The Master of Buddhist Studies is designed for an international audience of individuals who are interested in Buddhism as a philosophy of life and its practice as a mechanism for spiritual development. Students are not required to have previous knowledge of Buddhism nor its texts. A high proficiency of English is required; however, knowledge of the Pali language is not.

This course offers the learners insight into the fundamental teachings of Buddhism, its origins in the Indian context, and subsequently, its evolution as it has reached different parts of the world. It explores the relationship between Buddhism and other religious systems in India and examines both ancient and modern philosophies rooted in Buddhism.

In addition, the program focuses on learning about culture, economics, ethics, history, philosophy, and psychology from a Buddhist perspective at the individual, social, national and international levels. The course will facilitate inculcation of relevant attitudes, values, and a sense of empowerment. It recognizes the multiplicity of ways and means of knowledge-creation and their application. To this end, the students will be acquainted with a plurality of perspectives and pedagogies.  A balance will be maintained between theory and practice.

Major:  Buddhist Studies

Course Description

ENGL 500       Writing for Graduate Studies

This course is designed for graduate students. The pedagogy takes the form of lectures, discussions, and collaborative and individual activities. Students enrolled in this class are expected to acquire the skills in writing scientific research papers. Applying research skill and methodology into practice can help students experience and master the process involved in research writing. Students in this course will be required to create and maintain their individual online journals or logs.

BUD 501         Early Buddhism

This will entail a critical study of the basic teachings of Buddhism as mentioned in the discourses of Sutta Pitaka concerning the problems and controversial interpretations resulting from the following: doctrinal expositions in the Abhidhamma, various interpretations in the schools of Buddhist thought and the modern findings in Buddhist studies. The implications of the diverse philosophical trends observable in the canonical discourses and the doctrinal and historical reasons that could be adduced in absorbing their significance within a meaningful framework would also be examined.

BUD 502         Buddhist Ethics

Students are required to study Brahmanical, Jaina, and Buddhist concept of Non-Violence with special reference to Brahmanical and Jaina views on Ahinsa, comparison with Gandhi’s conception of Ahingsa and Satyagraha (zest for truth); and means-ends relation, Buddhist concepts of Kamma and Sīla, Buddhist views on Suicide, Euthanasia, Capital Punishment, Expression of dissent: terrorism, Equality, discrimination and preferential treatment, Concept of Sīla, Samādhi, Paññā, Buddhist concepts of Brahmavihāra, Theory of Karma and Rebirth (Patisandhi), and Buddhist Theory of Perfection.

BUD 503         State and Spiritual Leadership

This course is designed for students seeking a practical context for their spiritual training. It will explore modern concepts of spiritual community and leadership and how a Buddhist community might evolve and integrate itself with purpose and dignity into the fabric of modern society. Topic covered will include constitutional living principles, Buddhist contribution to good governance and state leader, and management and leadership models.

BUD 504         The Philosophy and Practice of Boddhisatva

This course will introduce the history, philosophy, and practices of Boddhisatva. It will examine Guides to the Boddhisatva’s Way of Life and the historical beginnings of Mahāyāna in India, the concept of Boddhisatta and his specific career and objectives. The course also seeks to investigate the major Mahāyāna philosophical schools: the origin and evolution of the plurality of paths to liberation, the maturity of the Buddhist social consciousness, Wisdom and Compassion, the Mahāyāna praxis of the Ten Stages.

RESR 525      Research Methodology

This course targets at offering skills and techniques in research to the course followers. The major themes with regard to the course include problem statement development, hypothesis formulation and the practical aspects of research methods to attain the intended and desired research outcomes. It, of course, looks into research proposal, a research scheme and literature review. Essentially, it discusses the citation of documents or the ways to tell the sources of information, surveys, interviews and questionnaires. Moreover, it introduces a comparative aspect of research methods from social discipline to science and business on the basis of the use of the distinctive use of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Ultimately, the course members are expected to be able to develop their own themes and conduct the research for the class, together with the presentation of the written report from research findings.

