Week 1: Introduction to Buddhism and Healing
- Overview of Buddhism's key principles and their relevance to healing.
- Definitions of healing in Buddhist traditions.
- Assigned Reading: Lopez, Donald S. The Story of Buddhism: A Concise Guide to Its History and Teachings (Chapter 1)
Week 2: The Four Noble Truths and Healing
- Suffering (dukkha) as a starting point for understanding illness.
- The Eightfold Path as a framework for holistic healing.
- Case Study: Buddhist approaches to pain management.
Week 3: Karma, Ethics, and Health
- The karmic basis of health and illness.
- Ethical living as a preventative "medicine."
- Assigned Reading: Excerpts from The Dhammapada.
Week 4: Buddhist Medicine in Historical Context
- The rise of traditional Buddhist medicine in South and East Asia.
- Key figures and texts: The Bower Manuscript and Tibetan rgyud bzhi.
- Film/Documentary: Excerpts from The Knowledge of Healing.
Week 5: Healing Rituals and Practices
- Protective chants (paritta) and healing mantras.
- Role of relics and sacred spaces in healing.
- Practice Session: Learning the Mahā Karuṇā Dhāranī (Great Compassion Mantra).
Week 6: Meditation as Healing
- Mindfulness and concentration techniques in health.
- Scientific studies on Buddhist meditation and neuroplasticity.
- Assigned Reading: Jon Kabat-Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living (Chapters 2–3).
Week 7: The Bodhisattva Ideal and Compassion in Healing
- The role of compassion in caregiving.
- Stories of healing Bodhisattvas: Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin) and Bhaiṣajyaguru (Medicine Buddha).
Week 8: Bhaiṣajyaguru (Medicine Buddha) and His Traditions
- The Medicine Buddha Sutra (Bhaiṣajyaguru Sūtra).
- Rituals, practices, and art dedicated to the Medicine Buddha.
- Workshop: Chanting and visualization meditation.
Week 9: Midterm reflection
Week 10: Healing in Tibetan Buddhism
- Tibetan medical traditions and the role of lamas.
- Intersection of spirituality and traditional Tibetan medicine.
- Reading: Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (Chapters 5–6).
Week 11: Political Healing: A Critical and Epistemological Approach
- Healing as a sociopolitical act in Buddhist and secular contexts.
- The politics of healing: caste, race, and gender in Buddhist communities.
- Discussion: Can healing challenge systemic oppression?
- Assigned Reading: Ambedkar, B.R. The Buddha and His Dhamma (selected chapters).
Week 12: Foucault: Self-Care and Self-Cultivation in Buddhism
- Foucault’s concepts of self-care (care of the self) and self-cultivation in relation to Buddhist practice.
- How mindfulness and meditation reflect modern and ancient ideas of ethical self-regulation.
- Assigned Reading: Foucault, Michel. The Hermeneutics of the Subject (selected lectures).
- Discussion: Intersections of Foucault’s philosophy and Buddhist ethics.
Week 13: Healing Mental Illness
- Buddhist approaches to mental health challenges.
- Engaged Buddhism and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.
- Discussion: The interplay between modern psychotherapy and Buddhist practices.
Week 14: Gender, Healing, and Buddhism
- The role of women in Buddhist healing traditions.
- Stories of female healers and nuns in Buddhism.
- Reading: Excerpts from Sujato, Bhikkhu, Bhikkhuni Vinaya Studies.
Week 15: Buddhism and Modern Medicine
- Integration of Buddhist practices in contemporary healthcare settings.
- Mindfulness and palliative care.
- Case Study: Buddhist chaplaincy programs in hospitals.
- Reading: Buddhism and Healing in the Modern World, edited by C. Pierce Salguero, Kin Cheung, and Susannah Deane
Week 16: Final Reflection and Presentations
- Student presentations: “Buddhism and Healing: Insights and Applications.”
- Course review and open discussion.
|