REL 253 Paper Topics 3

Topics for Paper 3, REL 399 Religion, Love, and Death - East & West

Due Wednesday, May 13, 2020 by 1:00 p.m.

Double-spaced, 2-3 pages. (You may use parenthetical notation to indicate page numbers for textual references. BE SURE TO INCLUDE PAGE REFERENCES FROM THE READINGS.)
Be sure to write your name; the name of the class, GTF, and section meeting time; and your TOPIC NUMBER at the top of the page.
I encourage you to discuss these topics with one another.
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," and "Writing: The Bridge between Consciousness and Unconsciousness."

Topics: CHOOSE ONE from below, either a topic from TYPE A, or do the topic for TYPE B. ONLY DO ONE TOPIC.

TOPIC TYPE A: Select one of the following. BE SURE TO PROVIDE DIRECT QUOTATIONS AND/OR PAGE REFERENCES.
1. Limits of conscious intention and ego effort: Compare and contrast how two of the figures we have read for the course since Week 3 have reached the limits of their conscious intentions and ego efforts and then let go to realize a deeper/higher reality. This could be a comparison of Ram Dass and Maura Soshin O'Halloran, Chery Strayed and Mary Crow Dog, or any other pairing. Include in your discussion points of similarity as well as difference.

2. Love, Death, and Religion: Compare and contrast how two of the figures we have read for the course since Week 3 have faced tragedy, loss, and/or death (psychological, spiritual, and/or physical) and how that connected to relgion and/or spirituality. Note both points of similarity and and difference. You could compare Cheryl Strayed's loss of her mother with losses suffered by Mary Crow Dog, which includes her best friend Annie Mae Aquash; the impact of Maura O'Halloran's loss of her father and Chery Strayed's loss of her mother and father's absence; or any other loss.

3. Storied Self: Identify three key turning points in one of the figures we have read or studied since Week 4 and how these turning points became defining moments in the stories of these figures. In particular, discuss how there were critical turning points in relation to themes of love, death, and religion, and if applicable, whether these turning points involved irruptions of the vertical dimension that intersected their lives on the horizontal plane of interpersonal relationships, society, and the environment.

4. Embodiment, Suffering, and Love/Compassion: Discuss the stories of two figures that we have read about/studies in the course since Week 3 in terms of the relationship between suffering, embodiment, and love/compassion. Examine how physical pain and/or suffering was involved in their coming face to face with their emotional/spiritual suffering, and how this eventual led to a deeper realization about love and/or compassion.

5. Influence of Course Readings: Describe how two of the readings from Week 3 onwards from the course thus far have changed or influenced your view of religion, love, and death. BE SURE TO INCLUDE PAGE REFERENCES FROM THE READINGS.

TOPIC TYPE B:

BASED ON YOUR FIRST TWO SHORT PAPERS: You will further develop your story. Use direct quotations or cite page references from the sources you use as described below:

Either fill out or add to the story of your first two papers by incorporating 2 or 3 of the following ideas: i) limits of the conscious mind or ego self, ii) confrontation with the limits or illusions of the ego self and the opening up a larger reality, deeper or higher than the ego, iii) a moment of human - nature encounter in which nature becomes the portal to a deeper or higher reality, opening up the vertical dimension that helps a person to transform life on the horizontal plane of interpersonal relations, society, and/or the environment, iv) a dream, vision, or epiphany that opens up the vertical dimension and serves to transform life on the horizontal plane of interpersonal relations and society, v) physical and emotional suffering are inseparable in a person's journey and their confrontation with loss, separation, and/or death. Sources of inspiration for these themes include the works we read during Weeks 2 through 6.
Be sure to provide direct quotations and/or page references from AT LEAST ONE SOURCE FROM WEEKS 4-6. YOU CAN ADD TO YOUR FIRST AND SECOND ESSAYS BY EXPANDING ON THE PERSON YOU DESCRIBE, YOUR OWN PERSPECTIVE ON THE PERSON WHO YOU WROTE ABOUT IF IT IS NOT YOUR OWN STORY; OR ADDING A NEW PERSON OR CHARACTER TO THE STORY IF THAT IS RELEVANT.