HREL 35100: Indian Buddhism

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1 HREL 35100: Indian Buddhism Winter Quarter 2009 M/W 15:30-16:50 Swift Hall Rm 201 Christian K. Wedemeyer Swift 310B Office Hours: M/T 10 11AM Course description: This course is designed to serve as an introductory survey of the history, doctrines, institutions, and practices of Buddhism in India from its origins through the end of the 20 th century. Readings will be drawn both from primary sources (in translation) and secondary and tertiary scholarly research. There will be an in-class mid-term exam; students then have the option of either a take-home final exam or submitting a short (7 9 pp.) final paper on a topic approved by the instructor. All readings on electronic reserve through the course Chalk site (chalk.uchicago.edu), except The Holy Teaching of Vimalakīrti for purchase at Seminary Cooperative Bookstore. 5 January 2009: Introduction Readings: none Schedule of Meetings 7 January 2009: Orientation/The Indian Religious Context Topics: Brahmanism/Shramanism Readings: Jaini, Śrāmaṇas: Their Conflict with Brāhmaṇical Society Gomez, Buddhism in India [overview article] 12 January 2009: The Buddha: Myth and History Topics: The Historical Buddha Traditional narrative accounts Readings: Reynolds, The Many Lives of the Buddha Warren, trans., Buddhism in Translations, pp Bechert, Introductory Essay: Dates of the Historical Buddha (pp ) [optional] 14 January 2009: The Dharma: Basic Buddhist Teachings Topics: Cosmology and Worldview Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold Path Karma/Rebirth, Selflessness The Three Educations: Ethics, Meditation, Wisdom Readings: Agañña-suttānta (from Dīghanikāya: Walshe, trans., Thus Have I Heard) Warren, Buddhism in Translations, pp Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, pp January 2009: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (No Class) Readings: none

2 21 January 2009: Formation and Development of the Sangha Topics: The Nature of the Monastic Communities (incl. status of nuns) Lay Practitioners and dāna Sūtras and Abhidharma The Eighteen Schools and Vinaya(s) Readings: Robinson & Johnson, The Buddhist Religion, 4 th ed., pp Prebish, Buddhist Monastic Discipline, pp Warren, Buddhism in Translations, pp January 2009: Meditation and Ritual in Nikāya Buddhism Topics: Types of meditation Ritual practice: worship, confession, offering, pilgrimage Readings: Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta Āṭānāṭiya Sutta Kūṭadanta Sutta Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, pp January 2009: Developments through Aśoka to Buddhaghosa Topics: Canon formation and the Councils Abhidharma philosophy and early scholasticism Aśoka: the Buddhist Constantine Schismatic movements and the 18 schools Crystallization of Theravāda Buddhism by Buddhaghosa Readings: Warren, Buddhism in Translations, pp Gombrich, Theravāda Buddhism, pp Nikam and McKeon, The Edicts of Aśoka, pp Dutt, Buddhist Monks and Monasteries, pp February 2009: Rise of the Mahāyāna, the Universal Vehicle Topics: Origins of Mahāyāna: Hirakawa vs. Gombrich vs. Schopen Bodhisattva Emphasis The Literature of the Universal Vehicle Women in Mahāyāna Buddhism Readings: Hirakawa, The Rise of Mahāyāna Buddhism Gombrich, Organized Bodhisattvas: A Blind Alley in Buddhist Historiography Schopen, The Bones of a Buddha and the Business of a Monk 4 February 2009:Mahāyāna Dharma I: Upāya Topics: Liberative Art (upāya) as a key term in development of Buddhism Ethical revaluations Docetic Buddha Readings: Thurman, transl., Vimalakīrti Sūtra, Chs. 1 4 Tatz, transl., Upāyakauśalya Sūtra, pp Hurvitz, transl., Lotus Sūtra, pp February 2009: Mahāyāna Dharma II: Śūnyatā Topics: Subjective and Objective Selflessness An Anti-abhidharma? Readings: Vimalakīrti Sūtra, Chs. 5, 6, 7, and 9 The Heart Sutra (complete, Thurman trans.) 11 February 2009: In-class Midterm Exam Readings: none (review) 2

