CRN 15373 Religious Studies 101 World Religions of Asia, Fall 2017 LLCS101
11:00-11:50 MWF
Instructor: Mark T. Unno, SCH 334, TEL 346-4973, Office hours: Mon
10:00-10:45 a.m. & Tues 1:00-1:50 p.m.
Email: munno (at) uoregon.edu
Home Page: pages.uoregon.edu/munno/ Go to this web
site, NOT Canvas.
Introduction to selected strands of Asian Religions. This course examines key
concepts and practices from such Asian religions as Hinduism, Buddhism,
Confucianism, and Daoism. Since there is not time to provide a comprehensive
survey of all religions in Asia, this course provides a balance of some broad
coverage with in-depth examination of primary scriptures, scholarly analysis,
and contemporary issues. The focus of our examination will be on the
philosophical understanding of religious ideas supported by a critical
examination of historical context. We will study key ideas within the critical
context of various cultural and historical issues such as gender, class, and
ritual practices. As part of this study, we will also explore the contemporary
relevance of historically derived ideas and practices.
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. Attendance at weekly discussion
sections is mandatory.
2. Short exams: Two short, in-class exams, based on materials from
the readings, lectures, and course web site.
3. Short papers: Three short papers on the readings. More specific
instructions will be provided on the course web site.
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 and 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. Medium-length paper: Each student will hand in a medium length
final paper of 4-6 pages double-spaced. Suggested topics will be provided.
Students may choose to create their own topics with the consent of their
section leader. In the case of the latter, a one-paragraph description of the
topic must be submitted by email to the instructor one week prior to the due
date.
6. Late policy on written assignments: Three grace days total will
be allotted excluding the medium-length paper for which no extensions will be
given. For all other assignments, 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. Email Protocol. Suggestion: Begin the term using one of the
following when addressing the instructor:
Dear, Hello, Hi + Prof. Unno, Mr. Unno
If you like, you might later change to: Hello Mark, Hi Mark,
etc., when you have established a working relationship with the instructor. Do
NOT use: "Hey...." either with the instructor or with the GTF.
Learning Outcomes
In this course, you will: 1) gain a sampling
(not a survey) of primary texts, ideas, and scholarly analyses of prominent
strands and themes in Asian Religions, 2) delve into the assigned readings,
uncovering layers of potential meaning and ramifications, 3) gain an
understanding of the historical contexts and possible contemporary relevance of
the readings and course materials, and 4) further develop in your ability to
write papers as well as read texts closely and reason critically.
Grades
Required Texts (RT) (Information listed here is given in footnote/endnote
format.)
1. Herbert Fingarette, Confucius-The Secular as Sacred (New
York: Waveland, 1972).
2. D. C. Lau, trans., Tao Te Ching (New York: Penguin Books, 2003).
3. Thich Nhat Hanh,
Being Peace (New York: Perseus Books, 2005).
4. Laurie
Patton, trans. The Bhagavad Gita (NY:
Penguin Books, 2014).
Course Reader (CR)
1. Ralph T. H. Griffith, trans., The Hymns of the Rgveda (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1973) 206, 633-4.
2. Shree Purohit Swami and W. B. Yeats, trans., The Ten Principal
Upanishads (Calcutta: Rupa, 1992) 90-92.
3. Joseph
Campbell, Oriental Mythology - The Masks of God (NY: Penguin, 1991)
343-364.
4. Peter
Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1990) 9-26.
5. Jay
Garfield, trans., The Fundamental Wisdom
of the Middle Way: Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakakarika
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), 293-307.
6. Mark Unno,
"Key Ideas: Nagarjuna" and "Key Ideas:
Philosophical Schools."
7. Robert A. F. Thurman, trans., The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti (University Park: Pennsylvania State
University Press, 1987) 56-63.
8. Taitetsu Unno, "Philosophical Schools-San-lun, T'ien-t'ai, and Hua-yen," in Buddhist Spirituality, ed. by
Takeuchi Yoshinori (New York: Crossroad, 1995) 343-365.
9. Burton
Watson, trans., Zhuangzi: Basic Writing (New York: Columbia Univ Press, 1993), 1-7, 31-41, 44, 61-62, 114-117, 128-129.
10. Heinrich Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism: A History-India and China (New
York: Macmillan Publishing, 1988) 85-94.
11. Hayao KAWAI, "Japanese Mythology: Balancing the
Gods," in his Dreams, Myths and Fairy Tales in Japan (Daimon, 1995) 67-97.
12. Mark
Unno, "Key Terms - Philosophical Terms in the Zen Buddhist Thought of Dogen."
13. Norman Waddell and Masao Abe, trans., "Shobogenzo Genjokoan," by Dogen Kigen, The Eastern
Buddhist 5:2 (10/1972) 129-140.
14. Mark
Unno, "Key Terms - Pure Land Buddhism and the Philosophy of Honen and Shinran."
