Unit information: The Buddhist Path to Awakening in 2012/13

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Unit name The Buddhist Path to Awakening
Unit code THRS20171
Credit points 20
Level of study I/5
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director Emeritus Professor. Gethin
Open unit status Not open
Pre-requisites

None
Co-requisites

None
School/department Department of Religion and Theology
Faculty Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

Focusing on perhaps the most fundamental notion of Buddhism, the path to ‘awakening’ or 'enlightenment’, this unit examines the theory and practices associated with its progressive stages culminating in the attainment of nirvana. Loosely following the framework of one of the classic manuals of Buddhism, Buddhaghosa’s The Path of Purification (5th century), the unit begins by looking at the general Buddhist understanding of the world and the problem of suffering, and then moves on to consider the Buddhist conception of ethics and ‘moral conduct’, Buddhist devotional and ascetic practices, the variety of Buddhist meditation practices, the philosophy of ‘not self’ as the basis for directly seeing the world ‘as it truly is’, before finally turning to the attainment of nirvana and the Buddhist understanding of what it means to be ‘enlightened’.

Through considering the theory and practice of the stages of the Buddhist path as outlined in some ancient sources:

  • to develop further an understanding of some of the fundamental ideas and practices of Buddhism which can form the basis for the study of particular forms and aspects of Buddhism;
  • to develop a sense of how the practice of ancient Buddhism relates to the contemporary practice of Buddhism in South and South East Asia;
  • to introduce students to the study of some primary Buddhist textual material in translation.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the unit students should have:

  • an overall understanding of the theory and practice of the Buddhist path as outlined in some ancient sources
  • a deepened understanding of some of the fundamental ideas and practices of Buddhism;
  • a basic familiarity with some of the contemporary practices of Buddhism in South and South East Asia;
  • direct experience of some primary Buddhist textual materials in translation.

Teaching Information

1 lecture and 1 seminar per week.

Assessment Information

One summative coursework essay for 2500 words (50%) and one exam of 2 hours (50%).

Reading and References

Buddhaghosa, The Path of Purification : Visuddhimagga, trans. by Ñānamoli

Bhikkhu, 5th edn (Onalaska WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions, 1999)

Collins, S., Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Theravāda Buddhism, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982)

Gethin, R., The Foundations of Buddhism (Oxford: OUP, 1998)

Sayings of the Buddha: New translations by Rupert Gethin from the Pali Nikāyas, Oxford World's Classics (Oxford: OUP, 2008)

Schopen, Gregory, Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks: Collected Papers on the Archaeology, Epigraphy, and Texts of Monastic Buddhism in India (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1997)

Vajirañāna, Paravahera Mahāthera, Buddhist Meditation in Theory and Practice: A General Exposition according to the Pāli Canon of the Theravāda School (Kuala Lumpur: Buddhist Missionary Society, 1975)

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