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

  • Geshe Michael created and taught the 18 ACI Advanced Courses (which include De Lam) that traditionally take students into Diamond Way. Since Geshe Michael last taught these classes, other teachers have offered them. Now Geshe Michael is offering another option for people to receive Diamond Way in 2026. Studying De Lam, the 18 ACI Advanced Courses, and the new Diamond Way offering that is coming in 2026 are all great ways to study Diamond Way, but they are not exactly the same as each other.

  • Good news—this is not a diamond deal! You can now choose from two complementary methods to receive Diamond Way or you can choose both methods. One method is to finish the 18 ACI Foundation Courses, find a personal teacher, and study the 18 ACI Advanced Courses with that teacher. And we now have a brand new method: Geshe Michael has offered to teach us Diamond Way in 2026, and to qualify for this teaching you must attend all four lam rim teachings of A Song of My Spiritual Life in 2025. Both methods will involve initiation. All students can choose to follow one of these methods, or both of them.

  • There are four great reasons why it is always important to take the 18 ACI Foundation Courses. 1) Anyone who completes the Foundation Courses, with homeworks, meditations, quizzes, and finals, will have an excellent grasp of Buddhism and how it creates a better life for you and everyone else around you; 2) The 18 ACI Foundation Courses are required for the traditional entry into Diamond Way, a deep dive that requires completing the 18 ACI Foundation Courses, finding a personal Diamond Way teacher, and studying the 18 ACI Advanced Courses with that personal teacher. This option is always an excellent way to study Diamond Way in great depth and with personal attention from your personal teacher; 3) Studying five of the Foundation Courses is required to become a member of ACI's new Five House system, which you will hear more about in 2025; and 4) You must complete the 18 ACI Foundation Courses in order to become a certified ACI teacher. And we need many more certified teachers to spread the dharma throughout the world in these difficult times!

  • Each event has a separate registration process. We will let you know when registration opens for each event.

  • We will do our best to arrange translation in as many languages as possible. We will know more precisely which languages will be offered closer to 2026.

  • This is yet to be determined. Stay tuned and we will let you know.

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