RELS 167 Zen
The Zen school of Buddhism has long claimed itself as a tradition “beyond words and letters,” or as a body of teachings that can be transmitted only through ineffable experience. And yet, Zen Buddhists have been some of the most productive writers and orators, producing volumes of biographical narratives, religious legends, and apologetic scholarship. In this course we will study Zen sources as a way to understand the social, institutional, and pedagogical power of the Zen school as it grew in Japan from the 12th century. We will seek to understand how Zen Buddhists in Japan balanced their own religious obligations with broader societal responsibilities, as well as how the Zen tradition reconciled its religious ideals with its practical concerns.