Buddhist Education Aspirations Domains
Core Life Skills through Buddhist Wisdom Education
The DLF Curriculum Framework comprises over 175 learning goals grouped into five developmental domains. Each domain represents a core capacity or life skill that students develop by engaging with Buddhist wisdom teachings. These domains work together to develop young people who think clearly, act with integrity, appreciate wisdom traditions, maintain inner balance, and create with joy. When planning units, it is highly recommended to choose learning goals from as many domains as possible to ensure that learning enhances all of these key skills.
CLEAR THINKING
Clear Thinking develops students’ analytical and philosophical skills to understand experience through Buddhist concepts, contemplative inquiry, and reasoned investigation. Students examine core concepts like impermanence (anicca), dependent origination, emptiness (sunyata), and the nature of mind through critical inquiry and systematic analysis. Through studying key texts and practicing Buddhist epistemology, students develop precision in analysis and the ability to cut through confusion and complexity. This domain emphasizes the complementary relationship between analytical understanding and direct experience, encouraging students to investigate phenomena through both intellectual examination and contemplative practice. Students cultivate clarity to gain insight into essential truths while developing comfort with paradox and the capacity to discern between relative and ultimate perspectives. Students learn to apply Buddhist analytical frameworks to understand themselves, others, and the natural world with greater insight and discernment.
CREATIVE EXPRESSION
Creative Expression integrates creativity, spontaneity, and contemplative awareness through artistic practice as vehicles for both self-discovery and wisdom development. Students learn to approach creative activities with a balance of disciplined technique and spontaneous freedom, cultivating qualities such as non-attachment to outcomes, present-moment awareness, and joyful effort. This domain examines the relationship between artistic practice and Buddhist concepts such as non-self, impermanence, and the paramitas (transcendent virtues). Students engage with contemplative arts across cultures—including music, visual arts, movement, and performance—as vehicles for both authentic expression and inner development. Students discover magnetizing qualities of authentic expression while developing passion for beauty and the creative fire that transforms ordinary activity into contemplative art. Through practicing art as offering rather than ego-enhancement, students learn how creativity becomes a form of active meditation that develops sensitivity to beauty while transforming habitual patterns into awakened expression.
CULTURAL WISDOM
Cultural Wisdom develops students’ ability to appreciate and thoughtfully steward wisdom traditions while engaging in respectful cross-cultural dialogue. Students explore how Buddhist teachings have been transmitted across cultures, developing skills in cultural literacy and the capacity to honor both indigenous influences and Buddhist contributions to world understanding. Through studying Buddhist cosmology, iconography, sacred architecture, and lineage transmission, students learn to discern what aspects of tradition to preserve, adapt, or transform. This domain emphasizes critical engagement with heritage, fostering the ability to be thoughtful stewards of living traditions while building bridges across diverse wisdom lineages. Students develop an appreciation for the richness and abundance of human spiritual expression, fostering generosity of spirit in cross-cultural engagement and the skills to engage respectfully across cultural differences.
ETHICAL LIVING
Ethical Living teaches students to live with integrity while engaging mindfully with society at personal, interpersonal, and systemic levels. Beginning with examining their own motivations, students expand their capacity for responsible leadership and compassionate social transformation. Through foundational ethical frameworks—including the Four Noble Truths, Five Precepts, Ten Virtuous Actions, and concepts like ahimsa (non-violence)—students learn to act with discernment, balancing self-awareness with social responsibility. This domain fosters skillful action and the ability to effectively engage with complex social challenges. Students develop essential skills in practices like mindful communication, conflict resolution, and community building that strengthen their capacity to respond compassionately to suffering while creating harmony within increasingly diverse communities. Students learn to act with effectiveness while maintaining compassionate motivation, preparing them to lead from wisdom rather than ego and contribute to positive change in the world.
INNER AWARENESS
Inner Awareness cultivates students’ contemplative skills, emotional regulation, and capacity for sustainable well-being through meditation, mindfulness integration, and study of transformative Buddhist paths. Students learn various approaches to mental training, depending on their region and tradition, including shamatha (concentration), vipassana (insight), visualization, and the practices of the Four Immeasurables (loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity). This domain explores how mindfulness integrates into daily activities—from eating and walking to communication and emotional regulation. Students cultivate spaciousness of mind and fundamental awareness that supports resilience and well-being. Through studying the Paramitas (transcendent virtues) and the Eightfold Path, students develop comprehensive frameworks for personal transformation, learning to work skillfully with obstacles while developing equanimity and basic wakefulness that underlies all experience. Students create sustainable practice routines that support genuine contentment and the capacity to remain centered amid life’s inevitable changes.