Religion 202

Introduction to World Religions: Eastern Traditions

Introduction

Introduction to World Religions: Eastern Traditions is an introduction to the major religious traditions of Asia, including Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism, Inner Asian Shamanism, Confucianism and Taoism, and Shinto, which encompass the traditions of South, Southeast, Inner, and East Asia. For each of these traditions, we will consider its history and mythology, the great themes and ideas which have shaped the worlds of meaning for the followers, and the ways of worshipping and achieving the good life, individually and socially. Readings from the sacred texts and great thinkers of each tradition will constitute the primary sources for our study, while these course materials and other readings and Internet materials will expand our awareness of cultural contexts and religious experiences.

In this class you will be getting acquainted with an academic investigation of religions and "religious" phenomena. In acquiring an understanding of these religions and religious worlds, I don't expect you to become a follower of any of these traditions, nor do I encourage you to assume a protective or defensive stance in your present system of belief or unbelief.

"Comparative religion is not competitive religion."

—(Conlon n.d.)

Course Objectives

By the end of the course you will

• have a basic understanding of the diverse religions, rituals and belief systems of Asian cultures as they exist in the contemporary world;
• be able to think and learn about religions critically and comparatively rather than competitively;
• acquire techniques for understanding belief systems from a perspective other than your own;
• be able to critically write about and discuss diverse Asian religious worlds using evidence provided by primary textual sources and social/cultural ethnographic examples;
• gain an appreciation for the complexities, subtleties, diversity and richness of Asian religions beyond apparent surface similarities; and
• possibly be inspired to learn more about Asian religions.

Course "Subjectives"

By the end of the course you will not necessarily

• become an accomplished practitioner of one or more Asian religions;
• be encouraged to lose faith in a religion you now believe in;
• be persuaded to convert to Hinduism or Buddhism;
• have the definitive answer to life's most perplexing questions; or
• be able to open a lotus on the top of your head, levitate, or become possessed.

About the Online Environment

This online course contains special text characters. In order to properly view all characters, it is recommended that you use the Mozilla Firefox Web browser.  The Firefox browser is available at http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ at no cost.

Your online course offers several advantages to the traditional classroom, including the comprehensive Online Student Handbook, the ability to communicate electronically with students and with your instructor, and links to a rich array of online resources.

Online Student Handbook

This handbook answers questions about your online learning course, such as how to purchase your text, schedule an exam, obtain a transcript, and get technical help if you need it. The handbook also provides additional resources, such as how to order books or journals from the library and how to study for an online course.

Communication with Your Instructor and Student Peers

• Online Discussion Forums, designed by the University of Washington award winning Catalyst team, allow you to communicate with other currently enrolled students and with your instructor. We encourage you to use the forum to exchange ideas, resources, and comments about your course work with other students in this course. This unstructured forum is monitored by your instructor.
• You can use e-mail to ask me a question or preferably post your question on the forum. I will reply there.

Online Resources

As an online student, you have access to a wealth of Web resources compiled to provide fast, easy access to information that supports your online learning experience. Organized by subjects, Online Resources link you to sites with help for writing and research, study skills, language learning, and library reference materials. All links have been assessed for credibility and reliability, and they are regularly monitored to ensure their usability.

Course Specific Online Resources

I also maintain a Web page for this class at the following address:

http://faculty.washington.edu/iltis/

The Web site will be a place from which I will make available additional reading lists, illustrations, and supplementary study materials. I have a number of links you may wish to explore. I will add new links as I find them.

A Note About Special Fonts

There are online key terms flashcards used in each lesson. Some of those sections use special fonts called devanagari. Your computer might not be configured to view them properly. You can follow the steps listed for all operating systems linked at this site: http://www.devanaagarii.net/ in Why Can't I See the Hindi Section? At that page, click on the link for your computer's operating system, and follow the instructions for testing to see if you can view the fonts properly, and for configuring your system if you cannot.

