About This Audio Program

Welcome to The Way of the Buddha, an immersive audio learning experience from IMS Online.

For 45 years, IMS has been a leader in Dharma education rooted in the foundational principles of Theravada Buddhism. Now, for the first time, our teachers offer the profound insights of the Buddha in a comprehensive practice and study program delivered directly to you in your own online practice space.

Each module features IMS teachers from many generations and backgrounds who will guide you on the path. The core teachings include topics such as the one dharma, the two aspects of truth, the three jewels, the four noble truths, the five precepts, the six realms of existence, the seven factors of awakening, the eightfold path, the ten perfections and many more!

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IMS co-founder Sharon Salzberg offers context for this extraordinary program:

"For the first few hundred years after the time of the Buddha, the teachings were not written down, but were preserved as an oral tradition, transmitted person to person, heart to heart. I’ve heard anthropologists say that oral traditions can be even more authentic than written traditions, because people take the responsibility of transmission seriously, and they invest in memorizing and embodying a field of knowledge. In service of that pretty awesome responsibility, the teachings were often systemized into sets of numbers to aid memorization. Thus, we have the “three of these” and “four of those” and “five of the other.” As we gather together these different sets of numbers and lists, we find a breathtaking understanding of the human experience, and most essentially, insight into the conditions that lead to suffering and the conditions that lead to the end of suffering. Interestingly, I’ve also found that a single set of numbers, like the four noble truths or the four boundless states, function as a fractal, like a snowflake, or a coastline, or clouds, where the smallest part represents the entirety of the whole. In designing The Way of the Buddha, we kept both of these aspects in mind – the power of even the smallest part, and the vision of life created by the whole. And, we celebrate the value of the oral tradition, even in an online age. Throughout the program, many themes will recur—mindfulness, the causes of suffering, lovingkindness, equanimity or peace—and I think it will be interesting to hear the voices and choices of different teachers on what is most essential to address. I hope you will join us on this journey toward self-discovery and liberation." —Sharon Salzberg
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