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Our Spiritual Programme

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~ Discover Buddhism at Kopan ~

Kopan offers the perfect environment for study and meditation for  serious students, casual visitors, and retreaters. 

 

Daily Dharma Talks are offered in July and August
We are updating our course program on a regular basis.
All courses available are posted on the web site.

 

Book here if you already know the course of your choice: Booking Form
For information on accommodation, meals and cost please click here for Visitors Information


Discovering Buddhism ~ Short Introductory Meditation Courses in 2013

Regular 10 day introductory courses are held in March, April, May, June, July, September and October. The courses give an introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, teach meditation skills and include a two day analytical and single pointed meditation retreat. The courses are led by Western sangha, with daily teachings from a Tibetan Lama.

If you are just interested in Buddhism, or experience problems in your life such as uncontrolled emotions, dissatisfaction, etc - this course will give you some skills to address these problems and make your life more fulfilling and meaningful.

The daily schedule starts at 6.30 am and finishes at 9 pm. It encompasses sessions of meditation, teachings and discussion groups. The course leader as well as the Tibetan Lamas of the monastery is available for personal guidance. The daily schedule. The participants are expected to attend all session. Half day silence is kept as a course discipline.
For details on the schedule please check Visitors Information

All courses are residential with accommodation and food provided.

The course starts at 5 pm on the first day (check-in recommended by 3 pm), and finishes at 12 noon on the last day.

Course dates in 2013

March 29 - April 8 (ten days) - This course is now fully booked
April 22 - April 29 (seven days)
May 12 - 22 (ten days)
June 10 - June 20 (ten days)
September 8 - September 18 (ten days)
October 2 - October 12 (ten days)

Course Cost:

10 day course 120 US$
7 day course 80 US$
This includes all meals, course material and accommodation (in dormitory).
Accommodation other than dormitory will incur extra charges. Please check our Visitors Information for details.

Book directly here

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Kopan Losar

The Great Prayer Festival

February 22 - 27

Join the sangha gathered at Kopan Monastery for 5 days of Prayers for World peace. If you are in Kathmandu, join us for the big celebration on Miracle Day, Feb. 25, with prayers, pujas and a procession with consecration of the large butter sculptures. Click here for more details.

Jangtse Choeje Khensur Losang Tenzin

Monlam Teachings with Jangtse Choeje Khensur Losang Tenzin

February 28 - March 16

Lam Rim Teachings and initiations by Jangtse Choeje Khensur Losang Tenzin

Rinpoche will continue with the Wisdom Chapter of the Lam Rim Chenmo from 28 February - March 4.
For this section of the teaching translation into English will be provided.
The tantric part of the teachings start on March 5/6 with the Guhyamaja Initiation, followed by the commentary from March 7 - 14. The Tantric teachings are in Tibetan only. No translation will be available.
A LONG LIFE PUJA will be offered to Jangtse Choeje Rinpoche on the 16 March. All are welcome to this very special puja and blessing.

Book directly here

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Geshe Graham

Courses with Geshe Graham

Born in England, Geshe-la has extensive knowledge of Madyamika (emptiness) philosophy gained through 16 years of recent study at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, and Drepung Monastery, India. He completed his Geshe degree (the equivalent of a PhD) in 2006, becoming one of only a dozen or so western-born geshes.

The Four Seals

May 24 - 28

For a presentation of philosophy to be considered Buddhist it should subscribe to four principles called the four seals:

Manjushri

1. All compounded things are impermanent.
2. All contaminated phenomena are suffering.
3. All phenomena are empty and selfless.
4. Nirvana is peace.

Just like a king's seal on a document, the presence of these four seals guarantees a document or a teaching's authenticity as an expression of Buddhist views. A Buddhist is someone who has faith in the Buddha's Way and goes for refuge to the Three Jewels. A holder of Buddhist tenets on the other hand is someone who has cultivated a sound understanding, arrived at through reasoning, of what Buddha actually taught, and is at least knowledgeable about the four seals. Geshe Graham Woodhouse will the review these four basics of Buddhist philosophy using his own translation of a text by Gen Lamrimpa Ngawang Puntsok, Eliminating the Darkness of Ignorance.

