Socially Engaged Buddhism

Socially Engaged Buddhism is a Social Science course taught by Sue Darlington.

Course Description
How is Buddhism engaged in the world? This course explores how Buddhism is being used in Asia and the United States to address contemporary issues such as human rights, environmentalism, economic development and gender relations. Buddhist concepts such as morality, interdependence and liberation will be examined in comparison with Western ideas of freedom, human rights and democracy. We will explore how globalization and cultural traditions influence religious and cultural change as people deal with social problems. A case study approach will be used to look at progressive and conservative responses to social change within their broader cultural, historical and political contexts. Prior knowledge of Buddhist studies or Asian studies is strongly recommended.

SS 277 SOCIALLY ENGAGED BUDDHISM
Readings and Discussion


 * This course is premised on everyone’s active participation in class discussion, so it is essential that students come to class having done the assigned readings. Participation in class discussion is strongly encouraged, regardless of a student’s prior experience with any particular topic, because together we will be critically analyzing the materials we have read. There is one required book, available at Food for Thought Books Collective, 106 N.Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01002, Tel: 413-253-5432, and are also on Reserve in the Hampshire Library. Articles are on the course website. The book will also be available on Reserve in the Hampshire Library (at the Circulation Desk).

Book: King, Sallie B. 2005. Being Benevolence: the Social Ethics of Engaged Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.

Assignments: Assignments are due the day they are listed in the syllabus below. I do not accept late papers without prior permission. All written work should be typed, double-spaced and proof-read. Assignments include 4 short essays (5-8 pages) based on class readings and discussion (listed below, including a choice of 3 out of 5 topical essays), a preliminary research proposal and bibliography (due Friday, March 12), and final research paper on a topic of your choice (due May 14).


 * Origins of Engaged Buddhism Essay Feb. 18

You must do 3 of the following 5 topical assignments, due on the listed dates; plan ahead to be sure to get each of them done on time.


 * Peace &amp; Non-violence March 9
 * Economic Development &amp;Environmentalism March 23
 * Human Rights April 13
 * Buddhism &amp; Modern Education April 27
 * Gender &amp; Race May 6

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the presentation of another person’s ideas or words as if they were your own, without acknowledging the source. Plagiarism is a serious offense, and can result in either No Evaluation for the course or even disciplinary withdrawal from the College. As you write your papers, you must be sure to cite your sources thoroughly and correctly, whether you are quoting directly or paraphrasing. Ignorance of plagiarism is not an excuse. If you are ever uncertain as to whether doing something is technically plagiarism, you should ask. You should also consult with writing reference manuals for correct citation and bibliographic formats, including for citing Internet sources.

Evaluations: To receive an evaluation for this course, you must attend class and complete all assignments on time. You will be evaluated on both writing and class participation. If you miss more than two class meetings without a good reason, you may not get a good evaluation. (If you miss a significant number of class meetings, you will not get an evaluation.) You will be evaluated on the development of the basic writing, research, anlytical and critical thinking skills that are essential to understanding and working in the social sciences. You will also be expected to demonstrate a solid knowledge and understanding of the topics in the course. Remember: Communication with me about your status in the class can help you meet the course goals and do well in this course. I do not give Incompletes unless negotiated before assignment due dates, including the final paper and portfolio.

SYLLABUS:
Thurs., Jan 28: Introduction.

Tues., Feb. 2: What is “engaged Buddhism”?

• Queen, Christopher S. 1996. “Introduction: The Shapes and Sources of Engaged Buddhism.” In Queen &amp; King, eds., Engaged Buddhism. Pp. 1-44. • King, Sallie B. Ch. 1, “Introduction,” in Being Benevolence. Pp. 1-11. • Recommended, especially if you have limited background in Buddhism: o Harvey, Peter. 1990. Introduction, Ch. 1, 2 &amp; 3. An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 1-72. o Gethin, Rupert. 1998. “Four Truths: The Disease, the Cause, the Cure, the Medicine.” The Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 59-84.