Information about You

Please complete the student information sheet and return it with your first assignment so that I can know who you are and what got you interested in taking this class. Before beginning the class take a minute to answer the following questions on a piece of paper as a reference point about yourself and what you think about religions in general. At the end of the class you can revisit these same questions.

1. What core elements do you think are necessary for a "religion" to exist?
2. Are rituals necessary for a religion to exist?
3. What makes a text a "religious" or "sacred" text? And why are sacred texts important?
4. What are some key adjectives you would use to describe Asian religions?
5. Do all religions have a belief in an almighty higher power?
6. How are Eastern religions different from Western religions?

About Your Online Course Materials

This course is a survey of Asian religions. The course materials and assignments are arranged in three parts:

1. The first part covers South Asian Religions, which include Hinduism, Jainism, and the Sikh Religion.
2. The second part covers Buddhism, a pan-Asian religion which originated in South Asia and spread to other areas, and includes Indo-Tibetan Buddhism (Theravāda and Mahāyāna), Indo-Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayāna), Tibetan Bon religion, and East Asian Buddhism.
3. The third part covers Religions of North and East Asia, including Inner-North Asian Shamanism (healing and possession practices), and East Asian Religions including Ancestor worship, Confucianism, and Taoism of China; Shinto, and New Religions of Japan.
4. Finally, there are three appendices that include the works cited in the individual lessons, a glossary, and a pronunciation and transliteration guide.

Textbooks

Before starting any of the assignments, do the assigned reading for that section and review the organization of all the textbooks for the class.

The primary textbook for this course, Sacred Paths of the East by Theodore Ludwig, discusses all of the Asian religions covered in this course from the following thematic perspectives:

• Sacred Story or Historical context: texts/contexts
• Worlds of Meaning: meaning/interpretation
• Worship and the Good life: ritual practices

This text will help you to easily compare the major religious traditions, and it gives a historical time line and map at the beginning of each section. There are glossaries at the end of each section as well, which will help you to review and identify key terminology. There are discussion questions at the end of each section, which you should review.

Because our understanding of religions requires an understanding of the sacred literature of each tradition, there are three other sets of readings including two other texts and a supplementary reader that provide translations of primary textual sources for each of the religions.

The Hindu Tradition, by Ainslee Embree, uses an historical approach, with early texts followed by later texts. Materials for Jainism and Sikh religion are also included in this volume. Excerpts from the translated texts are provided following short introductory remarks. Be sure to read both, and keep track of what is text and what is analysis by Embree.

Experience of Buddhism, by John S. Strong, is organized semi-historically according to Buddhism in South Asia and Buddhism outside India, and by schools of Buddhism, with attention to parallel themes. As with the Embree volume above, translated excerpts are prefaced with valuable introductory remarks.

The supplementary reader includes translations of the Bhagavad Gita, Puranic Vrata stories, and textual sources on Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, Shamanism, and local religions.

Although this may seem like a lot of reading, it is necessary to have a broad exposure to the literature of these world traditions. While the overview text is a secondary source, written by a scholar who mediates the information for us about a culture separate from his own, these translations of primary sources will engage you directly with the primary textual sources, which are authored by specialists within each cultural tradition. Use of these primary textual sources in the preparation of your written assignments is expected.

Assignments

Evaluation of your work will be based on four essay papers, an open-book mid-term and closed book final examination that will each combine two essays and an objective section, with multiple choice. To enable you to review intelligently for the exam, short objective quiz exercises are provided to assist you in tracking your progress and understanding of the material.

You are expected to read all course materials and to complete all written assignments. Pace yourself, and be sure to wait for feedback from the first assignment before jumping into the next assignment. You are encouraged to contact me, by voice mail or e-mail, with any questions concerning the course or its subject matter. Please see the "About Your Instructor" page linked to your course syllabus for information about submitting assignments.

