Religious Studies 440/540 Buddhist
Scriptures, CRN 16129/16130, Fall 2018
- Instructor:
Mark T. Unno, Office: SCH 334, Tel. 346-4973, Email:
munno@uoregon.edu
- Unno Home
Page: http://pages.uoregon.edu
Go to this web site, NOT Canvas
- Class
meetings: Wed 2:00-4:50 p.m., MCK 471 Office Hours: Mon 10:00-10:45
a.m.; Wed 1:00-1:45 p.m.
Buddhist Scriptures: Zen, Pure Land, and Associated
Developments in East Asian Context
This course
examines the sacred scriptural traditions of East Asian Buddhism with
a focus on Chinese andJapanese Zen, Pure Land Buddhism, and associated
developments. This course will closely examine the definition of
"scripture" which in East Asiancame to mean not only sutra, the
teachings of the Buddha, but also commentaries by various masters and
other genres. This examination will cover awide range of themes
against the backdrop of social and historical developments, including
the development of sectarian traditions, cultural andnational
identity, gender and race. The seminar format includes lecture,
student presentations, and discussion.
Requirements
1. Attendance: Required. Students can have one unexcused
absence without penalty. Each class missed thereafter without prior
permissionwill 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
theselected 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 2-3 questions
and brief, corresponding quotations from the readings. More detailed
instructions areprovided on the course web site.
5. Final paper: Each student will hand in a final paper
of 10-12 pages double-spaced (A longer final paper of 12-15 pages will
berequired for those who have registered for REL540. Suggested topics
will be provided. Students may choose to create their own topics with
the consent ofthe instructor. 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 final paper and summaries for
which noextensions will be given. For all other written assignments, a
cumulative total of three late days will be allowed without penalty.
Thereafter, each late daywill result in a two-point deduction from the
course grade. Weekends are not counted against the grace days.
Grades
- Short exam
A 5%
Short exam B 5%
Presentation 10% Discussion 10%
- Short
paper I 15%
Short paper II 20%
Final paper 35%
Required Texts
(Additional texts will
be assigned for those taking REL540.)
- Shinmon
Aoki, Coffinman: The Journal
of a Buddhist Mortician (Anaheim, CA: Buddhist Education Ctr,
2002).
-
Natalie
Goldberg,
A
Long Quiet Highway
(New York: Bantam Books, 1994).
- Robert Thurman, trans., The
Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A
Mahayana Scriptures (University Park, PA: Penn State
University, 2003).
- Taitetsu
Unno, trans., Tannisho-A
Shin Buddhist Classic
(Honolulu: Buddhist Study
Center, 1996).
- Course Pack, Religious Studies 440/540
Buddhist Scriptures, Fall 2018.
Course
Reader - REL440/540 Buddhist Scriptures, Fall 2018
Click on selected titles
for summaries.
- Peter Harvey, An Introduction to
Buddhism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990) 9-26.
- Buddha-Dharma: New English Edition
(Berkeley, CA: Numata
Center for Buddhist Translation, 1987) 17-21, 27-32, 502-505,
548-573.
- Richard
Hayes, "A Buddha and His Cousin," in The Psychology of
Mature Spirituality, ed. Polly Young-Eisendrath
and Melvin Miller (London: Routledge,
2000), chapter 2.
- Robert A. F. Thurman, trans., The
Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti
(University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1983) xi-x,
1-5, 24-33,56-63, 73-77.
- Luis Gomez, The Avatamsaka-Sutra,
in Yoshinori Takeuchi, ed., Buddhist Spirituality (NY:
Crosseroad, 1994) 160-189.
- Thomas
Clearly,
trans., Entry into the Inconceivable: A Translation of the Gandavyuha,
the final book of the Avatamasaka
Sutra (Boston: Shambhala, 1989), 1-8,
49-59, 187-201.
- Yoshiro Tamura, "The
Ideas of the Lotus Sutra," in George Tanabe, ed., The
Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture (Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press), 37-51.
- Leon
Hurvitz, trans., Scripture of the
Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma (NY: Columbia University
Press, 1976) ix-xv: 49-64, 195-201.
- Hisao
INAGAKI, The
Three Pure Land Sutras: A Study and Translation
(Kyoto: Nagata Bunshodo,
1994) 3-18 ("Outlines of the Three Sutras," "The Source of the
Three Sutras); 106-114 (Shan-tao);
235-243 ("The Larger Sutra on Amitayus");
317-327, 347-350 (The Sutra on Contemplation of Amitayus).
Summary
2007.
- Mark
Unno,
"Key Ideas - Nagarjuna and the Thought
of Emptiness," "Key Ideas: Taitetsu
Unno, 'Philosophical Schools: San-lun, T'ien-t'ai,
and Hua-yen'" 1-3.
