Format: 1/2 hour video lecture; 1/2 hour discussion led by Pastor Hahn.
The Teaching Company's course description:
Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad—four
extraordinary sages who influenced world civilization more deeply than any other
human beings in history.
As just one measure of their importance, current
rankings of the most influential people in history consistently put Confucius,
the Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad at or near the top of the list. Four centuries
after the rise of the scientific worldview, their influence in human affairs
continues to be fundamental, underscoring issues ranging from questions of
ethics and justice to religious and political conflicts to other issues that
dominate today's headlines.
In the 21st century, much of humanity still looks to
the lives, teachings, and actions of these four sages for guidance on how to
live, for their conceptions of morality, and for understanding the most crucial
human values.
Never merely historical figures, as models of human
living they remain dynamically alive for countless millions of people around the
world, exemplifying the moral and spiritual precepts our civilizations are built
on. Taken together, their influence extends over most of the human population,
from Asia to the Middle East and from Europe to the New World.
No understanding of human life, individual or
collective, could be complete without factoring in the role and contribution of
these history-shaping teachers.
Now, in Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad,
award-winning Professor Mark W. Muesse of Rhodes College takes you deep into the
life stories and legacies of these four iconic figures, revealing the core,
original teachings, and thoughts of each, and shedding light on the historical
processes that underlie their phenomenal, enduring impact.
Two Compelling Streams of Knowledge
Speaking from multilevel personal experience with
these teachings, Professor Muesse leads you in an inquiry with a dynamic double
thrust.
First, in his presentation of the vital wisdom of each
sage, he offers you the chance to reflect in depth on the most essential values
of spirituality and the art of living, seen from four archetypal perspectives.
Regardless of your own religious or philosophical orientation, you draw crucial
distinctions from the teaching of the four sages that bear directly on the
fundamental perception of selfhood and on what it is to live a meaningful life,
both in thought and action.
Second, you complete the course with far-reaching
insight into the historical contexts and individual lives of the four sages, and
how the religious and philosophical traditions we associate them with came into
being. The lectures serve as a unique window on the origins of these traditions,
through their focus on the teachings, actions, and historical roles of the sages
who inspired them.
Four Exemplars of Noble Living
Confucius, the Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad were all
born into ancient cultures in the midst of tumultuous changes. Each addressed
fundamental existential problems within their societies, developing codes of
ethics and behavior that broke with the past, and offering bold new visions of
human life.
Grounding your inquiry in the dramatic historical
settings of their teachings, you explore and define the unique contributions of
each man:
Confucius: China's primordial
philosopher/sage, whose teaching integrally shaped the Chinese constructs of
government, human relations, culture, and history. You study the system of
Confucian thought that formed the basis of Chinese education for 2,000 years,
founded on the sage's core precepts of "uncommon" humaneness, reciprocity, and
the creative power of virtue.
The Buddha: The high-born prince who
turned his back on a life of privilege to follow an unrelenting quest for the
"supreme state of sublime peace." You dig deeply into the Buddha's teachings on
the nature of reality, the delusions of human perception, and the practical
means for ending suffering.
Jesus of Nazareth: Beloved icon of
Christianity, a revered prophet in Islam, and the dominant figure in Western
culture for nearly two millennia. You explore his archetypal dual role as both
harbinger of God's kingdom and spiritual teacher, and you see how his teachings
revealed a liberating alternative to humanity's oppressive inequities.
Muhammad: Al-Lah's "last" prophet and
the central example of the faithful Muslim. His teachings brought Islam into
being even as he struggled with the roles of both political and military leader
of his community. You study Muhammad's teachings on the oneness and
inscrutability of the absolute, his dynamic vision of ethical action, and
Islam's complex spiritual disciplines.
Teachings that Shaped Human Civilization
In uncovering the original wisdom and practices of
each sage, you grapple with these key questions:
How did each man understand the nature of the universe
and ultimate reality?
How did each envision the human self and the matter of
human fulfillment?
What moral and ethical principles did each advocate,
and why?
What spiritual disciplines did each practice and teach
as a means of self-realization?
