Foundation Programme

The Foundation Programme created by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

When Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso introduced the Foundation Programme he said:

"Beginning the Foundation Programme at a centre presents us with a great opportunity because this programme fulfills both our own and others’ wishes.

How does the Foundation Programme fulfill our own wishes? By increasing our wisdom and our experience of Dharma. With wisdom and Dharma experience we can solve all the problems we encounter in daily life and we can protect ourselves from danger in the future. Since beginningless time we have had strong, bad habits that arise from our self-grasping and self-cherishing.

We all want to better ourselves and to be happy and successful in life but our bad habits lead us in the opposite direction. Instead of finding happiness we create the cause of more suffering. None of us wants to suffer and yet, because of our bad habits, we are continually strengthening our deluded minds, which are the cause of all our suffering.

With wisdom and Dharma experience we can bring our deluded minds under control. We can reduce our attachment, anger, jealousy, and so forth, and subdue our self-grasping and self-cherishing. By controlling our deluded minds we will come to experience permanent peace day and night. We will bring about a permanent cessation of human problems in particular and of samsaric problems in general. In this way we will become our own protectors.

With wisdom and Dharma experience we will also become our own doctors. Whether we are young or old, rich or poor, famous or of humble origins, without choice we all have to experience mental pain. Within one day we experience mental pain and discomfort many times, sometimes due to unpleasant circumstances and sometimes due to other people, even our friends. Sometimes for no apparent reason unhappiness, disappointment, dissatisfaction, or pain arise naturally due to the ripening of karmic imprints.

We need a remedy for this pain. No one else can give us medicine that will relieve this type of pain, we have to become our own karma-doctor and cure ourselves through Dharma experience. By increasing our wisdom and Dharma experience we will gradually solve all our problems and eventually we will achieve the ultimate happiness of full enlightenment, the bliss of Buddhahood. This is how the Foundation Programme can fulfil our own wishes."

The Foundation Programme format
FP provides an opportunity for systematic study and meditation on the essential subjects of Kadampa Buddhism based on six modern Buddhist texts by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche. The emphasis in the classes, which consist of teachings, meditation and discussion, is on gaining practical experience of Buddha’s teachings that you can apply to your daily life.

The New Eight Steps to Happiness
The New Eight Steps to Happiness is a detailed and practical explanation of one of Buddhism's best-loved teachings, Eight Verses of Training the Mind, by the great Bodhisattva, Langri Tangpa. Clear methods are simply presented for transforming all life's difficulties into valuable spiritual insights, for improving our relationships, and for bringing greater patience, empathy and compassion into our daily life. These methods have inspired generations of Buddhist practitioners for almost a thousand years, and brought lasting peace, inspiration and serenity to countless people. With this book, The New Eight Steps to Happiness, Venerable Geshe Kelsang shares the immeasurably rich insight of this ancient wisdom to help us find greater happiness and meaning in our busy, modern lives. He introduces us to the essential practices of Training the Mind. He not only challenges our entire understanding of the world, but also challenges us to transform ourselves into the greatest being we can possibly become!

Make Your Life Meaningful, Join FP
Pure happiness can only be attained through developing our mind… Through improving our qualities of love, compassion and wisdom we can gradually eliminate all our suffering and problems, and eventually attain the everlasting joy of full enlightenment.

The Teacher of the Foundation Programme is Kadam John McBretney, the Resident Teacher of Heruka KMC. He is widely respected for his warmth, clarity and encouraging approach to Buddhist meditation, making ancient wisdom simple and deeply relevant for modern life. More about Kadam John

FP is free for Silver members and above

For information about how to join Foundation Programme please email Nhan Ta, our Education Programme Coordinator, at epc@meditateinlondon.org or call the centre on 020 8455 7563.

If you would like to buy The New Eight Steps to Happiness, please pick up a copy from Heruka KMC, or visit the Tharpa UK website.