Spring 2000
Dr. Elena Mustakova-Possardt
 

Course Objectives
This senior-level undergraduate and graduate course assumes some familiarity with the basics of western psychology as taught in courses such as General, Developmental, Abnormal Psychology. The objectives are to introduce students to:
1) the fundamental characteristics of the spiritual experience,
2) a basic understanding of the major themes in Hindu and Buddhist psychology, and the
integration of these themes in contemporary transpersonal psychology
3) practical experience with daily self-reflection and the cultivation of mindfulness and
compassion
 

Requirements
1) Starting in the third week of class, students will begin keeping a journal based on our discussions of spiritual experience as described in the Perennial Philosophy, and based on the reading of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life.
At least two dated entries per week will be required (ideally, daily entries), describing substantively the spiritual challenge you set for yourself, and your awareness of how you practiced and/or failed to practice mindfulness and compassion on that particular day. The journal will be collected once at midsemester point (Feb. 24) and evaluated, and then again at the end of class. It will count for 20% of the total grade. Its purpose is to ensure a consistent experiential component of the study of the spiritual experience and the application of Eastern spiritual psychology to our lives.
2) Two 10-page papers, one at the end of each section, on the topic of”My personal learning from my encounter with Hinduism/Buddhism”. For undergraduate students, at least one additional research source is required on each section; for graduate students - at least two research sources on each sction. APA referencing style required. Each paper will count for 25% of the total grade.
3) Final exam: All essay questions; study questions provided in advance - 25% of course grade.
4) Participation - 5%.
 

Texts
Smith, H. (1991). The World’s Religions. New York, NY: Harper San Francisco
Fieser, J. & Powers, J. (Eds.) (1998). Scriptures of the World’s Religions. McGraw-Hill.
Walsh, R. & Vaughan, F. (Eds.) (1993). Paths Beyond Ego: The Transpersonal Vision.  Bantam.
Thich Nhat Hanh. (1991). Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life. Bantam
 

Course Outline

Part I (4) weeks): Spiritual Experience and the Perennial Philosophy in the Postmodern World
1) The religious response and the postmodern predicament.
2) Basic themes in the Perennial Philosophy
-That art thou
- the nature of the Ground
- personality, sanctity, incarnation
- realizing God in the world
- cultivating charity
- mortification, non-attachment, right livelihood
- truth
- self-knowledge
- good and evil
- time and eternity
- salvation, deliverance, enlightenment
- silence, prayer, suffering, faith

Part II (4 weeks): Hinduism
1) The historical term “Hinduism” and Sanatana Dharma
1) Early Vedic philosophy and psychology
2) The Vedanta: a shift from devotion and ritual to inner experience
- contemplation of the Luminous Self
-Brahman and Atman
- names and forms
- reincarnation
- karma
3) Devotional literature: the epics and Puranas; The Laws of Manu
- world cycles
- virtues and responsibilities
- the ambiguous role of women
- the four stations
4) Major theistic cults
- Vishnu
- Shiva and Shakti
- Tantrism
5) The Hindu View of Life
- the four stages
- renunciation vs. resignation
- Sat-Chit-Ananda
- spiritual disciplines (yoga) and the four paths
6) Modern World Hinduism

Part III (4 weeks): Buddhism
1) Theravada
- Life of the Buddha
- The Four Noble Truths
- The eightfold path
- Mindfulness and insight
2) Mahayana
- The Middle Way
- the three bodies of Buddha
- fullness of emptiness
- dialectics of liberation (Zen and Tibetan Buddhism)
 3) Buddhist psychology: summary

Part IV (3 weeks): Transpersonal Psychology
1) The Transpersonal Vision: A New Paradigm
- consciousness
- the ego and beyond
- unusual experiences and the transpersonal viewpoint
- transpersonal vision and the scientific approach
   2) Transpersonal Therapy
3) Transpersonal Vision and the Spiritual Quest
- occultism
- mysticism
- goal of the spiritual quest: nirvana/moksha/salvation

Suggested further readings
Aldous Huxley: The Perennial Philosophy
Huston Smith: The Forgotten Truth and Beyond the Postmodern Mind
Ernest Wood: Pinnack of Indian Wisdom
S. Radhakrishnan: The Hindu View of Life
R. Puligandla: Fundamentals of Indian Philosophy
E. Deutsch: Advaita Vedanta: A Philosophical Reconstruction
Taimni: The science of Yoga
Walpola Rahula: hat the Buddha Taught
Beck: Everyday Zen
Joseph Goldstein: The Experience of Insight
Jon Kabat-Zin: Wherever You Go, There You Are
U Pandita: In This Very Life
Alan Watts: The Way of Zen
Philip Kapleau: Three Pillars of Zen
D.T. Suzuki: Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism
Anagarika Govinda: Foundations of Tibetan Buddhism
Tarthang Tulku: Space, Time, and Knowledge; Hidden Mind of Freedom
Chogyam Trungpa: The Myth of Freedom
Thich Nhat Hanh