Drawing from texts including the Confucian Analects,
the Buddhist Pali Canon, the Gospels, and the Hadith of Islam, Professor Muesse
immerses you in the teachings, which include the following:
You see how Confucius's precepts, including ren
(humaneness), humility, and filial piety, were inextricably tied to specific
behavior—to disciplined actions, etiquette, and ritual. You probe the
dialectical connection between external acts and internal states; the
experiential shaping and transforming of character through conscious action.
You see how the Buddha located the source of suffering
in a deceptive conception of reality—the human mind's reduction of the universe
and its organic processes to an illusory world of "things" and a "self" that is
perceived as separate and alone. You learn how his path of contemplation and
compassion worked to transcend this perception.
You witness how Jesus's teaching challenged and
disrupted his listeners' beliefs, especially in his use of parables that
reversed the apparent order of the world—making clear that in God's kingdom,
"what the world calls power will be revealed as weakness; the losers will be
declared winners; the first shall be last."
You probe Muhammad's essential doctrine of human
fulfillment through willing, devoted submission to al-Lah—the absolute, eternal
ground of being prior to all existence. You observe how he submitted to the
absolute through deliberate acts of witnessing to God's unity and revelation,
generosity, ritual prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage.
Lives of Struggle and Revelation
A thrilling storyteller, Professor Muesse enriches the
teachings with the historical background and the pivotal moments of insight that
fired their development.
You learn about early Arabian religious and tribal
culture, and how Muhammad's emergence threatened a centuries-old way of life.
You track the evolution of Indian spirituality preceding the Buddha, including
the cultural origins of belief in rebirth and karma. You study the culture and
political struggles of the ancient Jews in Palestine, and the divine cosmology
of the Zhou dynasty that informed Confucius's thinking.
You hear the words of Muhammad's revelations on the
Mountain of Light, and the stories of his military leadership and his actions
promoting the legal and marital rights of women. You follow Confucius through
the trials of his years in exile, which refined his character and his insight
into humanity.
In Jesus's conception of God's kingdom as present
reality, you find evidence of deep spiritual experience. And you follow the
Buddha's path of unyielding spiritual practice, leading to his final awakening
and liberation from the conditioned mind.
Finally, you compare the sages' lives and teachings,
finding the defining differences but also their common ground on the practice of
contemplation and on the "self" as a prime factor in unhappiness.
This uniquely designed course takes you to the core of
four majestic wisdom traditions within a single, penetrating inquiry. In words
reflecting profound and compassionate insight, Professor Muesse brings the
teachings vividly alive as they speak to their essential purpose—as a guide to
the realities, challenges, and possibilities of life—and as they shed light on
the critical and creative choices we all face, moment by moment, in living
deliberately and savoring life to the fullest.
Take this rare chance, in Confucius, Buddha, Jesus,
and Muhammad, to taste the authentic, living wisdom of these visionary sages and
to understand the sources of their monumental role in our world.
About Your Professor
Dr. Mark W. Muesse is the W. J. Millard Professor of
Religious Studies and Director of the Asian Studies Program and the Life: Then
and Now Program at Rhodes College.
Professor Muesse earned his B.A. summa cum laude in
English from Baylor University and an M.T.S, an M.A., and a Ph.D. in Religion
from Harvard University.
In 2007, Professor Muesse received Fortress Press's
Undergraduate Teaching Award at the American Academy of Religion's annual
meeting. In 2008, he received the Clarence Day Award for Outstanding Teaching,
Rhodes College's highest honor for a member of its faculty.
Professor Muesse has taught at Harvard College,
Harvard Divinity School, and the University of Southern Maine. He has also been
Visiting Professor of Theology at the Tamilnadu Theological Seminary in Madurai,
India. He has traveled extensively throughout Asia and has studied at the
International Buddhist Meditation Centre in Wat Mahadhat, Bangkok, Thailand; the
Himalayan Yogic Institute in Kathmandu, Nepal; and the Middle East Technical
University in Ankara, Turkey.
He is the author of many articles on comparative
religion and theology, the coeditor of Redeeming Men: Religion and
Masculinities, and author of The Hindu Traditions: A Concise
Introduction.