Religions of Asia: Magic, Monsters, and Marginal Practices

Class Time : 10:05-11:20 T-Th Instructor : Seth Ligo Location : Soc Sci 205

Two of our guides: Indian Bhairava and Japanese Bodhidharma

Overview:

This course is an introduction to Asian Religions through a study of esoteric traditions and accompanying magic, monsters, and marginal practices. We will study sinister yogīs, spiritual alchemists, mad monks, wrathful protectors, zombies, flying cannibalistic sorceresses, magical animals, and extreme ascetics. The rationale for approaching a topic as rich and diverse as “Religions of Asia” through the lens of the occult and the unusual is threefold:

1) Margins are sites of encounter between traditions that foster exchange and development. 2) Any religion’s mainstream is defined in contradistinction to its minority traditions. These

“little” traditions are therefore crucial parts of major traditions, and are too often overlooked in survey courses.

3) These traditions, creatures, characters, and practices are fascinating. Whether mysterious or monstrous, they capture our imaginations. Though they can potentially be misleading, with careful attention they are grant access to rich vistas of religion in Asia.

Grounding a course on Religion in Asia in the study of esoteric traditions does not mean we will

Religions of Asia: Magic, Monsters, and Marginal Practices

neglect mainstream categories such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Islam, Shintō, and so on. It means we will not speak about these categories first, nor will we privilege them as a fundamental or inevitable organizational model for religion in Asia.

This course will begin in the Himalaya, a geographic central point and home to Buddhist and Hindu schools of Yoga and Tantra. As we follow the spread of pan-Asian ideas across central, east, and southeast regions, we will encounter many indigenous traditions, and see how larger networks of belief adopt local practices and adapt to new contexts.

Ideas of esotericism (secret practice), exotericism (public practice), heterodoxy (deviation), orthodoxy (conformity), encounter, and exchange will remain crucial throughout the course. We will address emic and etic sources, each with their scholarly and folk iterations. This means we will address narrative, ethnographic, artistic and cultural materials in addition to textual or scriptural sources. Particular attention will be paid not only to the interaction and overlap of different cultures and traditions, but how these communities understood and represented one another. By extension, we will consistently refer to the Euro-American reception and study of these traditions. Criticism and conflict within and between communities and traditions will be put in conversation with colonial encounter and evaluation.

Goals:

Students will have:1) The ability to discuss in detail religious diversity and diaspora in Asia2) Awareness of the ongoing exchange between mainstream and marginal traditions3) Awareness of the roles of contemplative and ritual, in addition to scriptural, traditions4) An understanding of the role of narrative in the articulation and transmission of religious

thought5) The ability to engage art and material culture when discussing Asian religions6) Awareness that influence is never unilateral, nor is the arc of philosophical and cultural

development

Requirements and Policies:

1) Regular attendance. You get one it’s nice out / I need to sleep day. After that, I’ll need to see notes excusing absence.

2) All assignments must be submitted at the beginning of class on their due dates. All papers (except reading responses) must be submitted in hard copy. Late work will be penalized. By which I mean you’ll be penalized by means of a reduced grade. If you have to miss class on a due date, submit papers to my mailbox in Gray by 7 pm the day before. If you submit something in my mailbox, e-mail me to tell me it’s there.

3) Participation in discussions is also a must. Asking thoughtful questions is a perfectly fine way to participate. These are not drill sessions; neither are they times to discuss issues that cannot be directly tied to the week’s topic.

4) If you plagiarize…just don’t plagiarize. Or cheat. If you’d like to refresh your memory as to the meanings of these terms, please refer to the Rights and Responsibilities Handbook. I take this point very seriously. When in doubt, cite. Paraphrasing without reference is plagiarism.

5) With the exception of religious observance, no hats are to be worn in the classroom. Computers (or a smartphone or tablet) should be brought to class, but not used unless directed to do so (with the exception of using a computer as an LD or physical aid).

Page of 2 13

Religions of Asia: Magic, Monsters, and Marginal Practices

6) Should you need me to take a documented disability into consideration, please let me know and I’ll work with you and appropriate University resources to accommodate as needed.