Historical Roots of Engagement:
Thurs., Feb. 4: The life of the Buddha; basic teachings. • King, Sallie B. Ch. 2, “Building from Tradition,” in Being Benevolence. Pp. 12-41. • Rahula, Walpola. 1988. “The Social Teachings of the Buddha.” In Eppsteiner, Fred, ed. The Path of Compassion. Berkeley: Parallax Press. Pp. 103-110.

Tues., Feb. 9: Building from Tradition. • King, Sallie B. Ch. 4, “Individual and Society,” in Being Benevolence. Pp. 87-117. • Thurman, Robert A. F. 1996. “Nagarjuna’s Guidelines for Buddhist Social Action.” In Arnold Kotler, ed. Engaged Buddhist Reader. Berkeley: Parallax Press. Pp. 79-90. o Recommended: King, Sallie B. Ch. 3, “Engaged Buddhist Ethical Theory,” in Being Benevolence. Pp. 42-86.

Peace and Non-Violence:
Thurs., Feb. 11: Nonviolence and Its Limits • King, Sallie B. Ch. 6, “Nonviolence and Its Limits,” in Being Benevolence. Pp. 164-201. • Sulak Sivaraksa. 2005. Conflict, Culture, Change: Engaged Buddhism in a Globalizing World. Boston: Wisdom Publications. Chs 1, 2, &amp; 4 (pp. 3-20, 25-33).

Tues., Feb. 16: Beginning of Modern Engaged Buddhism – Thich Nhat Hahn and Vietnam • Hunt-Perry, Patricia and Lyn Fine. 2000. “All Buddhism is Engaged: Thich Nhat Hanh and the Order of Interbeing.” In Christopher S. Queen, ed. Engaged Buddhism in the West. Boston: Wisdom Press. Pp. 35-65. • King, Sallie B. 1996. “Thich Nhat Hanh and the Unified Buddhist Church: Nondualism in Action.” In Queen, Christopher S. &amp; Sallie B. King, eds., Engaged Buddhism. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. Pp. 321-364.

Thurs., Feb. 18: Vietnam and Engaged Buddhism, con’t. Video on Thich Nhat Hanh. • Thomas, Claude. 1996. “Finding Peace after a Lifetime of War.” In Arnold Kotler, ed. Engaged Buddhist Reader. Berkeley: Parallax Press. Pp. 98-103. • Thich Nhat Hanh. 1996. “Love in Action.” Love in Action. Pp. 39-48. • Thich Nhat Hanh. 1988. “Please Call Me by My True Names.” In Eppsteiner, Fred, ed. The Path of Compassion. Berkeley: Parallax Press. Pp. 31-39. **** Essay on Origins of Engaged Buddhism due.****

Tues., Feb. 23: The Problem of Self-violence. • Cao Ngoc Phuong. 1988. “Days and Months.” In Eppsteiner, Fred, ed. The Path of Compassion. Berkeley: Parallax Press. Pp. 155-169. • King, Sallie B. 2000. “They Who Burned Themselves for Peace: Quaker and Buddhist Self-Immolators during the Vietnam War.” Buddhist-Christian Studies 20:127-150. • Tatz, Mark, trans. 1994. The Skill in Means Sutra. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. Pp. 73-77.

Economic Development and Environmentalism:
Thurs., Feb. 25: Economic Justice. • King, Sallie B. Ch. 7, “Justice/Reconciliation,” in Being Benevolence. Pp. 202-228.

Tues., March 2: Economic Justice, con’t. • Sulak Sivaraksa. 2002. “Economic Aspects of Social and Environmental Violence from a Buddhist Perspective.” Buddhist-Christian Studies 22:47-60. • Prayudh Payutto. 2000. “Buddhist Solutions for the Twenty-first Century.” In Stephanie Kaza &amp; Kenneth Kraft, eds. Dharma Rain: Sources of Buddhist Environmentalism. Boston &amp; London: Shambhala. Pp. 170-177. • Sulak Sivaraksa. 2000. “The Religion of Consumerism.” In Stephanie Kaza &amp; Kenneth Kraft, eds. Dharma Rain: Sources of Buddhist Environmentalism. Boston &amp; London: Shambhala. Pp. 178-182. • Sulak Sivaraksa. 2000. “Development As If People Mattered.” In Stephanie Kaza &amp; Kenneth Kraft, eds. Dharma Rain: Sources of Buddhist Environmentalism. Boston &amp; London: Shambhala. Pp. 183-190.

