Download Buddhism, Non-Violence, and Social Justice

Buddhism, Non-Violence, and Social Justice
PHL 431/531 (4 Credits)
Professor: Jim Blumenthal
Office Hours:
[email protected]
Meeting Hours: Tu/Th 2:00-3:40
Pre-requisites: None
Course Description:
Many Western scholars and observers have imagined that Buddhism is a religion of yogis
in Himalayan caves or Southeast Asian forests who meditate in solitude for years with
utter disinterest in the world. They see Buddhism as a religion advocating ambivalence
toward or disengagement from the world. While there may be isolated examples of
Buddhist practitioners living in ways that resemble this perception, the vast majority of
Buddhists live in the world, are concerned about the world, and contemplate their roles in
the world. Over the past century a broad-based movement of Buddhist social activism
has taken root in virtually every Buddhist country and has participants from every
denomination of Buddhism. The term they use to describe and identify themselves is
"Socially Engaged Buddhists". This course will examine the theories and methods of
Socially Engaged Buddhism as it has evolved over the past hundred years in Asia and in
the West. We will examine the key thinkers in the movement including Dr. B.R.
Amebedkar, Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh, Sulak Sivaraksa, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and
Samdong Rinpoche as well as contemporary Western Buddhists. In addition to
investigating the philosophical grounding of Buddhist ideas about non-violence, justice,
and social responsibility, we will look at the methods of training and the types of actions
Engaged Buddhists participate in and the issues that are of concern to Buddhists, both in
Asia and in the West.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will develop a rich understanding and be able to define and describe the
contemporary Engaged Buddhist movement in a variety of its forms. In addition, they
will have be able to summarize and explain the philosophical grounding behind Buddhist
ideas about non-violence, justice, social responsibility, the relationship between
contemplative practice and social action, etc. They will compose papers that demonstrate
their ability to appraise, analyze, compare, and contrast relevant materials. Most
importantly, through in-class discussions and writing assignments that encourage critical
reflection, analysis, students will learn how to think both critically and respectfully about
religion and religious ideas.
Graduate Students: In additions to the above learning outcomes, graduate students will
also learn how to analyze, evaluate, and comment upon scholarly materials in accord with
academic conventions and the expectations of the field through feedback given on their
papers, our scheduled office hour meetings (see below), and through discussions and
feedback in class.
Required Books:
Samdhong Rinpoche. Uncompromising Truth for a Compromised World: Tibetan
Buddhism and Today’s World. World Wisdom, 2006.
Sulak Sivaraksa. Seeds of Peace: A Buddhist Vision for Renewing Society. Berkeley:
Parallax Press, 1992.
Thich Nhat Hanh. Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddhism. Berkeley:
Parallax Press, 1987.
Chappell, David. Buddhist Peacework: Creating Cultures of Peace. Boston: Wisdom
Publications, 1999.
Additional Issues
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: Students with documented disabilities who may
need accommodations, who have any emergency medical information the instructor
should know of, or who need special arrangements in the event of evacuation, should
make an appointment with the instructor as early as possible, no later than the first week
of the term. See the homepage for OSU Disability Access Service below:
http://ds.oregonstate.edu/home/
PLAGARISM: Plagiarism or cheating of any kind will not be tolerated and will be dealt
with in strict accordance with OSU regulations. See the homepage for OSU Student
Conduct and Community Standards below:
http://oregonstate.edu/studentconduct/home/
PERSONAL ISSUES: If you have any personal issues arise during the quarter which
affect your ability to successfully complete the course requirements, please notify me as
soon as possible so that appropriate arrangements can be made whenever possible.
Course Requirements:
Regular Attendance and Participation:
This course will be run as a seminar rather than lecture class. That means that class time
will center on discussion of the readings for the day. I will help to steer discussions, but
the class will depend on student participation. Thus it is imperative that you come to
class having read the materials for the day and be ready to discuss them. Participation in
class discussions will make up 10% of your final grade.
Writing:
There will not be any exams for this course. However, there will be several writing
assignments. ALL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE TYPED. NO
HANDWRITTEN WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED. ALL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
ARE DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS FOR THE ASSIGNED DAY OF THE
READINGS THEY COVER.
-Reading Reviews: Students must turn in five “Reading Reviews”. These are 3-4 page
reviews of the readings for individual class sessions. These reviews MUST be turned in
at the beginning of class for the day the reading is assigned. There are no exceptions to
this. You can do reviews for any five of the seventeen remaining class periods of the
term beginning on the Thursday of week #2. A review paper consists of two parts: a brief
summary of the ideas conveyed, and your own critical analysis of the ideas. You can
either make the first part the summary and the second part the critical analysis or
interweave the two. Critical analysis is your own assessment of the ideas, be that positive
or negative. You may think the ideas are particularly insightful and have a positive
assessment. Or you may think the ideas are flawed. Either way, it is important that you
explain your assessment with solid reasoning and evidence to defend your claims.
-Reading Questions: On ten class days that you do not turn in Reading Reviews, you
must turn in “Reading Questions”. The Reading Questions are simply two questions (or
comments that might stimulate classroom discussion) on the readings for that day. You
can use these during the class to stimulate our discussion. I will also anonymously read
questions out during class for the same purpose.
