Jamie Hubbard, Smith College
RELIGION 272A
Fall, 1998
Introduction to Buddhist Thought
Jamie Hubbard
Seelye 303, x3449
Office Hours: Monday & Wednesday, 4:30-5:30
and by design.
Jamie Hubbard, Smith College
RELIGION 272A
Fall, 1998
Introduction to Buddhist Thought
Jamie Hubbard
Seelye 303, x3449
Office Hours: Monday & Wednesday, 4:30-5:30
and by design.
| Wednesday, 9/09: | Introduction; the study of Buddhism | |
| Monday, 9/14: | The Indian context and philosophical background
of Buddhism
Readings (coursepack): Buddhist Philosophy, Ch. 1. FILM: India and the Infinite |
|
| Wednesday, 9/16
& Monday, 9/21 |
Karma and the cycle of re-death; the life
of the Buddha
Readings: The Buddhist Religion, Ch. 1 & 2; The Experience of Buddhism, Ch. 1; Coursepack: "Process of Rebirth," "Karma" (from the Milindapañha, translated in The Buddhist Tradition); "Effect of Salt" (Loñaphala) FILM: Buddhism, Path to Enlightenment |
|
| Wednesday, 9/23 | How do Buddhas know? Faith, scripture,
experience, critique, and knowledge
Readings (coursepack): "Epistemology" from Buddhist Philosophy; "Discourse With Canki" (Cankisutta), "Discourse with Potthapada" (Po¦¦hapada-sutta); "The Bases of Knowledge;" "Everything" (Sabba½); "Questions Not Tending to Edification" from The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha, 32-36; "What the Tathagata Asserts" |
|
| Monday, 9/28: | What do Buddhas know? Suffering, the origin
of suffering, and the elimination of suffering
Readings: The Experience of Buddhism, Ch. 3.1-3.4; Buddhist Spirituality, Ch. 3; Coursepack: "Causality" from Buddhist Philosophy; "The Unbearable Permanence of Being"; readings from the Bhagavad-Gita; "The Parable of the Mustard Seed" from The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha, 43-46; Paeon of Joy (Ud„na); Gotama, the Great Seer of the Sakyas (Mah„ S„kyamuni Gotamo); Arising (Uppada); "The Three Characteristics of Existence" from Buddhist Philosophy. |
|
| Wednesday, 9/30: | The path to knowledge: calming & insight
meditation
Readings: The Experience of Buddhism, Ch. 3.5; Buddhist Spirituality, Ch. 2 FILM: Walking Meditation |
|
| Monday, 10/5:
& Wednesday, 10/7: |
The Monastic tradition
Readings: The Buddhist Religion, Ch. 3; The Experience of Buddhism, Ch. 2; Buddhist Spirituality, Ch. 6; Coursepack: Vinaya Texts ("Rules for foot-clothing," pp. 13-17; "On Mendicants," pp. 116-17; various poems from the Therigatha ("Songs of the Enlightened Nuns"), pp. 9-10, 14-16; "A Progressive Talk" FILM: Preserving the Monastic Tradition |
|
| Monday, 10/12: | AUTUMN HOLIDAY | |
| Wednesday, 10/14 | Sectarian developments, councils, and the
beginnings of the Mah„y„na; Mah„y„na scriptures
Readings: The Buddhist Religion, Ch. 4, pp. 65-69; The Experience of Buddhism, Chs. 3.6, 4.1-2; Buddhist Spirituality, Ch. 7; Coursepack: "Introduction" from Mah„y„na Buddhism by Paul Williams |
|
| Monday, 10/19
& Wednesday, 10/21: |
Mah„y„na philosophies: the M„dhyamika,
Yog„c„ra, and logic traditions
Readings: The Buddhist Religion, Ch. 4, pp. 69-73; The Experience of Buddhism, Ch. 4.3.1-3; Buddhist Spirituality, Ch. 8 |
|
| Monday, 10/26: | MID-SEMESTER EXAM | |
| Wednesday, 10/28: | Bodhistattvas and the urge to compassion
Readings: The Experience of Buddhism,4.4, 5.2-3 |
|
| Monday, 11/2 | A new concept of Buddha
Readings: The Buddhist Religion, Ch. 5; The Experience of Buddhism, Chs. 4.3.4, 5.1, 5.4. |
|
| Wednesday,11/4 | Tantric visions aboard the Diamond Vehicle
Readings: The Buddhist Religion, Chs. 6 & 9; The Experience of Buddhism, Ch. 5.5; Buddhist Spirituality, Ch. 9 |
|
| Monday, 11/9: | A new concept of the person: Buddha-nature
Readings: The Experience of Buddhism, Ch. 4.3.5-6; Coursepack: "The tath„gatagarbha (Buddha-essence/Buddha-nature)" from Mah„y„na Buddhism by Paul Williams; "Myõe's Letter to the Island" by George Tanabe (from Buddhism in Practice); "A Heretical Chinese Buddhist Text: The Refuge of the Four Buddhas of the Universal Dharma" by Jamie Hubbard (from Buddhism in Practice) |
|
| Wednesday, 11/11: | A new concept of the practitioner: the
degenerate worldling
Readings: Buddhist Spirituality, Ch. 10; review The Experience of Buddhism, ch. 4.1 (The Parable of the Burning House); Coursepack: The Meditation Sutra from Shinshð Seiten |
|
| Monday, 11/16: | Zen Non-attainment
Readings: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (entire); The Buddhist Religion, Ch. 10; Coursepack: "The 10 Oxherding Pictures" |
|
| Wednesday, 11/18: | Guest Speaker: Issho Fujita of Valley Zendo | |
| November 23-25 | THANKSGIVING BREAK, NO CLASS | |
| Monday, 11/30: | Buddhism and local cultures
Readings: The Buddhist Religion, ch. 8; The Experience of Buddhism, chs. 6.1-2, 7.1-2, 8.1-2; Buddhist Spirituality, ch. 4, pp. 79-112 FILM: I am a Monk |
|
| Wednesday, 12/2: | Buddhism in Contemporary Asia and the West
Readings: The Buddhist Religion, Ch. 11; The Experience of Buddhism, Ch. 9; Coursepack: "Visible and Invisible: The Politics of Representation in Buddhist America" by Jan Nattier (Tricycle, Fall 1995). FILM: Zen in America |
|
| Monday, 12/7: | Doctrinal and institutional developments
Readings:The Experience of Buddhism, chs. 6.3-4, 7.3-4, 8.3-4; Buddhist Spirituality, ch. 4, pp. 112-119; Coursepack: "A Modern Sermon on Merit Making" by Donald Swearer (from Buddhism in Practice) |
|
| Wednesday, 12/9
& Monday, 12/14: |
Ritual and practice
Readings:The Experience of Buddhism, chs. 6.5-6, 7.5-6, 8.5-6; Coursepack: "Two Tantric Meditations: Visualizing the Deity" by Luis O. Gomez (from Buddhism in Practice); "The Seven-Limbed Practice" from Path To Bliss. FILM: Lord of the Dance, Destroyer of Illusion |
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