Office Hours and Meetings:

Any time you can catch me more than two miles from my house and the sun’s up. So if you see me in the library or a restaurant at 8:30 pm, by all means say hey, but as much as I love y’all and love teaching, I’m not going to answer questions just then. Also Thursdays 9-10 and by appointment (e-mail me).

Assignments:

Response Papers:By 9 pm the night before each class, students are expected to post a ~100 word response for each reading that 1) summarizes the main arguments and evidence, 2) makes connections between that material and other material from this and other courses, 3) raises and develops at least one question (clarificatory, comparative, etc.) that could be a starting point for conversation in discussion sessions, and 4) briefly notes one point you agree with, and one point you disagree with (one sentence each). You should be able to support your position on these points in class discussions, so take some notes. These papers will not be graded, but they will be read and commented upon. They must show engagement with the assigned materials in order to receive credit for completion. You can skip one week without penalty, but you can’t skip the reading. I’ll know. We always know.

Short Papers:There will be two 4-5 page papers assigned for the course, one 1/3 of the way through, one at the 2/3 mark. Each will address an assigned prompt. Depending on how the first round goes, they might be returned for required revision and resubmission. This isn’t a punishment: it’s low intensity training to make future writing assignments easier.

Responses are cancelled on days papers are due. Reading is not.

Research Project:A final research project, on a topic selected by the student and approved by an instructor, will be due in lieu of a final. The paper should pursue a question not raised and addressed directly in lecture, or expand significantly upon a point that was. Materials beyond those assigned for class must be addressed and incorporated into this final project.This project will consist of three parts: submission of a precise topic for my approval, a 7-8 page draft, and a 10-12 page final paper. The draft will be returned with comments, and the final must show both response to suggestions and comments, and a notable expansion of the work submitted in the draft. Attending to typographical and grammatical errors is insufficient: revisions must demonstrate reconsideration and development of thought and content.

Quizzes/Tests:There will be brief tests covering terms and concepts: one mid-term, one the last week of class. It is impossible to read materials for this class well without familiarizing oneself with certain specialized terminology.

Page of 3 13

Religions of Asia: Magic, Monsters, and Marginal Practices

This may seem to be a lot of work. This course is designed to spread the monumental task of learning about this complex set of topics evenly across a semester. If you keep up with each assignment, and with the terms and concepts covered, you will be able to make it through all this material without too much strain. If you wait until the last minute to learn terms, or fall behind in the readings, quizzes and papers will seem extremely difficult.

Grading:

Participation 40%Weekly Papers 10%Quizzes 10%Short Papers (2) 20%Final Paper (& draft) 20% note: The participation component is hefty, but conceived of broadly. You can respond to my questions, pose your own, or engage me or other students in conversation about class topics. Many of these grade categories are interconnected. For example, poor completion of reading responses will make it hard to participate in class, and hamper your participation grade. So will falling behind on readings. Lack of participation will make it harder to write good papers.

Week I: Globalization and Sanitization: Asian Religions and Orientalism Aug. 27 & 29

Topics: Colonialism; Theosophy; Pluralism. The representation of Asian Religions in Euro-American contexts.

Read: Nordstrom, “Utopians at the Parliament"Swami Vivekananda’s addresses at the World Parliament of ReligionsRobert Thurman’s interview with the Dalai Lama in Mother Jones

Look Over: Maps included at the end of this syllabus, and other maps representing diverse traditions and cultures in Asia. Note that they are problematic and limited.

Watch: images from the Colombian Exhibition; the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu talk about their Book of Joy.

Week 2: Flying Yogīs and Divine Monks: Tibet, Bhutan and Tantric Buddhism Sep. 3 & 5

Topics: “Fringe” masters who are recognized as founders of major traditions; introduction to varieties of Buddhism; the orientalist fascination with secret Himalayan paradises.

Read: Dowman, Divine madman and Masters of Mahamudra (excerpts)Baker, Embodying Enlightenment (art and physical culture)

Watch: excerpts from Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow; the story of Theos Bernard

Week 3: Tantra I: Central and South Asia Sep. 10 & 12

Topics: Tantric traditions, antinomianism, tension with orthodoxy, comparative heterodoxy.

