EAST ASIAN BUDDHIST THOUGHT

This module explores ideas developed by the most influential systems of East Asia Buddhism, with specific attention to Japan. We will interrogate the ontological, epistemological and logical positions of the Tiantai/Tendai, Tantric and Chan/Zen schools, taking into account the discrete terminology through which each school articulates its signification of reality, as well as the concerns and interpretations they shared. We will also engage in a critical appraisal of the ways in which Japanese Buddhist thought has been studied, in East Asia and in the West. Questions to be addressed include the relation between philosophical speculation and practice, the perception of reality, the conceptualization of non-duality and immanence, the nature of sentient and non-sentient beings.

At the end of the course the student should be able to
1) identify the characteristics of Buddhist thought in East Asia, in particular in Japan;
2) acquire awareness of the most significant philosophical questions addressed by Buddhists in Japan;
3) critically evaluate arguments across Buddhist traditions;
4) assess the way in which Buddhist traditions of thought have been studied and presented, in East Asia and in the West.

Together with these subject-specific learning outcomes, the course will contribute to the achievement of
1) informed examination of religio-philosophical traditions
2) critical analysis of competing interpretative frameworks
3) general transferable skills, such as the ability to synthesize information from a range of sources, make judgments based on appropriate evidence and communicate ideas in written and oral form.

There are no prerequisites for this course.

1. Introduction: Thinking World Philosophy through the Practices of Japanese Buddhism
Course overview
Methodological questions in the study of Buddhist philosophy
Buddhist thought and the decolonization of philosophy curricula

2. Buddhism in East Asia
The plurality of Buddhism
Canons, translations, transmission
Mahayana Buddhism in East Asia: A short history

3. Buddhist Hermeneutics
From scriptures to philosophical propositions
Textual hierarchies and Buddhist scholasticism

4. Tiantai/Tendai ‘Ontology’
The ambiguity of being: One yet many
Emptiness and the middle

5. Buddhist immanentism
Suchness
Innate enlightenment

6. Ethical implication of ‘suchness’ in contemporary Japan
Karma and discrimination
Critical Buddhism

7. Tantric Ontology
Mandalic realities
Sound and the production of the universe

8. Epistemologies
Non-discriminatory cognition
Embodied knowledge

9. “Becoming” a Buddha
The nature of sentient and insentient beings
Ecological thought in Buddhism

10. Language and logic in Zen
The denial of conceptual thinking
Time and experience

11. Buddhist political thought
The law of the buddha and the law of the king
A Buddhist ruler

12. Concepts of Time
Cyclical time and linear time
Buddhist theories of history

13. Encountering the other: Buddhism and local systems
The trace and manifestation (honji suijaku) theory
A philosophy of dialogue ante litteram?

