This biannual course is taught on years 2014-2015, 2016-2017, ...
Elementary knowledge in Buddhism, Hinduism and/or the foundations of the Ancient Indian history and thought.
Devoted mainly to the Hindu and Buddhist philosophies and spiritualities, the course deals with the questions of the Vedic foundations, the ideological context, the Brahmanic or Buddhist classical structurations, the devotional expressions and the heterodox or sectarian developments. The lectures are based on the analysis of textual or archaeological indigenous sources related to the various questions.
The aim of the course is to provide the student with a critical approach to deal with questions related to the philosophies and spiritualities of India and the Far East, on the basis of primary sources, both textual and archaeological.
The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
This year, we'll explore Buddha's Pure Fields notion, skillful mean used in order to give access to liberation via the faith in one buddha. We'll analyse Mahayanist litterature, including the three Amitâbha Sûtras and Pure Land Schools in Eastern Asia, then the extention of this notion in Vajrayâna and finally in Dzogchen, in connection with intermediate states (bardo).
Prerequesites: elementary knowledge in Buddhism, Hinduism and/or the foundations of the Ancient Indian history an thought.
