Five Mountain Buddhist Seminary | A non-denominational Mahayana distributed learning institution

The Program > Course Plan

Completing Your Program

The seventy two credit seminary program leads to a Master's in Buddhist Doctrine (M.Bd). We recommend that students who wish to apply already hold a bachelor's degree, however this is not currently a requirement.

The program is designed primarily to be completed in three years, including summers. Students can be admitted into the program in any of the two cohort entry periods - Fall or Spring.

Course Plan

The foundational CBS (Core Buddhist Studies) courses must be taken in order (though electives can be interspersed between them, for example, you could take CBS510, CBS520, and PSY610 at the same time, but *not* CBS510, CBS590, and PSY610 ).

All CBS courses must be completed before any ABS (Advanced Buddhist Studies) courses may be taken. Most of the Elective courses can be taken in any order, though some will have pre-requisites. See the course description for details.

Learners follow an established sequence of training, including required and elective courses, with a developmental approach based on a set of core competencies.

Learners who complete the program in the standard time frame will typically adhere to the following curriculum:

Course Number	Course Title
Year 1: Fall Quarter
CBS 510	Basic Meditation
CBS 520	Introduction to Buddhism
Year 1: Winter Quarter
CBS 530	The Life of the Buddha
CBS 540	Introduction to the Mahayana
Year 1: Spring Quarter
CBS 550	Four Noble Truths & the Practice of Compassion
varies	Learner selects one elective
Year 1: Summer Quarter
CBS 560	Four Marks, Five Skandhas, & Six Realms
varies	Learner selects one elective

 

Course Number	Course Title
Year 2: Fall Quarter
CBS 570	Four Immeasurables and Six Paramitas
varies	Learner selects one elective
Year 2: Winter Quarter
CBS 580	Four Foundations of Mindfulness
varies	Learner selects one elective
Year 2: Spring Quarter
CBS 590	Agnostic Buddhism
varies	Learner selects one elective
Year 2: Summer Quarter
CBS 600	The Precepts
varies	Learner selects one elective

 

Course Number	Course Title
Year 3: Fall Quarter
varies	Learner selects 1 ABS course or last elective
varies	Learner selects 1 ABS course or last elective
Year 3: Winter Quarter
varies	Learner selects 1 ABS course or last elective
varies	Learner selects 1 ABS course or last elective
Year 3: Spring Quarter
varies	Learner selects 1 ABS course or last elective
varies	Learner selects 1 ABS course or last elective
Year 3: Summer Quarter
varies	Learner selects 1 ABS course or last elective
varies	Learner selects 1 ABS course or last elective

 

24 total courses (72 quarter hours) are required to graduate. These 24 must include all 10 CBS courses, and then a minimum of 7 ABS, and 7 Elective courses.