The Five Houses

The NEW
BEGINNING

Opening the door to the Diamond Way

with
geshe michael roach

In person & Online
April 17 - 27
Diamond Mountain
Retreat Center

Diamond Way is coming in 2026

and you need to prepare in 2025!

The NEW BEGINNING:
Opening the door to the Diamond Way

  • Teachings by Geshe Michael Roach: Immerse yourself in the wisdom of An Angel Debates the Devil and Je Tsongkapa's Song of My Spiritual Life for the Five Houses. These teachings provide timeless insights into the path of personal and spiritual development.

  • Introduction to The Five Houses: Explore the innovative framework of The Five Houses, introduced by Geshe Michael Roach in October 2024. This model bridges ancient wisdom with modern needs, offering practical tools for personal development, professional success, and deeper connections.

  • Deep Silent Retreat: Conclude your experience with a four-day silent retreat. The tranquil beauty of Diamond Mountain is the perfect environment for reflection, meditation, and inner peace.

News Flash!

Diamond Way is coming in 2026

and you need to prepare in 2025!

Geshe Michael has offered to teach us Diamond Way in 2026, and Asian Classics Institute is very excited! If YOU want to take Diamond Way courses with Geshe Michael in 2026, there's something you must do in 2025:  Attend (in person or online) all four Song of My Spiritual Life events in 2025!

Why?  The Song of My Spiritual Life is a short lam rim (written by Je Tsongkapa) and lam rim is one way of preparing for Diamond Way. Join us in April for the first of these four required activities! Register online today!

The other three required Song of My Spiritual Life events will take place in July in Mexico City; October in Phoenix; and December in Kyoto. Please make your plans accordingly.

During A New Beginning/Opening the Door to the Diamond Way event, Geshe Michael has also promised to teach us An Angel Debates the Devil.

online retreat packages

Gold
$149

  • If you can't afford $149, we are offering the full Gold Package for the donation amount of your choice. Even $1 works!

  • If you can't afford even a $1 donation, just put $0 in the donation box, and someone will pay it forward for you.


    The Gold Package includes:

    • All Geshe Michael's Classes plus Q&A

    • Meditations 

    • Yoga 

    • Diamond Way Open Forums plus Q&A

    • Praise for the Teacher Ceremony

    • Fire Ceremony

    • Bodhisattva Vow Ceremony

    • Good seeds to help Asian Classics Institute keep the doors open and the dharma flowing

We honor and thank you for your $149 contribution; it will go a long way to help us with the increased costs of technology, staff salaries, travel, and communications.

Plant wonderful good seeds for many great things--spreading the precious wisdom around the world to those who need it; your own ability to attend future dharma events easily and frequently; the relief of suffering for all living beings; and more.  

Diamond
$499

  • The Diamond Package includes:

    • The seeds to help a couple of other students who can't afford to attend get a scholarship (What will planting these seeds do for you?)

    • The seeds to help Asian Classics Institute keep the doors open and the dharma flowing

    • All Geshe Michael's Classes plus Q&A

    • Meditations 

    • Yoga 

    • Diamond Way Open Forums plus Q&A

    • Praise for the Teacher Ceremony

    • Fire Ceremony

    • Bodhisattva Vow Ceremony

    • A free copy of The Essential Guide to Staircase House, a short review of 14 years of lam rim prepared for you by Asian Classics Institute

We are truly grateful to our Diamond Package participants! Your help in going beyond the basics makes us able to offer scholarships to other students who don’t have the ability to pay to participate, keeping our mission of offering the dharma free to everyone who needs it alive and well! 

Please celebrate the great good seeds you are planting—helping other students in a very practical way, keeping Asian Classics Institute going, smoothing your own path to attend future events, spreading the dharma around the world, relieving suffering for living beings—every day in your coffee meditations, and accept our warm and heartfelt thanks for your extraordinary support.

FAQ

Many people have been asking questions about the upcoming teachings with ACI/Five Houses that are a preparation for Diamond Way. Below are a few questions & answers that should help to clarify the policies and directions that we are taking.

  • The short answer is Yes. The longer answer is that you will need to attend all of Geshe Michael’s 2025 classes on the Lam Rim live—either in person, online, or during the official rebroadcasts. The additional classes and workshops offered during the programs are for enrichment, but are not necessary as a prerequisite for taking Diamond Way classes with Geshe Michael.

  • No. Just like any serious preparation for Diamond Way—including De Lam, the first three traditional Diamond Way courses—you must be taught by a live person to receive the oral transmission. We will offer catchup courses led by senior teachers if classes are missed. This will happen later in 2025 as a second chance to qualify. Also, if a student joins after the first course or later on, they may join these catchup courses to qualify as well.

