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A survey of social issues and challenges with a description and appraisal of some responses from Buddhist institutions
Hsi Lai Journal of Humanistic Buddhism, 2000
Humanistic Buddhism may be viewed as Mahayanist interpretation and understanding of the original teachings of the Buddha and the early teachings of Buddhism, not from a sectarian perspective but from the perspective of a teaching that grows and develops in a manner that is integrative and organic. One may come to the opinion, quite correctly in my view, that Humanistic Buddhism derives both from the Buddhist experience in China - what Jonathan Z. Smith terms locative religion - and from the universal or timeless Buddhist experience as derived in the Pali texts - what Smith terms utopian religion. It is to the universal and timeless portion of Humanistic Buddhism that the rest of the paper turns its attention: ethics. The paper compares Judea-Christian ethics with those of the Buddhist tradition and concludes that although the ethics of both traditions are remarkably similar, there are fundamentally different paths and interpretation s that lead to these similarities . The remainder of the paper will discuss these differences, with special emphasis on the significance of Dependent Origination and karma.
Religion, 2012
Review of book edited by David L. McMahan, Routledge: London and New York, 2012, xiv + 329 pp. ISBN 978 0 415 78014 8, US$125.00 (cloth); ISBN 978 0 415 78015 5, US$39.95 (paperback).
“The ultimate goal of Buddhism is total enlightenment, but to achieve that we must first learn to be good human beings.” Perhaps Buddhism's greatest strength has been its endless ability to adopt and adapt to new environments and cultural contexts. Buddhist practitioners down through the ages have been amazingly adept at applying Creative Hermeneutics, that is, serving as effective messengers for the underlying meaning of Buddhist Dharma in innovative ways. As we seek to translate Buddhism into a fitting form for the contemporary world, Humanistic Buddhism demonstrates great potential to "speak" to every individual, initially as a human being but also as a "buddha to be." Chinese Chan Master Hui-neng was most adamant about the need for a humanistic outlook in propagating Buddhism. As he approached the end of his own life, Master Hui-neng was asked to communicate his instructions for forthcoming generations of Buddhist practitioners. His response emphasizes that realization of our Buddha nature presupposes an understanding of our non-Buddhanature. Any aspirants must acquaint themselves with the nature of ordinary sentient beings. ...To seek Buddhahood without such knowledge would be in vain even if one spent eons of time in the search. ...Knowing Buddha means nothing else than knowing sentient beings, for the latter ignore that they are potential Buddhas, whereas a Buddha sees no difference between himself and other beings. Accordingly, the message of Buddhism must be recast in ways appropriate to today's audience, sentient beings who are human beings, but human beings who have been conditioned by and accustomed to experiences unknown centuries or even decades ago. From space travel to virtual reality, environmental crises to life extension, world conflicts to globalization, new opportunities and challenges confront us each day. To be effective in the world, Buddhism must demonstrate an awareness of the challenges and opportunities confronting human beings in our ever-changing world.
FGU, 2013
A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Buddhist Studies Fo Guang University 星雲人間佛教與達賴入世佛教思想之比較研究 Comparative Research Between the Humanistic Buddhism of Master Hsing Yun and the Engaged Buddhism of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
The Buddha & Jesus, edited by Cyril Veliath (Kelanyia, Sri Lanka : Tulana Jubilee Publications, 2015), pp. 115-143 How does religion relate to society? Are they in opposition or in harmony? This question became very important in modern times in China, and formed a line which divided religious traditionalists from religious reformers. We shall first examine the traditionalist stance of the Chinese thinker Liang Shuming (1893-1988), who upheld a clear separation between Buddhism and society, thereby preserving the function of religion as a vehicle of radical criticism. We shall also examine the agenda put forth by the Buddhist monk Taixu (1890-1947), the most important Buddhist reformer of the first-half of the twentieth century in China. We shall then examine the debate which arose between Liang on one side, and Taixu, his disciple Yinshun (1906-2005) and the sangha on the other. Since Liang regarded Buddhism to be a religion of pure transcendence, he opposed using it to tackle social problems. Liang instead advocated Confucianism, as a form of upāya, which could more effectively lead towards the ultimate Buddhist goal of renouncing to the world.
