Support DRBU's Mission
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As Dharma Realm Buddhist University opens a new academic year, it welcomes new cohorts of students for its MA in Buddhist Classics, BA in Liberal Arts, and Certificate in Buddhist Translation programs. At DRBU, we meet students who choose an uncommon path. They come from different countries, cultures, and walks of life. They are curious, sincere, and willing to step beyond what is familiar. They come not simply to acquire knowledge, but to examine how they live, become better human beings, and apply what they learn to the different paths they choose. Collectively, they transform the world, in small or great ways, through the light that shines through.
Here are some of these amazing students who have embarked on their journeys at DRBU:
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BA first year: Bélanwar (from Cameroon)
Born in Cameroon, a small country in West Africa, I emigrated to the U.S. at age 12. I spent the past two years at a Delaware meditation center, where daily life combined meditation, yoga, qigong, and the study of Buddhist, Confucian, and Hindu texts. Learning of DRBU’s BA program, I was drawn to its focus on diverse wisdom traditions and its integration of contemplative practice with daily living—an approach mirroring how I already try to live. Through the program, I hope to deepen my spiritual practices, expand my thinking, and above all become kinder, while staying open to whoever I will become.
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MA, first year: Ven. Ben Kong (from Chile)
Born and raised in Chile, I have been following the Buddha’s teachings since early 2020, finding in this path a long-sought sense of meaning. In 2024, supported by my master and fellow practitioners, I left the home life. Then in 2025 I traveled through Mainland China and Taiwan to receive full ordination as a Bhikshu. Now recognizing monastic life as both blessing and responsibility, I seek to grow in meditation, communication, doctrine, and precept practice. I see CTTB and DRBU as places offering guidance to continue realizing compassion and wisdom.
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Translation Certificate: Edel (from Singapore)
I was born and raised in Singapore. My interest in Buddhist translation began many years ago when I translated a Dharma Master’s teachings on The Infinite Life Sutra from Chinese into English. A few years ago, while attending meditation classes at Avatamsaka Monastery in Calgary, Canada, I discovered DRBU’s Buddhist Translation program, which resonated deeply with this long-held aspiration of mine. I hope graduating from DRBU will allow me to approach translation with accuracy, humility, and sincerity, and share the Buddhadharma’s wisdom with future generations.
DRBU’s Debt-Free Commitment
DRBU is committed to ensuring that affordability is not a barrier to education. Through grants and work-study, every student’s financial need is met. The result? No DRBU student graduates with debt!
What does this mean in practice?
For the current academic year, 83% of degree program students are receiving financial aid. This aid totals just over $1 million and covers approximately 87% of these students’ tuition and room and board fees. DRBU has been providing a similar level of support to all students with demonstrated needs (domestic and international) since the inception of its accredited programs in 2013.
Because DRBU does not receive any subsidies or grants from the state or federal government, our commitment to debt-free education is possible entirely because of donations. Your support helps make their education possible. It provides an important condition for these remarkable individuals to fulfill their potential—and to bring what they have cultivated at DRBU into the world.
We are raising $500,000 to support 15 students toward completing their degrees.
DRBU’s commitment to debt-free education is sustained by people who believe that this kind of education matters.
You can be one of them. Whether your gift is $5, $50, $500, $5,000 or more, it becomes part of a larger pool of support from people around the world who believe in these students and in the possibility of what they can become.