HUM 345 - Humanism and Mysticism
Welcome to the course. I have posted separately the Grading Policy, Marks, Requirements. That's required reading. Be very careful to read what is said in those pages about marks, about no early or late finals, no incompletes, and how to submit papers. If you have a disability which requires us to work out any matters in advance, see me immediately.
HOW HAS THIS PROFESSOR BEEN EVALUATED BY STUDENTS?
During the past twenty-two years over 3300 students have, after Prof. Leonard's classes, filled out anonymous computer evaluations administered by SFSU, given to the professor only after the marks have been mailed. They are kept on departmental file. In answer to ten specific questions like "Was his grading fair?" "Was he available at stated office hours?" "Did he know his subject?" and so on, replies have averaged, with amazing consistency, about 80% "excellents", 17 percent "very goods," with 1 percent "good," 1 percent "poor" 1 percent "no opinion."
Students also add anonymous written comments. Here are the comments, exactly as written, compiled and kept on file by Dept. Secretary Annette Speed. Negative comments have NOT been excluded.
pre-2001
/Prof. Leonard is a dynamic professor. This particular course was interesting in that all my preconceived ideas of mysticism were shattered. This course is a keeper!
/I think that this class stands out in my mind as one of the best and most beneficial courses I have taken at SFSU. It is extremely refreshing to take a course that encourages students to think rather than memorize key terms. I have pulled many things from this course. I feel that I will walk away from it with more knowledge and insight than any class I have taken this semester. My first experiences in the Humanities department were negative and I almost didn't take the class based on that, but following this class, I am encouraged to continue taking classes in this department.
/In all honesty, this is the single most enlightening and personally educational class I have ever had. We have a loosely organized structure geared towards the progress of our learning, not structured for the sake of satisfying concrete organization we have grown up with in our schooling system. This class became more of a spiritual experience in the form of a very diverse educational tradition. Professor Leonard is a very inspiring individual who is always willing to listen and help wherever required. His method of teaching is by far the most effective I have personally experienced. I am not lying at all. This is a very important class.
2001
/I found this course to be inspiring and it made me more aware of the cultural diversities in believes and values in others, religions, and perspectives. I feel that this enlightenment has given me a deeper appreciation for others and has opened new understandings of the world and my own human experience. I hope there will be further opportunity to explore the insights of other cultures and the origins of their foundations, as has been so skillfully integrated in this course, with so many of our worlds influential thinkers and leaders presented for our interest. Thank you for this opportunity.
/This was the best class that I have attended at San Francisco State University. Every book covered was on my personal reading list since childhood, and indeed should be required curriculum for any man or woman claiming to be educated. Professor Leonard was a fantastically engaging orator, and never failed to allow a new idea to take life. I wish that there were a continuation for this class, a sequel of sorts, you can be sure I would be first to enroll. The salvage project was a communion with another self-loss in the haze of childhood. It was an incredible experience. On the basis of this class I intend on requesting professor Leonard as my advisor.
/This course and the instructor were incredible. I learned a great deal from Prof. Leonard's firsthand knowledge of a diverse amount of religions and history. I especially liked the museum project we had where we went to the Palace of the Legion of Honor to study mysticism. Also our salvage project reinvigorated my own spirituality, which is something I have desperately needed. I loved this class!
/This class was phenomenal. For years not I have searched the class schedule for this fusion of the sacred and the profane. Finally, a professor who can explain the great mysteries of the major world religions in such a fashion that we all understand and enjoy it!
/I enjoyed the class; very insightful to opening doors about myself that hadn't been opened. Loved the trips to the museum.
/The museum project was one of the best projects, papers I have been assigned since attending this school. My special project paper helped me to understand the many gaps in life stemming from my childhood experiences with religion and the many choices I had. I will highly recommend this class to anyone interested.
/This class has taught me valuable lessons with the way I live my life. Now I look at my surroundings with a new and a more rounded perspective. A class such as this is vital to the creation of a person.