Course Cost:
80 US$
This includes all meals, course material and accommodation (in dormitory).
Accommodation other than dormitory will incur extra charges. Please check our Visitors Information for details.

This is an Intermediate Course
We are very happy to offer intermediate courses for students who are ready to explore Buddhist Philosophy more deeply. Intermediate courses offer a rare opportunity to study specific topics or texts with experienced teachers in small groups. Previous attendance at an Introduction to Buddhism course at Tushita(India), Root Institute, Kopan Monastery or a similar Lam Rim course or formal Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy is required for these courses.
If you feel you fulfill these conditions of attendance please send for an application form.


Lama Tsong Khapa

In Praise of Dependent Relativity

May 31 - June 8

Praise of Dependent Relativity is the poem that Je Tsongkhapa wrote on the very morning that he entered into the ultimate view, the state of perfect peace where fabrications are stilled. Buddha taught that from ignorance comes suffering and from insight comes freedom. The particular ignorance that keeps us caught up in suffering rebirth is self-grasping, our deep, ingrained misunderstanding of the way things are. The powerful remedy for it is insight into ultimate truth or selflessness. This is the insight which leads beyond the world. However, many different versions of this key wisdom are found in the word of the Buddha and in the interpretations of the authoritative Indian Buddhist masters of old. During this course, on the basis of his chantable translation of Praise for Dependent Relativity, Geshe Graham Woodhouse will attempt to discuss a little about how Tsongkhapa distinguishes Buddha's most profound explanation of selflessness from lesser versions. Tsongkhapa's is the Middle Way view that comes down to us from Nagarjuna and Buddhapalita and whose foremost exponent today is His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

For this course, Geshe Graham will use his own translation of the poem, recently published with a commentary by his late master the Venerable Lobsang Gyatso in the book, Tsongkhapa's Praise for Dependent Relativity, by Wisdom Publications, Boston, USA.

Get Geshe Graham's translation of the source text here: http://www.amazon.com/Tsongkhapas-Praise-Dependent-Relativity-Woodhouse/dp/0861712641

Course Cost:
80 US$
This includes all meals, course material and accommodation (in dormitory).
Accommodation other than dormitory will incur extra charges. Please check our Visitors Information for details.

This is an Intermediate Course
We are very happy to offer intermediate courses for students who are ready to explore Buddhist Philosophy more deeply. Intermediate courses offer a rare opportunity to study specific topics or texts with experienced teachers in small groups. Previous attendance at an Introduction to Buddhism course at Tushita(India), Root Institute, Kopan Monastery or a similar Lam Rim course or formal Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy is required for these courses.
If you feel you fulfill these conditions of attendance please send for an application form to kopan@mail.com.np


Chenrezig

Nyung Ne Fasting Retreat at Kopan Monastery and Nunnery

Nyung ne is an intensive fasting and prayer practice, done every year during the month of Saka Dawa to commemorating Shakyamuni Buddhas birth, enlightenment and paranirvana.. Each two day sessions includes several session of prayers, prostrations and recitation. Precepts are taken throughout the retreat. On the first day of each session one meal is taken, on the second day no food or drink is consumed and the day is spent in complete silence.

The retreat ends on Saka Dawa, the day of Shakyamuni Buddha's Enlightenment.

You can participate in as many of the eight 2-day sessions as you wish.

You are advised that the first session starts at 3am on the first day, so please be there the day before. Cost: 10 US$ per two-day session..

Nyung Ne Retreat at the Kopan Nunnery

May 9 - 26 (8 sets of two days)
Cost per 2-day session: 20 US$ (all inclusive)

Book directly with the Nunnery: khacho@mail.com.np

Nyung ne Retreat at Kopan Monastery

May 24 - 26 (one set)
Cost per 2-day session: 20 US$ (all inclusive)

Book directly here

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Tenzin Chonyi

Courses with Ven. Tenzin Chonyi

As Dr Diana Taylor, Ven Tenzin Chonyi was a psychologist at Monash University Counseling Service and later in private practice. She graduated with a B.Sc. from University of Melbourne, and received an M. Ed and Ph.D. in Psychology from Monash University. While working on her doctorate, she was also studying Buddhism and bringing up her three children. She ran workshops with Community Communication and Kagyu Evam Buddhist Institute on self-expression and self-awareness, and taught meditation at Tara institute, Melbourne.

