Binding the Raft: Buddhist Polity in Sangha and Practice

HDS 3013 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

Sangha, or the "Buddhist spiritual community," as one of the Three Jewels is seen to be a refuge for community support, dharma practice, and personal transformation through the teachings of the Buddha. This course explores sangha from a range of Buddhist traditions in the context of "polity," the way a lived spiritual community is organized and functions to meet the needs of its members. Themes central to the course will include: how monastic traditions are being adapted in the present-day modern West; the nature and organizational structure of various forms of American sanghas and their practices; leadership, power and governance; the concept of a "Buddhist identity" in community; issues of race, gender and diversity; and the nature of power and authority between ordained and lay leadership. We will also explore liturgical practices and together seek to build a resource for ritual and core texts that support and represent a diverse range of community praxis. We will also discuss shaping sustainable polity among developing Buddhist communities in terms of "skillful means" as attending to the specific needs and structure of a given organizational vision. The course will include group discussion, in-class presentations, guest speakers, and research and analysis of a dharma community or Buddhist-inspired organization.
This is a limited enrollment course and requires instructor permission. Interested students can email the instructor prior to the first class meeting on Thursday, Jan. 26, to assess their interest and be placed on a preliminary class list. In the event that the course is overenrolled, prospective students will be asked to write a paragraph during the first class meeting to indicate their degree program, school, year, and interest in taking the class. Selected students will then be invited to enroll in the course via email by the end of that first day. Please note that this is not an introduction to Buddhism course, and so a basic knowledge of Buddhist principles and practices is required for this course.