Zen Buddhism seminar. The topic for this year's intensive Buddhism seminar is Zen Buddhism with a special focus on its Japanese development. Beginning with an examination of key elements of the background of Mahayana Buddhism and Chinese Chan, this course covers a wide range of themes against the backdrop of social and historical developments. Topics covered include Zen in its expression and relation to philosophy, art, monastic practice, gender, cultural and national identity. 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
permission will result in 1/2 grade penalty for the course grade.
2. Short exams: There will be one short, in-class exam, based on
materials from the readings, lectures, and course web site.
3. Short papers: There will be three short papers 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 2-3 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 9-12 pages
double-spaced (A longer final paper of 14-18 pages will be required
for those who have registered for REL507). Suggested topics will be
provided. Students may choose to create their own topics with the
consent of the instructor. In the case of the latter, a one-paragraph
description of the topic must be submitted by email to the instructor
four days prior to the due date for the peer review draft.
Peer review draft for final paper: Drafts will be required for the
final paper. Instructions to follow.
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 all other written 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.
Email and blackboard accounts. Students should all have
blackboard and email accounts. Your email address as registered
through blackboard will be used to communicate with you during the
course.
Grades
1. Natalie Goldberg, Long Quiet Highway (New York: Bantam
Books, 1994).
2. Maura Soshin O'Halloran, Pure Heart Enlightened Mind (New
York: Riverhead Books, 1995).
3. Katsuki SEKIDA, Zen Training, ed. A. V. Grimstone(New York:
Weatherhill, 1975).
4. John Stevens, Three Zen Masters: Ikkyu, Hakuin, Ryokan (New
York: Kodansha, 1993).
5. Course Reader, Religious Studies 407/507 Zen Buddhism,
Winter 2000-01
Available at the Copy Shop, 539 E. 13th Street, Eugene, OR 97401, TEL 485 6253 by 1/15.
(RB="Required Book." All others in Course Reader except as noted. Some weeks there is more reading than others. I strongly suggest that you read ahead when there is not as much reading. Additional readings will be provided for those registering for REL507.)
Week 1, 1/11: Background of Buddhism
Robert A. F. Thurman, trans., The Holy Teaching of
Vimalakirti, 56-63, 73-77.
William LaFleur, "Chapter 2 In and out of the Rokudo," in his
Karma of Words-Buddhism and the Literary Arts in Medieval
Japan, 26-59.
Week 2, 1/18: Chinese Chan - Bodhidharma and Hui-neng
Heinrich Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism: A History-India and China,
85-94.
Philip Yampolsky, trans., The Platform Sutra of Hui-neng,
125-153.
Jubin Meraj article on Platform Sutra (to be provided)
Week 3, 1/25: Katsuki SEKIDA, Zen Training(RB),
9-25, 29-46, 60-90, 98-127, 193-252.
Paper I due in class.
Week 4, 2/1: Japanese Zen - Dogen and Soto Zen; Gender and
Culture Short exam in class.
Norman Waddell and Masao Abe, trans. "Shobogenzo Genjokoan," by Dogen
Kigen, The Eastern Buddhist 5:2 (10/1972), 129-140.
Kosho UCHIYAMA, Refining Your Life : From the Zen Kitchen to
Enlightenment, trans. Tom Wright, vii-xiv, 3-19.
Barbara Ruch, "The Other Side of Culture in Medieval Japan," in
The Cambridge History of Japan-Volume 3 Medieval Japan,
500-511.
Hayao KAWAI, "Torikaebaya: A Tale of Changing Sexual Roles," in his
Dreams, Myths & Fairy Tales in Japan (Einsiedeln,
Switzerland: Daimon, 1995) 123-140 (reserve).
Week 5, 2/8: Zen and the Arts Paper II due in
class.
Theodore M. Ludwig, "The Way of Tea: A Religio-Aesthetic Mode of
Life," History of Religions (1974) 28-50.
Stephen A. Grant, "Thoughts on Rikyu's Death," Wakamatsu 22
(1990) 1-2.
Keiji NISHITANI, "Ikebana," Kyoto Journal 4 (Fall 1987).
33-35.
Inoue YASUSHI, "Sekitei," trans. Mark Unno. Kyoto Journal 4
(Fall 1987) 1-8.
Week 6, 2/15: Four Zen Masters: Ikkyu, Hakuin, Ryokan, and
Wonhyo
John Stevens, Three Zen Masters: Ikkyu, Hakuin, Ryokan (RB),
7-158.
Mu Soeng Sunim, Thousand Peaks: Korean Zen-Tradition &
Teachers, 28-48, 191-314.
Week 7, 2/22: Zen, Buddhism, Gender, and Race Paper III
due in class.
Kate Wheeler, "Bowing, Not Scraping," in Buddhist Women on the
Edge, 57-67.
Shosan Victoria Austin, "Suzuki Sensei's Spirit," in Buddhist
Women on the Edge, 209-216.
Jan Willis, "Buddhism & Race: An African American Perspective,"
in Buddhist Women, 81-92.
Kumiko UCHINO, "The Status Elevation Process of Soto Sect Nuns in
Modern Japan," Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 10:2-3,
177-184.
Paula Arai, "Soto Zen Nuns in Modern Japan: Keeping and Creating
Tradition," Bulletin of the Nanzan Insitutue for Religion and
Culture 14 (Summer 1990), 38-51.
Week 8, 3/1: Natalie Goldberg, Long Quiet Highwa (RB), 3-238.
Week 9, 3/8: Maura Soshin O'Halloran, Pure Heart Enlightened Mind (RB), 1-111, 172-243, 290-301.
Week 10, 3/15: Modern Zen Philosophy, Society, & National
Identity
Bernard Faure, "The Rise of Zen Orientalism," Chan Insights and
Oversights, 52-67.
D. T. Suzuki, "Ch. 1 Early Memories," "Ch. 7 The Breakthrough to
Reality," in his The Field of Zen 1-12, 52-56.
Erich Fromm, "Memories of D. T. Suzuki," A Zen Life: D. T. Suzuki
Remembered, 127-131.
Seiko HIRATA, "Zen Buddhist Attitudes to War," in Rude
Awakening,. 3-15.
3/19 Final Paper due.