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Readings in Buddhist Texts:

The Lotus Sutra

AEAS/AREL 450 University at Albany, SUNY: Spring 2018

• Time: MW 2:45PM-4:05PM • Place: SS 255 • Office Hours: 12:30-1:30, MW • Professor: Aaron Proffitt (aproffitt@albany.edu)

COURSE DESCRIPTION It could be argued that no other single text has had as much impact upon the intellectual, artistic, political, and religious dimensions of East Asian culture than the Lotus Sutra. In this course we will read this important Buddhist text and survey recent scholarship on its impact and interpretation. From the growth and development of the Mahayana tradition in India, to the establishment of the Tiantai tradition in China, from the dominant role of the Tendai tradition in premodern Japan, to the emergence of Zen, Pure Land, and Nichiren Schools in the 13th century, from the aristocratic courts of China, Korea, and Japan, to mountain based religious centers across East Asia, the academic study of the Lotus Sutra provides a fascinating window across premodern and contemporary East Asian Buddhist culture. All readings are in English. There are no prerequisites, but consultation with the instructor is advised. All are welcome.

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REQUIRED TEXTS

• Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma (The Lotus Sutra), trans. Leon Hurvitz, forward by Stephen F. Teiser (Columbia University Press, Translations from the Asian Classics) ISBN-13: 978-0231148955

• Stephen F. Teiser and Jacqueline I. Stone, eds., Readings of the Lotus Sutra (Columbia Readings of Buddhist Literature, 2009) ISBN-13: 978-0231142892

• Donald S. Lopez, Jr., The "Lotus Sūtra": A Biography (Lives of Great Religious Books, 2016) ISBN-13: 978-0691152202

• Brook A. Ziporyn, Emptiness and Omnipresence, An Introduction to Tiantai Buddhism (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2016).

GRADING SCHEME COURSE REQUIREMENTS

A 94 A- 90 B+ 88 B 84 B- 80 C+ 78 C 74 C- 70 D+ 68 D 64 D- 60 E 50

Journals 25% Presentations 25% Mid-Term Paper 25% Final Paper 25%

JOURNALS (25%)

• Do the reading before coming to class. • Take notes on every reading: Outlines, quotes, reactions, thoughts, summaries, etc. ALL

OK • You will post these notes to our Blackboard “Journals” section.

o In our Blackboard site, on the left, under “Course Content,” there is a link labeled “Journals.” Click this link, click the next Journals link, click “Create Journal” link and share your reading notes and reactions with me. These “journals” are private. Only I read them.

• Journals should be around 250 words and include page numbers from the reading. • All journal entries should be done before coming to class.

PRESENTATIONS (25%) • Everyday, 1-3 students will present on pre-assigned sections of the reading. A sign-up

sheet will be circulated within the first two weeks of class. • Presentations should be no more than 15 minutes long. • Presenters must compose a handout that includes a summary or outline of the reading

AND discussion questions. Please email me the presentation 1 hour before class and I will print copies for the whole class.

• PowerPoint presentations are NOT required.

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MID-TERM PAPER (25%) AND FINAL PAPER (25%) • MID-TERM: 5-8 pages, 12 font, double spaced • FINAL: 10-15 Pages Long, 12 font, double spaced • Paper may build upon or borrow from journal notes • Footnotes and Bibliography: Chicago Style Citations

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html • NO OUTSIDE MATERIAL (unless specifically recommended by professor) NOTE CARDS • Purchase a pack of 3x5 note cards • At the end of class, write your name, and the date, and answer the following two questions:

o What was the most interesting thing you learned today? o Do you have any questions about the reading or lecture?

