The Open Buddhist University

the Open Buddhist University

A place to chill and learn about Buddhism.

A Free Buddhist Education

Rigorous academics and thorough content coverage, the University offers a comprehensive foundation in Buddhist studies.

For the Digital Generation

Completely free and open source, take the world of Buddhism with you everywhere you go.

A general introduction to Buddhism suitable for everyone.

An introduction to Buddhist practice focusing on how ethics and meditation work together to improve our lives.

An introduction to the history and forms of Buddhism, including analysis of the Sangha and what it takes to call yourself a Buddhist.

An introduction to the Buddhist Canon suitable for everyone based on Bhikkhu Bodhi’s popular anthology, In The Buddha’s Words.

An introduction to Buddhist Philosophy for students starting to feel comfortable reading the suttas. Primarily based on the Theravada school, the class will include some additional material to round out its presentation.

In this course we cover ethics from three angles—theory, practice and mythology—believing that none is intelligible without the rest. A course that, hopefully, will engage your heart as well as your head.

A thorough tour of the Pāli texts which report the Buddha’s character, accomplishments, life, and history.

A rigerous tour of key words and images used in the Early Buddhist Texts, this course unpacks early Buddhist philosophy from the unique perspective of the rhethoric it deployed. This course also serves as an introduction to Pāli for nonspecialists.

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A rigerous tour of the Majjhima Nikāya led by Bhikkhu Bodhi and supplemented by the excellent comparative scholarship of Bhikkhu Anālayo, this course will give you an excellent grounding in the most readable and important of the Early Buddhist Texts.

An ongoing series of talks by Bhikkhu Bodhi going sequentially through the Numerical Discourses, explaining how the collection was compiled and how we might apply its wisdom to our everyday lives.

A short course on part of the Madhyama Āgama held in 2013, the sutras covered (MA 72-86) revolve around the interdependence of samatha and vipassana meditation and their co-creation of wisdom. Bhikkhu Anālayo makes the difficult subject accessible in his inimitably methodical style.

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This course weaves together two free monographs and a number of booklets to explore Nirvana from a critical perspective, giving a thorough introduction to the meaning, logic and history behind the Buddhists’ ultimate goal.

An advanced course on the subtle components of the mind and how to understand their inner workings in order to put an end to our raging whirlpool of selfish thinking.

A gentle introduction to the Pāli Language is suitable for everyone, based on Lily DeSilva’s excellent Primer and taught by the Most Venerable scholar, Bhikkhu Bodhi.

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Begin to read the Pāli Canon in its original language, in this intermediate Pāli course taught from Gair and Karunatillake’s excellent progressive reader and guided step-by-step, as always, by Bhikkhu Bodhi.

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James W. Gair and W. S. Karunatillake

A line-by-line, character-by-character introduction to the art of reading ancient, Buddhist Chinese, this expansive course covers everything from the fundamentals to epigraphy and the esoteric texts.

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John Kieschnick and Simon Wiles

About The Open Buddhist University Courses

The Open Buddhist University currently offers 16 courses on the fundamentals of Buddhism. Note: None of our courses offer degrees or certificates.

Interactive Components

If you’d like to discuss what you’re learning, feel free to post your questions or thoughts on the SuttaCentral Discourse Forum or email us. Some courses contain links to (optional) Google Forms which serve for homework assignments and to collect course feedback. This site may use cookies to enhance your experience, but you can turn this off at any time in settings.

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