COURSE DETAIL
This course covers the journey of Buddhist monasticism from ancient India to modern Europe and America through a range of texts, including canonical literature and poems and autobiographies of monks and nuns. The course discusses how a disciplined life and living in a community can enable ethical transformations. Although some of the earliest Buddhist texts advocated strict celibacy, most of the Buddhist communities in subsequent centuries adopted a form of monasticism and priesthood that allowed for families. The course explores the social changes, ethical and philosophical ideas that led to the acceptance of families in Buddhist monasticism. Additionally, the course examines how monasticism, with or without celibacy, influences the ethical development of individuals who choose one or the other form of life.