REL 212: Asian Religious Traditions

Professor: Cat Prueitt

cprueit@emory.edu
TTh 8:30-9:45
Candler Library 124

Overall Goals and Structure of the Class:

This course examines the intertwined development of Hindu and Buddhist traditions in
South Asia. We will focus on sacred texts, stories, ideas, practices and rituals over a
period spanning from the revelation of the Vedas in the Indus Valley to the advent of
Buddhism in Tibet. Through extensive engagement with primary texts in translation,
we'll develop an appreciation for the internal diversity of these traditions and the ways in
which they influenced each other over time.

Grading structure:

1) Blog and Class Engagement: 30% (15% for doing it and 15% for quality).
Each week’s engagement is worth 3% of your final class grade. We will have a total of
10 blog posts. The 15% for quality is measured by the extent to which your discussions
on and off-line thoughtfully engage with the readings. In order to get full credit, you must
explicitly cite some portion of the week’s readings. The other 15% comes just for
attending class and putting up something related to our weekly topic.

Link to our blog: http://asianreligioustraditions.blogspot.com

One post can simply say "I'm sorry I got overwhelmed this week and cannot post" and
still earn full credit; after this one free post, you'll get 0.5% credit just for posting that you
can't post. Your posts can be short as long as they’re substantive. You can respond to
other students’ posts, but please do so in an independent post rather than as a comment
(it’s easier for me to keep track this way). You can ask questions or say that you don't
understand some part of the reading. If you ask me a direct question in a post, I will
respond to it in a comment. Posts are due by 8pm on Wednesday so that I have time to
read them and prepare for our discussion on Thursday. Late posts get half credit if they're
done within 2 weeks of when they were due.

2) Unit Papers: 3 papers at 20% each = 60%.

1000-1500 words (approximately 3.5-5 pages). I’ll provide a topic at least one week
before the paper is due.

3) Final Reflection Paper: 10%.

1500-2000 words (approximately 5-7 pages). This take-home paper will be due on our
exam date (~one week after the end of class). In it, you will reflect on the themes of the
class as a whole and your understanding of Hinduism, Buddhism, and how the traditions
relate to each other. Sit back, take a breath, think about what you’ve learned, and tell me
about it.
The Honor Code is in effect at all times in this class, including for blog posts.

Office Hours: By appointment. I’d love to talk with you! Please don’t hesitate to contact
me to set something up; I can be flexible with the timing.

Late Policy:
If you do not ask me for an extension, I will deduct 1% from your final grade on an essay
for each day it is late. This is a hard and fast policy. If you would like an extension,
please send me a ridiculous excuse. It can be a story about how an alien in a blue
telephone booth whisked you away to the far corners of the universe, an account of how
mutant dinosaurs devoured your computer, or anything else you fancy. It can be short and
you can ask for the extension on midnight the day the essay is due if you need to. Just
talk to me and try not to worry.

Required Texts:

Ganeri, Jonardon. The Concealed Art of the Soul. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
ISBN-10: 0199658595.

Gethin, Rupert. The Foundations of Buddhism. New York: Oxford University Press,
1998. ISBN-10: 0192892231.

Mittal and Thursby, eds, The Hindu World. New York: Routledge, 2004.

Unit I: Early Movements

Week One: Vedas

September 1st: Nicholson, Unifying Hinduism, “Introduction: Contesting the Unity of

Hinduism,” 1-5; Patton, “Veda and Upaniṣad,” from The Hindu World, 37-51,
Holdredge, “Dharma,” from The Hindu World, 213-248, selections from the Ṛg Veda.

Blog post #1 due Wednesday by 8pm

September 3rd: Ganeri, The Concealed Art of the Soul, “Hidden in the Cave: the
Upaniṣadic Self,” 13-38, Black, The Character of the Self in Ancient India, “Debates
between Brahmins: The Competitive Dynamics of the brahmodaya,” 59-100, selections
from the Upaniṣads

Week Two: The Buddha’s Challenge

September 8th: Life and times of the Buddha
Gethin, The Foundations of Buddhism, “Chapter 1: The Buddha” and and 59-84; Ganeri,
“Chapter II: Dangerous Truths,” 39-60, selections from Buddhacārita

Blog post #2 due Wednesday by 8pm

September 10th: No-self and dependent origination

Gethin, “Chapter III: Four Truths” and “Chapter VI: No Self,” 7-34 and 133-162;
selections from the Nikāyas

Week Three: Beginnings, Ends, and the World in Between

September 15th: Gethin, The Sayings of the Buddha, “The Origin of Things,” 116-128;
Gethin, The Foundations of Buddhism, “Chapter 5: The Buddhist Cosmos,” 112-132;
Collins, Nirvana, “Nirvana as concept,” 29-60

