Unit name | Hinduism and Buddhism |
---|---|
Unit code | THRS11047 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | C/4 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Professor. Gethin |
Open unit status | Open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Religion and Theology |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit provides a background and context for second and third level units concerned with Hinduism and Buddhism, and is divided into two parts. The first takes the form of a historical survey of Hinduism from the earliest times to the present day, covering problems of definition (the creation of 'Hinduism'), the religion of the Indus-Valley Civilisation, early and later Vedic religion (including the social divisions of class and caste), the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism. The study of Hinduism forms a backdrop for the study of the ideas and practices of Buddhism. Focusing on the development of Buddhism in India, the second part of the unit considers the figure of the Buddha, basic doctrine (the 'four truths', 'not self' and 'dependent origination'), Buddhist cosmology and karma, the Buddhist community, Buddhist meditation, and Indian Mahayana and Tantric Buddhism.
Aims:
By the end of the unit students will be expected to have:
20 one-hour lectures (2 x one-hour per week)
1 x 3-hour examination (100%).
Flood, Gavin, An Introduction to Hinduism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996).
Gethin, Rupert, The foundations of Buddhism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998).
Hinnells, J.R. (ed.) A New Handbook of Living Religions (Penguin, 1998); chapters on ‘Buddhism’ and ‘Hinduism’.
Rodrigues, Hillary, Introducing Hinduism (London: Routledge, 2006).
Williams, Paul, Buddhist thought: a complete guide to the Indian tradition (London: Routledge, 2000).