The five sciences (Skt. pañcavidyāsthāna, Tib. rigs pa’i gnas lnga, Ch. 五明處) refer to the five fields of knowledge that a Buddhist practitioner is expected to study. This educational framework appears to have been established around the 3rd century CE, during the formation of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra. However, this curriculum clearly contradicts the directives of the Buddha as recorded in the Suttanipāta. In this reading group, we will examine selected passages from Pali, Sanskrit, and Tibetan texts to trace the changes in the Buddhist monastic education system, and discuss the possible reasons behind these shifts.