries.

The FBT administration cannot be involved/responsible in any way in the process of you buying the books from third parties. If for any reason you are unable to get hold of the books, please let us know.

Downloading the Audio Files from the On-line Study Centre:

If you select option 1, you will need to make sure you are able to download teachings from the Internet. You will need to be proficient in computer use to use this option, and have a good broadband connection.

The FBT administration is limited in what we can do to assist you technologically from afar, so please do double check that you are able to download audio files from the Internet before choosing this option.

 

Course outline

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The Foundation of Buddhist Thought is a two-year course which most students study online. Its special quality is that Geshe Tashi draws upon the depth of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy to show how Buddhism can make a real difference to the way we live our lives today.

Although Geshe Tashi uses material from other Buddhist traditions, it is important to know that this course introduces Buddhist thought from a Tibetan Buddhist perspective, and from amongst the Tibetan schools, from a Gelug point of view.

The two years are broken into 6 four-month modules, with three months of active study and discussion, and one month of reflection to do the final review and final essay for each module. The first year you will study the Four Noble Truths, Ultimate Truth and Relative Truth, and Buddhist Psychology, which are the basis of Buddhist Philosophy. During the second year you will cover The Awakening Mind, Emptiness and An Overview of Tantric Paths and Grounds, which focus on the practice aspect of Buddhism.

Students receive over eighty hours of teachings by Geshe Tashi that relate to the six subjects in the Foundation of Buddhist Thought which are published as books by Wisdom Publications. You can listen to the audio material as downloads from the website or as MP3 CDs. Each topic is divided into two-week segments, with reading, listening, meditating and discussing.

You are a member of a moderated learning group of around 10 to 15 students.  Your moderator will send you discussion questions and comment on the essays and review question answers you write. All of the online interaction takes place in the FBT study centre, where you will also find extra reading resources and links to useful websites, videos, etc. To find out more about the activities for each module and studying online, please visit: Study Experience


In order to receive a certificate, students must participate in the discussions and complete all the written assignments. To fully participate in all the aspects of the course you should allow between 4 to 6 hours a week.

If you would like to read a more in-depth description of the content of each of the modules, please click here: Content of the modules.