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.