TTC - Buddhism

Buddhism Course Number 687 -- 24 lectures (30 minutes/lecture) Taught by: Professor Malcolm David Eckel -- Boston University http://www.teach12.com/ttc/assets/coursedescriptions/687.asp http://www.teach12.com Lectures Part I Lecture 1: What is Buddhism? Lecture 2: India at the Time of the Buddha Lecture 3: The Doctrine of Reincarnation Lecture 4: The Story of the Buddha Lecture 5: All is Suffering Lecture 6: The Path to Nirvana Lecture 7: The Buddhist Monastic Community Lecture 8: Buddhist Art and Architecture Lecture 9: Thervada Buddhism in Southeast Asia Lecture 10: Mahayana Buddhism and the Bodhisattva Ideal Lecture 11: Celestial Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Lecture 12: Emptiness Part II Lecture 13: Buddhist Philosophy Lecture 14: Buddhist Tantra Lecture 15: The Theory and Practice of Mandala Lecture 16: The "First Diffusion of the Dharma" in Tibet Lecture 17: The Schools of Tibetan Buddhism Lecture 18: The Dalai Lama Lecture 19: The Origins of Chinese Buddhism Lecture 20: The Classical Period of Chinese Buddhism Lecture 21: The Origins of Japanese Buddhism Lecture 22: Honen, Shinran and Nichiren Lecture 23: Zen Lecture 24: Buddhism in America Share Professor Malcolm David Eckel?s fascination with this remarkable, lively, and challenging religious tradition. In its 2,500-year history, Buddhism has grown from a tiny religious community in northern India into a movement that now spans the globe. This course is a survey of the history of Buddhism from its origin in India in the sixth century B.C.E. to its present-day status as a major world religion. It is meant to introduce students to the astonishing vitality and adaptability of a tradition that has transformed the civilizations of India, Southeast Asia, Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan and has now become a lively component in the cultures of Europe, Australia, and the Americas. No doubt you can picture the Buddha -- seated serenely, feet crossed in front of him, hands folded in his lap. But who was the real person behind this image? What did he have to say about the nature and purpose of life? What were the origins of such concepts as reincarnation, nirvana, karma, and Zen, and what is the Buddhist understanding of them? Buddhism is your opportunity to trace the evolution of a theology that is both familiar and foreign, and prompts us to think in new ways about the definition of a satisfying and productive life. The study of Buddhism can be a great challenge to people who have grown up in the Western world. It does not share many of the central beliefs of Western religions, such as the concept of a single, almighty God, or that each human being has a permanent "self." Buddhism also has been transformed in so many ways, as it has swept across the different cultures of Asia, that it often is difficult to decide what Buddhism actually is and how it should be studied. Buddhism As an Unfolding Story Professor Eckel begins by saying that "Buddhists love to tell stories," and approaches Buddhism as the elaboration of a series of stories. Throughout this course, he acts as a storyteller as well as a lecturer, recounting the tales that have been told through the centuries to elaborate and explain the Buddhist view of life. The story of Indian religion goes back to the Vedas and the Upanishads, the ancient Indian texts that predate the life of Buddha and presented the Buddha with a series of classic religious questions. An early hymn in the Rig Veda posed a question about the origin of creation and the nature of reality: ". . . Who can tell the source of this creation? The gods are on this side of the creation. Who knows, then, where it came from and how it came into being? Where this creation came from and how it came into being -- perhaps the highest overseer in heaven knows, or perhaps even he does not know." -- Rig Veda 10.129 In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, a sage by the name of Yajñavalkya explained the process of reincarnation and compared it to the movement of a caterpillar from one blade of grass to another. This image posed a profound question about the fate of the soul in the cycle of death and rebirth: "It is like this. As a caterpillar, when it comes to the tip of a blade of grass, reaches out to a new foothold and draws itself onto it, so the self (atman), after it has knocked down this body and rendered it unconscious, reaches out to a new foothold and draws itself onto it." The entire history of Buddhism -- and all of the lectures in this course -- can be understood as a procession of stories, responding to the earliest religious questions about the nature of reality and the cycle of death and rebirth. These stories begin with the rich religious culture of India, the culture into which the Buddha was born, and which made it possible for him to craft his own distinctive solution to the problems of life and death. The stories then proceed to the life of the Buddha himself, Siddhartha Gautama. Born into a princely family in 566 B.C.E., he eventually renounced his life of privilege and became an Indian ascetic. After years of struggle, the pivotal moment in his life came when he sat under a tree and "woke up" to the meaning of life ("Buddha" means "Awakened One"). This awakening was the realization that "all of life is suffering," combined with an understanding of the path that led to the cessation of suffering, and to nirvana. The stories then examine Buddhism after the Buddha?s death. They trace the interpretation of his teaching, or Dharma; the development of the early Buddhist community and the remarkable evolution of Buddhist philosophy as it emigrated from India to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), China, Japan, Tibet, Southeast Asia, and, ultimately, the Western World. A Remarkable Capacity for Change One of the most fascinating aspects of Buddhism is its extraordinary diversity. As it adapted to new challenges in India and the rest of Asia, Buddhist beliefs went through significant, even radical, changes. Early Buddhism was a tradition of self-reliance: awakening came (if it came at all) solely on the basis of one?s own efforts. In the Mahayana movement, or "Great Vehicle," Buddhists emphasized the importance of compassion and concern for others. The Mahayana ideal of the bodhisattva ("Buddha-to-be" or "future Buddha") did not attempt to go straight to nirvana but returned to this world to help