[Buddha-l] Question for academic teachers of Buddhism

[Jackhat1 at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/23/2008 10:39:57 A.M. Central Daylight Time,  
richard.nance at gmail.com writes:


I  haven't heard the CDs you've mentioned, so I can't speak to the
points  you're raised directly. I would be surprised, however, if David
Eckel were  actually to paint a negative picture of cessation; he's a
very  well-informed guy. Are you sure that he's not voicing a view he
takes to be  manifested by certain previous scholars, or voicing
unfounded assumptions  that he thinks the members of his audience might
already  have?
==============
He does seem well informed and sounds like a good guy that I would like to  
have a few beers with. No matter what his motivation for saying what he did,  
someone hearing the lectures would walk away with a very negative view of the  
goal of Buddhism, in my opinion. He might ameliorate this in later lectures 
but,  again, in my opinon, the damage has already been done. 
====



As to teaching Buddhism in a university setting: it's important  to
bear in mind that an academic lecture isn't a dharma talk, nor is  it
meant to be. The borders between the two genres might at times  grow
somewhat fuzzy, but the distinction is, it seems to me, a useful  one
to make. The point of an academic class in Buddhism is not to  provide
information on how to be a better Buddhist -- it's to  provide
information on Buddhism (histories, practices, cultural  settings,
influential figures, doctrines, etc.), and encourage students to  think
carefully and critically about this information. If a student wants  to
apply this information -- or apply critical thinking -- to the task  of
becoming a better Buddhist, I certainly wouldn't encourage him or  her
*not* to do so. But that's not the point of the  class.
============
I agree. The teacher's role is not to proselytize. It is to "encourage  
students to think carefully and critically about this information." I also agree  
that a teacher does not have to be a Buddhist or have ever practiced any  
Buddhist techniques. But, among the information he presents should be an idea  why 
people raised in a non-Buddhist culture might find it attractive  and not to 
lead them to think otherwise.What I was hearing on the CD's was,  to use Alex's 
phrase, the "museum curator" approach. To me, this means  presenting the 
subject as strange, but interesting and not really  applicable to anybody in the 
West.
 
Thanks for responding. You too Alex.
 
Jack
 
 
 



Students come in many different types. Some are seekers; others  are
skeptics; still others are fundamentalists of one stripe or another  --
one does occasionally encounter forms of Buddhist fundamentalism.  An
effective teacher will need to find a way to engage all of these  and
get them thinking, and thinking critically, about the material  on
offer. That's not an easy task (at least for those teachers who  have
yet to attain Buddhahood). What one student finds appealing,  another
will find quite off-putting.

But the goal, again, is greater  understanding of --and critical
engagement with -- course concepts. This  can happen whether or not the
teacher counts himself or herself as a  Buddhist, and whether or not
students count themselves as Buddhists. In  other words: being a
Buddhist (or not being a Buddhist) implies nothing  about one's
effectiveness as a teacher -- or student -- of Buddhism in an  academic
setting. No doubt, some students strongly believe that only  Buddhists
should teach classes on Buddhism ("it takes one to know one");  others
strongly believe the opposite ("you can't understand something  until
you've achieved some distance on it"). Both of these assumptions  are
problematic, and an academic teacher who insists on positioning him  or
herself as an insider (or outsider) to the tradition is, it seems  to
me, cheating his or her students of a valuable opportunity to  reflect
on the conditions under which they are tempted to grant -- or  to
withhold -- judgments of  authority.



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