Overview of Curriculum
"Very exhilerating. It was good to be a student again." |
| Summer Program student |
The Institute curriculum is comprised of three main divisions:
The Core Curriculum is comprised of four modules (each module consists of one 9-day or two-week session), and can be completed in as little as two years. It is designed for those who want to enhance and deepen their understanding of the view as it applies to their practice with thoroughness and depth, but who want to do so in a timely fashion.
The Comprehensive Curriculum is comprised of eight modules, can be completed in four years, and is for those who want to invest the time in exploring an expanded version of the themes of the Core Curriculum. It is also for, but not limited to, those who want to train as dharma teachers in the Nitartha Teacher Training Program. It is divided into two sections:
- Foundation—four modules
- Intermediate—four modules
Students who complete the Comprehensive Curriculum are then eligible to continue into the Advanced Curriculum courses.
The first session courses are identical for the Core and Comprehensive Curriculums, thus it is not necessary to choose one’s path until after Session 1. There is some flexibility to switch after two sessions as well.
University students and/or those seeking credit at their institutions:
Courses are equivalent to a 3-credit university course with 15 contact hours per credit (45 hours total). Students interested in gaining credit from their home institution for Nitartha courses should contact the Institute at info@nitarthainstitute.org.
Overview of The Comprehensive Program
Foundation Curriculum
The four modules of the Foundation curriculum establish the groundwork for all subsequent training in the three vehicles. They present the traditional Hinayana disciplines taught in four classic textual genres, which are central to the Tibetan shedra curriculum: Collected Topics (Düdra), Classifications of Mind (Lorik), Classifications of Reasons (Tarik), and Philosophical Systems (Truptha). In addition, the Introduction to Debate class presents the basic methods of debate, in the context of the Collected Topics studies, so students can deepen their understanding of the view.
The Foundation curriculum focuses on developing:
• A detailed understanding of how mind works, how it takes concepts as direct perception, and how we generate emotions based on conceptual projections and interpretations.
• A detailed understanding of the phenomenal world and the dynamic patterns of karmic causes and results.
• Insight into twofold selflessness and emptiness by analyzing experience into the skandhas, ayatanas, dhatus, and the different types of mind and mental factors.
• The language to explore one’s experience and articulate questions and insights. This forms the foundation for deepening one’s study of all three yanas, especially the Mahayana and Vajrayana.
• The ability to engage in contemplative and analytical meditation as a tool for bringing study into one’s experience and applying experience to one’s study.
• A relationship with study that cultivates kindness towards oneself, compassion for others, and skill in applying what one has learned to one’s life.
Intermediate Curriculum
Building on the Foundation curriculum, the four modules of the Intermediate curriculum provide a systematic grounding in all three main traditions of the Mahayana: Mind Only, Middle Way, and Buddha Nature. These modules in turn provide the basis for further in-depth study of the Mahayana, as well as of the Vajrayana, in the Advanced curriculum.
Of the four courses of the Intermediate curriculum, one two-week course introduces Chittamatra/Mind Only, a two-course sequence serves as an introduction to Madhyamaka/Middle Way, and a fourth course teaches the Tathagatagarbha/Buddha Nature tradition.
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