COURSES
REL 108 Introduction to Asian Religions
An introduction to the major religions of India, Tibet, China, and Japan with
particular attention to universal questions such as how to overcome the human
predicament, how to perceive ultimate reality, and what is the meaning of death
and the end of the world. Materials taken from Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism,
Taoism, and Shinto. Comparisons made, when appropriate, with Hebrew and Christian
Scriptures.
REL 253 Buddhist Thought and Practice
A study of Buddhist views of the human predicament
and its solution, using different teachings and forms of practice from India,
Southeast Asia, Tibet, China, and Japan. Topics including the historic Buddha’s
sermons, Buddhist psychology and cosmology, meditation, bodhisattva career,
Tibetan Tantricism, Pure Land, Zen, and dialogues with and influence on the
West. Normally alternates with REL 257.
REL 254 Chinese Thought and Religion
Continuity and diversity in the history of Chinese
thought and religion from the ancient sage-kings of the third millennium B.C.E.
to the present. Topics include: Confucianism, Taoism, Chinese Buddhism, folk
religion, and their further developments and interaction. Materials drawn from
philosophical and religious and literary works. Normally alternates with REL
255.
REL 255 Japanese Religion and Culture
Constancy and change in the history of Japanese religious thought and its cultural
and literary expression from the prehistoric “age of the gods” to
contemporary Japan. An examination of Japanese indebtedness to, and independence
from, Korea and China, assimilation and rejection of the West, and preservation
of indigenous tradition. Topics include: Shinto, distinctively Japanese interpretations
of Buddhism, neo-Confucianism, their role in modernization and nationalism,
Western colonialism, and modern Japanese thought as a crossroad of East and
West. Normally alternates with REL 254.
REL 257 Contemplation and Action
An exploration of the relationship between the two polar aspects of being religious.
Materials drawn from across the globe, both culturally and historically. Topics
include: self-cultivation and social responsibility, solitude and compassion,
human frailty as a basis for courage, anger as an expression of love, non-violence,
western adaptations of eastern spirituality, meditation and the environmental
crisis. Readings selected from Confucius, Gautama Buddha, Ryokan, Mahatma Gandhi,
Abraham Heschel, Dag Hammarskjöld, Simone Weil, Thomas Merton, Thich Nhat
Hanh, Henri Nouwen, Beverly Harrison, Benjamin Hoff, Reuben Habito, and others.
Normally alternates with REL 253.
REL 259 Christianity in Asia
History of the Christian tradition in South and East Asia from the first century
to the present. Emphasis on the Christian impact, both positive and negative,
on Asian societies; why Asia rejected Western Christianity; and the development
of uniquely Asian
forms of Christian belief, practice and socio-political engagement. Topics
include: Thomas’ supposed “apostolic mission” to Kerala,
India in the first century, the Nestorian “ heretics” in T’ang
China, symbiosis of Jews, Muslims and Christians in ninth-century China,
the two sixteenth-century Jesuits (Francis Xavier and Matteo Ricci), Spanish colonialism
and the Roman Catholics of the Philippines, the 26 martyrs of Japan(1597),
the Taiping Rebellion, Uchimura’s “No Church Christianity,” Horace
Allen in Korea, Kitamori’s “Pain of God Theology,” Endo’s “Silence
of God,” India’s “untouchables” and Christianity, Mother
Teresa of Calcutta, the Three Self Movement in the People’s Republic
of China, Korea’s Minjung Theology, and the rise of Asian American
Christianity.
REL 290 Kyoto: Center of Japan’s Religion and Culture
Hands-on observation and critical analyses of religion and culture in Kyoto,
Japan’s capital for over a millennium. Topics include: Shinto and Buddhism
in traditional Japanese art and culture, such as “tea ceremony,” calligraphy,
poetry, theater and martial arts; Shinto and Japan’s appreciation of
nature; Japan’s selective memory of the Pacific War and Japan’s
growing nationalism; today’s Buddhist clergy as specialists of the world
of the dead, in sharp contrast to the earlier (pre-seventeenth century) focus
on meditation and acts of mercy for the living; “new religions” in
contemporary Japanese society and politics; Japan’s assimilation of Western
religions, as manifested in youth culture; the complicity of religion in the
resurgence of nationalism and xenophobia; the contemporary Japanese fascination
with the “other world”. Kyoto will be the center of operation with
possible side trips to Nara, Hiroshima, and perhaps Tokyo. Length: Two and a
half weeks in Japan, with three days of orientation on campus prior to departure.
Not offered every year. Subject to Dean’s Office approval. Prerequisite:
At least one course in Asian religion; though not required, preference given
to students of Asian religions and of East Asian Studies.
Application required. Enrollment limited to 10 and with written permission
of the instructor.
REL 353 Seminar. Zen Buddhism
Zen, the long known yet little understood tradition,
studied with particular attention to its historical and ideological development,
meditative practice, and expressions in poetry, painting, and martial arts.
Normally alternates with REL 354.
REL 354 Seminar. Tibetan Buddhism
A critical, historical and comparative study of Buddhism
that unfolded in the unique geographical, historical, cultural and religious
climate of Tibet, and of the Tibetan communities in diaspora after the Communist
Chinese takeover. Topics include: pre-Buddhist religions of Tibet; development
of the Vajraya-na teaching and the Tantric practice; the cult of Ta-ra; Avalokitesvara
Bodhisattva and the Dalai Lama; the plight of the Tibetan lamas and refugees
in India and in the West; continuing controversy in China; the appeal and misunderstanding
of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism in the West; the future of Tibet and Tibetan
Buddhism. Normally alternates with REL 353.
REL 357 Seminar. Issues in Comparative Religion
Promises and challenges in the evolving debate over how different truth claims
and faith communities might seek tolerance, respect, and coexistence. How to
reconcile tradition with innovation, doctrine with practice, contemplation
with action, globalism with tribalism. Impediments of monotheism and “revealed
scripture.” The role of religion in prejudice and discrimination. The
rise of Buddhism in the West and of Christianity in the East. Readings include
works by Wilfred Cantwell Smith, John Hick, Uchimura Kanzo, Endo Shusako, Raimundo
Panikkar, Thich Nhat Hanh, the Dalai Lama, and Diana Eck.