Fall Semester, 2001.
Instructor: Dr.
James S. Dalton.
Office: The Clare Center, 2nd Floor.
Office hours: TT 8:30-9:30
Wed
8:30-11:30
and
by appointment.
Phone: 783-4235 (office).
The primary objective of this course is to give the student an appreciation of the major forms of religious experience exhibited within Buddhism. Special attention will be paid to the ways in which the various Buddhist traditions contribute to an understanding of the religious dimension of the human situation in history and in the contemporary world. Thus, the objectives of this course are three fold:
1. to introduce the student to a religious and cultural tradition possibly differing from
his or her own.
2. to examine Buddhism as a religious tradition in its cultural and historical settings.
3. to observe the situation of Buddhism in the modern world and its presence in
Euro-American culture.
B. During the
semester there will be a quiz and two examinations. The quiz will be held on
Thursday, September 27. The mid semester examination is scheduled for Thursday,
October 18. Final examinations are to be held during the week of December 14-20.
C. The Snow
Leopard by Peter
Matthiessen should be completed in a preliminary first reading
by the mid semester examination.
D. Sogyal Rinpoche's The Tibetan Book of Living and
Dying will be read and discussed as one
entry to the practice of Buddhism in the
modern world. Periodically, we will discuss parts
of the book in class. Students will prepare
brief response papers to facilitate this discussion.
E. All
students will be expected to go beyond the materials presented in class through a
research
project which will be submitted to the professor one week prior to the last
class.
Projects
will be due on Thursday, December 6. A preliminary progress report will be due,
via e-mail on Thursday, November 15. For information on the project see the attached
criteria.
F. Students will be
required to attend classes on a regular basis. If the student is unable to attend,
he or she will still be responsible for what
occurs during that class period. As a general guideline,
any more
than four absences will be considered excessive. Further absences might effect
the student's final grade.
G. The
instructor presupposes that every student will do his or her own work according to
accepted
academic standards. Any student who copies
someone else's work or is in any other way guilty
of cheating or plagiarism will be
subject to the penalties outlined in the Siena College
Statement on
Academic Integrity. At a
minimum, the student will receive a grade of "F" for the
course.
Matthiessen, Peter. The Snow Leopard. Penguin Nature Classics. NY: Penguin Books, 1996.
Sogyal, Rinpoche. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1993.
A. Religious experience and Sacred Realities.
B. Buddha and the Study of Buddhism.
Reading: Harvey, 1-8;
Sogyal, ix-xiv.
2. The Buddha in India: Turning
the Wheel of the Dharma.
Reading: Sogyal, 3-101.
Video: "In the Footsteps of the Buddha"
A. India at the time of the Buddha.
Reading: Harvey,
1-8.
B. The Biography of the Buddha.
Video: "Little Buddha"
(excerpts)
C. Early Buddhism: Rebirth and Karma.
Reading: Harvey,
32-46.
D. Preaching the first
sermon: the Four Noble Truths.
Reading: Harvey,
47-72.
E. The rise
of the Sangha and early Buddhism.
Reading: Harvey,
73-89.
3. The Southern Tradition: Theravada.
A. Emergence of the Theravada.
Reading: Harvey,
139-144.
B. The Dhamma
(Dharma) in Theravada.
C. The Sangha (Samgha) in Theravada
Reading: Harvey,
217-243.
D. Living as a Buddhist: the Five
Precepts.
Reading: Harvey,
196-216.
E. Meditation in Theravada: Calming
(Samatha) and Insight (Vipassana).
Reading: Harvey,
244-257.
F. Buddhism and the Political Order in Theravada.
4. The Northern Tradition: Mahayana.
Reading: Sogyal, 102-169.
A. The
Emergence of Mahayana.
Reading: Harvey,
89-94.
B. Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas in Mahayana.
Reading: Harvey,
121-133.
C. The Dharma and Emptiness
(the Void).
Reading: Harvey,
95-120, 280-282.
D. Buddhist devotion (puja) in
the Mahayana.
Reading: Harvey,
170-195.
E. The Chinese, Korean and
Japanese traditions of Buddhism.
Reading: Harvey,
144-169, 258-260.
5. The Diamond Vehicle (Vajrayana, Mantrayana,
Tantric, Shingon, Tibetan).
A. Buddhism
in Tibet and Central Asia.
Reading: Harvey,
133-138, 257-258, 260-270; Sogyal, 173-256.
Video: "The
Tibetan Book of the Dead"
B. Buddhism and dying: Sogyal Rinpoche.
6. Zen Buddhism: Nirvana in the events of
life.
Film: "The Scent of Green Papaya"
A. From Dhyana to Chan to Zen: India to Japan.
B. Satori and Emptiness: Presence and Meditation.
Reading: Harvey,
270-276.
C. Zen Buddhism
and the Arts.
Reading: Harvey,
277-279.
7. Dissent and the
challenges of modernity.
Reading: Harvey, 280-299.
8. Buddhism in the West.
Reading: Harvey, 300-321; Sogyal, 259-366.
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To Jim Dalton's Page.
Last updated on September 5, 2001