University of Georgia
Spring 2008
Religion 4405 T/Th12:30-1:45
Instructor: Kai Riedl
Office: 22 Peabody Hall
Telephone: 706-583-8029
e-mail: kriedl@uga.edu
Office Hrs: T 3:30-4:30 & by appt
SCOPE AND PURPOSE
Scholars of Buddhism have historically
chosen to concentrate on the word (vacana); -- philosophy, concept, and doctrine -- as the primary means
of explicating Buddhism. There is ample evidence, however, that Buddhists more
often view their religion as a kind of performing art. In this view, Buddhists are those who do particular practices as a means of fulfilling the promise of the
BuddhaÕs word (buddhavacana);
the validity of the word is
generally seen as axiomatic. As a means of gaining some insight into this view
of Buddhism, this course explores some of the ritualized techniques that
Buddhists have developed in order to negotiate the complexities and limitations
of life. A variety of practices from several traditions is examined:
meditation, visualization, liturgy, mantra and text recitation, image veneration, and initiation. In
order to acquire a theoretical framework for exploring these practices, we will
first engage in a sustained inquiry into the study of ritual per se. That is, we will examine critical
strategies for understanding the structure, elements, modes, etc., of Buddhist
practice by considering the insights of ritual theorists, such as Talal Asad,
Ronald Grimes, and Catherine Bell.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Basic Teachings of the Buddha by Glenn Wallis (Random House 07)
*Course packet 1 and 2, available at Bel-Jean Copy/Print Center,
163 E. Broad Street, 548-
3648.
*There will be multiple assignments requiring access to and
printing capabilities of articles
found in the GIL Course Reserves.
REQUIREMENTS
1. Attendance and
participation. Obviously your participation grade requires at least one
thing: that you are here. But
participation does not simply equal being present; real participation means:
A: Preparation: you must read, study, and think
about the contents of the readings. Although this may seem obvious to you, from
an instructorÕs perspective, it is not to be taken for granted. Too many dull classes can be attributed
to students who have not read, studied, and thought about the material. So, while preparing independently, you
must work the reading contents. This includes:
1. making a list
of the major concepts, principles, ideas , terms, etc.
2.
preparing at least three specific questions on the reading
3.
keeping a
record of your reading responses or reactions. These may take any form, such as
disagreement, bewilderment, surprise, shock, embarrassment, criticism, anger,
insight.
Preparing
in this manner will enable us to course on a lively, interesting, thought-provoking
way.
B: Listening
and responding to your fellow students. Consistent participation in the form of
verbalized questions,
comments, and responses to me, and more importantly, to your classmates, is
expected. (Since our main approach will be through primary texts and secondary
articles, you must always bring the assigned readings to class.)
2. Evaluation:
A: Attendance and Participation. Attendance is mandatory. 25%
B: Echolots. Try to think of a ÒtestÓ neither as a test
(you test the gadget to see if itÕs working or to determine what is wrong with
it) nor as an ÒexamÓ (you go to the doctor for an exam). Rather, think of it as
an echolot. An echolot is a device used to gauge the depths of the ocean
waters. I will give you countless opportunities to check the depths of your
knowledge. We will have echolots frequently; these will
contribute significantly to your grade. 20%
C: Midterm.
20%
D: Paper. A ten-page paper will be due the last week
of class. The guidelines for the paper will be given in early September. 15%
E: Final Exam.
20%
3. Grading: Below are some general guidelines that
we will use for determining your final grade.
A: 1. Be at virtually every class
session (no more than two absences)
2. Participate
through questions, comments, and discussion in virtually every section. If you
are hesitant to speak up – for whatever reason – this class is an
opportunity to challenge yourself in this regard by developing the important
intellectual skill of dialogue. Conversely, if you excel at speaking up, your
challenge will be to do so in terms of companionable reflection.
3. Demonstrate a
flawless grasp of the course material in tests and the exam. You must also be
able to go considerably beyond basic information (first order learning) to
informed analysis (second order) and original thinking (third order).
B: 1. Have no more than four absences.
2. Participate through questions, comments,
and discussion on a consistent basis (at least three times a week).
3. Demonstrate a firm grasp of the course
material in tests and the exam. You must also be able to demonstrate clearly an
ability to do something with — analyze, evaluate, debate, etc. —
the basic information, etc.
C: 1. Unsteady attendance; more than
five absences.
2. Participate through questions, comments,
and discussion on an occasional basis (once a week).
3. Demonstrate more
than a superficial grasp of the course material in tests and the exam. You must
demonstrate some ability to do something with — analyze, evaluate, debate, etc. — the
basic information, etc.
D: 1. Regular absences (for example, at
least once a week).
2. Participate
through questions, comments, and discussion on a rare basis (once every few
weeks).
3. Demonstrate at least a superficial grasp
of the course material in tests and the exam, but demonstrate virtually no
ability to go beyond basic information, etc.
F: 1. Regular and numerous absences.
2. Virtually no
participation (perhaps a couple of times throughout the semester).
3. Demonstrate little grasp of the course
material in tests and the exam, and demonstrate no ability to go beyond basic
information, etc.
