[Buddha-l] Teaching Zen Buddhist philosophy

[Richard P. Hayes]

Next semester I am scheduled to teach a course on Zen Buddhist
philosophy (in the philosophy department, not in religious studies).
Last time I taught the course I had the students read, among other
things, The Lankavatara Sutra, the Diamond-cutter sutra, The Platform
Sutra, some writings by Chinul, some writings by Dogen and a book by
David Loy. The class got rave reviews, so I could just repeat it. But
the fact is, I am really sick of the old standards (the majority of
which I don't find at all inspiring anyway) and would like to have a
change of pace. 

So I have decided to try something different (for me). Rather than
giving a lot of historical background, I am thinking of having students
read five or six books by contemporary Western writers who have been
influenced by their Zen practice. The people whose works I have been
thinking of are Robert Aitken, Joko Beck, Jan Chozen Bays, Toni Packer,
Bernie Glassman and Ruben Habito. 

If possible I'd like to have a good balance of male and female authors,
and I'd like to have at least one writer who, like Packer, has abandoned
the Buddhist and Zen labels altogether, and I'd like to have a couple of
people whose vision of Zen includes religious traditions other than
Buddhism (like Habito and Glassman). I also want to have a book that
deals significantly with ethics (as do Aitken, Franz Metcalf and David
Loy). 

My question is: do any of you have any experience teaching any of these
authors in an academic context? If so, how did it go? Are there other
authors you would recommend whose works fit within the guidelines I have
sketched above?

Incidentally, I was toying with the idea of having people read Austin's
Zen and the Brain, which I find captivating, but in the end I decided
against using the whole book. I may include a few excerpts, since
several of the people who keep taking my courses are science majors who
seem to like to grapple with the sorts of things that Austin grapples
with. Have any of you taught from his book? How did it go?

Any advice will be gratefully received.

-- 
Richard P. Hayes <rhayes at unm.edu>
University of New Mexico