Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York · Courses
BU
4 courses with the subject BU, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
BU 221Introduction Through reading Buddhist sutras and contemporary teachings, along with engagement with
to Buddhist meditative practices, we will explore how meditation supports spiritual presence and Meditation Practices community engagement. We will investigate the relationship between embodiment, (3 credits) behavioral discipline, and the cultivation of mind within Buddhist moral praxis and how this In Person informs our capacities for spiritual guidance. Capacity: 30 Note: Required for Buddhism and Interreligious Engagement (BIE) track. All other students Gregory Snyder will be admitted off a wait list in late August until class is full. 60
BU 234Buddhist This general introduction to Buddhism surveys the history and development of Buddhist
Religious Thought (3 thought within its three broad expressions–Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. The aim of credits) the course familiarizes students with Buddhist worldviews and offers an opportunity to In Person engage the material critically. Students read a number of primary sources in translation as Capacity: 30 well as additional texts organized thematically and historically to contextualize this material. Gregory Snyder Note: Required for Buddhism and Interreligious Engagement (BIE) track. All other students will be admitted off a wait list in late August until class is full. JANUARY 2027 STX/BU 261 – The Drawing from early Buddhist Pāli canon texts and contemporary Buddhist literature, along Four Foundations of with experiential engagement of mindfulness practices and techniques, students study how Mindfulness (3 these practices support spiritual presence and community engagement. Some relevant credits) mindfulness practices for interreligious engagement are explored. The role of mindfulness In person practice in personal life and in a socially engaged environment is thoroughly investigated. Capacity: 20
BU 240Socially "Socially Engaged Buddhism" became prominent in the 20th century, in response to
Engaged Buddhism (3 (post)colonial upheavals. Championed by Buddhists of various lineages, some see it as a credits) modernist development, while others trace lines of socio-political critique back to the Online Buddha. Recent scholarship has called for a more capacious understanding, one that includes Capacity: 20 ethno-nationalism and justifications of state violence. This course explores the socio- Upayadhi S. Luraschi historical contexts, hermeneutics, organizing principles, and ongoing debates surrounding Buddhism's engagement of political, social, and environmental issues. Note: Required for Buddhism and Interreligious Engagement (BIE) track. All other students will be admitted off a wait list in late December until class is full. 61
BU 320This course will offer an introduction to phenomenological philosophy with a focus on
Phenomenology and several epistemological foundations it shares with Mahayana Buddhism. We will explore Mahayana Buddhism Edmund Husserl’s “presuppositionless philosophy” alongside writings from Zen Buddhist (3 credits) monastics. We will put phenomenological reduction in conversation with Yogācāra accounts In Person of perception and consciousness. We will explore Merleau-Ponty alongside three fascicles Capacity: 20 from 13th century monastic, Eihei Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō and further put Dōgen’s writings in Gayle Salamon conversation with Max Scheler’s work to consider thinking and its opposite. Finally, we will read current texts on critical phenomenology, whose aim is to confront injustice, and consider these against Buddhist notions of living by vow. Two-thirds of the readings will be phenomenological works and one-third Buddhist texts and sutras. No familiarity with either tradition is required.