Page of 4 13

Religions of Asia: Magic, Monsters, and Marginal Practices

Read: Lorenzen, Kāpālikas and Kālāmukhas (excerpts)Ingalls, “Cynics and Pāśupatas”Sopa, Wheel of Time: Kālacakra Tantra in Context

Watch: Video clips of Kumbh Mela at Allahabad, Tibetan Maṇḍala construction.

Week 4: Zombies, Cannibal Dryads, Witches, and Ghosts 17 & 19

Topics: An introduction to the initially scary denizens of fringe areas. While many of these tropes are familiar in Euro-American contexts, the categories here are different.

Read: White’s “Yoginī, Ḍākinī, Sryx: Adventures in Comparative Demonology”Piṣaca episode in Skanda Purāṇa (primary source on archive.org)Vetālapañcaviṃśati (excerpts from TITUS texts)Komatsu, An Introduction to Yōkai Culture

Watch: “Yogi, Jackal and Goddess in Hindu Tantric Yoga.”[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCUkH1d7agw&spfreload=10 ]

Week 5: Ferocious Guardians and Monstrous Protectors Sep. 24 & 26[first short paper due]

Topics: Wrathful deities and protectors; demons who fight demons; the deified dead

Read: Coccari, Bīr Babas of Banāras.Michaelson, “Gilded Dragons”Linrothe, Demonic Divine

View: Himalayan Art Online introduction and gallery materials on (himalayanartonline.org)

Week 6: Asuras and Gaṇas — Demons and Imps Oct. 1 & 3

Topics: Enemies of the mainstream; competing team or inherent evil?

Read: Linrothe, Ruthless Compassion (excerpts)Roved, Secrets of Angkor (excerpts)

Compare: Green men and local demons in European Architecture. cf. Imp of Lincoln Cathedral

Week 7: Alchemy and Yoga in East Asia [terms quiz] Oct. 10

Topics: Magic traditions and practices; internal alchemy; supernatural powers; Daoism and Buddhism; Neidan; Shingon

Read: Kohn, ed. Handbook of Daoism (excerpts).Dalton, “The Quesitons and Answers of Vajrasattva"Payne, Tantric Buddhism in East Asia (excerpts)

Page of 5 13

Religions of Asia: Magic, Monsters, and Marginal Practices

Week 8: Fakirs and Yogīs Oct. 15 & 17

Topics: Antinomian masters in Hinduism and Islam; Colonial encounter and classification;

Read: Oman, The Mystics, Ascetics and Saints of India (excerpts)British censes from the late 19th centuryWhite, Sinister Yogīs (excerpts)Ernst, Shambhala Guide to Sufism (introduction)

Watch: Sadhus: India’s Holy Men https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTJgjoM9BXc&t=8s

Week 9: Zen: Quiescence and Disruption [second paper due Thursday] Oct. 22 & 24

Topics: Meditation, Koan, Samurai, WWII, the moment of Enlightenment, Bodhidharma, Zen in the West

Read: Reps, Zen Flesh Zen Bones (excerpts) Red Pine (trans.) The Zen Teaching of BodhidharmaSchlutter, How Zen Became Zen (excerpts)Satō, “DT Suzuki and the Question of War”

Watch: Life in a Zendo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L5mQTDrfek

Week 10: Reclaiming Animism: Kami, Lho, Devata in Shintō, Bön, Hinduism Oct. 29 & 31[submit final project proposal]

Topics: Local deities; ‘little’ traditions; local/translocal interaction; sacred geography

Read: Bellezza, Spirit Mediums, Sacred Mountains, and Bön textual traditionsShintō in Fleming, Material Culture and Asian ReligionsHaberman, People Trees (excerpts)

Watch: Shamanism in Korea https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3rRIXOSxog

Week 11: Bhairava Nov. 5 & 7

Topics: Asia’s most extensive deity; demonic divinity; guardian and king

Read: Chalier-Visuvalingam “Bhairava’s Royal Brahminicide”Grieve, “One and Three Bhairavas”Baltutis, “Rennovating Bhairav”Goepper, Aizen Myōō

View: Image archives of Bhairava and Bhairava-type deities, and maps of Bhairava in Vārāṇasī sethligo.com/bhairavarchive [beta].

