Deepen your understanding of communities influenced by religious belief and consider fundamental questions about the meaning and purpose of human life.
Course
— Academic Direction:
91app
Buddhism
Module information>
This module focuses on the exploration of the ‘Three Jewels’ of Buddhism, i.e. the Buddha (its founder and inspirational icon), the Dharma (his teachings, including doctrinal developments in subsequent centuries, and systems of practice) and the Sangha (the communities of those who identify themselves in different ways as ‘Buddhists’).
The module will look at how Buddhists perceived the world and deities in the pre-modern period, and how they analysed human experience as a background to religious practice. It will examine core religious practices including meditation and look at major historical developments of Buddhism in India and Southeast Asia.
Topics covered
- Dharma, the Buddha’s teaching
- The Buddha and the bodhisattva; polytheism and atheism
- The Sangha: The role of monastics and the rules they follow
- Women in Buddhism
- Buddhist practice: meditation
- Buddhist Ethics: karma, precepts, non-harming. Buddhist approaches to disability, abortion, suicide and euthanasia
- Buddhist Ethics: the environment, attitudes to meat-eating, and social engagement
- Buddhist scripture
- Doctrinal developments in India: the Mahayana
- Ritual and ‘magical’ dimensions from soteriology to protection: Vajrayana; apotropaic practices including amulets.
Assessment
Forum participation (5%); a two thousand-word essay (45%) and a 1.5-hour unseen written examination (50%).
