All courses

BST527 - Stories of Zen Women (NEW!)

In this course we explore the stories of historic and modern Zen Teachers through 100 historic kong-ans and commentary by modern teachers - women, all of them. Women have always brought a different flavor to Zen, both in practice and teaching, and it's all-too-often been overlooked. Here is your chance to dive into kong-an practice and look at it from a new perspective.

Books required:
The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Zen Women
Edited by Florence Caplow
ISBN: 978-0-86171-659-3

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Lamp-Twenty-Five-Centuries-Awakened/dp/0861716590/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3NLC72NENVBMG&keywords=The+hidden+lamp&qid=1699815934&sprefix=the+hidden+lamp%2Caps%2C84&sr=8-1

BGI522 - Zen Poetry

BGI522 - Zen Poetry (3 Units)

Prerequisites: None

Textbook:

9 week course

From what I have surmised over the past twenty years of introspective practice, Zen has everything to do with learning to live inside of questions and not so much living inside of the answers to those questions. It is so simple, that I have often been accused of being a buffoon or at other times a pompous jerk. Anymore, I try not to talk about Zen; I would rather discuss how someone is feeling or maybe muse on what a beautiful sunset can do to the psyche. Nonetheless, I am titling this collection of poetry a Zen Poetry book and I therefore feel obligated to speak briefly about Zen and poetry.

This leads me then, to a question and not an answer that I find such a wonderful and refreshing treat. What is Zen poetry? We all may have various ideas about what poetry is or what it should be. This question about Zen poetry has been pondered since Bodhidharma first expounded the Blood Sermon in the Sixth Century of the Common Era. So, like the scholar that I am I followed back the origin of the word “poetry” in Chinese written language, and I found that the logograph or written character for poetry is an ideogram pronounced (shih); and this character is the combination of the individual logographs for “word” and “temple.”

I have discovered that Chinese language, due to the structure and imagery evoked within the logographs themselves, is much more visual and poetic than the derived Greek languages we use in the West. This is an inseparable part of the imagery that is manifest within each of the symbolic ideograms. Compared to Chinese our alphabet is a cryptic type of binary computer code, which can convey a lot of information but contains no imagery other than the meaning implied directly; however, the images that spring forth in written Chinese for the word poetry for example is that of “a temple or shrine for words.”

BGI521 - Zen and Modern Film

BGI521 - Zen and Modern Film (3 Units)
No Prerequisites
Textbook: Multimedia Course with On-Line Videos
9 week course

To view popular movies on the subject of Zen and explore their entertainment value as well as their social merit.

1.Temptation of a Monk

2.Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring

3.Zen – Dogen

4.Amongst White Clouds

5.Zen Noir

6.Why Has Bodhidharma Left for the East?

7.Asoka

BGI523 - Eastern Spirituality and Modern Film

BGI521 - Eastern Spirituality and Modern Film (3 Units)
No Prerequisites
Textbook: Multimedia Course with On-Line Videos
9 week course

To view popular movies on the subject of Eastern Spiritual Values and explore their entertainment value as well as their social merit.

The Razor's Edge (Original)

The Razor's Edge (Bill Murray Remake)

Groundhog Day

Kumaré

Dogma

One Track Heart

Fierce Grace

The Matrix

Revolver

LIT525 - Zhan Zhuang Qigong Meditation

LIT504A - Zhàn Zhuāng Qigōng Meditation (3 Units)
Prerequisite: None
Textbook: On Line Resources
10 week course

Éméi Zhàn Zhuāng Qigōng

(峨眉站桩氣內功)

During the early Qing era, many monks had traveled to Éméi (峨眉山) mountain and learned the Martial Arts and Nèigōngs (內功) taught there. Neigong practice is normally associated with the so-called “soft style”, “internal” or Nèijiā (內家) Chinese martial arts They eventually reached the Fujian temples and brought this internal martial arts influence there. The tiger based Nèigōngs from Éméi were said to have been brought to Fújiàn Shěng (福建省) by Báiméi (白眉). Today the Báiméi style is a dragon and tiger based martial art.

In 1050 ACE, a monk traveled to the top of Mt Éméi, one of China’s Four Holy Mountains. This monk trained and meditated on Éméi and, when he realized liberation, took the name Báiyún (White Cloud). Chàn Master Báiyún Shŏuduān (白雲守) wrote all his sacred knowledge, including his system designed to cultivate health and treat illness while striving to attain enlightenment, in a book called “The Éméi Treasured Lotus Cannon” which is currently being held in a Beijing Museum. Báiyún’s art consists of The Twelve Ways, The Six Tiger Steps (or Tiger Walking), Meditations, Healing Sounds, Medicine, Weapons, etc. Éméi neigong emphasizes healing, internal self-cultivation of Qi ((氣) energy), and the cleansing of one's heart so that one's true nature and latent abilities can emerge. In the Éméi system, the 12 Zhuang - Ways (or Paths), commonly known as 12 posts, are the Body Cultivation. These are specific short sets designed to un-lock and holistically link the body while keeping it healthy and strong. They are like India’s Yogic practices but of Chinese origin. In the Éméi system it is the Snake that binds the 12 Zhuāng and Éméi Art together. Per the 12th generation Grandmaster Fu Wei Zhong, the Mother of the 12 Ways is the Zhàn zhuāng (Heaven Post). According to Fu Wei Zhong: “Zhàn Za Zhuāng is to Éméi just as San Ti Shi is to Xing Yi”. The last Zhuāng in the Éméi art, Mei Za Zhuāng, is based on Meditation practice, one of four different types of meditations that the Éméi practitioner studies at that level. The Éméi 6 sets of Tiger Walking exercises are the 12 Ways for the Lower Half and uniting the Upper and Lower Half. Éméi Weaponry comes in three forms: Sword, Short Blade (Dagger) and Hand Spike, with the long weapons not being practical in the Éméi dense and mountainous terrain.

BGI529 - BDU Course Development

MTH591 -BDU Course Development (9 Units) Teachers Approved for ParticipationTextbook: Research on Independent Approved topics 9 Week Course Planning and designing an online course takes considerable time and thought, whether it begins as a face-to-face class or it is constructed from scratch. To create the most engaging and effective courses in the most efficient (and even enjoyable!) way possible, BDU faculty partner with one of the University's instructional designers.