Perspectives on Buddhism

WR161: Perspectives on Buddhism, Methodist Theological School in Ohio, Spring 2006
Dr. Paul D. Numrich

COURSE DESCRIPTION: An overview of Buddhist history, traditions, rituals, experiences, narratives, doctrines, ethics, institutions, and material expressions from a variety of academic, Buddhist, and Christian perspectives.

OBJECTIVES:

  1. To introduce the complexity of Buddhism as a major world religion by employing insights from various academic disciplines.
  2. To read selected materials by Buddhist authors and groups.
  3. To consider diverse Christian perspectives on Buddhism.
  4. To develop one’s own perspective on Buddhism.
  5. To understand “religion” in comparative perspective.
  6. To explore the experience of Buddhists and the practice of Buddhism in the U.S. cultural context.
  7. To enhance the scholarly enterprise of the seminary consortium.

 

READINGS:

Ajahn Chah, “A Taste of Freedom,”

Charles J. Dawes, C. Robert Pryor, and Winifred C. Wirth, “Buddhism,” in Religion in Ohio: Profiles of Faith Communities, ed. Tarunjit Singh Butalia and Dianne P. Small (Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2004) 319-336

Damien Keown, Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996)

  1. “Mindful Medicine: An Interview with Jon Kabat-Zinn,”

 

Paul David Numrich, “How the Swans Came to Lake Michigan: The Social Organization of Buddhist Chicago,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 39,2 (June 2000): 189-203

Paul David Numrich, Old Wisdom in the New World: Americanization in Two Immigrant Theravada Buddhist Temples (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1996)

Paul David Numrich, “Two Buddhisms Further Considered,” Contemporary Buddhism 4,1 (2003): 55-78

Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught, rev. ed. (New York: Grove Press, 1974)

Ninian Smart, Introduction, The World’s Religions, 2nd ed. (Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998) 10-28

Kenneth K. Tanaka, “Christian Prayer from the Eye of a Buddhist,” Buddhist-Christian Studies 22 (2002): 87-92

“To the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions,” August 31, 1993 (handout)

  1. http://www.librarything.com/work/119925 (Narada Thera, The Dhammapada: Pali Text and Translation with Stories in Brief and Notes)

 

Wat Dhammaram, Chicago

Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara, Los Angeles

  1. Nichiren Shoshu Seiganzan Myoshinji Temple, San Francisco area

 

Christian perspectives on Buddhism:

Creating Interfaith Community, United Methodist Church

Terry C. Muck, “The Buddha,” Buddhist-Christian Studies 19 (1999): 105-113

  1. Tissa Weerasingha, “Karma and Christ: Opening Our Eyes to the Buddhist World,” International Journal of Frontier Missions

 

North American Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention

“Buddhism,” OMF International, formerly China Inland Mission

Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, Vatican

 

 

“Few people cross to the further shore; the others simply run around the bank on this side.”  (Gautama Buddha, Dhammapada 85)

“For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  (Jesus Christ, Matthew 7:14)