Syllabus

Handouts: Excerpts from The Upanishads; article by Aurobindo; chs 8, 9 from Krishnamurti, Talks and Dialogues, Interview with Nisargadatta; selections from the Gita, and from the Yoga Sutras

The discussion board is on the Blackboard site for this course in my.bgsu.edu. Please let me know right away if you have any trouble accessing it.

Primary goal of this course

First some coments about what the course does not try to achieve. This is not a survey course of all Indian and Chinese Philosophy, which is far too rich and diverse to be covered properly in one course. Neither is this a history course, nor is it a cross-cultural study. There could be legitimate courses along those lines, but not this one.

Conscious awareness plays a role for much of Asian philosophy that is analogous to the role of logic in most of Western philosophy -- both in providing a methodological orientation and in offering topics for exploration. The primary goal of this course is to make it clear how this is so. We will read and discuss portions of some of the philosophical texts that have been important in India and China (and in contemporary writings and talks that draw upon those texts) and there will be relevant opportunities for individual exploration.

Structure of the course

The course has two components. The requirements of the first component (the "general requirements") are the same for all students enrolled in the course. The requirements of the second component (the "individual tracks") will vary from student to student depending on choices that you make. This syllabus is a bit complex due to the structure of the course, so listen up!And don't hesitate to ask your questions to make sure you are crystal clear what is going on here.

General requirements

Attendance in class is required (a) on Wednesday, January 17, (b) on all Mondays of the semester, and (c) on Wednesday, May 2 (3.30-5p) during finals week. (Call these the Monday sessions.) After Jan 17 there will be no normal Wednesday class periods, as is explained below.

Reading assigned material every week prior to the Monday sessions; and participation in Chatboard discussions prior to the Monday sessions, as is explained below.

Final take-home exam on the Monday reading assignments, lectures, and discussions.

Individual tracks

There are three tracks from which to choose. These tracks are discussed below. A requirement for all students is to choose an individual track in class on Monday, January 22 ("decision day"). Evaluation of student performance for this component of the course will be based on how well you do what you propose to do, based on the three tracks discussed below. Obviously I would not be structuring the course in this complex way were I not open also to discussing alternatives other than the 3 specified tracks. However agreeements must be in place by the end of Monday, Jan. 22. (Oddly, one actually will lose a few points if the agreement is not made on time.)

About getting those points

Students in this course have some weekly responsibilities, and you earn points by fulfilling them. Because of the complex structure of the course, which I think you have to admit reflects a sort of admirable flexibility and creativity on the part of the professor, it is necessary to adopt a VERY INFLEXIBLE policy about the timeliness of weekly assignments. The policy also harmonizes well with an emphasis upon showing up for things: since some of the points for the course involve simply showing up for things, the idea is that you simply don't get the points if you don't show up. Hmm.

The policy is this. No points for absences or late stuff except with medical excuse ("ew/me"). Late stuff is accepted and (if applicable) the professor will give full attention to your work (for example, if someone is developing a long term project under track 3 below, feedback certainly will be given even though a proposal is turned in late). However NO POINTS will be earned by the late stuff ew/me. -- So: an essential element of this course might be figuring out how to make sure that you get things done on time or make it to group meetings and so forth.

Moreover there will be no "make up" or extra credit opportunities to make up for earlier work not turned in or for earlier failures to show up. Please make a note of this because it might make a difference in your grade (that is, the grade might be lower than you'd hoped it'd be) and this might happen even if everything else about the course were to surpass your hopes. Got it?

Text materials

Most of the Monday material will be posted on Blackboard on the my.bgsu site for this course. Reading assignments for the next week will be made during each Monday session. It is your responsibility to take note of these assignments each time and then to do the assigned reading. There are also two texts.

Stephen Mitchell, trans. Tao te Ching

Alan Watts, Nature, Man and Woman

There is one website we will use a great deal– the writings and translations of Thanissaro Bhikku (Geoffrey DeGraf). He posts all of his work free of charge online. Otherwise, I definitely would have asked you to purchase a book by him. His website is: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/

Grades

Grades for the course will be based on the following:

1. Class attendance and participation in the Monday sessions. (10%)

2. Chatboard participation, see below. (30%)

3. Final take-home exam. (10%)

4. Individual tracks. (50%)

Chatboard

The chatboard can be found on the my.bgsu site for this course. If you have trouble finding it, don't hesitate to let me know (ditto if at any point in the semester it becomes difficult to access, or too slow or unwieldy to use efficiently, or if any other problems arise with the technological side of it. If we encounter such problems it is not difficult to set up a chatboard in a different way).

On Jan. 17 the students in the course will be divided into six groups, so that each student is in one of these groups.

