Topics in Zen Buddhist Thght

Catalog description

Taught by GTU. DONGSHAN AND THE PRACTICE OF SUCHNESS We will explore teachings about Suchness from the Tang dynasty master Dongshan Liangjie (807 - 869), the legendary founder of the Caodong lineage of Chan Buddhism, transmitted to Japan as Soto Zen. The koans featuring Dongshan reveal the subtlety and depth of the nature of reality, the inner dynamics of non-self, and the immediacy of the path beyond stages. These colorful teaching stories and commentaries on them demonstrate the lively Zen expression of classic Buddhist doctrines. We will analyze Dongshan's evocative long teaching poem, "The Jewel Mirror Samadhi," and the dialectical understanding of the particular and universal expressed in the teaching of the Five Degrees or Ranks initiated by Dongshan. [Introductory course in Buddhism, including the Mahayana; Faculty Consent required; 15 max enrollment; Auditors with faculty permission]