BUDDSTD C223 Readings in Chinese Buddhist Texts 2 or 4 Units

Description

In this seminar (technically a classroom-meet of C 215 and C 223), we will explore different formulations and theorizations of the process of rebirth across Buddhist traditions, drawing on early Mahāyāna sūtras, Sarvāstivāda and Theravāda Abhidharma compendia, and other materials. How is the moment of death imagined, and how is it connected to the first moment of consciousness in the subsequent existence? We will start with the Bhavasaṅkrānti, an early Mahāyāna sūtra, and its different iterations. The sutra’s first section, a prose passage followed by verses with a Madhyamaka inflection, examines the process by which consciousness at the moment of death connects to the first moment of consciousness in the subsequent existence. From there, we will turn to other texts, including the Garbhāvakrāntisūtra (and possibly Kṣemendra’s Garbhāvakrānti‑nirdeśa, the 10th pallava of his Bodhisattvāvadānakalpalatā), the Abhidharmakośa’s treatment of the intermediate existence (antarabhāva), and Saṅghabhadra’s sustained argument in support of an intermediate state between death and rebirth. We may extend the discussion to different conceptualizations of the interval between the passing of an anāgāmin and the attainment of arhatship.

While we will foreground the reading of primary sources, as preserved in Sanskrit/Pali or in Chinese or Tibetan translations, we would also like to consider anthropological materials. For this, we may examine deathbed practices as attested in the Japanese tradition, drawing on the work of Jackie Stone, and in the Southeast Asian Theravāda tradition, drawing on the work of Trent Walker.

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor

Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Also listed as: CHINESE C223