By Dr. Alexander Berzin | Founder and Author of Berzin Archives
As we reach the end of 2025 and prepare to welcome a new year, we invite you to pause and reflect on the past twelve months. It's been yet another wonderful year of growth and learning for our global Study Buddhism community. Take a moment to make yourself a warm beverage (or something cooler, perhaps, for our friends in the southern hemisphere!), find a comfortable spot, and join us as we look back on everything we've accomplished together this year at Study Buddhism! If you'd like to view a version of this with images, please click the link entitled "Newsletter" down below.
My Message
I belong to the Harvard Alumni Club here in Berlin, and each year we have a Thanksgiving dinner, which I always enjoy. This year, about 50 people were there. After the traditional turkey meal and an interesting speaker, we were invited to stand up and share with the group, if we wished, what we were grateful for. I stood up and said, "I'm about to turn 81 and, speaking on behalf of the older members among us, I am grateful for waking up each morning, still being alive and still having my wits about me. I can still think clearly and continue with my usual work. My body is still fit, and I can still get around and do the basic things in life without help."
Even if we are still young, we often take these simple things for granted. Our precious human life is not only so rare, but it also so short. When we get older and look back at our youth, it seems unbelievable how quickly time has passed. As one wise old woman once said, "Time is our enemy." That's very true. Our time left with our precious human life grows shorter each day. So, while we still have this golden opportunity, let's resolve in the coming year to make the most of the time we have left and strive to be of as much benefit to others as we can. The best legacy we can leave for the future is all our good deeds.
Dr. Alexander Berzin
Now, let's take a closer look at our achievements throughout 2025.
This year has been truly remarkable for Study Buddhism. In 2025, our website welcomed 2.6 million unique visitors from across the globe — representing continued strong engagement with our content. Throughout the year, these visitors immersed themselves in Buddhist wisdom, reading over 5 million articles available across our extensive multilingual platform.
Our content library has also grown substantially, now featuring 17,100 articles across all our language sections. This year alone, we published 242 new English articles and over 2,000 translations from English into the website’s other languages, reflecting our ongoing commitment to making authentic Buddhist teachings accessible to everyone, everywhere.
Our readership spans the entire planet, with our top ten countries being: Russia, United States, Germany, India, Italy, Spain, Brazil, France, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. The diversity of our global community, and the fact that our website is accessed in almost every country across the globe, continue to inspire us.
While English remains prominent as one of our primary languages, the multilingual nature of our platform continues to demonstrate the universal appeal of Buddhist wisdom. Our most-read language sections this year were: English, Russian, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Tibetan, Portuguese, Polish, and Chinese.
Interestingly, we've observed a shift in how our audience accesses our content. For the first time in years, mobile usage dropped to 54% (down from the typical 67% in previous years), while desktop/PC usage increased to 40%, with tablets accounting for 6%. This shift suggests that many of our readers are choosing to engage more deeply with Buddhist teachings through longer reading sessions on larger screens.
The articles that resonated most with our readers this year reflect a fascinating mix of historical inquiry, foundational teachings, and practical guidance:
Major News: Partnership with Serkong Institute
We're thrilled to announce a significant development for Study Buddhism. This year, we formed an association with the Serkong Institute, a project of the Serkong Foundation, which has initiated a comprehensive four-year program in India on Buddhist logic and debate. The program runs for three months each year and is currently in its second year. Beginning in 2026, a similar program will launch in Italy.
We have received the audio files of the 84 classes from the first year's program and have already transcribed them. We are currently in the process of editing these invaluable teachings. Once completed, we will publish them on our website, making these profound instructions on Buddhist logic and debate accessible to our global community for the first time. Our two courses on Udemy, Introduction to Buddhism, which offers students a step-by-step introduction to Buddhist religion, philosophy and science, and Cultivating Compassion: A Complete Buddhist Course, which provides a structured way to delve deeply into the practice of compassion and its crucial role in Buddhist teachings have surpassed 3,000 students. We’re excited to bring you new courses in 2026!
Social Media
Our community flourished across multiple social channels. Our Instagram following grew by 100% to 10,200, with video content generating 100,000 views. Over on Facebook, we reached 300,000 views with 16,000 engagements from our community. Meanwhile, our X account expanded to 6,700 followers, and on SoundCloud, listeners enjoyed 30,000 plays of our audio content, with 1,000s of downloads for offline listening. Our top listening cities on SoundCloud include Sofia (Bulgaria), Phoenix (USA), Moscow (Russia), Frankfurt am Main (Germany), and Des Moines (USA), showing the global reach of our audio offerings.
2025’s Top 5 SoundCloud Tracks:
Our YouTube channel experienced another strong year, though viewing patterns shifted in interesting ways. We now have 79,500 subscribers, welcoming 8,000 new members to our community this year. Throughout 2025, our videos garnered 650,000 views, and viewers spent an impressive 26,000 hours watching our content. Notably, while total views were lower than previous years, viewers spent considerably more time watching, suggesting deeper engagement with our teachings.
In 2025, we published 51 new videos, featuring interviews with an exceptional lineup of Buddhist masters and teachers, including Ajahn Sumedho, Khandro-la, Robin Moore, Ven. Steve Carlier, Geshe Kelsang Wangmo, and Geshe Tenzin Zopa.
2025’s Top Videos:
Over the last 12 months, we also conducted over 20 interviews with Buddhist masters from various traditions and lineages, as well as eminent scholars in the field of Buddhist studies. And so, in 2026, we have an exciting range of video interviews coming up. Make sure you subscribe to our channel to always stay on top of our latest content!
Looking Ahead
As we close 2025 and look toward 2026, we're filled with gratitude for all of you, our global community of practitioners and learners. Together, we've created something truly special: a space where authentic Buddhist wisdom is freely accessible to anyone, anywhere, in their own language.
The upcoming publication of the Serkong Institute's teachings on Buddhist logic and debate represents just one of the exciting developments ahead. We remain committed to bringing you the highest-quality content, expanding our reach, and making the transformative power of Buddhist philosophy available to all who seek it.
Thank you for being part of this journey. May the year ahead bring you peace, insight, and the continued opportunity to benefit all beings. With gratitude and warm wishes for 2026,
Dr. Alexander Berzin & the Study Buddhism Team
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