Blog post #3 due Wednesday by 8pm

September 17th: The Hindu World, “Purāṇa,” “Karma,” (optional) and “Mokṣa,” 97-118,
309-330, 228-308; selections from Vedas

Week Four: Early Narratives

September 22nd: Rāmāyana and Mahābhārata

Goldman and Goldman, “Rāmāyaṇa,” from The Hindu World, 75-96; Selections from the
Rāmāyana; Fitzgerald, “Mahābhārata,” from The Hindu World, 52-74; Ganeri, “Chapter
3: A Cloak of Clever Words,” 61-94 (optional); Selections from the Mahābhārata

*Unit I paper topic handed out in class*

Blog post #4 due Wednesday by 8pm

September 24th: Avadānas and Jātakas

Collins, Nirvana, “Chapter 5: Past and Future Buddhas” and Appendix I and II, 126-184;
Rotman, Divine Stories, “The Story of Koṭikarṇa” and “The Story of Svāgata,” 39-70 and
289-324

Unit II: Creating Self and Other

Week Five: Early Systematic Thought

September 29th: Abhidharma and Nyāya

Heim, The Forerunner of All Things, “Chapter 2: The Work of Intention,” 85-132;
Ganeri, “The Motive and Method of Rational Inquiry,” Philosophy in Classical India, 7-
41

October 1st: Mīmāṃsā and Buddhist logic

Bartley, “Mīmāṃsā” and Eltschinger, “Dharmakīrti”

***Unit I paper due by 11:59pm on Friday, October 2nd via Blackboard***

Week Six: Expanding Narratives

October 6th: Mahāyāna Sūtras

Reading: Williams, “Mahāyāna Buddhism”; selections from the Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra

Blog post #5 due Wednesday by 8pm

October 8th: Kāvya

Shulman, More than Real, Chapters 1-3, 1-79;

Week Seven: Take a break and more kāvya

October 13th: Fall Break; no class

Blog post #6 due Wednesday by 8pm

October 15th: Selections from Rāma’s Last Act, Shulman, “Bhavabhūti on Cruelty and
Compassion,” 49-82

Week Eight: Anti-Realism

October 20th: Madhyamaka

Williams, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Chapters 2 and 3: Perfection of Wisdom Sutras and
Mādhyamika (up to p. 81); selections from the Mūlamadhyamakakārika

Blog post #7 due Wednesday by 8pm

October 22nd: Advaita

Bartley, “Chapter 11: Advaita Vedānta,” Introduction to Indian Philosophy, 134-168;
Ram-Prasad, Advaita Epistemology and Metaphysics (selections)

Week Nine: The World is Mind

October 27th: Yogācāra
Williams, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Chapter 4: Yogācāra; Madhyāntavibhāga Chapter 1;

Blog post #8 due Wednesday by 8pm

October 29th: Pratyabhijñā

Ratié, “Pāramārtika or Apāramārtika? On the Ontological Status of Separation
According to Abhinavagupta”; “The Yogin and the Dreamer”

*Unit II Paper topic handed out in class*

Unit III: Yoga, Tantra, and Devotion

Week Ten: Review and Classical Yoga

November 3rd: Review day

November 5th: Classical Yoga

Selections from Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra

***Unit II Paper Due Friday, November 6th at 11:59pm via Blackboard***

Week Eleven: Tantra what???

November 10th: Tantra Part I

Wedemeyer, “Chapter 1: Origins, Religion, and the Origins of Tantrism” and “Chapter 2:
Narrating Tantric Buddhism,” 17-67

Blog post #9 due Wednesday by 8pm

November 12th: Buddhist Tantra

Wedemeyer, “Chapter 4: The Semiology of Transgression” and “Chapter 5: The Practice
of Indian Tantric Buddhism,” 105-169

Week Twelve: A bit of clarity

November 17th: Internalizing tantra

Sanderson, “Meaning in Tantric Ritual,” (selections: 24-29, 36-53, 76-87).

Blog post #10 due Wednesday by 8pm

November 19th: Clarifying the Natural State

*Unit III Paper Topic handed out in class*

Week Thirteen: No class Thanksgiving Week! (I’m at a conference Tuesday the

24th)

Week Fourteen: Kṛṣṇa and Devotion

***Unit III Paper due Monday, November 30th by 11:59pm via Blackboard***

December 1st: Bhagavadgītā

December 3rd: Love Song of the Dark Lord; Lorenzen, “Bhakti,” The Hindu World, 185-
210

Last Day of Class December 7th

Reflection papers due on Tuesday December 15th by 11:59pm