AskBuddhism brings together thousands of Buddhist teaching recordings and texts into a single searchable archive, powered by an AI assistant that helps you find and understand the teachings.
What is AskBuddhism?
At the heart of the site is an AI teaching assistant. Ask it any question about Buddhist philosophy, meditation, ethics, or practice, and it will search our entire archive to find relevant teachings — then answer your question using only those sources, with full citations so you can listen to or read the original material yourself.
How the AI works
When you ask a question, the AI searches across all 167,000 indexed passages from our archive using semantic search — it understands the meaning of your question, not just keywords. It then selects the most relevant passages, re-ranks them for precision, and generates an answer grounded entirely in those sources.
Every claim in its response includes a citation like [1] or [2] pointing to the specific teaching it drew from. The AI is instructed never to use its own knowledge of Buddhism — only what the teachers in our archive actually said.
The teaching archive
Our collection includes teachings from over 80 teachers spanning nearly four decades. The most extensively represented teachers include:
- Khensur Rinpoche — resident teacher at TBI Adelaide, over 2,400 recordings
- Geshe Pema Tsering — extensive lam rim and philosophy teachings
- Ven Jampa Gendun — meditation and practice instructions
- Lama Zopa Rinpoche — FPMT spiritual director
- Dalai Lama — selected teachings and commentaries
Browse the full collection on our Teachings page or explore teachers on the Teachers page.
Frequently asked questions
- Is AskBuddhism free to use?
- Yes, completely free. The archive and AI assistant are available to everyone.
- Can I trust the AI’s answers?
- The AI only answers from our source material and cites every claim. However, it’s a tool for finding teachings, not a substitute for a qualified teacher. Always verify important points by listening to the original recordings.
- What traditions are represented?
- The archive is primarily from the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, with teachings from FPMT-affiliated teachers. Some texts from other traditions (Kagyu, Nyingma, Theravada) are also included in the book collection.
- How do I listen to the original recordings?
- Visit the Teachings page and click any series name to open the embedded audio player. Recordings are hosted on the Internet Archive.
- Can I contribute or help?
- Yes! Visit our Support page to learn how you can help with donations, sharing, or volunteering.