/Course was very valuable. Walked away with useful and tangible tools for furthering my education and life perspective.
/This has been an amazing course. Dr. Leonard taught the different concepts of mysticism in a non-judgmental, jargon-free manner. Additionally, his writing assignments exercised and improved my writing much more than other similar courses here. Dr. Leonard's personally prepared class materials were priceless. They supported his lectures wonderfully!
/This course has been instrumental in answering a lot of questions I had about Christianity and the bible. It has been enlightening as well as enriching. I truly enjoyed the Confucian part of the lecture. It has been very inspirational. More classes such as these should be offered. It offers a lot of food for thought. It was a great help and has helped me redefine what spirituality means for me.
2003
/This is the 2nd course I've taken with Dr. Leonard and I wish I could take a 3rd. His range of knowledge from the west to the east is deep, and he makes fantastic comparisons that bring the subject to light. The material he covers is daunting and I believe that it takes a professor to clearly convey such profound and complicated concepts. During the semester there was a trip on a weekend to the CA Palace of the Legion of Honor. Dr. Leonard gave a tour of the museum. I enjoyed the tour, not only because he lectured about art, but because the visit visually illustrated much of what we discussed in class.
/There was a period when I abhorred this course. I thought Dr. Leonard was the target of my hatred, or the course material itself. Soon I realized that it was not in fact hatred, but fear. Fear of learning more than I wanted and having my mind grow in uncomfortable directions. Any course that can affect a person in this way, and any professor truly capable of teaching that course is clearly one worth taking. Amazingly, I conquered that fear and gained two things nearly unheard of in college: knowledge and personal fulfillment.
/There are many benefits in a class such as this one as it allows students to get a closer more intimate analysis of religion and the development of faith. The museum visit creates more of a community environment useful to the exploration of ideas in the classroom. Also, it gives students an opportunity and excuse to see the beauty of art.
/Great course because of the following reasons: full-time professor is the adequate professor for teaching Hum 375. George Leonard's knowledge of the subjects are enormous. The field trip to the museum was very useful in explaining the subject.
/The class took a different approach, I liked that. There were some really great, engaging lectures. The course work and material could have been more organized.
/I feel that the course was beneficial and kept in accordance with my academic expectations. It challenged the way in which people think in the west in comparison with the east. The professor also offered new concepts that enabled all to live more harmoniously in a pluralistic multicultural society. The museum trip enabled a more expansive approach to the course.
/I think that full professors should be on staff at this university. The museum visit greatly contributed to my educational experience and afforded me to see some sites in this city that I may not have otherwise visited. It would be a pity to confine students to sites only on campus considering the limitation of space.
/This course should be a university requirement for all students. The thought-provoking material and depth of knowledge brought by Dr. Leonard has been unparalleled in any of my other courses at SFSU. The museum trip in particular provided an experience unlike any other a students at SFSU is likely to have. Of all the field trips I've been on, this was the richest. Again, not only should this be offered every term, it should be required.
/This is a good course to keep because students not only earn about western religion but also practice their critical thinking skills. The museum visit was good to have because it made me understand the material better.
/Professor Leonard was very intimidating at first which prevented me from asking him for help. As soon as I was forced to, I got over it. He is an incredibly understanding professor who really wants you to learn. This course should continue.
/I thought that the museum trip was very helpful in understanding the course material and in helping to create new ways to interpret ideas. This class has been very helpful in stimulating thoughts and ideas that were never thought of before.
Spring 2007
/Dr. Leonard has, hands down, been the most effective professor that I've had thus far at SFSU. His passion and knowledge for the subject is more than tangible, and his class has persuaded me to pursue a humanities major.
/It has been beneficial to have had a full professor as an instructor, his vast experiences teaching comes through clearly and I can observe fellow students excitement of having been exposed to, and taught about entirely new subject matter/ideas.
