Inspire your mind and deepen your practice.
Wisdom Experience Course Catalogue
Discover which courses you can enroll in with your membership.
Our non-profit mission to share the Dharma through high-quality, authentic Buddhist teachings is the heart of all the channels we offer at Wisdom, and while both the Wisdom Experience and Wisdom Academy invite you to join a thriving community of meditators and Dharma-explorers who are deepening their practice, the two are not the same.
Wisdom Academy offers online courses and teachings for purchase, allowing ongoing access to purchased courses. The In-Depth membership to the Wisdom Experience, on the other hand, guides you through four courses of your choice a year. You can choose what courses to enroll in from a large selection of Wisdom Academy’s backlist courses, also known as the Wisdom Experience course catalog. Below you’ll find information on courses that are included in each membership level.
There’s a famous Buddhist story that Geshe Sonam Rinchen summarized beautifully:
A blind turtle lives on the ocean bed and surfaces just once every hundred years. A golden yoke floats on the vast ocean, blown here and there by the wind. What are the chances of the turtle surfacing at just the right time and in just the right place to be able to put its head through the yoke? Our chances of gaining a life of freedom and fortune are just as improbable.
For many of us, finding the Dharma feels just this lucky. Here at Wisdom, our gratitude for the Dharma and its teachers and practitioners inspires everything we do. The Wisdom Experience surfaced from our desire to build the kind of membership site that we longed for ourselves: a place where we would be inspired and encouraged, an online environment where we could discover incredible teachings we may not have had access to otherwise, and a community to help us as we walk the path and grow. Most of all, we wanted to build a place dedicated to the audacious vision that realization is possible, that the Dharma is worth studying and practicing, and that we can support each other in this adventure.
Abiding in Emptiness
Wisdom is deeply honored to be offering this extraordinary course in partnership with our friends at Tergar International. These teachings will guide you through the heart of emptiness as you witness two masterful teachers, from two distinct traditions of Buddhism, discuss some of the most profound aspects of the Dharma.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Tsongkhapa's Madhyamaka
In Tsongkhapa’s Madhyamaka, Thupten Jinpa will take you on a ten-lesson journey through some of the most fascinating and important ideas in Buddhism. You’ll discover the mādhyamaka teachings of one of the most renowned minds in Tibet: influential monk and yogi Je Tsongkhapa Losang Dragpa (c. 1357–1419).
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Introduction to Dzogchen
In this popular Wisdom Academy online course, join renowned translator, Buddhist practitioner, and author B. Alan Wallace as he relays his immense knowledge of Dzogchen through memorable and engaging teachings.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Sutra and Tantra: The Profound and Miraculous
In this extraordinary course, Professor Robert Thurman explains Tsong Khapa’s essential points for understanding the union of relativity and voidness and the crucial instructions for the creation and perfection stages of Unexcelled Yoga Tantra.
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Tibetan Yoga
In this groundbreaking new Wisdom Academy course, Dr. Alejandro Chaoul illuminates the trul khor, or magical movements. Over the course of ten lessons, Dr. Chaoul guides you through a series of yogic postures and movements with exceptional detail and expertise, teaches you how to work with the anatomy of the subtle body, and shows you how to engage your breath to serve the practice of meditation and the cultivation of genuine well-being.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Atiśa's Pith Instructions on the Middle Way
In this course, you’ll be guided by Lama Alan Wallace as he presents his translation and guides students through this newly uncovered Atiśa text, Pith Instructions on the Middle Way,(Madhyamakopadesha), with commentary by Prajñāmoksha.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Freedom through Correct Knowing
Learn how to develop a mind that’s reliable for both your practice and everyday life, based on a Geluk presentation from a renowned Geshe.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Shamatha: Meditation for Balanced Living
The achievement of shamatha is widely regarded in the Buddhist tradition as an indispensable foundation for the cultivation of contemplative insight (vipashyana), and this course with B. Alan Wallace is designed to provide students with a sufficient theoretical understanding and a basis in experience to enable them to proceed effectively toward this extraordinary state of mental and physical balance.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Shamatha and Vipashyana in the Dzogchen Tradition