3 16 February 2009: Philosophical Schools Topics: The Centrist School (Madhyamaka) The Yogic Practice (Yogācāra) or Mind-only (Cittamātra) School The Epistemological (Prāmāṇika) School Readings: Buddhist Spirituality, pp February 2009: Mystical Trends Topics: Theories of Buddha nature (tathāgata-garbha) Visionary access to new teachings Magnificent Buddha worlds Readings: Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra (complete) Harrison, transl., Samādhi of Direct Encounter..., Chs. 3, 9, 13, 17 Vimalakīrti, Chs. 8, 10 12, and epilogue 23 February 2009: Rise of Esoteric Buddhism Topics: Context and Disputes (-emic and -etic) Nature of Movement and Revelations Readings: Kapstein, Scholastic Buddhism and the Mantrayāna Davidson, Indian Esoteric Buddhism, Ch February 2009: Mantranaya Dharma Topics: Pāramitānaya vs. Mantranaya Buddha or Cakravartin: No need to choose! The sādhana Consecration rituals and fire rituals Readings: Mahāvairocana Tantra, (only bold-faced sections): Chs. 1, 2 ( 1 22, skim rest), 20, 29 Sarvadurgatipariśodhana Tantra (Chapter 1) Anupamavajra, Ādikarmapradīpa (selection) 2 March 2009: Vajrayāna Dharma Topics: Mahāyoga and Yoga-niruttara/Yoginī Tantras Yogas of Vital Airs and Psychic Veins Antinomian Language and Rites Readings: Guhyasamāja Tantra, Chs. 1, 2, and 5 Davidson, The Subjugation of Śiva (in RoIiP) Wedemeyer, Beef, Dog and Other Mythologies 4 March 2009: The End of Indian Buddhism Topics: Theories of Decline and Destruction The Kālacakra Tantra Evidence for Survival/Newari Buddhism Readings: Newman, Islam in the Kālacakra Tantra Gellner, Monk, Householder, Tantric Priest 9 March 2009: 19 th Century Developments Topics: Impact of colonialism on world Buddhism Impact of the Oriental Renaissance on the West The rise of Buddhist modernism Readings: Schwab, The Oriental Renaissance (pp ) George D. Bond, The Buddhist Revival in Sri Lanka (chapters 1 and 2) *Take-home exams distributed to those choosing this option* 3

4 11 March 2009: 20 th Century and Contemporary Developments Topics: Dalit Buddhism, Diaspora Buddhisms, Western Buddhisms Transplants Re-transplanted: the Vipassanā Movement and the Tibetan Diaspora Bodh Gayā Today Readings: E. Zelliot, From Untouchable to Dalit (pp , ) Bond, Buddhist Revival (chapter 4) Gary Snyder, Smokey the Bear Sutra 11 March 2009: Take-home exams or final papers due by 3:30PM in Swift 201 4

5 Bibliography Jaini, Padmanabh S., Śrāmaṇas: Their Conflict with Brāhmaṇical Society, in P. S. Jaini, Collected Papers on Buddhist Studies (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2001), pp Gomez, Luis. Buddhism in India, in Kitagawa and Cummings, Buddhism and Asian History (New York: Macmillan, 1989), pp Reynolds, The Many Lives of the Buddha: A Study of Sacred Biography and the Theravāda Tradition, in Frank E. Reynolds and Donald Capps, eds., The Biographical Process: Studies in the History and Psychology of Religion (The Hague: Mouton, 1976), pp Warren, Henry Clarke. Buddhism in Translations. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, Bechert, Heinz, Introductory Essay: Dates of the Historical Buddha, in Heinz Bechert, ed., When Did the Buddha Live? The Controversy on the Dating of the Historical Buddha (reprint Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1995), pp Agañña-suttānta, from Maurice Walshe, transl., Thus Have I Heard: The Long Discourses of the Buddha (London: Wisdom Publications, 1987), pp Harvey, Peter. An Introduction to Buddhism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Robinson, Richard H., and Willard L. Johnson. The Buddhist Religion: A Historical Introduction. 4 th edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Prebish, Charles S. Buddhist Monastic Discipline. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna-, Āṭānāṭiya-, and Kūtadanta Sutta-s, in Walshe, Thus Have I Heard (as above Agaññasuttānta) Gombrich, Richard F. Theravāda Buddhism: A social history from ancient Benaras to modern Colombo. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Nikam, N.A., and Richard McKeon, translators. The Edicts of Aśoka. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, Dutt, Sukumar. Buddhist Monks and Monasteries of India: Their History and Their Contribution to Indian Culture Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, Hirakawa, Akira, The Rise of Mahāyāna Buddhism and its Relationship to the Worship of Stupas, in Memoirs of the Research Department of The Toyo Bunko, No. 22, (Tokyo: The Toyo Bunko, 1963), pp Gombrich Richard. Organized Bodhisattvas: A Blind Alley in Buddhist Historiography, in Paul Harrison and Gregory Schopen, eds., Sūryacandrāya: Essays in Honor of Akira Yuyama on the occasion of his 65 th Birthday (Swisstal-Odendorf: Indica et Tibetica Verlag, 1998), pp Schopen, Gregory. The Bones of a Buddha and the Business of a Monk: Conservative Monastic Values in an Early Mahāyāna Polemical Tract, Journal of Indian Philosophy, 27: Thurman, Robert A. F., transl. The Holy Teaching of Vimalakīrti: A Mahāyāna Scripture. University Park: The State University of Pennsylvania Press, Tatz, Mark, transl. The Skill in Means (Upāyakauśalya) Sūtra. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,

