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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