What is the easiest, cheapest, marginally legitimate DL program out there in either eastern Christian or western Buddhism studies that leads to a marginally legitimate BA/S? No mills or that bunk but I'm not looking for Harvard Christian Studies or anything either, this is for personal enrichment not as a credential. Also looking for easy if I didn't mention that enough times yet.
I believe University of London has a diploma and/or a BA in Religious Studies, and the price is reasonable.
Methinks that the term "Eastern Christian" usually tends to mean Greek Orthodox or Russian Orthodox. However, one could also use the term to refer to Christians in Asia.
That's an odd combination. But perhaps less odd if your common denominator is contemplative education. Are you interested in hesychasm? Have you thought about transpersonal psychology? You might be able to find some interesting DL programs in that area. I'll leave eastern Christianity for others more knowledgeable than me to comment on. Regarding Buddhism, there are some excellent B&M religious-studies bachelors programs with a strong Buddhist emphasis, but I wouldn't necessarily call them easy. Unfortuately, I don't know of any credible distance learning bachelors programs. If you lose the degree objective, more opportunities magically appear. For some examples and links, see this thread: http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?t=29350 But I should say that Buddhism is less an academic study resulting in degrees than it is a personal practice resulting in mindfulness. The best way to approach it on a personal-interest (as opposed to scholarly-study) level might be to forget the academic model and to seek out an opportunity for practice that you feel comfortable with and is compatible with your chosen level of commitment. Depending on where you live, you can find everything from casual informal drop-in meditation/dharma groups where nobody will expect you to convert to anything, to monasteries full of shaven-headed monastics. There are even virtual online practice groups for people in more remote areas.
Eastern Orthodox Well, there are: The Pastoral School of the Chicago and Mid-America Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia www.orthodoxtheologicalschool.org/ and trusty old St. Stephen's course from Antiochian Achdiocese: www.antiochian.org/638 Both non-accredited, but very legit - used for actual training of actual clergy in mainstream ("canonical") Churches. In EO circles, one would look for support from a valid Bishop - it's in place in both cases. ROCOR one might be too Russian for my taste I would speculate that both would not be too easy, since the courses are supposed to be seminary-level, and there is no degree (but they award Diplomas). Perhaps if you would tell more about your goals, we'll give you better advice.
There's this one, the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology http://www.itp.edu/academics/global.php and this one, Atlantic University https://www.atlantic-university.org/home.php