Tuesday, October 16, 2012

THE ART OF MEDITATION (SPRING 2013 CLASS)


THE ART OF MEDITATION (SPRING 2013 CLASS)

 

CLLC L100, Class 21062

Spring 2013 (First Eight Weeks Only)

T/R 6:50p - 8:30p / Ed Basement Classroom

2 credit hours

Instructor: Doug Hanvey

 

In this course you will learn and practice meditation as taught in the Zen tradition of Buddhism. In addition to meditating, you will read, discuss and write about several core concerns of Zen, including the nature of consciousness, reality, time, self, and the ultimate goal of Buddhism – awakening. We will broadly compare Eastern and Western approaches to psychological and spiritual development, asking how Western traditions that aim to strengthen the ego can be reconciled with Eastern traditions that aspire to transcend it. This will not be an “easy activity” class (or in this case “non-activity class”). While we will meditate regularly and intensively, the reading/discussion component of this class will be equally emphasized. In fact, you may discover that meditation is more rigorous than you thought it would be, and the philosophical ideas you will learn about may turn your world upside down and inside out (which is also the fun of it). You may be challenged at the deepest levels of your being – intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, perhaps even physically. But as a saying goes, “Challenge is a dragon with a gift in its mouth. Tame the dragon and the gift is yours.”

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