Tips for Written Assignments

Written assignments, unless otherwise structured, are to be two to three pages long.

Before writing an assignment, review each of the question options carefully. I recommend doing this at the beginning of each new section of these online course materials before you do all the readings for that section. While you are doing the readings, take notes on things that might relate to the various questions.

Before starting your essay, select a topic from the list of choices that you think will be enjoyable and interesting. Make sure that you restate the question at the top of your assignment. I don't need a title page, just your name, student number, date, assignment number, and question at the top of the first page. Please put your name on the top of each page of the essay, so that if it gets separated accidentally, I'll know it is yours.

Before rushing to your books for answers, sit down and start writing, in your own voice, about some of the obvious issues and main points you will discuss. Try to do as much as possible without looking at the books, but refer to your reading notes if you need to. Pretend you are telling a friend or relative about the topic, and don't assume the reader knows anything. If you have trouble getting started, try explaining something to a real friend just to develop experience in verbalizing ideas in your own words.

After getting some ideas on paper, go back to your sources to bring in some examples from the primary textual source materials. All quotations, including paraphrased quotes, should be cited and properly referenced using a consistent style. I prefer the social science method: (author last name, publication date: page number—Embree 1972: 49–50), but you may use other methods, such as citing the full name of author and work publisher, date, page number, etc. in a footnote, if you wish. Academic honesty is extremely important. If you use any texts or materials, be sure to cite the works. If you use the short social science form of citations in the essay, be sure that at the end of your assignment you give the full citations of works cited.

There is a tendency for some students to emphasize citations from these online course materials and the main textbook. Sometimes this can't be avoided, but I prefer that you use the textual sources for textual examples, and the overview text for examples of rituals and practices.

Further Reading

If you find yourself wanting to read more about a religion and would like to get another perspective, you may want to start by looking at the bibliographies of the textbooks for authoritative sources. An excellent source is the multi-volume Encyclopedia of Religion edited by Mircea Eliade, usually found in the reference section of college and city libraries.

A Word of Caution on Sources

Because of the popularity of Eastern religions, there are many books, Web sites, and magazines available on this subject. It is not always easy to tell what is a reliable source. Many sources on Asian religions are personal statements by American admirers, some of whom write from a standpoint of relatively little knowledge or experience of these traditions. Even some writings by experienced long-term Asian religious practitioners are tailored to the interest of a particular sect or a particular American market that the author is hoping to attract, and the approach used may be quite different from "traditional" ideas and practices in that tradition. Caveat (or reader) emptor! Become a critical reader; go for the thick description and avoid the slick descriptions.

If you have any questions about the appropriateness of a book or Web site for this class, don't hesitate to check with me first.

Grading

Grading is based on four written essay assignments, quizzes, an open book midterm and a proctored, closed book final exam.

Your grade will be divided as follows:

• The four essays will be worth 40 percent (10 percent each).
• The quizzes will be worth 10 percent.
• The midterm will be worth 20 percent.
• The final will be worth 30 percent.

Passing the Class

Before starting the class, here are some suggestions for succeeding in this class based on primary sources from eastern religions.

Enlightenment #1*: The secret to passing this course, or any other course for that matter, (from the Hindu tradition):

On Action alone be thy interest
never on its fruits;
Let not the fruits of action be thy motive
Nor be thy attachment to inaction.

(Bhagavad Gita, II, 47)

Enlightenment #2*: Cultivating Right Mindfulness, (from Buddhist tradition):

When you are working, know that you are working,
When you are worrying, know that you are worrying,
When you are wasting time, know that you are wasting time
When you are studying, know that you are studying. . . 

(Adapted from the film "Footprint of the Buddha")

Enlightenment #3

Strive diligently!

(The final words of the Buddha to his disciples before he died.)

* Courtesy of Frank Conlon, Professor of History and Comparative Religion, University of Washington.

