BST511 – The Life of the Buddha (3 Units)
Prerequisites
Textbook: The Life of the Buddha by Karen Armstrong
9 week course
With such bestsellers as A History of God and Islam, Karen Armstrong has consistently delivered "penetrating, readable, and prescient" (The New York Times) works that have lucidly engaged a wide range of religions and religious issues. In Buddha she turns to a figure whose thought is still reverberating throughout the world 2,500 years after his death.
Many know the Buddha only from seeing countless serene, iconic images. But what of the man himself and the world he lived in? What did he actually do in his roughly eighty years on earth that spawned one of the greatest religions in world history? Armstrong tackles these questions and more by examining the life and times of the Buddha in this engrossing philosophical biography. Against the tumultuous cultural background of his world, she blends history, philosophy, mythology, and biography to create a compelling and illuminating portrait of a man whose awakening continues to inspire millions.
Prerequisites Textbook:
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
9 week course
In this modern spiritual classic, the Tibetan meditation master Chgyam Trungpa highlights a common pitfall to which every aspirant on the spiritual path falls prey: what he calls spiritual materialism. The universal human tendency, he shows, is to see spirituality as a process of self-improvementthe impulse to develop and refine the ego when the ego is, by nature, essentially empty. The problem, Trungpa says, is that ego can convert anything to its own use, even spirituality. His incisive, compassionate teachings serve to wake us up from this trick we all play on ourselves, and to offer us a far brighter reality: the true and joyous liberation that inevitably involves letting go of the self rather than working to improve it. It is a message that has resonated with students for over thirty years and remains fresh as ever today. This edition includes a foreward by Chgyam Trungpas son and lineage holder Sakyong Mipham.
BST516 - The Mirror of Zen (3 Units)
No Prerequisites
Textbook: The Mirror of Zen by Beop Joeng
9 week course
From the preface: "If you were to comb the mountains and valleys of Korea, polling every meditating monk and nun and hermit and ascetic as to the most necessary, essential, inseparable compendium of teachings apart from the Buddha's sutras themselves, chances are that most of them would choose The Mirror of Zen. It is by far the most quoted, most cited, most referred-to text in the tea rooms and teaching halls of the Zen temples in Korea."
Its author was Zen Master So Sahn who was born in 1520 in what is now North Korea. He became a monk at 21 and during his lifetime he assumed leadership positions at both the Zen and Sutra schools of Korean Buddhism. For this book, he chose 86 teachings from the Buddhist canon as the essence of of Zen. He also added commentaries, gathas, and capping words for our benefit.
In this course we will study this great book. The class will consist of reading assignments, video lectures, forum activities and quizzes. The professor will be also be available. The goals for this class are to introduce us to this great book and ultimately to learn from a great Zen Master in the Korean tradition.
LIT501 - Chanting Practicum One (3 Units)
Prerequisites: None
Textbook: Reading materials will be provided.
Course Length: 9 week course
Additional Course Expenses: A moktak and bell (small inkin, handbell, and/or singing bowl); they are useful to have, but not required for the practicum.
This course offers audio recordings for each chant and some interactive videos that will guide the student each step of the way.
Chanting practice is an extremely important aspect of the Zen student’s daily liturgy. Newer students sometimes have great difficulty understanding the efficacy of chanting practice. Usually, these doubts and questions subside after chanting for a regular period of time, and most of these students eventually arrive upon a similar understanding of this chanting practice, which is something like, ‘oh! When I completely focus on my voice and the voices around me during chanting I sometimes experience the stopping of all the mental chatter in my head!’
No Prerequisites
Textbook: The Compass of Zen Teaching by Zen Master Seung Sahn
9 week course
BST519 - Foundational Buddhism (3 Units)
No Prerequisites
Textbook: The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching - Thich Nhat Hanh
9 week course
In The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, Thich Nhat Hanh introduces us to the core teachings of Buddhism and shows us that the Buddha's teachings are accessible and applicable to our daily lives. With poetry and clarity, Nhat Hanh imparts comforting wisdom about the nature of suffering and its role in creating compassion, love, and joy--all qualities of enlightenment. Covering such significant teachings as the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Three Doors of Liberation, the Three Dharma Seals, and the Seven Factors of Awakening, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching is a radiant beacon on Buddhist thought for the initiated and uninitiated alike.