/This is my second course with Dr. Leonard, after my first Humanities course with him I decided I wanted to study humanities. His courses are stimulating and extremely thought provoking. I am convinced he has given me the tools to further educate myself after college as well as given me the confidence to complete a humanities and French major. His courses give any person of any major the classic professor/student relationship you seek in a college environment, he truly cares about his students and has an intense way in which he gives lectures. I would recommend Professor Leonard to anyone looking to be inspired.
/The more experienced teachers should always teach the newer students in college. They need the guidance because they might still need the attention.
/Excellent teacher... great for advanced but new students... really gets you into the subject.
/Please, let the instructor Dr. Leonard teach the course to any student!
/I recommend this class and professor to everyone I know. Regardless of they're major or background. Not only does the subject cover many things that everyone should know and learn, but the professor fosters his students and class in a way that makes this a life changing experience rather than a simple 3 units taken to fill a schedule.
/The fact that you show such mastery of the subject along with such a passion for the subject. It makes me want to come to class and dread the times it is cancelled for the day.
/Dr. Leonard is a large contribution to my education. I feel that as a segment III course professor he really helps non-humanities majors. I, being a science major, have greatly appreciated his vast knowledge.
/Wonderful course. Only negative was the lack of a syllabus. I am happy that I will be able to apply what I have learned in this class to real life. Very comfortable classroom feeling. Will definitely be recommending the course and professor to my friends.
/George Leonard: thank you for this course although I am not a humanities major this course has widen my horizons on, well, everything. You should continue to teach this course with the syllabus guidelines and encourage people to dominate the discussion in the workplace, I dominated somewhere at a pool hall and Portland. Thank you.
/Dr. Leonard is brilliant. I am glad to have taken this class. I hope it continues in the future and that he continues to teach it.
/By having an experienced professor, such as Dr. Leonard, teaching this course it is ensured that both Humanities majors and non-Humanities majors will be introduced to a new area of knowledge. Nurturing of these will be assured with Dr. Leonard, not with a grad student.
/Having an experienced teacher helped my learning. Undergraduate courses usually are pretty bland and boring. Not so here, I would wish my graduate teachers would be as fun but based off experience so far, I'd think not. The experience and knowledge Dr. Leonard brings entices me to learn more.
/Course was unstructured, but in such a way that stimulated my learning. Prof. Leonard is able to instruct in a way that is many levels above what I am used to. He is able to illustrate ideas using pre-existing materials, he can convey a great amount of material this way.
/This class has been an invaluable addition to my learning. It gives you a strong basis for learning on your own. It has taught me things that will shape my life far after I am out of school. This class should be mandatory for every SFSU student. A brilliant teacher and an indispensable class.
OUR REQUIRED READING LIST INCLUDES A MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION:
Order a six-issue subscription to Biblical Archeology immediately. It costs $13.97. You get a ten dollar book, The Origins of Things, free. Go to their website to order. If that doesn't work, google Biblical Archaeology or the Biblical Archaeoogy Society and try again.
A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE
Welcome to "Humanism and Mysticism," an advanced course offered by the Interdisciplinary Humanities Department.
I always prepare long course introductions, on the theory that you've got the right to know what you're getting into: "truth in packaging"! But also, if you're unfamiliar with the American university tradition, reading this will give you an idea of the professor's values, how he marks, what kind of work he's looking for in this class.
This course requires more than the usual number of disclaimers up front. First, the title: "Humanism and Mysticism." What a subject-- is it a subject? By comparison, "War and Peace" sounds small and precise; and we only have one semester. Accordingly, each professor who teaches this course (there are many sections) ventures into one or two clearings in this great forest, depending on his or her interests, education and abilities. We choose a part that will suggest the whole, and which will give you some methods with which to venture further into this endless forest on your own.
The course's goal, then: to give you such a firm grounding in certain highly representative versions of humanism and mysticism, that you can continue to explore the endless varieties on your own.