6 Hurvitz, Leon, transl. Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma (The Lotus Sūtra). New York: Columbia University Press, The Heart Sutra, in Robert A. F. Thurman, Essential Tibetan Buddhism (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1995), pp Yoshinori, Takeuchi. Buddhist Spirituality: Indian, Southeast Asian, Tibetan, early Chinese. New York: Crossroad Publishing, Tathāgatagarbhasūtra, William H. Grosnick, transl., in Lopez, ed., Buddhism in Practice (as above), pp Harrison, Paul, ed. The Samādhi of Direct Encounter with the Buddhas of the Present: An Annotated English Translation of the Tibetan Version of the Pratyutpanna-Buddha-Saṃmukhāvasthita-Samādhi-Sūtra. Tokyo: The International Institute of Buddhist Studies, Kapstein, Matthew T., Scholastic Buddhism and Mantrayāna, in Matthew T. Kapstein, Reason s Traces; Identity and Interpretation in Indian and Tibetan Buddhist Thought (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2001), pp Davidson, Ronald M. Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement. New York: Columbia University Press, Hodge, Stephen, transl. The Mahā-Vairocana-Abhisaṃbodhi Tantra with Buddhaguhya s Commentary. London: RoutledgeCurzon, Skorupski, Tadeusz, transl. The Sarvadurgatipariśodhana Tantra: Elimination of All Evil Destinies. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, Anupamavajra, Ādikarmapradīpa (selections), in Stephan V. Beyer, The Buddhist Experience: Sources and Translations (Encino, Dickenson Pub. Co., 1974), pp Guhyasamāja Tantra, Chapters 1, 2, and 5 of unpublished translation by Christian K. Wedemeyer Davidson, Ronald M., The Bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi s Subjugation of Śiva, in Donald S. Lopez, Jr., ed., Religions of India in Practice (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995), pp Wedemeyer, Christian K. Beef, Dog, and Other Mythologies: Connotative Semiotics in Mahāyoga Tantra Ritual and Scripture, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, vol. 75, no. 2 (June 2007), pp Newman, John, Islam in the Kālacakra Tantra, Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, XXI:2 (1998), pp Gellner, David N., Monk, Householder, Tantric Priest: What the Three Yānas Mean to Newar Buddhists, in Tadeusz Skorupski, ed., The Buddhist Forum, Volume II, (reprint New Delhi: Heritage Publishers, 1992), pp Schwab, Raymond. The Oriental Renaissance. New York: Columbia University Press, Bond, George D. The Buddhist Revival in Sri Lanka: Religious Tradition, Reinterpretation, and Response. Reprint Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, Zelliot, Eleanor. From Untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement. Delhi: Manohar, Snyder, Gary. The Smokey the Bear Sutra, in John Strong, The Experience of Buddhism (Belmont CA: Wadsworth, 2002), pp

Buddhism RELIGIOUS STUDIES 206, SPRING 2018

An Introduction to Buddhism RELIGIOUS STUDIES 206, SPRING 2018 Professor Todd T. Lewis Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 1-2; Wednesdays 1:30-2:30 and by appointment SMITH 425 Office Phone: 793-3436 E-mail: tlewis@holycross.edu