RELS U TIBETAN & INDIAN RELIGIONS Spring 2015 TR 2:00 3:15 Bobet 216

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1 RELS U TIBETAN & INDIAN RELIGIONS Spring 2015 TR 2:00 3:15 Bobet 216 Dr. Catherine Wessinger Bobet cell Course Description: The course is a survey of the primary religious traditions of India as well as the development of Vajrayana Buddhism in northern India and its elaboration and preservation in Tibet. The course will examine the Indian influences on Vajrayana Buddhism, the uniquely Tibetan formulations of Vajrayana Buddhism, and the expressions of contemporary Tibetan Buddhism in India and other parts of the world. Attention will be paid to discovering contemporary expressions of the Indian and Tibetan religions to consider the ways they are changing to remain relevant in today s postmodern and globalized societies. Course Objectives are: To gain basic literacy about religions in India and Tibet and related communities; To gain appreciation of the uniqueness of Indian and Tibetan religious peoples and their cultures; To gain appreciation of the diversity of peoples, religions and cultures, and their shared humanity and creativity; To acquire the tools to research, investigate and think critically about one s own and others religious traditions. The tools of investigation include: Ø The ability to ask good questions of data; Ø Research in various types of sources, from print media to electronic media; The modes of analysis include: Ø The ability to distinguish reliable sources of information from unreliable ones; Ø the ability to bracket one s own assumptions and worldview to be able to understand the worldviews/points of view of others; Ø utilization of historical categories; Ø utilization of theological and philosophical categories; Ø observation of connections between beliefs/worldviews and actions; Ø race, ethnicity, class and gender analysis in relation to religions; Ø sociological analysis of religious organizations and their relations to society. 1

2 Assigned Readings: PECHILIS & RAJ: Karen Pechilis and Selva J. Raj, South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today (Routledge, 2013). ISBN $ POWERS: John Powers, A Concise Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism (Snow Lion Publications, 2008). ISBN $ AMA ADHE: Ama Adhe, The Voice That Remembers: The Heroic Story of a Woman s Fight to Free Tibet (Wisdom Publications, 1997). ISBN-10: $ BLACKBOARD: Selected articles in pdf format. VIDEO CLIPS & TEXT: at The Story of India website, PBS, WEB: Other online sources. R Jan. 8 First class. Discussion of the syllabus and course requirements. T Jan. 13 R Jan. 15 Indus Civilization WEB: click hyperlink an essay linked to the slides and read the essay by Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, Around the Indus in 90 Slides in 8 pages; explore the photos with links embedded into the text. Be sure to look at: #9 Great Bath; #25 Unicorn Seal; #27 Bull Seal; #33 Yogic Seal; #37 Mohenjo-daro Seals; #41 Priest King. Narayanan in PECHILIS & RAJ: paragraph on the Indus Valley Civilization on 40. VIDEO CLIPS: Harappa, and Climate Change, on Photo #3 Indus Valley Hindu Dharma: Basic Religion, Monism, Monotheism Narayanan in PECHILIS & RAJ: Introduction, 39-40; Location and Numbers, 40. BLACKBOARD: Lewis M. Hopfe, Basic Religion, T Jan. 20 R Jan. 22 Hindu Dharma: Shruti--The Vedas Narayanan in PECHILIS & RAJ: History, Hindu Dharma: Deities and Smriti Scriptures Narayanan in PECHILIS & RAJ: Deities, VIDEO CLIPS: Mahabharata, Ram Lila, and Krishna Lila. TEXT: Ramayana, Mahabharata, Krishna and Radha, Ram Lila, Krishna Lila, Rama on Photo #19 Performing Arts. TEXT: Descriptions of Hindu deities under Photo #14 Religion. 2