* NOTE WELL! Honor Code. If you are not familiar with the
University of GeorgiaÕs honor code, please go to:
http://www.uga.edu/ovpi/honesty/acadhon.htm. All academic work
must meet the standards contained in ÒA Culture of Honesty.Ó Students are
responsible for informing themselves about those standards before performing
any academic work.
* Access. If you require special accommodations for any reason or
have emergency medical information to give me, please make an appointment to
see me as soon as possible.
bbbbbbbbbbb
The meaning of ritual is deep indeed. The person who
tries to enter it with the kind of perception that distinguishes hard and soft,
same and different, will drown there.
(Xun
Zi)
In our present age of degeneration, it is through the
skin that metaphysics must be made to reenter the mind.
(Antonin
Artaud)
If I could explain it, I wouldnÕt have to dance it.
(Isadora
Duncan)
I
read somewhere of a shepherd who, when asked why he made, from within fairy
rings, ritual observances to the moon in order to protect his flock, replied:
ÔIÕd be a damn fool if I didnÕt!Õ
(Dylan
Thomas)
The inability to enter into communion with God is a
function of untaught bodies.
(Talal
Asad, Geneologies of Religion)
The world is my hallucination.
(Alfred
Jarry)
The practitioner is at bottom, and always, an
inveterate believer in transubstantiations of some sort. The sign must be the signified under forms of
her particular practice.
(David
Jones)
Ritual is work.
(J.Z.
Smith)
OUR MOTTO
Discourse
cheers us to companionable reflection.
Such
reflection neither parades polemical opinions
nor
tolerates complacent agreement.
The
sail of thinking keeps trimmed hard
to the wind of the matter.
(Martin
Heidegger, Poetry, Language, Thought, 6)
° CLASS SCHEDULE AND READING
ASSIGNMENTS °
On
Ritual
[Wittgenstein
has said that Òthere is no seeing; only seeing as.Ó For our purposes, this can be understood
to mean that what we see is always framed within a quite particular, culturally
determined grid, like this. So, in this section, we will be collecting
conceptual resources for analyzing and understanding the kinds of human actions
referred to, since only quite recently, as Òrituals.Ó We will be creating a
framework for seeing
these actions in a very particular manner, namely as ritual.]
Jan
8-Feb 7
Ritual
– M. Eliade (1)
Toward
a genealogy of the concept of ritual – AsadI (23)
Exploring
the natural foundations of religion – barrett (37)
Religious thought and behavior as byproducts of
brain function – boyer (43)
Ritual
reification – bell (49)
On
ritual knowledge – Jennings
(59)
Performance
– bell (71)
Ritual
symbols, syntax, and praxis – bell (83)
Modes
of ritual sensibility – grimes (87)
Mapping
the field of ritual – grimes
(97)
Defining
nascent ritual – grimes
(105)
Ritual
metaphysics – schilbrack
(127)
Anapanasati
sutta (157)
Out
of Africa – boyer
(179)
Memory
Studies
[Gaining
perspective on memoryÕs influence and role will aid us in understanding ritual
practices.]
Feb
12-Feb 26
Ritual
and memory – mckauley and Lawson (115)
Memory
– ratey (137)
Remembering
resumed – casey (gil
course reserves)
Crash
Course in Buddhism
[Our
goals in this section are: (1) to refresh our knowledge of central Buddhist
doctrines; (2) to revisit these in light of our new theoretical knowledge of
ritual practice; and (3) to prepare for the dialogue between the two in the
next section – i.e., for the application of these theories to actual
Buddhist ritual practices.]
Feb
26-Mar 20
Legend
of the buddha shakyamuni (1)
Setting
in motion the wheel of truth (19)
In
search of a post-modern middle – Jackson (25)
The
buddha counsels a theist – wallis (43)
Burning
(71)
Religious
reading – Griffiths
(73)
The
buddha and the book (91)
Buddhist
Ritual Practices
[General goal:
to apply the various theoretical strategies, conceptual tools, and analytical
categories acquired in the previous sections as a means of examining selected
Buddhist practices. Questions: what are these rituals about – what do
they do, what do they accomplish? do they construct life-worlds? what are they
a means to? what is their internal logic? are they primarily instrumental,
magical, causal, constructive, etc., in nature? how are they structured? what
are their basic gestural components? what do they yield when interpreted
phenomenologically? structurally? socially? politically? psychologically?]
Mar
25-Apr 24
Initiation
(115)
The
five precepts (132)
The
still point: zazen – loorie
(133)
Meditation
(139)
Wisdom
(149)
Sitting
and eating – grimes
(151)
Modes
of zen ritual – grimes
(158)
The
magic of words and the power of speech – govinda (175)
Mantras
– wallis (188)
Liturgy
(189)
Worship
– beyer (199)
Making
visible the invisible: liturgy – loorie (213)
Bodhicaryavatara
(223)
How
do I know thee? Let me count the ways – rosch (225)
Body
and ritual in Buddhist musical cultures (247)
Buddhist
visuality in history and metaphor – mcmahan (255)
Table
to the wings to awakening (271)
DonÕt
read books! (272)
The sacred art of dying – Kramer (273)