A Brief History of Buddhism in America, 2024
The history of Buddhism in the United States is one whose brevity belies its complexity. This chapter provides a survey of that history, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century and leading up to the contemporary moment. It focuses on how Buddhists and Buddhist sympathizers have adapted and revised teachings and practices to create new cultural forms that can meet their spiritual needs. This tendency to adapt, revise, and collage Buddhist ideas and practices into new forms, this chapter argues, is not limited to the late twentieth century but is present in even the earliest American engagements with Buddhism. While the history of Buddhism in the United States coincides neatly with the transnational development of "Buddhist modernism," the chapter concludes with a short re ection on the prospects and limitations of the recent postmodern turn in American Buddhism.
World Buddhist Sangha Youth 14th General Conference, 2017
Ethics are very useful things in human society. It seeks to resolve questions of Human beings, such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, etc. Wherever there are ethics there can be seen a peace and harmony society. If there are no ethics there would be no peace and harmony. The main purpose of ethics are to enhance the social norms where everyone can live peacefully and harmoniously. If anyone neglects ethics, the conflict can be seen everywhere arising in society. Due to ethical decline in contemporary society, it can be resolved through Primary Buddhist treatment such as; five precepts, Parabhava sutta, Singalovada sutta, Vyaggapajja sutta, Mangala sutta etc. 2. Research problem/issue Here specially focus on Ethical Decline in Contemporary Society and how it could be resolved through Primary Buddhist Treatment. This research going to show that internal as well as external ethical declines of Individual problems, family life problems, social life problems can be considered as internal ethical decline as well as economy, political, social, and professional can be considered as external ethical declines with mutual respect is a sustaining solution for well-being. Finally, the paper going to discuss how far Primary Buddhist treatment plausible to overcome 3. Research Methodology The research is mostly a textual study and mainly depends on primary and secondary sources and the relevant monographs. Personal observation will be utilized appropriately. As the result of this study, analyzed some special manners of Health Psychology-How person being in healthy? What are the causes for suffering diseases? What are the psychological effects? Significant of mental behavior to promote illnesses, what are the Buddhist psychological principles to promote and prevent illness? The information for the study has been collected through relevant Buddhist teachings, monographs and the articles and social experiences.
As an incredibly diverse religious system, Buddhism is constantly changing. The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Buddhism offers a comprehensive collection of work by leading scholars in the field that tracks these changes up to the present day. Taken together, the book provides a blueprint to understanding Buddhism's past and uses it to explore the ways in which Buddhism has transformed in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The volume contains 41 essays, divided into two sections. The essays in the first section examine the historical development of Buddhist traditions throughout the world. These chapters cover familiar settings like India, Japan, and Tibet as well as the less well-known countries of Vietnam, Bhutan, and the regions of Latin America, Africa, and Oceania. Focusing on changes within countries and transnationally, this section also contains chapters that focus explicitly on globalization, such as Buddhist international organizations and diasporic communities. The second section tracks the relationship between Buddhist traditions and particular themes. These chapters review Buddhist interactions with contemporary topics such as violence and peacebuilding, and ecology, as well as Buddhist influences in areas such as medicine and science. Offering coverage that is both expansive and detailed, The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Buddhism delves into some of the most debated and contested areas within Buddhist Studies today.
