PAPER TOPICS I: REL 444/544 Medieval Japanese Buddhism

Due Thursday, Jan 28 in class.

* Three pages: Not more than 1000 words (You may use parenthetical notation to indicate page numbers for textual references.)
* I encourage you to discuss these topics with one another.
* Be sure to write your name, the name of the class, and the title of your topic at the top of the page.
* 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," "Writing: The Bridge between Consciousness and Unconsciousness," and "Clauses and Commas."

The Formation of Japanese Buddhism and Society

Drawing on two or three of the readings for Week II: April 6, discuss how at least three factors contributed to the formation and development of Buddhism from early to medieval Japan (such as Shinto and worship of kami, the influence of the Fujiwara clan, the support of the military government, and church-state relations). Why is understanding these factors important for understanding Medieval Japanese Buddhism?

Zhuangzi and Daoism

As part of their classical education, medieval Japanese religious (monks and nuns), nobility, and literati read the Chinese classics including the Zhuangzi. Select ONE of the following for a paper topic.

A. Discuss the role of nature, simplicity, and skillful intuition in the life of the Daoist adept. Focus on one or two figures from the Zhuangzi who illustrate this themes. Devote at least one paragraph to discussing the potential pitfalls of this Daoist vision.

B. Discuss the Butterfly episode (p. 44) in terms of the relation between perspectivalism (see, for example, pp. 40-41), the dissolution of boundaries, and the oneness of all things (see, for example, p. 38). Is the butterfly episode representative of one of these or all three of these "phases" of Zhuangzi's Daoism. Are there any problems or limitations in viewing the butterfly episode in this way?

C. Discuss Zhuangzi's analysis of distinctions as found in the Discussion on Making Things Equal, especially pp. 34-35, 38-39. What is the relation between the style of expression and the content of Zhuangzi's logic? Spend one or two paragraphs noting possible similarities and differences between Zhuangzi's view of distinctions/no distinctions and Nagarjuna's Mahayana Buddhist view of emptiness and the two-fold truth (click on this link)

Karma and Zhuangzi

Compare and contrast the views of death and of rebirth versus transformation as presented in the selection from William LaFleur's Karma of Words (pp. 26-59) and the Zhuangzi (see especially the butterfly episode [p. 44], taken in the larger context of the Zhuangzi; and the episodes on death [pp. 115-117].

Karma and the Tale of the Heike

William LaFleur in his Karma of Words (pp. 26-59) describes four types of karma operative in Medieval Japanese Buddhism. How many of these can be found in the selections from the The Tale of the Heike read for this course. Discuss which ones do or don't fit and why they do or don't fit.