aThe oldest known university in Asia, and possibly in the world, was founded by Buddhist scholars. Quoting Johan Elverskog, “The Nalanda university founded in northeast India in the early 4th century became the premier institution of higher learning in Asia and, much like leading universities today, Nalanda had a world-renowned faculty working on the cutting edge of the theoretical sciences and a student body drawn from across the Buddhist world.” See Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010): 1.
bBiographies of the founders of Buddhist universities are detailed in the following section of this article.
cThis university used to have state accreditations, but lost them due to the stricter requirements imposed during the 1990s. It is currently granting degrees through association with the Institute for World Religions.
dA brief history of Soka Gakkai International will be discussed along with the biography of Ikeda Daisaku.
eMaitripa College is affiliated with the Foundation for Preservation of the Mahayana Traditions. Lharampa Geshe and Yangsi Rinpoche are credited as its historical founders while its current Spiritual Director is Rinpoche Thubten Zopa. In the last two years, the College’s most prominent degrees were the M.A. in Buddhist Studies and Master of Divinity.
fYeshiva University was founded in 1886 in New York; today, it combines contemporary academic education with the teachings of the Torah. In 2007, the American Jewish University (AJU) was created as a result of merging the University of Judaism with Brandeis-Bardin College. It now offers degrees in Bioethics, Psychology, Liberal Studies, Business, Communication, Political Science, and Jewish Studies. Islamic American University (IAU) in Southfield, Michigan, offers the spiritual teachings of Islam along with degrees in Liberal Arts and several professional fields.
gAccording to a poll conducted by Time Magazine and the Carnegie Corporation, 89% of American adults think that higher education is in crisis; 54% say that it is moving in a wrong direction. According to the same poll, 96% of senior higher education administrators express the opinion that their sector of education is in crisis, while 40% of them indicate the crisis is severe. See http://www.livingstondaily.com (retrieved on January 15, 2013). Also see Gene A. Budwig (2013) “Beating America’s College Crisis,” in the online public forum, “Colleges in Crisis,” at http://harvardmagazine.com.
hTulku denotes the high lama who remembers his previous reincarnations. About Chogyam Trungpa remembering his past lives, see Fabrice Midal, Chogyam Trungpa: His Life and Vision (Boston and London: Shambala, 2012): 32–34. The founder of the Naropa University is also referred to as Trungpa Rinpoche.
iTrungpa Rinpoche’s non-orthodox approach to Buddhist education, and reasons for giving up his monastic status are expressed in his autobiography, Born in Tibet, and other writings. We specifically recommend: Cutting through Spiritual Materialism, The Myth of Freedom, and You Might Be Tired of the Seat that You Deserve. Trungpa Rinpoche’s life is described in many publications, including Fabrice Midal, Chogyam Trungpa: His Life and Vision (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2004) and Jeremy Hayward, Warrior-King of Shambhala: Remembering Chogyam Trungpa (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2008).
jSee the Dalai Lama’s introduction to (ed.) Fabrice Midal, Recalling Chogyam Trungpa (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2005): IX-X.
kSpecific degrees granted by each Buddhist University are analyzed in the following section of this article.
lRecollections of the school’s history can be found in Sam Kashner’s When I was Cool: My Life at the Jack Kerouac School. (New York: Harper Collins, 2004).
mThe first president, active during the lifetime of Trungpa Rinpoche, was Barbara Dilley.
nMost complete biography of Master Hsuan Hua can be found in two-volume collection of various biographical data, photo-materials, and his lectures and speeches, which was put together shortly after his death by his students. See In Memory of the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua. Burlingame, CA: Buddhist Text Translation Society and Dharma Realm Buddhist University, 1995–1996.
oThe place was originally referred to as the Buddhist Lecture Hall; it is known today as the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association.
pThe exact nature of the problems Master Hua had encountered with his European American disciples is nearly impossible to investigate because the answers we received from his still living followers were evasive. According to one disciple, Ronald Epstein, he went into seclusion because of his students “disrespectful behavior toward the Dharma.” See his In Memory of the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua (Burlingame, CA: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 1995): 59–68, for a fuller biographic account.
q
Out of the Ground It Emerges: Wonderful Enlightenment Mountain. Celebrating 40 Years of Dharma in the West as Transmitted by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua (Burlingame, CA: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2001): 76.
rIt is now located in Burlingame, CA.
sAbout his contribution to the Buddhist-based education see Dilma de Melo Silva, “Makiguchi Project in Action – Enhancing Education for Peace,” Journal of Oriental Studies 10 Special Issue (2000): 62–93; Namrata Sharma, Value Creators in Education (New Delhi: Regency Publications, 1999), and Dayle Bethel, Education for Creative Living: Ideas and Proposals of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1989).