3 T Jan. 27 R Jan. 29 Hindu Dharma: Social Order Narayanan in PECHILIS & RAJ: Social Divisions, VIDEO CLIP: Ghats on Photo #9 Varanasi. Hindu Dharma: Practice Narayanan in PECHILIS & RAJ: Practice, T Feb. 3 R Feb. 5 Hindu Dharma: Worship Narayanan in PECHILIS & RAJ: Worship, 60-66; Current Approaches, VIDEO CLIP: Bharata Natyam on Photo #19 Performing Arts. Hindu Dharma: Pilgrimage and Shramana Culture MOVIE TO WATCH BEFORE COMING TO CLASS: A Short Cut to Nirvana (2004) (1 hr. 25 min.) at vimeo.com. Movie depicts the 2001 Maha Kumbh Mela at Allahabad. T Feb. 10 R Feb. 12 Preparation of Exam Essay #1: Hindu Dharma (50 pts.). Exam Essay is due to Dr. Wessinger via Safe Assign on Blackboard on Sunday, February 15, before midnight. The grade of a late Essay will be diminished by 10 pts. Jaina Dharma Kelting in PECHILIS & RAJ: Jain Traditions, VIDEO CLIP: Mahamastak Abhishek on Photo # 22 Festivals. T Feb. 17 R Feb. 19 Mardi Gras Mardi Gras break continues T Feb. 24 R Feb. 26 Preparation of Exam Essay #2: Jaina Dharma (10 pts.). Exam Essay is due to Dr. Wessinger via Safe Assign on Sunday, March 1, before midnight. The grade of a late Essay will be diminished by 5 pts. Buddha Dharma: Early Buddhism Goonasekera in PECHILIS & RAJ: Buddhism in South Asia, POWERS: The Indian Background, VIDEO CLIPS: Buddhism T Mar. 3 Buddha Dharma: The Buddha s Life and Pilgrimage Locations POWERS: The Indian Background,

4 VIEW MOVIE IN CLASS: On the Path of the Buddha: Buddhist Pilgrimage in North India (55 min.). R Mar. 5 Buddha Dharma: Buddhist Doctrines & Meditation POWERS: Some Important Buddhist Doctrines, 45-53; Meditation, VIEW MOVIE BEFORE COMING TO CLASS: Karma Bond to Past and Future (13.30 min.), T Mar. 10 Spread of Buddha Dharma Goonasekera in PECHILIS & RAJ: Internal Identities within the Buddhist Tradition, VIDEO CLIPS: Edicts of Ashoka ; and TEXT on Ashoka, Mauryan Empire, Ashokan Pillar, Battle of Kalinga, Buddhism, Stupa, on Photo #6 Edicts of Ashoka. [Deadline for posting Mid-Term grades] R Mar. 12 Buddha Dharma: Theravada Buddhism Goonasekera in PECHILIS & RAJ: The Theravada Tradition, ; The Practice of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka, VIEW MOVIE BEFORE COMING TO CLASS: Footprints of the Buddha (50 min.) (DVD ) T Mar. 17 R Mar. 19 No class. Buddha Dharma: Mahayana Buddhism Goonasekera in PECHILIS & RAJ: The Great Vehicle (Mahayana), ; Madhyamaka and Sunyata, ; Yogacara Buddhism, POWERS: Mahayana, T Mar. 24 R Mar. 26 Buddha Dharma: Tantra & Tibetan Religious History Goonasekera in PECHILIS & RAJ: Tantra, Mantra, and Vajra, ; Padmasambhava s Contributions to Tibetan Buddhism, POWERS: Tantra, Buddha Dharma: Tantra in Tibet POWERS: Entering Tantric Practice, 74-79; The Preliminary Practices, T Mar. 31 R Apr. 2 Spring break. Spring break. 4