A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3

Each week beginning the week of Jan. 22 either the A people or the B people will be responsible for posting on the chatboard prior to the next Monday session. This means that after Jan. 22 you will be responsible for posting something every other week of the semester (6 times).

The sub-groups 1-3 of A/B on the other hand will shift roles each week. The three roles are Questioner, Replier and Commentator. Here is how it works. The Questioners will post 2-3 serious questions that occur to them out of the assigned reading for the upcoming class meeting. The questions should be posted before midnight on Thursday prior to the Monday session. The Repliers will answer 2-3 questions posed by the Questioners and should do so before midnight of Saturday before the Monday session. The Commentators will comment on the discussion (both questions and replies) and post their comments prior to 3p before the Monday session. Your contributions to the chatboard discussions will be evaluated both on content and timeliness of response using this scale:

2 (good)

1 (ok, fine)

0 (you didn’t post or might as well not have)

In posting your comment the subject line should have this form: X blah-blah, where X is either Q, R, or C (depending on the role you are playing) and where blah-blah is a brief indication of the topic you are addressing.

I would expect, based on past experience, that most students who contribute will get a 2 for their contribution but the variations do come into play.

Here is the schedule for the shifting roles.

A week of Jan. 22 (prior to Jan. 29): 1Q, 2R, 3C
B week of Jan. 29 (prior to Feb. 5): 2Q, 3R, 1C
A week of Feb. 5 (prior to Feb. 12): 3Q, 1R, 2C
B week of Feb. 12 (prior to Feb. 19): 1Q, 2R, 3C
A week of Feb. 19 (prior to Feb. 26): 2Q, 3R, 1C
B week of Mar. 12 (prior to Mar. 19): 3Q, 1R, 2C
A week of Mar. 19 (prior to Mar. 26): 1Q, 2R, 3C
B week of Mar. 26 (prior to Apr. 2): 2Q, 3R, 1C
A week of Apr. 2 (prior to Apr. 9): 3Q, 1R, 2C
B week of Apr. 9 (prior to Apr. 16): 1Q, 2R, 3C
A week of Apr. 16 (prior to Apr. 23): 2Q, 3R, 1C
B week of Apr 23 (prior to May 2): 3Q, 1R, 2C

If you have followed all of this (and perhaps it is not as complicated as I seem to have made it sound), you will realize that your responsibility here will be to post something every other week (6 times total).

Individual tracks: details

Now we turn to the various options.

There will be a number of things happening each week other than the Monday sessions. These are the "track meetings." The attendance requirements for each of the tracks covers the period Jan. 22-April 13, with no track meetings during the week of March 19-23. Since we also will not meet during spring break, this is a total of ten weeks. Call this the track period.

There will be a mindfulness meditation session on Wednesdays 6-7.15p (this time is set and will not be changed) at the UCF building, corner Ridge and Thurstin.

There also will be "hot seat" groups scheduled each week at the UCF building, corner Ridge and Thurstin: at 4.30-5.45 every Wednesday; and at 7.30-8.45p on these Wednesdays: J 31, F 14, F 28, M 28, A 11; and at 4.30-5.45 on these Thursdays: J 25, F 8, F 23, M 15, A 5.

There will be a weekly "project / research" group on Wednesdays 3.30-4.15 in Shatzel 301.

You can participate in all of these if you wish. So far as course requirements go, you will need to choose one of the three tracks described below, and your grade for the course will depend on what you do after having made that decision.yu

Since some of the tracks depend on meetings with other people, there is a possibility that unfortunately someone will not be able to choose the track one most wants because of scheduling conflicts. The reason for not setting definite times right now for all of the track meetings is to give flexibility in scheduling over the next two weeks in order to try to help everybody get their first choice.

The Inflexible policy about timeliness (described above) applies to all requirements about attendance, journals, and so forth.

Here are brief descriptions of the 3 tracks.

Track One: Meditation

This is a mini-version of the course Philosophy 339 Meditation: Practice and Theory that I have taught at BG since 1998. It is an opportunity to gain personal experience with some forms of meditation that are fundamental to some of the most important forms of Indian and Chinese philosophy. You can choose this track even if you already have taken Phil 339.

Requirements of Track one:

1. Attendance: every Wednesday 6-7.15p during the track period.

2. Daily meditation practice during the track period, with Weekly Report Forms. (Not accepted late ew/me).

3. Weekly one page journal reflection during the track period.

4. The requirement is participation in at least two Saturday retreats 10a-5p (of four offered): Jan. 27, Feb. 3, Feb. 10, Feb. 24. There are a number of other ways to meet this requirement, including the following: (a) there is a weekend March 2-5 retreat with Rebecca Bradshaw; (b) participation in a portion or all of a retreat with Sister Dipankara April 6-15; or (c) the California Young Adults retreat June 9-15, led by Tempel Smith, Spring Washam, Sara Schedler, and me.

