Yoga and Tantra in Hinduism and Buddhism
(Religious Studies 340: Inquiries in World Religion)

Specific Requirements:
Required texts:
Barbara Miller. Yoga: Discipline of Freedom. Bantam, 1998.
Mircea Eliade. Yoga: Immortality and Freedom. Princeton, 2nd ed.
George Feurerstein. Tantra: The Path of Ecstasy. Shambhala, 1998.
Miranda Shaw. Passionate Enlightenment: Women in Tantric Buddhism. Princeton, 1995.
Robert Thurman. The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Bantam, 1994
Martin Brauen. The Mandala. Shambhala, 1998.
Shamdasani/Jung. The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga. Princeton, 1999.

Additional REQUIRED READINGS and texts for the Research Report, as well as some non-required background readings, are on electronic reserve at the DePaul Library (ERes), and are so designated on the syllabus. To access these readings, take your web browser to http://www.lib.depaul.edu/reserves/index.html. (Note: this link will only be live during quarters when the course is being offered.)
Follow the instructions to get to this course, which will be under the instructor's name. You will need a password, which I will give you. You will also need the Adobe Acrobat Reader software, which is installed on all university computers and can be downloaded for free from the web on home computers.

Use the menus to make the text legible and comfortable for you. Print out the text so that you may annotate it and bring it with you to class. Invest in a binder so that you can keep the readings with you (we may be referring to texts from earlier in the course), and in their proper order. Printing out the text will be faster and easier on a university-networked computer and a faster printer.

REMEMBER: You are expected to have required reserve materials with you in class.

Other web resources:
http://www.asiatica.org
This site contains two electronic journals, the International Journal of Tantric Studies, and the Journal of South Asian Women's Studies. DePaul has a site license, which means that they can be accessed through computers at the library, through DePaul Online or ResNet, or through a proxy server.

http://www.si.edu/Asia/devi
This is the website on the just-concluded exhibition at the Smithsonian (Sackler gallery) on the goddess in South Asian culture.

http://www.eb.com
This is the Encyclopedia Brittanica Online. It is searchable in many ways and offers a wealth of information to fill in the gaps in your knowledge on Hinduism and Buddhism.

Other resources:
As mentioned above, I will be placing additional resources, some from my own collection, on Eres. I am, of course, available in my office hours and at other times for individual discussions about the material or your progress in the course.

EVALUATION
Seminar participation: Although I will be giving informal orientation talks on the material, the entire course hinges on discussion, so your engagement in this process is crucial. It is expected that you will prepare the readings seriously and be ready and eager to share your observations, questions and responses with your classmates. Signs that you have interacted with the material include notes, annotated texts, an ongoing journal of terms and meanings, etc.. Since the material is quite challenging and exotic, it will be virtually impossible to rely on your memory for class preparation. Therefore coming to class without notes or annotations will be regarded as a sign of non-involvement. In a course like this, the class becomes a community. Absence is an abdication of responsibility to the community. Moreover, with so few sessions, an absence represents a significant portion of the course missed. Therefore, under normal circumstances an absence will result in the lowering of a quality grade by a half-grade.
35%

NOTE: All written work should follow the format on the handout Style Sheet: Mechanicals. Work must be submitted in hard copy. No electronic versions or faxes can be accepted.
Micro-essays: Several of the readings will be marked [M-E]. For these readings you will write a short typed essay (more than a page, less than two pages) responding to a theme in the text, and making connections with other readings in the course or ideas that emerge in class. (Micro-essays are not summaries but they will indirectly demonstrate that you have grasped the themes of the particular reading.) I will comment on these essays and grade them; they may be rewritten if you wish.
25%

Research Report: This is not a full-fledged research project, but a more limited investigation into some aspect of yoga or tantra that we will not be covering exhaustively in class. These might include such areas as art, ritual, medicine, etc.; or the report might be experiential, based on experiences in participating in yoga or ritual training available in Chicago. Materials for the Research Report will be on ERes. A list of materials with a description of the assignment will be distributed separately. Length 4-5 pages, drawing on no more than two sources.
10%

Final Project: (a) The primary form of the Final Project will be an integrating essay of 11-15 pages that attempts to weave together the various themes of the course into a coherent whole. No outside research is necessary. Another creative option would be to make a mandala representing this integration of themes which would be faithful to the traditional theory and practice of the mandala, but using elements you have invented (or it might mix traditional and invented elements). The mandala would be accompanied by an explanatory essay, demonstrating that the work has proceeded from an understanding of mandala theory and practice. See the Autumn 99 Mandala Project.
(b) With permission of the instructor, students may elect to pursue a research project on some specific aspect of the yoga/tantra tradition, instead of the integrating essay. Students should choose the research option carefully, since they will probably need to draw on resources beyond the DePaul libraries. A research option might be the analysis of a single primary yoga or tantra text in translation. Students choosing the research option must make their intentions known to me by the sixth week of the course, and must set up an appointment to discuss their research plans.
Integrating Essay 30%; extra credit for mandala approach; extra credit for research project.

Peer Teaching: Required for Religious Studies majors, and suggested for others wishing to pursue a more intensive experience of the material. Students will basically be facilitating an informal class discussion of a particular reading or part of a reading. I will help you prepare the material and offer tips on teaching strategies. These are designed as individual projects, not group assignment, but with permission students may share the peer teaching of some readings. Peer teaching has worked successfully with undergraduates in previous courses, and can actually be quite enjoyable. Any text from Week Four on (or part of an assigned text) may be chosen for a Peer Teaching. Peer teachers are excused from writing one of the Micro-essays of their choosing. You must state this on the day the Micro-essay is due. Peer Teaching deadlines: (1) You must identify your chosen text to me by the third week. (2) You must meet with me (and have read the text you will teach) at least one week before you teach.
10%

Notice that the total comes to 110%. There is room for some choice: Those who elect Peer Teaching may choose not to do the Research Report. Those who choose to do research for the final project may also choose not to do the Research Report. Peer teachers are excused from one Micro-essay of their choosing.

Flashes: I will be emailing you between Friday and Monday with notes on the readings, possible changes in the syllabus, and questions for discussion that we will be addressing in class. Therefore you are expected to check your email from time to time.