Buddhism

Catalog description

Buddhism, the fourth largest religion in the world in terms of believers, was founded by Siddhartha Gautama Shakyamuni, the Buddha, in the 6th century BCE. This course will examine the Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana schools, each within the context of its historical, ethical, linguistics, and theological roots, within India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Tibet, Mongolia, Japan, China and Korea, as well as within the Western world, where Buddhist schools have made major inroads and continue to exert large-scale influence in popular culture, religious developments, art and literature. We will draw attention to the extraordinary religious and cultural innovations that Buddhism has made to world culture, including yoga and techniques of meditation, and major aspects of Tibetan Buddhism