REL 444/544 Medieval Japanese Buddhism,
Fall 2015 CRN16038/9 Mark
Unno
Instructor: Mark T. Unno, Office: SCH 334 TEL
6-4973, munno [@] uoregon
[dot] edu http://pages.uoregon.edu/munno/
Thurs. 2:00 p.m. - 4:50 p.m., Esslinger 116; Office
Hours: Mon & Fri 11:00-11:40 a.m.
Overview
REL 444/544 Medieval Japanese Buddhism focuses
on selected strains of Japanese Buddhism during the medieval period, especially
the Kamakura (1185-1333), but also traces influences on later developments
including the modern period. The course weaves together the examination of
religious thought and cultural developments in historical context. We begin
with an overview of key Buddhist concepts for those without prior exposure and
go onto examine the formative matrix of early Japanese religion. Once some of
the outlines of the intellectual and cultural framework of medieval Japanese
Buddhism have been brought into relief, we will proceed to examine in depth
examples of significant medieval developments. In particular, we will delve
into the work of three contemporary figures: Eihei Dōgen (1200-1253), Zen master and founding figure of the Sōtō sect; Myōe of the Shingon and Kegon sects, focusing
on his Shingon practices; and Shinran,
founding figure of Jōdo Shinshū,
the largest Pure Land sect, more simply known as Shin Buddhism. We conclude
with the study of some modern examples that nonetheless are grounded in
classical and medieval sources, thus revealing the ongoing influence and
transformations of medieval Japanese Buddhism. Themes of the course include:
Buddhism as state religion; the relation between institutional practices and
individual religious cultivation; ritual practices and transgression; gender
roles and relations; relations between ordained and lay; religious authority
and enlightenment; and two-fold truth and religious practice. The seminar
format includes lecture, student presentations, and discussion. Students will
have latitude to develop their own final research projects.
Requirements
1. Attendance: Required. Students can have one unexcused absence
without penalty. Each class missed thereafter without prior permission will
result in 1/2 grade penalty for the course grade.
2. Short exams: There will be two short, in-class exams, based on
materials from the readings, lectures, and course web site.
3. Medium papers: There will be two medium-length papers (3-4 pages) based on
topics that will be provided by the instructor.
4. Presentation: Students will make a presentation on the readings for one of
the section meetings. The presenter should not summarize the reading but
should use the presentation to discuss why the selected ideas/passages in
question are important for understanding the reading and proceed to explain as
well as raise questions about these ideas/passages.
The primary purpose of these presentations is to launch the discussion,
not to demonstrate breadth of knowledge or to lead the discussion. Each
presenter will prepare a handout with 2 questions and brief, corresponding
quotations from the readings. More detailed instructions will be provided on
the course web site.
5. Final paper: Each student will hand in a final paper of 8-11 pages
double-spaced (A longer final paper of 12-15 pages will be required for those
who have registered for REL544.) Suggested topics will be provided. Students
may choose to create their own topics in consultation with the instructor. In
the case of the latter, a one-paragraph description of the topic must be
submitted by email to the instructor at least one week prior to the due
date, but an earlier consultation is recommended.
6. Late policy on written assignments: Three grace days total will be allotted
excluding the final paper for which no extensions will be given. For the short
papers, a cumulative total of three late days will be allowed without penalty.
Thereafter, each late day will result in a two-point deduction from the course
grade. Weekends are not counted against the grace days.
7. Be sure to bring the readings to class.
Grades
Short exam A 10% Short exam B 10 Short paper I 15% Short paper II 15%
Presentation 10% Discussion 10% Final paper 30%
Outcomes
In this course students will: a) acquire background knowledge relevant for the
study of Medieval Japanese Buddhism, b) learn of key developments in Shin Buddhism,
Shingon Buddhism, and Zen Buddhism, including primary
texts in a range of genres, religious thought, and cultural and historical
context, c) examine instances of contemporary transformations and outgrowths,
and d) develop critical research, writing, reading, and discussion skills.
Students will acquire these skills through a combination of assignments
including textual readings, in-class exam, class presentations, and writing
assignments.
Required Texts
1. Shinmon Aoki, Coffinman:
The Journal of a Buddhist Mortician (Anaheim, CA: Buddhist Education Ctr, 2002).
2. Alfred Bloom, The Essential Shinran (World Wisdom, 2012).
3. Kazuaki Tanahashi & Peter Levitt, eds., The Essential Dōgen: Writings of the Great Zen Master (Boston: Shambhala, 2013).
4. Kosho Uchiyama, Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist
Practice (Boston: Wisdom, 2004).
5. Taitetsu Unno, Tannisho:
A Shin Buddhist Classic (Honolulu: Buddhist Study Center Press, 1987).
6. Course Packet-REL 444/544 Medieval Japanese Buddhism (Fall 2015),
Copy Shop, 539 E 13th Ave, 97403.
Location: 3 blocks west of the
UO Duckstore on E 13th Ave. TEL 541 485
6253
Course
Packet REL 444/544 Medieval Japanese Buddhism, Fall 2015
Introductory background material for those without
coursework in Buddhism or Japanese Religion
Matrix of Japanese
society and religion leading up to the Kamakura Period
Matrix of Japanese
society and the development of Buddhism into the Kamakura Period
The
Zen Buddhism of Dōgen
The Shingon
Buddhist practice of Myōe
The Shin Buddhism of Shinran
Further readings on the background
of women and gender in Buddhism and in the context of the Kamakura Period
REL
444/544 Medieval Japanese Buddhism: Weekly Schedule
[All
readings from Course Packet unless followed by (RT)=(Required Text)]
Week I: Oct 1: Introduction-Course Overview: The Background of Buddhism;
Buddhism and Japanese Religion
Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1990), 9-26.