- Taitetsu
Unno, "Philosophical
Schools-San-lun, T'ien-t'ai,
and Hua-yen"
in Buddhist Spirituality, ed. by Takeuchi Yoshinori (New
York: Crossroad, 1993) 343-365. Summary
2-T'ien-t'ai
- Heinrich
Dumoulin, Zen
Buddhism: A History-India and China
(NY: Macmillan Publishing, 1984) 7-11, 85-94, 123-141. Summary 2
- John
McCrae,
Shen-hui and the Teaching of
Sudden Enlightenment in Early Ch'an
Buddhism, in Sudden and Gradual Enlightenment (Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press), 227-259.
- Philip Yampolsky,
trans., The
Platform Sutra of Hui-neng
(NY: Columbia University
Press, 1967) 80-81, 125-153. Summary
2 Summary
2007.
- William
LaFleur, "Chapter 2 In and out
of the Rokudo," in his Karma of
Words-Buddhism and the Literary Arts in Medieval Japan
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983) 26-59.
- Mark
Unno,
"Philosophical Terms in the Zen Buddhist Thought of Dogen."
- Norman
Waddell
and Masao Abe, trans.
"Shobogenzo
Genjokoan,"
by Dogen Kigen,
The Eastern Buddhist 5:2 (10/1972) 129-140. Summary2.
Summary
3. See also Unno
Notes.
- Norman
Waddell
and Masao Abe, tr. "Shobogenzo Bendowa,"
by Dogen Kigen,
The Eastern Buddhist 4:1 (5/1971) 124-157.
- Kosho
UCHIYAMA, Refining
Your Life: From the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment,
trans. Tom Wright (New York:
Weatherhill, 1983) vii-xiv, 3-19.
- Mark Unno, "Pure Land
Buddhism of Honen and Shinran" 1-2.
- 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. Summary
2
-
- Mark Unno, "The Nembutsu
as the Path of the Sudden Teaching," unpublished paper presented at
the 7th IASBS Conference, 1-7.
- Rita Gross, Buddhism
after Patriarchy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1990), 29-54.
- Lori
Meeks, Hokkeji and the
Reemergence of Female Monastic Orders in Premodern
Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2010) 250-300.
- Barbara
Ruch,
"The Other Side of Culture in Medieval Japan,"
in The Cambridge History of Japan-Vol. 3 Medieval Japan,
ed. Kozo YAMAMURA (NY: Cambridge University Press) 500-511.
- 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.
- Kate Wheeler, "Bowing,
Not Scraping," in Buddhist
Women on the Edge (Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 1996)
57-67.
- Shosan
Victoria Austin,
"Suzuki Sensei's Spirit,"
in Buddhist Women on the Edge 209-216.
Weekly Schedule -
REL440/540 Buddhist Scriptures
(CR
= Course Reader. Thus, CR3 = Course Reader Article 3;
RT = Required Text. Focus readings in asterisks* )
Week 1,
9/26: Background of Buddhism: Indian Sutras I
- Peter
Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism,
9-26 (CR1).*
- Mark
Unno, "Key Ideas - Nagarjuna and the
Thought of Emptiness," 1 (CR11).*
- Donald
Lopez, Jr., The Heart Sutra Explained, 3-9, 19-20 (CR4).
Week
2, 10/03: Indian Sutras II
- Luis
Gomez, The Avatamsaka-Sutra,
160-189 (CR6).
- Thomas
Clearly, trans., Entry into the Inconceivable, 1-8, 49-59,
187-201 (CR7).
- Buddha-Dharma:
New English Edition, 17-21, 27-32, 502-505, 548-573
(CR2).*
- Richard
Hayes, "A Buddha and His Cousin
(CR3).
- Mark
Unno, "The Karma of Bodhisattva Devadatta"
(pdf)*
- Yoshiro
Tamura, "The Ideas of the Lotus Sutra," 37-51
(CR8).
- Leon
Hurvitz, trans., Scripture of the
Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma, ix-xv: 49-64, 195-201 (CR9).*
- Kate
Wheeler, "Bowing, Not Scraping,"
57-67 (CR28).*
Week
3, 10/10: Indian Sutras III;
Chinese Philosophical Adaptations
Short Exam A in class.
- Hisao
INAGAKI, The Three Pure Land Sutras:
A Study and Translation
3-18 ("Outlines of the Three Sutras," "The Source of the Three
Sutras); 106-114 (Shan-tao); 235-243
("The Larger Sutra on Amitayus");
317-327, 347-350 (The Sutra on Contemplation of Amitayus)
(CR10).*
- Taitetsu
Unno, "Philosophical Schools-San-lun,
T'ien-t'ai, and Hua-yen"
in Buddhist Spirituality, ed. by Takeuchi Yoshinori
343-365 (CR12).*
- Mark
Unno, "Key Ideas: Taitetsu Unno,
'Philosophical Schools: San-lun, T'ien-t'ai,
and Hua-yen'" 1-3 (CR8).*
Week
4, 10/17: The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti:
Early Chinese Chan/Zen
Paper I due in class.
