Engaged Buddhist Groups

Engaged Buddhist groups constitute a diverse range and network of leaders and communities that have made significant contributions to contemporary Buddhist transnational activism through their espousal of social critique, nonviolent political action, charitable service, and fellowship. Also known as socially engaged Buddhism, the movement developed throughout Asia over the course of the 20th century and more recently in North America, Europe, and elsewhere. A popular idea among intellectuals in French Indochina after World War II was the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre's theory of engagement, which championed the resistance hero as a prophetic redeemer who responds to oppression by charting a path toward emancipation. The Vietnamese monk and poet Thich Nhat Hanh likely drew on this idea for inspiration when he coined the term engaged Buddhism in 1963, after encouraging fellow monks and nuns to take mindfulness practice out of the meditation hall and into the villages to aid those suffering from the ravaging effects of war.

What characterizes engaged Buddhism as historically unprecedented are the following features: the recognition that suffering (dukkha) has both internal (personal) and external (social) causes that are mutually dependent; “dual liberation,” or the conviction that these two dimensions of suffering can be overcome through the observance of Buddhist precepts (e.g., to abstain from harming living beings), principles (selflessness and interdependence), and practices (mindfulness, loving kindness, and compassion) applied to the social field through service and activism; and the cosmopolitan embrace of Gandhian principles, including selfless service, nonviolence, and self-sufficiency in tandem with Western liberal democratic values (human rights, equality, civil rights, educational opportunity, and the advancement of social, economic, and environmental justice), as compatible with Buddhist aspirations for transforming suffering in the world. Linking the realization of inner peace with world peace to these core Asian and European American values is a distinctive feature of engaged Buddhist groups and their global appeal.

Today, engaged Buddhists are found throughout the world. Sarvodaya Shramadana, led by A. T. Ariyaratne in Sri Lanka, has developed thousands of self-sustainable, village-based communities. B. R. Ambedkar's Dhamma Revolution has brought education and social welfare programs to the Dalit community of South Asia. Humanistic Buddhism has revitalized modern religious life in Taiwan (Tzu Chi Foundation) and Japan (Soka Gakkai). Thailand's lay activist and social critic Sulak Sivaraksa founded the International Network of Engaged Buddhists in 1989 to promote the global integration of Buddhist spiritual values with social and environmental activism. In America, the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, founded in 1978, unites thousands of Buddhists around a common vision of liberation through social engagement.