A Palace of Learning, Open to Everyone

Tarpa’s curriculum is designed like a palace of learning, with different floors that build on one another yet remain open to all. Each level corresponds to different mini-courses and modules that combine study, reflection, and optional retreat time in our cabins, the educational laboratories for mindful and compassionate living. Whether you are new to contemplative study or have prior experience, you are welcome to begin at any level.

Tarpa's curriculum follows a pedagogically structured progression based on centuries of contemplative educational methodology, adapted for contemporary secular learners. Like any comprehensive education—from learning a language to studying medicine—contemplative education requires systematic development through progressive stages. Each level builds specific capacities (attention, self-reflection, compassion) that serve as foundations for more sophisticated investigations. This structure reflects educational principles of scaffolding and mastery learning, where students develop competence at each level before advancing, with expert guidance ensuring safe and effective progress.

How the Curriculum Works

🪨 Foundation

The Foundation introduces Tarpa’s secular approach to studying Buddhist traditions as part of human knowledge. Students explore the history of these traditions, the question “What is Buddhism?”, and how Tarpa teaches in ways that are open to everyone.

🌱First Floor (Hīnayāna)

The First Floor focuses on mindful living and personal clarity. Students study concentration (leading to calmness), investigative meditation (leading to liberating insight), and ethics as part of personal growth.

🌿 Second Floor (Mahāyāna)

The Second Floor expands learning to the universal. Students cultivate the Mindset of Awakening (bodhicitta)through compassion practices and investigative meditation into the emptiness of identity.

🌳 Third Floor (Vajrayāna)

The Third Floor emphasizes transformation through imagination and cultural study. Students explore ritual, art, and symbolism as educational tools, while experimenting with imaginative re-centering, and opening awareness.

🌈 Golden Roof (Dzogchen)

The golden roof represents Absolute Fulfillment (Dzogchen) —the spacious, open awareness realized with grace and ease. Here, all that has come before is integrated and concluded in the Mindset of Awakening, bringing study, retreat, and compassionate action into a lifelong path of education.

Entry Points

Students may begin at any level of the curriculum. Some choose to start with online courses in the Foundation or First Floor, while others with prior experience may enter at later stages. Retreats are recommended at points along the way but are optional, and students may elect to pursue shorter or longer retreats depending on their interests and background.

Educational Approach

Tarpa's curriculum integrates five distinct types of learning that contribute to genuine contemplative education:

Abstract Contextual Knowledge provides historical, philosophical, psychological, and anthropological background for understanding contemplative methods within their broader intellectual context.

Practical Theory focuses on understanding how contemplative practices work: stages of development, recognizing progress and obstacles, appropriate methods for different temperaments, and structuring sustainable practice.

Skill Development involves cultivating specific capacities: sustained attention, observing thoughts and emotions without overwhelm, recognizing patterns of reactivity, cultivating positive mental states, and integrating awareness into daily activities.

Emotional Intelligence represents the gradual maturation of wisdom regarding oneself and genuine compassion for others that emerges from clear seeing and emotional freedom guided by expert instruction over time.

Varied Teaching Styles recognize that students learn through different approaches: psychological feedback, individualized "art class style guidance," or traditional academic formats with structured presentations and analytical exercises.

Meeting Students Where They Are

Tarpa serves a diverse range of learners, from those primarily interested in intellectual understanding to those seeking intensive experiential training. We recognize four basic categories of students:

Purely Intellectually Interested students approach contemplative studies primarily through academic inquiry, reading, discussion, and theoretical analysis.

Occasional Practitioners combine intellectual study with periodic engagement in contemplative practices—perhaps meditation a few times per week or integrating mindfulness into daily activities.

Regular Practitioners have established consistent contemplative routines, typically including daily meditation practice, regular study, and ongoing efforts to integrate insights into their work, relationships, and community engagement.

Intensive Practitioners are motivated to undertake immersive contemplative education, including solitary retreats where practice becomes the primary focus 24 hours a day for weeks or months.

We also recognize two primary learning styles:

Theory-First Learners prefer to understand the theory and rationale behind contemplative practices before engaging in intensive training. Like students who want detailed instruction before entering the water, they benefit from taking courses in Buddhist Meditation Theory and Buddhist Philosophy first.

Practice-First Learners prefer to learn primarily through direct experience, beginning with meditation practice based on intuitive attraction and seeking theoretical understanding later.

Students may enter our programs at any level appropriate to their background and interests, and both learning pathways—intellectual understanding and experiential training—remain available as they develop.

Comprehensive Educational Support

The progressive nature of contemplative investigation requires comprehensive educational support that goes far beyond providing information or basic techniques. Tarpa's educational role encompasses mentoring, coaching, and advising students through the psychological and emotional challenges that arise during contemplative investigation. This includes coaching students through mental confusion and self-deception, while providing ongoing mentorship as they navigate difficult emotional patterns. Instructors serve as advisors helping students recognize and work skillfully with obstacles, and provide practical advice on integrating contemplative insights into career decisions, relationships, and structuring one's life around meaningful service while maintaining personal wellbeing.

Why It Matters

This curriculum is not only about personal growth. It is designed to help students develop enduring habits of mindful living, reflection, and compassion that strengthen families, enrich workplaces, and foster civic responsibility. In this way, Tarpa’s educational program benefits both individual learners and society as a whole.