RLST 27302 / SALC 27301: Buddhism in South Asia

Autumn Quarter 2007 Christian K. Wedemeyer T/Th 10:30–11:50 Swift 310B SS 104 Office Hours: M/T 1:30–2:30 [email protected]

Course Description: This course is designed to serve as an introductory survey of the history, doctrines, institutions, and practices of Buddhism in India and Tibet from their origins through the end of the 20th century. Readings will be drawn both from primary sources (in translation) and secondary and tertiary scholarly research. There will be a take-home mid-term exam; students then have the option of either a take- home final exam or submitting a short (7–9 pp.) final paper on a topic approved by the instructor.

All readings are available on electronic reserve.

PQ: None Schedule of Meetings: Part One: Indian Buddhism

25 September 2007: Orientation/The Indian Religious Context Topics: Brahmanism/Śramanism Readings: Gomez, “Buddhism in India” [overview article—recommended]

27 September 2007: The Buddha: Myth and History Topics: The “Historical Buddha” Traditional narrative accounts Readings: Reynolds, “The Many Lives of the Buddha” DeBary, ed., The Buddhist Tradition, pp. 55–72.

2 October 2007: The Dharma: Basic Buddhist Teachings Topics: Cosmology and Worldview Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold Path Karma/Rebirth, Selflessness The Three Educations: Ethics, Meditation, Wisdom Readings: Agañña-suttānta (from Dīgha-nikāya) Warren, Buddhism in Translations, pp. 234–241 Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, pp. 32–72

4 October 2007: Formation and Development of the Sangha Topics: The Nature of the Monastic Communities Lay Practitioners and dāna Sūtras and Abhidharma The Eighteen Schools and Vinaya(s) Readings: Robinson & Johnson, The Buddhist Religion, 4th ed., pp. 67–81 Prebish, Buddhist Monastic Discipline, pp. 1–33 Warren, Buddhism in Translations, pp. 441–447 9 October 2007: “Mainstream” Buddhism in India Topics: Practice: worship, confession, offering, pilgrimage, meditation Canon formation and the Councils Abhidharma philosophy and early scholasticism Aśoka: the “Buddhist Constantine” Schismatic movements; Buddhaghosa Readings: Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta Āṭānāṭiya Sutta Kūṭadanta Sutta Warren, Buddhism in Translations, pp. 117–128 Gombrich, Theravāda Buddhism, pp. 127–136

11 October 2007: Mahāyāna, the “Universal Way” Topics: Origins of Mahāyāna Liberative Art (upāya) “Docetic” Buddha Subjective and Objective Selflessness Readings: Gombrich, “Organized Bodhisattvas: A Blind Alley in Buddhist Historiography” Hurvitz, transl., Lotus Sūtra, pp. 22–83 The Heart Sutra (complete) Tatz, transl., Upāyakauśalya Sūtra, pp. 51–70 (recommended)

16 October 2007: Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, and Pramāna Thought Topics: The Centrist School (Madhyamaka) The Yogic Practice (Yogācāra) or Mind-only (Cittamātra) School The Epistemological School (Pramāṇa) Readings: Buddhist Spirituality, pp. 188–218

18 October 2007: Visionary Buddhism and the Mantranaya Topics: Theories of Buddha nature (tathāgata-garbha) Visionary access to new teachings Nature of Movement and Revelations Sādhana, consecration rituals and fire rituals Commentarial Literature and the Interpretation of Tantric Texts Readings: Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra (complete) Harrison, transl., Samādhi of Direct Encounter. . ., Chs. 3, 9, 13, 17 Hodge, transl., Mahāvairocana Abhisaṃbodhi Tantra, Chs. 1, 2, 20, 29 Anupamavajra, Ādikarmapradīpa (selection)

23 October 2007: Vajrayāna and the “end” of Indian Buddhism Topics: Theories of Decline and Destruction Antinomian Language and Rites; Yogas of Winds and Channels The Kālacakra Tantra Evidence for Survival/Newari Buddhism Readings: Guhyasamāja Tantra, Chs. 1, 2, and 5 Newman, “Islam in the Kālacakra Tantra” Gellner, “Monk, Householder, Tantric Priest” **Mid-term exam distributed in class **

29 October 2007: **Mid-term exams DUE in Swift 204 at noon! ** Part Two: Tibetan Buddhism

25 October 2007: Tibetan Prehistory, Bon and Buddhism Topics: Earliest records of Tibet Bon and the “pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet” How “Tibetan” is Tibetan Buddhism? Readings: Stein, Tibetan Civilization, pp. 19–44 Wedemeyer, “Bon”

