2018-2019 University Catalogue 
    
    Mar 29, 2024  
2018-2019 University Catalogue [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

RELG 295 - Tibetan Buddhism


What accounts for the popularity of Tibetan Buddhism among certain Hollywood elite as well as a growing number of Chinese in the world today? Why did Tibet give rise to the unique institution of the reincarnating lama, best known in the West through the figure of the Dalai Lama? What goes on in Tibetan monasteries, the largest monasteries in world history? Understanding the answers to these questions requires that one examine the place and privilege of religion and Buddhism in particular in Tibetan culture. Through the close reading of the autobiography of a Tibetan saint, Buddhist myth, ethnographic descriptions, and philosophical treatises, as well as Buddhist art and other media, student will come to understand the centrality of religion to many aspects of life in Tibet, and gain a basic understanding of Buddhist philosophy, ritual/contemplative practices, pilgrimage, popular practices, monastic life, and other facets of religion and life in Tibet.

Credits: 1.00
Corequisite: None
Prerequisites: None
Major/Minor Restrictions: None
Class Restriction: None
Area of Inquiry: Human Thought and Expression
Liberal Arts CORE: None
Formerly: RELG 327


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