RLST 048 PO -Nourishing Life

Institution: Pomona

Description: “Nourishing Life” translates yangshen, a phrase early Chinese thinkers coined in their debates on how to best care for oneself. The techniques, spanning from dietary and hygiene observances, physical exercises, alchemy, to moral conduct and mental training, often seek to harmonize body and mind, as well as the cosmos. The arts of nourishing life are also elaborated in later Buddhist, Confucian, and Daoist literature, as well as in East Asian writings. Through close readings of selected primary sources in English translation (e.g. Mencius, Zhuangzi, Dogen’s “Instruction to the Cook,” and a Tibetan tantric meditation manual), we will analyze the different recipes proposed by East Asian thinkers for prolonging life and attaining health, and the different biological, ethical, philosophical, psychological, and at times spiritual assumptions undergirding their concepts of health and wellbeing.

For up-to-date information on current course offerings and details, please refer to the Pitzer class schedule on MyCampus2 Portal.