30 October 2007: Old Tibetan Buddhism Topics: The Tibetan Imperium and the Mythos of the Three Religious Kings Śāntarakṣita and Padmasambhava The “Great Debate” of bSam-yas Readings: Snellgrove and Richardson, Cultural History of Tibet, pp. 19–32, 49–80, 89–94 History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, pp. 181-201

1 November 2007: New Tibetan Buddhism Topics: Lha-bla-ma, Atiśa, and the “Later Diffusion” (phyi dar) The “New” rNying-ma and gTerma Readings: Hubert Decleer, “Atiśa’s Journey to Tibet” Gyatso, “Drawn from the Tibetan Treasury”

6 November 2007: Late Renaissance and Classical Period Topics: The Sa-skya School and the Political Rise of the House of Sa-skya The bKa’-brgyud (Kagyu) School and their Rise Readings: Ruegg, “The Preceptor/Donor (yon mchod) Relation” Shakabpa, A Political History of Tibet, pp. 73–90

8 November 2007: Religious Developments in the Classical Period Topics: Bu-ston, Tsongkhapa, and Dolpopa: The Canon(s) and Other Emptiness Reincarnate Lamas Readings: Ruegg, Life of Bu-ston Rinpoche, pp. 1–40 Stearns, The Buddha from Dolpo, pp. 11–77 Wylie, “Reincarnation: A Political Innovation in Tibetan Buddhism” (recommended)

13 November 2007: The Dalai Lamas Topics: Political fortunes of the Dalai Lamas Maṇi bKa’-’bum and the creation of a national mythos The “Great Fifth” and De-srid Sangs-rgyas rGya-mtsho The dGe-lugs (Geluk) School, Mass Monasticism and the Tibetan Buddhist State Religious Vitality in the Eighteenth Century Readings: Kapstein, The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism, pp. 141-162 Dreyfus, Sound of Two Hands Clapping, pp. 32–53

15 November 2007: South Asian Buddhism in the Nineteenth Century Topics: Impact of colonialism on world Buddhism and of Buddhism on “the West” The rise of “Buddhist modernism” The “Non-aligned” Movement (Ris-med) in Tibetan Buddhism Readings: George D. Bond, The Buddhist Revival in Sri Lanka (chapters 1 and 2) Smith, “’Jam mgon Kong sprul and the Nonsectarian movement” 20 November 2007: Contemporary Buddhism in South Asia Topics: Dalit Buddhism Transplants Re-transplanted: the Vipassanā Movement and the Tibetan Diaspora Bodh Gayā and Lhasa Today Readings: E. Zelliot, From Untouchable to Dalit (pp. 187–196, 235–248) Bond, Buddhist Revival (chapter 4) Goldstein, “Revival of Monastic Life in Drepung Monastery” Gary Snyder, “Smokey the Bear Sutra”

22 November 2007: Thanksgiving: No class! ☺ Topics: Give thanks! Readings: none ☺

27 November 2007: Concluding Discussion Topics: open Readings: no reading ☺ ** Final Exam Distributed **

29 November 2007: Reading Period: No class! ☺

3 December 2007: ** Exams and Papers DUE in Swift 204 at noon **

Bibliography

Gomez, “Buddhism in India,” in Kitagawa and Cummings, Buddhism and Asian History (New York: Macmillan, 1989), pp. 51–104.

Reynolds, “The Many Lives of the Buddha: A Study of Sacred Biography and the Theravāda Tradition,” in Frank E. Reynolds and Donald Capps, eds., The Biographical Process: Studies in the History and Psychology of Religion (The Hague: Mouton, 1976), pp. 37–61.

DeBary, W. T. ed., The Buddhist Tradition in India, China, and Japan. New York: Vintage Books, 1972.

Agañña-suttānta, from Maurice Walshe, transl., Thus Have I Heard: The Long Discourses of the Buddha (London: Wisdom Publications, 1987), pp. 407–415.

Warren, Henry Clarke. Buddhism in Translations. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1896.

Harvey, Peter. An Introduction to Buddhism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Robinson, Richard H., and Willard L. Johnson. The Buddhist Religion: A Historical Introduction. 4th edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1997.

Prebish, Charles S. Buddhist Monastic Discipline. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1975.

Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna-, Āṭānāṭiya-, and Kūtadanta Sutta-s, in Walshe, Thus Have I Heard (as above)

Gombrich, Richard F. Theravāda Buddhism: A social history from ancient Benaras to modern Colombo. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1988.

Gombrich Richard. “Organized Bodhisattvas: A Blind Alley in Buddhist Historiography,” in Paul Harrison and Gregory Schopen, eds., Sūryacandrāya: Essays in Honor of Akira Yuyama on the occasion of his 65th Birthday (Swisstal-Odendorf: Indica et Tibetica Verlag, 1998), pp. 43–56.

