Bhikkhu
sumanapal (Subhasis Barua)
Buddhism
is often perceived as too individualistic and passive in its approach to social
problems. It was the western scholars of the nineteenth century who were
responsible for the generation of such an idea by focusing on such Buddhist
texts that inspired a total rejection of the world. More than a century has
elapsed since then and a new movement has started within Buddhism itself. In
modern Buddhism this movement or socially engaged Buddhism has become so important
that some scholars have accorded it the status of a new vehicle which is
separate from the three main forms of Buddhism i.e. Hinayana, Mahayana and
Vajrayana. Socially engaged Buddhism not
only utilized Buddhist values, they also adopted European and American forms of
social protest and involved themselves actively in various social issues like
hospice work, ecological programme, voter mobilization, prison reforms, letter
writing campaigns etc.. Engaged Buddhism is not defined by any sectarian identity
or in other words. They may be the member of any sect. Socially engaged
Buddhists can be found everywhere there are Buddhists except those countries
where an authoritative Government has stifled it.
Engaged
Buddhism owes its existence and vitality to Thich Nhaat Hanh a Vietnamese monk
who was nominated by Dr Martin Luther King for the Nobel Peace Prize. In the
concept of Socially Engaged Buddhism three ideas are included. They are
awareness in daily life, social service and social activism. Engaged Buddhism
is concerned with issues of human rights such as anti violence and
environmental concerns and at the same time it has a profound influence on the
lives of individual Buddhists. It took shape in a Buddhist country followed
by another. During the twentieth century
various disasters took place in Buddhist Asia for which human beings were
essentially responsible. They were: nuclear bombs on Japan, genocide in
Cambodia, the long and protracted war in South East Asia, the invasion and
occupation of Tibet. Socially engaged Buddhism has responded to it by applying
loving kindness, compassion and non violence and has sought a solution that
would be beneficial for all. Here we shall discuss the experience of Tibet and
Vietnam in brief.
Tibet: The Chinese army
invaded Tibet in 1949 and as a result Tibet was annexed into the People’s
Republic of China by losing its sovereignty. The invasion directly and the
famine that followed it caused the death of one sixth of the population of
Tibet that amounted to a million. Many
others suffered torture in prison. Apart from that the Chinese Government made
a conscious and deliberate attempt to wipe out traditional Tibetan culture,
religion and mode of living by transferring a large number of Han Chinese in
the Tibetan area. Monk and nuns led the movement against this occupation and as
a result a lot of them were sent to prison by the Chinese authorities. At present
monks and nuns comprise 79% of the political prisoners in Tibet. Tibetans were
allowed by the Indian Government to set up a government in exile in
Dharamshala. From Dharamshala the Tibetan leaders are supervising the welfare
of Tibetan refugees and are continuing their struggle to acquire autonomy for
Tibet. But in their struggle they have always followed means that are non
violent and peaceful.
All over the world the Dalai Lama has
established himself as an embodiment of compassion. His followers believe him
to be a incarnation of Avolokitesvara or the bodhisattva of compassion. On
daily basis the Dalai Lama reportedly cultivates metta or loving kindness for
the Chinese leadership.It is expected to help him in practicing it in all his
interactions with them. The Tibetans believe that the Chinese are accumulating
painful karmic retribution for them in future because of they are oppressing
the Tibetans. The Tibetans are of the opinion that the problem should be
brought quickly to a satisfactory solution so as to enable the Tibetans to
avoid oppression in the hands of the Chinese and the Chinese to avoid further
earning of painful karma. The Tibetans
believe that in this way they are protecting themselves for earning negative
karma.
However
this approach of the Tibetan leadership has not produced any remarkable result
and as a result the younger generation of Tibetans are in favour of adopting a
new approach in which the possibility of resorting to violence is not entirely
ruled out. But the Dalai Lama has clearly stated that he would not be a part of
such an approach.
Vietnam:
When
the war in Vietnam was going on a group of Buddhist activists belonging to
South Vietnam maintained equal distance from both the parties and tried to
bring the war to an end by adopting the path of non violence. That is why they
came to be known as the Third way which meant that they were neutral, they were
infavour of people and life. In order to achieve their aim they adopted various
methods including the composition of songs and poems that expressed an anti war
attitude to inspire and educate the people, non cooperation with the
Government, strikes student boycotts, mass resignation : aiding and protecting
military deserters, staging massive anti war or anti Government rallies. Apart
from these the monks also adopted the path of self immolation as their last
resort. They did it as a method of self sacrifice which they believed would
bring the war to an end. According to the Vietnamese they did it in order to protect
the people.
One
of the main founders of socially engaged Buddhism was Thich Nhat Hanh who was
one of its theoretician during the war in Vietnam. His contributions in the
movement were primarily based upon his experience during the war. He was an
exponent of the idea of being peace. He believed that in order to end the war
one has to attain internal peace. He came to this realization by witnessing
American ‘peace’ demonstrations which was full of anger as if the protestors
themselves were taking part in the war. To him it was not the end of a war but
it started a new war. He opined that we should first find our inner peace and
only then we would be able to end the war. He advised his disciples to practice
mindfulness that would enable them to find their own inner peace and getting
rid of the overwhelming sense of fear. He formulated fourteen precepts of
Engaged Buddhism. They are as follows:
1. Do
not be idolatrous or bound to any doctrine, theory or ideology, even Buddhist
ones. Buddhist systems of thought are guiding means, they are not absolute
truths.
