Tibetan · International (US, Europe, Australia)
Rigpa is a global Tibetan Buddhist (Nyingma/Dzogchen) organization founded by Sogyal Rinpoche, who retired in 2017 following abuse allegations and passed away in 2019. The organization continues under Senior Teachers and Practice Holders, offering a multi-year graduated study program and a 7-year Home Retreat covering the complete path from Basic Vehicle to Dzogchen. Verify current teacher training offerings directly.
Study & Practice Programs / 7-Year Home Retreat Path is run by Rigpa. It trains practitioners to teach inside Tibetan Buddhism, with its four major schools (Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, Gelug) and a teacher-training process built on long study, ngondro preliminaries, and authorization from a qualified lama. The program is delivered in a hybrid online and in-person format, runs over 7 years (Home Retreat path), and covers the contact hours typical for this format. Rigpa is a global Tibetan Buddhist (Nyingma/Dzogchen) organization founded by Sogyal Rinpoche, who retired in 2017 following abuse allegations and passed away in 2019. The organization continues under Senior Teachers and Practice Holders, offering a multi-year graduated study program and a 7-year Home Retreat covering the complete path from Basic Vehicle to Dzogchen. Verify current teacher training offerings directly. The teaching grounds itself in ngondro (the foundational 100,000-repetition preliminary practices), shamatha and vipashyana, lojong mind training, lamrim (the graduated path), and, depending on the lineage, deity yoga and Dzogchen or Mahamudra pointing-out instructions. Trainees do not just learn the content. They sit through it, teach it back to peers, and have their delivery reviewed against the standards the field uses to assess teachers. The program does not carry external mindfulness-field accreditation; authorization is internal to the organization or its lineage. Tuition sits at Rigpa membership + EUR 80-150/day retreats, putting it inside the normal price band for programs of this scope. Programs in this lane vary on rigor, lineage, and the population they prepare you to serve. This one identifies clearly with Tibetan and trains for that lane rather than blending traditions loosely. OMP lists Study & Practice Programs / 7-Year Home Retreat Path because it represents a path inside Tibetan that a serious applicant can investigate. The page below pulls together what the program actually asks of you, how it teaches, who it suits, and where it sits next to its siblings. The hybrid shape matters. Online modules carry the lectures, written work, and small-group inquiry. In-person modules carry the silent practice and the supervised teaching, where pacing, presence, and the room itself are what the assessor is reading. Trainees who try to skip the in-person side usually find the teaching skills do not transfer. Anyone weighing this program against another in the same lane should compare them on three things: the lineage or accreditation behind the certificate, the supervised teaching hours built into the schedule, and what the program does (or does not do) in silence.
Curriculum for Study & Practice Programs / 7-Year Home Retreat Path centers on ngondro (the foundational 100,000-repetition preliminary practices), shamatha and vipashyana, lojong mind training, lamrim (the graduated path), and, depending on the lineage, deity yoga and Dzogchen or Mahamudra pointing-out instructions. Across 7 years (Home Retreat path), trainees move from foundational practice into supervised facilitation. Reading lists usually include the canonical texts of the tradition and the research literature where one exists. Written assignments check that trainees can articulate the practice clearly to a beginner without losing the ethical and contextual grounding the tradition assumes. By the second half of the program, the work shifts from learning the content to teaching it back, with peers and senior teachers reviewing inquiry skills, pacing, and the handling of difficult emotion in a group.
Delivery uses a hybrid online and in-person format. The structural backbone is study under a qualified lama, formal retreats (often three-year traditional retreats in some lineages), oral transmission, empowerments where appropriate, and the slow accumulation of practice and study hours. Cohort size is kept small enough that every trainee gets observed teaching feedback rather than a generic pass. Most programs in this lane build in a silent practice segment because facilitating from notes alone tends to fail under pressure in a real group.
no external academic accreditation; authorization comes from the lama and the lineage. Authorized teachers can transmit specific practices, run programs, and, in some cases, take ordination or hold lineage roles. Graduates commonly go on to run weekly groups, eight-week courses, retreats, or one-to-one mentorship, depending on the lineage's scope of practice.
Substantial Tibetan Buddhist practice, often including completed or in-progress ngondro and sustained study under a qualified lama. The teacher path inside this lineage is not open to beginners.
Tibetan teacher pathways differ sharply by school and by lineage. FPMT (Gelug), Rigpa (Nyingma), Shambhala/Open Heart Project, Sakya, and the various Kagyu shedras each have their own curriculum and authorization process. These programs are not interchangeable; a teacher trained in one lineage usually cannot teach the practices of another.
| Location | International (US, Europe, Australia) |
| Country | United States |
| Tradition | Tibetan |
| Format | Online, In-person |
| Duration | 7 years (Home Retreat path) |
| Estimated cost | Rigpa membership + EUR 80–150/day retreats |