Badawa AcademyBuddhist study • online & in personBegin your studies
Menu

A progressive course of Buddhist education

Rigorous Buddhist study,engendering Nirvana Wisdom.

Begin with the tools of clear reasoning. Continue through Abhisamayalankara, Lamrim, and Madhyamaka toward the profound study of wisdom, compassion, and the nature of reality.

Explore the study pathBegin with foundations
Rooted in traditionTeacher-guidedOpen to global students
5progressive levels
2ways to study
1connected curriculum

Listening • reflection • meditation • debate

The study program

A complete path, not isolated teachings.

Each stage prepares the mind for the next. Students learn to define, question, reason, read closely, contemplate, discuss, and eventually engage the great philosophical texts with confidence.

The heart of the mission

To engender Nirvana Wisdom within the minds of students.

The academy understands Nirvana Wisdom not as an abstract idea, but as a wisdom of enlightenment that gives life meaning, illuminates a path to lasting fulfillment, and helps dispel mental suffering.

Genuine fulfillmentClarity and purposeFreedom from mental anguish

Level 1

Foundations, Logic & Collected Topics

How do we know, define, and reason clearly?

The Buddha’s teachings are comprehensively preserved in the 108 volumes of the Buddhist canon. Their vast and profound contents can be broadly categorized into three aspects: the ground or basis, the path, and the resultant states. Collected Topics is a systematic body of teachings that gathers and organizes the essential subjects pertaining to the ground or basis found throughout the 108 canonical volumes. It provides students with the foundational concepts and analytical tools necessary for the deeper study of Buddhist philosophy. Badawa Academy’s progressive study program therefore begins with Collected Topics, based on A Jewel Lamp to Illuminate the Characteristics of Phenomena by the great Tibetan master Badawa. Upon completing this foundational course, students progress to Badawa’s A Mirror Clarifying the Meaning of the Mother: A Commentary on the Ornament for Clear Realization, the Instructional Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom, followed by Lamrim.

  • A Jewel Lamp
  • Collected Topics
  • Buddhist logic
  • Debate practicum
Read sample translation

Level 2

Abhisamayālaṃkāra — Ornament for Clear Realization

How does wisdom progress toward awakening?

Badawa’s commentary on the Abhisamayālaṃkāra is titled A Mirror Clarifying the Meaning of the Mother: A Commentary on the Ornament for Clear Realization, the Instructional Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom. This extensive work reveals the hidden meanings of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras and presents the ascending stages of realization attained through meditation on emptiness. Through this study, Lamrim becomes an increasingly powerful and detailed meditation manual.

  • Ornament for Clear Realization
  • Perfection of Wisdom
  • Seventy topics
  • Paths & grounds
Read sample translation

Level 3

Lamrim

How does study become a complete path of practice?

Badawa Academy’s Lamrim study is based on a Lamrim text written by Master Badawa, one of the most comprehensive and easy-to-follow presentations of the stages of meditation leading toward Buddhahood.

  • Atisha
  • Stages of the path
  • Bodhicitta
  • Meditative integration

Level 4

Madhyamaka

How can emptiness be established through reasoning?

Badawa Academy’s Madhyamaka study is based on a text written by Master Badawa. Through this text, students study dependent arising, the two truths, conceptual designation, and the major Madhyamaka arguments without falling into either nihilism or essentialism.

  • Two truths
  • Dependent arising
  • Emptiness
  • Advanced debate

Level 5

Commentary on Nāropa’s Six Yogas

How can the complete path be carried into advanced practice?

Master Badawa wrote one of the finest and most comprehensive commentaries on Nāropa’s Six Yogas. For properly prepared students, this advanced study presents the essential instructions of the Father and Mother Tantras of Unexcelled Highest Yoga Tantra, rooted in Guhyasamāja and Heruka Cakrasaṃvara, under qualified guidance and the appropriate traditional conditions.

  • Six Yogas of Naropa
  • Father & Mother Tantras
  • Guhyasamaja
  • Heruka Chakrasamvara
Read sample translation

The first doorway

Learn how to think with precision before entering the great texts.

Level 1 develops the reasoning, terminology, and confidence needed for the entire program. It is the natural starting place for serious beginners and a valuable review for experienced Dharma students.