others along the path. As Mahayana Buddhism spread across India and Central Asia, it added the concept of "celestial bodhisattvas," advanced practitioners of the bodhisattva path who reside in the heavens and are able to save earthly beings who call on them for help. With these new ideas, the Mahayana movement transformed the traditional emphasis on self-reliance into an ideal of salvation by faith and reliance on an other-worldly savior. This tradition of Buddhist devotion has become extremely popular in Japan today, and is also widely represented in North America, where it seems to bear surprising similarities to Christianity. Buddhism also changed as it encountered other cultures in Asia. In China, Buddhism took on a distinctly Chinese face, becoming more respectful of duties to the family and the ancestors, more pragmatic and this-worldly, and more consistent with Chinese respect for harmony with nature. In Japan, the Buddhas were reconciled with the local deities, known as Kami, so that both could be worshipped together. The Buddhist ability to embrace change may seem puzzling to Western minds. But change lies at the very core of Buddhism. The Buddha himself espoused the doctrine of "no-self," a belief that there is no such thing as a permanent identity. Instead, the human personality and all of reality are constantly changing. Mahayana Buddhism elaborated this idea when it developed the concept of "Emptiness," the view that nothing exists in its own right, and that everything is "empty" of identity. Buddhists believe the concepts of no-self and Emptiness are far from negative: they invest their religion, and life itself, with limitless possibilities. If everything is constantly changing, then it is possible for everything to become new. If everything is an illusion, then there is no barrier to accomplishing anything. A Tradition of Political Activism Buddhist values are not always limited to aspects of life that we would call strictly "religious." Buddhism also has a lively tradition of political action. This tradition began with King Asoka, emperor of the Maurya Dynasty in India from 269-238 B.C.E. Asoka waged a campaign to conquer the Kingdom of Kalinga that was so brutal that it prompted him to convert to Buddhism. He then proclaimed himself a "righteous King" who would protect and promulgate Buddhist teachings. Asoka?s ideal has been imitated in traditional Buddhist cultures throughout the Theravada ("tradition of the elders") countries of Southeast Asia, as well as in the Mahayana countries of Tibet, China, and Japan. A striking contemporary example of the intersection between religious and political values in Southeast Asia is Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar (formerly Burma), the daughter of General Aung San, the country?s national hero. Aung San Suu Kyi became the leader of the movement against repressive military rule and was eventually placed under house arrest, where she continued to speak out in favor of the democratic opposition. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her efforts on behalf of democracy, human rights, and ethnic reconciliation. Even more familiar to us today is the work of the Dalai Lama, who has helped lead Tibetan Buddhists through a period of deep political and cultural difficulty, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his nonviolent campaign of resistance to Chinese domination in Tibet. His public involvement in many significant issues -- including human rights, the exploitation of the environment, and the oppression of minority peoples -- has made him one of the foremost spokesmen and most visible symbols of Buddhism in the contemporary world. The Buddhist Story Spreads West Buddhism?s capacity to transform itself, and in the process to influence new cultures, continued as it came in contact with Western nations. Since the end of the 19th century, Buddhism has become a respected part of life in countries far beyond its traditional home in Asia. Early Western converts to Buddhism interpreted the religion for their countrymen. In the 1880s, Henry Steele Olcott traveled to Ceylon, converted to Buddhism, and created a "Buddhist Catechism" that embodied what has been called a "Protestant" form of Buddhism, designed to make it more acceptable to Western sensibilities. Olcott?s efforts also reshaped, to some extent, the way Buddhists in Ceylon perceived their own traditions. Today, almost every variety of Buddhism has been adapted for an American audience. Fascinating new Buddhist communities, such as the Buddhist Churches of America, have taken hold on the west coast and in Hawaii. Centers for Zen practice and for Tibetan Buddhism have been established in North America, often making it possible for American converts to receive training and assume positions of leadership. Buddhist influence has also permeated many aspects of Western culture. Often a person?s first contact with Buddhism has come through reading "Siddhartha," by German author Herman Hesse, or the novels of Jack Kerouac and works of such Beat Poets as Gary Snyder. African-American author Charles Johnson uses Buddhism to explore the change of consciousness that takes place when ex-slaves experience freedom. The widespread and continuing appeal of Buddhism, Professor Eckel contends, always comes back to its stories -- of the Buddha himself, and of the ways in which others have lived their lives in the attempt to follow his example. Help Seed - BhangWalla -

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hughisGOD (2006-10-06)

why do I see seeders but no file is dl'ing?

hughisGOD (2006-10-06)

asgaghsa

Schopenhauer (2007-01-24)

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Xeokym (2008-05-20)

IGotDMCA (2010-02-01)

I strongly recommend people not share this. I got a DMCA letter from them. They will enforce protection of their copyrights. Their stuff is high quality but I chose to delete it all after I got the letter.

Makeswell (2010-03-22)

this torrent is absolutely ridiculous and perfectly encapsulates the idea of needing to both practice and study Buddhism in order to understand it, where theory is actually the Basis of practice.
a western professor speaking about Buddhism? why bother? look for Ajahn Brahm online, for example... plenty of other sources.

H4TR3D (2010-09-04)

Once the western academics get hold of something they fuck it up and use it to make money from.
Most westerners are whores.