(2 credits) The practice of ethics is central to the Buddhist worldview and entirely relevant not only to oneself but also to every living being, framed within the Buddhist understanding of reality known as dependent origination. In Buddhist cultures, specific rituals, services, and ceremonies have arisen as expressions of this fundamental interconnection and as methods for working with oneself and others.

This course will introduce the fundamentals of Buddhist ritual, the ways that ritual is relevant to the daily life of Buddhists, and how the particular ethic of dependent origination is lived in the rituals, services, and ceremonies of Tibet. The focus of this class will be particularly on rituals of healing and restoration, for oneself and others.