Nan Tien Institute

Nan Tien Institute (NTI) is a higher education institution that draws on centuries of Buddhist wisdom. We believe learning is for life and all are welcome to study here. Our special position in the Australian higher education landscape is our focus on ‘Caring for the Carer’ where we provide opportunities for our students to develop greater resilience and ability to cope with the challenges of modern life.

We do this by offering students a combination of academic excellence and opportunities for personal development. With programs based on Buddhist wisdom and ethics, including the opportunity to grow through developing mindfulness practice, NTI is supporting and inspiring its students to develop strong values of their own. Values that guide them to become active members of society, to evolve successful and stimulating careers, and to build resilience along with a spiritually rich and mindful life. Through these activities, NTI aims to be recognised internationally as a regional hub for Buddhist scholarship and teaching and for East-West cultural exchange.

Since commencing teaching in 2011 from its small Campus at the Nan Tien Temple, NTI has continued to grow and now delivers programs from its state-of-the-art Campus in Wollongong. The NTI Wollongong Campus continues to be a serene place of calm, meditation, wisdom and learning which impresses everyone who visits.

The Mission of Nan Tien Institute is to educate students in a context informed by Buddhist wisdom and values through the academic study of the arts, education, human welfare, religion and other disciplines, and facilitate cultural understanding and appreciation between East and West. The courses and research projects aim to foster academic study through reflection and experiential learning in order to make constructive contributions to humanity and society.

The Vision of Nan Tien Institute is to support and inspire learning and the pursuit of research and creative practice that provides the local region with a place for the exchange of western and oriental arts and culture, and contributes to the advancement and integration of knowledge, cultural and ethical understanding for the benefit of humanity in an increasingly complex and globally interdependent world.

The Values of Nan Tien Institute, which we seek to nurture in our students, and express in both our academic life and the administration of the Institute, are:

• Compassion – openness to and awareness of our interdependence with others; being present to others; empathy with and kindness to others, especially those who are suffering.
• Wisdom – inquiry, understanding and appreciation of the history and insights of traditions and disciplines of knowledge, not least Buddhism and the social and health sciences; contemplation and deep reflection; the prudent application of what we learn.
• Committed Service – a sense of vocation in the service of all living beings, and an ordering of our priorities and energy towards the needs of and opportunities for our community, our country and our world.
• Practice – time for reflection and development of ourselves; mindfulness and concentration, moment to moment, day to day, to bring compassion and wisdom to each interaction with others; communicating truthfully, working harmoniously, doing no harm, and acting ethically in our professional roles.