REL 314 - Death and Desire in Tibetan Buddhism

Course unit(s): 1
Meets GAR (students beginning prior to Fall 2024): Meets general academic requirement DE and HU.
Meets Explore Core requirement (students beginning Fall 2024 and later): MV
This course examines the practices of death and desire in the unique traditions of Tibetan tantra, a form of Himalayan Buddhism. Tibetan tantra involves practices of wrathful deities, sexual yogas, and subtle body technologies to produce a unique understanding of mind and body and their potential for transformation in both sexual union and in death. We will look at the foundational Tibetan Book of the Dead cycle of texts, as well as explore their evolving meanings in contemporary, non-Buddhist contexts like American Hospice. How have Tibetan Buddhists associated desire, power, and knowing? How might investigations of Tibetan practices of death and desire inform our own?