Buddhism in Space and Time

Paper 2403

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Buddhism in Space and Time

Syllabus

Description

This paper deals with Buddhism as it developed and changed in space and time. The first part of the course will be devoted to the main doctrines and schools ofMahāyāna (Great Vehicle) Buddhism. The second part will discuss the transmission and transformation of Buddhism in some of the main areas where it continues to exist in the modern world.The tutorials will enable students to further discuss and analyse the main topics dealt with during the course, thus representing an ideal complement to the lectures. It is hoped that in this way students will be able to develop a critical perspective on the subject of the paper and the relevant scholarship.

Aims

To give students some appreciation of the various forms that Buddhism has taken during its transmission throughout Asia.

Objectives

Students who have studied this paper will:

a) Have a sense of the ways in which Buddhism has varied in space and time.

b) Have a basic knowledge of Buddhism as a phenomenon in world history.

c) Have a basic knowledge of the major trends in modern scholarship on the subject.

d) Have written a series of coherent essays on topics central to the subject.

Delivery

8 lectures; 8 tutorials.

Assessment

is by one three-hour written paper in TT of the second year of the Honour School.

Reading list

(II = Indian Institute Library; Bod = Bodleian; Taylor = Taylor Institution)

Reference works and bibliographies

Robert Buswell, Donald Lopez: The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University Press, Princeton, Oxford, 2014.

The Stanford Enclyclopedia of Philosophy (plato.stanford.edu) contains various detailed entries on Buddhist concepts and schools.

Oxford Bibliographies Online ( contains a substantial list of annotated bibliographies on different Buddhist topics.

Hajime Nakamura: Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Bibliographical Notes, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1997.

Silk, Jonathan A. (ed.), Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism (vol. 1), Brill, Leiden, 2015.

Brief introductions

Matthew Kapstein: Tibetan Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2014.

John Powers: A Concise Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, Snow Lion, Ithaca, 2008.

Longer introductions and historical works

Bechert, Heinz and Richard Gombrich (eds.): The World of Buddhism. London Thames & Hudson, 1984. (II Budd C 69)

Ch’en, Kenneth: Buddhism in China. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1964

Gombrich, Richard: Theravada Buddhism: A social history from ancient Benares to modern Colombo. London: Routledge, 1988, 2nd ed. 2006. (II Budd B 220)

Harvey, Peter: An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices. Cambridge: University Press, 1990. (II Budd B 252)

Lamotte, Etienne: Histoire du bouddhisme indien. Louvain, 1958. (Tr. Sara Webb- Boin(1988):HistoryofIndianBuddhism. Louvain-la-Neuve: Universite Catholique.) (II Budd C 49a)

John Powers: Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, Snow Lion, Ithaca NY, 2007.

Prebish, Charles S.: Historical Dictionary of Buddhism. Metuchen, NJ and London: Scarecrow Press, 1993. (II Lex gen 72)

Rahula,Walpola: History of Buddhism in Ceylon. Colombo:M.D.Gunasena,1956. (II RETIND)

Skilton, Andrew: A Concise History of Buddhism. Birmingham: Windhorse Publications, 1994. (II Budd C 96)

Snellgrove, David L. and Hugh E. Richardson. A Cultural History of Tibet. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1968. (II RETIND)

Williams, Paul: Mahayana Buddhism, 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2008

Key texts

Sangharakshita: The Eternal Legacy: An Introduction to the Canonical Literature of Buddhism, Tharpa Publications, London, 1985.

Edward Conze: Buddhist Wisdom Books: The Diamond Sutra, The Heart Sutra, Harper & Row, New York, San Francisco, 1958.

Edward Conze: The Perfection of Wisdom in eight thousand Lines and its Verse Summary, Wheel Series I, Berkeley, 1975.

Donald Lopez: The Heart Sūtra Explained. Indian and Tibetan Commentaries, State University of New York Press, Albany, 1988.

Garma C. C.Chang (ed.): A Treasury of Mahayana Sutras, The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park and London, 1983.

Kate Crosby, Andrew Skilton: Śāntideva: The Bodhicaryāvatāra, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1995.

Peter N. Gregory: Inquiry into the Origin of Humanity - An Annotated Translation of Tsung-mi’s Yüan jen lun with a Modern Commentary, The Kuroda Institute, University of Hawai‘i Press, Honolulu, 1995.

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso: Meaningful to Behold: A Commentary to Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, Tharpa Publications, London, 1989.

Red Pine: The Platform Sutra. The Zen Teaching of Hui-Neng, Counterpoint, Berkeley, 2006.

