Courses @ The Open Buddhist University

Ven Master Hsing Yun, Ayya Khema, Walpola Rahula, and others

Bhikkhu Bodhi and others

Buddhism as a Religion

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

~80 hrs

Richard Robinson, Bhikkhu Cintita, Laurence Khantipālo Mills, and T. B. Karunaratne

The Practice of Buddhism

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

~50 hrs

Bhikkhu Cintita, Thubten Yeshe, and Ananda Pereira

Bhante Yuttadhammo

The Buddha's Words

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

~110 hrs

Bhante Shravasti Dhammika and Bhikkhu Bodhi

An Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy

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.

~90 hrs

Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, Thích Nhất Hạnh, and Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli Thera

Bhikkhu Bodhi and others

Buddhist Ethics

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.

~80 hrs

Peter Harvey, Ven. Nyanaponika Thera, Bhikkhu Bodhi, and others

The Buddha

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

~90 hrs

Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli Thera, Bhikkhu Anālayo, Peter Harvey, and others

Imagery in the Early Buddhist Texts

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

~40 hrs

Bhikkhu Anālayo and Hellmuth Hecker

The Majjhima Nikāya

A rigorous 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.

~450 hrs

Bhikkhu Anālayo, Bhante Sujato, and Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli Thera

The Aṅguttara Nikāya

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.

~250 hrs

Bhante Sujato and Bhikkhu Bodhi

Tranquility and Insight

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.

~30 hrs

Bhikkhu Anālayo

Nibbāna: The Goal of Buddhist Practice

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.

~50 hrs

Ajahn Pasanno, Soonil Hwang, Ajahn Geoff Ṭhānissaro, and others

Nibbāna: The Mind Stilled

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.

~60 hrs

Bhikkhu Kaṭukurunde Ñāṇananda

Bhikkhu Anālayo

The Pāli Language: Level 1

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

~80 hrs

Lily de Silva

The Pāli Language: Level 2

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.

~180 hrs

James W. Gair

Chinese Buddhist Writing

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.

~270 hrs

John Kieschnick and Simon Wiles

External Courses

Courses hosted on other websites.

The Arahant and the Four Noble Truths

The prequel course to Ven. Analayo’s Tranquility and Insight course above, this 11 lecture series covers Madhyama-āgama Chapters 3 and 4, centering on the Venerable Arahants at the time of the Buddha.

~20 hrs

Bhikkhu Anālayo

The Samaññaphala Sutta (DN 2)

An extensive course on the second discourse of the Dīgha Nikāya, covering its historical roots all the way through to what the sutta says about liberating insight.

~30 hrs

Bhante Sujato

An Introduction to Classical Tibetan

Two courses introducing the Tibetan Language courtesy of the University of Toronto, taking you from identifying words all the way up to translating your first Buddhist text. Note: This class assumes prior comfort with the Tibetan script. If that’s not you, see e.g. Translating Buddhism from Tibetan Ch.1–8 before taking this course.

~160 hrs

Frances Garret

Shin Buddhism in Modern Culture

A short, interactive overview of Jodo Shinshu, from Shinran’s life to Japanese Buddhism in the modern United States.

~30 hrs

Human Behavioral Biology

Robert Sapolsky’s classic Stanford course explains what makes people tick and should be considered required watching for anyone who interacts with humans. This lecture series would go on to become the 2017 NYT best-seller, Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worse.

~40 hrs

Robert Sapolsky

Modern and Contemporary American Poetry

An excellent introduction to 20th Century, American poetry from the University of Pennsylvania graduate school, “ModPo” teaches you not just the history of the poems, but how to read them. This course is highly recommended for anyone who likes poetry, but who never “got” that modern stuff.

~90 hrs

Al Filreis

The Making of Modern Ukraine

Professor Timothy Snyder gives the deep history of Eastern Europe and the formation of the Ukrainian nation, discussing along the way the big question of why we should study history at all. Be sure to check out the course syllabus in addition to the lectures as the readings are an important part of the course.

~40 hrs