Introduction to Buddhism
(REL 2341 [sln 2645])
Fall 2004
Meeting times: Tuesday
Classroom
location: Turlington 2334
Discussion
session locations: Turlington 2334 (Group A),
Instructor: Dr. Jason Neelis, Assistant Professor,
Department of Religion, Box 117410
Office hours
(130 Anderson): Tuesday
E-mail: jneelis@religion.ufl.edu Phone: (352) 392-1625,
ext. 240
Course Website:
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/jneelis/classes/rel_2341_syllabus.htm
Teaching Assistants (e-mail): Office Hours: Location:
Bradley Ackroyd (ackroyd@ufl.edu) Thursday,
Joseph Witt (joseph23@ufl.edu) Thursday,
Course goals:
This course is
a general introduction to the history of Buddhist religious traditions in
Course format:
In addition to
lectures by the instructor (supplemented by slide presentations and videos), smaller
discussion sessions during class meeting times on alternating Thursdays led by
the instructor and the teaching assistants will give students an opportunity to
discuss responses to questions distributed the week in advance. Assigned
readings are to be completed before the topics are covered in order to benefit
from lectures and discussions. Questions are welcomed both inside and outside
of class, and students should take advantage of extra help available from the
instructor and the teaching assistants during their office hours. There are no
prerequisites for the course, other than a sincere interest in intellectual engagement
with a very interesting religious/philosophical/cultural system of belief and
practice.
Textbooks
(avalaible in the UF bookstore in Reitz Union and at Goerings Book Store):
Rupert Gethin, The Foundations of Buddhism.
Walpola
Rahula, What
the Buddha Taught, Grove Press,
John
Strong, The Experience of Buddhism:
Sources and Interpretations, 2nd edition. Wadsworth Publishing
Co.,
Kevin Trainor, et al. Buddhism : The
illustrated guide, Oxford University Press,
Requirements:
Attendance and Participation (see note
on attendance policy): 10 %
5 Question sheets (#1,
#2, #3,
#4, #5): 10 %
Mid-term exam (October 14 - Review):
25 %
Book Report (due November 18, see guidelines):
25 %
Final Exam (December 14): 30 %
Evaluation:
Grades will be computed based on the
percentages given above according to this scale -
A: 100 - 92, B+: 91-87, B: 86-81, C+:
80-76, C: 75-71, D+: 70-66, D: 65-61,
E: 60 or below
Attendance
policy:
A roll sheet will be distributed at the beginning of each
class. For each unexcused absence beyond three which are permitted, 3 points
will be deducted from the final grade (1 point will be deducted for each
episode of tardiness). Leaving class early without the instructor's permission
and disrespectful behavior (talking during lectures, sleeping, reading the
paper, and rudeness to the instructor, assistants or fellow students) will
result in deductions for unexcused absences. Absences can only be excused if
written requests are submitted in advance or if written explanations are
submitted with valid documentation.
Notices:
Academic Honesty
guidelines at the
http://www.dso.ufl.edu/judicial/honestybrochure.htm
Basically, “An academic honesty offense is defined as the
act of lying, cheating, or stealing academic information so that one gains
academic advantage. As a
Students with Disabilities need to register with the office of the Dean of Students:
Make-up tests will be given only in cases of medical emergencies or scheduling conflicts caused by the University Registrar.
