How to Be a Buddha: Buddhist Philosophy in Practice
RELI 327
Spring 2027
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01
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What does it mean to become a buddha? How might one lead an awakened life? This advanced seminar explores the paths of ethical practice, philosophical insight, and meditative cultivation through one of Mahayana Buddhism's most celebrated and influential texts: The Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life (Bodhicaryavatara). Composed in verse by the renowned eighth-century Indian scholar Shantideva, this masterwork of Indian philosophy and Buddhist literature sets forth in vivid detail the ideal of the bodhisattva, an individual focused on attaining the state of a buddha for the benefit of others. Through a close reading of Shantideva's work in various translations, traditional Buddhist commentaries, and secondary scholarship, we will follow Shantideva's account of the bodhisattva path, examining key points along the way including the nature of suffering and the possibility of liberation; the ethical frameworks of bodhicitta (the mind of awakening); the tension between individual agency and interdependence; the nature of mind; views of no-self and emptiness; and the unfolding of wisdom. The seminar will also consider how, in recent decades, the Guide has been recast and reinterpreted under the rubric of human flourishing and as an approach to living a "good life." |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA RELI |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (Religion Minor)(Religion) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Primary Readings
Shantideva, THE WAY OF THE BODHISATTVA (in multiple translations)
Kunzang Palden, THE NECTAR OF MANJUSHRI'S SPEECH: A DETAILED COMMENTARY ON SHANTIDEVA'S WAY OF THE BODHISATTVA
Künzang Sönam, THE PROFOUND REALITY OF INTERDEPENDENCE: AN OVERVIEW OF THE WISDOM CHAPTER OF THE WAY OF THE BODHISATTVA
Secondary Readings
Jay Garfield, "The Good Life: A Tibetan Understanding"
Jay Garfield, "What is it like to be a bodhisattva? Moral phenomenology in Santideva's Bodhicary¿vat¿ra¿
Luis Gomez, "The Way of the Translators: Three Recent Translations of Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara"
Stephen Jenkins, "Compassion Blesses the Compassionate: The Basis of Human Flourishing in Buddhist Thought and Practice"
Barbara Nelson, "Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara in Translation: A Century of Interpretation of a Sanskrit Mahayana Text"
Linda Patrik, "A Buddhist 'good life' Theory: Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara."
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly writing assignments, an in-class presentation, and a final essay. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course counts for the "Historical Traditions" requirement for the Relgion major/minor. This course is by permission of instructor. To request a POI, please send a brief message to aquintman@wesleyan.edu detailing your interest in the course. |
| Instructor(s): Quintman,Andrew H Times: ...W... 01:20PM-04:10PM; Location: TBA |
Permission of Instructor Required
Enrollment capacity: 14 | Permission of instructor approval will be granted by the instructor during pre-registration through the Electronic Portfolio. Click "Add to My Courses" and "To request a POI electronically, click here" to submit your request. |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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