Schedule of Readings and Lectures

 
Setting the Scene: Locating the Buddha in Story and Space
Thursday, Sept. 27

 

The Karmic Cosmos
Tuesday, Oct. 2
  1. A map of Buddhist India [click here for the online readings page]
  2. A map of the Buddhist heartland [click here for the online readings page]
  3. The Buddha, pp. 1-18.
  4. “The Story of a Wretched Pig,” Divine Stories: Divyāvadāna Trans. Andy Rotman (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2008), pp. 325-328. [click here for the online readings page]
  5. “Agañña Sutta: On Knowledge of Beginnings,” The Long Discourses of the Buddha Trans. Maurice Walshe (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1995), pp. 407-415. [click here for the online readings page]

 

A Buddha in the Making: Lifetimes of Wisdom and Compassion
Thursday, Oct. 4
  1. “The Elephant,” Once the Buddha Was a Monkey: Årya Śūra’s Jātakamālā Trans. Peter Khoroche (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989), pp. 213-220. [click here for the online readings page]
  2. “Kṣāntivādin,” Once the Buddha Was a Monkey, pp. 193-204. [click here for the online readings page]
  3. “Viśvantara,” Once the Buddha Was a Monkey, pp. 58-73. [click here for the online readings page]
  4. The Buddha, pp. 19-46.

 

From Birth, Through Renunciation, To Enlightenment
Tuesday, Oct. 9
  1. A Life of the Buddha, pp. 1-34.
  2. The Buddha, pp. 47-100.

 

What Siddhārtha Discovered in the Forest
Thursday, Oct. 11
  1. Basic Teachings of the Buddha, pp. 27, 97-99.
  2. Basic Teachings of the Buddha, pp. 3-4, 71-73.
  3. Basic Teachings of the Buddha, pp. 49-56, 150-162.
  4. “Sāmaññaphala Sutta: The Fruits of the Homeless Life,” The Long Discourses of the Buddha, pp. 91-109. [click here for the online readings page]

 

What Siddhārtha Discovered Under the Bodhi Tree
Tuesday, Oct. 16
  1. A Life of the Buddha, pp. 35-52.
  2. “Attaining Perfect and Complete Enlightenment,” The Voice of the Buddha: The Beauty of Compassion Trans. Gwendolyn Bays (Berkeley: Dharma Publishing, 1983), pp. 515-533. [click here for the online readings page]
  3. The Buddha, 101-130

 

The First Noble Truth
Thursday, Oct. 18
  1. Basic Teachings of the Buddha, pp. 36-39, 111-127.
  2. Basic Teachings of the Buddha, pp. 28-30, 100-103.
  3. Basic Teachings of the Buddha, pp. 31-33, 104-107.
  4. Basic Teachings of the Buddha, pp. 34-35, 108-110.

 

The Second Noble Truth
Tuesday, Oct. 23
  1. Basic Teachings of the Buddha, pp. 40-44, 128-135.
  2. Basic Teachings of the Buddha, pp. 45, 136-138.
  3. Basic Teachings of the Buddha, pp. 46, 139-144.
  4. Basic Teachings of the Buddha, pp. 47, 145-146.
  5. Basic Teachings of the Buddha, pp. 48, 147-149.

 

The Spiritual Path and Its Attainments
Thursday, Oct. 25
  1. Basic Teachings of the Buddha, pp. 5-8, 74-78.
  2. A Life of the Buddha, pp. 53-120.
  3. The Buddha, pp. 131-162.

 

Exchange and Power
Tuesday, Oct. 30
  1. “The Story of a Woman Dependent on a City for Alms,” Divine Stories, pp. 161-175 [click here for the online readings page]
  2. “The Miracle Sūtra,” Divine Stories, pp. 253-287. [click here for the online readings page]

 

Nirvana and its Aftermath
Thursday, Nov. 1
  1. A Life of the Buddha, pp. 121-140.
  2. The Buddha, pp. 163-193.

 

Disputes, Councils, Schisms, and Nastiness of All Sorts
Tuesday, Nov. 6
  1. Paul Williams, “Introduction,” Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1989), pp. 1-33. [click here for the online readings page]

PAPER #1 IS DUE

 

Origins of the Mahāyāna
Thursday, Nov. 8
  1. Paul Williams, “Introduction,” Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1989), pp. 1-33. [click here for the online readings page]
  2. “Kamalaśīla on the Necessity of Compassion.” In The Experience of Buddhism: Sources and Interpretations. 3rd Edition Ed. John S. Strong (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2008), pp. 173-175. [click here for the online readings page]
  3. “The Vows of Compassion.” In The Buddhist Experience: Sources and Interpretation Ed. Stephen Beyer (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1974), pp. 38-45. [click here for the online readings page]

 

The Cosmos Revised + Upāya Revised
Tuesday, Nov. 13
  1. The Holy Teaching of Vimalakīrti, pp. 10-49.

 

Wisdom Revised
Thursday, Nov. 15
  1. The Holy Teaching of Vimalakīrti, pp. 50-77.

 

Buddhahood Revised
Tuesday, Nov. 20
  1. The Holy Teaching of Vimalakīrti, pp. 78-102.

 

Thanskgiving
Thursday, Nov. 22

 

The Splendid Vision: Sūtra as Scripture
Tuesday, Nov. 27
  1. The Splendid Vision, pp. 1-??.

 

Thinking With Buddhism, Thinking Through Buddhism
Thursday, Nov. 29
  1. Cohen, The Splendid Vision, pp. ??-124.

 

Vajrayāna: Doctrinal Formulae
Tuesday, Dec. 4
  1. David Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists & Their Tibetan Successors, volume 1 (Boston: Shambhala, 1987), pp. 117-147. [click here for the online readings page]
  2. Tsong ka pa, “Deity Yoga,” Tantra in Tibet: The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra trans. by J. Hopkins (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1977), pp. 117-128. [click here for the online readings page]

 

Tantric Power and Practice
Thursday, Dec. 64
  1. “The Story of Tanti,” Buddhist Texts Through the Ages ed. by E. Conze et. al. (New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1964), pp. 255-257. [click here for the online readings page]
  2. “The Meditator Becomes the God,” The Buddhist Experience: Sources and Interpretations ed. by Stephan Beyer (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1974), pp. 140-153. [click here for the online readings page]

PAPER #2 IS DUE