This course provides an overview of Buddhist religious traditions, principal teachings, the position of the Buddha in the traditions, and communities comprised by the traditions. Also discussed are Buddhist devotion, meditation, and ethics.
Students will cultivate a thorough understanding of the pivotal teachings, historical evolution, and contemporary manifestations of Buddhism. These insights unveil the quintessential elements that characterize Buddhism as an encompassing global spiritual and cultural phenomenon.
Themes encompass the historical luminary of Gautama Buddha, his enduring teachings, and the diverse ways in which his legacy reverberates across distinct Buddhist traditions. Exploration of Buddhist communities and the Sangha, whose evolution follows the foundational model established by the Buddha. Delving into the rich landscape of Buddhist thought, students will navigate the intricate realms of Buddhist cosmology, traverse the ethical frameworks that shape conduct, and engage with the transformative practices of meditation.
- مدرس: Christopher Johnson
- مدرس: Shou-Jen Kuo
The purpose of the class is to explore and make known the current state scholarship in terms of Artificial Intelligence in the field of Buddhist Studies. Equips students with dissertation research tools and skills. A range of topics are covered, including research design, data collection, analysis, literature review, citation management, and use of AI tools for translating and editing texts.
- مدرس: Howie Lan
- مدرس: Lewis Lancaster
Advanced level of studies in Sanskrit grammar & syntax, involving translation to & from Sanskrit.
- مدرس: Miroj Shakya
This graduate seminar aims to discuss the thematic topics in Buddhist context that motivates the rise of a series of modern Buddhist discourses, collectively named Humanistic Buddhism (HB) or renjian fojiao 人間佛教 nowadays. It provides a research arena for participants to lay down their own intellectual groundwork for studying the different types of HB movements that all respond to various social issues arising from the predicament of modernization process among the countries and regions in the world.
- مدرس: Shou-Jen Kuo
A lab-comparable component to the study of Buddhist meditation, this class takes a hands-on approach to the understanding and experimentation of traditional and/or contemporary methods of mental cultivation. The methods of meditation will primarily be based on the 16 steps of breathing exercise as outlined in the Ānāpānasati-sutta, a foundational early Buddhist text that has been a source of much inspiration and controversies. The class will perform detailed analysis of those canonical meditation techniques, as well as resourceful ways of applying them in different situations. Much class discussion will be dedicated to exploring how these techniques map onto what we know about the connections between psychological behaviors and the generation of stress—the key theme in the Buddha’s path of resolving suffering.
- مدرس: William Chu