Unit 3 intro: objectives, discussion, videos & demonstrations

BRING PRINTED COPY of WORKSHEET FOR
Unit 2 **Source Analysis**
(PDF | MS Word)
OR **Observation Report**
(PDF/MS Word)
@ beginning of class

FIND TERMS & EXCERPTS from reading guide in primary sources:

• "Tales of the Lotus Sutra" (RDR, 84-96)
• "Pure Land Worship and Meditation in China" (RDR, 97-107)
• The Zen Master Hakuin: Selected Writings" (RDR, 108-122)
  

FIND * TERMS from reading guide in these overviews:

• "Belief & Reflection" & "Dimensions & Layers"
  (on the "Essential Elements of Religious Life" page of this syllabus)
• EGBT, 8-9, 60; 19-21, 25-26; 37, 39-44, 47-48, 51, 67-68

VIEW/BROWSE images related to terms & sources:

"Medieval Chinese Buddhist Art" (on-line PPT)
"Temples & Icons of Japan" (on-line PPT)

orientation to readings & unit 3 reading guide (print & annotate for extra credit)

**TRA #3 MOVED TO THU, 4/18**

Application Exercise #3a

(*PREPARATION PAGE REQUIRED* - optional worksheet: PDF | MS Word)

BRING PRINTED COPY of
Unit 2 *Source Analysis* OR
*Observation Report*
@ beginning of class
& POST in Assignments tab of SacCT by midnight

REVIEW IN DEPTH:

• "Tales of the Lotus Sutra" (RDR, 84-96)
• EGBT, 37, 39-44, 47-48

PREPARE by addressing the following focus:

THE SCENARIO: In light of previous conversations with your neighbor Juan, you are not surprised to see him approaching you again with a new question about Buddhists.  He says:

"OK, I get the point about how monks and nuns still have to manage property, face all sorts of social pressures, and still deal with the same everyday desires that we do.  But one thing it’s hard for me to wrap my mind around is all that chanting.  The other day I was watching a documentary about China, and all these nuns spend hours everyday chanting—what are they called?—surtas? Oh yeah, sūtras.  How can they stand the monotony?  It seems almost like some kind of brainwashing.”

You think that the stories you have been reading from the Hongzan Fahua Zhaun might help Juan think about devotional chanting in a different light.  Specifically, you think you can get him to understand that at least some East Asian Buddhists engage in reciting texts like the Lotus Sūtra, as well as ritually honoring & copying them, in order to gain some kind of spiritual response from invisible powers.

PREPARATION PAGE: Gather examples from the reading to plan for what you might tell Juan, given that your GOAL in this conversation is to show him that some East Asian Buddhists heighten their engagement in reciting texts like the Lotus Sūtra, as well as ritually honoring & copying those sutras, by hoping for some kind of spiritual response from invisible powers. Draw ONE example from EACH of the FOUR SECTIONS of the reading listed in the reading guide, PLUS one example from EGBT (FIVE examples TOTAL). For each example, be sure to identify

• objects, actions, words and locales involved in practices of devotion to the Lotus Sutra;
• types of monks and laypeople involved in them; and
• those peoples' thoughts & feelings about divine beings & supernatural forces, especially those which seem to be heightening their practices.

*MAKE SURE TO CITE PAGE NUMBER(S) FROM EACH SECTION OF YOUR SOURCES*

Application Exercise #3b

(*PREPARATION PAGE REQUIRED* - optional worksheet: PDF | MS Word)

REVIEW IN DEPTH:

• "Pure Land Worship and Meditation in China" (RDR, 97-107)
• selected students' Observation Reports
  (download from SacCT & print)

PREPARE by addressing the following focus:

THE SCENARIO: You told your roommate Lia about the City of the Dharma Realm in West Sacramento, and a week later she tells you:

"I went to the City of the Dharma Realm! It was very powerful, but I am still not sure what to do with my mind to meditate. The nuns there are very nice and very willing to teach about meditation, but their devotion is very intense and I'm not sure I am ready for that. I just want to know what to do to concentrate my mind when I'm reciting the different Buddha names and sūtras that they chant there.”

You wonder if the assigned selection of Pure Land readings about recitation of the Buddha's name and recollection of the Buddha's form might help Lia with this problem.  Specifically, you think she might benefit from understanding the way that recitation of Amitabha's name can be heightened by imagining the various beings and features of the Pure Land that certain sūtras claim he created.

PREPARATION PAGE: Gather examples from the reading to plan for what you might tell Lia, given that your GOAL in this conversation is to get her to understand the way that imagining Amitabha and his Pure Land heightens recitation of Amitabha's name. Draw ONE example from EACH of the THREE SECTIONS of the reading listed in the reading guide, PLUS ONE example from each of the TWO Student Observation Reports (FIVE examples TOTAL). For each example, be sure to identify

• objects, actions, words and locales involved in Pure Land practices;
• the ideal participants' thoughts & feelings about invisible beings & supernatural forces which seem to be intended to heighten their practice(s).

*MAKE SURE TO CITE PAGE NUMBER(S) FROM EACH SECTION OF YOUR SOURCES*

Application Exercise #3c

(*PREPARATION PAGE REQUIRED* - optional worksheet: PDF | MS Word)

REVIEW IN DEPTH:

• The Zen Master Hakuin: Letter...to an Old Nun" (RDR, 116-122)
• The Zen Master Hakuin: "Introduction" (RDR, 108-115)
• EGBT, 47-48
• selected students' Observation Reports
  (download from SacCT & print)
  

PREPARE by addressing the following focus:

THE SCENARIO: Dennis is a family friend of yours whose Japanese-American family has attended the Buddhist Church of Sacramento for several generations. He hears that you have been reading about the Zen tradition in this class, and calls you up to ask you:

"How does Zen work exactly? From my upbringing, I'm familiar with imagining the Buddha's form and using my breath to recite the name "Amida" and the sutras we chant. But I'd like to get deeper into meditation, to do more than just recite and use my mind to think about things."

You certainly don't feel qualified to teach Zen meditation and you think that Dennis should visit a local Zen centers if he's really interested. But in the meantime, you think that Hakuin's "Letter to an Old Nun," along with observations of Zen meditation by two of your classmates, might help explain to Dennis the embodied practices that seem to inspire an experience of awakening that does not depend on what the mind thinks or does.

PREPARATION PAGE: Gather examples from the reading to plan for what you might tell Dennis, given that your GOAL in this conversation is to explain to him the embodied Zen practices that seem to inspire an experience of awakening that independent of what the mind thinks or does. Draw ONE example from EACH of the FOUR SECTIONS of the reading listed in the reading guide, PLUS an example from ONE of the two Student Observation Reports (FIVE examples TOTAL). For each example, be sure to identify

• use of the body, actions, words and locales involved in koan &/or meditation practices
• types of practitioners involved in them; and
• ways that those practices inspire experiences of awakening that go beyond the mind.

*MAKE SURE TO CITE PAGE NUMBER(S) FROM EACH SECTION OF YOUR SOURCES*

iTRA #3 (in SacCT) *DUE by 11:30 am*
gTRA #3 in class

"preliminary" Application Exercise

REVIEW ALL UNIT 3 READINGS

[view optional Timeline to supplement reading guide]

STUDY "preliminary" Application Exercise for Unit 3