Socially Engaged Buddhism

Dimensions of Asian Spirituality

by Sallie B. King (Editor)

Socially Engaged Buddhism is an introduction to the contemporary movement of Buddhists, East and West, who actively engage with the problems of the world--social, political, economic, and environmental--on the basis of Buddhist ideas, values, and spirituality. Sallie B. King, one of North America's foremost experts on the subject, identifies in accessible language the philosophical and ethical thinking behind the movement and examines how key principles such as karma, the Four Noble Truths, interdependence, nonharmfulness, and nonjudgmentalism relate to social engagement.



Many people believe that Buddhists focus exclusively on spiritual attainment. Professor King examines why Engaged Buddhists involve themselves with the problems of the world and how they reconcile this involvement with the Buddhist teaching of nonattachment from worldly things. Engaged Buddhists, she answers, point out that because the root of human suffering is in the mind, not the world, the pursuit of enlightenment does not require a turning away from the world. Working to reduce suffering in humans, living things, and the planet is integral to spiritual practice and leads to selflessness and compassion.

Socially Engaged Buddhism is a sustained reflection on social action as a form of spirituality expressed in acts of compassion, grassroots empowerment, nonjudgmentalism, and nonviolence. It offers an inspiring example of how one might work for solutions to the troubles that threaten the peace and well being of our planet and its people.

Genres: Buddhism, Social Science

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jessica Zu · Rating 2 out of 5]

very problematic. Jessica Main and Rongdao Lai's article in Eastern Buddhists is much more insightful.

[Ihor Kolesnyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Книга для тих, хто хоче дізнатися ситуацію у сучасному буддизмі стосовно соціального активізму, захисту довкілля, прави людини. Академічна книга, не для легкого читання, але для буддологів, буддистів і зацікавлених у глибшому розумінні.

[Chris Kiley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good grounding text for understanding Buddhism as a lived-religion, practiced in everyday life and forming people's worldviews and interactions. Very few of the the people in the groups listed (or that I have spoken to) would call their interaction socially engaged Buddhism, they would just call it Buddhism or living properly. As long as you understand the label is externally applied and serves to make a religiopolitical group for analysis of similar actions/attitudes towards interactions it will be a good text.

Really added to my understanding of the internal complexity and diversity of Buddhist traditions. I found the way she wrote about the history of social movements and groups and how that leads up to the present day to be incredibly useful. She writes history in a way that grounds it to its original context and relationship to the present which makes it easy for me to keep track of when everything is happening, where it is happening, and who might be interacting or impacted. The history is not a huge portion of the book but its very notable after reading dry date based history that is easy to loose track of.

[Oliver Zielke · Rating 5 out of 5]

"This means that the 'perfection if giving ' is free of any conscious or unconscious thoughts of 'me' or 'you'"

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

thank you Sallie king for making a theology book that was INTERESTING AND ENJOYABLE to read. I love that king took these complex theological ideas and broke them down into their understandable subparts, and ON TOP OF THAT provided us with real life examples of people applying them to problems of the modern world. all of the examples were very interesting, and I especially loved the investigation into glassman's Greyson bakery. hearing the multifaceted justification behind the decision to make pastries instead of simply baking bread truly drove home the principles of socially engaged buddhism for me. not only did king provide stellar examples of buddhist initiatives in the United States, but ones that spanned the globe as well. finally, she introduced many prominent figures in the movement in a memorable way, helping to guide my reading of other theological texts that frequently mention such figures.

it was a fantastic introduction to socially engaged buddhism, and I felt like I walked away from this book with a truly good understanding of the movement that will prepare me to succeed in my theology class + write a good paper based in buddhism.

rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Adil · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to imagine a better book to read if you have the following questions: How does Buddhism contribute to solving societal problems ranging from poverty to the ecological downfall? What are the obstacles (and of course, the leverage) that Buddhist tradition, texts, and ideology present to Buddhists who want to tackle issues such as women's rights and the Indian caste system? Who are the socially engaged Buddhists of recent times and what have they done in their respective societies and fields of interest?

It's really interesting to see a religion at work in the real world of suffering, hunger, poverty, oppression, etc. and to observe its internal struggle to free itself from some of its limitations.

[Rhapsody · Rating 5 out of 5]

A helpful guide to contemporary Buddhism, with practical techniques for daily living, and inspiring techniques for non-violent activism.