She is currently a traveling teacher for FPMT (the Foundation for the preservation of Mahayana) Tradition and an elder for Discovering Buddhism at Home course. Currently Ven Chonyi lives at Sandy Point in Victoria where she writes and uses the internet as a dharma tool. She has been published in Mandala, Dharma Vision and Sangha Magazine and her book Enough! A Buddhist Approach to Working with Addictive Patterns has recently been published by Snow Lion.


Overcoming Disturbing Emotions

How often have you been caught in a trap because your emotions got the better of you? We want to be happy, to have just the good emotions, but over and over again, disturbing emotions get in the way. Why does this happen? What does Buddhism have to say about this that can help you to be happy, constructive person in your community?

Learn the practical psychology of Buddhism from a retired psychotherapist who is now a Buddhist nun.

This course is open to everyone.

Date: June 25 - 30 (5 days)
Cost: 80 US$

This includes all meals, course material and accommodation (in dormitory).Accommodation other than dormitory will incur extra charges. Please check our Visitors Information for details.

Book directly here

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Mind training - Cutting the Root of Disturbing Emotions

Lojong literally means "thought transformation" or "mind training" -- a unique group of practices related to the training of one's mind in the generation of bodhicitta and living one's life in accord with the principles of a bodhisattva. One of the main characteristics of this practice is the skillful transformation of circumstances which might normally be considered adverse or harmful into conditions favorable to one's life and one's practice.

This course is based on a text composed by Kadampa Geshe Langri Tangpa (1054?1123) called The Eight Verses of Thought Transformation. The verses are as relevant to today?s emotional problems as they were in the eleventh century. The eight verses lead us through a process of turning away from destructive thought patterns and behavior, to more positive, constructive ones. Usually we put the root of our problems outside ourselves, onto others. These verses turn that idea upside down to give us radically new ways to find inner peace and quality relationships. The course will include teachings, discussion and meditation.

Date: July 3 - 12 (10 days)
Cost: 120 US$

This includes all meals, course material and accommodation (in dormitory). Accommodation other than dormitory will incur extra charges. Please check our Visitors Information for details.

This is an Intermediate Course
We are very happy to offer intermediate courses for students who are ready to explore Buddhist Philosophy more deeply. Intermediate courses offer a rare opportunity to study specific topics or texts with experienced teachers in small groups. Attendance at the introductory course by Ven. Chonyi - Overcoming Disturbing Emotions, or any introductory course at Root Institute, Kopan Monastery is required for these courses.

Book directly here

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fedor

FPMT Basic Program at Kopan with Ven. Fedor Stracke

2013 Program

Stages of the Path (Lam Rim)
Date: 31. July 2013 - 21 September 2013

Cost of the course to be announced

Tantric Grounds and Path
Date: 23 - 30 September

Cost of the course to be announced

Click here for a full description of the course

Course overview

Short Biographie of Ven. Fedor Stracke

Ven. Fedor Stracke has been a Buddhist monk since 1988 and has spent the last 25 years studying the Dharma with various masters, teaching the dharma in different FPMT centers, translating various Tibetan texts and interpreting for his teachers.

BP 2012

He received many teaching from masters in Kopan Monastery, Nalanda Monastery and Sera Monastery as well as different FPMT dharma centers. In Sera Monastery he followed the Geshe Program for many years. During his time in India he attended many extensive teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

For the last six years he has been the resident teacher in Aryatara Institut in Munich, and has also been teaching the FPMT Basic Program for Western students in Kopan Monastery. During this time he taught already at least once most modules of the Basic Program, such as the Middle Lam Rim, Awareness and Knowers, Tenets, Heart Sutra, Bodhisattva?s Way of Life etc. See also the extensive information on the Basic Program on the FPMT website:

Those who attended his classes were impressed by the clarity and depth of his teachings, and by his dedication to make the subjects accessible to everybody. The program is very intensive, as in a relatively short time much ground is covered. This is a great opportunity to study philosophy with a qualified teacher in a supportive and congenial environment. Extensive study material will be made available for the students.


