Lecture & Power Point Presentation: What is Religion and A Brief History of Buddhism (PDF) Click here for the audio lecture attached to the PPT

Reading: “Karma for Everyone: Social Justice and the Problem of Re-ethicizing Karma in Theravada Buddhist Societies” pp. 13-36 in Rethinking Karma: The Dharma of Social Justice. Ed. Jonathan S. Watts (Bangkok, Thailand: International Network of Engaged Buddhists, 2014, 2nd edition)

Class 2: Buddhist Sociology: A Community of Liberation, A Culture of Diversity, An Institution of Power

Class Issue: After looking at Buddhism in the context of other religions, we must also look at Buddhism in the context of cultural and historical settings and NOT as a set of abstract teachings and idealized forms. This class takes a critical look at society at the time of the Buddha and what the Buddha’s teachings meant for that time. It then traces the development of Buddhism as a civilizational force by the dawn of the Common Era, its spread into the rest of Asia, and its institutionalization through economic and political forces.

Presentation: Buddhist Sociology: A Community of Liberation A Culture of Diversity An Institution of Power (PDF) Click here for the audio lecture that goes with the PPT

Reading: “The ‘Positive Disintegration’ of Buddhism” (first half, pp. 91-107) in Rethinking Karma.

HOMEWORK (due April 16 @ 12:00 noon JST): Submit 1 page reflection on Unit 1: What is Buddhism to you? Reflecting on the readings and the two lectures, you may write a very personal and non-academic one-page, single space paper on what Buddhism means to you (i.e. a philosophy, a way of life, a religion, etc.). There is no right answer! But you will be evaluated for the clarity and depth of your reflection.

Class 2: Responses to Modernity: What is authentic Buddhism?

Class Issue: Of the four movements that we have studied above, how true to or deviating from the teachings of the Buddha are they?
Buddhist Nationalism: Buddhism is a civilizational religion speaking about the ability for all kinds of people to gain enlightenment, indeed for all sentient beings. Does Buddhism in favor of the state completely warp this teaching? Should one choose loyalty to their own country and people over the well being of others?
Socially Engaged Buddhism: Buddhism is primarily focused on practicing meditation for the enlightenment of each individual. Is becoming involved in social issues and problems a total distraction and deviation from this essential path?
Buddhist Socialism: How can you conceive of it when Marx said religion is the opiate of the masses? Is Socialism inherently materialistic and atheistic? If so, is this a weakness of it?
Market Buddhism: The core of Buddhist teaching is that greed creates ego and suffering. How can Buddhism be reconciled with the aims and forms of capitalism? Do capitalist values and aims support the aggressive conversion of people, which seems to go against Buddhist values?

Readings: on Buddhist Nationalism, Socially Engaged Buddhism, Market Buddhism, and Buddhist Socialism from the Readings Page

HOMEWORK (due April 23 @ 12:00 noon JST): Submit 1 page reflection by answering the above questions about 1 or a pair of 2 of the 4 movements of Modernist Buddhism (Buddhist Nationalism, Engaged Buddhism, Buddhist Socialism, or Market Buddhism). Please refer to at least 2 readings.

Exercise: Draw an Iceberg of Dukkha and fill in the 3 areas as follows: 1st Noble Truth (top corner): identify environmental problems of your community, nation, or region and how they are experienced directly by citizens as Direct Dukkha; 2nd Noble Truth (bottom two corners): identify the structural and cultural issues and causes, especially if and how religion has any influence. You may do this exercise alone or get a partner or two from the same region and do it together. See the tutorial on “How to make an Iceberg of Dukkha”

Class 2: A Transformative Approach to the Eco-Crisis using Buddhist Teachings & Practice (3rd & 4th Noble Truths)

Presentation: The Diamond of Nirvana & Joanna Macy’s The Three Dimensions of the Great Turning
Class Issue: David Loy’s responses to the eco-crisis: The Buddhist response to our ecological predicament is ecodharma, a new term for a new development of the Buddhist tradition. It combines ecological concerns (eco) with the teachings of Buddhism and related spiritual traditions (dharma). What that actually means, and what difference it makes in how we live and practice, is still unfolding, but three components or aspects that stand out are: 1) time/meditation in the natural world to reconnect; 2) looking at the eco-implications of Buddhist teachings; and 3) the bodhisattva/ecosattva Path, especially action without attachment to results.

