Engaged Buddhism

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Engaged Buddhism
Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia

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Christopher S. Queen - Editor
Sallie B. King - Editor

Price: $74.50
Hardcover - 464 pages

Release Date: March 1996

ISBN10: 0-7914-2843-5
ISBN13: 978-0-7914-2843-6

Price: $34.95
Paperback - 464 pages

Release Date: March 1996

ISBN10: 0-7914-2844-3
ISBN13: 978-0-7914-2844-3

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Summary

This is the first comprehensive coverage of socially and politically engaged Buddhism in Asia, presenting the historical development and institutional forms of engaged Buddhism in the light of traditional Buddhist conceptions of morality, interdependence, and liberation.

This is the first comprehensive study of socially and politically engaged Buddhism in the lands of its origin. Nine accounts of contemporary movements in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Japan are framed by interpretive essays. The historical development and institutional forms of engaged Buddhism are considered in the light of traditional Buddhist conceptions of morality, interdependence, and liberation; and Western ideas of freedom, human rights, and democracy.

Since the fiery self-immolation of the Vietnamese monk Thich Quang Duc on a Saigon street in 1963, "engaged Buddhism" has spread throughout Asia and the West. Twice in recent years the Nobel Prize for peace was awarded to Buddhists for their efforts to free their compatriots from totalitarian regimes.

Engaged Buddhism presents ordained and lay Buddhist activists like Thich Nhat Hanh of Vietnam, Buddhadasa Bhikkhu and Sulak Sivaraksa of Thailand, A. T. Ariyaratne and the Sarvodaya Shramadana movement of Sri Lanka, Daisaku Ikeda and the Soka Gakkai movement of Japan, followers of the Indian Untouchable leader, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, and Buddhist women throughout Asia. These leaders have campaigned relentlessly, attracted and organized millions of new converts, faced death threats, landed in jail, founded schools and universities, and produced a massive new Buddhist literature to restore social and economic justice to their societies.

Christopher S. Queen is Dean of Students and Lecturer on Religion in the Division of Continuing Education at Harvard University.

Sallie B. King is Head of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at James Madison University. She is the author of Buddha Nature and Journey in Search of the Way, both published by SUNY Press.

Table of Contents

Preface

1. Introduction: The Shapes and Sources of Engaged Buddhism
Christopher S. Queen

2. Dr. Ambedkar and the Hermeneutics of Buddhist Liberation
Christopher S. Queen

3. TBMSG: A Dhamma Revolution in Contemporary India
Alan Sponberg

4. A.T. Ariyaratne and the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka
George D. Bond

5. Buddhadasa Bhikku: Life and Society Through the Natural Eyes of Voidness
Santikaro Bhikkhu

6. Sulak Sivaraksa's Buddhist Vision for Renewing Society
Donald K. Swearer

Engaged Buddhist Leaders

Buddhist Liberation Movement Activities

7. Buddhist Women and the Nuns' Order in Asia
Nancy J. Barnes

8. Buddhist Principles in the Tibetan Liberation Movement
José Ignacio Cabezón

9. Thich Nhat Hanh and the Unified Buddhist Church: Nondualism in Action
Sallie B. King

10. The Soka Gakkai: Buddhism and the Creation of a Harmonious and Peaceful Society
Daniel A. Metraux

11. Conclusion: Buddhist Social Activism
Sallie B. King

Contributors

Index

Related Subjects

Asian Studies
Buddhism
Religion and Politics

31308/31309(WDE/DG/)