Liberation (Ages 15-18)

• 510Musical Awakening

  Analyze how specific musical elements in chosen pieces convey Buddhist values, evaluating how qualities like mindfulness, compassion, courage, or insight are expressed through sound.
• 223Sutta/Sutra Structure

  Differentiate between source texts and commentaries, and analyze how these textual categories function within each of the three yanas.
• 239Women in Buddhism

  Analyze the Buddha’s teachings on gender equality, and evaluate the historical challenges women have faced in Buddhist traditions despite these teachings.
• 414Visualization Practices

  Compare and contrast the use of visualization in different Buddhist meditations with its use in modern contexts, and design a visualization to support a personal goal that brings benefit to self and others.
• 445Pleasure and Pain

  Investigate the experience of practicing equanimity with naturally-arising pleasurable and unpleasurable experiences; and develop some patience and resilience with discomfort and non-attachment toward pleasure.
• 446Praise and Blame

  Analyze the role that praise and blame play in human motivation; evaluate the role of praise and blame in your own motivations; and aspire to act with a motivation free from craving approval or fearing criticism.
• 514Non-Aggression and Art

  Create art with a gentle, non-aggressive attitude toward self and process, and evaluate the balance between enjoyment and healthy precision/self-critique.
• 103Ahimsa in Society

  Analyze systemic structures through the lens of ahimsa (non-aggression) by identifying who benefits and who is harmed by specific economic, social, or political systems; evaluate personal participation in potentially harmful systems using Buddhist ethical frameworks; and synthesize understanding by designing alternative approaches that prioritize ahimsa and pratityasamutpada (dependent origination) in social change efforts.
• 104Merit

  Analyze the relationship between virtuous actions and their karmic effects; evaluate how motivation influences the merit generated by specific behaviors; and synthesize understanding of merit by designing anonymous acts of service that demonstrate the Buddhist principle of selfless giving.
• 106Work as Practice

  Analyze the Buddhist concept of right livelihood as it applies to contemporary work and service; evaluate how transforming daily tasks into mindfulness practice affects both personal well-being and contribution to others; and synthesize understanding by implementing work-as-practice approaches that demonstrate dignity, presence, and selfless service in various life contexts.