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Course Description:
This study is designed to enable the students to gain a general knowledge of the fundamental teachings of the T'ien T'ai (Tian Tai) School of China and the Tendai School of Japan. It will make a historical survey of the developments within the school and the influence it exerted on the subsequent schools of Buddhist thought, both in China and Japan.

Required Textbook:

- Hurvitz, Leon. "Chih-i (538-597): An Introduction to the Life and Ideas of a Chinese Monk." Melanges Chinoises et Bouddhiques 12 (1962): 1-372.

The main book is divided into two parts. The first part is mainly devoted to a full discussion of the terms Hinayana and Mahayana from various points of view. In the second part the different applications of the terms Hinayana and Mahayana in the two periods of the making of Mahayana Buddhism and of Mahayana teachers are discussed.

Critique of Pure Reason is one of the cornerstones in western philosophy. It was first published in 1781 and it was later followed by the works: Critique of Judgement and the Critique of Judgement. In Critique of Pure Reason, Kant outline his theories about space and time as a form of perceiving and causality as a form of knowing. Both space and time and our conceptual principles and processes pre-structure our experience.

Mind without measure by Jiddu Krishnamurti is a huge collection of public talks held by Krishnamurti in Delhi, Calcutta and Madras during 1982 and 1983.

Form the book: “Now, to live without measurement, to be totally, completely, free of all measurement, is part of meditation. Not that `I ampractising this, I will achieve something in a year’s time.’ That ismeasurement which is the very nature of one’s egotistic activity.”

Early Buddhism borrowed two of its central terms from the workings of fire. Upadana, or clinging, originally referred to the fuel that kept fire burning; nibbana, the name of the goal, to a fire's going out. This is the first book to examine these terms from the perspective of how the early Buddhists themselves viewed fire--what they saw happening as a fire burned, and what happened to the fire when it went out--to show what light this perspective throws on Buddhist doctrine in general, and the practice of meditation in particular.

It's no wonder that The Power of Now has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and has been translated into over 30 foreign languages. Much more than simple principles and platitudes, the book takes readers on an inspiring spiritual journey to find their true and deepest self and reach the ultimate in personal growth and spirituality: the discovery of truth and light. In the first chapter, Tolle introduces readers to enlightenment and its natural enemy, the mind.

Virtue and Reality by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. The teachings of the Buddha, can be divided into two overall categories: extensive method and profound wisdom. In the context of the teachings presented here, method is the loving, compassionate bodhicitta and wisdom is the realization of ultimate reality, the right view of emptiness. It would be hard to find a simpler, clearer, more practical explanation of these two fundamental paths than the one Lama Zopa offers us here. Through practicing method, we attain the holy body of a Buddha; through developing wisdom we attain the enlightened mind.

This article discusses the controversy around the suicide of Arhants. With references to suttas and commentaries it critically analyses the possibility of Cunna's arahantship and his suicide.

The great Marxist sinologist Joseph Needham blamed Buddhism for stifling science and technology in China while they flourished in Europe. In claiming that everything is an illusion, Buddhism ‘played a part in strangling the development of Chinese science’. Zen Buddhism, in ‘rejecting all philosophy’ was also unfavourable to a scientific view. Since the Buddha refused to speculate, Buddhism discouraged scientific research. Above all, its main object is to escape from this world, not to try to understand it. A ‘despairing’ and ‘perverse’ philosophy, he concludes.

Engaging in Bodhisattva Behaviour (sPyod-‘jug, Bodhisattvacharya-avatara) by Shantideva is text translated from Tibetan by Alexander Berzin, 2005. It was composed by the teacher Shantideva (first half of the eighth century C. E.). It was translated into Tibetan,edited, and settled upon from a Kashmiri manuscript by the learned Indian master Sarvajna-deva and the editor-translator monk Peltseg (early ninth century C. E.).

In the Spirit of Ch’an is a window on the world of Chinese Zen (Ch’an), this little booklet is a short summary of Ch’an Buddhist thought distilled from Master Sheng-yen’s published and unpublished materials. It is published in the hope of providing beginners and the general public with a new and fresh perspective on the self, the mind,and the nature of our relationships and interactions in the world. Students of other spiritual denominations and Buddhist traditions will find it a helpful guide to understanding the basic ideas and methods of Ch’an.

As an outcome of Dhyana, you will be able to observe these phenomena very clearly because your “mental mirror” is very clear, for there are no more disturbances to veil it. Out of these observations will come Transcendental Wisdom, which in Sanskrit is called “Prajna.” This book The Sweet Dews of Ch’an (Zen) is a series of lectures on practical Zen meditation.

Arahattamagga – Arahattaphala: The Path to Arahantship is a compilation of Venerable Ācariya Mahā Boowa’s Dhamma Talks about his path of practice.