Week 12: Shamanism in South East Asia Nov. 12 & 14

Page of 6 13

Religions of Asia: Magic, Monsters, and Marginal Practices

Topics: Modes of authority; Buddhism and local traditions; SE Asian diversity

Read: Hayashi, Practical Buddhism among the Thai-LaoKendall, Things Fall ApartWinn, “In Thailand Blood Sacrifice is Out, Strawberry Fanta is In.” Johnson, “Ghost Mothers”

View: Thai and Cambodian deities of Earth and Heaven: Spirit houses and spirit house photographic archive sethligo.com/spirithouses [forthcoming]

Week 13: Hanumān and the Sun WuKong — Magical Monkeys — Nov. 19 & 21[second terms quiz]

Topics: Similar deities in different regions; powerful animals; monster or master; indigenous or imported

Read: Lutgendorff, Hanumān’s Tale (excerpts)Walker, Indigenous or Foreign?

View: excerpts from televised Rāmāyaṇa, Hanumān children’s cartoons (Indian); The Monkey King (Chinese)

Week 14: Esoteric Buddhism in East Asia — Dec. 3 & 5

Topics: The terminus of transmission; a specific understanding of ‘esoteric,’ the esoteric and the political; state secrets and secret religion

Read: Orzech, Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia (excerpts)Payne, “From Vedic India to Buddhist Japan"

Watch: Shugendo Now http://shugendonow.com

Final Paper Due Date T.B.A.

Page of 7 13

Religions of Asia: Magic, Monsters, and Marginal Practices

Assigned Materials:

Baker, Ian A. “Embodying Enlightenment: Physical Culture in Dzogchen as Revealed in Tibet’s Lukhang Murals.” Asian Medicine 7, no. 1 (January 2012): 225–64.

Baltutis, Michael C. “Renovating Bhairav: Fierce Gods, Divine Agency, and Local Power in Kathmandu.” International Journal of Hindu Studies 13, no. 1 (March 11, 2009): 25–49.

Bellezza, John Vincent. Spirit-Mediums, Sacred Mountains, and Related Bon Textual Traditions in Upper Tibet : Calling down the Gods. Leiden ; Boston: Brill, 2005.

Chalier-Visuvalingam, Elizabeth. “Bhairava’s Royal Brahminicide” in Alf Hiltebeitel (ed.) Criminal Gods and Demon Devotees: Essays on the Guardians of Popular Hinduism. New York: SUNY Press, 1989.

Coccari, Diane. “The Bīr Babas of Banāras: An Analysis of a Folk Deity in North Indian Hinduism.” Doctoral Thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1986.

Dalton, Jacob. “The Questions and Answers of Vajrasattva” in White, David Gordon, ed. Yoga in Practice. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011.

Dowman, Keith, trans. The Divine Madman - The Sublime Life and Songs of Drukpa Kunley. Varanasi: Pilgrims Book House, 2000.

Dowman, Keith, and Abhayadatta. Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-Four Buddhist Siddhas. First Edition edition. Albany NY: SUNY Press, 1986.

Ernst, Carl. The Shambhala Guide to Sufism. New York: Shambhala, 2017.Fleming, Benjamin, and Richard Mann, eds. Material Culture and Asian Religions: Text, Image,

Object. New York: Routledge, 2014.Goepper, Roger. Aizen-Myōō : The Esoteric King of Lust : An Iconological Study. Zurich: Artibus

Asiae , Museum Rietberg Zurich, 1993.Grieve, Gregory Price. “One and Three Bhairavas: The Hypocrisy of Iconographic Mediation.”

REVER - Revista de Estudos Da Religião, 2005.Haberman, David L. People Trees : Worship of Trees in Northern India. Oxford ; New York:

Oxford University Press, 2013.Hayashi, Yukio. Practical Buddhism among the Thai-Lao : Religion in the Making of a Region.

Kyoto: Kyoto University Press , 2003.Ingalls, Daniel H. H. “Cynics and Pāśupatas: The Seeking of Dishonor.” Harvard Theological

Review 55, no. 04 (1962). Johnson, Alan. “Ghost Mothers: Kinship Relations in Thai Spirit Cults” in Social Analysis vol. 60

no. 2, 2016, p. 82.Kendall, Laurel. “Things Fall Apart: Material Religion and the Problem of Decay.” The Journal of

Asian Studies; Ann Arbor 76, no. 4 (November 2017): 861–86. Linrothe, Robert N. Ruthless Compassion : Wrathful Deities in Early Indo-Tibetan Esoteric Buddhist Art. Boston: Shambhala, 1999.

