The Buddhadharma Studies Institute of the Dharma Teacher Order is dedicated to supporting students in:
- integrating Buddhist insight, philosophy, and practice through
- learning by teaching and
- studying selected Buddhist Sutras, teachings by ancient Buddhist masters, and writings by modern Buddhist teachers.
Background
The Buddhadharma Studies Institute is an outgrowth of the Dharma Teacher Order (DTO) a non-profit organization led by ordained lay practitioners and monastics. It was founded in 2000 by the Venerable Thích Trí Hoàng (whom we address as Thay), of the 9th generation in the Liễu Quán Lineage and a member of the 43rd generation of the Lâm Tế (Linji) lineage of Vietnamese Zen. Thích Trí Hoàng received lamp transmission (Dharma transmission) in 1973 at the Hải Đức Temple in Nha Trang, Vietnam from His Holiness Thích Giác Nhiên, Second Supreme Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. He is currently Abbot of the Pháp Nguyên Temple in Pearland, Texas and continues to be the spiritual leader of the Dharma Teacher Order.
Since its founding, the DTO has and continues to develop Sanghas and Buddhist study groups in several states in the US. Through in-person instruction, the DTO conferred certificates to many individuals who successfully completed the four-year curriculum. After further studies and demonstrated practices, some have received ordination as lay Dharma Teachers and Priests.
In keeping with Thay’s commitment to “spread the Dharma in the West” to alleviate suffering, the Buddhadharma Studies Institute is now bringing these studies to an online community to:
- provide students with a solid and broad working knowledge of Buddhism;
- deepen student understandings of the Buddha’s teachings; and
- support students’ cultivation of insight and practices that ease suffering in themselves, the community, and society.
