Committed Buddhism

Thích Nhất Hạnh 2006

Engaged Buddhism is an expression originally coined by the Vietnamese Zen monk Thích Nhất Hạnh . During the Vietnam War , he and his community of monks and nuns tried to face the universally visible suffering between the fronts without taking a stand for or against either side in the conflict. The non-separation of meditation and compassion for all beings, of mindfulness practice and care for the wounded and displaced became their integral practice. Observed with suspicion by both warring parties, they were increasingly attributed to the opposing side and persecuted.

Sulak Sivaraksa, founder of INEB

The first publications of Thích Nhất Hạnh on committed Buddhism appeared in a Vietnamese daily newspaper in 1954.

The term Engaged Buddhism has been used by Asian and Western Buddhists since the 1970s to describe the connection between meditative insight and a holistic worldview with active ecological, humanistic and social engagement to protect the environment and beings, for the elimination of economic, social, gender and to express humanistic disadvantage and the associated suffering .

Organizations such as the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB), the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and others want to trigger a worldwide movement for Buddhist engagement with exemplary projects. The INEB was founded in 1989 on the initiative of Sulak Sivaraksa in Thailand under the patronage of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu ( Theravada ) (after his death: Maha Ghosananda ), by Thich Nhat Hanh ( Mahayana ) and by the Dalai Lama ( Vajrayana ). Robert Aitken Roshi, Tetsugen Bernard Glassman Roshi, Claude Anshin Thomas stand for Buddhist peace and social projects in the USA.

For the Dalits in India , it is the Ambedkar Buddhists in particular who seek to improve the situation with Buddhist-motivated social welfare and education projects.

Organizations such as " Sakyadhita - International Association of Buddhist Women", which was founded by Ayya ​​Khema and others, advocate equal rights for women in society, especially within Buddhism, for the restoration of the Buddhist order of nuns , for more education - and career opportunities for women and other gender-relevant issues.

Activists and writers

• Martine Batchelor
• Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
• Thich Nhat Hanh
• Ken Jones
• David Loy
• Joanna Macy
• Payutto
• Matteo Pistono
• Christopher S. Queen
• Nadasena Ratnapala
• Alan Senauke
• Sulak Sivaraksa
• Claude Anshin Thomas
• Christopher Titmuss
• Jonathan Watts

in the German-speaking area

• Karl-Heinz Brodbeck
• Friedrich Fenzl
• Ayya ​​Khema
• Franz-Johannes Litsch
• Wilhelm Muller
• Sylvia Wetzel

See also

• Mind and Life Institute

literature

• Loretta Pyles: Understanding the Engaged Buddhist Movement: Implications for Social Development Practice . In: Critical Social Work 6 (1), 2005.
• Christopher S. Queen: Engaged Buddhism in the West. , Sommerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2000, ISBN 0-86171-159-9 .
• Christopher S. Queen, Sallie B. King (Eds.): Engaged Buddhism. Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia . Suny Press, 1996, ISBN 0-7914-2843-5 .
• Thích Nhất Hạnh: History of Engaged Buddhism : A Dharma Talk by Thich Nhat Hanh, Hanoi, Vietnam, May 6-7, 2008 . In: Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge . Vol. 6, Iss. 3, Article 7, 2008.

Web links

• Franz-Johannes Litsch, initiator of the German-speaking network of committed Buddhists: What is committed Buddhism?
• Committed Buddhism
• Buddhist Peace Fellowship - Wisdom and compassion for social change
• International Network of Engaged Buddhists (English)

• The Engaged Zen Foundation
• Sakyadhita - International Association of Buddhist Women
• Buddhist Global Relief (founded by Bhikkhu Bodhi )
• The Wake Up Movement - Young Buddhists and Non-Buddhists for a Healthy and Compassionate Society

Single receipts

1. ↑ Thích Nhất Hạnh: History of Engaged Buddhism : A Dharma Talk by Thich Nhat Hanh, Hanoi, Vietnam, May 6-7, 2008. In: Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge . Vol. 6, Iss. 3, Article 7, 2008.
2. ↑ Volker Zotz : The search for a social Buddhism. Friedrich Fenzl and Jodo Shinshu . Kairos Edition (Luxembourg) 2007, ISBN 2-9599829-6-7 .