Buddhist Counselling Education

Winter 2024 Buddhist Counselling Education (on-line) Program (courses 1 & 2):

#1. Understanding and Transforming Anger with Mindfulness Course – delivered via Zoom
8 Friday evenings January 26, 2024 to March 15, 2024, 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm (Toronto Time)
Instructor: Venerable Bhikkhuni Sister Thich nu Tinh Quang, resident teacher of Little Heron Zen Hermitage (Hamilton)

Sister Tinh Quang worked as a psychotherapist and was the executive director of an addition recovery centre prior to her ordination. She teaches this course from a perspective that integrates Buddhist teachings and counselling.

Every class will begin with a guided meditation related to understanding and transforming anger with mindfulness and compassion.
Please see the course outline (subject to change) for more details.

TO REGISTER for this course: Please send completed application form to registration@appliedbuddhism.ca by January 23, 2024. The registration fee is $50 (not refundable after class starts). 

#2 Buddhist Art and Cutlure Coursedeliver via Zoom
Saturday afternoons Feb. 17 to April 13, 2024, 2:00 -4:00 pm (Toronto time).
4 bi-weekly classes plus an optional field trip to the Royal Ontario Museum

Course Description: Buddhist Art spans Asia in a wide array of stunning images and diverse materials.  This course considers the fascinating development of Buddhist art from its early days in India where the Buddha was not represented to later images elsewhere with intricate and complex iconography.  The broad geographic scope of Buddhist art with its impressive Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana sites shows its adaptability.  Together with its symbolic language of hand gestures and postures, Buddhist Art reflects a culture of equanimity, loving-kindness, compassion and wisdom. Please download course poster here for more details.

Instructor and Guide: Catherine Maudsley.
Catherine is a multiple award winner, holding degrees in Religious Studies and Fine Arts.  She is an Art Historian, Art Advisor and Curator who was educated in North America, Beijing, Hong Kong and Kyoto. Catherine lectures worldwide and publishes often, in addition to providing art advisory services to international private art collections. During four decades of living in Asia, she travelled extensively throughout the region to important Buddhist sites and globally to museums with major Buddhist art collections. Catherine is a long-time student of Vajrayana Buddhism.

TO REGISTER for this course: please complete the registration form and send the registration fee of $30 to registration@appliedbuddhism.ca. The fee is not refundable after class starts.  

We will donate the fees collected to the Sunday School Breakfast Programs hosted by four temples in rural Sri Lanka. The children’s families there are experiencing economic hardship and the weekly nutritious breakfasts are helping to improve the health of the children:  http://appliedbuddhism.ca/community-engaged-buddhism

Fall 2023 Buddhist Counselling Education (on-line) Program:

Introduction to Pāli Chanting Course for Chaplaincy – Part I – delivered via zoom
10 Thursday evenings, September 28, 2023 to November 30, 2023, 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm Toronto time (with chanting practice group meetings to be scheduled after class begins).

Instructors: Ven. Bhante Kusala, MA and PhD (Candidate) in Pāli Studies, and assisted by Ven. Bhante Suneetha.

Bhante Kusala was ordained at age 16 in 2004 in Sri Lanka. He did his undergraduate and graduate studies in the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka. He is currently working on his PhD in Pāli studies. He also completed a Master of Divinity degree at Harvard University and had served as a resident chaplain at Brigham and Women’s hospital and Dana Faber Cancer Institute. He is currently a resident monk at the West End Buddhist Temple and Meditation Centre in Mississauga Ontario.
Bhante Suneetha was ordained as a novice monk in 1990 and received higher ordination in 2008 in Sri Lanka. He has completed an MA degree in Buddhist studies and a post-graduate diploma in psychological counselling at the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka. He serves his community as a resident monk at the Hilda Jayewardenaramaya Buddhist Monastery in Ottawa Ontario.