- Robert
A. F. Thurman, trans., The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti,
Chapters 7 & 8 (RT).*
- Heinrich
Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism: A
History-India and China, 85-94 (CR13).*
- John
McCrae, Shen-hui and the
Teaching of Sudden Enlightenment in Early Ch'an
Buddhism, 227-259. (CR14).
- Philip
Yampolsky, trans., The Platform
Sutra of Hui-neng,
125-153 (CR15).*
Week
5,
10/24: Medieval Japan I: Zen Master Dogen
- Mark
Unno, "Philosophical Terms in the Zen Buddhist Thought of Dogen"
(CR17).*
- Norman
Waddell and Masao Abe, trans. "Shobogenzo
Genjokoan,"
by Dogen Kigen,
129-140 (CR18).*
- Norman
Waddell and Masao Abe, tr. "Shobogenzo Bendowa,"
by Dogen Kigen,
124-157 (CR19).
- Kosho
UCHIYAMA, Refining Your Life : From
the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment, vii-xiv, 3-19 (CR20).
- Barbara
Ruch, "The Other Side of Culture in
Medieval Japan," 500-511 (CR26).*
- Lori
Meeks, Hokkeji and the
Reemergence of Female Monastic Orders, 250-300 (CR25).*
Week
6, 10/31: Medieval Japan II: Pure Land Buddhism of Shinran
- Taitetsu Unno,
trans., Tannisho-A Shin
Buddhist Classic (all pages) (Required Text).*
- Mark
Unno, "Pure Land Buddhism of Honen and Shinran"
1-2 (CR21).*
- 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 (CR22).*
- Mark
Unno, "The Nembutsu as the Path of the
Sudden Teaching," unpublished paper presented at the 7th IASBS
Conference, 1-7 (CR23).
Week
7, 11/07: Contemporary Zen, a Jewish American Woman: Natalie
Goldberg Paper
II due in class.
Week
8, 11/14: Contemporary Pure Land: Coffinman
- Shinmon
Aoki, Coffinman.*
Week
9,
11/21: Research Assignments
Week 10,
11/28: Concluding Lecture/Discussion Final Paper due in class.
- Student
presentations and concluding discussion.
Additional
Bibliography
for REL540 Graduate-Level Credit
- Amstutz,
Galen. Interpreting Amida
: history and Orientalism in the study of Pure Land
Buddhism Albany : State University of New York Press, c1997.
- Andreasen,
Esben. Popular Buddhism in Japan:
Shin Buddhist religion & culture. Honolulu
: University of Hawaii Press, c1998.
- Bodiford,
William. Soto Zen in medieval Japan. Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press, c1993.
- Buswell,
Robert, ed. Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha. Honolulu: University
of Hawaii Press, c1990.
- Faure, Bernard. The Rhetoric of Immediacy
: a cultural critique of Chan/Zen Buddhism.
Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University
Press, 1991.
- _____. Visions of Power
: imagining medieval Japanese Buddhism; translated
from the French by Phyllis Brooks. Princeton, N.J.
: Princeton University Press, c1996
- Hansen,
Chad. A Daoist Theory of ChineseTthought
: a philosophical interpretation. New York
: Oxford University Press, 1992.
- Heisig,
James and Maraldo, John, eds.
Rude Awakenings: Zen, the Kyoto School, & the Question of
Nationalism. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1995.
- Ketelaar,
James. Of Heretics and Martyrs in Meiji Japan: Buddhism and Its
Persecution. Princeton, N.J. :
Princeton University Press, c1990.
- McRae, John. The Northern School
and the Formation of Early Chan Buddhism. Honolulu
: University of Hawaii Press, c1986.
- Meeks,
Lori. Lori Hokkeji and the
Reemergence of Female Monastic Orders in Premodern
Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2010).
- Tanaka,
Kenneth. The Dawn of Chinese Pure Land Buddhist Doctrine
: Ching-ying Hui-y_an's
Commentary on the Visualization sutra. Albany :
State University of New York Press, c1990.
- Teiser,
Stephen. The Ghost Festival in Medieval China. Princeton,
N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1988
- _____.
The Scripture on The Ten Kings and the Making of Purgatory in
Medieval Chinese Buddhism. Honolulu, HI :
University of Hawaii Press, c1994.
- Victoria,
Brian. Zen at War. New York: Weatherhill,
1998.