REL22: Buddhist Meditation Traditions

Further your studies of Buddhist traditions started in REL15. This unit explores the context within which Buddhist meditation developed and the role of meditation in contemporary Buddhism. You begin by studying the role of meditation in the Buddha¿s life and then explore aspects of Mahayana traditions in Asia. The unit reviews modern Western involvement in Buddhist meditation traditions. Study is mainly through guided readings and writing academic essays. The development of skills in the critical analysis of source materials is central to assessment of the academic essays that form the assignments for the unit.