2. Do
not think the knowledge you presently possess is changeless absolute truth.
Avoid being narrow minded and bound to present truths.
3. Do not force others including children by any
means whatsoever to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat, money
propaganda, or even education.
4. Do
not avoid contact with suffering or
close youreyes to suffering.
5. Do
not accumulate wealth when millions are hungry.
6. Do
not maintain anger or hatred.
7. Do
not lose yourself in dispersion and in your surroundings.
8. Do not utter words which can create discord
and cause the community to break.
9. Do
not say untruthful thinks for the sake of personal interest or to impress
people.
10. Do
not use the Buddhist community for personal gain or profit.
11. Do
not live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature.
12. Do
not kill. Do not let others to kill.
13. Possess
nothing that should belong to others.
14. Do
not mistreat your body. Learn to treat it with respect.
Both
the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh were the exponents of socially engaged
Buddhism. But in doing so they did not abjure the essential qualities of
traditional Buddhism but have applied them in a new area.
Poverty:
Sarvodaya Shramadana: The
Sarvodaya Shramadana movement of Sri Lanka is one of the most successful
movements under socially Engaged Buddhism. Sarvodaya is active in more than
15000 villages of Sri Lanka and is the largest non Government N.G.O ofthe
country. Sarvodaya takes part in developmental work. It also actively
participated in the relief work after Tsunami, in the peace keeping effort
after the protracted civil wart in the country, and in the relief work in the
Tamil Camps.
These
works are an obvious manifestation of compassion. The Buddha was against
poverty. It is said that he refused to talk before a hungry and poor man until
he had been fed. Ariyaratne’s movement is a movement that provides a third
option apart from capitalism and communism. Armed with the motto small is
beautiful he was against endless economic growth which is a product of greed
and lust. He opined that need should be met and not greed. The best way is the
Middle Path advocated by the Buddha which is a way that lies between wealth and
poverty. No one should be cold and hungry but at the same time unnecessary
waste should also be avoided.
Roshi
Bernie Glassman: The mission of American Zen master was the alleviation of
poverty to which he devoted a major part of his life. Glassman was concerned
with the poverty of the homeless and chronically unemployed in Yonkers, New
York. He was inspired by the works of Ariyaratne and like him believed that the
poor needed not handouts but self help. For generating jobs for the unemployed
he started a bakery. Soon it was perceived that the solution of one problem led
to another, the unemployed people needed training in job skill, communication
skill and life skill and also counseling for alcoholism and drug abuse. The
interrelationship of these issues was felt by Glassman and he established a
network of profit and non profit organizations and named it Greystone Mandala.
It contains the Greystone Bakery, a family inn, housing projects, and a health
center. The organization makes arrangements for training, counseling, and
childcare and after school programmes.
Human
Rights and Well Being: Human rights figure at the top of the agenda of Engaged
Buddhism. In the Western world rights is a very important concept. Here the
idea of rights generated as a mixture of political intellectual and social
developments that took place only in the west. The concept of rights occupied a
very prominent place in Europe and America since the eighteenth century. Rights
can be defined as some power vested on the individual that he can exercise. The
Dalai Lama is often seen as endorsing the principles of the contemporary human
rights charters. Buddhism does not oppose any single article of the thirty nine
articles included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by
the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948. It is curious to note that
many of the rights embodied in the said Charter have a remarkable similarity
with Buddhist teachings.
Burma: In Burma the
struggle for human rights was spearheaded by San SuKyi and the National League
or Democracy. Numerous monks nuns and students and other lay people took part
in it against the autocratic rule of the military. This Government adopted
brutal means against his own citizens such as random executions, rape, forcibly
recruiting children in the army and ethnic cleansing etc. In 1988 and and again
in 2007 Buddhist monks and nuns took to the streets in Rangoon and other cities
of Burma and demanded human rights and democracy. This is called saffron
revolution after the colour of the robes of monks and nuns. There were many
reasons for which monks and nuns defended human rights. The most important
desire was to protect the common people out of compassion for their suffering.
Secondly, to persuade the common people to believe that the Government is
corrupt and immoral. The monks condemned the Government by turning their
begging bowl upside down which signaled their refusal to
take donations from the military. Thirdly many Burmese considered the monks as
sacrosanct whose presence in the street afforded a sense of security to the lay
people on the road and inspired them to attain greater heights in rebellion.
After an initial hesitation the Government decided to crack down on the monks and
nuns and their protests came to a premature end at least for the time being.