15. Mark
Unno, "The Nembutsu as the Teaching of
No-teaching: The Natural Unfolding of Compassion-Wisdom," The Pure Land
6 (1989) 45-65,
16. Nishitani Keiji,
"Ikebana," Kyoto Journal 4 (Fall 1987) 33-35.
17. Paula
Arai, "Soto Zen Nuns in Modern Japan: Keeping and Creating
Tradition," Bulletin of the Nanzan Institute
for Religion and Culture 14 (Summer 1990) 38-51.
18. The Dalai
Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), A Policy of Kindness (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 1990) 33-59.
19. Mu Soeng Sunim. Thousand Peaks:
Korean Zen-Tradition & Teachers. Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1987. 28-48, 191-314.
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
9/25 Mon. Introduction: Syllabus;
Definitions of “Religion.”
9/27 Wed. The Geography of Asian
Religions; Vedic Religion. Read: Hymns of the Rgveda,
CR1
9/29 Fri. Vedic Religion
and Brahmanism. Read: Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita (excerpt) CR2, 3 (Alternative versions of Gita Ch. 2-3
included FYI).
Week 2 - Indian Religion: Bhagavad Gita; Early Indian Buddhism
10/2 Mon. L. Patton,
trans., Bhagavad Gita, RT. (focus
pages: vii-xxiv, 16-48, 70-100,
145-162).
10/4 Wed. Bhagavad Gita (cont.),
Dance of Krishna and Gopis. Read: J. Campbell, Oriental
Mythology, CR 3.
10/6 Fri. Early Indian Buddhism
I - Shakyamuni Buddha - Peter Harvey, Introduction
to Buddhism, CR 4.
Week 3 – Early Indian Buddhism, Mahayana
Buddhism
10/9 Mon. Early Indian Buddhism II - Nikaya Buddhism - Key concepts and historical background
10/11 Wed. Indian 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.
Bodhisattva ideal. Read: The Holy
Teaching of Vimalakirti, CR 7.
10/13 Fri. Chinese Buddhism, "The
Philosophical Schools." Short
paper I due in class.
Read: "Key Ideas: Taitetsu Unno, 'Philosophical Schools’," T. Unno,
“Chinese Philosophical Schools,” CR 6, 8.
Week 4 - Ancient China I: Confucianism
10/16 Mon. The World of the Sage Kings.
Read: Fingarette, Confucius: The Secular as
Sacred, vii-xi, 1-56 RT.
10/18 Wed. Confucius and
the world of ritual action. Read: Fingarette, Confucius, 57-81
RT.
10/20 Fri. Short exam A in class. Also: Introduction
to Daoism.
Week 5 - Ancient China II: Daoism (Taoism): Laozi
(Lao Tzu) and Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)
10/23 Mon. Laozi
(Lao Tzu) - The Way: Read: Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching (Daodejing),
vii-xviii, 5-42 (Book One) RT.
10/25 Wed. Laozi
& Zhuangzi - Read: Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching,
45-88 (Book Two) RT. Zhuangzi, 1-7,
31-41, 44 CR 9.
10/27 Fri. Zhuangzi:
Read: Zhuangzi, 61-62, 114-117, 128-129
CR 9 Short
paper II due in class.
Week 6 - Medieval China: Early Chan/Zen;
Medieval Korea: Unified Silla Period; Early Japan
10/30 Mon. Bodhidharma
and Zen Buddhism. Read: Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism,
CR 10.
11/1 Wed. Korean Buddhists: Chajang, Uisang, and Wonhyo. Read: Thousand Peaks, pp. 28-38, CR 19.
11/3 Fri. The way of the
kami - gods and goddesses. Read: Kawai, "Japanese
Mythology," CR 11.
Week 7 - Medieval Japan I: Dogen and Zen Buddhism;
11/6 Mon. Dogen and Zen Buddhism.
Read: M. Unno, "Philosophical Terms in the Zen Buddhist Thought of Dogen," "Shobogenzo Genjokoan,"CR 12, 13.
11/8 Wed. Dogen and Zen Buddhism (continued).
11/10 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
11/13 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.
11/15 Wed. The XIVth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso
Read: Dalai Lama, A Policy of Kindness, CR
18, 33-59.
11/17 Fri. Short exam B in class.
Week 9 - Modern Vietnamese Buddhism
11/20 Mon. Thich Nhat Hanh. Read: Being Peace, 1-44 RT.
11/22 Wed. Thich Nhat Hanh. Read: Being Peace, 45-90 RT.
11/24 Fri (Thanksgiving Break)
Week 10 - Modern Manifestations: Japanese
and Korean
11/27 Mon. Soto Zen
Nuns. Read: Nishitani, "Ikebana," Paula Arai, "Soto Zen
Nuns," CR 16, 17.
11/29 Wed. Seung Sahn. Read: Thousand Peaks, 191-314, CR
19.
12/1 Fri. Final Lecture. Final papers due in class.