Evaluation: Based simply on showing up and getting the journals in on time, with some attention given to quality of the journal submissions (much like chatboard contributions).

Comment. Normally meditation is not taught in a context in which grades are assigned, and it is quite absurd even to consider grading the content of meditation experience or the quality of one's practice. I will not grade the quality of your meditation practice. This is an extremely important point, in part because according to a great deal of literature on meditation, development and progress in meditation often are contrary to our expectations. For example, at times we may experience a lot of joy and blissful feelings, but then these disappear -- and there are times when, according to the literature, this is definitely progress! The point is that, from the beginning, there is no need for you to be evaluating or grading your own experiences, just as I will not be.

Track Two: Hot seats / relational practice

This track also is related to the meditation course Phil 339 insofar as some meditation is required for this option and also because "relational practice" is a part of that course. Participation in such a group can be regarded as a meditation; however this sort of practice is not a part of any Asian philosophical tradition (so far as I know). The relevance to this course will be discussed. Suffice it to say, for present purposes, that many people find these groups profoundly interesting. Anybody is welcome to attend these groups even if not choosing this track (or, for that matter, even if not enrolled in the course).

Requirements of Track two:

1. Attendance: at 3 hot seat groups every two weeks during the track period (see the schedule of meetings listed above); or one hot seat group each week plus two 30 minute interactive partner exercises (for example, "withholds") each week (to be explained). Note: the 3 per 2 weeks requirement is not to be understood as an average over the entire track period. Points will be given every two weeks.

2. Weekly one page journal reflection during the track period.

3. Retreat option same as in Track one (with some Saturdays including relational practice).

Evaluation: Based simply on showing up and getting the journals in on time, with some attention given to quality of the journal submissions (much like chatboard contributions).

Comment. Similar as above for Track one.

Also, there is NEVER a requirement to do anything in the groups except to be there and pay attention (in particular, it is worth mentioning that there is never any sort of obligation to participate in the group sessions by speaking in any way).

Track Three: Project / Research

This track offers you an opportunity to develop a creative project or write a long paper on a topic of your choosing over the course of the semester. The group will function much like a group of graduate students writing their dissertations or artists developing their work who meet regularly to help each other along with critical feedback and brainstorming. To choose this option you do not have to have a project or topic in mind at the beginning; I and the rest of the group will help you develop one.

Requirements of Track three:

1. Attendance: weekly meeting during the track period (Wed 3.15-4.15).

2. Active participation with the Track 3 group including (a) interaction about the projects of other students; and (b) a presentation to the Track 3 group.

3. Brief project / research proposal due Feb. 23.

4. Final result due April 20.

Evaluation: Based on showing up for, and participating in, the weekly sessions, together with more or less normal academic/ artistic evaluation of presentations and results.

Office hours / email

I enjoy talking with students. If you wish to come and talk with me, please do it! You do not need to have a huge problem or question, and you especially do not need to know what you want to say about something. If it occurs to you to drop by, why not? And if you do happen to have a question or confusion or want to tell me something, then all the more so-- do not hesitate or plan, just do it. Let us err on the side of talking too much rather than too little. For some of you it will take an act of courage to do this, and here is an opportunity to do that.

Email also is a way to communicate, but probably is overused nowadays; and sometimes is used to avoid rather than facilitate communication. I would prefer to talk with you in person, especially if you are not simply asking a question about some group or some detail else that can be answered simply. I am NOT saying "don't send me emails" because that can be a fine way to get information you need. By the way, if you do send an email please put your name at the end because I can't always figure out who is sending it by the sender's address alone.

My office hours are MW 2-3.30. Other times easily can be arranged -- simply email me to arrange a time. I do stay pretty busy. If I happen to see you on campus I often will be on my way to some meeting or other so that stopping to chat isn't always convenient. But some times a simple conversation can be important (not only to you -- it can help the entire class; this has happened many times during my teaching career) and I want you to know it is a priority for me. --Not only because it is a part the job for which I am being paid, and you have a right to my attention, but also I love to do it. If I didn't enjoy it, I'd find some other work to do such as become the World Salsa Champion.

Professor standards

Since some aspects of the course include meditation practice, it might be useful to state that I take seriously the responsibilities of meditation teachers, including the Teacher Code of Ethics. This is somewhat analogous to (though not exactly the same as) those that apply to psychotherapists in their relationships with clients. And it goes beyond what is normally associated with the role of a university professor in relationships with students. To see an example of this code, go to http://www.spiritrock.org/display.asp?pageid=20&catid=4.