BA in Liberal Arts

The University offers an integrated curriculum that weaves together the following distinct strands: Buddhist Classics, Western Classics, Chinese Classics, Indian Classics, Language, Mathematics, Natural Science, Rhetoric and Writing, and Music. The core curriculum consists of primary texts—Buddhist, Western, Indian, and Chinese Classics—studied and discussed in a pro-seminar setting, conducted in the spirit of shared interpretive inquiry. Through a close reading of primary classics, students can enter into the dynamic dialogues from which many of these texts emerged. They engage the material more intimately as if sitting as participant-observers in discourses that stimulated critical inquiry and self-reflection then and reanimate it now.

Dharma Realm Buddhist University is a community dedicated to liberal education in the broad Buddhist tradition—a tradition characterized by knowledge in the arts and sciences, self–cultivation, and the pursuit of wisdom. Its pedagogical aim is thus twofold: to convey knowledge and to activate an intrinsic wisdom possessed by all individuals. Developing this inherent capacity requires an orientation toward learning that is dialogical, interactive, probing, and deeply self-reflective. Such education makes one free in the deepest sense and opens the opportunity to pursue the highest goals of human existence.