Stages of the Path (Lam Rim)

The Stages of the Path teachings are a compendium of the Buddha?s teachings, arranged in the sequence they are supposed to be practiced, with the emphasis on how to generate bodhicitta.

The subject Stages of the Path (Lam-rim) gives a framework of reference for all Buddhist topics, e.g. one can easily understand their intent and place in the path. It explains how to meditate on the path, train in the three higher trainings and practice the six perfections.

The text used for the Basic Program Presentation of the Stages of the Path is the Middle Lam-rim by Lama Tsong Khapa, which explains in great detail also the practice of calm abiding and superior insight.

The basic program is not a purely intellectual program and will be complemented by daily meditation classes to deepen ones understanding of the topics. To hold it in Kopan provides a rare opportunity to study and practice traditional Buddhist texts in a traditional Buddhist environment, which greatly supports the generation of insights and understanding.

The days will be divided into teachings, meditation sessions and discussion/debate sessions. The study week will be six days similar to the monastery schedule but the morning and evening meditations session will be daily to provide an uninterrupted continuum of practice.

Date: 31 July 2013 - 21 September 2013
Cost of the course to be announced

Schedule of Teachings: click here for details
1. Section: Beginning up to Calm Abiding
2. Section: Calm Abiding
3. Section: Superior Insight

The module is offered in three parts, and although students are encouraged to attend all three parts, it is also possible to attend one or more sections of this program. It is only possible to take the final exam to complete the module if the full course is attended.

Registration for the course is by application only. Application forms will be available from 1. March 2013. Please write for more information and an application form to kopan@mail.com.np

Conditions of Attendance:
Course participants should have sincere faith in the Dharma and the teachings of the Buddha and a genuine interest in the study of Buddhist philosophy. Also required is a strong commitment to Attendance at all sessions I and to complete the section of your choice.


Tantric Grounds and Paths (HYT required) 23.09.2013 - 30.09.2013

Start: 23.09.2013
End: 30.09.2013 with exam

Conditions of Attendance:
Highest Yoga Tantra Initiation is required to attend these teachings. Registration for the course is by application only. Application forms will be available from 1. March 2013.

Please write for more information and an application form to kopan@mail.com.np


NOVEMBER 2013
One Month Lam Rim Meditation Course ~ A Life Changing Event

Date: 9 November - 9 December 2013

The one month meditation course at Kopan was established in 1971 by Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, the founders of Kopan Monastery. Since then the course has been held every year, attended by thousands of people looking for meaning and happiness in their lives. The course follows the Tibetan Gelug Tradition of Buddhism, and is based on Lama Tsong Khapa's Graduated Path to Enlightenment (Lam Rim), one of the most important texts of the Gelug Tradition.

The teacher for this course has not yet been appointed. Please check again later for more details on this.

Booking is essential - Registration starts on the 1. July 2013.

Read more details here

Please note: No early registrations will be accepted.

Book directly here

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Vajrasattva

Three Month Vajrasattva Retreat 2014

Following the annual one month meditation course is the annual three-month Vajrasattva retreat. The retreat follows a strict schedule of 4 sessions a day (no teachings) Conditions of attendance.

The retreat is open only to students who have previously attended the one month meditation course at Kopan, or have done a similar Lam Rim course, such as the FPMT Discovering Buddhism course in a center or as home study. Preferably the applicant should have received the Vajrasattva Initiaton with commitment to do retreat.

For information and registration form, please contact us at kopan@mail.com.np

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A Place for Rest and Reflection

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In between courses, you are welcome to stay at Kopan and enjoy the peace and quiet in a spiritual environment. You will be required to participate in the teachings, meditations and discussion daily at 10 am (please check with our reception), enjoy our wonderful library, or attend the prayer session of the monks. We recommend that you book accommodation for your private stay in advance

Book directly here

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