Comparing Contemplative Traditions:

Yoga, Mysticism, and Meditation

NCTH 106 / 21134

Course Syllabus

Spring 2014

Instructor:

Kenneth Rose, PhD

ktr5e@virginia.edu

Instructor Bio: Kenneth Rose is a professor of philosophy and religious studies and the director of the religious studies program at Christopher Newport University. He holds a PhD in religious studies from Harvard University and a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School. He is the author of the forthcoming Yoga, Buddhist Meditation, and Catholic Mysticism: Religious Universals and Contemplative Landmarks; Pluralism: the Future of Religion; and Knowing the Real: John Hick on the Cognitivity of Religions and Religious Pluralism, in addition to many scholarly articles and reviews.

Dates/Times: Mondays, 6:30-8:30pm, February 3-April 7 (no class Mar 3 & Mar 10)

Location: UVa School of Continuing and Professional Studies, Zehmer Hall, Room E

Course Description: Human beings have sought spiritual experiences since before recorded history with the result that contemplative traditions have arisen all over the globe.  In this course students examine accounts of spiritual awakening and the development of the mystical life in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity.  While tracing the maps of the spiritual life created by these religious communities, students work out a comparative perspective on human spirituality.  By considering the philosophical and theological controversies raised by mysticism and by practicing some contemplative techniques, participants increase their understanding of different dimensions of mysticism.

Course Objectives/Learning Outcomes:  This course will focus on commonalities in the spiritual experience of humanity. While many contemporary studies of contemplative traditions feature the differences that distinguish these traditions, we will look for an underlying unity between these traditions by focusing on the interplay of concentrative and analytical contemplative practices that generate the dynamic meditative realizations central to the Buddhist, Hindu, and Christian contemplative traditions. Through the practice of critical first-person approaches, we will also explore contemplative practices in these traditions. Alongside this practical activity, we will explore philosophical and theological controversies raised by the comparative study of contemplation and mysticism. Students who take this course will be in a position to evaluate the potential of spiritual practices for developing the insight necessary to overcoming conditioned patterns of thought and behavior. Students will also be equipped to enter into current academic and theological discussions about the nature of humanity’s diverse but common spiritual life.

Required/Recommended Texts: There are no required texts in this course.

Suggested texts, materials, helpful websites, etc.:

There are no required texts in this course, but the following books may be helpful:

·       The Three Conversions to the Spiritual Life, Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange. Tan Books, ISBN: 9780895557391

·       Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana. Wisdom Publications, ISBN: 9780861715299

·       The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Swami Satchidananda. Integral Yoga Publications, ISBN: 9780932040381

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