Robert A. F. Thurman, trans., The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti (University Park: Pennsylvania State
University Press, 1987), 56-63, 73-77.
Hayao KAWAI, "Japanese Mythology: Balancing the
Gods," in his Dreams, Myths and Fairy Tales in Japan (Daimon, 1995), 67-97.
Week II: Oct 8: Background of Japanese
Buddhism-Religion and the State; Karma in Medieval
Japan
Toshio Kuroda, "Shinto in the History of Japanese Religion," tr.
by James Dobbins and Suzanne Gay, Journal of Japanese Studies 7:1
(Winter 1981), 1-21.
Joseph Kitagawa, "Chapter 6. The Shadow and the Sun: A Glimpse of the
Fujiwara and the Imperial Families in Japan," in his On Understanding
Japanese Religion (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987), 98-116.
William
LaFleur, "Chapter 2 In and out of the Rokudo," Karma of Words-Buddhism and the literary
arts in medieval Japan (Berkeley : University of
California Press, 1983), 26-59.
Week III: Oct 15: Buddhism in the Kamakura Period: Themes and Background EXAM
A IN CLASS
Helen Craig McCullough, tr. The Tale of the Heike
(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988), 1-6, 17-19, 23-37.
Robert
E. Morrell, "Tendai's Jien
as Buddhist Priest," Early Kamakura Buddhism-A Minority Report,
23-43.
Jeffrey
P. Mass, "The Emergence of the Kamakura Bakufu
[Military Government]" in Medieval Japan-Essays in Institutional
History, ed. John W. Hall and Jeffrey P. Mass (Stanford: Stanford
University Press), 127-156.
Kazuo
Osumi, "Buddhism in the Kamakura Period,"
tr. by James Dobbins, in The Cambridge History of Japan-Volume 3 Medieval
Japan, 544-563.
Week IV: Oct 22: Myoe Koben:
Kegon and Shingon Monk PAPER
I DUE IN CLASS
Mark Unno, “Recommending
Faith in the Sand of the Mantra of Light: Myōe Kōben’s Kōmyō Shingon Dosha
Kanjinki,” in Re-Visioning
Kamakura Buddhism, ed. Richard Payne (Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii
Press, 1998), 167-218.
Mark Unno, Shingon Refractions: Myōe and the Mantra of Light (Boston:
Wisdom, 2004), 111-145.
Lori Meeks, Hokkeji and the Reemergence of Female Monastic Orders in Premodern
Japan, 250-300.
Week V: Oct 29: Eihei Dogen:
Zen Master of the Soto School
Mark Unno, “Philosophical Terms in the Zen Buddhist Thought
of Dōgen.”
Norman
Waddell & Masao Abe, tr. "Shobogenzo Genjokoan," by Dogen Kigen, The Eastern Buddhist 5:2 (10/1972), 129-140.
Mark Unno, “Commentary, Fascicle 30:
Gyōji Part II (ge),” Dōgen’s Shushōgi
(Boston: Wisdom), forthcoming, 1-3.
Kōshō Uchiyama, Refining Your
Life: From the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment, trans. Tom Wright (New York: Weatherhill, 1983) vii-xiv, 3-19.
Steven Heine, The Zen Poetry of Dogen (Boston: Tuttle, 1997), 1-34.
Barbara Ruch, "The Other Side of Culture in
Medieval Japan," in The Cambridge History of Japan - Volume 3 Medieval
Japan, ed. by Kozo Yamamura (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1990), 500-511.
Kazuaki
Tanahashi & P. Levitt, eds.
The Essential Dogen (RT).
Week VI: Nov 5: Gutoku Shinran:
Foolish Being of Pure Land Buddhism EXAM B IN CLASS
Mark Unno, "The Nembutsu of No-Meaning and the
Problem of Genres in the Writings and Statements of Gutoku
Shinran," The Pure Land 10-11 (12/1994),
1-9.
Mark
Unno, "The Nembutsu as the Path of the Sudden
Teaching," unpublished paper, IASBS Conference, 1995, 1-7 (online, course
web site).
Taitetsu Unno, Tannisho:
A Shin Buddhist Classic (Honolulu: Buddhist Study Center Press, 1987)(RT).
Alfred
Bloom, The Essential Shinran
(RT).
Week VII: Nov 12: Bridging Pre-modern and Modern I: Uchiyama PAPER
II DUE IN CLASS
Kosho Uchiyama, Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist
Practice (Boston: Wisdom, 2004) (RT).
Week VIII: Nov 19: Bridging Pre-modern and Modern II: Coffinman
Shinmon Aoki, Coffinman:
The Journal of a Buddhist Mortician (Anaheim, CA: Buddhist Education Ctr, 2002)(RT).
Week IX: Nov 26: Film: Departures; Discussion of Paper Topics
Week X: Dec 3: Wrap Lecture and Discussion - FINAL PAPER DUE IN CLASS
Wrap-up remarks and discussion.