Socially Engaged Buddhism (with reference to Australian society)

by Phuong Thi Thu Ngo | 2012 | 44,050 words

In this essay, the concept of socially engaged Buddhism will be discussed with exclusive focus on Australia. The term Socially Engaged Buddhism refers to an active involvement by Buddhist members in society and its problems, practitioners in this nascent movement seek to actualize traditional ideals of wisdom and compassion. Also dealt with are the...

Socially Engaged Buddhism: A Conceptual Study

Apart from being a religious order, Buddhism is also a set of ideas and ideals and, above all, a time tested way of life. This fact has been vividly exemplified and profusely illustrated centuries after centuries in the form of the Buddhist precepts and ideals like Sikkhapadas, stages of Purisa-puggala- hood, Brahmaviharas, Bodhisattva-cariyas, Bodhisattva-bhumis, and so on. A newer and contemporary incarnation of all these elements has come up in the form of Socially Engaged Buddhism. In terms of Buddhist teaching, socially engaged Buddhism is an embodiment of the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva literally a "being" (sattva) oriented to "awakening" or "enlightenment" (bodhi), is a great vow and archetypal figure found particularly in Mahayana (great vehicle) Buddhism. The Bodhisattva ideal has roots in the original teachings of the Buddha, who was himself described as a bodhisattva, understood at that time as one on the way to becoming a Buddha, a fully awakened one.

In the Mahayana Buddhist traditions, there developed a pantheon of archetypal bodhisattva, each of them suggesting and guiding a different kind of mature spiritual activity in the world. There is Avalokiteshvara, the male bodhisattva of compassion in India, who becomes Chenrezig in Tibet, and the female Kwan Yin in China and Kannon or Kanzeon in Japan, who is perhaps the most popular and well-known Bodhisattva. Avalokiteshvara is sometimes depicted with a thousand hands, each with an eye-to see what is happing in the world and to respond, suggesting both the receptive and active dimensions of compassion. Kwan Yin is often described as the one who "hears the cries of the world." Manjushri is the bodhisattva of discriminating wisdom, one who sees deeply into the nature of things, and id typically shown wielding a sword said to cut through delusive thoughts and views. Samantabhadra appears as the bodhisattva of enlightening action in the world, particularly making more apparent the interconnection of all beings. Kshitigarbha is the bodhisattva who watches over the vulnerable.

Such archetypal bodhisattva figures also manifest in ordinary human beings, who may not take particularly prominent social roles. They might appear as the radiant and kind grandmother or the generous and friendly owner of a town's general store, as well as better known people such as Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, and Martin Luther King Jr.

The ordinary bodhisattva follows a specific training, a series of disciplines. Such training begins with the orientation to awaken oneself, and to do so for the benefit of all. This intention is often expressed in the "four inconceivable vows":

Living being are infinite, I vow to free them.
Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to cut through them.
Dharma gates are boundless, I vow to enter them.
The Buddha Way is unsurpassable, I vow to realize it.

On a rather pragmatic plane, socially engaged Buddhism or engaged Buddhism can be looked upon as a relatively new Buddhist movement that lays stress on social service and nonviolent activism[1] . It draws upon the Buddha’s teachings and practices of the moral conduct in order to commit the precepts to non-injury and compassion to others. This can be done by teaching them a right view and thereby help them relieve their delusion. That is precisely the way the practice of socially engaged Buddhism proposes to look upon the contemporary world. However, if we take a retrospective look at how Buddhism has evolved over millennia into a prominent faith with worldwide following, it might not be difficult to notice that social service has appeared in the Buddhist record since the time of the Buddha only. Thus, socially engaged Buddhism is not an absolutely new Buddhist movement as some scholars believe.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

E. Buswell, Jr., Editor, Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Vol.1, United Stated of America, p. 248

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