Readings and Lecture Schedule

***Readings must be complete before class. Come with questions and the desire to participate in discussion***

Two excellent encyclopedias:

• Jones, Lindsay, ed. 2005. Encyclopedia of Religion, Second Edition, 15 Volumes. Macmillan Reference USA. (Jones. Encyclopedia of Religion. UBC library [link])
• Buswell, Robert E., ed. 2004. Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2 Volumes. Macmillan Reference. (Buswell. Encyclopedia of Buddhism. UBC library [link])

Week 1: Introduction and course syllabus; the academic study of religion: “religious studies” and “Buddhist studies.”

• Buddhist Studies. Donald Lopez, Jr. 2:1309-1316. Jones. Encyclopedia of Religion.UBC library [link]
• (read to page 10) Fitzgerald, Timothy. 2000. Religion, Religions, and World Religions: Religious Studies–A Critique. In The Ideology of Religious Studies, 4-32. Oxford University Press. UBC library [link]

Week 2: Describing the Buddhism we see today; Buddhism and Japanese pop culture (anime and manga); “Buddhist Modernism” and “Buddhism in the West.”

• McMahan, David L. 2009. Introduction: Buddhism and Modernity. In The Making of Buddhist Modernism, 3-25. Oxford University Press. UBC library [link]
• Nagasawa, Jake. 2011. Sitting In Silence: A Comparison and Analysis of Two Sōtō Zen Institutions in San Francisco. Asia Pacific: Perspectives 10(2): 172-182. Google Scholar [link]

Week 3: Buddhist history in reverse; topographies of Buddhism: historical periods; schools; regions.

• Buddhism: An Overview. Frank E. Reynolds and Charles Hallisey. 2:1087-1101. Jones. Encyclopedia of Religion. UBC library [link]
• Berkwitz, Stephen C. 2006. The History of Buddhism in Retrospect. In Buddhism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives, ed. Stephen C. Berkwitz, 1-44. ABC-CLIO. UBC library [link]
• (read to page 7) MacWilliams, Mark W. 2008. Introduction. In Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the World of Manga and Anime, ed. Mark W. Macwilliams, 3-25. East Gate Book. An East Gate Book.
• (read to page 222) Pandey, Rajyashree. 2008. Medieval Genealogies of Manga and Anime Horror. Ed. Mark W. Macwilliams. Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the World of Manga and Anime: 219-236.

Weeks 4 and 5: lifestory of the Buddha; early life, enlightenment, karma and rebirth; enlightenment; cosmology and the buddha “blueprint”; 3 basic cosmologies and the 6 realms of rebirth.

• (read entire) Carrithers, Michael. 2001. The Buddha: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. UBC library [link]
• Buddha. Frank E. Reynolds and Charles Hallisey. 2:1059-1071. Jones. Encyclopedia of Religion.UBC library [link]
• Cosmology: Buddhist Cosmology. W. Randolph Kloetzli. 3:2026-2031. Jones.Encyclopedia of Religion. UBC library [link]
• Optional Further Reading: Chapter 18: Devadatta’s Sacrilege. Chapter 19: Entry into Nirvāṇa. 294-330. Lewis, Todd T., and Subarna Man Tuladhar. 2010. Sugata Saurabha: An Epic Poem from Nepal on the Life of the Buddha by Chittadhar Hridaya. Oxford University Press. UBC library [link]

Weeks 6 and 7: In what sense a “philosophy”?; definitions of basic terms: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics; reading primary sources in translation. ***remember to consult the two encyclopedias, edited by Jones and Garfield, for information on specific terms.

Week 6:

• Edelglass, William, and Jay L. Garfield, eds. Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings. Oxford University Press, 2009. UBC library [link]
• Introduction. 3-8. Part I: Metaphysics and Ontology. 9-12.
• (read to page 16) Theravāda Metaphysics and Ontology. Noa Ronkin. 13-25.
• (read to page 32) Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Jay Garfield. 26-34.
• The Buddha’s attitude to his teaching: the arrow and the raft. 34-40. Williams, Paul, and Anthony Tribe. 2000. Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition. Routledge. UBC library [link]

Week 7:

• Edelglass, William, and Jay L. Garfield, eds. Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings. Oxford University Press, 2009. UBC library [link]
• (read to page 88) Dōgen’s “Mountains and Waters as Sūtras.” Graham Parkes. 83-92.
• Part III: Ethics. 371-374.
• Theravāda Texts on Ethics. Peter Harvey. 375-387.
• The Bodhisattva Path. William Edelglass. 388-399.
• Nirvāṇa. Luis O. Gómez. 2:600-605. Buswell. Encyclopedia of Buddhism. UBC library [link]
• Nirvāṇa. Thomas P. Kasulis. 10:6628-6635. Jones. Encyclopedia of Religion. UBC library [link]
• Optional further reading: Thich Nhat Hanh’s Interbeing. William Edelglass. 419-427.

Weeks 12 and 13: Growing practice of prison chaplaincy and “prison dharma” (Buddhism, especially meditation, in prisons); critical film interpretation; secularization, public institutions, and the definition of Buddhism.

• Fisher, Maria Sudekum. 2006. “Buddhism Flowering in Prisons.” The Journal-Gazette (Fort Wayne), December 9. UBC library [link]
• Cohen, Sandy. 2005. “Ex-Can Shows how Meditation can Bring Your Dark Side to Light.” Daily Breeze (Torrance), May 28. UBC library [link]
• Chapter 4: Overview. 88-94. Benyahia, Sarah Casey, Freddie Gaffney, and John White. 2009. A2 Film Studies: The Essential Introduction. Taylor & Francis US. UBC library [link]
• Optional Further Reading: Malone, Calvin. 2010. Razor-Wire Dharma: A Buddhist Life in Prison. ReadHowYouWant.com. UBC library [link]

Films:

• Doing Time, Doing Vipassana. Eilona Ariel and Ayelet Menahemi (52 min). 1997.
• Changing from Inside. David Donnenfield (42 min). 1998.
• The Dhamma Brothers. Andrew Kukura, Jenny Phillips, and Anne Marie Stein (76 min). 2008.

Last lecture: final exam review.