EACS 21/RG ST 21:
Zen Buddhism
Syllabus Website: http://www.religion.ucsb.edu/syllabuses.html
PowerPoint Presentations: (TBA)
Logistical Details:
Class
Time: MW, 12:30-1:45
Classroom: Webb 1100
Instructor: Gregory
Hillis ghillis@religion.ucsb.edu.
Office: HSSB 3060 Ph: 893-5505
Office
Hours: TR, 10:00-12:00, or by appointment
Teaching
Assistant: Nathaniel Rich nathanielrich@hotmail.com; Alex Catanese alexcatanese@yahoo.com.
Course Description:
This course will cover the history, doctrines, and practices
of Zen Buddhism in China,
where it originated and is called Ch'an, Japan,
where it has influenced many aspects of Japanese culture and from where it was
exported to the West, and the United
States. The class format will be a
combination of lecture and discussion. Students are required to attend all discussion
sections and are expected to come prepared to discuss the readings assigned for
the week. Readings
will be in both primary texts and secondary studies, and will be supplemented
by slides and several films.
Required Texts:
- ZTT:
Kenneth Kraft, ed., Zen: Tradition and Transition (Grove Press;
ISBN: 080213162X).
- RS:
Nelson Foster, ed., Roaring Stream (Ecco Companions) (Ecco; ISBN:
088001511X).
- MD:
Dogen, Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen (North Point
Press; ISBN: 086547186X).
- NR:
Basho Matsuo, Narrow Road
to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches (Penguin Books;
0140441859)
- ZM: Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
(Shambala: ISBN 1590302672)
Recommended Texts:
1.
KOAN: Steven
Heine and Dale S. Wright (eds), The Koan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism
(Oxford UP,
2000, ISBN: 0195117492).
Requirements:
- Attendance
and participation: 20%. Regular attendance is required for lectures and sections.
Absence from lectures will result in poor performance on examinations,
since many points will be treated only there, and not in the readings.
Furthermore, each unexcused absence beyond one in section will cause your overall
grade to be lowered by four points. Students are expected to participate
in lectures through questions and responses, and must complete the
readings ahead of time to be adequately prepared. This is especially true
for Discussion Sections. Mere presence in the classroom does not constitute
full attendance. DISCUSSION
SECTIONS WILL COMMENCE DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF INSTRUCTION.
- Short
Writings on Assigned Readings:
20%. To help you prepare for
discussion, you will be required to complete some writing prior to each
Discussion Section based on the readings, lectures, or other thematic issues
derived from the course materials, as determined by the course Instructor
and your TA. These writings should be approximately 1 (typed) page in
length and should be brought to section to serve as the basis for
discussion, after which time they will be collected and marked by your TA.
The short writing assignments will not receive formal "letter
grades" but will be marked, rather, with a "check,"
"check +," or a "check –". These writings could
possibly include poems, drawings, calligraphy, etc., at the discretion of
your TA. In any event, they are required
every week, regardless of holidays or other interruptions. Your TA may
distribute short assignments or require students to give short class
presentations as well.
- Two
Short (5-7 pages) Papers: 40%
(20% each). There will be two required 5 page essays. The first will be an
extended analysis and comparison of various themes, practices, doctrines
or persons treated in the first part of the course. Topics for the first
essay will be distributed one week before the assignment is due. The
second essay will an independent research paper that may address a variety
of ideas such as Zen and Japanese militarism, Feminism and Zen, Zen and
Engaged Buddhism, nature and ecology, Zen and the Beats (Kerouac,
Ginsburg, Snyder), or Zen and interfaith dialogue. Papers will be graded
on both the basis of: (1) the quality of the points you make as well as (2)
how clearly you argue for those points. It is thus very important that you
pay attention to the way you organize and develop your thoughts. The way
in which you express yourself is the only basis the reader has to judge
the quality of your thought. If you can't say something clearly, it means
that you haven't thought it through.
- Final
Examination: 20%. There
will be a comprehensive final examination consisting of (1) Short
identifications, (2) an essay question comparing selected passages from
Dogen and Hakuin, and (3) an essay on either Basho's Narrow Road
or Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's
Mind.
Schedule and Assignments:
Week One
|
Monday 1/08/07
|
Lecture: Introduction
to Class
Readings: No Reading
|
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Wednesday
1/10/07
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Lecture: Buddhism
and China
Readings: No Reading
|
Week Two
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Monday
1/15/07
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NO CLASS: MARTIN
LUTHER KING JR. DAY
|
|
Wednesday
1/17/07
|
Lecture: Buddhism from India to China: Bodhidharma and Seng-Ts'an; 10
Ox-Herding Pictures
Readings: RS, pages 3-15.
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Week Three
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Monday 1/22/07
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Lecture: Hui-neng and Early Ch'an
Readings: RS 16-21 and ZTT Ch. 7 (McRae) pages 125-139.
|
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Wednesday
1/24/07
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Lecture: Shih-t'ou, Ma-tsu, and Pai-chang; P'ang family and
Nan-ch'uan
Readings: RS, pages 38-56, 57-76.
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Week Four
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Monday
1/29/07
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Lecture: The origins of Lin-chi (Rinzai) Ch'an: Huang-po,
Chao-chou, and Lin-chi
Readings: RS 90-102, 107-114
|
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Wednesday
1/31/07
|
Lecture: The origins of Ts'ao-tung
(Sôtô) Ch'an: Tung-shan and Ts'ao-shan
Readings: RS 115-124, 132-137.
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Week Five
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Monday 2/05/07
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Lecture: Hung-chih on "silent
illumination" (mo-chao) and Zen Meditation
Readings: RS 176-183 and ZTT Ch. 2 (Sheng-yen) pages 30-43
|
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Wednesday
2/07/07
|
Lecture: Ta-hui on the
"public case" (kung-an) and Zen Koans
Readings: RS 184-194 and ZTT Ch. 4 (Shimano) pages 70-87.
FIRST PAPERS DUE
|
Week Six
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Monday 2/12/07
|
Lecture: Introduction to Japanese
Zen
Readings: ZTT Ch. 8 (Yampolsky) pages 140-156, ZM pages 21-49.
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Wednesday
2/14/07
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Lecture: Dogen, Practical
Instruction
Readings: MD 29-48, ZM pages 53-95.
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Week Seven
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Monday 2/19/07
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NO CLASS TODAY:
PRESIDENT'S DAY
|
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Wednesday
2/21/07
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Lecture: Dogen, Philosophical
Works
Readings: MD 69-86, ZM pages 99-138.
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Week Eight
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Monday 2/26/07
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Lecture: Dogen, Transmission of
the Teaching
Readings: MD 97-133
|
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Wednesday
2/28/07
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Lecture: Hakuin
Readings: RS 321-335 and ZTT Ch. 5 (Low) pages 88-104.
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Week Nine
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Monday 3/05/07
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Lecture: Zen Poetry
Readings: ZTT, Ch. 6 (Watson) pages 105-124.
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Wednesday
3/07/07
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Lecture: Matsuo Bashō
Readings: NR 51-96.
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Week Ten
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Monday 3/12/07
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Lecture: Matsuo Bashō
Readings: NR 97-144.
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Wednesday
3/14/07
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Lecture: American Zen?
Readings: ZTT Ch. 10 (Kraft) and Epilogue (Collcutt), pages 178-208.
FINAL PAPERS DUE
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