Meditation: Buddhist and Christian

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This class introduces students to the aims and methods of meditation with a particular emphasis on its Buddhist and Christian forms. It covers the stages of meditation in both traditions, their Scriptural foundations, and the wide variety of techniques used to attain contemplative states, including prayer, visualization, and the control of posture, breath, sleep, and dreams. Christian sources will include the Bible, St. Gregory of Nyssa, Evagrius Ponticus, St. John of Sinai, St. Dominic, St. Bonaventure, Gregory Palamas, St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Seraphim of Sarov, and Pavel Florensky. Buddhist sources will include Tsongkhapa, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Lati Rinpoche, and other modern Tibetan authors. Special attention will also be given to recent debates about the Christian practice of yoga.