In this course with B. Alan Wallace, we enter the visionary world of nineteenth-century Dzogchen master Düdjom Lingpa to explore the nature and origins of the mind, the ground of consciousness itself.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
The Four Applications of Mindfulness
In this course we investigate the nature of human identity and the possibility of freedom through the Buddha’s foundational instructions on the cultivation of vipashyana, or insight. B. Alan Wallace presents the four close applications of mindfulness — mindfulness on the body, feelings, the mind, and phenomena — through rich pith instruction on selections from the Pali canon, Mahayana sutras, and commentary from the Vajrayana and Dzogchen traditions.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Restricted Dzogchen Teachings, Parts 1-4
In this four part course renowned Tibetan Buddhist teacher Lama Alan Wallace provides detailed oral commentaries on three of the five classic Dzogchen treatises by Düdjom Lingpa. Parts 1 and 2 cover The Foolish Dharma of an Idiot Clothed in Mud and Feathers and Buddhahood Without Meditation respectively. While Parts 3 and 4 focus on The Sharp Vajra of Conscious Awareness Tantra which provides an exposition on the entire path of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection, transmitted from Düdjom Lingpa’s pure visions into pith instruction and heart advice.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Open Mind
Delve into the theory and practice of Dzogchen through writings by some of the greatest Dzogchen masters of recent time. In his commentary on Jé Tsultrim Zangpo’s (1884–1957) precise essay An Ornament of the Enlightened View of Samanthabhadra from the book Open Mind, augmented with the brief, experiential text Summary of the View, Meditation, and Conduct by the twentieth-century master Domang Yangthang Rinpoche, Lama Alan Wallace presents the liberative path of Dzogchen. Together these teachings have the wondrous potential to bless and transform your daily life and your personal practice.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Dzogchen Teachings for Mountain Retreat
In this course, Lama Alan Wallace presents and comments on pith instructions of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection. Providing guidance on retreat, this course is based on the text Extracting the Vital Essence of Accomplishment: Concise and Clear Advice for Practice in a Mountain Retreat by twentieth-century Nyingma master Düdjom Rinpoché, Jigdral Yeshé Dorjé.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Beyond Distraction
The mind can be a potent tool to spark extraordinary achievements, inspire good works, and advance toward spiritual realization. However, it can also produce thoughts that lead to suffering. For many people, thoughts run rampant and seem to oppress or control their lives.
Following the Buddha’s pragmatic approach, in this course respected teacher, author, and jhana expert Shaila Catherine guides you through five steps for overcoming distraction and focusing the mind.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Emptiness: A Practical Course for Meditators
The teachings on emptiness—a theme central to all Buddhist schools—point to a series of understandings and practices that lead to deep insight and a radical experience of liberation.
This eight-lesson, self-paced course with renowned insight meditation teacher Guy Armstrong explores the teachings on emptiness and their application in our lives in a way that makes them practical and accessible.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Introduction to the Manual of Insight
In this course led by respected insight meditation teachers Steve Armstrong and Kamala Masters, you’ll be introduced to the Manual of Insight by the renowned teacher and meditation master Mahāsi Sayadaw. Includes teachings on this foundational text, clear guidance in navigating essential topics, guided meditations, and more.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
The Foundations of Mindfulness
Discover some of the most meaningful and profound applications of mindfulness, under the guidance of renowned scholar-monk Venerable Bhikkhu Anālayo and a group of expert guest teachers. In this course, you’ll learn how the study and practice of mindfulness intersect with areas such as compassion, ethics, wisdom, concentration, and more. By completing this course, you’ll gain a rich, meaningful, and sophisticated understanding of what mindfulness really means, and the transformative way it can affect our understanding of reality.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Meditation in the Theravada Abhidhamma
This course is available to Free and Plus members of the Wisdom Experience.
In this course, you’ll be guided by one of the foremost scholars and translators in the Theravada tradition, Bhikkhu Bodhi, through the study of meditation as it is taught in the Abhidhamma. You’ll come away with a clear understanding of the entire terrain of Buddhist meditation, from beginning to end.
[Available to: Free, Plus, All-Access, and In-Depth]
Bearing the Unbearable
Based on the bestselling book Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief.
