Buddhism

Catalog description

While many Buddhists deny any kind of a transcendent reality, including that of a Supreme Being or God, many of the things we associate with religions are very much present in the Buddhist traditions, including gods, demons, rituals, priests, monks, nuns, festivals, prayers, shrines and sacred relics. This course examines Buddhism as a religion, paying close attention to the teachings of its founder, the historical Buddha, and its development as a religious tradition throughout Asia and around the world. It begins with the “three jewels” of Buddhism (the historical Buddha, his teachings, and the monastic community he founded), then moves on to the forms of Buddhism that developed in India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, and the United States.