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

10/2 Wed: Introduction: Syllabus; Definitions of “Religion.”

10/4 Fri: The Geography of Asian Religions; Vedic Religion. Read: Hymns of the Rgveda, CR 1

 

Week 2 - Indian Religion: Vedic Religion the Bhagavad Gita
10/07 Mon: Vedic Religion and Brahmanism. Read: Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita (excerpt) CR 2 (Alt version of Gita Ch. 2).

10/09 Wed: L. Patton, trans., Bhagavad Gita, RT. Read book. (focus pages: vii-xxiv, 16-48, 70-100, 145-162).

10/11 Fri: Dance of Krishna and Gopis (Gita Govinda). Read: J. Campbell, Oriental Mythology, CR 3.

Week 3 – Early Indian Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism

10/14 Mon: Early Indian Buddhism I - Shakyamuni Buddha. Read: Peter Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, CR 4.

10/16 Wed: Early Indian Buddhism II - Nikaya Buddhism - Key concepts; 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.

10/18 Fri: Bodhisattva ideal. Read: The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti, CR 7. Chinese Buddhism, "The Philosophical Schools." Read: "Key Ideas: Taitetsu Unno, 'Philosophical Schools’," T. Unno, “Chinese Philosophical Schools,” CR 8.

                                                                                                            Short paper I due in class.

Week 4 - Ancient China I: Confucianism

10/21 Mon: The World of the Sage Kings. Read: Fingarette, Confucius: The Secular as Sacred, vii-xi, 1-56 RT.

10/23 Wed: Confucius and the world of ritual action. Read: Fingarette, Confucius, 57-81 RT.

10/25 Fri: Short Exam A; Confucius’ Orchestral Vision                    Short exam A in class.

Week 5 - Ancient China II: Daoism (Taoism): Laozi (Lao Tzu) and Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)

10/28 Mon: Laozi (Lao Tzu) - The Way: Read: Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching (Daodejing), 7-52, 53-96 (Book One) RT.

10/30 Wed: Laozi & Zhuangzi - Read: Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching, 97-143 (Book Two) RT. Zhuangzi, 1-7, 31-41, 44 CR 9.

11/01 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

11/04 Mon: Bodhidharma and Zen Buddhism. Read: Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism, CR 10. Short paper II due in class.

11/06 Wed: Korean Buddhists: Chajang, Uisang, and Wonhyo. Read: Thousand Peaks, pp. 28-38, CR 19.

11/08 Fri: The way of the kami - gods and goddesses. Read: Kawai, "Japanese Mythology," CR 11.

Week 7 - Medieval Japan I: Dogen and Zen Buddhism;

11/11 Mon: Dogen and Zen Buddhism.
Read: M. Unno, "Philosophical Terms in the Zen Buddhist Thought of Dogen," "Shobogenzo Genjokoan,"CR 12, 13. 

11/13 Wed: Dogen and Zen Buddhism (continued).

11/15 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

11/18 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.

11/20 Wed: The XIVth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso
Read: Dalai Lama, A Policy of Kindness, CR 18, 33-59.

11/22 Fri:                                                                                            Short exam B in class.

Week 9 - Modern Vietnamese Buddhism

11/25 Mon: Thich Nhat Hanh. Read: Being Peace, 1-44 RT.

11/27 Wed: Thich Nhat Hanh. Read: Being Peace, 45-90 RT.

11/29 Fri: (Thanksgiving Break)

Week 10 - Modern Manifestations: Japanese and Korean

12/02 Mon: Soto Zen Nuns. Read: Nishitani, "Ikebana," Paula Arai, "Soto Zen Nuns," CR 16, 17.

12/04 Wed: Seung Sahn. Read: Thousand Peaks, 191-314, CR 19.

12/06 Fri: Final Lecture.                                                                     Final papers due in class.