Course Description: Pāli chanting is practised in South and South East Asian Buddhist communities (Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Vietnam). This introductory Pāli chanting course is designed for chaplains giving spiritual support to these Buddhist communities as well as to care seekers in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition in the larger Buddhist community. This course introduces important stanzas and the Mettā Sutta etc. and others that affirm Dharma practices and offer blessings and protection. They can be chanted for the sick and dying to help them have peace in their minds. No prior knowledge of Pāli is required.

Please see the course outline (subject to change) and application form (word format) or application form (PDF format) for more details about the course.

To Register: Please send completed application form to registration@appliedbuddhism.ca before September 7, 2023 (application deadline extended to September 21, 2023). The registration fee is $50 (not refundable after class starts). In addition, we recommend a suggested donation of $150 to support Dhamma Schools for Children in Sri Lanka. For more information about the Dhamma school breakfast programs, please visit http://appliedbuddhism.ca/community-engaged-buddhism Please feel free to circulate the course flyer in your community.

The Buddhist Volunteer Grief Counselling Certificate Course – delivered via zoom
Friday evenings 7:30 to 9:30 pm, Sept. 8, 2023 to Nov. 24, 2023 (Toronto time)
Instructor: Venerable Bhikkhuni Sister Thich nu Tinh Quang, resident teacher of Little Heron Zen Hermitage (Hamilton)

Sister Tinh Quang worked as a psychotherapist and an instructor of psychology prior to her ordination. She teaches this course from a perspective that integrates Buddhist teachings and counselling.


In Buddhism, we are taught that loss and grief are inevitable yet they are still immensely challenging aspects of life. When a bereavement happens, no matter whether it was predicted or unexpected, it can be incredibly difficult to process. The Buddhist Volunteer Grief Counselling Certificate Course acquaints you with the grieving process and explains how to support someone going through it, exploring the various types of bereavement and advising the specifics of how to help in each situation.The primary goal of The Buddhist Volunteer Grief Counselling Certificate Course is that students gain the knowledge and skills to provide effective grief counselling and support for Buddhist practitioners or others interested in this approach, using a biopsychosocial and Buddhist approach to grief. During these 24 hours of grief support training, students advance their counselling skills.  This may include incorporating writing and art in their approach, in order to guide clients through their grief. 

Please see the course outline (subject to change) and application form (word format) for more details about the course. Registration/admin fee is $50 (not refundable after class starts). Please send completed application form to registration@AppliedBuddhism.ca by August 28, 2023.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~previous courses~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Winter 2023 Buddhist Counselling Education (on-line) Program:

1. Buddhism and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy Course (poster)
Saturdays: 1:00 pm to 3 pm (Toronto time), Oct. 8, 2022 to Jan 21, 2023 – 13 classes
2. Introduction to Pali Chanting for Providing Chaplaincy Service to Buddhists (poster / application form)
Sundays: 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm (Toronto Time) Feb. 5, 2023 to April 9, 2023 – 10 classes

1. Buddhism and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Course Facilitators:
Kenneth Fung, Psychiatrist (University Health Network), Professor (University of Toronto), MD, FRCPC, MSc, FAPA, DFCPA
Bhante Kusala, Buddhist monk (West End Buddhist Temple), MA, MDiv
Michael Dougan, Registered Psychotherapist, MEd (Counselling Psychology), MA (Applied Psychology)
Glen Choi, Professor (Seneca College), MA (Zen Studies), PhD (Cultural Studies)
Teaching Assistant:
Lama Rinzin, Buddhist teacher of Buddhist psychology, mind training and mindfulness meditation and mental health coach

This course seeks to provide an introduction to the intersections and parallels between Buddhism and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and discusses the similarities and differences between them. The course will explore how the two may be integrated in providing Buddhist counselling and spiritual care. Students in the course can expect to engage in experiential learning, reflection (self and group), meditations, case discussions/vignettes, and didactic coursework. There are 7 modules (26 hours) in this course. Modules 1-6 are four hours in length and module 7 is 2 hours. The course will be facilitated entirely through Zoom.
Please see the course outline (subject to change) and application form (pdf format) for more details about the course. We expect students to have a basic understanding of Buddhism or to have taken a Buddhist course from our Centre and intend to apply the knowledge and skills learned to help themselves, friends, family and community. Registration/admin fee is $50 (not refundable after class starts). Please send completed application form (word format) to registration@AppliedBuddhism.ca by September 15, 2022.

