AST/REL 231 (Religions of India and Tibet)

Dr. Jeff Richey, instructor
Asian Studies Program
Department of Philosophy and Religion
Berea College
Fall 2007
W 6-8:50 p.m.
Draper 205

"If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions, I should point to India." 

                                                    -- Max Müller (1823-1900)

"Tibet... presents an almost irresistible mixture of the exotic, the spiritual and the political. Tibet's altitude and relative isolation have made it an object of European fantasy for centuries, often portraying it as a domain of lost wisdom."
                   
                                                    -- Donald S. Lopez, Jr. (1952-)


Through readings in the classical primary texts of each tradition, as well as attention to ritual and practice, this course introduces the principal religious traditions of South Asia: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, and Sikhism.   Attention also will be given to the Bönpo and Buddhist traditions of Tibet.  The goal of the course is to understand the religious traditions of India and Tibet in their own cultural, historical, and intellectual contexts and terms.

Prerequisite: GSTR 100 or 110

Fulfills: International (Non-Western) and Religion Perspective requirements

Course materials:

  1. Peter Heehs, ed., Indian Religions: A Historical Reader of Spiritual Expression and Experience (NYU Press, 2002) [IR]
  2. Donald S. Lopez, Jr., ed., Religions of Tibet in Practice: Abridged Edition (Princeton University Press, 2007) [RTP]
  3. Gita Mehta, A River Sutra (Talese/Doubleday, 1993)
  4. Françoise Pommaret, Tibet: An Enduring Civilization (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2003)
  5. Various readings available online [WWW], on reserve at Hutchins Library, or provided by instructor 
Course requirements:

  1. Submission of weekly reading responses ( = 1/4 course grade), consisting of comments and questions (not summary) on each week's assigned material of at least 250 words in length, e-mailed directly to the instructor by noon most Wednesdays beginning September 5.  These brief writing assignments will be graded pass/fail and cannot be made up.
  2. Completion of 2 essays ( = 1/4 course grade), chosen from four deadline-specific topics (due on September 21, October 26, November 9, and November 30, respectively). Each essay should be submitted as an attached Microsoft Word document e-mailed to the instructor. If you earn a B+ or better on the first essay, you will not be required to write a second essay. Further guidelines for these essays are available here.
  3. Completion of 1 final examination ( = 1/4 course grade), to be administered from 6 to 8 p.m. on December 12. Further guidelines for this examination are available here.

The instructor reserves the right to reduce the final grades of any student based on failure to attend class sessions.  Excuses for absences should be sought in advance, but may not necessarily be granted.

Course calendar:

Week 1
8/29  
Introduction to course
Lecture: An Introduction to Ancient India (in class)
Required:
  1. Stanley Wolpert, A New History of India (Oxford University Press, 2000), 3-36 (reserve 954 W866n)
  2. Excerpts from Vedic texts (IR 42-55)
8/30    Janai Purnima (Sacred Thread Festival) celebrated in Nepal -- see video footage here

Week 2
9/5
READING RESPONSE #1 DUE BY NOON!
Video: Excerpts from 330 Million Gods (in class; also available as reserve DVD 200 L849 2001 disc 1/vols.1 & 2)
Required:
  1. Patrick Olivelle, trans., Upanişads (Oxford University Press, 1996), xxiii-lvi (reserve 294.592 U65)
  2. Excerpts from Upanişads (IR 61-88)
9/6   Krishna Asthami (Lord Krishna's Birthday) celebrated in Nepal

Week 3
9/12
READING RESPONSE #2 DUE BY NOON!
Lecture: The Jains (in class)
Video: The Jains (in class; also available as reserve Video 294.4 J25)
Required:
  1. James Laidlaw, Riches and Renunciation: Religion, Economy, and Society among the Jains (Oxford University Press, 1995), 25-64 (reserve 294.409 L185r)
  2. Excerpts from Jain texts (IR 92-102, 231-233)
9/17-19   Haritalika Teej (Commemoration of Parvati's Betrothal to Shiva) and Rishi Panchami (Fifth Day of the Seers) celebrated in Nepal

Week 4
9/19
READING RESPONSE #3 DUE BY NOON!
Guest lecturer: Dr. Abraham Velez (Department of Philosophy and Religion, Eastern Kentucky University)
Video: Footprint of the Buddha (in class; also available as reserve DVD 200 L849 2001 disc 2/vols. 3 & 4)
Required:
  1. Donald W. Mitchell, Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience (Oxford University Press, 2002), 9-63 [skim 9-32] (reserve 294.3 M681b)
  2. Excerpts from Bhikku Nanamoli and Bhikku Bodhi, trans., The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya (Wisdom Publications, 1995), 269-277, 332-343, 786-790, 800-807 (provided by instructor)
9/21   ESSAYS ON TOPIC #1 ACCEPTED!

