Buddhist Studies

This seminar is an intensive introduction to various genres of Buddhist literature in Classical Chinese, including translations of Sanskrit and Central Asian scriptures. Chinese commentaries, philosophical treatises, hagiographies, and sectarian works. It is intended for graduate students who already have some facility in Classical Chinese. It will also serve as a tools and methods course, covering the basic reference works and secondary scholarship in the field of East Asian Buddhism. This seminar is an intensive introduction to various genres of Buddhist literature in classical Chinese, including translations of Sanskrit and Central Asian scriptures. Chinese commentaries, philosophical treatises, hagiographies, and sectarian works. It is intended for graduate students who already have some facility in classical Chinese. It will also serve as a tools and methods course, covering the basic reference works and secondary scholarship in the field of East Asian Buddhism. This semester we will focus on medieval Chinese Buddhist practices that go under the rubric of chan ? (meditation), nian ? (mindfulness, contemplation), guan ? (discernment, visualization), and so on. We will be reading early meditation manuals dating from the sixth through the eighth centuries, beginning with the Xiao zhiguan ??? (T.1915) by Zhiyi ?? (538�597). Among other issues, we will consider the epistemological import of these practices, and what they tell us about the nature of medieval Chinese Buddhist philosophy in general and Chan in particular. The seminar will incorporate a week-long workshop by Eric Greene (Yale University), who will be looking at the transition from "small-c chan" to "capital-C Chan," and a two-week visit by Evan Thompson (University of British Columbia), who will focus on contemporary readings of Madhyamaka.