140122 VO Reevaluating the significance of Mahayana sutra literature in Buddhist studies (2017S)
with a focus on their methodologies
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Language: English
Examination dates
Lecturers
Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N
- Wednesday 01.03. 13:30 - 16:00 Seminarraum 1 ISTB UniCampus Hof 2 2B-O1-25
- Wednesday 15.03. 13:30 - 16:00 Seminarraum 1 ISTB UniCampus Hof 2 2B-O1-25
- Wednesday 22.03. 13:30 - 16:00 Seminarraum 1 ISTB UniCampus Hof 2 2B-O1-25
- Wednesday 29.03. 13:30 - 16:00 Seminarraum 1 ISTB UniCampus Hof 2 2B-O1-25
- Wednesday 05.04. 13:30 - 16:00 Seminarraum 1 ISTB UniCampus Hof 2 2B-O1-25
- Wednesday 26.04. 13:30 - 16:00 Seminarraum 1 ISTB UniCampus Hof 2 2B-O1-25
- Wednesday 03.05. 13:30 - 16:00 Seminarraum 1 ISTB UniCampus Hof 2 2B-O1-25
- Wednesday 10.05. 13:30 - 16:00 Seminarraum 1 ISTB UniCampus Hof 2 2B-O1-25
- Wednesday 17.05. 13:30 - 16:00 Seminarraum 1 ISTB UniCampus Hof 2 2B-O1-25
Information
Aims, contents and method of the course
Assessment and permitted materials
Minimum requirements and assessment criteria
Examination topics
Reading list
Reference Books and Papers:
Brough, J., “Thus have I heard…”Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 13(2), pp. 416-426, 1950.
Boucher, D., Bodhisattvas of the Forest and the Formation of the Mahāyāna: A Study and Translation of the Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchā-sūtra, Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2007.
Cole, A., Text as Father: Paternal Seductions in Early Mahāyāna Buddhist Literature, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2005.
Graham, W. A., Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspect of Scripture in the History of Religion, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Gombrich, R., “How the Mahāyāna Began,” Journal of the Pāli and Buddhist Studies, 1, pp.29-46, 1988.
Hawkes J. and Shimada, A, Buddhist Stupas in South Asia: Recent Archaeological, Art-Historical, and Historical Perspectives, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
von Hinüber, O. Der Beginn der Schrift und frühe Schriftlichkeit in Indien, Mainz: Akademie der Wissenschaften GMBH, 1989; “From Gilgit Lotus Sutra Manuscripts from the National Archives of India, Facsimile Edition: The Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra at Gilgit: Manuscripts, Worshippers, and Artists,” The Journal of Oriental Studies, 22, 2012, pp. 52-67.
Nattier, J., A Few Good Men: The Bodhisattva Path According to the Inquiry of Ugra [Ugraparipṛcchā], Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2003.
Ong, W. J., Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word, London and New York: Routledge, 1982.
Schopen, G., Buddhist Monks and Business Matters: Still More Papers on Monastic Buddhism in India, Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2004;
---. Figments and Fragments of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India: More Collected Papers, Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2005.
Shimoda, M., Nehangyō no kenkyū: Daijō kyōten kenkyū hōhō shiron (*A Study of the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra: With a Focus on the Methodology of the Study of Mahāyāna Sūtras), Tokyo, 1997; “The State of Research on Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Mahāyāna as Seen in Developments in the Study of Mahāyāna Sūtra,” Acta Asiatica no. 96, pp.1-23.
Smith, W. C., What is Scripture: A Comparative Approach, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993.
Walters, J., “Stūpa, Story and Empire: Constructions of the Buddha Biography in Early Post-Aśokan India,” in Hawkes and Shimada, 2009, pp.235-63 (J. Schober [ed.] Sacred Biography in Buddhist Traditions of South and Southeast Asia, Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i, pp. 160-92.)
Williams, P., Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations, London, 1989.
Brough, J., “Thus have I heard…”Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 13(2), pp. 416-426, 1950.
Boucher, D., Bodhisattvas of the Forest and the Formation of the Mahāyāna: A Study and Translation of the Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchā-sūtra, Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2007.
Cole, A., Text as Father: Paternal Seductions in Early Mahāyāna Buddhist Literature, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2005.
Graham, W. A., Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspect of Scripture in the History of Religion, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Gombrich, R., “How the Mahāyāna Began,” Journal of the Pāli and Buddhist Studies, 1, pp.29-46, 1988.
Hawkes J. and Shimada, A, Buddhist Stupas in South Asia: Recent Archaeological, Art-Historical, and Historical Perspectives, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
von Hinüber, O. Der Beginn der Schrift und frühe Schriftlichkeit in Indien, Mainz: Akademie der Wissenschaften GMBH, 1989; “From Gilgit Lotus Sutra Manuscripts from the National Archives of India, Facsimile Edition: The Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra at Gilgit: Manuscripts, Worshippers, and Artists,” The Journal of Oriental Studies, 22, 2012, pp. 52-67.
Nattier, J., A Few Good Men: The Bodhisattva Path According to the Inquiry of Ugra [Ugraparipṛcchā], Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2003.
Ong, W. J., Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word, London and New York: Routledge, 1982.
Schopen, G., Buddhist Monks and Business Matters: Still More Papers on Monastic Buddhism in India, Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2004;
---. Figments and Fragments of Mahāyāna Buddhism in India: More Collected Papers, Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2005.
Shimoda, M., Nehangyō no kenkyū: Daijō kyōten kenkyū hōhō shiron (*A Study of the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra: With a Focus on the Methodology of the Study of Mahāyāna Sūtras), Tokyo, 1997; “The State of Research on Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Mahāyāna as Seen in Developments in the Study of Mahāyāna Sūtra,” Acta Asiatica no. 96, pp.1-23.
Smith, W. C., What is Scripture: A Comparative Approach, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993.
Walters, J., “Stūpa, Story and Empire: Constructions of the Buddha Biography in Early Post-Aśokan India,” in Hawkes and Shimada, 2009, pp.235-63 (J. Schober [ed.] Sacred Biography in Buddhist Traditions of South and Southeast Asia, Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i, pp. 160-92.)
Williams, P., Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations, London, 1989.
Association in the course directory
BA13, EC-1/3, MATB4
Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:34
In order to gain an overview of the history of Buddhism concerned with Mahāyāna sūtra literature in ancient India, this class will take up several topics with the aim of clarifying the principal characteristics of this literature, such as “similarity and dissimilarity with sūtras preserved in the four nikāyas/ āgamas in terms of style, narrative, terminology and ideology,” “characteristics as literary texts in contrast to orally-organized materials in their origins,” “revision and reuse of preceding works in the process of compilation,” “irreconcilable disagreements on social and institutional situations reconstructed on the basis of archaeological researches,” “problems in the hypotheses of the origin(s) of the Mahāyāna,” “distinct qualities in respect to religious scripture in comparison with Christian and Islamic texts,” and so forth.
In this series of lectures, a primary focus is to be placed on the following two aspects: first, the analysis of methodologies used in the relevant studies with the aim of examining their features in the wider context of the humanities studies, which has recently been exposed to an urgent need of reconsideration due to two major events: namely, the appearance of “the linguistic turn” in the science of history and the emergence of “digital humanities” in the transformation of the media. Second, the introduction of the rich products of Buddhist studies in Japan in comparison with those of the West, which will show that Buddhist studies is in itself a history of the humanities on a global scale.