Write a two-part essay following the instructions below. You should devote approximately 2 typed doublespaced pages to the first part, and 1 typed double-spaced page to the second part. This essay exam is
open book. You may use any of the readings or notes from the course. Do NOT use Wikipedia or any other
web site. When I say below that you should be “precise,” I mean that you should accurately reflect the views
presented in our required readings and in the class presentations. Using some generic description of
“mindfulnes,” for instance, from the web will only weaken your essay and lower your grade.
Briefly summarize the methods and goals of Buddhist meditation, Patanjali’s yoga and the cultivation of
wuwei in traditional Chinese culture, as different forms of “spiritual practice.” Your summaries should be
both precise and concise. For Buddhism you should cover the practice of śamatha and insight meditation as
explained by Dorjee and in class; for Yoga, the practice of yoga as described in the Yoga Sutra (don’t forget
the Samkhya explanation of the goal of yoga), and for traditional Chinese culture, the contrasting
approaches to the cultivation of wuwei among the Confucians and the Daoists. Since we didn’t have time to
get into specific Confucian and Daoist practices in any depth you can rely just on the material in Slingerland
for this part of your essay, i.e., summarize and contrast the contrasting theoretical orientations and don’t
worry about specific practices.
Identify whatever commonalities you find among these four traditions. Looking back over this material, how
would you now characterize spiritual practice as a whole, at least as viewed from the perspective of these
Asian traditions? What seem to you to be its most essential features? What connections do you see
between these Asian spiritual practices and Philip Novak’s concept of the “false self”?
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