Liberation (Ages 15-18)

• 107Challenging Others’ Views

  Evaluate invalid assumptions and harmful dogmas, and generate skillful responses to challenge them using discriminating intelligence. Model and implement respectful inquiry techniques.
• 109Being Peace

  Evaluate personal conduct and motivations through systematic self-reflection, analyzing alignment between inner development and outer engagement. Implement practices that cultivate genuine peace and non-aggression as foundations for authentic social action, demonstrating how contemplative self-awareness enhances the integrity and effectiveness of efforts to create beneficial change.
• 112Mindful Consumption

  Analyze the food cycle, differentiating its causes, conditions, and effects. Evaluate how elements from the outer environment transform into the body’s inner elements through eating and drinking. Guide others in a practice of mindful consumption.
• 124Engaged Buddhists

  Analyze the work of exemplary, socially engaged Buddhists; implement their principles in daily life; and evaluate how modern engaged Buddhism aligns with the Buddha’s original teachings.
• 208Sukhavati Sutras

  Compare Pure Land Buddhism with other forms of Buddhism, analyzing how the practice of chanting Amitabha’s name serves both as devotion and meditation and how visualizing a perfect realm can inspire positive daily actions.
• 217Buddhist Iconography

  Analyze Buddhist iconography and symbolism, and differentiate the characteristic visual elements associated with different Buddhist traditions.
• 219Translations and Translators

  Analyze the contributions of at least five key translators of the Buddhist canon, evaluating their impact on the transmission of dharma across cultures.
• 100Diligence and Optimism

  Differentiate between ordinary hope and authentic optimism in Buddhist practice; analyze how joyful effort (virya) transforms obstacles into opportunities for growth; and implement sustained diligent practice that maintains positive engagement with challenging tasks while cultivating realistic expectations based on dharmic principles.
• 102Alleviating Dukkha

  Apply the four noble truths framework to analyze a specific community issue by identifying the suffering, investigating its causes, envisioning cessation, and designing a path to resolution; evaluate the effectiveness of proposed solutions through the lens of reducing kleshas (mental afflictions); and implement community action that demonstrates understanding of both relative and ultimate approaches to alleviating suffering.
• 117The Five Precepts

  Analyze the five precepts (pancha shila) as both restraints from harmful action and foundations for positive ethical development; evaluate contemporary applications of each precept in complex modern situations; and synthesize understanding by examining how precept practice creates conditions for mental purification and spiritual progress.