Tatz, Mark, transl. The Skill in Means (Upāyakauśalya) Sūtra. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1994.

Hurvitz, Leon, transl. Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma (The Lotus Sūtra). New York: Columbia University Press, 1976.

The Heart Sutra, in Robert A. F. Thurman, Essential Tibetan Buddhism (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1995), pp. 171–172.

Yoshinori, Takeuchi. Buddhist Spirituality: Indian, Southeast Asian, Tibetan, early Chinese. New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1993.

Tathāgatagarbhasūtra, William H. Grosnick, transl., in Lopez, ed., Buddhism in Practice (as above), pp. 92–106.

Harrison, Paul, ed. The Samādhi of Direct Encounter with the Buddhas of the Present: An Annotated English Translation of the Tibetan Version of the Pratyutpanna-Buddha-Saṃmukhāvasthita-Samādhi-Sūtra. Tokyo: The International Institute of Buddhist Studies, 1990.

Hodge, Stephen, transl. The Mahā-Vairocana-Abhisaṃbodhi Tantra with Buddhaguhya’s Commentary. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003.

Anupamavajra, Ādikarmapradīpa (selections), in Stephan V. Beyer, The Buddhist Experience: Sources and Translations (Encino, Dickenson Pub. Co., 1974), pp. 56–64.

Guhyasamāja Tantra, selections of unpublished translations by Robert A. F. Thurman and Christian K. Wedemeyer

Newman, John, “Islam in the Kālacakra Tantra,” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, XXI:2 (1998), pp. 311–346.

Gellner, David N., “Monk, Householder, Tantric Priest: What the Three Yānas Mean to Newar Buddhists,” in Tadeusz Skorupski, ed., The Buddhist Forum, Volume II, (reprint New Delhi: Heritage Publishers, 1992), pp. 115–132.

Stein, R. A. Tibetan Civilization. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1972. pp. 19-44.

Wedemeyer, Christian K.. “Bon,” in Robert E. Buswell, Jr., ed., The Encylopedia of Buddhism (New York: Macmillan, 2003), pp. 66–68.

Snellgrove, David, and Hugh Richardson. A Cultural History of Tibet. Boston and London: Shambhala, 1995. pp. 19-32, 49-65; 66-80, 89-94.

Obermiller, E, transl., History of Buddhism (chos ḥbyung) by Bu-ston. Heidelberg: O Harassowitz, 1932. pp. 181- 201.

Hubert Decleer, “Atiśa’s Journey to Tibet,” in Donald S. Lopez, ed., Religions of Tibet in Practice. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997. pp. 157-177.

Gyatso, Janet. “Drawn from the Tibetan Treasury: the gTer ma literature,” in José Cabezón and Roger Jackson, eds., Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre. Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1996. pp. 147-169.

Ruegg, “The Preceptor/Donor (yon mchod) Relation in Thirteenth Century Tibetan Society and Polity, its Inner Asian Precursors and Indian Models,” in Krasser, Much, Steinkellner, and Tauscher, eds., Tibetan Studies, vol. II, Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1997. pp. 857-872.

Shakabpa, Tsepon W. D. Tibet: A Political History. 1967. New York: Potala Publications, 1984. pp. 73-90.

Ruegg, David S. The Life of Bu-ston Rinpoche. Roma: Instituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1966. pp. 1-40.

Stearns, Cyrus. The Buddha from Dolpo: A Study of the Life and Thought of the Tibetan Master Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen. Albany: SUNY Press, 1999. pp. 11-77.

Wylie, Turrell. “Reincarnation: A Political Innovation in Tibetan Buddhism,” in Louis Ligeti, ed., Proceedings of the Csoma de Kőrös Memorial Symposium. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1978. pp. 579-586.

Kapstein, Matthew T. The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. pp. 141- 162.

Dreyfus, Georges. The Sound of Two Hands Clapping: The Education of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. pp. 32–53.

Bond, George D. The Buddhist Revival in Sri Lanka: Religious Tradition, Reinterpretation, and Response. Reprint Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1992.

Smith, E. Gene. Among Tibetan Texts: History & Literature of the Himalayan Plateau. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2001. pp. 235-272.

Zelliot, Eleanor. From Untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement. Delhi: Manohar, 1992. Goldstein, Melvyn, and Matthew Kapstein, eds. Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet: Religious Revival and Cultural Identity. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. pp. 15-52.

Snyder, Gary. “The Smokey the Bear Sutra,” in John Strong, The Experience of Buddhism (Belmont CA: Wadsworth, 2002), pp. 340–342.