DLM - Spiritual Development Program
 
Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc.
an affiliate of Emory University, presents
 
     
 
The Intermediate Series
*Via ZOOM
July 12 - Nov 8, 2025
Second Saturdays, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Taught by
Geshe Ngawang Phende
Class 4 & 5 taught by
Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi
 
Recommended for all who have completed the Foundation Series course at Drepung Loseling
 
     
 
 
Continuing from where the Foundation Series left off, the Intermediate Series surveys the most essential teachings and meditations of Mahayana (Greater Vehicle) Buddhism, which is founded on the generation of universal compassion that takes responsibility for all sentient beings.
 
Each retreat in the series provides training in the theory and practice of an essential Mahayana meditation. The series leads progressively on to the final retreat of the series on Vajrasattva, an intermediate-level tantric meditation for purification and inner transformation, and serves as a general prerequisite for more advanced retreats.
 
When taken after having completed the Foundation Series, the Intermediate Series is designed to provide a solid basis for the practice of Mahayana Buddhist meditation, which in turn forms the precondition for tantric practice.
 
 
 
Schedule
 
 
     
Morning Session:
10:00 am - Noon
Lunch Break:
 Noon - 2:00 pm
Afternoon Session:
 2:00 - 4:00 pm • with Q&A
 
 
 
 
July 12   Introduction to Mahayana Buddhism
     
August 9   Guru Yoga:
    The Spiritual Practice of Relying Upon and Receiving Blessings from a Spiritual Teacher
     
September 13   Relative Bodhichitta:
    Generating the Mind of Enlightenment
     
October 11   Ultimate Bodhichitta:
    Developing Wisdom and Insight
     
November 8   Vajrasattva Meditation:
    The Path of Purification and Inner Transformation
 
     
 
 
  Payment and registration is four days before the event date.  
     
  Register HERE  
     
 
 
 
Tuition:
   $75 per class ($65 for DLM members)
Full Series: $325 ($275 for DLM members)
    Members who have completed the entire series in the past may repeat for FREE, but are still required to register.
    A voluntary offering to the teacher is customary in the Buddhist tradition and may be given or sent directly to the teacher.
Location:
  

On-line via ZOOM
 
 
 
 
  Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, Ph.D. is the founder and spiritual director of Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc., in Atlanta, GA., the North American seat of Drepung Loseling in south India. He is a Professor of Pedagogy in the Department of Religion at Emory University and the Executive Director of Emory’s Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics. In this capacity, he has facilitated a collaboration between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Emory University that has spanned over two decades. He oversees numerous innovative programs developed through this collaboration, including, Social Emotional Ethical Learning (a K-12 education program), Emory Tibet Science Initiative, and the Cognitively-Based Compassion Training.
Born in Kinnaur, a remote Himalayan region adjoining Tibet, Geshe Lobsang Tenzin is a former monk. He began his monastic training at The Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamasala, India and continued his education at Drepung Loseling Monastery in south India, where in 1994 he received his Geshe Lharampa degree. He completed his Ph.D. at Emory University in 1999.
     
  Geshe Ngawang Phende was born in Nepal in 1968. As a young boy he entered Drubthob Rinpoche’s monastery in Nepal where he received his initial monastic training. He joined Drepung Loseling Monastery, south India in 1982 at the age of 12, where he successfully completed his monastic education and passed the Geshe Lharampa examination in 2001. He then attended Guymey Monastery for further Tantric studies and stayed there for a year. Geshe Ngawang was the resident teacher at the Lam Rim Tibetan Buddhist Center in Johannesburg, South Africa for nearly four years. Twice he has been on the Mystical Arts of Tibet tour and at present is one of the resident teachers at DLM.
 
 
 
 
Suggested Reading for the Intermediate Series
   
I -

Introduction to Mahayana Buddhism

• The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (the Lamrim Chenmo)
by Tsong-Kha-Pa, Volume I; pages 117-128, 143-246.
II -
Guru Yoga
• The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (the Lamrim Chenmo)
by Tsong-Kha-Pa, Volume I; pages 69-116
III -
 Relative Bodhicitta
• A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life; chapters one and three (the root text)
• Bodhicitta: Cultivating the Compassionate Mind of Enlightenment
by Phu-Khang Dge-bshes Blo-bzang-rgya-mtsho
• The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (the Lamrim Chenmo)
by Tsong-Kha-Pa, Volume II; pages 13-232
IV -
 Ultimate Bodhicitta
• Harmony of Emptiness and Dependent-Arising
by Phu-Khang Dge-bshes Blo-bzang-rgya-mtsho
• The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (the Lamrim Chenmo)
by Tsong-Kha-Pa, Volume III, the section on 'insight'; pages 107-224, 277-362
V -
 Vajrasattva Meditation
• The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment (the Lamrim Chenmo)
by Tsong-Kha-Pa, Volume I; pages 247-259.
• Becoming Vajrasattva: The Tantric Path of Purifications
by Lama Thubten Yeshe, Nicholas Ribush and Lama Zopa Rinpoche
 
 
 
 
Recording Policy:
No recordings, audio or visual, without express permission from Drepung Loseling Monastery.
 
Cancellation Policy:
One-day events: If you withdraw before the day of the event, we will refund your fees, minus a $20 administrative charge. You must speak with a member of the administrative staff by 6pm. Leaving a message will not alter your registration. There will be no other refunds.
If you do not attend a session it is counted as a withdrawal and there will be no refunds or exchanges.
*When purchasing a series for either the Foundation or the Intermediate classes note that the series advantage gives you a lower rate and purchasing classes individually gives you flexibility. When purchasing these series the first class will count toward the one day cancellation policy. After the first class has begun for the purchase of the series there will be no other refunds or exchanges.

Multiple-day events: If you withdraw before the start of the retreat, course, or event, we will refund your fees, minus a 10% administrative charge. If you withdraw after the first retreat or teaching session, we will refund 75% of the fees. After the start of the second session there will be no refunds.
 
 
     
 
ˆ