tSee Donald Mitchell, Buddhism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008): 303.
uSee Daniel A Metraux, “The Soka Gakkai: Buddhism and the Creation of a Harmonious and Peaceful Society,” In (eds.) Christopher Queen and Sallie King, Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia (New York: SUNY Press, 1996) for a positive evaluation of Nichiren’s teachings, and Adam Gamble and Takesato Watanabe, A Public Betrayed: An Inside Look at Japanese Media Atrocities and Their Warnings to the West (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2004) for criticism of some of their negative aspects.
vFor more details, see Richard Walker, “Soka University of America’s 10th Anniversary,” SGI Quarterly (April 2013): 1–3; and John Pulley, “Soka U. Tries to Invent College,” The Chronicle of Higher Education (January 2001): 19.
wA very detailed biography of Hsing Yun is Fu Zhiying, Bright Star, Luminous Cloud: The Life of a Simple Monk (Hacienda Heights: Buddha’s Light Publishing, 2008). For a more critical approach to Foguangshan, see Stuart Chandler’s Establishing a Pure Land on Earth (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004).
xIrene Lin detailed the story of cultural bigotry taking place during construction of this temple in “Journey to the Far West,” in (ed.) Tanya Storch, Religions and Missionaries in the Pacific (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2006): 383-408.
yUniversity website.
zFor instance, James William Coleman characterized the situation by saying, “Soka Gakkai has been known to pursue an aggressive policy in proselytization known by the descriptive Japanese name, shakubuku, which translates as 'break and subdue’.” See his chapter, “The New Buddhism: Some Empirical Findings,” in (eds.) Duncan Ryukan Williams and Christopher Queen, American Buddhism: Methods and Findings in Recent Scholarship (Richmond: Curzon Press, 1999): 91-99. In response to resentment from the public, the organization changed its style of preaching during the late 90s, and as a result, accepted a separation from the Nichiren clergy. As Robert Kisala explained, “they got rid of monks’ control and outdated exclusivism.” This decision led to the loss of religious privileges, such as monk’s blessings at the funerals, or obtaining of the monks’ handwritten certificates (daihonzon). See “Soka Gakkai: Searching for the Mainstream,” in (eds.) James Lewis and Jesper Petersen, Controversial New Religions (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004): 149-150.
aa Fresh online published studies on the psychological and medical benefits of mindful eating are overwhelming. Here are just a few examples: Evann Gastaldo, “New on the Menu: Mindful Eating,” Newser (February 8, 2012); Jeff Gordiner, “Mindful Eating as Food for Thought,” The New York Times (February 7, 2012); and Phra Paisal Visalo, “The Art of Eating the Buddhist Way,” Visalo (March 10, 2013).
abWe are particularly impressed by this simple way of saving material and human resources because, on and around the campus of the university where we serve, each new academic year brings piles of garbage that used to be student furniture and other re-usable possessions.
acJohn Pulley (op. cit.).
adAn interesting experience, in this respect, is ongoing at Naropa University. Read about the “Warrior Exam” in Dale Asrael, “Love of Wisdom Puts You on the Spot: The Warrior Exam,” in (eds.) Judith Simmer-Brown and Fran Grace, Meditation and the Classroom (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2011): 187-194.
ae A valuable introduction of this method to a larger academic audience is in Vaishali Mamgain’s article, “Ethical Consciousness in the Classroom: How Buddhist Practices Can Develop Empathy and Compassion,” Journal of Transformative Education 1 (2010): 22-41. We now have the evidence that compassion-meditation can be practiced for the sake of greater psychological stability at a workplace. See the results of a study published by Stefan Hofmann, et al., “Loving-Kindness and Compassion Meditation: Potential for Psychological Interventions,” Clinical Psychology Review 7 (2011): 1126-1132.
af Judith Simmer-Brown discusses significant pedagogical potential of meditation in the classroom: “The Question is the Answer: Naropa University’s Contemplative Pedagogy, Religion and Education (Summer 2009); see also a collection of papers in (ed.) Simmer-Brown and Fran Grace, Meditation and the Classroom. (Albany: SUNY Press, 2011). Meditation’s effects on learning are becoming more widely recognized even outside of Buddhist-based education. A recent report was made for the business community in Jeff Stone, “World’s Happiest Man, Matthew Ricard, Credits Meditation for Learning and Memory Abilities,” International Business Times (October 2012): 29.
agA real story: a student from UWest picked up trash on a street in L.A., and a stranger from the other side of the street came to him to thank him.