It introduces you to two "Ways": the Humanist's "way," and the Mystic's "way." I've tried to organize the assignments so that you do not merely talk about these ways, you experience them, enact them."Learn by doing," the American philosopher John Dewey advised.
In this particular section there's a lot on the Old Testament and New Testament, on Confucius, classical and contemporary Chinese cultural orientations, on the Tao, and on certain Beijing temples and shrines. There's John Cage, and New York during the glory years of the Zen-influenced Pop Art and Concept Art. There's D.T. Suzuki, American Zen, and even Freud and Nietzsche. Remember, this is interdisciplinary humanities, and we use the arts. There's an important museum visit and a required paper.
We cover a lot of ground, but we can't cover everything in a semester. There's very little on India or the Western Middle Ages. Other sections explore those important clearings in the woods. If you've been wanting to closely study what the Buddha taught, or St. John of the Cross, you may be disappointed here. If you have no interest in the arts, this is also not the best course for you. (You don't need any previous training, only interest.)
There's also a lot of chances to work on one's personal spiritual goals. There are many optional projects, like the "salvage" project, on one's personal spiritual goals. Be warned, though: it involves research, it's nothing "touchy-feely" and it can't be tossed off. If you've never had any experience of religion or interest in spiritual goals, you'll be less equipped to write. The class might be all the more interesting to you, though. You may be a person who is evolving his or her own personal belief system.
A final note: when we talk about "mysticism," in this course, we're talking about a serious, ancient religious method. "Mysticism" is not the "occult." There's nothing here about "past lives" or magic crystals or having your "aura read"; nothing about the "New Age." (There is, by the way, another George Leonard up in Marin who is loosely associated with the "New Age," though not with the occult.) Mystics have usually disparaged the occult as a materialist effort to manipulate the physical world, an effort parallel to science's effort, though unorthodox.
MARKS
There is a museum visit held on a Saturday or Sunday. Attendance is optional but a paper on the museum isn't. Be sure to see what is said about submission requirements and grading elsewhere on this website, as described above.
Level of Difficulty: an advanced course
The "Segment III" requirement is trying (in part) to discourage anyone who is not a junior from attempting this course, for their own good. Mysticism all but defines itself as that which cannot be expressed in words. The teaching methods are allusive, the texts are difficult. We have considered adding prerequisites but decided to leave the choice up to you, after warning you to be careful. This course is a bad choice for first year students, for anyone used to a great deal of structure in their courses or for anyone who lacks advanced reading skills. I teach several courses, like HUM 130 and California Culture and Values in America, which are specifically meant for beginners and people on probation. I'd love to see you there!
PROBABLE ORDER OF TOPICS
Here's a broad outline of topics we often discuss. I vary it year by year, to adjust it to who's currently in the course, and to take advantage of what's going on in San Francisco. There is an optional museum visit. One class will be held online in cyberspace (facilities permitting.)
SPIRITUAL OR RELIGIOUS?
We here in San Francisco are at Ground Zero of the collision between East and West. Why is there such an enormous appetite for Eastern religion in our culture? What went wrong, for many of us, with traditional religion in the West? We'll do a Wittgensteinian language game, and notice that we have created a new word, "spiritual" which we use in contrast to "religious?" Why? We'll do John Cage's 4'33" for the first time, to get an idea of how mysticism reappeared in the West in its artworld.
Before going further, a guarantee: it's safe to be a believing Christian or Jew or anything else in this course! San Francisco State has created a climate of intolerance towards traditional faiths. Nobody will be mocked in this class. And you don't have to play "don't ask, don't tell" about your religion. Participate! Your professor comes from a Jewish heritage, and therefore consciously bends over backwards to create a safe place for SFSU's Christians in this course.
With that firmly in mind, we might try a general discussion of Nietzsche's insights about what happens as religion becomes professionalized and priesthoods develop. He pictures priests transvaluing the values to enslave us with guilt over sins they created so we could feel bad for having committed them. Ayn Rand developed Nietzsche's attack on religious priesthoods into a controversial attack on the deliberate production of guilt and sadness by secular priests who took over from the religious ones.
