 2016 - 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 0687-3422-01 | Mind, Meditation & Transformation in Buddhist Thought in South and East Asia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| FACULTY OF HUMANITIES | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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University credit hours: 4.0
Course description
The aim of the seminar is to understand the notion of mind, mental processes and the role of meditation in mental development and the possibility of radical psychological transformation. Through a close reading of various primary sources from the Buddhist canon and a systematic study of the major elements of Buddhist psychology, we will explore the model of mind in Buddhist philosophy and the basic ideas of the theory of meditation in the Buddhist traditions in South and East Asia.
We will read sutras and “meditation manuals” describing practices such as “samadhi”, “mindfulness”, “remembrance”, “visualization” and “contemplation”. We will try to understand why the tradition offers so many different practices: do they have different goals? We will discuss whether the various Buddhist practices share a common denominator. We will explore this question from a critical perspective and by relying on primary sources.
Each class will be based on close reading of primary and secondary texts.