REL 101
World Religions of Asia - Class Schedule Read assigned
texts by the class meeting date indicated.
(CR:
Course Reader; CR 1 = Course Reader Selection No. 1; RT: Required Text)
Week 1 -
Introduction; Hindiusm
9/24 Mon.
Introduction: Syllabus; Definitions of “Religion.”
9/26 Wed.
The Geography of Asian Religions; Vedic Religion. Read: Hymns of the Rgveda, CR1
9/28 Fri.
Vedic Religion and Brahmanism. Read: Upanishads,
Bhagavad Gita, pp. 63-64 (RT).
Week 2 -
Indian Religion: Bhagavad Gita; Early
Indian Buddhism
10/1 Mon. L. Patton, trans., Bhagavad
Gita, RT. (focus pages: vii-xxiv,
16-48, 70-100, 145-162).
10/3 Wed. Bhagavad
Gita (cont.), Dance of Krishna and Gopis.
Read: J. Campbell, Oriental Mythology, CR 3.
10/5 Fri. Early Indian Buddhism I - Shakyamuni
Buddha - Peter Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, CR 4.
Week 3 –
Early Indian Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism
10/8 Mon.
Early Indian Buddhism II - Nikaya Buddhism - Key
concepts and historical background
10/10 Wed.
Indian Mahayana Buddhism: Nagarjuna and the Two-fold Truth. Read: Jay Garfield, The
Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way; “Key Ideas: Nagarjuna and the Thought of Emptiness,” CR 5, 6.
Bodhisattva
ideal. Read: The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti, CR
7.
10/12 Fri.
Chinese Buddhism, "The Philosophical Schools." Short paper I due in
class.
Read: "Key Ideas: Taitetsu
Unno, 'Philosophical Schools’," T. Unno, “Chinese Philosophical Schools,” CR 6, 8.
Week 4 -
Ancient China I: Confucianism
10/15 Mon.
The World of the Sage Kings. Read: Fingarette, Confucius:
The Secular as Sacred, vii-xi, 1-56 RT.
10/17 Wed. Confucius and the world of ritual action. Read: Fingarette, Confucius, 57-81 RT.
10/19 Fri. Short
exam A in class. Short exam A in class. Also: Introduction to Daoism.
Week 5 -
Ancient China II: Daoism (Taoism): Laozi (Lao
Tzu) and Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)
10/22 Mon. Laozi (Lao Tzu) - The Way: Read: Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching
(Daodejing), vii-xviii, 5-42 (Book One) RT.
10/24 Wed. Laozi & Zhuangzi - Read: Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching, 45-88 (Book Two) RT. Zhuangzi,
1-7, 31-41, 44 CR 9.
10/26 Fri. Zhuangzi: Read: Zhuangzi,
61-62, 114-117, 128-129 CR 9
Week 6 -
Medieval China: Early Chan/Zen; Medieval Korea: Unified Silla
Period; Early Japan
10/29 Mon. Bodhidharma and Zen Buddhism. Read: Dumoulin,
Zen Buddhism, CR 10. Short paper II due in class.
10/31 Wed.
Korean Buddhists: Chajang, Uisang,
and Wonhyo. Read: Thousand Peaks, pp. 28-38,
CR 19.
11/2 Fri. The way of the kami - gods and goddesses. Read:
Kawai, "Japanese Mythology," CR 11.
Week 7 - Medieval
Japan I: Dogen and Zen Buddhism;
11/5 Mon. Dogen and Zen Buddhism.
Read: M. Unno, "Philosophical Terms in the Zen Buddhist Thought of Dogen," "Shobogenzo Genjokoan,"CR 12, 13.
11/7 Wed. Dogen and Zen Buddhism
(continued).
11/9 Fri. Shinran and Shin
Buddhism. Read: Unno, "Key Terms - Pure Land Buddhism," CR 14.
Short paper III due in class.
Week 8 -
Medieval Japan II: Shinran and Shin Buddhism; Modern
Tibet: XIVth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso
11/12 Mon. Shinran and Shin Buddhism.
Read: Taitetsu Unno, Tannisho,
Foreword, 4-9, 14 (web site syllabus PDF link); M. Unno, "The Nembutsu of
No-Meaning," 45-65 CR 15.
11/14 Wed. The XIVth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso
Read: Dalai Lama, A Policy of Kindness, CR 18, 33-59.
11/16 Fri.
Short exam B in class Short
exam B in class.
Week 9 -
Modern Vietnamese Buddhism
11/19 Mon. Thich Nhat
Hanh. Read: Being Peace, 1-44 RT.
11/21 Wed. Thich Nhat
Hanh. Read: Being Peace, 45-90 RT.
11/23 Fri
(Thanksgiving Break)
Week 10 -
Modern Manifestations: Japanese and Korean
11/26 Mon. Soto Zen Nuns. Read: Nishitani,
"Ikebana," Paula Arai, "Soto Zen Nuns," CR 16, 17.
11/28 Wed. Seung Sahn. Read: Thousand
Peaks, 191-314, CR 19.
11/30 Fri. Final Lecture. Final
papers due in class.