Contemporary Buddhism in Japan & Asia

Unit 4:  Science, Death, & Buddhism

April 29

Topic 1: The Science of Dying & Meditation

  • Class Issue: What happens after death? Does the way you die affect what happens after death? Does suicide lead to hell or is it an escape from suffering in this world? Does science or religion offer the better explanation of how to deal with end of life? This unit will look at Buddhism’s ancient traditions of the science of death and dying. It will also examine modern Buddhist movements of helping the sick to die more mindfully and peacefully as well as helping the suicidal to re-embrace live and find meaning.
  • Presentation: Dying and Living in Contemporary Buddhism Part I: Dying in the Three Yanas of Buddhism (entire PDF) See all 4 parts of audio lecture here
  • Video: The Tibetan Book of the Dead : A Way of Life (47 mins but you can watch just until 26:35 and then skip to watch 37:45-38:35)
  • Presentation: Part II: Science & Buddhism

Topic 2: Mental Health, Suicide & Contemporary Buddhism

  • Class Issue: Besides the environmental crisis (outer ecology), the world is also experiencing a mental health crisis (inner ecology) with high rates of depression and suicide around the world, especially in East Asia and among the young. Modern medical solutions primarily found in cognitive therapy and pharmeceutical interventions are becoming increasingly questioned. A wide variety of new methods that access and treat trauma which is encoded in the physical and energetic body are becoming not only popular but accepted in the scientific and medical communities. These include the use of Asian practices such as yoga and Buddhist mindfulness as well as a revival of psychedelic drugs. As a young person coming of age, what do you think are the best pathways to mental health?
  • 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
  • Supplementary Reading: Laughing and Crying while Facing Death: A Zen Monk Brings Death Workshops & Buddhist Suicide Prevention Counseling to Thailand (March 2025)
  • 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 13 @ 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 1 pyramid for dukkha and 1 pyramid for nirvana. Then write a 2 page explanation of your pyramids (1/2 page per each Noble Truth). Turn in both charts and text.