About Your Course Developer—Linda Iltis

My interest in Asian Religions started when I was in high school and took a course on world civilizations where I learned about Zen Buddhism. I also had friends who were interested in an Indian guru. As an undergraduate, I went to Nepal on a foreign study program, where I was surrounded by the richness of both Hindu and Buddhist traditions on a daily basis. My first encounter with a Hindu temple there caused me great anxiety. I went to visit the famous Shiva temple, Pashupatinath, where a sign was posted at the door, "No foreigners allowed." I had half expected this, so I climbed a hill where I could see into the courtyard, and I was amazed to see a colossal golden bull facing the inner shrine. I was immediately reminded of the story of the golden calf from my Sunday school class, picturing a golden bull and God saying something like, "Thou shall have no graven images before thee." The distance I suddenly felt was enormous, and even though I had read something about all Hindu gods and goddesses having animal vehicles, with Shiva's being a bull, the graphic impact struck me, and piqued my curiosity. I felt strongly humbled not only by the size of the bull but by being labeled an impure caste because I was not born into a pure Hindu caste.

A famous scholar of comparative religion, Rudolf Otto, once stated that to begin a study of religions, you need to have had an experience that you consider to be deeply religious or sacred. This allows you to empathize with the experience of the sacred in another culture. I would argue that this might help, but that there are other experiences which can also trigger one's interest about religions, and one's personal prior religious experience can also create an unexpected barrier to understanding. We should always be mindful of what an outside perspective adds to or takes away from the study of any religion.

I have participated in numerous Hindu and Buddhist rituals and even received Tibetan Buddhist initiations directly from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. But this, by itself, doesn't make me an authority in Hinduism or Buddhism, any more than my being raised in a Methodist family and attending church every Sunday has made me an authority in Christianity.

When we pick a major in college we have already begun to focus more on some things and less on others. I consider myself to be a scholar of South Asian religious traditions. I chose cultural anthropology and South Asian Languages and Literature as primary disciplines for my graduate studies. This interdisciplinary focus lends itself well to the study of comparative religion, where both texts and social interactions are important aspects. Some scholars of religion take a more historical approach, while others are interested exclusively in texts. Knowing the history and development of religious ideas and texts is only part of what we must know to understand what people think about when they are "being religious" and the meaning of ritual actions. Contemporary religious beliefs and practices must also be studied for an understanding of all the dimensions that make up a religious world. Having structural awareness of what is central in a religion complements our understanding of chronological developments.

My interdisciplinary interests include work in comparative religion, anthropology, Hinduism and Buddhism, gender and religion, ritual performance, Hindu/Buddhist kingship, and sacred geography. I studied and did field research in Sanskrit and Classical Newari, two South Asian scriptural languages, and conducted most of my research in the Himalayan region of Nepal, Sri Lanka, and India (among Tibetan refugee communities) and among diaspora populations of South Asians in the United States. More recently, I have done comparative research on spirit possession with traditional healers in Ghana, West Africa. You might want to know what a Caucasian, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant-family female could possibly tell you about religions and cultures of which my personal experience is everything but that of an insider. To be honest, I am an outsider, and part of the purpose of this class is to give you tools by which you can establish your own position relative to your subject of inquiry without throwing away the possibility of learning something useful about these religions.

What Are Religious Worlds?

A good working definition of religion might be:

a distinctive set of beliefs, symbols, rituals, doctrines, institutions, and practices that enables the members of the tradition to establish, maintain, and celebrate a meaningful world.

(Earhart 1993: 7)

Academic approaches to the study of religion range from historical, to phenomenological, to sociological and psychological, to anthropological, to theological.

A lot goes into understanding religions as phenomena, as communities of people, as philosophies, as oral or written histories, and as world systems. Detailed knowledge of only one person's beliefs in any religion or branch of it is not going to give you the whole story. Knowledge, by the very act of imparting it to another individual becomes mediated and adapted, filtered by language, and re-adapted by the persons hearing it.

