Year 3, Term 1: The Radiant Ground: Emptiness and Buddha Nature

Saturdays: September 6th to November 29th

6:30 AM- 9:00 AM (PST) Online via Zoom

 In-Depth Meditation Training (IDMT):

We are excited to partner with the Buddha Project and many other FPMT centers worldwide to offer this wonderful, ongoing course with Venerable Losang Gendun. The IDMT was developed in dialogue with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, inspired by his conviction that the true fulfillment of our precious human life lies in generating the awakened mind, bodhicitta—and that accomplishing this requires deep meditative practice.

Suitable for students who have a thorough understanding of the Dharma, the course will be most rewarding for practitioners wishing to make Buddhist values and goals an integral part of their lives. With the benefit of a supportive community, meditation practice and lifestyle become mutually complementary; time on and off the cushion will be transformed into a path to enlightenment.

All recordings of the teachings, guided meditations, and study material are offered on The Buddha Project website so that registered students can access the materials at their own pace.

Each year of the IDMT can be followed independently.

Year 3 Term 1: Sep 6 to Nov 29, 2025:

The Radiant Ground: Emptiness and Buddha Nature

This year’s journey will weave together the profound view of Madhyamaka, as presented by Nāgārjuna and his successors, with the compassionate vision of Tathāgatagarbha, the Buddha-nature teachings that reveal our deepest potential for awakening. Far from abstract philosophy, these teachings offer a radical reorientation of how we perceive ourselves and the world—pointing us beyond habitual grasping to a space of clarity, openness, and profound compassion.

Having cultivated the foundational practices of shamatha and vipashyana in the first year and explored Yogācāra’s profound psychology of ignorance and awakening in the second, we now turn to the very heart of Tibetan Buddhism: the nature of emptiness and the luminous potential that resides within every living being.

Guiding us in this exploration will be core texts from India and Tibet. Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā will serve as a central pillar, systematically dismantling the illusions of inherent existence. In dialogue with this, we’ll study Kamalashīla’s Stages of Meditation, a practical and accessible map for cultivating deep meditative insight grounded in the view of emptiness. Balancing the radical freedom of Madhyamaka, we will encounter the warmth and encouragement of Maitreya’s Ratnagotravibhāga, a poetic illumination of the Buddha-nature within all beings. These teachings remind us that beyond confusion and conditioning, there is a basic goodness that has never been lost.

To ground these profound insights in daily life, we will also study the beloved text of Geshe Chekawa Yeshe Dorje, The Seven Points of Mind Training. With its pithy slogans and deeply practical tone, it offers tools for transforming adversity and cultivating bodhicitta on and off the cushion.

Throughout the year, our study and practice will be enriched by meditative teachings from both the Pāli and Sanskrit sūtra traditions, inviting a direct and experiential understanding of emptiness—not as a concept, but as a liberating shift in perception.

This year is an invitation to let the view of emptiness infuse your practice—not as abstract philosophy, but as living experience: clear, liberating, and rooted in compassion. Our aim is not to gather concepts, but to transform how we see and relate to the world. Through study, reflection, and meditation, we learn to meet life with less grasping, more openness—and a heart that naturally responds with wisdom and care, held by the strength of community.

How to participate:

• The course consists of weekly online sessions of a 60-minute guided meditation, a 90-minute lecture with ample opportunity for Q&A. Sign up for a whole semester (recommended) or drop in on a class by registering below.
• After registration, you will receive access to the Online Learning Center on The Buddha Project website. Here you will find access to the Zoom sessions, the supporting materials, and recordings of past guided meditations and lectures.
• Depending on the interest of participants, these classes may be embedded in practice days, guided by experienced students, which will provide a supportive environment for joint practice and discussion.

Who might want to participate:

• This course is beneficial for practitioners who want to further develop their meditative practice, by receiving in-depth meditation instructions and by getting a deeper understanding of the (philosophical and psychological) foundations of meditation. It will provide a complement for those who study Buddhism, to investigate and verify experientially the various subjects taught by the Buddha.
• To participate, you will need a basic understanding of Mahayana Buddhism, although the course will introduce many of the foundational topics. A basic understanding can mean having completed FPMT’s Discovering Buddhism course or the FPMT Basic Program or having obtained a similar level through other means.
  

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This is an online-only event that is administered using Zoom.