"A Song of Milarepa – An Authentic Expression of the Middle Way" is a book from Milarepa that was translated by Geshe In Drin. It is a song about the approach of the Kadampa geshe who is stuck at the level of words and the approach of the yogi who has practised at and attained to the meaning beyond words.

Mahanirvana Tantra – Tantra of the Great Liberation Translated by Arthur Avalon. This is one of the best known of the Tantric scriptures. It was translated by Sir John Woodroffe (under the pseudonym ‘Arthur Avalon‘), one of the few Indologists to gain direct access to this obscure and secretive branch of Hinduism. Framed as a conversation between the god Shiva and goddess Shaki, this text describes the chakra, or subtle energy structure of the human body, ceremonies, yogic practices and mantras for meditation, and a summary of the Hindu laws (dharma) regarding sexual behavior.

The Science of Breath & the Philosophy of the Tatwas by Rama Prasad is an ancient text translated from sanskrit. It deals with breathing and breaths potential as a tool for spriritual enlightenment. The book goes in deep details about the nature of breathing from a scientific viewpoint and thereby give us both an understanding of the early Aryan culture and the basics of all later breathing techniques.

From the intro: "My knowledge of things of the spirit is a direct result of my own perception, and I am fully conscious of this fact. In all details I had always examined myself carefully as to whether every step I took in the progress of my perception was accompanied by a fully awake consciousness.

The book is based on the Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo. Sri Arobindo (15 August 1872 - 5 December 1950) was an Indian nationalist and freedom fighter, major Indian English poet, philosopher, and yogi. He joined the movement for India's freedom from British rule and for a duration (1905 - 10), became one of its most important leaders,before turning to developing his own vision and philosophy of human progress and spiritual evolution. The central theme of Sri Aurobindo's vision is the evolution of life into a "life divine". In his own words: "Man is a transitional being. He is not final.

The Mark by Maurice Nicoll, from the intro: “Man touches the Earth with his physical feet, but he touches life with his psychological feet. His most external psychological level is sensual, a matter of sensation, a matter of the senses. That is, his most external thinking and feeling arise from what he perceives from sense. This level represents the feet of his psychological being as distinct from the feet of his physical being, and the kind of shoes which cover his feet represent his particular views, opinions, and attitudes that he wears or uses in his approach to sense-given life.

Secret of the Golden Flower. This ancient esoteric treatise was transmitted orally for centuries before being recorded on a series of wooden tablets in the eighth century. It was recorded by a member of the Religion of Light, whose leader was the Taoist adept Lu Yen (also known as Lu Yen and Lu “Guest of the Cavern”). It is said that Lu Tzu became one of the Eight Immortals using these methods. The ideas have been traced back to Persia and the Zarathustra tradition and its roots in the Egyptian Hermetic tradition.

Consciousness and the Absolute with the subtitle “The Final Talks of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj” were recorded shortly before Nisargadatta’s death in 1981, and translated carefully to English with no changes. In a question and answer format the visitors and devotees accompanied the master during his final teachings.

How to Practice the Buddhadharma with the subtitle: A Lamp Illuminating the Path to Liberation by Sera Je Lharam Geshe Tsulga is a practical explanation of how to put the Buddha’s teachings into practice, with emphasis on the early stages of the path, guru devotion and the importance of dharma in light of reincarnation. The book gives excellent and throughout instructions for meditations. Geshe Tsulga fled Tibet in 1959 after the Tibetan uprising against Chinese occupation. He arrived in USA in 1995 and is now teacher at Kurukulla Center in Boston.

The Ultimate Medicine by Nisargadatta Maharaj was compiled during the last year of Nisargadatta’s life. The Ultimate Medicine gives detailed, advanced and precise instruction for spiritual aspirants seeking powerful antidotes to unawareness. Nisargadatta Maharaj is an extraordinary teacher from the Tantra Nath lineage. His style is abrupt and provocative, he cuts to the core and wastes little effort on inessentials.

In the 1970s and ‘80s most of the great lamas left Tibet, but were still alive and teaching, mainly in India. Many of the teachings in this book were given at Tushita Mahayana Meditation Center, New Delhi, by lamas in exile. Two of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings are also present in this book, the chapters Seeking an inner Refuge and The Eight Verses of Thought Transformation.

Clearing the Path is a work book. Its purpose is to help the user to acquire a point of view that is different from his customary frame of reference. Necessarily, an early step in accomplishing this change is the abandonment of specific mistaken notions about the Buddha’s Teaching and about the nature of experience.

The Seven Stages of Purification and The Insight Knowledges is a guide to the progressive states of Buddhist meditation by Matara Sri Nanarama. The seven stages of purification provide the framework for the practising disciple’s gradual progress from the cultivation of virtue up to the attainment of the final goal. Integral to the higher stages of purification are the nine types of insight-knowledge, by which the disciple breaks through the delusions covering his mental vision and penetrates through the the real nature of phenomena.