14. Philosophy as a way of life
Transformative knowledge and relational logic

15. Concluding discussion: Reconsidering the place of Buddhist thought

App, Urs, The Cult of Emptiness: The Western Discovery of Buddhist Thought and the Invention of Oriental Philosophy, Rorschach: University Media, 2012.
Bernard Faure, Double Exposure: Cutting Across Buddhist and Western Discourses, Stanford University Press, 2004.
Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook. Heisig, James W., Thomas P. Kasulis and John C. Maraldo, eds. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2011.
The Dao Companion to Japanese Buddhist Philosophy. Gereon Kopf ed. Springer, 2019.
Kasulis, Thomas, Engaging Japanese Philosophy -A Short History, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2018.
The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Philosophy, Davis Bret W. ed., New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.
Swanson, Paul, Foundations of T’ien-t’ai Philosophy, Berkeley, CA : Asian Humanities Press, 1995.
Swanson, Paul, trans. Clear Serenity, Quiet Insight: T’ien-t’ai Chih-i’s Mo-ho chih-kuan, 3 vols., Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2017.
Ziporyn, Brook, "Tiantai Buddhism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2016/entries/buddhism-tiantai/> ;.
Ziporyn, Brook, Emptiness and Omnipresence: An Essential Introduction to Tiantai Buddhism, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2016
Ziporyn, Brook, “The Three Truths in Tiantai Buddhism” in A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy (Blackwell, 2013) pp. 256-269.
Sueki Fumihiko, “Annen: The philosopher who Japanized Buddhism,” Acta Asiatica 66 (1994): pp.69-86.
Habito, Ruben, “The Logic of Non-duality and Absolute Affirmation: Deconstructing Tendai Hongaku Writings,” Japanese Journal of Religious Study 22 (1-2), 1995, pp. 85-102.
Sueki Fumihiko, "Two Seemingly Contradictory Aspects of the Teaching of Innate Enlightenment (hongaku) in Medieval Japan", Japanese Journal of Religious Study 22 (1-2), 1995, pp. 3-16.
Stone, Jacqueline, Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1999.
Yamasaki Taikō, Shingon: Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, Boston: Shambala, 1988.
Abe Ryuichi, The Weaving of Mantra, New York: Columbia UP, 1999.
Rambelli, Fabio, A Buddhist Theory of Semiotics, Bloomsbury 2013. Available as e- book through Soas library.
Hakeda, Yoshito, Kūkai: Major Works, New York: Columbia University Press, 1972.
Krummel, John, “Kūkai’s Shingon: Embodiment of Emptiness,” in The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Philosophy, ed. By Bret Davis (online).
Rambelli, Fabio, Vegetal Buddhas, Italian school of East Asian Studies, 2001.
Dōgen, Shōbōgenzō (The Eye and Treasury of the True Law). 4 vols. Translated by Kōsen Nishiyama and John Stevens. Sendai: Daihokkauikaku, 1975–1983.
Faure, Bernard, The Rhetoric of Immediacy: A Cultural Critique of Chan/Zen Buddhism, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994.
Hubbard, Jamie, and Paul L. Swanson, eds. Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1997.
Faure, Bernard, “Twists and Turns,” in his Gods of Medieval Japan. 1. The Fluid Pantheon, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2015.
Blezer, Henk and Mark Teeuwen, eds., Buddhism and Nativism: Framing Identity Discourse in Buddhist Environments, Leiden: Brill, 2013.

In class, throughout the course: 15-min group presentations, worth 30% of the final mark. The timing of class presentations will be determined at the beginning of the year, taking into account the number of students
on the course. A single mark is assigned to each of the students in the team.
Final exam: oral exam, worth 70% of the final mark.

oral

The instructor is responsible for ensuring the authenticity and originality of all examinations and coursework. In cases of suspected academic misconduct, an additional on-site assessment may be required during the exams, which may differ from the standard format.

A. Scores in the 18-22 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- sufficient knowledge and applied comprehension skills;
- limited ability to analyze and interpret philosophical and religious texts;
- sufficient communication skills, especially concerning the use of specific language.
B. Scores in the 23-26 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- fair knowledge and applied comprehension skills;
- discrete ability to analyze and interpret philosophical and religious texts;
- fair communication skills, especially concerning the use of specific language.
C. Scores in the 27-30 range will be awarded in the presence of:
- good or very good knowledge and applied comprehension skills;
- good or excellent ability to analyze and interpret philosophical and religious texts;
- fully appropriate communication skills, especially concerning the use of specific language.
D. "lode" will be awarded in the presence of excellent knowledge and applied understanding, excellent judgment and excellent communication skills.

Classes consist of two-hour slots roughly divided into:
-a lecture session that provides an overview of the topic and the issues it presents;
-a seminar discussion of one (or more) critical readings, led by students, where a group of students presents the results of their reading of/research on the topic of the week to the class.
(The format may not be exactly the same every week.)

It is strongly recommended that you participate in the activities set for each week, including reading prior to the lecture and engaging in class discussion. Reading materials, podcasts and other sources for each week
are available on the Moodle page of the course. In each session you will find one discussion paper, as well as other general or further readings intended to give you the context and extend your familiarity with the subject. You are requested to read and reflect on the discussion paper. However, the more you read the more you will be able to take part in the conversation and enjoy the course.