We'll discuss how many in the West have been trying to salvage, from the wreckage of their childhood religions, something they can use in their adult lives now.Others, who never left their childhood religions, have consciously evolved them into spiritual vehicles suited to themselves.
As always we learn by doing. We'll use HOW TO GET CONTROL OF YOUR TIME AND YOUR LIFE, by Allan Lakein. A time planning book that one can use as a spiritual exercise! "Today is the first day of the rest of your life."
Some people may choose to keep going with this inquiry and do a personal "salvage" project (permission required.)
WESTERN HUMANISM CONFRONTS WESTERN RELIGION.
It's generally agreed that Western humanism and the scientific outlook on life have done great damage to Western religion. What was it about Western religion that science could damage it, more than science damaged religion in the East? Freud, Nietzsche, Joyce, Waley: The origins of religion. Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychiatry, was an equally seminal cultural philosopher. Into the Light of Things (hereafter, ILT): the 18th century and the "death of God."
The "Documentary Hypothesis". Learn by doing: We come to understand what happened to the Bible by re-enacting the humanistic/scientific analysis of the Old Testament. Next, humanistic analysis of the New Testament. Here, perhaps, a general comparison of what Jesus and Confucius have meant as role models for the cultures they influenced. We may pull Confucius forward and do him together with Jesus and St. Paul, for maximum contrast. It'll depend on the class's talents and interests.
INTERLUDE, CONTRAST, AND A LOOK AHEAD: The Mystic's way: Museum class, about 3 weeks into term.Our first try at experiencing mysticism. This way our experience of it precedes our discussion of it later, when we reach the Tao te Ching. (That has made the Tao te Ching a lot easier to read.)
THE TURN EAST.
Now we ourselves re-enact our culture's turn east to observe the birth of Asian humanism and mysticism in northeastern China. A discussion on reading Chinese in translation: Qing, Ch'ing and Ching are all the same dynasty, in different translations. Chinese tones and characters. "Orientalism": fighting our stereotypes. Contrary to our stereotypes of the Mysterious Mystic East, Asian humanism (particularly Kong fu tse, Confucius) overshadowed their classic mystic work, the Tao Te Ching. Philosophies don't appear in a vacuum, and we will note continually the cultural orientations which helped these philosophies rise or caused their fall. Studying Beijing temple architecture and art will be revealing. Asian mysticism: the Tao te Ching. Having prepared for mysticism at the museum, we'll find the Tao te Ching much easier now.A brief demonstration of the Chinese version of Tea Ceremony. Finally, as a corrective to these pictures of high culture, we sometimes use the Chinese epic Journey to the West ("Monkey") in which the popular versions of Buddhism and Taoism appear. They're as earthy and practical as any "pop" religion in the West, a sharp contrast to the high culture we've been studying.
BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER: IS THERE A NEW "TURN WEST"?
In the last weeks of the course we'll examine the way the West, since 1800, worked away from its anthropomorphic religion, and in so doing created a kind of mysticism, now often called Natural Supernaturalism, with striking parallels to Asian mysticisms.When this sort of spiritual ferment came up in the East, we find it in the places we'd normally expect to find religion: temples, shrines, monasteries and other religious institutions. When the new religion tried to surface in the West, however, it found the normal outlets blocked. The churches were locked up in dogmatic, anthropomorphic religions. The spiritual current, therefore, did something odd: it was diverted into the arts and came up through them-- creating the "avant-garde" and considerable havoc, by the way. John Cage will be our best example there, but we'll talk about Impressionism, Pop Art, conceptual art, the western artworld's embrace of Zen, even the ecology movement's religious significance. Lectures will be supported by readings in ILT. The "salvage project": is there a new interest in our own Western tradition? What, in our personal experience of Western religion, is worth saving? Some of us will have worked on personal salvage projects dealing with that question.