5 T Apr. 7 R Apr. 9 Buddha Dharma: Tantra in Tibet POWERS: The Four Classes of Tantra, 79-85; Death and Dying in Tibetan Buddhism, WATCH VIDEO BEFORE COMING TO CLASS: TVNZ, Dead Buddhist Man in Death Meditation (8.47 min.), WATCH VIDEO BEFORE COMING TO CLASS: Rainbow Appears in Parinirvana of Tibetan Master (4.11 min.), Buddha Dharma: Four Monastic Orders in Tibet and Their Meditation Practices POWERS: The Four Orders, , with special attention to Nyingma on and Geluk, T Apr. 14 R Apr. 16 Tibet in Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries AMA ADHE: vii-xiii, TIME MAGAZINE: 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama, WATCH VIDEO BEFORE COMING TO CLASS: BBC, The Human Torches of Tibet (22.48 min.), Islam in South Asia Ruffle in PECHILIS & RAJ: Islam in South Asia, VIDEO CLIPS: Qutub Minar, Babur ; and TEXT on Qutub Minar, Delhi Sultanate, Babur, Mughal Empire, Jama Masjid on Photo #17 Delhi. VIDEO CLIP: Emperor Akbar ; and TEXT on Emperor Akbar, Tomb of Salim Chisti, Din-i-Ilahi on Photo #15 Fatehpur Sikri. VIDEO CLIP: Taj Mahal ; and TEXT: Shah Jahan, Tomb of Mumtaz Mahal on Photo #20 Taj Mahal. T Apr. 21 R Apr. 23 Islam in South Asia: Sufism GUESTSPEAKER: Dr. Adil Khan Sikh Dharam Singh in PECHILIS & RAJ: Sikhism, VIDEO CLIP: Sikhism ; and TEXT: Sikhism, Golden Temple, and Akal Takht, on Photo #18 Amritsar. VIDEO CLIP: Amritsar Massacre on Photo #18 Amritsar. YOUTUBE: Golden Temple, Amritsar, India 4-minute spot, (Loyola students at the Golden Temple). 5

6 T Apr. 28 Prepare Exam Essay #3 Islam in India and Sikh Dharam (20 pts). Exam Essay is due to Dr. Wessinger via Safe Assign on Blackboard on Sunday, May 3, before midnight. The grade of a late Essay will be diminished by 5 pts. FINAL EXAM PERIOD: Thursday, May 7, 2:00-4:00. Exam Essay #4 Vajrayana Buddhism in India and Tibet (50 pts.) is due on this date during this time period via Safe Assign on Blackboard. The grade of a late Essay will be diminished by 10 pts. COURSE REQUIREMENTS The course grade will be based on a scale of 200 pts. Exam Essay #1 Hindu Dharma 50 pts. Exam Essay #2 Jaina Dharma 10 pts. Exam Essay #3 Islam in South Asia/Sikh Dharam 20 pts. Exam Essay #4 Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet and India 50 pts. Attendance & Class Participation 40 pts. Discussion Board Participation 30 pts. 200 pts. Extra Credit Attend a worship service or festival at a Hindu temple, a Jain temple, a Sikh temple, or a Muslim mosque, or attend meditation, yoga, puja or a talk at a Tibetan Buddhist group, and write a report. Only one extra credit report per student. To be counted, the extra credit report must be turned in by April 29 at the latest via Safe Assign on Blackboard. The paper will be graded on a 10-pt. scale. up to 10 pts. GRADING SCALE: A B C D percent percent percent percent 6

7 F 59.5 percent or below Grades will be posted on Blackboard. Exam Essays Each Exam Essay will be written outside of class and turned in to the instructor saved as a Word.doc or.docx via Safe Assign on Blackboard, which checks the paper for possible plagiarism. Each Exam Essay file should be labeled as follows: Lastname-Essay#1; Lastname-Essay#2, etc. An Exam Essay should contain accurate content, be written using grammatical sentences and paragraphs, have an introduction and a conclusion, and contain no typographical or spelling errors. Since students will be able to consult their reading materials while writing the essay, all foreign words must be spelled correctly. Factual inaccuracies, grammatical errors and misspelled words will diminish the grade of the essay. The discussion question for an Exam Essay will be given to students well ahead of the due date. If a 50 pt. Exam Essay is turned in late, 10 pts. will be deducted from the final grade of the Essay. If a 10 pt. or a 20 pt. Exam Essay is turned in late, 5 pts. will be deducted from the final grade of the Essay. Attendance and Class Participation Students are expected to do all the reading and viewing assignments by the date of each class in order to be prepared to participate in the class discussions. Daily class attendance is very important to being successful in this course, and the discussion grade will take attendance into account. The discussion grade is worth a total of 40 pts.: 20 pts. before the Mid-Term and 20 pts. after the Mid-Term. Discussion Board Participation on the class discussion board on Blackboard counts a total of 30 points of the final grade. The pre-mid-term participation on the discussion board will count 15 pts, and post-mid- Term discussion will count 15 points. To participate fully on the discussion board, the student should post at least two thoughtful comments on the discussion board each week, one after each class. The comments will be graded on the degree of thoughtfulness and whether or not they indicate that the student has done the readings and viewings, reflected carefully on them, and whether or not they indicate the student is applying what has been learned to current events and information gained through a variety of media. 7