Page of 8 13

Religions of Asia: Magic, Monsters, and Marginal Practices

Komatsu, Kazuhiko. An Introduction to Yōkai Culture : Monsters, Ghosts, and Outsiders in Japanese History. Tokyo: Japan Publishing Institute for Culture, 2017.

Linrothe, Robert N., and Henrik Hjort Sorensen. Embodying Wisdom : Art, Text and Interpretation in the History of Esoteric Buddhism. Copenhagen: The Seminar for Buddhist Studies, 2001.

Linrothe, Robert N., and Jeff Watt. Demonic Divine: Himalayan Art and Beyond. Rubin Museum Of Art, New York And Serindia Publications, Chicago, 2004.

Lorenzen, David N. The Kapalikas and Kalamukhas;: Two Lost Saivite Sects. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972.

Lutgendorf, Philip, and Oxford University Press. Hanuman’s Tale [Electronic Resource] : The Messages of a Divine Monkey. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Michaelson, Carol. “Gilded Dragons: Buried Treasures from China’s Golden Ages.” Apollo; London, November 1, 1999.

Newman, John. “As Long as Space Endures: Essays on the Kālacakra Tantra in Honor of H.H. The Dalai Lama – Edited by Edward A. Arnold.” Religious Studies Review 38, no. 2 (June 1, 2012): 121–22.

Oman, John Campbell. The Mystics, Ascetics, and Saints of India : A Study of Sadhuism, with an Account of the Yogis, Sanyasis, Bairagis, and Other Strange Hindu Sectarians. London : T. F. Unwin, 1905.

Orzech, Charles D., Richard Karl Payne, and Henrik Hjort Sorensen. Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia. Leiden ; Boston: Brill, 2011.

Payne, Richard. “From Vedic India to Buddhist Japan: Continuities and Discontinuities in Esoteric Ritual” in Orzech, Charles D., Richard Karl Payne, and Henrik Hjort Sorensen. Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia. Leiden ; Boston: Brill, 2011.

———Tantric Buddhism in East Asia. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2006.Reps, Paul. Zen Flesh Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings. Vermont: Tuttle,

1998.Roveda, Vittorio. Khmer Mythology : Secrets of Angkor. New York: Weatherhill, 1998.Satō, Kemmyō. “DT Suzuki and the Question of War” in The Eastern Buddhist vol. 39 no. 1,

2008, 61-120.Schlütter, Morten. How Zen Became Zen. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2008.Thurman, Robert. “The Dalai Lama.” Mother Jones. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/

1997/11/dalai-lama/.Vivekananda. “Addresses at the Parliament of Religions by Swami Vivekananda.” https://

www.ramakrishna.org/chcgfull.htm.Walker, Hera S. Indigenous or Foreign? : A Look at the Origins of the Monkey Hero Sun

Wukong. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania, 1998.White, David Gordon “Dakini, Yogini, Pairika, Strix: Adventures in Comparative Demonology.”

Southeast Review of Asian Studies 35 (2013): 7–31.———. Sinister Yogis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009. ———, ed. Yoga in Practice. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011.

Page of 9 13

Religions of Asia: Magic, Monsters, and Marginal Practices

Winn, Patrick. “In Thailand Blood Sacrifice is Out, Strawberry Fanta is In.” Public Radio International, April 6, 2017.

Page of 10 13

Religions of Asia: Magic, Monsters, and Marginal Practices

Maps: Problematic Starting Points

“Asian Religions” http://www.wadsworth.com/religion_d/special_features/popups/maps/maps_f.html

Page of 11 13

Religions of Asia: Magic, Monsters, and Marginal Practices

Shakyamuni's Birthplace and Dispersion of Buddhism to East Asia http://www.wadsworth.com/religion_d/special_features/popups/maps/maps_f.html

Page of 12 13

Religions of Asia: Magic, Monsters, and Marginal Practices

Languages of Asia. Daniel Dalet of d-maps.com. Where are the Urdu speakers?

Page of 13 13