Thurs., March 4: Buddhist Environmentalism? • Harris, Ian. 1991. “How Environmentalist is Buddhism?” Religion 21(April):101-14. • Holder, John J. 2007. “A Suffering (But Not Irreparable) Nature: Environmental Ethics from the Perspective of Early Buddhism.” Contemporary Buddhism 8(2):113-130. • Habito, Ruben F. L. 2007. “Environment or Earth Sangha: Buddhist Perspectives on Our Global Ecological Well-Being.” Contemporary Buddhism 8(2):131-147. ***Essay on Nonviolence due in class.***

Tues., March 9: Buddhist Environmentalism, con’t. • Blum, Mark L. 2009. “The Transcendentalist Ghost in EcoBuddhism.” In Abraham Zablocki, Nalini Bhushan, and Jay Garfield, eds. TransBuddhism. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. Pp. 209-238. • Swearer, Donald K. 1997. “The Hermeneutics of Buddhist Ecology in Contemporary Thailand: Buddhadasa and Dhammapitaka.” In Mary Evelyn Tucker &amp; Duncan Ryuken Williams, eds. Buddhism and Ecology. Cambridge: Harvard University, Center for the Study of World Religions Publications. Pp. 21-44.

Thurs., March 11: Thai Buddhist Environmentalism • Sulak Sivaraksa. 2005. Conflict, Culture, Change: Engaged Buddhism in a Globalizing World. Boston: Wisdom Publications. Ch. 11 (pp. 71-78). • Darlington, Susan M. 1998. “The ordination of a tree: The Buddhist ecology movement In Thailand.” Ethnology 37(1):1-15. • Darlington, Susan M. 2009. “Translating Modernity: Buddhist Response to the Thai Environmental Crisis.” In Abraham Zablocki, Nalini Bhushan, and Jay Garfield, eds. TransBuddhism. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. Pp. 183-207. o Recommended: Darlington, Susan M. 2003. “Buddhism and Development: The Ecology Monks of Thailand.” In Christopher Queen, Charles Prebish, &amp; Damien Keown, eds. Action Dharma: New Studies in Engaged Buddhism. London: RoutledgeCurzon. Pp. 96-109.

Friday, March 12: ***Research paper proposals and preliminary bibliography due in my box in Social Science by 3 p.m.***

Spring Break, March 13-21

Human Rights and Political Buddhism:
Tues., March 23: Human Rights and Freedom in Buddhism. • King, Sallie B. Ch. 5, “Human Rights,” in Being Benevolence. Pp. 118-163. • Mabbett, Ian. 1998. “Buddhism and Freedom.” In Kelly, David &amp; Anthony Reid, eds. Asian Freedoms: The Idea of Freedom in East and Southeast Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 19-36. ***Essay on Economic Development and Environmentalism due.***

Thurs., March 25: Burma. • McCarthy, Stephen. 2004. “The Buddhist Political Rhetoric of Aung San Suu Kyi.” Contemporary Buddhism 5(2):67-81. • Aung San Suu Kyi. 1991. “In Quest of Democracy.” Freedom From Fear. NY: Penguin Books. Pp. 167-179. • McCarthy, Stephen. 2008. "Overturning the Alms Bowl: bowl: the price of survival and the consequences for political legitimacy in Burma." Australian Journal of International Affairs 62(3):298-314. o Recommended: Silverstein, Josef. 1998. “The Idea of Freedom in Burma and the Political Thought of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.” In Kelly, David &amp; Anthony Reid, eds. Asian Freedoms: The Idea of Freedom in East and Southeast Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 187-204. o Philp, Janette and David Mercer. 2002. “Politicised Pagodas and Veiled Resistance: Contested Urban Space in Burma.” Urban Studies 39(9):1587–1610.