Schedule of topics and reading
assignments (subject to
modifications)
Week1: Course
Introduction
Tuesday, 8/24
Sources and methods for the academic study of Buddhism
Thursday, 8/26
Indian religious and social background
Week 2:
Buddha's biography
Tues. 8/31
Renunciation, awakening, and Parinirvāṇa
Thurs. 9/2 Discussion
session: Question sheet #1 due
Week 3:
Buddha's teachings (Dharma)
Tues. 9/7 Four truths
Thurs. 9/9 Eightfold path
Week 4:
Foundations of Buddhist philosophy
Tues. 9/14 No
self and dependent arising
Thurs. 9/16
Discussion session: Question sheet
#2 due
Week 5: Early
Buddhist Community (Samgha)
Tues. 9/21
Buddhist monasticism (Video: Making of a Monk)
Thurs. 9/23
Interactions with lay patrons
Week 6:
Transmission of Buddhist Languages and literature
Tues. 9/28
Indian Buddhist languages, schools and canonical literature
Thurs. 9/30
Discussion Session: Question sheet
#3 due
Week 7:
Buddhist practices
Tues. 10/5 Buddhist
devotional rituals
Readings: Gethin 163-174; Rahula 8-12; Trainor 106-119
Thurs. 10/8 Buddhist
meditation traditions
Readings: Gethin 174-201 [202-223 recommended]; Rahula
109-119; Strong 118-124; Trainor 80-89
Week 8: Buddhism
"on the ground"
Tues. 10/12 Buddhist
Art and Archeology and general review;
Thurs. 10/14 Mid-term exam
Week 9: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Tues. 10/19
Bodhisattva ideal
Thurs. 10/21 Buddhas and Buddhahood
Week 10: Mahāyāna philosophy and practice
Tues. 10/26
Doctrine of Emptiness (śūnyatā),
'Perfection of Wisdom' (prajńāpāramitā),
Madhyamaka, and the 'Cult of the Book'
Readings: Gethin 234-244, Strong 140-151, Trainor
196-203
Thurs. 10/28 Discussion
session: Question sheet #4 due
Week 11:
Buddhism in China
Tues.
11/2 Schools of Chinese Buddhism (Video: Buddhism in China)
Thurs. 11/4
Chan/Zen traditions in
Week 12: Korean
and Japanese Buddhism
Tues. 11/9
(Video: Land of the Disappearing Buddha)
Readings:
Thurs. 11/11
Class cancelled (VETERANS' DAY HOLIDAY)
Week 13:
Esoteric Buddhism of
Tues. 11/16
Medieval Indian origins and later manifestations
Thurs. 11/18 Discussion
session: Book reports due
Class cancelled
Nov. 23 (Instructor is away) and Nov. 25 (THANKSGIVING)
Week 14:
Buddhism in modern
Tues. 11/30 Theravāda Buddhism
Thurs. 12/2 Discussion
session: Question sheet #5 due
Week 15:
Contemporary Buddhism in the West
Tues. 12/7
American Buddhism (Video: Buddhism Comes
to America)
Final Exam: December 14 (Tuesday),
Book Report guidelines for Introduction
to Buddhism (REL 2341)
All students in
the course are required to complete a book report on one of the Buddhist texts
chosen from this list of translations. One of the most important purposes of
this exercise is to introduce students to the challenge of interpreting
Buddhist literary texts so that they can begin to develop their own tools and
methods for approaching primary sources. Issues of authorship [if applicable],
language, date, historical context, and religious significance (i.e. how the
text relates to a particular Buddhist tradition) should be addressed in a 3-5
page double-spaced typed document due Thursday, November 18.
Choose a text
from among the following three possibilities:
1) Dhammapada
Reliable and
easily available translations include
i. John Ross Carter and Mahinda
Palihawadana (translators), The Dhammapada. Oxford University Press,
ii.
K.R. Norman
(translator), The Word of the Doctrine (Dhammapada).
Pali Text Society,
iii. S. Radhakrishnan
(translator), The Dhammapada, with introductory
essays, Pali text, English translation, and notes.
Oxford University Press,
2) Milarepa, Hundred Thousand Songs
i. Antoinette E. Gordon (translator), with an
introduction by Peter Fingesten, The Hundred
Thousand Songs: selections from Milarepa. C.E.
Tuttle,
ii. Humphrey Clarke (translator), Songs
of Milarepa.
3) Ryokan
i.
John Stevens (translator), One Robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryokan.
ii. John Stevens (translator), Dewdrops
on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan. Shambhala,