Format Online with live reviewEntry Orientation or placementStatus First cohort in development
See how to begin

Level 1 curriculum

Foundations
  1. 01

    Orientation to systematic Buddhist study

  2. 02

    Foundations of definition and division

  3. 03

    Collected Topics I & II

  4. 04

    Introduction to valid reasoning

  5. 05

    Mind, awareness, and philosophical tenets

  6. 06

    Debate practicum and oral review

Open learner • Certificate student • Intensive student

One academy, two doors

Study wherever you are. Deepen it in community.

Available worldwideOnline

A serious classroom, wherever you are.

Online students follow the same academic sequence, supported by a weekly rhythm of teaching, reading, discussion, and review.

  • Live classes with recordings and searchable transcripts
  • Tibetan–English texts linked directly to each lesson
  • Small discussion groups, debate prompts, and office hours
  • Assignments, teacher feedback, review, and progress tracking
Explore online study
Growing in stagesIn person

Question, discuss, debate, and practice together.

Physical programs will begin with seminars and intensives, then grow toward regular classes, retreats, visiting teachers, and longer periods of study.

Weekend seminars plannedDebate intensives plannedVisiting teachers plannedResidential study long-term
Follow the academy’s development

The book that introduces the academy

A practical exploration of mind, meditation, and happiness from within.

The Tibetan Book of Happiness presents Tibetan Buddhist teachings on mind and mental factors in plain English, so they can be understood and applied by Buddhist and non-Buddhist readers alike.

Through practical meditation instructions and down-to-earth examples, the book explores fundamental positivity, the nature of mind, karma, mind-training, and a happiness that cannot be created by material things. It is both an introduction to the academy and an invitation to deeper study.

Read more about the book

Translations made for study

Texts should not merely be preserved. They should become teachable.

Badawa Academy brings translation, terminology, teacher commentary, and course materials into one dependable study environment.

Flagship translationIn translation

A Jewel Lamp to Illuminate the Characteristics of Phenomena

By Badawa Thupten Gelek Gyatso

The central text for the academy’s foundational curriculum in logic and Collected Topics. The planned English translation is expected to span approximately 500 pages. Its dedicated project page will bring together the text, source information, sample readings, glossary, course links, review status, and sponsor acknowledgments.

Read sample translation See the learning-material plan
01

Readable

Tibetan and English aligned paragraph by paragraph for close study.

02

Traceable

Source editions, contributors, review status, and revisions shown openly.

03

Teachable

Outlines, glossaries, study questions, and debate exercises beside the text.

Garab Tulku Lobsang Dhonden

Garab Tulku Lobsang Dhonden

Founder, Badawa Academy

The academy’s purpose

Rooted in rigorous study, created to cultivate Nirvana Wisdom.

Garab Tulku Lobsang Dhonden joined Gaden Shartse Monastery in 1991 and completed its fifteen-year program of Buddhist philosophical studies in 2005. He was conferred the Geshe degree in 2007.

His principal teachers include His Holiness the Dalai Lama, His Eminence Lati Rinpoche, His Eminence Jampa Yeshi, Gen Lamrimpa, and Gen Nyima. Recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1992 as the reincarnation of the fifth Garab Lobsang Tsultrim Tenpai Nyima, he has taught internationally across Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Badawa Academy grows from this education and teaching experience. Its purpose is not simply to transmit information, but to cultivate wisdom and compassion that bring meaning to life and reduce suffering.

Faithful to texts and lineageClear without oversimplifyingAccountable in teaching and translation

Support the academy

Help make rigorous Buddhist education and translation available to students.

Donations support the translation of Master Badawa’s works, the preparation of learning materials, and the development of online and in-person study programs.

Donations are received through the Academy’s PayPal account.

Future student registration

Receive news about courses and enrollment.

Share your email address to be notified when class dates, orientation, and registration details are announced.

Your email will be used only for Badawa Academy course updates.

Begin at the beginning

Your first step will be a short orientation to systematic Buddhist study.

1

Understand the methodLearn how listening, reflection, meditation, and debate work together.

2

Choose your participationStudy openly, complete a certificate, or enter an intensive cohort.

3

Enter FoundationsBegin logic and Collected Topics with a clear weekly structure.

Enrollment details are being prepared. This first website establishes the curriculum and translation program. Registration, schedules, and tuition will be added only when they are confirmed.

info@badawa-academy.orgpemabenza@gmail.comReturn to the beginning