IN SEARCH OF THE BUDDHA: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF BUDDHISM RELG 220 Professor DANIEL M. STUART Fall 2015

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1 IN SEARCH OF THE BUDDHA: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF BUDDHISM RELG 220 Professor DANIEL M. STUART Fall 2015 Meetings: Tuesday/Thursday, 1:15-2:30pm, Davis College 209 Office Hours: Wednesdays, 2 4pm Office: 378 Close-Hipp dstuart@sc.edu Course Overview: Who was the Buddha? What did he achieve when he attained enlightenment? How do we know what we know about him and his followers? How do we account for the wide variety of Buddhist practices across the globe today? This course will explore these and other questions through a study of the early history of Buddhism in its Indian context. We will look closely at the philosophies, rituals and meditative practices of Indian Buddhists and the historical developments that such practices underwent before and during their exportation to regions such as China, Tibet, and mainland Southeast Asia. The course will also engage contemporary questions regarding the way Buddhism is imagined, understood, and recreated by modern practitioners from all regions of the globe. INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM: SYLLABUS 1

2 Learning Outcomes Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to articulate fundamental ideals of Buddhist thought and practice from the standpoint of the three major strands of Buddhism that we study. Students will be able to connect the picture formed by those religious ideals to real cases of Buddhists' lives today. Students will be able to identify what is shared and what is unique among the various strands of Buddhist tradition that we examine. Students will be able to articulate specific ways in which the study of Buddhism sheds light on important, broader issues presently debated within the study of religion. Requirements 20% short written responses to weekly readings, due on most weeks as indicated on the course website. The responses will be based on writing prompts posted online. Responses are due at 5 pm on the day before the final class of each week, and should be uploaded in PDF format to Blackboard. A response should be between 200 and 250 words in length. These short reflections provide a valuable opportunity to think about the assigned readings prior to our last class discussion of each week. They will be graded on a credit/no credit basis. Only responses submitted on-time will be accepted. 20% midterm exam; midterm exam date: 10/8 25% 4-6 page interpretive essay. The essay is based on prior lectures and readings. Additional reading is not necessary. Students choose a topic from among a set of prompts that will be posted online. Alternatively, students may propose an original topic and have it approved by the instructor at least one week before the due date. The essay will require a close engagement with one or more of our primary sources. It will be evaluated both for quality of thought and quality of expression. Topics are distributed on 10/29. Papers are due on 11/17. (For guidelines and expectations, see the handout on writing an interpretive essay.) 35% comprehensive final exam with an emphasis on course material since the midterm; final exam date: 12/10 (10am 12pm) Attendance Prompt and regular attendance is crucial for success in the course. Attendance will be taken at the start of each class. Attendance is mandatory, and if you miss more than three class sessions, you will lose 3% of your grade for every additional class missed. If you are absent for an excusable reason, be sure to present the needed documentation to the instructor immediately upon your return (e.g., if you are absent for a legitimate medical reason, bring a doctor's note as soon as you come back to class).! Participation participation forms an important part of the course. Meaningful contributions to class discussions and other in-class activities enhance everyone's learning experience. Students should feel free to discuss the quality of their class participation with the instructor at any point during the semester. Grading Scale A; B+; B; C+; C; D+; D; below 60 F Required Texts Gethin, Rupert The Foundations of Buddhism. New York: Oxford University Press. Links to additional course materials are available on Blackboard INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM: SYLLABUS 2

3 Films: Siddhartha (1972) I Huckabees (2004) The Future (2011) Schedule of Weekly Readings and Assignments Week 1: The Buddha 8/20: Introduction and General Discussion: The Buddha and Buddhism Week 2: The Buddha (cont.) 8/25: The World of the Vedas: Heehs 2002, pp Olivelle 1996, pp /27: The Buddha Gethin, pp Bodhi and Ñānamoḷi 1995, pp R. Gimello Handout: The Date of the Historical Buddha Week 3: The Dharma 9/1: The Ascetic Imperative (Film in class: Siddhartha [1972]) Jaini, pp (Use Bronkhorst 2007, pp ) Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi 1995, pp /3: The Ascetic Imperative cont. Gethin, pp Week 4: The Dharma 9/8: The Cosmos and the Self: Karma, Rebirth and the Chain of Dependent Origination Gethin, pp Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi 1995, pp /10: Meditation Gethin, pp Walshe 1995, pp R. Gimello Handout: Mindfulness Outline INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM: SYLLABUS 3

4 Week 5: The Dharma (cont.) 9/15: Abhidharma Mind, Matter, Mental contents, and Nirvāṇa: What else is there? Gethin, pp Buswell 2005, pp. 1-7 Bodhi 2000, pp /17: Middle Paths Film: I Huckabees (2004) Week 6: The Saṅgha 9/22: The Monastic Community Gethin, pp Khaggavisana and Sangarava Suttas 9/24: Discipline Thanissaro Bhikkhu 1994, pp (web file) Horner 1949, pp Week 7: The Saṅgha (cont.) 9/29: The Lay Community Bodhi 1999, pp Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi 1995, pp Saddhatissa 1970/1997, pp Buswell 2004, pp /1: Women and Men Falk 1980, pp Khandelwal, Hausner and Gold 2006, pp Week 8: Time and Space 10/6: The Past and the Future Nattier 1991, pp Collins 1998, pp /8: *Midterm Exam INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM: SYLLABUS 4

