Buddhism Course

Lesson 1 • Ancient India and the Axial Age

Examines the social, religious, and philosophical climate of ancient India that gave rise to Buddhism. Provides essential historical grounding for the entire course.

Lesson 2 • Early Spread Across Asia

Surveys Buddhism's geographic expansion from India through Central, East, and Southeast Asia. Demonstrates how cultural contact shaped regional Buddhist identities.

Lesson 3 • Formation of the Early Sangha

Covers the establishment of the monastic community and its organisational principles. Shows how institutional structure shaped doctrinal transmission.

Lesson 1 • The Noble Eightfold Path

Breaks down the eight factors of the path into wisdom, ethics, and mental cultivation. Connects ethical conduct to meditative and intellectual development.

Lesson 2 • The Four Noble Truths

Presents the Buddha's diagnostic framework for understanding suffering and liberation. Anchors all subsequent doctrinal study in this foundational structure.

Lesson 3 • Karma, Rebirth, and Liberation

Examines how intentional action shapes future experience across lifetimes. Clarifies the goal of nirvana as the end of conditioned existence.

Lesson 4 • Dependent Origination

Explains the twelve-link chain showing how suffering arises and ceases through conditioned processes. Provides the causal logic underlying Buddhist soteriology.

Lesson 1 • Vajrayana Tantric Texts

Covers the tantric scriptural tradition and its esoteric transmission protocols. Situates tantric texts within the broader Buddhist canonical landscape.

Lesson 2 • Mahayana Sutras and Their Authority

Introduces the distinctive scriptural corpus of Mahayana Buddhism and debates over its authenticity. Connects textual claims to doctrinal innovations in Mahayana thought.

Lesson 3 • Formation of the Pali Canon

Traces the oral transmission and written codification of the Theravada scriptural collection. Establishes the Pali Canon as the baseline for comparative textual study.

Lesson 1 • Vajrayana: The Diamond Vehicle

Covers the tantric path, its ritual technologies, and its institutional home in Tibet and Mongolia. Distinguishes Vajrayana methods from sutra-based approaches.

Lesson 2 • Early Schools and the Hinayana Debate

Examines the fragmentation of early Buddhism into eighteen or more schools. Contextualises the contested term 'Hinayana' within sectarian history.

Lesson 3 • Mahayana: The Great Vehicle

Introduces the bodhisattva ideal, emptiness philosophy, and major Mahayana schools. Traces Mahayana's spread through East Asia and its doctrinal diversity.

Lesson 4 • Zen and East Asian Buddhism

Focuses on the distinctive meditation-centred traditions of China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Connects East Asian innovations to Indian and Central Asian sources.

Lesson 1 • Buddhist Ethics in Contemporary Contexts

Applies Buddhist moral principles to modern issues including ecology, bioethics, and social justice. Develops students' capacity for ethical reasoning grounded in Buddhist values.

Lesson 2 • Compassion, Loving-Kindness, and Altruism

Explores the four brahmaviharas as the affective foundation of Buddhist ethics. Connects meditative cultivation of these qualities to ethical action in the world.

Lesson 3 • Monastic Vinaya and Ethical Discipline

Surveys the monastic code governing hundreds of rules for ordained practitioners. Shows how Vinaya structures community life and supports meditative development.

Lesson 1 • Mindfulness of Breathing and Body

Teaches anapanasati and body-scan techniques drawn from the Satipatthana Sutta. Builds foundational concentration skills required for deeper insight practice.

Lesson 2 • Foundations of Buddhist Meditation

Introduces the two main meditation categories—samatha and vipassana—and their relationship. Establishes the theoretical framework for all subsequent practice instruction.

Lesson 3 • Tantric and Visualisation Practices

Introduces deity yoga, mandala visualisation, and mantra recitation as Vajrayana meditation methods. Distinguishes these from sutra-based techniques covered earlier.

Lesson 4 • The Four Foundations of Mindfulness

Systematically covers mindfulness of body, feelings, mind states, and mental objects. Connects each foundation to insight into the three marks of existence.

Lesson 1 • Ritual, Ceremony, and Liturgy

Surveys the ritual practices that structure Buddhist communal and individual religious life. Shows how ritual enacts and reinforces doctrinal commitments.

Lesson 2 • Buddhist Architecture and Sacred Space

Examines stupas, temples, and monastery complexes as embodiments of Buddhist cosmology. Connects architectural form to doctrinal symbolism and ritual function.

Lesson 3 • Buddhist Literature and Narrative Traditions

Explores Jataka tales, hagiographies, and didactic literature as vehicles for Buddhist teaching. Connects narrative form to pedagogical and devotional functions.

Lesson 1 • Challenges and Future Directions

Identifies pressing issues facing contemporary Buddhism including gender, authority, and digital media. Prepares students to think critically about Buddhism's evolving role.

Lesson 2 • Buddhism in the West

Examines the transmission of Buddhism to Europe and North America and its cultural adaptation. Analyses tensions between traditional and convert Buddhist communities.

Lesson 3 • Engaged Buddhism and Social Action

Introduces the movement applying Buddhist principles to social, political, and environmental activism. Evaluates the doctrinal basis and practical outcomes of engaged Buddhist projects.

Lesson 4 • Buddhist Modernism and Reform

Traces the reformist movements that reinterpreted Buddhism in response to colonialism and science. Identifies key figures and their lasting influence on global Buddhism.