R 201:EASTERN RELIGIONS
Winter 2003

Almost all items are available on library reserve or library reference. You are expected to read the R201 Lectures (2003) assigned for each class session in advance, in addition to other assigned readings. All other required readings are listed as "Read:".

Read: Cannon, Lectures for R201, H1-H4; Cannon, Essays on Religious Studies, I-V. Recommended: Kessler, Eastern Ways of Being Religious, Part I: Introduction; Porterfield, The Power of Religion, Introduction and ch. 1; Cannon, Six Ways of Being Religious, Part One (especially chs. 1, 2 & 3); Streng, Understanding Religious Life, ch. 1; Hall, ed., Introduction to the Study of Religion; Ludwig, The Sacred Paths of the East, ch. 1; and the books listed under "General References" on the library reserve list for R 204. There is a glossary in Cannon, Six Ways, pp. 379-387.
 

Read: Cannon, R201 Lectures, H5-H9; and Porterfield, chs. 5, 11, and Part III.  Recommended: Kessler, Eastern Ways of Being Religious, ch. 4; Ludwig, The Sacred Paths of the East,.chs. 2-4 (pp. 23-80) and 8 (pp. 130-141); Comstock, Religious Autobiographies, 91-136 (presents personal religious {autobiograpical} stories by Swami Agehananda Bharati and Shudha Mazumdar, a male Hindu and a female Hindu); the personal essay on Hinduism in Our Faiths, edited by Arvind Sharma; Reymond, My Life with a Brahmin Family; beautiful photos on Hinduism in The Illustrated World's Religions, by Huston Smith.  See also specific videos on Hinduism and Jainism from the Eastern Religions Video List.
 

SESSION	DATE	TOPIC / READINGS / THINGS DUE
H5	1/15	Hinduism:  Introduction to Hinduism; Basic Convictions; Is Hinduism One or Many?; Does Hinduism Have a Central Story?;  Relation of Dharma to "Ultimate Reality"  Read: Porterfield, ch. 5. Recommended: Kessler, section 4.1, pp. 39-51.  Topics due for first set of papers.
H6	1/17	Phases and Layers of the Hindu Tradition; Scriptures; How Hinduism Adapts to People's Needs; Caste and Subcaste; Stages of Life or Ashramas. Read: Porterfield, ch. 5.  Recommended: Kessler, sections 4.2.1-4.3.3, pp. 51-72, and section 4.6, pp. 88-92. Study teams must identify themselves by this date.
	1/20	Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday -- no school
H7	1/22	Ritual Duties of a Hindu; Major Gods of Hindu Theism; Bhakti Yoga; Worship in Bhakti Yoga: Puja; The Personalism of Bhakti Yoga vs. the Transpersonalism of Most Schools of Jnana Yoga.  Read: Porterfield, ch. 11.  Recommended: Kessler, sections 4.3.4-4.4.4, pp. 72-84, and 4.7, pp. 92-96.
H8	1/24	Competing Views of the Nature of "Ultimate Reality" and Its Relation to the Realm of Appearance; Hinduism's Attitude Toward Other Religions; To What Extent Is Hinduism a Universal Religion?  Read: Porterfield, Part III.  Recommended: Kessler, sections 4.5-4.6, pp. 84-88.  See again sections 4.4.3-4.4.4, pp. 79-82.
H9	1/27	TBA
	1/29	Jainism:  Who is a Jain? The Central Story of Jainism; Subtraditions; Scriptures; Basic Beliefs; Path to Liberation; Ethical Teachings; Ritual and Worship; Relation to Hinduism. Recommended: Ludwig, ch. on Jainism.
EXAM	1/31	EXAM ON FIRST SECTION OF COURSE. First set of papers due.

Read: Cannon, R201 Lectures, B1-B6; and Porterfield, The Power of Religion, chs. 6, 12 and Part III. Recommended: Kessler, Eastern Ways of Being Religious, ch. 5; Ludwig, The Sacred Paths of the East, chs. 9 (pp. 142-154) and 5-7 (pp. 1-154); Cannon, Six Ways of Being Religious, the second section of ch. 7 (a survey of Buddhism, noting ways of being religious), and the first sections of chs. 9-14 (readings of examples of each of the six ways to be found in Buddhism); Comstock, Religious Autobiographies, 137-182 (presents personal religious {autobiograpical}stories by Janwillem van de Wetering and Satomi Myodo, a male Zen Buddhist and a female Zen Buddhist); the personal essay on Buddhism in Our Faiths, edited by Arvind Sharma; beautiful photos on Buddhism and Sikhism in The Illustrated World's Religions, by Huston Smith; and profuse illustrations and photos on Buddhism in The World of Buddhism, by Bechart and Gombrich.  See also specific videos on Buddhism from the Eastern Religions Video List.
 