Engaged Buddhism’s overall mission is to show that Buddhism can be “a force to soften the damage caused to the human spirit by the onward march of globalization. ” This paper examines propositions put forward by three of the most influential contemporary Engaged Buddhists – Thich Nhat Hanh, Sulak Sivaraksa and the Dalai Lama – for changing the course of contemporary globalization. With a geographical focus on South East Asia, it first explores the theoretical and practical propositions Engaged Buddhism offers for resolving and preventing armed and religious conflicts. It further lays out Engaged Buddhism's answer to the global economic crisis, stressing the importance of giving a voice to the voiceless in our system, and to reform the current educational systems and the content they propagate. It will be shown that the movement of Engaged Buddhism is a strong advocate for more sustainable lifestyles, seeing nature and humanity as one inseparable entity.
2002
article published in Journal of Global Buddhism; Vol 3 (2002)
Indian Scholar - An International Multidisciplinary Research e-Journal, 2015
The philosophy of Buddhism is more visible when one reduces their needs, takes the minimum from the nature and cause no hurt to human beingsas well as nature. Further it also engages in a process of healing the wounds of human beings and nature. With the overwhelming loam of individual centric culture at present, where everything is evaluated through the prism of market and commodity, the premise of Buddhism iseither drifting orshifting or getting completely lost. Maybe it is not Buddhism; or something else in the name of Buddhism.Today due to the multiple level forces and practices, seven Ambedkarite model is not left out of this individualistic approach.
APA Newsletter on Asian and Asian-American Philosophers and Philosophies, Vol. 18, No. 2, Spring 2019. Newark: The American Philosophical Association., 2019
This issue on Buddhist Philosophy Worldwide: Perspectives and Programs and the following issue on Buddhist Philosophy Today: Theories and Forms are two special issues of the APA Newsletter on Asian and Asian-American Philosophers and Philosophies which I was invited to guest edit. They are designed to include descriptive and prescriptive/evaluative elements: On the one hand, scholars working on Buddhist philosophy throughout the world provide a descriptive snapshot of the state of the field in their geographical/disciplinary area; on the other, they proffer an evaluative appraisal of how Buddhist philosophy has been carried out and/or a prescriptive programme of how they feel it should be carried out. This collection of articles by experts of the widest possible spectrum of classical, modern, and contemporary Buddhist philosophical schools working in universities throughout Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America thus comprises both an informed survey of the current state of research and a manifesto for the field. As such, it constitutes an important contribution to the ongoing project by scholars of ‘less commonly taught philosophies’ (including but not limited to Chinese, Indian, Islamic, Africana, and Feminist philosophies) to expand the ambit of professional philosophy beyond the narrow confines of the Western canon. Contributions study Buddhist philosophy based on authorial experience in Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Poland, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
BUDDHISM THE PANACEA , 2014
Religious ideologies are unique in themselves. They are stead fast and obstinate about the means through which they claim to take the followers to the destination. A close study of Buddhism, however sheds light on the fact that it has been the ''least dogmatic'' of all religions. The Buddhist teachings have been placed in comparison with the 'tenets' of other religions. The towering antiquity of Hinduism and its obscure caste theory, the internationalization of Christianity, the dictatorial dogma of Islam and the claims of Semitic superiority of Judaism have all been found to be ''organized indoctrinations'' that have promoted more obscurantism than enlightenment to this world. Buddhism on the other hand has not produced an agenda around which its principles revolve! It has not propounded and expounded any spiritual theory! On the contrary, the other religions have been beset by obscurantist dogmas that leave the followers confused and confounded. This article is not a panegyric on Buddhism. Neither is it an attempt to satirize the other religions. The subject of this article is not religion at all. On the other hand, it offers a wishful thinking for a moment; if the modern world followed the non-dogmatic teachings of the Buddha, it would be a better place!!!
2021
VEN. DR. BHIKKHU BODHI Classical Buddhism and Secular Buddhism-Two Roads to the Future of the Dharma Bhikkhu Bodhi, born in 1944, is an American Buddhist monk. He obtained a BA in philosophy from Brooklyn College (1966) and a PhD in philosophy from Claremont Graduate School (1972). After completing his university studies he traveled to Sri Lanka, where he
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