FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Department of Religious Studies Fall 2013 Meditation & Spiritual Development Instructor: Unnata Pragya REL: 3020 U01 MWF: 3:00 to 3:50 PM Email: samaniji@preksha.com Office Hours: MTW with Appointment Office: DM 301 Objective: Twenty first century is the era of emergence of spirituality, Meditation & yoga. Students will explore the world of meditation, and know the scientific secrets of spirituality. The course is geared to acknowledging the meditations and its historical background with an emphasis on Jain meditation and other traditions. The students shall also get an opportunity to learn the varied techniques of meditation & transformative practices. The course is theory & practice oriented, leaning towards better healthy living. It promotes individual health & well being which encompasses the health & well being of all living beings around us and the world. Grading scale: 95-100 A 90-94 A- 87-89 B+ 83-86 B 80-82 B-
77-79 C+ 73-76 C 70-72 C- 67-69 D+ 63-66 D 60-62 D- 59 0 F COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADES 3 Class test 60 % (each 20%) Class assignments & Attendance 20 % Term paper 20% Term paper & Assignment policy: In any situations there will be no submissions accepted with the commencement of the Exam week. All submission, even if late should be done prior to the exam week. Late submissions will be graded lower Term Paper There are two options for term paper. One can select any as per the interest of the student. The term paper must be a minimum of 7 pages and no more than 10 pages in length, excluding the bibliography or works cited page and the cover page. This paper is formal and must be typed, not hand-written, in Times New Roman font size 12 and double-spaced. The margins should be 1-inch on all sides. APA, MLA, and Chicago Manual Style will be accepted. According to the style of choice, the student is advised to include footnotes or endnotes. A more thorough explanation of the term paper will be given during class. Option 1
Select either two traditions of Meditation or any two types of meditation practices & develop a research article with references. The paper should have atleast five sources, of which atleast three should be any authentic text, journals, etc. The references in the body of the paper is required. The topic of the paper should be submitted & receive an approval as per the scheduled dates. Or Option 2 Interview any authentic person of any religious tradition about his/her Meditation practice. Make sure you get a confirmation from the person before submitting the proposal. The interview should be in person only. Having interviewed the person, develop a paper based on the interview & the readings of the same tradition. Before the selection of this assignment make sure you have enough authentic resources to develop a paper. References & bibliography is required. The paper should have atleast five sources. Two of which should be any authentic text or journal, one will be the person being interviewed. More will be discussed in the class. Attendance/participation policy - Attendance and participation are very important to this course. Students are expected to read assignments and participate in class discussions. Attendance will be taken and I expect students to inform me of any prior commitments or emergencies that prevent them from attending. Students may be absent up to three times. A fourth absence will result in a loss of 15% from their attendance grade. Plagiarism Policy: The following is the definition of plagiarism in the University s CODE OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: 1.02 Plagiarism: The deliberate use and appropriation of another's work without any indication of the source and the representation of such work as the student's own. Any student who fails to give credit for ideas, expressions or materials taken from another source, including internet sources, is guilty of plagiarism. Any student helping another to plagiarize may be found guilty of academic misconduct (http://www.fiu.edu/~oabp/misconductweb/1acmisconductproc.htm). The syllabus is prone to minor changes as per the convenience of the Guest speakers & Practical session convenience. Please make sure you have your reading done before the class to bring in more discussion & interactions. Subject Reading Special notification 8/26 Intro to class Reading material are articles & power points uploaded on the Black
Board 8/28 What is Meditation What is meditation 8/30 Why Meditate? Why Meditate? 9/2 Holiday 9/4 Preksha Meditation Preksha meditation 9/6 Asana /yoga Asanas/exercise 9/9 Religious Holiday Jain Festival of Forgiveness 9/11 Pranayam Pranayam 9/13 Healing Through Sound/ Mantra 9/16 Practical session Mantras /sound meditation 9/18 Mudra Mudras 9/20 Food & Meditation 9/23 Practical session 9/25 Test 1 9/28 Levels of existence Levels of existence 9/30 Video Spiritual reality 10/2 Relaxation/ Kayotsarg 9/4 Practical session Spiritual reality Kayotsarg/Relaxation 10/7 Breathing / Svas Breathing 10/9 Practical session 10/11 Anupreksha (Auto Suggestion & Contemplation) 10/14 Lesya (color meditation) 10/16 Psychic Center / chaitanya Kendra Anupreksha (Autosuggestion & Contemplation) Psychic center perception Proposal Due
10/18 Jain Meditation Jain Meditation (Then & Now) Test 2 10/21 Documentary/ Video 10/23 How to be happy positive psychology in action Vipassana (Breathing 10/25 meditation)/ Buddhist Meditation 10/28 Kabbalah 10/30 Practical session 11/1 Class Discussion 11/4 Continued Vipassana - secret of breathing 11/6 Patanjali s Astanga Patanjali- Astanga Yoga Yoga 11/8 Hata Yoga Gorakha's Hata Yoga Term paper Due 11/11 Holiday 11/13 Zen meditation 11/15 Christian Meditation 11/18 What is Spirituality and what it is not? 11/20 Spiritual journey the accomplishments and dangers 11/22 Documentary 11/25 Death & meditation 11/27 Practical session 11/29 Holiday 12/2 Obstacles of Meditation 12/4 Catch up
12/6 Review