  • Yes. There will be a homework and a quiz for each of the required Lam Rim classes, and a final exam at the end of the 15 preparation classes that are being taught over the next year or so, prior to empowerment. The homeworks and quizzes will be available following the end of each course.

  • Geshe Michael would like everyone to study the Lam Rim with him this time, even if you have studied Lam Rim or De Lam previously or have an empowerment already from him or from any other teacher. It’s not that Geshe Michael’s presentation would be deemed better than any other lineage presentation of these teachings, but rather that the Lam Rim is meant to be a lifelong practice and study. It is the traditional preparation for Diamond Way, according to many great teachers including Pabongka Rinpoche and others. Geshe Michael himself was taught Pabongka’s Lam Rim three times by his teacher—we studied it only ONCE with Geshe Michael for over fourteen years—and so it would be natural to review once again prior to receiving Diamond Way from Geshe Michael, whether for the first time or afresh.

  • Geshe Michael is very clear: keep studying with your teacher. These teachings from him will be a delicious dessert, alongside the primary guidance and teachings you are already receiving from your teacher.

  • Not at all. Geshe Michael encourages everyone to keep up with their studies and practices from those 18 courses. This advanced 18 courses of study is the most comprehensive curriculum ever developed, covering all the essential points of the Diamond Way practice. Each student should find a teacher to guide them through those courses when they are prepared and ready. The depth and beauty of those courses is immeasurable, and we encourage everyone to spend as much quality time as possible with these priceless teachings.

  • The normal pathway to enter the advanced teachings is to complete the 18 course foundational series. These cover all the practices and knowledge base one needs to understand all the steps of the path. Additionally, the student needs permission from their teacher to join the advanced courses, which includes an evaluation of their preparedness, understanding, and integration of the learnings in the 18 foundation courses.

Things are changing! It's exciting and it also gives rise to many questions.  Send us your questions, and we'll answer the ones we can as soon as possible. For more complex questions, we'll have more answers later.

Asian Classics Institute is dedicated to bringing the people of the world the foundational, profound, and transformational teachings of the Buddha available in an accurate, accessible and relevant way. But it's 2025, and our costs are increasing just like everyone else's. So we need more of your help.

Of course we will still make the teachings available free, but we are changing our package structure and increasing our base price a bit.  This change applies only to Asian Classics Institute events; the 18 ACI Foundation Courses and other monthly offerings are still free, taught by certified teachers who donate their time and expertise with great love and devotion.

Geshe michael Roach

Geshe Michael Roach grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, where he was an honors student with an interest in religion and social issues. He was awarded a scholarship to Princeton University and after graduation he went to study and live at Rashi Gempil Ling, with Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin. In 1995 he completed his studies with Khen Rinpoche and at Sera Monastery in India, and became the first American to be awarded the Geshe degree.

While completing this work, he also developed and taught the seven-year ACI Foundations Study Program, which parallels the same core information taught at the Tibetan Buddhist monastery. That original program of 18 courses captures the essence of the six Great Books of Buddhism, as a means to train the next generations of western Buddhist teachers. Asian Classics Institute began with the mission to provide the recordings online, live teachings and by correspondence for anyone who would like to pursue these studies.

Prepare for the Diamond
Way Teachings of 2026:
Join the Journey Now!

WE TRULY APPRECIATE ANY HELP YOU CAN GIVE!

By joining us for A New Beginning: Opening the door to the Diamond Way, you're not only investing in your own spiritual growth but also supporting the continuation of these precious teachings.

As a not-for-profit organization, we also are asking for financial support to make this event as affordable as possible for anyone to attend. With your help, we can offer scholarships and work-study positions.

Additionally, we have sponsorship opportunities to cover major expenses during the event:

  • Ceremonies (offering to the teachers)
    Goal: $1,500

  • Technology fees (like equipment, zoom fees, and dedicated staff)
    Goal: $3,000

  • Teacher support (food and transportation as ACI teachers, including Geshe Michael do not get paid for their teaching services)
    Goal: $4,000

  • Scholarships (for online attendance and in-person)
    Goal: $7,500

In-person retreat options

Here’s all that’s left.

  • Camping: $975 (usd)
    We can provide tents and sleeping bags

  • Commuter Ticket $975 (usd)
    You get a hotel nearby and come for the teachings and meals to Diamond Mountain. Hotel NOT included.

    We recommend hotels in Willcox which is a 45-minute drive away, or Safford which is about a 60-minute drive.

  • Day Pass: $99 (usd)
    Stop by for a day of teachings, including meals 
    This option does NOT include housing