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for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.
| Unit name |
Death and Afterlife in Buddhism |
| Unit code |
THRS20087 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
I/5
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
|
| Unit director |
Dr. Langer |
| Open unit status |
Open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None
|
| School/department |
Department of Religion and Theology |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Arts |
Description including Unit Aims
This unit will examine the issues relating to death in Buddhist theory and practice. Students will get acquainted with perspectives on death as formulated in the Buddhist textual tradition, but also with ritual practises dealing with such an event. Themes covered will include 'deathlessness' (nirvana); various kinds of death and the associated rites, renunciation and ordination as a form of 'symbolic death'; relic cults; death and the regeneration of life and post-mortem rituals.
Aims:
- to develop an overall sense of the importance of death in Buddhism;
- to gain an in-depth knowledge of certain significant topics specific to a Buddhist tradition or practice;
- to encourage reflection on the nature of rituals related to death in a religious context;
- to develop skills in the researching, reading and presentation of complex material;
Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of the unit students will be expected to have:
- an overall sense of the importance of death in Buddhism;
- an in-depth knowledge of certain significant topics specific to a Buddhist tradition or practice;
- developed reflection on the nature of rituals related to death in a religious context;
- skills in the researching, reading and presentation of complex material.
Teaching Information
A one-hour lecture given by the unit tutor followed by an hour seminar discussion of primary sources in smaller seminar groups with individual seminar presentation by students.
Assessment Information
Summative:
The unit will be assessed by one summative essay (2500 words).
Formative:
Students will complete two tasks of 500-1000 words each, for which they will receive feedback regarding the content and their presentation skills.
Reading and References
- Bryan J. Cuevas and Jacqueline I. Stone (eds). The Buddhist Dead: Practices, Discourses, Representations, Honolulu: University of Hawai'I Press 2007.
- Doniger O'Flaherty, W. (ed.) 1980. Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions, Berkeley, University of California Press
- Allen Klima, A. 2002. The Funeral Casino: Meditation, Massacre, and Exchange with the Dead in Thailand, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2002.
- Langer, R. 2007. Buddhist Rituals of Death and Rebirth: A study of contemporary Sri Lankan practice and its origins, Abingdon: RoutledgeCurzon.
- Donald S. Lopez, Jr., Buddhism in Practice, Princeton U.P., 1995.
