Lecturer: Rev Dr Barnabas Boon
Venue: On Campus
Time: Wednesday, 2:00pm – 5:00pm
Course Description
This course of guided study is aimed to give a balanced overview of the panorama of Buddhisms in the world, for students, Buddhists and the general public. The aim of this course is as follows:
- To present as comprehensive an overview of Buddhism as possible;
- To introduce key ideas/practices/developments, linking them to textual citations, where relevant;
- To show their relationship to other ideas and practices of the same tradition;
- To show their parallels in other Buddhist traditions;
- To present the diversities within Buddhism, but in a way which allows the reader to see how one thing led to another: the continuities, and thus the uniting common threads that run through the tapestry of Buddhism, sometimes with a similar end attained by different means;
- To nevertheless explore some tensions between the different forms of Buddhism;
- To show how Buddhism works as a set of practices, not just as a set of beliefs;
- To show the overall dynamics of how Buddhism ‘works’;
- To include a good range of illustrations, from all the traditions;
- To convey something of the emotional tone or ‘flavour(s)’of Buddhism; and
- To emphasize aspects of Buddhism that particularly help to illuminate Buddhism as it is now, showing the relevance of historical developments to the present.
Course Structure
| Session | Content and readings |
| Class 1 25 June | The Buddha and his Indian Context ● Background to the life of the Buddha ● The life of the Buddha ● The nature and role of the Buddha ● The nature and style of the Buddha’s teaching |
| Class 2 2 July | Early Buddhist Teachings: Rebirth and Karma ● Rebirth and cosmology ● Karma ● Belief in rebirth and karma |
| Class 3 9 July | Reading 1: Wu, J. Encountering the Jesuits: Intellectual Interactions between Christians and Chan Buddhists in Seventeenth-Century China. In Duoyuan gongcun hexie gongsheng weilai gongxiang, 108–33. 2018. Early Buddhist Teachings: The Four True Realities for the Spiritually Ennobled ● The First True Reality for the Spiritually Ennobled: the painful ● The Second True Reality for the Spiritually Ennobled: the origin of the painful ● The Third True Reality for the Spiritually Ennobled: the cessation of the painful – Nirvā ̇na ● The Fourth True Reality for the Spiritually Ennobled: the Path to the cessation of the painful |
| Class 4 16 July | Early Developments in Buddhism ● The early Sangha ● The Abhidhamma ● The early schools and their doctrines ● The three aspirations, Jātakas and Avadānas ● Emperor Asoka and Buddhism ● Devotion and symbolism in early Buddhism ● The rise of the Mahāyāna |
| Class 5 23 July | Reading 2: Yong, Amos. “Many Tongues, Many Buddhisms in a Pluralistic World: A Christian Interpretation at the Interreligious Crossroads.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 43, no. 2 (2016): 357–376. Mahāyāna Philosophies: The Varieties of Emptiness ● The Perfection of Wisdom literature and the Mādhyamika school ● The Yogācāra school ● Tathāgata-garbha thought ● The Avatamsaka Sūtra and the Huayan School ● A comparative view of Mahayana philosophies and their ideas of emptiness |
| Class 6 30 July | Mahāyāna Holy Beings, and Tantric Buddhism ● The path of the Bodhisattva ● Mahāyāna Buddhology: expansion with regard to the number, location, life-span and nature of Buddhas ● The Mahāyāna pantheon ● The tantric perspective |
| Class 7 6 Aug | Reading 3: Yong, Amos. “On Doing Theology and Buddhology: A Spectrum of Christian Proposals.” Buddhist-Christian Studies 31 (2011): 103–118. The Later History and Spread of Buddhism ● India and Central Asia ● Lankā ● South-east Asia excluding Vietnam ● The lands of Northern Buddhism ● China ● Vietnam and Korea ● Japan ● Overview and comparative reflections |
| Class 8 27 Aug | Buddhist Practice: Devotion ● Focuses and locations of devotional acts ● Bowing, offerings and chanting ● The refuges ● Attitudes to images ● Protective chanting ● Some Mahāyāna focuses of devotion ● Pilgrimage ● Festivals |
| Class 9 3 Sept | Buddhist Practice: Ethics ● The role and basis of ethics in Buddhism ● Giving ● Keeping the precepts ● Lovingkindness and compassion ● Care for the dying and the dead ● The ethics of social relationships |
| Class 10 10 Sept | Reading 4: Bailey, Stephen. “Disposition for Christian Witness Among Theravada Buddhists.” The Asbury Journal 78, no. 2 (2023): 259–278. Buddhist Practice: The San ̇gha ● The role of monasticism ● The monastic code of discipline ● Patterns and types of ordination ● Nuns ● The economic base of the monastic life ● Study and meditation ● Communal life ● Relations with the laity |
| Class 11 17 Sept | Buddhist Practice: Meditation and Cultivation of Experience-Based Wisdom ● The approach to meditation ● Qualities to be developed by meditation ● Approaches beginning with samatha in Southern Buddhism ● The contributions of samatha and vipassanā meditation in Southern Buddhism ● Approaches beginning with vipassanā in Southern Buddhism ● The classical path of śamatha and vipaśyanā in Northern and Eastern Buddhism Pure Land visualizations ● Tantric visualizations ● Tantric techniques of spontaneity ● Zen meditation |
| Class 12 24 Sept | Reading 5: Obeyesekere Gananath. “The Great Tradition and the Little in the Perspective of Sinhalese Buddhism”. The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Feb., 1963): 139-153 The Modern History of Buddhism in Asia ● Southern Buddhism ● Eastern Buddhism ● Northern Buddhism |
Assessment
- Attendance and active class learning.
