RELS 2013

Is Buddhism one thing? This course corrects the popular misconception that Buddhism is a monolithic, universalist philosophy that can be reduced to the doctrine of its early texts. While we do seek to understand early Indian ideas about suffering, rebirth, and enlightenment, the larger purpose of this class is to demonstrate the diversity and variability of Buddhist religious expression across the Asian landscape, stressing popular devotional and ritual practices, as well as the religion’s social and political roles in historic and contemporary South Asia, Tibet, China, and Japan.