Graduate Institute in Eastern Classics
Spring Seminar Reading List
Week One
The Bhagavad Gita in the Mahabharata, translated by J. A. B. van Buitenen (Chicago University Press), Books 1-9.
The Bhagavad Gita, Books 10-18.
Week Two
Charvaka section from A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy, edited by S. Radhakrishnan and Charles Moore, pp. 236-246.
Kalidasa, Kumarasambhava, in The Origin of the Young God, translated by Hank Hifetz (University of California Press).
Week Three
Kalidasa, Shakuntala, in Kalidasa: The Loom of Time, translated by Chandra Rajan (Penguin Classics).
Abhinavagupta, Dhvanyaloka (with the Locana of Abhinavagupta), selections with supplemental material by Keith and Perry. Through p. 119. Photocopy available in bookstore.
Week Four
Dhvanyaloka, selections through p. 696.
“Discourses on the Noble Quest,” “Discourse to Kalamas,” “The Greater Discourse on Cause.” Early Buddhist Discourses edited and translated by John Holder (Hackett Publishing).
Week Five
“The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness,” “The Greater Discourse on the Destruction of Craving,” “Discourse of the Honeyball.”
“Short Discourses from the Samyutta Nikaya,” “The Shorter Discourse to Malunkyaputta,” “Discourse on the Parable of the Water Snake,” “Discourse to Vacchagotta on Fire.”
Week Six
“Discourse to Prince Abhaya,” “Discourse to Potthapada,” “Discourse on the Threefold knowledge”
“Discourse to Assalayana,” “The Lion’s Roar on the Wheel-Turning Monarch,” “Discourse to the Layman Sigala”
Week Seven
The Lotus Sutra, chapters 1 (prose portion only), 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 (only the parable in the last three paragraphs of the final prose section), 8, from The Lotus Sutra, translated by Burton Watson (Columbia University Press).
Lotus Sutra, chapters 10 (prose portion), 11 (verse only), 12, 13, 14 (prose portion), 16, 20 (prose portion), 21 (prose portion), 23 (prose portion), 25 (prose portion), 28.
Week Eight
Nagarjuna, Mulamadhayamakakarika, translated by Jay Garfield. Chapters 1-9.
Nagarjuna, Chapters 10-19.
SPRING BREAK
Week Nine
Nagarjuna, Chapters 20-27.
Vimalakirti Sutra, translated by Robert A. F. Thurman, sections 1-6.
Week Ten
Vimalakirti Sutra, 7-end.
Gaudapada, The Great Karika on the Mandukya Upanishad, edited by Nikhilananda, pp. 223-368 (Mandukya Upanishad and Gaudapada commentary only. Omit other commentaries).
Week Eleven
Shankaracharya, Upadesa Sahasri, translated by Swami Jagadananda, Part 1 (pp.1-77), Part 2 (pp.79-150).
Upadesa Sahasri, Part 2 to end (pp.151-299).
Week Twelve
Ramanuja, Gitabhasya, pp. 48-58; 59-79; 91-107; 113-132; 175-176. Photocopy available in bookstore.
Jayadeva, Gita Govinda, in Love Song of the Dark Lord, edited and translated by Barbara Stoler Miller (Columbia University Press), pp. 69-125. [ESSAYS DUE]
Week Thirteen
The Diamond Sutra, in The Diamond Sutra & the Sutra of Hui-Neng, translated by A.F. Price and Wong Mou-lam (Shambhala). pp. 17-53. The Heart Sutra, photocopy available in bookstore.
Hui Neng, Commentary on the Diamond Sutra, translated by Thomas Cleary (Shambhala).
Week Fourteen
Hui Neng, The Sutra of Hui Neng, translated by A. F. Price and Wong Mo Lam (Shambhala), or translated by Thomas Cleary (Shambhala), chapters 1-5.
The Sutra of Hui Neng, Chapter 6 to end.
Week Fifteen
The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean, in A Sourcebook of Chinese Philosophy, translated and edited by Wing-Tsit Chan, pp. 84-114.
Chu Hsi, selection from Complete Works, in A Sourcebook of Chinese Philosophy, pp. 605-633.
Week Sixteen
Chu Hsi, pp. 634-53, 593-604
Wang Lang-Ming, Inquiry of the Great Learning and selections from Instructions on Practical Living, in Sourcebook, pp. 659-691.