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| Unit name |
The Buddhist Path to Awakening |
| Unit code |
THRS20171 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
I/5
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
|
| Unit director |
Professor. Gethin |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department |
Department of Religion and Theology |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Arts |
Description including Unit Aims
Why would one want to become enlightened? And how would one set about doing so? Focusing on perhaps the most fundamental notion of Buddhism, the path to 'awakening', this unit examines the theory and practices associated with its progressive stages culminating in the attainment of nirvana. Loosely following the framework of one of the classic manuals of Buddhism, Buddhaghosa's The Path of Purification (5th century), the unit begins by looking at the general Buddhist understanding of the world and the problem of suffering, and then moves on to consider the Buddhist conception of ethics and 'moral conduct', Buddhist devotional and ascetic practices, the variety of Buddhist meditation practices, the theory of 'not self' as the basis for directly seeing the world 'as it truly is', before finally turning to the attainment of nirvana and the Buddhist understanding of what it means to be 'enlightened'.
Through considering the theory and practice of the stages of the Buddhist path as outlined in some ancient sources:
- to develop further an understanding of some of the fundamental ideas and practices of Buddhism which can form the basis for the study of particular forms and aspects of Buddhism;
- to develop a sense of how the practice of ancient Buddhism relates to the contemporary practice of Buddhism in South and South East Asia;
- to introduce students to the study of some primary Buddhist textual material in translation.
Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of the unit students should have:
- an overall understanding of the theory and practice of the Buddhist path as outlined in some ancient sources
- a deepened understanding of some of the fundamental ideas and practices of Buddhism;
- a basic familiarity with some of the contemporary practices of Buddhism in South and South East Asia;
- direct experience of some primary Buddhist textual materials in translation.
Teaching Information
1 lecture and 1 seminar per week.
Assessment Information
- Summative: one summative exam (3 hours).
- Formative: one written assignment of 2000 words.
Reading and References
- Buddhaghosa, The Path of Purification : Visuddhimagga, trans. by �namoli Bhikkhu, 5th edn (Onalaska WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions, 1999)
- Collins, S., Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Theravda Buddhism, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982)
- Gethin, R., The Foundations of Buddhism (Oxford: OUP, 1998)
Sayings of the Buddha: New translations by Rupert Gethin from the Pali Nikyas, Oxford World's Classics (Oxford: OUP, 2008)
- Schopen, Gregory, Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks: Collected Papers on the Archaeology, Epigraphy, and Texts of Monastic Buddhism in India (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1997)
- Vajira�na, Paravahera Mahthera, Buddhist Meditation in Theory and Practice: A General Exposition according to the Pli Canon of the Theravda School (Kuala Lumpur: Buddhist