Burton Watson: The Lotus Sutra, New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

Philosophy and doctrine

Anālayo: The Dawn of Abhidharma, Hamburg University Press, Hamburg, 2014.

Steven Emmanuel (ed): A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy, Wiley-Blackwell, London, 2011.

Charles Goodman: Consequences of Compassion: An Interpretation and Defense of Buddhist Ethics, Oxford University Press, New York, 2009.

Jeffrey Hopkins: Emptiness Yoga: The Tibetan Middle Way, Snow Lion, Ithaca, 1995.

Mark Siderits: Buddhism as Philosophy, Ashgate, Aldershot, 2007.

Fernando Tola, Carmen Dragonetti: Being as Consciousness: Yogācāra Philosophy of Buddhism, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 2004.

Meditation

Susan Blackmore: Ten Zen Questions, Oneworld, Oxford, 2009.

Geshe Gendün Lodrö: Calm Abiding and Special Insight, Snow Lion, Ithaca, 1998.

Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche: Dharma Paths, Snow Lion, Ithaca, 1992.

Lati Rinbochay: Meditative States in Tibetan Buddhism, Wisdom, London, 1983.

Kathleen McDonald: How To Meditate. A Practical Guide, Wisdom, London, 1990.

Buddhist cultures

Beyer, Stephen: The Cult of Tara: Magic and Ritual in Tibet. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973. (II Tibet 11 d 33)

Bunnag, Jane: Buddhist Monk, Buddhist Layman. Cambridge: University Press, 1973. (Bod Thai 11 d 43)

Buswell, Robert E.: The Zen Monastic Experience: Buddhist Practice in contemporary Korea. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992. (OI W 1880 BUS)

Carrithers, Michael: The Forest Monks of Sri Lanka: an anthropological and historical study. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1983. (II Ceylon 11 d 15 & 17)

Gellner, David: Monk, Householder, and Tantric Priest: Newar Buddhism and its

Hierarchy of Ritual. Cambridge: University Press, 1992. (Anthro SCA Taylor)

Gombrich, Richard F.: Precept and Practice: Traditional Buddhism in the Rural

Highlands of Ceylon. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971. (II Ceylon 11 d 44)

Richard Gombrich Theravada Buddhism 2nd. ed. Routledge 2006

Gombrich, Richard and Gananath Obeyesekere: Buddhism Transformed: Religious Change in Sri Lanka. Princeton: University Press, 1988. (II Ceylon 11 d 29)

Havnevik, Hanna: Tibetan Buddhist Nuns: History, Cultural Norms and Social Reality. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1990. (II Tibet 11 d 62)

Mumford, Stan R.: Himalayan Dialogue: Tibetan Lamas and Gurung Shamans in Nepal. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989. (II Nepal 11 d 20)

Obeyesekere, Gananath: "The Buddhist pantheon in Ceylon and its extensions" in Manning Nash (ed.), Anthropological Studies in Theravada Buddhism. Southeast Asia Studies, Yale University, 1966, pp. 1- 26. (II RETIND)

Poceski, Mario: The Wiley Blackwell companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014.

Samuel,Geoffrey: Civilized Shamans: Buddhism in Tibetan Societies. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993. (II Tibet 11 d 85)

Spiro, Melford E.: Buddhism and Society: A Great Tradition and its Burmese Vicissitudes. London: Allen and Unwin, 1971. (II RETIND)

Swearer, Donald K.: The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia. Albany: SUNY Press, 1995, pp. 5-61 (Chapter 1, 'The Popular Tradition'). (II Budd B 311)

Tambiah, Stanley J.: Buddhism and the Spirit Cults in North-east Thailand. Cambridge: University Press, 1970. (Anthro SCA Taylor)

Welch, Holmes: The Practice of Chinese Buddhism 1900-1950. Harvard: University Press, 1967. (Bod L. Camera S Th B 49.12)

Buddhism and science

Buddhadasa P. Kirthisinghe: Buddhism and Science, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1999.

Paul Dahlke: Buddhism & Science, Macmillan & Co, London, 1913.

Donald Lopez: Buddhism & Science. A Guide for the Perplexed, Chicago University Press, Chicago, London, 2008.

Donald Lopez: The Scientific Buddha. His Short and Happy Life, Yale University Press, New Haven, London, 2012.

James H. Austin: Zen and the Brain, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2001.

Dalai Lama: The Universe in a Single Atom, Morgan Road Books, New York, 2005.

Matthieu Ricard, Trinh Xuan Thuan: The Quantum and the Lotus, Crown, New York, 2001.

B. Allan Wallace (ed): Buddhism & Science. Breaking New Ground, Columbia University Press, New York, 2003.