REL 4936/5338: Buddhist Texts and Material Contexts (Spring 2007)
Wednesday 3-6 pm (periods 8-10)
Matherly 2
Dr. Jason Neelis, Department of Religion, Anderson 130, 392-1625 ext. 240
Office hours: Tuesday 10:00 am – 12:00 pm and by appointment
e-mail: jneelis@religion.ufl.edu
website: http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/jneelis/classes/rel_4936.html
Vista: http://lss.at.ufl.edu/
Course description
This course is an advanced undergraduate/graduate seminar for reading and analyzing selected Buddhist texts translated into English from Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, and Chinese. Relationships between these literary texts and their material contexts are explored by examining Buddhist art, archeology, inscriptions, and other evidence of religious practices "on the ground."
Goals
1) Develop methods for interpreting primary texts in translation
2) Investigate material and historical contexts for the composition, elaboration, and transmission of Buddhist textual traditions
3) Relate Buddhist literature to religious practices based on archeological, epigraphic and artistic sources
3) Understand how literary texts reflect changing patterns of Buddhist thought
Textbooks
(available for purchase from Goerings Book Store, 1717 NW 1st Ave)
John Kieschnick, The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture (Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton and Oxford: 2003)
Todd Lewis, Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal: Narratives and Rituals of Newar Buddhism (State University of New York Press, Albany: 2000)
Xinru Liu, Silk Road: Overland Trade and Cultural Interactions in Eurasia (Essays on Global and Comparative History, American Historical Association, 1998)
Richard Salomon, Ancient Buddhist Scrolls from Gandhāra: The British Library Kharoṣṭhī Fragments (University of Washington, Seattle: 1999)
John Strong, The Buddha: A Short Biography (Oneworld, 2001)
[Library copies are available for checkout from Course Reserves at the Circulation Desk in Smathers Library West. Supplementary texts listed as reading assignments are also on Course Reserves]
Prerequisites and Requirements
There are no formal requirements to take this course, although some academic exposure to Buddhism, Hinduism or other Asian religions will be helpful. Knowledge of primary languages is not necessary, since the readings are in English translation. The instructor will provide some background information necessary for understanding textual contexts and can direct students to helpful secondary sources.
Attendance Policy
Since the course is structured as a weekly seminar, students must not only attend each meeting but also must be prepared to participate in discussions based on the reading assignments. After the first unexcused absence, each additional absence will result in a letter grade penalty. Excessive tardiness of more than 10 minutes or repeatedly arriving late to class will also be unexcused. Leaving class early without the instructor's permission and disrespectful behavior will result in further deductions. Absences can be excused if written requests are submitted in advance or if written explanations are submitted with valid documentation. If it is necessary to miss class, meet with the instructor during office hours (or by appointment) to discuss the material covered in class.
Presentations and Participation (20 %)
Each participant will also be required to lead discussions on particular assignments chosen by the instructor (undergraduate students will be required to make a single presentation, while graduate students will be asked to make multiple presentations). When asked to make a presentation, students are responsible for outlining the assigned topic and generating discussion questions, which must be turned in to the instructor.
Take-home essay exams (40%)
Two take-home essay exams (mid-term and final) will be due one week after questions are distributed. Essays must thoroughly address all aspects of the questions in clearly written submissions based on reading assignments and seminar discussions. Graduate students will need to answer extra questions to receive credit.
Book Reports (40%)
Students will also engage with primary texts in translation by submitting two separate reports (expected length: 8 pages for undergraduates, 10 pages for graduates) on primary Buddhist texts. A list of options will be distributed after the first week of class, and students my select their own texts with the instructor’s prior approval. In addition to providing information about the text’s authorship (and/or composition), language, and content, situate the text in appropriate historical, doctrinal, and religious contexts by drawing connections to its use in Buddhist practice and detailing its intertextual relationships.
Graduate credit (REL 5338)
Graduate students will meet with the instructor separately to read excerpts from Buddhist texts in the source languages. Meetings and assignments will be arranged.
Review Academic Honesty guidelines at the University of Florida: http://www.dso.ufl.edu/judicial/procedures/studenthonorcode.php
Any offense of plagiarism, misrepresentation of original work, or other violation in any assignment will result in a failing grade for the course.
