Gaden Shartse Norling College - Education in all aspects of Buddhist Philosophy and practice is the focal point of the academic program. The duration of the monastic education is 24 years. Accommodation, food and education are all provided for by Gaden Shartse Monastery Education Development Project. Shartse offers complete basic courses in Tibetan History, Literature, Poetry, Grammar, English, and Mathematics, which are studied as prerequisites for the more advanced courses of Elementary Dialectics, Buddhist Logic, The Six Perfections, the Prajnaparamita (the study of Wisdom / the Heart Sutra), Madhyamika (Middel Way) Philosophy, Vinaya (Ethics), and Abidharma (Epistomology). it is also compulsory to study Buddhist Sutra and Tantra. Additionally, there are optional subjects such as Painting, Calligraphy, Tailoring, Tibetan Butter Sculpture formation, and Sand mandala creation. The training program also encourages its students to independently pursue and practice profound Buddhist rituals and to complete extensive solitary retreats.
