[ CORRESPONDENCE COURSES ]

Tibetan Texts About the Correspondence Courses
The Asian Classics Institute has condensed the essence of these Six Great Books of Buddhism into a series of 18 Formal Study Courses. Geshe Michael Roach taught these Courses to a group of teacher-trainees in Manhattan over a period of seven years. The Correspondence Courses make all of the Formal Study Courses that Geshe Michael taught available to those who did not attend in person. You can pursue a comprehensive Buddhist education wherever you are, and at your own pace and commitment level.

As a correspondence student, we will provide you with a copy of all the printed materials from the original classes taught by Geshe Michael at the Asian Classics Institute in New York, along with an audiotape from each class. We will provide you with a notebook containing: class notes, readings, homework, quizzes, a final exam, and answer keys. You may grade your own papers using the supplied answer keys or, if you wish to do so, you may mail your quizzes, homework and final examination to the Asian Classics Institute to be graded. Upon successfully passing, you will be presented with a certificate of proficiency from the Institute.

We recommend that you study the Courses in the order in which they were taught, as later Courses draw upon the foundational information presented in earlier Courses. It is possible, though, to pick any Course topic and study it without having studied the earlier Courses; each Course can stand alone without requiring prior studies.

Geshe Michael teaches in English with a clarity and content that is exceptional; the information contained in these teachings is of the highest accuracy, integrity and relevance to daily life. Classes are presented with humor and offer abundant, detailed instructions on how to live one's life as a spiritual practice.

It is exceedingly rare to encounter the wisdom of ancient, authentic Buddhist teachings; to have the opportunity for a comprehensive Tibetan Buddhist education is even more rare. It is our sincere hope that you will investigate Tibetan Buddhism more deeply, that the information in these Courses will enrich your life, and that it will ultimately be of benefit to all.


Correspondence Course Costs
Correspondence Courses are offered as a service to help those who wish to undertake Tibetan Buddhist studies, and the materials are supplied by volunteers, at cost. If you wish to receive a Correspondence Course consisting of eleven audiotapes and the supporting written materials, mail an order form along with a check payable to the Asian Classics Institute to reimburse us for the materials we send to you. We will send Courses to anyone who requests them, even if they can not afford to pay anything. So, if you cannot afford the full cost of the Course materials, please pay whatever you can afford and we will attempt to find a sponsor to pay for your materials. Please note that paying less than the full cost may delay the delivery of your order for a few weeks or months while we search for a sponsor.


Correspondence Course Tape Quality
The Formal Study Courses began as a small group of students meeting around a table in an apartment in 1993. Those first classes were tape-recorded by a student for personal use. As time passed, people began to ask for copies. Demand for the class materials grew continually, and as a result of the consistent interest, the Correspondence Courses were established.

Because the recordings were made for personal use, the clarity of the tapes is not of a professional quality. The quality is sufficient to clearly hear what is said, although there is plenty of extraneous background noise (sirens, dogs barking, coughing, etc.). The tape recordings that were made during the first few years are the only ones in existence. Recordings of later Courses are of substantially better sound quality.

All of the Correspondence Courses are produced by volunteers who copy, assemble, ship, and grade the course materials in their spare time after work. Since the Correspondence Course program's inception, volunteers have copied and distributed more than 75,000 audio tapes and a million pages of written materials to individuals, study groups, prisoners, and Dharma centers worldwide. If you or someone you know is interested in sponsoring the re-mastering of audio tapes to improve their sound quality, or in sponsoring the distribution of free Courses to those who sincerely wish to study but can not afford the materials (approximately one-third of all courses are supplied for free), please contact the Asian Classics Institute.

A Correspondence Course brochure is available for download in PDF format (300 KB), which will allow for better printing and ordering. If you need the free Acrobat Reader plug in to view the document, it is available here.

For a description of Course topics available, click here.
For a description of Meditation topics available, click here.