2. Introduction to Pali Chanting Course
Instructed by Ven. Bhante Kusala, assisted by Ven. Bhante Suneetha:

Bhante Kusala was ordained at age 16 in 2004 in Sri Lanka. He did his undergraduate and graduate studies in the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka. He is currently working on his PhD in Pāli studies. He also completed a Master of Divinity degree at Harvard University and had served as a resident chaplain at Brigham and Women’s hospital and Dana Faber Cancer Institute. He is currently a resident monk at the West End Buddhist Temple and Meditation Centre in Mississauga Ontario.
Bhante Suneetha was ordained as a novice monk in 1990 and received higher ordination in 2008 in Sri Lanka. He has completed an MA degree in Buddhist studies and a post-graduate diploma in psychological counselling at the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka. He serves his community as a resident monk at the Hilda Jayewardenaramaya Buddhist Monastery in Ottawa Ontario.

Course Description: Pāli chanting is practised in South and South East Asian Buddhist communities (Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Vietnam). This introductory Pāli chanting course is designed for chaplains giving spiritual support to these Buddhist communities as well as to care seekers in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition in the larger Buddhist community. This course introduces important stanzas and the Mettā Sutta that affirm Dharma practices and offer blessings and protection. They can be chanted for the sick and dying to help them have peace in their minds. No prior knowledge of Pāli is required.
Please download course outline here. Please download application form here.
Please download Pāli verses here. For the English translation of the Pali verses, please look up in Daily Buddhist Devotions in Pali and English.

To Register: Please send completed application form to registration@appliedbuddhism.ca before January 14, 2023 (application deadline extended to Jan. 28). The registration fee is $50 (not refundable after class starts). In addition, we recommend a suggested donation of $150 to support Dhamma Schools for Children in Sri Lanka.

Fall 2022 Buddhist Counselling Education (on-line) Program:

The Buddhist Volunteer Grief Counselling Certificate Course
Friday evenings 7:30 to 9:30 pm, Sept. 9, 2022 to Nov, 25, 2022 (Toronto time)
Instructor: Venerable Bhikkhuni Sister Thich nu Tinh Quang, resident teacher of Little Heron Zen Hermitage (Hamilton)

Sister Tinh Quang worked as a psychotherapist and an instructor of psychology prior to her ordination. She teaches this course from a perspective that integrates Buddhist teachings and counselling.

In Buddhism, we are taught that loss and grief are inevitable yet they are still immensely challenging aspects of life. When a bereavement happens, no matter whether it was predicted or unexpected, it can be incredibly difficult to process. The Buddhist Volunteer Grief Counselling Certificate Course acquaints you with the grieving process and explains how to support someone going through it, exploring the various types of bereavement and advising the specifics of how to help in each situation.The primary goal of The Buddhist Volunteer Grief Counselling Certificate Course is that students gain the knowledge and skills to provide effective grief counselling and support for Buddhist practitioners or others interested in this approach, using a biopsychosocial and Buddhist approach to grief. During these 24 hours of grief support training, students advance their counselling skills.  This may include incorporating writing and art in their approach, in order to guide clients through their grief. 

Please see the course outline (subject to change) and application form (pdf format) for more details about the course.Registration/admin fee is $50 (not refundable after class starts). Please send completed application form (word format) to registration@AppliedBuddhism.ca by August 28, 2022 (deadline extended). Download course flyer here.

Courses offered in previous semesters in 2020 and 2021 (Please check back for future offerings):
Introduction to Buddhist Counselling
Buddhist Contemplative Care at End-of-Life

Program Sponsors:
The Mahayana Pure Land Temple
Buddhist Education Foundation of Canada