PHIL 511       Comparative Religions

The course will offer comprehensive knowledge of the history of the different world religions, their basic teachings and scriptures, the fundamental issues of cultural anthropology, the main traditions of Eastern and Western philosophy and their most prominent thinkers with their main works and ideas. Training in the specialization thus concentrates on the different religions and philosophical systems. Its primary aim is to put Buddhist religious and philosophical ideas into wider context, thus encouraging comparative and interdisciplinary scholarship between Buddhism and different Western disciplines.

BUD 521         Buddhist Epistemology & Logic

This course offers an overview of Buddhist epistemology, a special branch of Indian Buddhist Philosophy. The course will begin with a discussion on the historical background of Buddhist epistemology, focusing on the major philosophical theories of the different Indian Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools that form the basis of as well as source of influence for the specifically Buddhist form of epistemological tenets. This will be followed by three sections in which the foundation, the final accommodation and the further development of this branch of Buddhist studies will be discussed in more detail.

MGT 530        Governance, Advanced Management, and Leadership Dynamics

This course is a study about advanced management & leadership application in 4 levels: individual, corporate, state and spiritual. Also, the course explores business ethics, morality and character building as an integral part of a good leader with social responsibility.

BUD 551         Buddhist Abhidhamma

                        Under development

BUD 652         Buddhist Social Philosophy and the Modern World

This course is by no means an in-depth or exhaustive study of the subject of Buddhist Social Philosophy and the Modern World. It will offer the attempt to state the present context of the problem in order to show how and why the Buddha’s teaching is relevant to that particular issue discussed in respective lessons. The content covered in this course includes the Buddha’s criticism of the social doctrines current in India during his time, Buddhist Perspective on Pluralism, Gender Equality, Deep Ecology, Globalization, Human Rights and Buddhist Vision of Social Justice, Animal Rights and Buddhism, Emerging Science and Technology and Buddhism, the Nature of the World, the Nature of Human Beings, and the Nature of the Human Society.

BUD 662         Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism

Under development

BUD 682         Buddhist Meditation: Theory and Practice

This course will take students to the notice of the models of the mind, its potential and hindrances to growth, some principles of meditation, Samatha (calm) meditation: role and goals, mindfulness of breathing for calm, the four types of mindfulness and Vipassanā (meditation), contemporary Theravāda methods of practicing Vipassanā (meditation).

LANG 593     Introduction to Pali Language

The course aims at introducing the students to the Pali Language and to provide them a general knowledge in Pali grammar and direct them to evaluate the selected parts of the Pali literature. This course will develop the students’ ability to comprehend and translate the sentences and passages selected from prescribed texts into English. The course will concretely provide the students both basic pattern and eventually to the advance pattern of writing sentences and passages in Pali and translating them into English.

ART 600         Buddhist Art and Architecture in Cambodia

Students shall study the major sites, architectural complexes and monuments of the Buddhist tradition from a variety of culture. The study will include the origin and development of Stupa architecture, types of temple structures, Cetyagahas and their architectural development, Buddhist Monasteries and caves. Attention also will be given to the plastic arts such as statues, frescoes, and mandalas.

BUD 600         Buddhism in Cambodia: History and Practice

Under development

HIST 600        Khmer Civilization: Historical Perspectives

Under development

HIST 601        History of Buddhist Thought in India

This course will enhance students with a detailed study of Buddhist thought in India with much emphasis on: early Buddhism, its origins and historical background, Abhidhammic scholasticism, the schools of Buddhism associated therewith, their specific teachings and doctrines, Mahāyāna movement, its origins and expansion and its major philosophical schools. Buddhism and other systems of Indian thought and the resultant mutual enrichment would also be taken into account.

HIST 653        History of the decline of Buddhism in Cambodia

Under development

BUD 697         Comprehensive Exam

                        Complete two courses prior to written and oral comprehensive exams

BUD 698         Master Project Report in Buddhist Studies

Project Report in Buddhist Studies is offered on a letter-grade basis only. Prerequisite: For BUD 698, the candidate must have good graduate standing in Buddhist studies and consent of the Graduate adviser. Project Report in Buddhist Studies is an equivalent of three lecture hours a week for two semesters. The candidate must select a topic and write a scientific research study related to Buddhist studies.

BUD 699         Master’s Thesis