Teaching Buddhism in the West: From the Wheel to the WebVictor Sōgen Hori, Richard P. Hayes, James Mark Shields At a time when the popularity of Buddhism is at a peak in the west, both inside and outside the university setting, scholars and students alike are searching for guidance: How should Buddhism, a religion which is ultimately 'foreign' to western experience, be taught? How should one teach central Buddhist doctrines and ideas? Should one teach Buddhist practise; if so how? Until now, those interested in these and other related matters have been left with little guidance. Despite the wealth of scholarly publications on Buddhist traditions and the plethora of books about meditation and enlightenment, a serious lacuna exists in the sphere of teaching Buddhism. This book fills this lacuna, by providing a series of thematically arranged articles written by contemporary scholars of Buddhism throughout North America. Some of the major themes covered are the history of teaching Buddhism in Europe and North America (Reynolds, Prebish), the problem of representations of Buddhism in undergraduate teaching (Lewis), the problem of crossing cultural and historical divides (Jenkins), the place of the body and mind in the Buddhist classroom (Waterhouse), alternative pedagogical methods in teaching Buddhism (Wotypka, Jarow, Hori, Grimes) and the use of the Internet as a resource, and metaphor for teaching Buddhism (Fenn, Grieder). |
Contents
History and Analysis | 17 |
Using Scientific Analogies | 84 |
Buddhist Traditions | 107 |
Introducing Buddhism in a Course on Postmodernism | 141 |
Liberal Education and the Teaching of Buddhism | 170 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
academic Asian basic Bodhisattva Buddha Buddhism in America Buddhist communities Buddhist Studies Buddhist traditions buddhologists Cabezón Christian classroom concepts contemporary context critical culture dents Derrida Dharma dhism dhist dialogue discipline discussion distance education dōjō Eckel emptiness engage evaluations experience faculty Frank Reynolds human individual Indra's Net institutions instructors intellectual interpretation issues Japan Japanese José Cabezón jūdō jūjutsu Kanō kansetsuwaza kata learning liberal education living Madhyamaka Mahāyāna maṇḍala martial arts means meditation mind modern monastic monks Nāgārjuna narratives Nietzsche North American notion objective paper pedagogical percent philosophy postmodern practice Prebish present Press Professor question reality Religion Religious Studies Reynolds ritual scholars scholarship shimewaza skills social spiritual story study of Buddhism Takenouchi-ryū teachers teaching Buddhism teaching of Buddhism techniques texts Theravāda Tibetan Buddhism tion translation truth ukemi understanding University Web-based courses Western worldview writing