8 Students are encouraged to start their own threads on the discussion board. They may post news articles, call attention to interesting websites and videos, raise questions, respond to comments, questions or articles posted by other students, or respond to questions and articles posted by the instructor. Extra Credit Assignment To complete the extra credit assignment worth up to 10 pts. the student should visit a Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist temple, a Sikh gurdwara, a Muslim mosque, or other Tibetan or South Asianoriented Buddhist group while some activity is going on. The activity may be worship, a festival, meditation, a religious talk, yoga, but some activity must be going on to be observed. The report will not be given full credit if a place of worship is visited when there is no religious activity going on. Dr. Wessinger will provide guidelines for the format of the report on a handout. Only one extra credit report will be accepted. The latest an extra credit report may be turned in is April 28. It will also be turned in via Safe Assign on Blackboard. The student is responsible for transportation to the selected temple, gurdwara, mosque, or other place of worship or meditation. The student may visit a temple in her or his hometown or in New Orleans. Some relevant groups in New Orleans are listed below. International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) 2936 Esplanade Avenue (at N. Gayoso), New Orleans, LA Phone: The Hindu Temple Society of New Orleans 3804 Transcontinental Boulevard, PO Box 761, Kenner, LA Phone: Sri Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Temple 2730 Tupelo Street, Kenner, LA Phone: Gurdwara Sahib New Orleans, the Sikh Society of the South 8433 Morrison Road New Orleans, LA

9 Lotus Lake Drikung Dharma Center 5811 Tchoupitoulas Street Tuesday nights 7:30 p.m. Behind the home of Greg Eveline A very small group. Call first for permission to attend. Louisiana Himalaya Association 621 N. Rendon New Orleans, LA [Mid-City] Their website is not informative about current activities. The website needs updating. If you stop by the community center, a sign will be posted on the door giving dates and times of the activities. If LHA advertises a guest lama as a public speaker, I will let the class know. Masjid Abu Bakr Al Siddique 4425 David Drive Metairie, LA Policy on Laptops in the Classroom It has become evident that with wireless access to the Internet, laptops have been used for other purposes besides taking notes. Laptops are distractions in the classroom. Students are forbidden to use laptops to take notes in the classroom. Students should bring a notebook and pen to take notes. Policy on Cell Phones and Text-Messaging The student should make every effort to turn off his or her cell phone before entering the classroom. Any student observed text-messaging or reading their smart phone in class will be counted absent for that class period. If a student is observed using their phone, the instructor will stop the class discussion to have the student hand the phone over to the instructor. Disability Services Since Exam Essays will be composed outside of class and turned into the instructor via , no special accommodations need to be made for students with disabilities to take their exams. Emergency Provisions 9

10 If a student is experiencing a severe illness or family emergency that prevents the completion of work, the instructor should be notified at once by or cell phone. In the event of a hurricane, note the following: o In the event that there is an interruption to our course due to the cancellation of classes by the university as a result of an emergency, we will continue our course on Blackboard within 48 hours after cancellation. o All students are required to sign on to Blackboard and to keep up with course assignments within 48 hours of evacuation and routinely check for announcements and course materials associated with each class. Class handouts will be posted under course materials. o Students should be familiar with their responsibilities during emergencies, including pre-evacuation and post-evacuation for hurricanes. This information is available on the Academic Affairs web site: o Additional emergency-planning information is also available