- Read Chapters 15 to 44 of the book “Mahathera N. (1998) The Buddha and His Teachings. Taipeh, Taiwan, Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc.” Write a paper of about 2500 words detailing your observation and reflection on your reading of the Teachings of the Buddha concerned.
- Write a critical book review from any of the books cited below. The book review must not coincide with the books and articles cited in the readings above, by Mahathera and Harvey’s book (main text).
- Compose an essay of about 3000 words on any topic related to Buddhism from the list below.
Some suggested titles are as follows:- Compare and contrast Christian views of salvation with Buddhist views of enlightenment.
- How does the Christian concept of God differ from the Buddhist understanding of the Buddha or the concept of the void (sunyata)?
- Discuss the role of faith in Christianity versus the role of wisdom and practice in Buddhism.
- Describe some examples of Christian polemics against Buddhism throughout history.
- How have contemporary Christian theologians and apologists addressed Buddhism?
- Analyze the reasons for Christian criticism of Buddhism.
- Evaluate the potential for dialogue and mutual understanding between Christianity and Buddhism.
- Discuss the role of religious texts and scripture in Christian and Buddhist polemics.
- Explain how the concept of the self (the “I”) is understood differently in Christianity and
Buddhism, and how this difference contributes to polemic. - Critically assess the validity of Christian arguments against Buddhism.
- To what extent does the concept of karma in Buddhism pose a challenge to the Christian concept of grace and forgiveness?
- Explore the potential for a more positive and respectful engagement between Christians and Buddhists.
References
Bailey, Stephen. “Disposition for Christian Witness Among Theravada Buddhists.” The Asbury Journal (Asbury Theological Seminary) 78, no. 2 (2023): 259-278.
Boon-Itt, Bantoon. “A study of the dialogue between Christianity and Theravada Buddhism in Thailand.” Ph. D. Dissertation. Nottingham: The Open University, December 2007.
Carus, Paul. “Buddhism and Christianity.” The Monist (Oxford University Press) 5, no. 1 (October 1894): 65-103.
Clasquin-Johnson, M. “The Centuries-Old Dialogue Between Buddhism and Christianity.” Acta Theologica 29, no. 2 (2009): 1-13.
De Alwiss, Tissa Brian. “Christian-Buddhist Dialogue in the Writings of Lynn A. De Silva.” D. Theo Dissertations 32. Ann Arbor, MI: Andrews University, 23 November 1982.
Harvey, Peter. An Introduction to Buddhism. Cambridge, England: Cambridge, 2013.
Mahathera, Narada. The Buddha and His Teachings. Taipeh: Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc., 1998.
Meynard, Thierry. “Beyond Religious Exclusivism: The Jesuit Attacks against Buddhism and Xu Dashou’s Refutation of 1623.” journal of jesuit studies (Brill) 4 (2017): 415-430.
Michael Solomon, Vasanthakumar. “The Legacy of the Controversies.” M. Phil Dissertation. Easneye, Ware, Herts: All Nations College, September 2001.
Steenbrink, Karl. “Buddhism in Muslim Indonesia.” Studia Islamika (Venter forthe Study of Islam and Society (PPIM)) 20, no. 1 (2013): 1-34.
Thera, Priyadassi. The Buddha His Life and Teachings. Kandy, Sri Lanka: The Wheel Publication, 1995.
Wu, J. “Encountering the Jesuits: Intellectual Interactions between Christians and Chan Buddhists in Seventeenth-Century China.” In Duoyuan gongcun hexie gongsheng weilai gongxiang, 108-133. 2018.
Yong, Amos. “Many Tongues, Many Buddhisms in a Pluralistic World: A Christian Interpretation at the Interreligious Crossroads.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies (Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture) 43, no. 2 (2016): 357-376.
Yong, Amos. “On Doing Theology and Buddhology: A Spectrum of Christian Proposals.” Buddhist-Christian Studies, no. 31 (January 2011): 103-118.