After extensive renovations in a 225-year old farmhouse, there are now residential facilities, a library, offices and a dining room that provide a comfortable setting for students, staff and teachers. The Library at the study center is a major resource to be used by both students and visitors. We continue to expand our collection, and have something to offer both the serious scholar and the casual visitor. Some reference works must remain on site, but most books may be checked out for up to a month at a time. The Barre Center for Buddhist Studies offers a variety of programs from a wide range of visiting faculty, covering a diversity of topics of interest to students of the Buddhist tradition and of meditation practice.
Most programs are one-day or weekend offerings, though some are for one week or two weeks.
Although not a degree-granting institution, many people can get academic and Professional credits from their home institutions for programs attended in Barre. The Nalanda Program offers a model for the serious and intensive academic study of Buddhism, such as one might undertake at a college or graduate school. Six to eight hours of daily classroom time is balanced by morning and evening meditation sessions, as well as plenty of informal time for discussion, reading or walking in the countryside. The Bhavana Program offers a new model for combining the benefits of meditation with insight into the teaching's of the Buddhist tradition. Most of the day is spent in silent meditation, much like a classical vipassana retreat at IMS, but each day also includes a three hour study period of issues complementary to the practice of meditation.