PAPER TOPICS II: REL 444/544 Medieval Japanese
Buddhism
Due Thursday, Feb 18 in class.
* Three pages: Not more than 1000 words (You may use parenthetical
notation to indicate page numbers for textual references.)
* I encourage you to discuss these topics with one another.
* Be sure to write your name, the name of the class, and the title of
your topic at the top of the page.
* I also strongly encourage you to read the essays on my Writing web
pages, especially "Four Keys to Writing in the Humanities," "Paper
Writing Guidelines," "Checklist for Papers," "Writing: The Bridge
between Consciousness and Unconsciousness," and "Clauses and
Commas."
- Zhuangzi and the Buddhism of the Kamakura Period
- Compare Zhuangzi's view of practice with that of one of the
following Buddhists: Myoe, Dogen, and Shinran. Both Zhuangzi on
the one hand and the emerging leaders of Buddhism during the
Kamakura Period (Myoe, Dogen, Shinran) on the other subscribe to
philosophies of living in the world (of distinctions) but not
being of it (empty of attachment to ideas of this world for
Buddhists; free from the entanglements of distinctions and flowing
freely in the Dao for Zhuangzi). Yet, they differ on how to
cultivate such an understanding both at the level of individual
awakening and in terms of their views of society. Compare and
contrast.
- Women in Medieval Japanese Buddhism
- Compare the representation of women's religious lives as found
in two of the sources we have read so far: Barbara Ruch, "The
Other Side of Culture in Medieval Japan"; Mark Unno,
"Chapter 5: Gendered Power of Light," Shingon
Refractions; Chapter on Lady Gio from The Tale of the
Heike. In the sources you examine, what is the relation
between social and spiritual power? What is women's capacity for
enlightenment? How, if at all, is this capacity related to social
status and empowerment?
- Individual Awakening and Social Enlightenment in Medieval
Japan
- Compare and contrast the practices of two of the following:
Shinran, Dogen, and Myoe, specifically in terms of the relation
between their views of individual cultivation of awakening and
their visions for a Buddhist society.
- Sudden and Gradual Awakening
- Compare and contrast the views concerning sudden versus
gradual awakening as found in two of the following Shinran, Dogen,
and Myoe. Refer to the on-line outlines of the previous history of
the sudden/gradual paradigm:
- Notes on
the Platform Sutra of Hui-neng
- Notes on
the Sudden/Gradual Distinction
- See also,
- Notes on
Dogen's "Genjokoan"
- (contains notes on Dogen's view of sudden awakening
in Zen Buddhism)
- Mark
Unno, "The Nembutsu as the Path of the Sudden
Teaching,"
- (explains the view of sudden awakening in Pure Land
Buddhism according to Shinran)
- Mark Unno's Shingon Refractions (pp. 79-86)
- (explains view of sudden versus gradual awakening in
Myoe's Shingon Buddhism)
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