The curriculum consists of four years of study. The BSI offers one course per year, with 2025-2026 covering year three’s books. For convenience, we refer to them as year one through four, but students may enter the course in any year. Completing the course involves successfully completing four years of studies that cover the curriculum of all four years.
The book list for all four years can be seen on the DTO’s website. Following is the year three list:
Curriculum Year 3
Primary Books
- Dhammapada
- Online or Ananda Maitreya translation
- Heart Sutra, “The Other Shore”
- Thich Nhat Hanh
- Diamond Sutra, “A Buddhist Bible”
- Dwight Goddard, ed.
- Awakening of the Faith, ”A Buddhist Bible”
- Dwight Goddard, ed.
- Amitabha Sutra. “Finding Our True Home: Living in the Pure Land Here and Now”
- Thich Nhat Hanh
- Sutra of Hui Neng, “A Buddhist Bible”
- Dwight Goddard, ed.
- Lotus Sutra, “Peaceful Action, Open Heart”
- Thich Nhat Hanh
- Vimalakirti Sutra: The Vimalakirti Sutra
- Burton Watson Translation
- Tao Te Ching “A Buddhist Bible”
- Dwight Goddard, ed.
- The Universe in a Single Atom
- His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Secondary Books
- The Dhammapada: A New Translation Of The Buddhist Classic With Annotations
- Gil Fronsdal
- Supports main text: Dhammapada
- Essence Of The Heart Sutra
- HH the Dalai Lama
- Supports main text: Heart Sutra
- Thunderous Silence – A Practical Guide To The Heart Sutra
- Dosung Yoo
- Supports main text: Heart Sutra
- The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion
- Thich Nhat Hanh
- Supports main text: Diamond Sutra
- Awakening Of Faith In The Mahayana
- Asvaghosa And D.T. Suzuki
- Supports main text: Awakening of the Faith
- Pure Land, Pure Mind
- Chu-Hung And Tsung-Pen Translated By J.C. Cleary
- Supports main text: Amitabha Sutra
- The Platform Sutra: The Zen Teaching Of Hui-Neng
- Red Pine
- Supports main text: Sutra of Hui Neng
- The Sutra Of Hui-Neng: Grand Master Of Zen
- Thomas Cleary
- Supports main text: Sutra of Hui Neng
- The Lotus Sutra
- Translated By Burton Watson
- Supports main text: Lotus Sutra
- The Ultimate Dimension
- Thich Nhat Hanh (Sounds True Audio Cd)
- Supports main text: Lotus Sutra
- The Holy Teaching Of Vimalakirti
- Robert A.F. Thurman
- Supports main text: Vimalakirti Sutra
- The Way Of Chuang Tzu
- Thomas Merton
- Supports main text: Tao Te Ching
- Embracing Mind – The Common Ground Of Science And Spirituality
- B. Alan Wallace
- Supports main text: The Universe in a Single Atom