Holly Gayley, Associate Professor of Reliigious Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, is a scholar and translator of contemporary Buddhist literature in Tibet. Her research areas include gender and sexuality in Buddhist tantra, ethical reform in contemporary Tibet, and theorizing translation, both literary and cultural, in the transmission of Buddhist teachings to North America. Gayley is author of Love Letters from Golok: A Tantric Couple in Modern Tibet (Columbia University Press, 2016), co-editor of A Gathering of Brilliant Moons: Practice Advice from the Rimé Masters of Tibet (Wisdom Publications, 2017), translator of Inseparable Across Lifetimes: The Lives and Love Letters of the Buddhist Visionaries Namtrul Rinpoche and Khandro Tāre Lhamo (Snow Lion, 2019), and editor of Voices from Larung Gar: Shaping Tibetan Buddhism for the Twenty-First Century (2021).
keywords
Tibetan Buddhism, gender and religion, Buddhist ethics, Tibetan literature, religious modernism, minorities in China, issues of identity and agency, translation theory and practice
RLST 2650 - Meditation: Ancient and Modern
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2019 / Spring 2020 / Spring 2022 / Spring 2023 / Spring 2024
Explores the roots of today's mindfulness movement in ancient forms of Buddhist meditation. Topics covered include the array of meditation techniques in Buddhism, colonial-period origins of lay meditation in Asia, Buddhism's transmission to North America and Europe in the 20th century, the emergence of secular forms of mindfulness, and scientific studies on mindfulness and compassion.
RLST 3300 - Foundations of Buddhism
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2018 / Fall 2019
Introduction to Buddhist thought and practice in the variety of its historical and cultural contexts. The course begins with an exploration of narrative, cosmology, doctrine and ritual in early Buddhism and the Theravada of South and Southeast Asia. Through case studies, we then trace diverse conceptions of the Buddhist path in Tibet and East Asia where the Mahayana spread.
RLST 3550 - Tibetan Buddhism
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2021
Explores Tibetan Buddhism through literature and film, including sacred biographies, treatises on the Buddhist path and films providing a visual window into Tibetan life worlds. We examine different kinds of Tibetan journeys: moving through the life cycle, treading the path of self-cultivation, embarking on solitary retreat, traversing from death to rebirth and traveling on pilgrimage and into exile.
RLST 3750 - Women in Buddhism
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2019 / Spring 2021
Explores diverse representations of the female in Buddhist literature and the social realities of actual women in Asian historical contexts. Through case studies that traverse Buddhist Asia, we delve into monastic views of the female body, philosophical analyses of the emptiness of gender, idealized images of the feminine in Buddhist tantra, and contemporary issues such as the nun's revival moment. Same as WGST 3750.
RLST 4250 - Topics in Buddhism
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2018 / Fall 2019 / Spring 2021 / Spring 2022 / Spring 2023 / Spring 2024
Examines in depth central themes, schools of thought and movements in Buddhism, such as Theravada in Southeast Asia, Mahayana and Tantrayana thought, Zen and Buddhism in America. Department enforced prerequisite: RLST 2610 or RLST 2620 or RLST 3300 or instructor consent. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours as topics change. Same as RLST 5250.
RLST 4820 - Interdisciplinary Seminar on Religion
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2020
Variable topics in religion, drawing from a variety of disciplines and methodologies as they shed light on specific traditions and issues. Recommended requisite: 6 credit hours of religious studies at any level or instructor consent. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours as topics change. Same as RLST 5820.
RLST 4850 - Gender in Hagiography
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2024
Explores gendered ideals of sainthood in medieval hagiographic literature. We draw primarily from the lives of female mystics in Buddhist and Christian sources and also examine the construction of mendicant masculinities. Reading from an array of primary sources, we query the category of mysticism and ask why visionary experience has so often been gendered female. Same as RLST 5850 and WGST 4850.
RLST 5250 - Topics in Buddhism
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2018 / Fall 2019 / Spring 2021 / Spring 2022 / Spring 2023 / Spring 2024
Examines in depth central themes, schools of thought and movements in Buddhism, such as Theravada in Southeast Asia, Mahayana and Tantrayana thought, Zen and Buddhism in America. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours as topics change. Same as RLST 4250.
RLST 5820 - Interdisciplinary Seminar on Religion
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2020
Variable topics in religion, drawing from a variety of disciplines and methodologies as they shed light on specific traditions and issues. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours as topics change. Same as RLST 4820.
RLST 5850 - Gender in Hagiography
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2024
Explores gendered ideals of sainthood in medieval hagiographic literature. We draw primarily from the lives of female mystics in Buddhist and Christian sources and also examine the construction of mendicant masculinities. Reading from an array of primary sources, we query the category of mysticism and ask why visionary experience has so often been gendered female. Same as RLST 4850 and WGST 4850.
RLST 6830 - Introduction to the Academic Study of Religion
Primary Instructor
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Fall 2021 / Fall 2022 / Fall 2023
Introduction to the graduate academic study of religion through the exploration of contemporary models and issues that demonstrate the nature and future of the field. Students prepares a profile of intended area of research.
RLST 6940 - Master's Candidate for Degree
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Fall 2021
Registration intended for students preparing for a thesis defense, final examination, culminating activity, or completion of degree.
RLST 6945 - Portfolio: Non-Thesis Option
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2019 / Spring 2021 / Fall 2021 / Spring 2023 / Spring 2024
Course work finished or in the last semester. May be repeated up to 4 total credit hours.
WGST 3750 - Women in Buddhism
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2019
Explores diverse representations of the female in Buddhist literature and the social realities of actual women in Asian historical contexts. Through case studies that traverse Buddhist Asia, we delve into monastic views of the female body, philosophical analyses of the emptiness of gender, idealized images of the feminine in Buddhist tantra and contemporary issues such as the nun's revival moment. Same as RLST 3750.
