The course will seek to study: the historical need for an interpretational tradition in Buddhism; a study of the two texts for their historical background, structure and content; a study of key terms and key concepts and categories in the two texts (philosophical significance and interpretational values of the concepts); the commentarial tradition of interpretation: the four aspects of explanation, namely, lakkhana, rasa etc.

The study will begin with an inquiry into the origins of Buddhological speculations in the Pāli Suttas. This will be followed up with a discussion of their growth among the early Buddhist schools, particularly of the Mahāsanghika tradition. The course is expected to serve as a background to a better understanding of the position assigned to the Buddha in the Mahāyāna tradition.

A comprehensive study of the final form the antecedent Buddhological speculations took in the schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The Trikāya-doctrine, its significance for the Mahāyāna, both from a religious and philosophical view, and the position of the Buddha in relation to the cosmos will form an integral part of this study.

Prajñāpāramitā Literature and the emergence of the Mahāyāna; the aśta-sāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā-sātra as the earliest Prajñāpāramitā sūtra - its textual evolution, features of its beginning portions characterizing the earliest Mahāyāna sūtra and its new message of Prajñāpāramitā as the characteristic doctrine of the “nava-yāna”; the Prajñāpāramitā literature as a response/reaction to the ābhidharmika predilection; the evolution of the whole corpus of the Prajñāpāramitā literature; classification of the Prajñāpāramitā literature.

The earliest linguistic medium of preservation of the Buddha’s teachings - from the Prākrit dialects to classical Sanskrit; the evolution of the Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Literature; earliest evidence of Buddhist Sanskrit in writing; the periodization of Buddhist Sanskrit texts - earliest, middle and late; representative Buddhist Sanskrit texts in the different periods exhibiting new major doctrinal development; a critical assessment of the innovative contribution to Buddhist doctrines and practices by the various ācārya of the Sanskrit Buddhist tradition.

The course will begin with a review in historical perspective of the antecedent teachings that led to the Mahāyāna version of the Bodhisattva ideal. This will be followed up with a discussion of the Thought of Enlightenment, the practice of pāramitas, the ten bhūmis as stages of spiritual perfection, and the centrality of the Bodhisattva ideal to the ethics and philosophy of Mahāyāna Buddhism.

The course will commence with a review, in historical perspective, of the antecedent doctrines which led to the emergence of the Madhyamaka. It will be followed up with an in-depth study of the philosophical position of the Madhyamaka. The study will be based on the subject-matter of the MūlaMadhyamaka-kārikā, which is authored by Nāgārjuna, the founder of the Madhyamaka School.

The course is designed as an introductory study of the basic teachings of the Idealistic School of Buddhism, known as Yogācāra Vijñānavāda. It will commence with a review of the antecedent idealistic trends in the pre-Mahāyāna schools and will be followed up with an introduction to the very essence of the Vijñānavāda metaphysics and the spiritual discipline based on it.

This study is intended as an analysis and evaluation of the literary works in the Chinese Tripitaka. This will be followed up with a study of the introduction/translation of Buddhist texts into China; the problems pertaining to the methods of translation from Sanskrit to Chinese; Some features of the translators such as Tao-an, Paramārtha, Kumārajīva, Xuan-zang and others; the Canon will be systematically examined under the system of the Chinese āgamas, the Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma literature, the prajñāpāramitā literature and other literature of different Buddhist schools.

A historical and comprehensive study of the three teachings based on: the religious background of China prior to the arrival of Buddhism; a study in contrast between Taoism and Confucianism - social attitude versus philosophical speculations.