CSP 76 Meditating for the Universe: Tibetan Buddhist Contemplative Traditions in History and Practice

Tibetan Buddhist practitioners are often represented as saffron-clad monks living in distant mountain caves, avoiding the world and meditating all day. Historically, the practice of Buddhism in Tibet and the Himalayas was far more complex and intimately connected with everyday life and culture, and was focused on cultivating compassion for all sentient beings in the universe. This course will provide an introduction to how contemplative traditions in Tibetan Buddhism - including meditation, yoga, and ritual - were shaped by historical events and local cultural traditions. We will embark on this exploration by reading traditional texts by and about Tibetan Buddhist practitioners and their historical context, and in doing so gain insight into how for them, meditation was a path that informed their responses to the challenges of everyday life. We will also explore these contemplative traditions through practicing them, and think critically about how they can be used in contemporary times to cultivate empathy and awareness. The final research project from this course will bring together these strands of investigation by allowing students to carry out research on how a historical practice can be utilized in a non-Buddhist setting in their daily lives.