There are many dimensions to religious worlds that may not always be apparent to us. In the United States we think of separation of church and state. But this is not a universally accepted proposition, and is a new adaptation to multicultural contexts. In most cultures, religion is what defines the world view, including everything from understandings of physical and nonphysical objects, to politics, social order, education, agriculture, and so on. Some religions are more tolerant or inclusive, welcoming change and innovation, while others are more exclusive and less tolerant of newcomers or changes to an established heritage. The fact remains that as people and society change in a constantly changing physical and political economic environment, religions change and adapt too. Even orthodoxy and rigid fundamentalism can be a form of change that is a protective response to other changes that seem to threaten the continuance of a religious system and social order. Despite our calling them "traditions," religions are impermanent, constantly changing evolving phenomena, which change with the people who practice and have beliefs. We like to think there are such things as age-old wisdom, ancient traditions, living artifacts, but things, people, and religion change through time. These are some of the issues that we need to be mindful of while attending to the study of religions.

As your instructor, I am not here as a religious missionary, but as a scholar of religions. There may be some of you who might practice one of the Asian religions. This is an opportunity for you to look at these religions from another perspective, and learn more.

Techniques for Approaching Religion and Culture

There is a famous novel and film, Lost Horizon, which speaks of Tibet as Shangri-La, a land of mystery and eternal youth and as a link to civilization of the golden age in the ancient past. Tibetan Buddhism is seen as a precious relic of the past, preserved and set in amber. This is what I would call the Jurassic Park view of religion. What follows are several things to consider, to help you avoid falling into the trap of thinking this way about religions.

• Avoid objectifying religion.
  Religions are rarely frozen in time except when novelists or filmmakers want us to see them that way. To take this position presumes that the religion is dead or no longer of interest in the contemporary universe. It distances one from seeing the dynamic processes of change and the flexibility in belief structures that keep religions going. Religions aren't static.
• Avoid single general definitions.
  Attempts to find broad definitions of religions can result in artificial categorizations that may oversimplify the issues that need further exploration. Avoid a rush to judgment. Let apparent contradictions help you understand, rather than trying to resolve them too easily.
• Be aware of cultural diversity and avoid ethnocentrism.
  Ethnocentrism is viewing and evaluating other cultures using your own belief system as a guide rather than attempting to understand a culture through its own belief system.
• Avoid pejorative and judgmental labeling and terminology when discussing religions.
  Using terms like superstition, chaos, or simple to describe religious phenomena diminishes their value by labeling them as unorganized and not deserving of serious inquiry.
• Keep an open mind.
  We can never expect to gain a perfect insider's viewpoint from which to view another cultural tradition, but we can become more aware of how our own beliefs and strategies may distort our observations. In looking at all this new material, try to keep an open mind.
• Do you have to agree with or believe what these religions say?
  No. Your personal beliefs are your own business.
• Don't assume your own boundaries of religion are valid in other cultural contexts.
• Never assume anything!
• Take the comparative rather than competitive approach toward religions.
  Is it necessary or valuable to judge these new ideas with your own beliefs or nonbelief? Not really. Attempts to size up your "own" against "other" results in limited and truncated types of conclusions and forces you to frame the "other" ethnocentrically in terms of your "own," thereby arriving at potentially polar opposites of right, wrong, better, inferior.
  We can't help comparing, but we should remember that comparing to understand is different from evaluating as personal choice. It's like trying to understand French by always comparing it to English or your native language, and finding fault with the inadequacy of the French.
  Some of you may consider yourself to be part of one of the religions discussed here. You will have an opportunity here to conduct detached re-examination of the tradition from a distanced academic perspective.
• Remember that religious worlds are living religions.
  All the religions we study here are living religions practiced by living people. All are part of the contemporary world. The primary objective of this class is to expand your perception of what constitutes "living" religions, and help you to understand the diversities of human experience as religious worlds.

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