5 Week 9: The Mahāyāna 10/13: The Beginnings of the Great Vehicle Gethin, pp Mahāyāna in Buswell 2004, pp /15: Philosophy and the Middle Way Garfield and Edelglass 2009, pp Week 10: The Mahāyāna (cont.) 10/20: Pure Living, Pure Lands Gomez 1996, pp /22: No Class Fall Break Week 11: The Mahāyāna (cont.) 10/27: The Way of Vimalakīrti Thurman 2001 [1976], pp /29: The Way of Vimalakīrti cont. Thurman 2001 [1976], pp * Paper topics distributed Week 12: Tantra 11/3: What is Tantra? Tantra in Buswell 2004, pp Samuel 2008, pp /5: Wrathful Realities Samuel 2008, pp Week 13: Tantra (cont.) 11/10: Embodied Consciousness Samuel 2008, pp /12: Power and Politics Samuel 2008, pp INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM: SYLLABUS 5

6 Week 14: American Buddhism 11/17: Westward Dharma Prebish and Baumann 2002, pp *Papers due in class 11/19: Buddhism, Culture, and Practice Obeyesekere in Kleinman and Good 1985, pp Week 15: No Class 11/24: Film: The Future (2011) (I will be out of town for the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting [11/21 24]) 11/25 29: Thanksgiving Break Week 16: American Buddhism 12/1: Social Realities Loundon 2001, pp. 5-16; 59-64; Edelglass and Garfield 2009, pp and pp /3: Cowboy Dharma Ingram 2007, Gleig 2014, FINAL EXAM: 12/10 (10am 12pm) INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM: SYLLABUS 6

7 Bibliography Anuruddha, Bodhi, Nārada, Revatadhamma, U. Sīlānanda, and Buddhist Publication Society A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: The Abhidhammattha Sangaha of Ācariya Anuruddha. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. Bodhi, and Nyanaponika Aṅguttara Nikāya: Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: An Anthology of Suttas from the Aṅguttara Nikāya. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press. Buswell, Robert E Encyclopedia of Buddhism. New York: Macmillan Reference USA. Collins, Steven Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities: Utopias of the Pali Imaginaire, Cambridge Studies in Religious Traditions 12. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. Conze, Edward The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines & Its Verse Summary, Wheel series 1. Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation; distributed by Book People, Berkeley. Davids, T. W. Rhys, and Hermann Oldenberg. Vinaya texts. 3 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press Davids, Caroline A. F. Rhys, K. R. Norman Poems of early Buddhist nuns (Therīgāthā). Rev. ed. Oxford: Pali Text Society. Davidson, Ronald Indian Esoteric Buddhism, A Social History of the Tantric Movement. New York: Columbia University Press. DeGraff, Geoffrey The Buddhist monastic code : the Patimokkha training rules. Valley Center, CA: Metta Forest Monastery. Edelglass, William, and Jay L Garfield Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings. New York: Oxford University Press. Falk, Nancy Auer, and Rita M. Gross Unspoken worlds: Women's Religious Lives. 3rd ed. Australia; Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Garfield, Jay L The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press. Gethin, Rupert The Foundations of Buddhism. New York: Oxford University Press. Gleig, Ann From Buddhist Hippies to Buddhist Geeks: The Emergence of Buddhist Postmodernism? Journal of Global Buddhism 15: Gombrich, Richard F Theravāda Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo, Library of Religious Beliefs and Practices. London; New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Gómez, Luis O Land of Bliss: The Paradise of the Buddha of Measureless Light: Sanskrit and Chinese Versions of the Sukhāvatīvyūha Sutras. Honolulu; Kyoto: University of Hawai i Press; Higashi Honganji Shinshu Otani-ha. Harrison, Paul Women in the Pureland: Some Reflections on the Textual Sources. Journal of Indian Philosophy 26: Heehs, Peter Indian Religions: The Spiritual Traditions of South Asia: An Anthology. Delhi: Permanent Black. Horner, I. B The Book of the Discipline = (Vinaya-piṭaka). 6 vols. London: Pali Text Society. Ingram, Daniel Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha. London: Aeon Books Ltd. Jaini, Padmanabh S Collected Papers on Buddhist Studies. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas. Khandelwal, Meena, Sondra L. Hausner, and Ann Grodzins Gold Women's Renunciation in South Asia: Nuns, Yoginis, Saints, and Singers. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM: SYLLABUS 7

8 Khoroche, Peter Once the Buddha Was a Monkey: Ārya Śūra's Jātakamālā. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Kleinman, Arthur, and Byron Good Culture and Depression: Studies in the Anthropology and Crosscultural Psychiatry of Affect and Disorder. Berkeley: University of California Press. Loundon, Sumi Blue Jean Buddha: Voices of Young Buddhists. Boston: Wisdom Publications. Nattier, Jan Once Upon a Future Time: Studies in a Buddhist Prophecy of Decline. Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press. Nattier, Jan Gender and Enlightenment: Sexual Transformation in Mahāyāna Sūtras. Journal of the International Association for Buddhist Studies. Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu and Bhikkhu Bodhi The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. Olivelle, Patrick Upaniṣads. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. Prebish, Charles S. and Martin Baumann Westward Dharma, Buddhism Beyond Asia. Berkeley: University of California Press. Saddhatissa, H The Sutta-Nipāta. London: Curzon. Saddhatissa, H Buddhist ethics. Boston: Wisdom. Samuel, Geoffrey The Origins of Yoga and Tantra: Indic Religions to the Thirteenth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Shaw, Sarah Buddhist Meditation : an anthology of texts from the Pāli canon. London ; New York: Routledge. Smith, Jonathan Z Imagining Religion: From Babylon to Jonestown. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Thurman, Robert A. F The Holy Teaching of Vimalakīrti: A Mahāyāna Scripture. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. Walshe, Maurice Thus have I heard: the long discourses of the Buddha. London: Wisdom Publications. Williams, Duncan Ryūken and Christopher S. Queen American Buddhism: Methods and Findings in Recent Scholarship. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon. INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM: SYLLABUS 8