Course Description
The variety of ritual practices employed by Buddhists around the world. An examination of both ritual studies generally and Buddhist rituals in specific.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Will be assigned additional readings and short papers on problems
associated with the application of ritual theory to actual
practices; must write a fifteen-page research paper analyzing a
ritual or ritual text applying a selected theoretical approach.
Athena Title
BUDDHIST RITUAL
Prerequisite
Third- or fourth-year student standing or permission of department
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The goal of this course is to train the student in analyzing selected ritualized techniques that Buddhists have developed in order to negotiate the complexities and limitations of life. A variety of practices from several traditions is examined: meditation, visualization, mandala liturgies, mantra and text recitation, dream yoga, bodhisattva cults, pilgrimage to power places, image veneration, stages of the path, and initiation. The course also aims to serve as an inquiry into the study of ritual per se. That is, it examines critical strategies for understanding the structure, elements, modes, etc., of Buddhist practice by considering the insights of ritual theorists, such as Johan Huizinga, Jonathan. Z. Smith, Talal Asad, Ronald Grimes, and Antonin Artaud. Communicate Effectively through Writing To strengthen skills in written composition, analysis, and presentation by means of projects such as essays, papers, reports, and examinations. Communicate Effectively through Speech To strengthen skills in oral expression, analysis, style, and interaction by means such as class reports, class discussion, and oral examinations. Computer Literacy To enhance and facilitate computer literacy by the use of word processing, the web, email, and OASIS through research, preparation, and presentation of work such as oral class reports and completion of written assignments. Critical Thinking To foster critical thinking by engaging in activities such as classroom discussion and debate, essay examinations, and oral presentations. Moral Reasoning (Ethics) To assist in the continued development of moral and ethical reasoning and reflection by encouraging creative thinking regarding individual and community concerns and needs, the challenging of prejudices and stereotypes, and examining rational and ethical bases of constructive social interactions.
Topical Outline
1. The geneology of ritual 2. Ritual as performance 3. Ritual as play 4. Zen meditation 5. Mantras 6. Imaged contemplation 7. Liturgical recitation 8. Lord of the dance 9. Cult of the bodhisattva/buddha; image worship 10. Kuan-yin pilgrimage 11. Mandala creation 12. The Kalachakra mandala 13. Initiation ceremony 14. Pilgrimage 15. Stages of the path 16. Dream yoga