Special Guest: Vienna Looi (INEB Malaysia) – Coming from Malaysia, Vienna has shown an interest in radical social justice and alternative economics in her self-described Crypto-Dharma work. We have studied about Market Buddhism and Dharmic Socialism, but is there a third way? Can creative financial minds also dedicated to “awakening to buddha nature” create an economy for a new world? See an interview with her by a Watts Keio alumni

Exercise: Draw a Diamond Pyramid of Nirvana and fill in the 3 areas as follows for your community, nation, or region: 3rd Noble Truth (top corner): What are holding actions (i.e. emergency work) to save the environment? 4th Noble Truth (bottom left): What are some alternative structures you can build to create the proper balance between the environment and the economy; (bottom right): What new shifts in consciousness can you enact to realize this balance between environment and economy, and specifically what Buddhist teachings might help guide you? You may do this exercise alone or get a partner or two from the same region and do it together. See the tutorial on “How to make a Diamond of Nirvana”

Group & Whole Class Work: What are the structural and cultural causes of mental illness today (2nd Noble Truth)?
Video: Rev. Jotetsu Nemoto and the power of meditation to face death & make life meaningful
Presentation: Dying and Living in Contemporary Buddhism Part IV: The Suicide Prevention Priests of Japan
Group & Whole Class Work: What are the ways we can make society help us flourish? Examine Holding Actions, Structural Alternatives, and Shifts in Consciousness (4th Noble Truth)
Supplementary Presentation: Dying and Living in Contemporary Buddhism Part III: End of Life Care in Contemporary Buddhism
Supplementary Video: The Death Diary of a Thai Female Engaged Buddhist: Supaporn Pongpruk: Learning to Face Death with Grace Part I (19 mins) & Part 2 (17 mins)
HOMEWORK (due May 10 @ 12:00 noon JST): Make a group of 2 or 3 people. Choose a topic: 1) Eco-crisis and New Economics, 2) Mental health crisis, or 3) combine both! Then do some research off the readings page and/or elsewhere. Then create 2 Pyramids of Dukkha and Nirvana. Then write a 2 page explanation of your pyramids (1/2 page per each Noble Truth). Turn in both charts and text.

No Homework this week

May 14: Buddhism and the “Emptiness” (sunnata 空) of Gender
Patriarchy and the Role of Women in Buddhism

Issue: We will look at the Buddha’s second radical moment from the ordination of untouchables (previous class) to the ordination of women as well as the eventual institutionalization of patriarchy in Buddhism over the past two millennia. We will then look at a number of examples in the modern world of female Buddhists asserting their agency and creating important new styles of Buddhist practice.

Presentation: Conflicting Streams Towards Gender in the Development of Buddhism Part I: Early Buddhism & Its Basis for the Theravada (PDF) Click here for the audio lecture
Video: What Harm Is It to be a Woman: Exploitation of Women and Buddhism in Thailand (33 mins from beginning to 33:00)
LGBTQ and Gender De-construction/Re-construction in Buddhism

Issue: Buddhism has no categorical prohibitions on homosexuality with the 3rd precept guiding us about how to engage in sexuality and sensuality (i.e. without harm or violence) rather than in what type of sexuality. Still, as with its issues with patriarchy, Buddhism has taken on mainstream hetero-normative attitudes in most traditional Asian countries. In this class, we will examine the doctrinal basis in Buddhism towards a fluid view of gender and a potentially supportive stance on LGBTQ issues. We will also investigate some pioneering Buddhists today promoting this view.