-Final Paper: The final paper is a 5-7 page paper due the last day of class, June 4th. This
assignment is intended to inspire a penetrating analysis of the ideas and actions discussed
over the term. There are several options for approaches you can take to this paper. You
can write a general reflection paper on the ideas we have discussed this term. Or, you
can write an in-depth presentation and analysis of the thoughts of one particular thinker
that we have studied in the class. Alternatively, you can compare the similarities and
differences between two different thinkers, such as Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh and Ven.
Samdong Rinpoche or B.R. Ambedkar and Sulak Sivaraksa. A third option is to look a
particular issue such as: Buddhist responses to war, or gender issues, or environmental
issues. It is not expected that you do research for this paper (It should primarily be based
on material covered in class.), though you may do some if you like. This paper will
primarily consist in your personal analysis or Buddhist philosophizing. I want to read
your considered reflections about what you have learned. What did you think of the ideas
presented? Support you positions with good reasoned analysis.
-Graduate Students: Graduate students must complete the above requirements, but
instead of five review papers, graduate students must do seven. In addition, the final
paper for graduate students should be 10-15 pages. Graduate students also must schedule
two meetings with the professor (one in the middle of the term and one in week 9) during
office hours to evaluate and discuss their work, where suggestions will be made on the
improvement of their scholarly analysis and discussion of the course readings.
Grades:
Class participation
Reading Papers
Reading Questions
Final Paper
Total
10%
50%
10%
30%
100%
(5 x 10%)
(10 x 1%)
Grading Scale
94-100%
90-93%
88-89%
84-87%
80-83%
78-79%
74-77%
70-73%
68-69%
64-67%
60-63%
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
D-
Weekly Outline:
Week 1: Introduction to the Course, Basic Buddhist Ideas
Readings: Handout
Week 2: Basic Buddhist Ideas (cont.) Engaged Buddhism Introduction,
Readings:
“Introduction: A New Buddhism” by Christopher Queen in Queen (ed.) Engaged
Buddhism in the West. pp. 1-31. Handout
Week 3: Ariyaratne and the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, Ambedkar
Readings:
“A.T. Ariyaratne and the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka” by
George Bond in Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia.
Handout.
“Sarvodaya Shramadana’s Approach to Peacebuilding” by A.T. Ariyaratne in
Buddhist Peacework: Creating Cultures of Peace, edited by David W. Chappell.
Readings: “Ambedkar’s Buddhism, The Four Noble Truths, and Social Justice: A
Doctrinal Appraisal” by James Blumenthal from Blumenthal (ed.) Incompatible
Visions: South Asian Religions in History and Culture (2006). Handout.
Buddhist Peacework pp. 29-38.
“The Great Conversion: Dr. Ambedkar and the Buddhist Revival in India” by
Christopher Queen in Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Spring, 1993. Handout
Week 4: Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh’s Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddhism
Readings: Interbeing pp. 1-39, Introduction.
Readings: Interbeing pp. 39-77.
Recommended Reading:
“Thich Nhat Hanh and the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnamn: Non-Dualism
in Action” by Sally King pp. 321-363 in Engaged Buddhism. Queen and King
(eds.) Handout.
Week 5: Sulak Sivaraksa’s Vision for Renewing Society
Readings: From Seeds of Peace : Preface by Thich Nhat Hanh, Forward by His Holiness
the Dalai Lama, pp. 55-79.
“Buddhism and a Culture of Peace” by Sulak Sivaraksa in Buddhist Peacework:
Creating Cultures of Peace. David Chappell (ed.)
Readings: Seeds of Peace pp. 80-116, 3-9
“Sulak as Activist: Balancing the Local and Global” by Paula Green
in Socially Engaged Spirituality. David Chappell (ed.)
Week 6: S.N. Goenka and Buddhist Prison Work, His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Documentary film: “Doing Time, Doing Vipassana”
Readings: “The Nobel Peace Prize Lecture” by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Handout
Readings: “Dialogue on Religion and Peace” with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in
Buddhist Peacework: Creating Cultures of Peace. David Chappell (ed.)
Week 7: His Holiness the Dalai Lama (cont.), Samdong Rinpoche, Tibetan Response to
Occupation
Readings: “Buddhist Principles in the Tibetan Liberation Movement” by Jose
Cabezon pp. 295-320 in Engaged Buddhism. Queen and King (eds.)
Readings: pp. 163-176, 17-30, 38-45, 49-55, 69-74, 80-82, 85-107 in Samdong
Rinpoche. Uncompromising Truth
Week 8: Samdong Rinpoche, Tibet (cont.), Buddhist Satyagraha
Readings: Uncompromising Truth pp. 115-159
Documentary Film on His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Week 9: The Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Engaged Buddhism in America.
Readings: “Speaking Truth to Power: The Buddhist Peace Fellowship” by Judith SimerBrown in Engaged Buddhism in the West. Handout.
“New Voices in Engaged Buddhist Studies” by Kenneth Kraft in Engaged
Buddhism in the West. Handout.
Readings: “Engaged Buddhism: New and improved? Made in the USA of Asian
Materials” by Thomas Freeman Yarnall in Action Dharma: New Studies in
Engaged Buddhism (2003). Handout.
Week 10: Engaged Buddhism in the West, Women and Engaged Buddhism
Readings: “Naropa Institute: The Engaged Academy” by Robert Goss in Engaged
Buddhism in the West. Handout.
“Activist Women in American Buddhism” by Susan Moon in Engaged
Buddhism in the West.
Readings: Buddhist Peacework pp. 199-231, 151-173
FINAL PAPER IS DUE