Buddhist Meditation Traditions

4 units · Undergraduate upper division (100-199)

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Knowledge of Asian languages not required. Survey of theory and practice of meditation in Buddhism, with emphasis on Theravada and Zen schools. Topics include various typologies of meditation, symbiotic relationship between meditation and soteriology, and processes by which doctrinal innovation prompts changes in meditative praxis. Letter grading.