'Walking with Awareness - A Guide to Walking Meditation' written by Luang Por Liem Áhitadhammo – a Buddhist monk in the Thai Forest Tradition who was born in 1941. After higher ordination at twenty years of age, he first practised in several village monasteries until he joined Wat Nong PahPong, Ajahn Chah’s famous forest monastery in UbonProvince, in 1969. This short book lays out the basics of walking meditations as he practiced and taught it.

Buddha’s awakening gave him a new perspective on the limitations of words. He had discovered a reality—the Deathless—that no words could describe. At the same time, he discoveredthat the path to Awakening could be described, although it involved a new wayof seeing and conceptualizing the problem of suffering and stress. Because ordinary concepts were often poor tools for teaching the path, he had to invent new concepts and to stretch pre-existing words to encompass those concepts so that others could taste Awakening themselves.

The Nisargadatta Gita by Pradeep Apte. From the intro:

I came across a book ‘I Am That’ based on the talks of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. As I began going through it, I just couldn’t put it down, ‘This is dynamite!’ that’s the immediate feeling I had. I Then began preparing the text of ‘The Nisargadatta Gita’. In my life, so far, I had never met a living Guru, is my mere reading or studying of books of the teachings of all these great men of no avail? This last doubt was removed while I was editing the script of ‘I am Unborn’ where Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj answered this very question:

The Brihat (the great) Yoga Vasishta or Yoga Vasishta Maha Ramayana as it is also called, is a work of about 32,000 Sanskrit couplets, traditionally attributed to Valmiki, the author of Srimad Ramayana. It is a dialogue between Sage Vasishta and Sri Rama, during which Advaita (the doctrine of non-duality) in its pure form of ajatavada (theory of nonorigination) is expounded, with illustrative stories in between. This vast work was abridged some centuries ago by Abhinanda Pandita, a Kashmiri scholar, into 6,000 couplets, which go by the name of Laghu Yoga Vasishta.

Ego, Attachment and Liberation with the subtitle Overcoming your Mental Bureaucracy – a five-day Meditation Course by Lama Yeshe is a detailed guide to handling the obstacles during retreats and more advanced meditation techniques. At the same time Lama Yeshe presents and explains his own thoughts on concepts such as karma: Every time your ego contacts an object, its interpretation leaves a different imprint on your consciousness. Those imprints react again and again. That’s what we call karma—cause and effect. The imprints are the cause; the reaction is the effect. That’s karma.

The Perfections Leading to Enlightenment by Sujin Boriharnwanaket is a 200 page guide to The Ten Perfections, paramís, are most important as conditions for the complete eradication of defilements. Sujin Boriharnwanaket writes that all should study the paramís, understand their significance and further develop them:

This book provides clear and deep explanations of how to uncover our inherent wisdom and compassion. The authors explain how our minds function and what our primordial nature is; they show us how to go about cultivating insight, bodhichitta, and devotion so that our true nature can manifest. They give detailed instructions on how to meditate using the tantric techniques of visualization, mantra, and formless meditation. At the same time, the book is simple and accessible, pointing out how we can see our fundamentally enlightened nature.

The Ratnagotravibhāga is one of the treatises on the Mahāyāna doctrine written in Sanskrit. The Ratnagotravibhaga, elucidates the Third Turning of the Buddha's teachings on Buddha-essence - the inherent qualities and potential for Buddhahood present in all beings. This study includes a critical introduction, a synopsis of the text, a translation from the original in comparison with its Tibetan & Chinese versions and critical notes.

.One of the most popular Asian classics for roughly two thousand years, the Vimalakirti Sutra stands out among the sacred texts of Mahayana Buddhism for its conciseness, its vivid and humorous episodes, its dramatic narratives, and its eloquent exposition of the key doctrine of emptiness or nondualism. Unlike most sutras, its central figure is not a Buddha but a wealthy townsman, who, in his mastery of doctrine and religious practice, epitomizes the ideal lay believer.

If objects don't exist the way they appear, is mind itself an illusion, or is it merely empty of illusions? Is the reality of the mind already endowed with ultimate Buddha qualities, or is reality just the immaculate nature of the mind that allows for Buddha qualities to be developed? Tsong-kha-pa (1357-1419), the great Tibetan Buddhist master, had to address these and a host of other questions in order to formulate the nature of liberation in Buddhism.

The Indian philosopher Acharya Nagarjuna (c. 150-250 CE) was the founder of the Madhyamaka (Middle Path) school of Mahayana Buddhism and arguably the most influential Buddhist thinker after Buddha himself. Indeed, in the Tibetan and East Asian traditions, Nagarjuna is often referred to as the 'second Buddha.' His primary contribution to Buddhist thought lies is in the further development of the concept of sunyata or 'emptiness.' For Nagarjuna, all phenomena are without any svabhaba, literally 'own-nature' or 'self-nature', and thus without any underlying essence.

