Sulak Sivaraksa

Sulak Sivaraksa

Sulak Sivaraksa ( Thai สุ ลักษณ์ ศิว รักษ์ , pronunciation : [ sùlák sìwárák ]; born March 27, 1933 in Bangkok ) is a Thai sociology professor , author, organizer, consultant and founder and head of various NGOs , institutes and movements. When Ajahn (master, teacher) Sulak Sivaraksa received the Right Livelihood Award (“Alternative Nobel Prize”) in 1995 , he was also noticed more in the West and in German-speaking countries. He is also a member of the World Future Council , which, like the Right Livelihood Award, was founded by Jakob von Uexküll .

life and work

Sulak Sivaraksa

Sulak Sivaraksa studied in Wales and England and graduated as a lawyer in London . First he worked for the BBC , as a teacher and as a translator. Shortly after his return home, he was known in the country's educated circles as the editor of a magazine for intellectuals (Social Science Review) . He increasingly turned to humanitarian, social and ecological projects in order to develop sustainable models for a society in transition. The military coup of 1976 forced him into exile for two years . During this time he gave numerous lectures in Europe, Canada and the USA . He also used the time for further studies at the Social Science Research Council in New York City .

The contacts from that time proved important when international protests came to his aid in 1984 and shortened his stay in Thai arrest imposed on him for allegedly insulting the king . Driven back into exile in 1991, Sulak finally succeeded in 1995 after a long journey through the courts to be a free man in his own country again. Shortly before the “Coronation Day” on May 5, 2007, another case of alleged lese majesty was dropped, which came from the reign of Thaksin Shinawatra , which he publicly attacked very directly. On the evening of November 6, 2008, Sulak was arrested again for Lèse Majèsté. These accusations, which do not come from the king but are investigated by the police and brought up by the public prosecutor, are repeated attempts to intimidate the uncomfortable thinker and hinder his freedom of speech.

Sulak Sivaraksa is a moral authority among the intellectuals of his country and in international bodies, but because of his hands-on logic and sometimes uncompromising conclusions, he is also an enfant terrible of Thai politics. He was significantly involved in the establishment of several Thai and international NGOs, associations, foundations and initiatives and is a welcome advisor and speaker at congresses and universities in several Asian countries as well as in Europe and in the USA, where he also temporarily held visiting professorships (including Berkeley and Harvard ). Among the social, ecological and spiritual movements and organizations he founded, co-founded, directed or supervised as a patron, the following should be emphasized: the Thai non-governmental organization "Sathirakoses-Nagapradeepa Foundation", the alternative college SEM (Spirit in Education Movement) in Thailand, which PBI (Peace Brigades International), the World Future Council and especially the INEB (International Network of Engaged Buddhists), which is also known in the West . The latter was founded by him in 1989, together with other Buddhist leading figures, the 14th Dalai Lama , Thich Nhat Hanh and Maha Ghosananda , and has participants in over 20 countries around the world.

As a practicing Buddhist , Sulak Sivaraksa is regarded as an outstanding representative of a cosmopolitan and committed Buddhism . In his consistent interpretation of Buddhist insights on concrete political, social, educational, economic and ecological problems, he shows the topicality of this teaching to solve today's conflicts. He searches for the roots of human suffering, grievances and injustice, referring to the simplest principles of Buddhist teaching and pragmatically getting to the point. His criticism of the ruling structures and their responsible representatives is fundamental, his proposals are simple and both conservative in terms of values and utopian . It is therefore obvious that he campaigns for human rights , ethnic minorities , peace education as well as for the bhikkhuni order and interreligious dialogue and makes very pointed statements against corruption , abuse of power, oppression, globalization , consumerism , the World Bank , IMF and large corporations participates as an activist in sit-ins against rainforest-destroying gas pipelines . He is also committed to Asian artists and - as a friend of the Dalai Lama - to topics related to Tibet . He also fulfills his role as a tireless admonisher by cultivating the memory of democratic models in recent Thai history or by keeping alive the memory of important monks. On these topics he published several books in Thai and English, be it as an author or as an editor.

In addition to the Swedish Right Livelihood Award , Sulak was awarded the UNPO (Organization of Peoples Not Represented in the UN ) Prize in 1998 and the Indian Millennium Gandhi Award in 2001. Since March 2009 he has also been involved in the newly founded Russell Tribunal on the Palestine question . In 2011 he received the Niwano Peace Prize .

Works

• Seeds of Peace - vision of a Buddhist social order . Freiburg im Breisgau 1995, ISBN 3-591-08357-7 .
• In the face of power, Pridi Banomyong, the rise and fall of democracy in Siam (Thailand) . Bangkok 2005, ISBN 974-93403-4-5 .
• Buddhist Perception for Desirable Societies in the Future. (Papers prepared for the United Nations University). 1993.
• A Buddhist Vision for Renewing Society (Collected articles by a concerned Thai intellectual) . Thai Watana Panich Co. Ltd., Bangkok 1981, ISBN 974-07-5095-8 .
• Loyalty Demands Dissent (Autobiography of a Socially Engaged Buddhist) . ISBN 1-888375-10-8 .
• Religion and Development . 1987.
• Seeds of Peace (A Buddhist Vision for Renewing Society) . 1991, ISBN 0-938077-78-3 .
• Siam in crisis . (A Collection of Articles by Sulak Sivaraksa). Second edition 1990.
• A Socially Engaged Buddhism . Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation, Bangkok 1999, ISBN 974-260-154-2 .
• Global Healing (essays and interviews on structural violence, social development and spiritual transformation) . Thai Inter-Religious Commision for Development, Bangkok 1999.
• Powers That Be: Pridi Banomyong through the rise and fall of Thai democracy . 1999.
• Conflict, Culture, Change. Engaged Buddhism in a Globalizing World . 2005, ISBN 0-86171-498-9 .
• The Wisdom of Sustainability: Buddhist Economics for the 21st Century . 2010. ISBN 0982165617 .

literature

• Socially Engaged Spirituality. (Essays in Honor of Sulak Sivaraksa on His 70th Birthday) . Edited by David W. Chappell, 2003, ISBN 974-260-203-4 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Sulak Sivaraksa in the catalog of the German National Library
• Sulak Sivaraksa, winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize 1995: Page in English

Commons : Sulak Sivaraksa  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Councilor of the World Future Council

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Sulak Sivaraksa Arrested - Lese Majesty Beautiful Thailand, Nov. 7, 2008; Retrieved December 9, 2008