OL BCA9: Wisdom – Chapter Nine of The Way of the Bodhisattva

This online course examines Chapter Nine of The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryāvatāra) by Śāntideva, which provides an overview and refutation of various Indian philosophical schools, both Buddhist and non-Buddhist, in order to show the primacy of the Madhyamaka view.

The course begins with a short introduction to the first eight chapters of the text to set the context, and then examines Chapter Nine in detail. The methodology of our online courses combines traditional Tibetan monastic word-for-word text commentary with a Western-style academic contextualization. This approach mirrors the courses offered in our on-site classrooms in Kathmandu.

While there is no prerequisite for study in this course, this is a philosophically challenging text. Students should expect to average 10 to 12 hours of listening and studying per week. Course content is presented as video lectures given by Khenpo Jampa Donden and translated into English by Sophie Greenewalt. Supplementary materials were created by Mort Ostensen.

This course is only offered in the self-study plus format.

Students will navigate the course material via Moodle, an open source e-learning environment. Internet access is required for studying this course. Students will have access to this course in Moodle for one year from the date of their registration.