• 5+/- cards will be selected to start off the discussion for the next day of class. COMPUTER AND TECHNOLOGY RULES • Purchase a notebook for taking notes in class • No computers, cellphones, smartphones, or any other electronic devices allowed • Exempted are those who have verifiable medical reasons ACADEMIC INTEGRITY • “Every student has the responsibility to become familiar with the standards of academic

integrity at the University. Faculty members must specify in their syllabi information about academic integrity, and may refer students to this policy for more information. Nonetheless, student claims of ignorance, unintentional error, or personal or academic pressures cannot be excuses for violation of academic integrity. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the standards and behaving accordingly, and UAlbany faculty are responsible for teaching, modeling and upholding them. Anything less undermines the worth and value of our intellectual work, and the reputation and credibility of the University at Albany degree.” (University’s Standards of Academic Integrity Policy, Fall 2013) http://www.albany.edu/undergraduate_bulletin/regulations.html

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES • I request that any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments or

accommodations speak with me during the first two weeks of class. All discussions will remain confidential. For more information, please visit Disability Resource Center: http://www.albany.edu/disability/index.shtml

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Monday, 01/22 Wednesday, 01/24 • First Day of Class

Monday, 01/29 Wednesday, 01/31 • Lopez, “In The World of the Buddha”

(Blackboard) • Lopez, The “Lotus Sutra”: A Biography,

Introduction-Chapter 2 Monday 02/05 Wednesday 07 • Lopez, Chapters 3-4 • Lopez, Chapters 5-6 Monday 02/12 Wednesday 02/14 • Lopez, Chapters 7 • Hurvitz, trans., Scripture of the Lotus

Blossom of the Fine Dharma (The Lotus Sutra), Chapter 1

• The Lotus Sutra, Chapters 2-3

Monday 02/19 Wednesday 02/21 • The Lotus Sutra, Chapters 4-5 • The Lotus Sutra, Chapters 6-7 Monday 02/26 Wednesday 02/28 • The Lotus Sutra, Chapters 8-11 • The Lotus Sutra, Chapters 12-15 Monday 03/05 Wednesday 03/07 • The Lotus Sutra, Chapters 16-19 • The Lotus Sutra, Chapters 20-24 Monday 03/12 Wednesday 03/14 • No Class: Spring Break • No Class: Spring Break Monday 03/19 Wednesday 03/21 • The Lotus Sutra, Chapters 25-28 • Stone & Teiser, Chapter 1 Monday 03/26 Wednesday 03/28 • Stone & Teiser, Chapters 2-3 Mid-Term Papers Due

• Abe, “Revisiting the Dragon Princess” https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/4400

• Monday 04/02 Wednesday 04/04 • Stone & Teiser, Chapters 4-5 • Stone & Teiser, Chapters 6-8 Monday 04/09 Wednesday 04/11 • Ziporyn, Chapters 1-3 • Ziporyn, Chapters4-6 Monday 04/16 Wednesday 04/18 • Ziporyn, Chapters 7-8 • Ziporyn, Chapter 9

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Monday 04/23 Wednesday 04/25 • Ziporyn, Chapter 10-Epilogue • Hazama Jikō. “The Characteristics of

Japanese Tendai.” http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2349

• Tamura Yoshirō. “Japanese Culture and The Tendai Concept of Original Enlightenment.” http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2355

• Stone, Jacqueline I. “Medieval Tendai Hongaku Thought and the New Kamakura Buddhism.” http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2559

Monday 04/30 Wednesday 05/02 • Kikuchi Hiroki. “Ōjōden, the Hokke genki,

and Mountain Practices of Devotees of the Sutra.” http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/4330

• Ōkubo Ryōshun. “The Identity between the Purport of the Perfect and Esoteric Teachings.” http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/4331

• Stone, Jacqueline I. “Placing Nichiren in the ‘Big Picture,” https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2690

• Kitagawa Zenchō. “The Words of the Lotus Sutra in Nichiren’s Thought,” https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/4328

Monday 05/07 Wednesday 05/09 • Stone, Jacqueline I. “Nichiren’s Activist

Heirs,” (On Blackboard) • Covell, Stephen G. “Interfaith Dialogue

and the Lotus Practitioner,” http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/4335

• Last Day of Class • FINAL PAPER DUE 05/11