Dalit Buddhists:
Dalit Buddhists are the class that was converted from the untouchables of
India. Though untouchability has been abolished by the constitution of India,
it has made an indelible mark in the minds of many people belonging to the so
called higher class in India. The word ‘Dalit’ means oppressed and all the
former untouchables use this term to describe themselves. The Dalit Buddhists
feel that they are oppressed by the Indian society and to them Buddhism is an
escape from that oppression.
The
famous untouchable leader B.R. Ambedkar decided to abandon Hinduism and adopt
Buddhism because in his opinion Hindus would never give up the oppressive caste
system. In the year 1956 he adopted Buddhism partly because the Buddha did not
adopt the caste system. The dalit people are accepting Buddhism because they
believe that Buddhism would give them honour and respect and the prospect of a
better life.
As
a result of the various programmes initiated by the Indian Government regarding
education and unemployment some Dalits enjoy a higher standard of living but
there are also some whose life has remained unaffected by all those
schemes. The group that is helping the
Dalit Buddhists in various areas is the ‘Friends of Indian Buddhist Order’.
Their principal aim is to fulfill the social and economic needs of the dalits.
Teaching Buddhism to the newly converted Buddhists is also one of their
aims.
Tzu Chi:
Tzu Chi (also known as Buddhist Compassionate Relief Organization was founded
in Taiwan by Ven. Master Cheng Yen. This organization is active in the field
health care. The starting point of this institution is a personal experience of
Cheng Yen. One day she visited a hospital in Taiwan and saw a pool of blood on
the floor. She came to know that it came from an aboriginal woman who suffered
a miscarriage. That woman was denied admission in the hospital as she did not
have the money to pay the cost involved.
This incident inspired Cheng Yen to establish with the help of donations a
large hospital fully equipped with modern facilities and providing free treatment.
Tzu Chi was successful because she got financial help from many people
particularly form housewives who in spite of living a comfortable life were
unhappy. They found their life empty and meaningful. So whenever they found an
opportunity they promptly came forward to help Cheng Yen to make their life
meaningful.
Environment:
Ecology occupies a very important position in Buddhism and it regards animals
as sentient beings. Many Buddhist monasteries of past and present function as
wildlife sanctuaries. For instance, Zen Mountain Monastery in New York offers
regular retreats in the forest and gives people a chance of gaining spiritual
experience within natural settings. In Thailand the monks are actively opposing
the country’s rapid deforestation. Sometimes they advise lay people to donate
tree seedlings and not money or robes to the monastery in order to earn merit.
Again they turn the trees into a sacred object by ordaining one of the older
trees as a monk. The leading monks taking part in this movement often receive
threats of harm from people with vested interest especially from those
belonging to the logging industry. Some of them were even expelled from the
sangha as a result of their activities. One monk who protested against logging
even got killed.
Berkeley
California based organization Buddhist Peace Fellowship offers a very
comprehensive programme on various aspects of socially engaged Buddhism. Robert
and Anne Aitken, Nelson Foster, and a few of their Zen friends started this
movement together in 1978 9n Hawaii. They had to wait for almost a year before
the membership of the organization reached 50. A number of eminent
personalities like Allan Hunt Badiner, Catherine Ingram, Claude Whitmyer,
Joanna Macy Stephen Bachelor, Susan Murcott, Sulak Sivaraska and the Dalai Lama
figured in their list of authors. The organization has actively participated in
movements for human rights in Vietnam, Cambodia and Bangladesh, and has also
endeavoured to obtain the release of some jailed monks belonging to Vietnam’s
Unified Buddhist Church.
Engaged
Buddhism is common throughout the countries where Buddhists live but there are
some controversial issues surrounding it.
Westernization:
Sometimes Engage Buddhism is said to be Westernized Buddhism. It has to be
admitted that engaged Buddhism was very much impacted by western influence and
its leaders had connections with the West. But at the same time Engaged
Buddhism has questioned western values and belief systems and instead of
passively receiving western influence has chosen what to accept and what not
to. For instance it has accepted the idea of human rights but has rejected the
exhibition of anger found in Western peace demonstration
Some
people claim that Engaged Buddhism is a new and novel form of Buddhism but
there is a lot of debate regarding this issue. According to Thich Nhat Hanh there
is nothing new in Socially Engaged Buddhism. Supporters of this view claim that
it is wrong to brand Buddhism as world renouncing because Buddhism promotes the
concept of Bodhisattva whose ideal is to render selfless service to the
suffering humanity. They also think that the Buddha is a social activist whose
aim was to reform the society by establishing the sangha. Their opponents are
of the opinion that though Buddhism may contain concern for the society at
large it did not receive due recognition until the twentieth century. According
to some scholars engaged Buddhism was influenced by Christianity particularly
by theliberal notions of social service and active Protestantism. We do not
come across in the Buddhist scriptures the issues that occupy the attention of
the followers of Engaged Buddhism. However, Walpola Rahula
claimed as early as 1946 that there were explicit ethos present in the earliest
Buddhist teachings. The Buddha himself advised the monks to travel far and wide
for the benefits of the common people. His discourses to the lay people were
not entirely concerned with philosophy or spiritualism they contained advice on
social domestic and economic matters as well.
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