Summer Semester Academic Programs (02 May-30 June 2007)

Summer semester offers courses for existing students who are already enrolled at IBC. These courses are also open to interested public and those who are interested please contact IBC at enquire@ibc.ac.th.

Summer semester offers courses for existing students who are already enrolled at IBC. These courses are also open to interested public and those who are interested please contact IBC at enquire@ibc.ac.th.

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Programs

BA Program

1. PL101: Pali Grammar I

2. BP309 Theravada Exegetical Tradition

3. BP409 Buddhism and other World Religions

MA Program:

1. Mahayana Buddhist Literature (English medium only)
2. Chinese Buddhist Thought (Chinese and English medium)
3. Buddhacarita (Chinese medium only)

Intensive English Language Program

The Intensive English Summer Semester program incorporates training in basic skills of Listening, Speaking, Writing and Reading.

Course Descriptions for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Courses Offered in the Summer Semester

BP309 - TheravĀda Exegetical Tradition 3(3-0-6)A historical survey and a critical evaluation of the Buddhist exegetical traditions developed within the Theravāda tradition. Attention will be focused on the canonical antecedents of Buddhist exegesis, Buddhist hermeneutics of the Netti and Pe akopadesa, methods of doctrinal exposition in the Pāli A hakathās and éīkās, and doctrinal developments through commentarial interpretations.

BP409 - BUDDHISM AND OTHER WORLD RELIGIONS 3(3-0-6) The course is intended as a comparative study of Buddhism in relation to Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. The primary focus of the course will be on the world-view of each religion and the spiritual life based on it. The purpose of the course is to promote inter-faith understanding among contemporary world-religions.

PL101 - Pāli Grammar I 3(3-0-6)The course will introduce the student to the elementary rules of descriptive grammar: declension, conjugation, sandhi, samāsa (nominal compounds) and rules relating to the basic grammatical structure of a sentence.

BL6209/ME6209. Mahāyāna Buddhist Literature / MC6209. 大乘佛教典籍 (3 credits) (3-0-6)

The course will consist of a study of the following themes : (1) the literary and philosophical treatises of such authors as Asvaghosa, Aryadeva, Asańga, Nāgārjuna, Vasubandhu, etc. (2) Prajñāpāramitā literature : its origin and development ; life and teachings of the Buddha as represented in works such as Buddhacarita, Mahāvastu, Lalitavistara, Saddharmapuṇḍarīka and the Avadāna Literature; Bodhisattva concept and the related notions as found in Jātakamala, Bodhicaryāvatāra, Bodhisattvabhūmi, Samādhirāja Sūtra and Rastrapalapariprccha; a brief introduction to the Dhāraṇīs and Tantras. (3) An analysis of one of the following works: Lalitavistara, Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, Mahāvastu, Lańkāvatāra- with special emphasis on the discourse structure and contents. (4) Selected readings from the following texts: Mahāvastu Lalitavistara, Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra.

BL6209C/MC6209. 大乘佛教典籍(3 credits) (3-0-6)这门课程将学习以下几个主题：（1）著名论师如马明、提婆、无著、世亲等的文学哲学性的论著。（2） 般若波罗密多典籍：它的起源与发展；记载于下列一些典籍中佛的生活和教义：《佛所行赞经》、《大事》、《方等本起经》或《普曜经》、《妙法莲华经》和《譬 喻经》；菩萨的概念以及见于下列典籍中相关的相关的概念：《菩萨本生鬘论》，《入菩萨行》或《菩萨行经》、《菩萨地经》、《三摩地王经》，《护国尊者所问 经》；一个对陀罗尼咒和密续的简介。（3）分析下列其中的一部经籍典，特别着重于经典的结构和内容，这些典籍包括：《方等本起经》、《妙法莲华经》、《大事》、《入楞伽经》.（4）下列经典的选读：《大事》、《方等本起经》、《妙法莲华经》，《入菩萨行》或《菩萨行经》.

CB6215/ME6215. Chinese Buddhist Thought: A Historical Perspective (3 credits) (3-0-6)This course examines the Chinese development and interpretation of Buddhist thought in a historical perspective, with a special emphasis on the teachings and practices. The major figures and their contributions to the formation and development of schools, important and influential sūtras and the cults of important divinities will also be examined.

CB6215C/MC6215. 中国佛教思想：一种历史的观点(3 credits) (3-0-6)这门课程以历史的观点分析佛教思想在中国的发展与解释，特别着重其理论和修行。还将分析一些重要人物和他们对宗派的形成及发展的贡献、重要和有影响的经典以及一些重要神的礼拜。

ST6220C/MC6220. The Chinese Buddhacarita [佛学研究的特别论题 3] (3 credits) (3-0-6)]The first of the three precious things is Buddha. His life has been an inspiration for centuries. Asvaghosa's Sanskrit Buddhacarita(early second century)is one of the masterpieces of world literature. The biography is the work of a playwright-poet. We only have 14 chapters in the original Sanskrit, but all 28 chapters exist in Chinese and in Tibetan translation. The Chinese text was made in 421 CE by Baoyun, near Nanjing. The text is a Sautrantika Sarvastivada biography of Sakyamuni, from birth till the division of the relics. Will be read: Chapters 1: Birth, 7: Entry into the Forest of Asceticism, 13: Mara’s Destruction. These chapters will be compared with the Sanskrit version. Will also be read: 21: Subduing the maddened Elephant Dhanapalaka, 25: Parinirvana, 28: The Division of the Relics.
The texts used: Fosuoxing Zan; Buddhacarita or Acts of the Buddha, by E.H. Johnston