SESSION	DATE	TOPIC / READINGS / THINGS DUE
B1	2/3	Sikhism:  Who is a Sikh?  the Central Story of Sikhism; Scriptures; Subtraditions; Beliefs, the Human Predicament; Path to Liberation; Ethical Teaching; Ritual and Worship  Recommended: Ludwig, ch. on Sikhism.
B2	2/5	Buddhism:  Introduction to Buddhism; Common Profession of Faith; the Central Story of Buddhism; Central Teaching; the Eightfold Path  Read: Porterfield, ch. 6.  Recommended: Kessler, section 5.1, pp. 99-111. Topics due for second set of papers.
B3	2/7	Buddhism's Difference from Hinduism; Things Buddhism Retained from Hinduism; Buddhist Moral Practices; Buddhist Concept of Merit; Buddhist Worldview: the Six Realms; Buddhist "Worship" and "Prayer;" Specific Buddhist Moral Practices  Read: Porterfield, ch. 6.  Recommended: Kessler, section 5.2-5.3.4, pp. 112-123.  Due date for absence make-ups from 1st section of course.
B4	2/10	Buddhist Meditative Concentration; Buddhist Wisdom or Beliefs about Reality  Read: Porterfield, ch. 12.  Recommended: Kessler, sections 5.4-5.4.3, pp. 123-131.
B5	2/12	Three Main Subtraditions; Theravada; Mayayana; Vajrayana  Read: Porterfield, ch. 12.  Recommended: Kessler, sections 5.4.4-5.4.5 and 5.6-5.6.3, pp. 131-136 and 145-154.
B6	2/14	Emergent Forms of Chinese Buddhism; Three Inclusive ("Catholic") Sects; Two Exclusive ("Protestant") Sects  Read: Porterfied, Part III.  Recommended: Kessler, sections 5.5-5.5.5, pp. 136-145.
B7	2/17	TBA
B8	2/19	TBA
EXAM	2/21	EXAM ON SECOND SECTION AND INTRODUCTION OF COURSE. Second set of papers due.

Read: Cannon, R201 Lectures, CJ1-CJ7; and Kessler, chs. 6 and 7.  Recommended: Ludwig, The Sacred Paths of the East, chs 10-16 (pp. 155-284); Cannon, Six Ways of Being Religious, the first sections of chs. 12-14 (readings of examples of Japanese Buddhist expressions of the ways of Devotion, Shamanic Mediation, and Sacred Rite); Comstock, Religious Autobiographies, 137-182 (presents personal religious {autobiograpical}stories by Janwillem van de Wetering and Satomi Myodo, a male Zen Buddhist and a female Zen Buddhist); the personal essays on Confucianism and Taoism in Our Faiths, edited by Arvind Sharma; beautiful photos on Chinese religions in The Illustrated World's Religions, by Huston Smith.   See also specific videos on Chinese and Japanese religions from the Eastern Religions Video List.
 

SESSION	DATE	TOPIC / READINGS / THINGS DUE
CJ1	2/24	Overview of Chinese Religious World View; A Gestalt Cosmology; The Dao; Tai Ji; The Dao in the Three Religions of China; Divination; Feng-shui  Recommended: Kessler, sections 7.1-7.2.2 and 7.6-7.7, pp. 227-242 and 265-274.
CJ2	2/26	Daoism; Philosophical Daoism; Daoist Yoga and Hygiene; Religious Daoism  Recommended: Kessler, sections 7.2.3-7.5.3, pp. 242-265.  Topics due for third set of papers.
CJ3	2/28	Introduction to Confucianism; Relation to Daoism; Confucian Emphases; Is Confucianism a Religion? Scriptures; The Principal Problem; Capsule History of the Confucian Tradition  Recommended: Kessler, sections 6.1-6.2.2, 6.8, and 6.7.1, pp. 163-184, 212-217, and 209-210. Due date for absence make-ups from 2nd section of course.
CJ4	3/3	The Confucian Project: Cultivation of the Jun-zi; Five Cardinal Virtues; Doctrine of the Mean; Five Constant Relationships; Rectification of Names; Social Life as Sacred Ritual; The Arts of Peace; Public Life and Governance; Neo-Confucianism  Read: TBA.  Recommended:  Kessler, sections 6.2.3-6.7.1 and 6.9, pp. 184-209, 217-225.
CJ5	3/5	What Is Shinto? The Kami; Giving Honor to the Kami; The Problem of Evil in Shinto; Shinto Ethical Teachings  Recommended: Ludwig, ch. on Shinto.
CJ6	3/7	Shinto Mythology; Shrine Shinto and Shinto Worship; Shamanistic Expressions of Shinto; Influence of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism; Expression of Shinto in Traditional Japanese Arts  Recommended: Ludwig, ch. on Shinto.
CJ7	3/10	Introduction to Japanese Buddhism; Tendai and Mt. Hiei; Kukai and Shingon Buddhism; Zen Buddhism, Eisai, and Dogen; Chanoyu (Tea Ceremony); Pure Land Buddhism; Nichiren Buddhism  Read: TBA.  Recommended: Kessler, sections 5.5.2-5.5.5, pp. 139-145.  Recommended: Ludwig on Japanese Buddhism; and Cannon, Six Ways . . ., chs. 12, 13, and 14 (which contain excerpts of Japanese devotional Pure Land Buddhism, Japanese shamanic Buddhism, and the sacred ritual of Chanoyu in Japanese Zen. Due date for third set of papers to qualify for a re-write.
CJ8	3/12	TBA
CJ9	3/14	TBA Journals and "Journal Summaries" due.
	3/17	Third set of papers due by Noon. No make-ups for absences will be accepted beyond this date.
EXAM	3/21	EXAM ON THIRD SECTION OF COURSE.  10 AM for 10 AM section; 8 AM for 2 PM section