Presentation: Conflicting Streams Towards Gender in the Development of Buddhism Part II: The Development of Conflicting Streams in Mahayana Buddhism (PDF) Click here for the audio lecture (see links above in Part I.)
Presentation: Conflicting Streams Towards Gender in the Development of Buddhism Part III: Gender Play at its Extreme in Vajrayana Buddhism (PDF) Click here for the audio lecture (see links above in Part I.)
Video: A Monk Who Wears Heels about Rev. Kodo Nishimura – a Buddhist priest from the Japanese Jodo Pure Land denomination, makeup artist, LGBTQ activist, and model. NHK World Documentary. March 5, 2022
Workshop: on Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) with special guest Anchalee Kurutach from Thailand.

HOMEWORK (due May 21 @ 12:00 noon JST): Find a partner (groups of 2 not 3) & Craft a 2 page Buddhist Human Rights Declaration to Respond to ONE OF THE THREE issues of this unit: 1) caste discrimination in India, 2) ethnic & religious discrimination in Myanmar and/or Sri Lanka, or 3) gender in Thailand and/or LGBTQ discrimination in Japan.
Create your own made-up Buddhist organization (i.e. regional Buddhist association, national inter-faith council, etc. for example, Kamakura Association of Buddhists – KAB)
Organize your declaration around the 4 Noble Truths:
    • Outline the suffering (is it only the victim’s?) 1/2 page
    • Indicate the deeper causes (structural and cultural) 1/2 page
    • Describe Holding Actions to stem the violence 1/2 page
    • Outline a vision for the region & recommended policy initiatives 1/2 page
Here are two examples:
    – Statement on Nuclear Energy by the International Network of Engaged Buddhists: Affirming the Value of Life and Working towards Interdependent Lifestyles (November 10, 2012)
    – A Call For Peace From Buddhist and Muslim Leaders in Yogyakarta Statement (with quotes from the Koran and Buddhist texts) March 3-4, 2015

Zoom Guest #1: Dexter Bohn (former Communications Director at INEB, Watts Keio Alumni 2019-2020) – Dexter studied in the Fall of 2109 and online in the Spring of 2020. Before that Spring semester, he served as an English tutor at INEB’s 3-month intensive School of English for Engaged Social Service (SENS). Following graduation in the U.K. that year, he worked in the main office of INEB in Bangkok until March 2024 serving as their communications director and having an immensely rich series of adventures around the region. He has just recently moved to Fiji to continue this work and learn how to develop a Buddhist-based digital media company for the Metta-Verse of Loving Kindness (metta).

Zoom Guest #2: Chris Zhang (Watts Keio Alumni Spring 2023) – Chris is of Canadian Chinese background. She came to Keio in the Spring of 2023 already with a vision to ordain as a Buddhist nun. After finishing her semester, through the support of Prof. Watts, she has moved to Taiwan to pursue her dream of becoming a Buddhist nun. In the Fall of 2023, she participated in the two-week international Young Bodhisattva program hosted by INEB at the nunnery of the well-known activist, Ven. Chao Hwei, who has championed gay rights and held marriage ceremonies for gay couples.

Group Work: Create a list of issues that Buddhism should address and offer guidance to young people about, such as developing sexual identity, facing climate change, using social media & then develop Buddhist positions on them.
Video: The Francisco J. Varela Research Awards for Young Pioneers (4 mins)
Final Reflection & Homework (due June 4 @ 12:00 noon JST): Submit 1 page reflection on: “The World is on Fire”: In this age, there is so much suffering: both inner, as seen in rampant psycho-spiritual illness, and outer, as seen in religious-ethnic & racial violence, the eco-crisis, and now the COVID-19 pandemic. As a young person coming of age in this world, how do you want to respond? Retreating from the world to meditate and gain liberation? Becoming an academic searching the new frontiers of knowledge? Becoming an activist and fighting for social justice? Raising a family and building a new world of interbeing?