John's fourth book, You Were Never Born, addresses the perennial and compelling question of our true identity. With his usual clarity and focus he answers questions from seekers in over seventy concise chapters of dialogues and in a departure from the format of his previous published collections, John has written an introductory set of prose pieces as well as a summary of 'pointers' toward the end of the text. Also included as an addendum is an extended one-to-one interview with John. A clear and beautiful guide to any aspirant of self-knowledge.

The nine captivatingly meditative essays in The Practice of the Wild display the deep understanding and wide erudition of Gary Snyder in the ways of Buddhist belief, wildness, wildlife, and the world. These essays, first published in 1990, stand as the mature centerpiece of Snyder’s work and thought, and this profound collection is widely accepted as one of the central texts on wilderness and the interaction of nature and culture.

Entry Into the Inconceivable is an introduction to the philosophy of the Hua-yen school of Buddhism, one of the cornerstones of East Asian Buddhist thought. Cleary presents a survey of the unique Buddhist scripture on which the Hua-yen teaching is based and a brief history of its introduction into China. He also presents a succinct analysis of the essential metaphysics of Hua-yen Buddhism as it developed during China's golden age and full translations of four basic texts by seminal thinkers of the school.

This fascinating and innovative monograph explores the relationship between the philosophical underpinnings of Advaita Vedanta and Zen Buddhism and the experiential journey of spiritual practitioners. Taking the perspective of the questioning student, the author highlights the experiential deconstructive processes that are ignited when students' "everyday" dualistic thought structures are challenged by the non-dual nature of these teachings and practices.

Bestselling author and renowned Zen teacher Steve Hagen penetrates the most essential and enduring questions at the heart of the Buddha's teachings: How can we see the world in each moment, rather than merely as what we think, hope, or fear it is? How can we base our actions on reality, rather than on the longing and loathing of our hearts and minds? How can we live lives that are wise, compassionate, and in tune with reality? And how can we separate the wisdom of Buddhism from the cultural trappings and misconceptions that have come to be associated with it?

Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (Kǒng Fūzǐ, or K'ung-fu-tzu, lit. "Master Kong", 551–478 BC). It is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious thought that influenced the culture and history of East Asia. It might be considered a state religion of some East Asian countries, because of state promotion of Confucian philosophies.

In this classic 17th-century presentation of the union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen, Karma Chagme, one of the great teachers of both these lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, begins with an overview of the spirit of awakening and the nature of actions and their ethical consequences. Next, drawing from his enormous erudition and profound experience, Karma Chagme gives exceptionally lucid instructions on the two phases of Dzogchen practice - the "Breakthrough" and the "Leap-over" - followed by an accessible introduction to the practice of the transference of consciousness at the time of death.

This definitive, profusely illustrated manual covers the essential elements of the philosophy and practice of Aikido, the Japanese martial art that has been embraced by modern psychology and many Western bodywork therapies. Useful to the beginner and experienced practitioner alike, the book details the traditional methods and techniques of Shirata Rinjiro, of whom John Stevens is a principal student.

Given the recent discussion of Trivedi this book is significant in showing how such magical and mythical beliefs in a superman leader with a super race of followers is inherent to Tibetan Buddhism. It's is no wonder then that a certain brand of integral is also sold on Tibetan Buddhism, since its own narrative is astonishingly akin.

Some two thousand years ago Buddhism experienced a major reformation through a movement called the Mahayana, or "Great Vehicle," which dominated religious thought in much of Asia for many centuries and still exerts considerable influence. The basic Mahayana texts were sermons ascribed to the Buddha, called "Sutras" in Sanskrit. The earliest and most influential of these Mahayana Sutras had the "perfection of wisdom" as its main subject matter.

All Buddhist schools have denied the existence of the self as an identical permanent substance. They have also universally rejected the notion of a supreme God. They have however accepted the reality of pre-existence and subsequent rebirth as well as the provisional efficiency of actions (Karma). Those who adhere to the doctrine of the self have opposed this view, because as they contend, denial of an identical permanent self controverts the efficiency of actions and the doctrine of rebirth.

The ‘Bon’ religious tradition of Tibet is often misunderstood as just another branch or sect of Buddhism. Such misconceptions on the part of the average Westerner may easily be forgiven when one considers the ignorance of the average Tibetan about Bon religion. The historical predominance of Buddhism in all aspects of Tibetan political and social culture since the seventh century is responsible for such misconceptions. ‘Bonpos’, the followers of Bon religion had to endure centuries of persecution and social and political marginalization at the hands of the Buddhist majority.