Week 5
9/26
READING RESPONSE #4 DUE BY NOON!
Lecture: The Diversification and Expansion of Buddhism (in class)
Required:
  1. Richard H. Robinson and Willard L. Johnson, The Buddhist Religion: A Historical Introduction (Dickenson Publishing Company, 1977), 65-90 (reserve 294.3 R664b)
  2. Excerpts from Prajñāpāramitā texts (IR 167-179)
9/27   Indra Jatra (Festival of Lord Indra) celebrated in Nepal -- see video footage here

Week 6
10/3  
READING RESPONSE #5 DUE BY NOON!
Lecture: Tibet Before Buddhism (in class)
Video: The Saltmen of Tibet (in class; also available as reserve DVD 951.5 S178 2002)
Required:
  1. Françoise Pommaret, Tibet: An Enduring Civilization, 13-30, 51-57
  2. Robin Korman, "Gesar of Ling" (provided by instructor)
  3. Nālandā Translation Committee, "A Smoke Purification Song" (RTP 307-311)
  4. Per Kvaerne, "Bön Rescues Dharma" (RTP 68-72)
Week 7
10/10
READING RESPONSE #6 DUE BY NOON!
Lecture: Tibet After Buddhism (in class)
Handout: The Chenrezig Mandala
Required:
  1. Françoise Pommaret, Tibet: An Enduring Civilization, 30-49, 57-75
  2. David Germano, "Food, Clothes, Dreams, and Karmic Propensities" (RTP 221-240)
  3. Donald S. Lopez, Jr., "Mindfulness of Death" (RTP 315-335)
10/17   NO CLASS SESSION -- MOUNTAIN DAY

10/15-23   Dashain (Festival of Durga) celebrated in Nepal
                 Durgapuja (Festival of Durga) celebrated in Bangladesh -- see video footage here
                 Dussehra (Festival of Rama) celebrated in India -- see video footage here
  
10/23-28   His Holiness XIV Dalai Lama in Bloomington, IN

Week 8
10/24
READING RESPONSE #7 DUE BY NOON!
Guest lecturer: Dr. Ravi M. Gupta (Department of Religion, Centre College)
Video: Loving Krishna (in class)
Required:
  1. Graham M. Schweig, trans., Bhagavad Gita: The Beloved Lord's Secret Love Song (HarperSan Francisco, 2007), 127-136, 151-174, 237-242 (reserve 294.5924 B575 2007)
  2. Eliot Deutsch, trans., The Bhagavad Gita (University Press of America, 1968), 3-25, 159-190 (reserve 294.5924 M214d)
10/26   ESSAYS ON TOPIC #2 ACCEPTED!

Week 9
10/31   CLASS BEGINS AT 7 P.M.
READING RESPONSE #8 DUE BY NOON!
Guest lecturer: Dr. Larry D. Shinn (President, Berea College)
Required:
  1. Diana L. Eck, Darśan: Seeing the Divine Image in India (Anima Books, 1981), 3-22 (reserve 294.5 E19d)
  2. David R. Kinsley, The Sword and the Flute (University of California Press, 1977), 56-78 (reserve 294.52 K56s)
  3. B. N. Goswamy and A. L. Dallapiccola, Krishna the Divine Lover: Myth and Legend through Indian Art (David R. Godine, 1982), 11-24 (reserve 294.513 K92)
  4. Excerpts from bhaktī texts (IR 321-352)
11/1-4   Lha Bab Düchen (Day of Lord Buddha's Descent from Heaven of 33 Precepts) celebrated in Bhutan and Tibet

Week 10
11/7
READING RESPONSE #9 DUE BY NOON!
Guest lecturer: Dr. Eric Rothgery (Department of Religious Studies, Eckerd College)
Dr. Rothgery also will speak on "The Goddess Visits Tampa: Hindu Women’s Divine Possession Experiences" at noon in Phelps-Stokes 205.
Video: Soul of India (in class; also available as reserve Video 322.109 S722)
Required:
  1. Kenneth Cragg and R. Marston Speight, The House of Islam, 3rd ed. (Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1988), 6-18, 54-71 (reserve 297 C883h)
  2. Excerpts from Sufi texts (IR 259-269, 273-274, 397-401)
11/9   ESSAYS ON TOPIC #3 ACCEPTED!

11/12   Diwali (Festival of Lights) celebrated in India -- see video footage here

11/14-16   Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan) celebrated in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka

Week 11
11/14
READING RESPONSE #10 DUE BY NOON!
Lecture: The Sikhs (in class)
Video: The Golden Temple (in class; also available as reserve Video 294.6 S579)
Required:
  1. W. H. McLeod, The Evolution of the Sikh Community (Oxford University Press, 1976), 1-19, 37-58 (reserve 294.609 M165e)
  2. Excerpts from Sikh texts (IR 377-393)
11/21   NO CLASS SESSION -- THANKSGIVING VACATION

11/26  Guru Nanak Jayanti (Birthday of Guru Nanak) celebrated in India

Week 12
11/28
READING RESPONSE #11 DUE BY NOON!
Guest lecturer: Dr. Robert Foster (Director of Asian Studies Program, Berea College)
Video: Satya: A Prayer for the Enemy -- The Resistance of Tibetan Buddhist Nuns (in class; also available as reserve Video 294.308 S254 1993)
Required:
  1. Françoise Pommaret, Tibet: An Enduring Civilization, 101-127
  2. His Holiness XIV Dalai Lama, "Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech" (WWW)
  3. Peter Hessler, "Tibet Through Chinese Eyes: Life in Tibet," Atlantic Monthly 2/283 (February 1999): 56-66 (WWW)
11/30   ESSAYS ON TOPIC #4 ACCEPTED!

12/4    Ngachu Chenmo (Tsongkhapa's Death Anniversary/Butter Lamp Festival) celebrated in Tibet

Week 13
12/5
READING RESPONSE #12 DUE BY NOON!
Required:
  1. Gita Mehta, A River Sutra (entire novel)
12/12   FINAL EXAMINATION