NGÖNDRO Lamrim Training Course
with Venerable Losang Gendun
Year One, Term 1: Weekly, Sep 17 – Nov 26
ONLINE (Teaching sessions are prerecorded.)
NGÖNDRO LAMRIM TRAINING (NLRT): A Two-Year Journey in the Common and Uncommon Preliminary Practices
The Ngöndro Lamrim Training (NLRT) provides comprehensive practice instruction of the common and uncommon preliminary practices (NGÖNDRO). The training is designed to generate the motivation that supports the development of calm abiding, special insight, and other tools needed for tantra. By cultivating the inner qualities needed to ease unskillful patterns of mind that are the cause of hindrances on the path, it facilitates deep transformation.
Content
Over the first eleven months the common foundations, renunciation, bodhicitta, and the view of emptiness, are explored based on the lamrim. For the remaining five months the focus is on the uncommon practices, Vajrasattva purification, mandala offerings, and guru yoga. Weekly sessions each introduce a new topic that examines different ways to meditate and why, in combination with a guided meditation.
Aims
The training helps establish a consistent daily meditative practice in supports of its overall aim: to engage in contemplative meditation in a way that genuinely transforms the mind’s outlook on the world and gives one’s life a new direction. Students gain a deep understanding of how to accumulate merit and purify unskillful karma while cultivating a healthy relationship with the Three Jewels and their teacher. The emphasis is on learning to meditate in a personally tailored way, in accordance with one’s psychological makeup and life conditions.
Format
The teaching sessions are prerecorded. Each week a 90 minute teaching together with a guided meditation are uploaded. On four other days, advanced students contribute additional guided meditations. The teacher, Venerable Gendun, offers regular online Q&A sessions. For those who have already studied the lamrim or the FPMT Basic Program, the training also offers specialized opportunities to learn how to guide others in meditation.
Who is it for?
The training is designed for students with a solid grounding in the lamrim or an equivalent Dharma background — particularly for those seeking structured support in their practice, for those preparing for śamatha, vipaśyanā, and especially tantra, or for those encountering challenges in their meditative practice. While not a prerequisite, the training forms an excellent preparation for the FPMT In-Depth Meditation Training.
Registration
Suggested: $126 for Year 1 Term 1
Since NLRT is hosted in partnership with other FPMT centers, it is not included under Mandala membership.
The sessions are recorded by The Buddha Project. By registering for this event, you are agreeing to give your consent to this process. To protect your privacy, we recommend being conscious about any personal information you share during the sessions. To further enhance anonymity, you may want to consider turning off video or naming yourself using abbreviations.
Time zone: US Eastern Daylight Time (GMT/UTC-4)
For questions regarding registration, please email registration@shantidevanyc.org for assistance.
Additional Materials
Once you have an account, the materials and recordings can be found at: The Buddha Project
About the Teacher
Venerable Losang Gendun has dedicated nearly four decades to practicing Buddhism and has served as a Bhikshu (Buddhist monk) in the Tibetan tradition for the past 18 years. Prior to his ordination, he worked in diverse fields such as palliative care, technology, refugee organizations, and commercial management. His extensive training includes ten years of studying Buddhist philosophy and practice in monasteries across France, India, Nepal, and Myanmar. Additionally, he spent over four years in retreat, immersing himself in Tibetan sutra and tantra, as well as the Burmese Theravada Forest Tradition.
For the last 15 years, Ven. Gendun has been a dedicated teacher, sharing his knowledge of Buddhist philosophy, psychology, and meditation worldwide. He serves the aspirations of H.H. the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche as part of the FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition). Ven. Gendun is also a member of Mind & Life Europe, a multidisciplinary laboratory that brings together researchers and contemplative practitioners to explore the nature of experience.
Beyond his Buddhist affiliations, Ven. Gendun serves as an interreligious canon at the Peace Cathedral in Tbilisi, Georgia, and feels at home at a Mevlavi Sufi dargah in Istanbul. In 2023, he founded The Buddha Project, which engages in long-term guidance for Buddhist meditators, scientific research, art projects, and intercontemplative social engagement.