Tues., March 30: Human Rights and Tibet. “Satya” video • Cabezón, José Ignacio. 1996. “Buddhist Principles in the Tibetan Liberation Movement.” In Queen &amp; King, ed. Engaged Buddhism, pp. 295-320. • Powers, John. 1998. “Human Rights and Cultural Values: the Political Values of the Dalai Lama and the People’s Republic of China.” In Damien V. Keown, ed. Buddhism and Human Rights. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press. Pp. 175-202.

Thurs., April 1: Advising Day – No class.

Tues., April 6: Human Rights in Tibet. “Four Noble Truths,” Division III video by Khenrab Palden, 2009 • Kolas, Ashild. 1996. “Tibetan Nationalism: The Politics of Religion.” Journal of Peace Research 33(1):51-66. • Dalai Lama. 2000. “The True Source of Political Success.” In Stephanie Kaza &amp; Kenneth Kraft, eds. Dharma Rain: Sources of Buddhist Environmentalism. Boston: Shambhala Press. Pp. 165-169.

Buddhism and Modern Education
[This section will be finalized depending on our visiting professor from the Central University of Tibetan Studies (Sarnath, India), Geshe Damdul.]

Thurs., April 8: Buddhist Education – Monastic Education • Dreyfus, Georges. 2003. The Sound of Two Hands Clapping. Berkeley: University of California. Pp. 32-75.

Tues., April 13: Buddhist Education, con’t. • Dreyfus, Georges. 2003. The Sound of Two Hands Clapping. Berkeley: University of California. Pp. 79-110, 164-182. ***Essay on Human Rights and Political Buddhism due.***

Thurs., April 15: Buddhist Education, con’t. • Reading TBA.

Tues., April 20: Buddhist Education, con’t. • Reading TBA.

Gender Issues:
Thurs., April 22: Does gender matter? • Gross, Rita M. 2004. “The dharma of gender.” Contemporary Buddhism 5(1):3-12.

Tues., April 27: The problem of nuns.


 * Mrozik, Susanne. 2009. “A Robed Revolution: The Contemporary Buddhist Nun’s Movement.” Religion Compass 3(3).
 * De Silva, Ranjani. 2004. “Reclaiming the Robe: Reviving the Bhikkhuni Order in Sri Lanka.” In Karma Lekshe Tsomo, ed. Buddhist Women and Social Justice: Ideas, Challenges, and Achievements. Albany: State University of New York Press. Pp. 119-135.

o Recommended: Ohlson, Caren I. 2004. “Resistance without Borders: An Exploration of Buddhist Nuns across Cultures.” In Karma Lekshe Tsomo, ed. Buddhist Women and Social Justice: Ideas, Challenges, and Achievements. Albany: State University of New York Press. Pp. 233-252. ***Essay on Buddhism and Modern Education due.***

Thurs., April 29: Gender and Race in Buddhism • Willis, Jan. 1996. “Buddhism and Race: An African-American Baptist-Buddhist Perspective.” In Marianne Dresser, ed. Buddhist Women on the Edge. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books. Pp. 81-91. • Pierce, Lori. 2000. “Diversity as Practice: Thinking about Race and “American” Buddhism.” In Karma Lekshe Tsomo, ed. Innovative Buddhist Women: Swimming Against the Stream. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon. Pp. 277-284. • hooks, bell. 1996. “Contemplation and Transformation.” In Marianne Dresser, ed. Buddhist Women on the Edge. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books. Pp. 287-292.

Mon., May 4: Summaries and Trends: Whither Engaged Buddhism? • King, Sallie B. Ch. 8, “Conclusion,” in Being Benevolence. Pp. 229-249.

Thurs., May 6: Conclusions.

*** Essay on Gender and Race due.***

&lt;span style="display: none;" id="1265134251663S" /&gt;Wednesday, May 12: Research papers, course portfolios and self-evaluations due, by 4:00 p.m., in my box in the Social Science office, 2nd floor, FPH. For Hampshire students, self-evaluations should also be posted on TheHub.