Students with Disabilities needing classroom accommodation must register with the office of the Dean of Students, who will provide documentation to the instructor: http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/ (for other support services see: http://www.dso.ufl.edu/supportservices/campuscounseling.php)
Schedule of topics and reading assignments (subject to modification)
Week 1 (Jan. 10): Course introduction and background for the study of Buddhist texts
Week 2 (Jan. 17): Hagiography of the Buddha
Reading: Strong, Buddha: A Short Biography, pp. 1-76 (chapters 1-3); selections from the Mahāvastu (translated by J.J. Jones), vol. 2, pp. 1-26, 78-91
Week 3 (Jan. 24): Embodiments of the Buddha
Reading: Strong, Buddha, pp. 77-148 (chapters 3-6); selections from the Mahāparinirvāṇa sūtra (Pāli Mahāparinibbāna Suttanta in Dīgha Nikāya 16, pp. 78-105, 149-157, 173-191); Senavarma inscription (translated by Richard Salomon)
Week 4 (Jan. 31): Early Buddhist Textual Sources
Reading: Salomon, Ancient Buddhist Scrolls from Gandhāra, xv-xix, 3-68 (chapters 1-3); selections from The Rhinoceros Horn and Other Early Buddhist Poems (Sutta-Nipāta) (translated by K.R. Norman), pp. 1-16
Week 5 (Feb. 7): Buddhist Literary Traditions in Gandhāra
Reading: Salomon, Ancient Buddhist Scrolls from Gandhāra, 69-86, 141-184 (chapters 4, 7-8); selections from The Word of the Doctrine (translated by K.R. Norman), pp. 1-21
Week 6 (Feb. 14): Popular Texts and Narratives
Reading: Lewis, Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal, 1-48; selections from Timothy Lenz, A New Version of the Gāndhārī Dharmapada and a Collection of Previous-Birth Stories
Submit first Book Report
Week 7 (Feb. 21): Devotion in Buddhist Literature
Reading: Lewis, Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal, 49-118; selections TBA from John Strong, Legend and Cult of Upagupta
Week 8 (Feb. 28): Ritual Contexts
Reading: Lewis, Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal, 119-180; selections TBA from Donald Swearer, Becoming the Buddha
Distribute Mid-term take-home essay questions
Week 9 (March 7): Buddhism beyond India
Reading: Xinru Liu, The Silk Road; Lotus Sūtra selections TBA
Mid-term take-home esays due before Spring Break (March 10-18)
Week 10 (March 21): Mahāyāna Sūtras and Material Culture
Reading: Kieschnick, Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture, 1-82; selections TBA from The Storehouse of Sundry Valuables
Week 11 (March 28): Monastic Life and Literary Culture
Reading: Kieschnick, Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture, 83-156; Selections TBA from Yijing, Buddhist Monastic Traditions of Southern Asia
Graduate students: Gregory Schopen, “Doing Business for the Lord” (pp. 45-90) or “Dead Monks and Bad Debts” (pp. 122-169) in Buddhist Monks and Business Matters
Week 12 (April 4): “Cult of the Book” in Buddhist Practices
Reading: Kieschnick, Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture, 157-219; selections TBA from the Diamond Sūtra (Vajracchedikā sūtra)
Graduate students: Gregory Schopen, “The Phrase sa pthvīpradeśaś caityabhūto bhavet in the Vajracchedikā” (pp. 25-62) in Figments and Fragments of Mahāyāna
Week 13 (April 11): East Asian Buddhist Texts and Material Contexts
Reading: Kieschnick, Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture, 220-294
Submit 2nd Book Review
Week 14 (April 18): Tibetan Buddhist Texts and Material Contexts
Reading: selections TBA from Tibetan Book of the Dead; Gregory Schopen, “Stūpa and Tīrtha: Tibetan Mortuary Practices and an Unrecognized Form of Burial Ad Sanctos at Buddhist Sites in India” (pp. 350-369) in Figments and Fragments of Mahāyāna
Graduate Students: Yael Bentor, “On the Indian Origins of the Tibetan Practice of Depositing Relics and Dhāraṇīs in Stūpas and Images” Journal of the American Oriental Society 115 (1995), pp. 248-261.
Week 15 (April 25): Past and Future Narratives
Readings: selections TBA from Jan Nattier, Once Upon a Future Time
Graduate Students: Jonathan Walters, “Buddhist History: The Sri Lankan Pāli Vaṃsas and Their Community” (pp. 99-164) in Querying the Medieval: Texts and the History of Practices in South Asia
Final Take-home essay questions due the following week (May 2)