That's the sort of work we've done in years past. When I learn more about you, from reading your biographies, I'll shape the class towards your particular interests. Below this point I'll paste in some of the assignments we'll have, to give you the shape of the course. But these aren't ALL the assignments.Listen in class and check back here from time to time to see what's been posted. This website-- like all websites, it turns out-- is a work in progress.
Reading Assignments
The Old Testament
Print out for yourself the full outline of the OLD TESTAMENT TIMELINE lecture.You will be responsible for the sections which are starred, but listen in class for more exact assignments.
Right now, click here for a lot of helpful free sites related to the course. Go to the Old Testament Gateway and start exploring all the resources there. A magnificent site for students who need advice and help!
As background for the Jonah lecture, go to the new website by Jack Miles. Click on "On the Bible" and then click on "Laughing at the Bible," which is about Jonah.
Exam: Download here TWO COPIES of the Basic Vocabulary for the Study of Religions. Do the first copy at home, entering the correct answers onto a Scantron form. (Available at the bookstore.) Listen in class for the due date, and hand in.
At a later time, to be announced, you'll bring the second copy of the test with you to class, and do it again in class, on a scantron form, this time without looking at your notes. After that you'll have nailed down these crucial terms in your memory.
Museum Fieldwork Assignment
The Art Museum. This year we'll go to the Museum of Modern Art. I will lecture there. The paper you have to write is not optional, but the meeting itself is. Listen in class.
Download, print, and bring this museum assignment sheet to the museum with you.
Here's are two actual museum papers as samples (paper one and paper two), reprinted by permission of their authors. They received As because of the care their writers took at the museum -- and because of the prose skills! Some people get so interested in the artwork that they forget I'm not giving you a mark on whether you respond to art, but on how well you argue a case in writing. That's the valuable real-world skill we're practicing. I'm looking for the way you put across your argument by quoting the book, doing professional citations, using simple active verbs, and all the other techniques in Break Your Writer's Block.
Into the Light of Things (Leonard) will be used with the museum visit. Selections will be announced in class and the museum assignment will be posted here later. Each year we have to consult with the museum and get special permission to come, so bear with me.
The New Testament:
ONCE AGAIN, click here for a whole attic full of helpful free sites related to the course. They're in no particular order. Go to the New Testament Gateway and start exploring all the resources there. We used to have to pay a fortune for parallel gospels like that.
Read Pulitzer Prize winner, revolutionary thinker, and MacArthur "Genius" Award winner, Jack Miles's "Christ: a Crisis in the Life of God."
To help you follow the lecture, here is a copy of the notes that I'll lecture from. These are brief lecture notes only. Though they can't be properly understood without the lecture, I'll share them with you students, since they include the assignment and can help you review after you hear the lectures.
The End of Faith by Sam Harris.
The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say?
New Testament take-home exam. Click here.
OPEN NOTEBOOK TEST ON NEW TESTAMENT AT THIS POINT to nail it down in memory, while all is fresh. No open Bibles, but open notes.
The "Turn East"
When we finish the New Testament, we'll feel some of the instability the West felt after it had studied the Bible scientifically, from 1711 on.
We've re-enacted that history. And now, like the West, at this unstable moment, we turn our eyes to the East to see what help it has to offer, in our predicament.
Optional reading project. There's no better way to start than with a story about a famous Catholic professor and psychotherapist leaving his work for a year to try being a Buddhist monk deep inside China, in places which had rarely seen a foreign face. To hold your costs down I haven't assigned it; but I'll lecture from it.
Asian Religion Assignments
Confucianism: Asian Humanism
Read The Confucian Family essay.
The entire text of The Analects is required but concentrate on these parts.
As we read Confucius, to help us understand one topic, the "transvaluation of the values," please download Kurt Vonnegut's short story, Harrison Bergeron.