Grief expert and Zen priest Dr. Joanne Cacciatore knows first hand that when a loved one dies, the pain of loss can feel unbearable—especially in the case of a traumatizing death that leaves us shouting, “NO!” with every fiber of our body. In this course, Dr. Jo reveals how grief can open our hearts to connection, compassion, and the very essence of our shared humanity.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
The Dharma of Social and Ecological Engagement
Join renowned teacher David Loy to explore the path that joins current social and ecological concerns with the timeless wisdom of the Buddha. Delving into core Buddhist teachings on non-self, suffering, and karma, we address issues such as consumerism, the commodification of our attention, war, and climate change. We learn to integrate our individual Buddhist practice with the engagement our world desperately needs—a modern bodhisattva path.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Cultivating Emotional Balance
Discover greater happiness and well-being using insights and methods drawn from both Western psychology and Buddhist contemplative practices in this course with Tibetan Buddhist teacher Lama Alan Wallace and second-generation emotion researcher Dr. Eve Ekman.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
The Dharma of Well-Being, Parts 1 and 2
Drawing on insights and methods from both the Buddhist tradition and Western psychology and philosophy, Lama Alan Wallace invites you to investigate the causes of both genuine unhappiness and genuine well-being. You’ll start by looking into what genuine well-being is before delving into what it is not as Lama Alan explores the causes of suffering, mental afflictions, and unhappiness, along with the internal factors that often prevent us from being truly happy. He then turns to the causes of genuine happiness and offers skills, practices, and insights that will help you achieve genuine happiness.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Buddhist Philosophy in Depth, Parts 1-3
The rich philosophical fabric of Buddhist thought has evolved over two and a half millennia, within a variety of cultures, epochs, and geographies. Professor Jay Garfield takes us on an exciting in-depth journey throughout these Buddhist worlds, their texts, and the essential thinkers that have shaped Buddhist philosophy from the time of the historical Buddha.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Illuminating the Mind
Join His Holiness the Dalai Lama in an exploration of the nature of mind with leading researchers, philosophers, and Buddhist scholars.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions, Parts 1 & 2
In this two-part course with Ven. Thubten Chodron, strengthen your knowledge and practice of Buddhism by understanding its varied traditions—how they came to be, what makes them different from each other, and what they have in common.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma
Discover the powerful teachings in this classic framework of Buddhist philosophy with two respected scholars—Jay Garfield and Guy Newland—and come away with a deeper foundation in the Buddhadharma. Discover in the first turning a general understanding of nature of samsara and nirvana; in the second an exposition of emptiness from the side of the object; and in the third, an exposition of emptiness from the side of the subject.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Buddhism and Science: Body, Breath, and Mind
Explore the frontier where Buddhism and science meet, guided by beloved teacher Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Discover some of the most exciting, groundbreaking ideas in this interdisciplinary field as you witness dialogues between spiritual and scientific leaders from around the world. You’ll discover pioneering research and ideas about how science and spirituality bridge our human experience and inform our practice.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
The Varieties of Buddhist Meditation
Discover the theory and practice of the different styles of meditation as taught in India and Tibet with acclaimed scholar John Dunne. Contemplative practice plays a central role in all Buddhist traditions, and this course offers an accessible account of the varieties of core practices and their underlying theories. We begin by exploring the styles of practice prominent in early Buddhism, and then examine the new versions of practice, including tantric approaches, that arose with the Mahāyāna, or “Great Vehicle,” in India. We then turn to the contemplative styles that these Indian approaches inspire in the traditions of Tibet, such as the nondual practice of Mahāmudrā.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Tibetan Calligraphy
Enter the world of Tibetan calligraphy with Tashi Mannox, Dharma artist and one of the world’s foremost contemporary Tibetan calligraphers. In this course, Tashi will guide you through setting up and constructing each of the Tibetan letters in the popular Uchen script, including how to make and use the foundational grid that serves as the basis for each letter.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
The Four Immeasurables, Parts 1 & 2
The Four Immeasurables address our most fundamental human aspirations.
As the Dalai Lama teaches, our deepest drive as humans is tsewa: caring. And what do we care about? We care about not suffering, and experiencing happiness. This two-part course with Lama Alan Wallace will take you on a rich journey through your own quest for happiness, to where happiness actually lies.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]
Introduction to Feng Shui
Feng shui is an ancient art that is, as Lama Zopa Rinpoche has explained, the second best way—after Buddhism—to help people. In this course with Jampa Ludrup you will learn how to maximize your outer environment for the best outcomes in all areas of your life.
[Available to: All-Access and In-Depth]