humanistic buddhists and social liberation ( i )

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Humanistic Buddhists and Social Liberation (I)

Humanistic Buddhistsand Social Liberation ( I )

By David W. Chappell

Professor of Comparative Religion

Soka University

Aliso Viejo, California

ABSTRACT

Humanistic Buddhism has arisen in mod-ern times with the goal of liberating humansand society. However, many of the condi-tions that led to the rise of Humanistic Bud-dhism are part of modern secular reformsand have also helped to liberate Buddhismfrom some forms of political and culturalcaptivity. In particular, this article exploresthe role of five factors as necessary condi-tions for Humanistic Buddhism an inde-pendent judiciary providing some protectionfrom the state, a humanistic enlightenmentmovement that encourages independent in-tellectual inquiry, a modern communicationsystems to support individual developments,relative peace, and a global economy. Thesehave enabled new models, networks, andgroups of Buddhists to emerge and to be-come socially engaged in new ways. Hu-

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Universal Gate Buddhist Journal, Issue 24

manistic Buddhism may be working to liber-ate society, but a byproduct has been atransformation and liberation of Buddhismas well as the improvement of society. Inthis way, it is perhaps a new illustration ofthe maxim that "benefiting others benefitsoneself."

Introduction

Buddhism began as an individual questfor liberation and peace, but quickly becamea social movement. The social forms ofBuddhism changed each time it moved intoa new culture, but also experienced signifi-cant changes within cultures, such as therise of Mahayana and Vajrayana in India toform the "three vehicles" (triyana), or theKamakura r e fo rma t ion o f J apaneseBuddhism. Today "humanistic Buddhism"has been adopted as a label by several mod-ern Buddhist groups (such as Fo Guang Shanand Soka Gakkai), as a commitment to ap-ply Buddhism in soc ie ty as a pr imeresponsibility. However, the most widelyused label for this humanistic Buddhism oftoday is "socially engaged" Buddhism.

H u m a n i s t i c

Bhddhism

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Buddhism has never existed in isolation,and often internal changes are connected tosocial changes outside of the sangha. Whilesocially engaged Buddhism suggests thatBuddhists are socially active and applyingBuddhism to "liberate society," in manyways these leaders are instruments for help-ing the sangha to catch up to secular soci-ety and to "liberate Buddhism." Being so-cially engaged is hardly new, but the waythat Buddhist leaders are engaging eachother and are being engaged is new and de-serves clarification.

As a community that draws its membersand support from society, Buddhism has al-ways been humanistic. Of course, many in-dividuals join Buddhism to free themselvesfrom society in retreat and contemplation.Paradoxically, these forest recluses andmountain meditators have often won fameand admiration from society, partially inrecognition of their capacity to transcendthe social stresses that drive and divide or-dinary life. Dale Cannon in his book Six Waysof Being Religious has clearly establishedthat there are a variety of ways to be reli-

" s o c i a l l y e n g a g e d "

B u d d h i s m

Dale Cannon S ix

Ways of Being Religious

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gious in every major tradition devotional,socially active, meditative, intellectual,ritualistic, and shamanistic. Being humanis-t ic and social ly engaged is one way,whereas being a recluse is another. Neitherway is uniquely Buddhist nor non-Buddhist.

What is new is that those Buddhists whoare socially concerned are adopting manynew methods and styles: they are beingmore international in scope, more educatedin their training, more democratic and gen-der inclusive in their organizations, moreaware of ecological destruction, more in-novative institutionally and technologically,and more concerned than ever before tomove society toward nonviolence, justice,truthfulness, and peace. Certainly these newactivities and values constitute a radicaldeparture from some earlier forms of Bud-dhist practice, but are they different Bud-dhist values or just different applications.Since this new humanistic Buddhism is be-coming more pervasive, it is perhaps worthtaking stock of its content and significance.

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The New Humanistic Buddhism

In order to be specific about this NewBuddhism, it is useful to look at leaders whoexemplify many of its patterns. CertainlyVen. Hsing-yun, founder of Fo Guang Shan,is a major leader of international Buddhismwho embodies humanistic Buddhism. Oth-ers who also embody these new values in-clude the Vietnamese monk Thich NhatHanh, the Buddhist political leader of Tibet,the Dalai Lama, the Chinese nun Ven.Cheng-yen, the Thai social activist ArjunSulak Sivaraksa, the American Tibetan nunVen. Karma Lekshe Tsomo, the Japanesesect leader Daisaku Ikeda, and the Sinha-lese layman A.T. Ariyaratne.

The fact that the Dalai Lama and ThichNhat Hanh are living as exiles and unable tor e t u r n t o t h e i r h o m e l a n d s w i t h o u timprisonment, and the frequent arrest ofSulak in his native country, make them pow-erful embodiments of social injustice in themodern world. As a result of struggling withthe burdens of their own people, however,they have also become models of how togive enlightened and compassionate re-sponses to the conflicts of modern society.In addition, they and Shih Hsing-yun, ShihCheng-yen, Karma Lekshe Tsomo, DaisakuIkeda, and A.T. Ariyaratne have all devisednew institutional forms to implement Bud-

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dhist ideals of compassion, reform, andgender inclusiveness. As a group these lead-ers are models of a new way to be Buddhistby being active internationally, by being so-cially engaged, and by participating in in-terreligious activities.

I would propose that these Buddhist lead-ers represent a new kind of Buddhismbecause, unlike the past, these leaders arehonored not just for their leadership withinand for Buddhism, but as spiritual and so-cial leaders for the world. In particular, theyare popular in non-Buddhist cultures be-cause they represent the hope for new ap-proaches to global problems by showing newways of relating to the world and each other,not by leaving the world, but within it. Asthe Dalai Lama said recently: "We need anew concept, a lay spirituality.... It couldlead us to set up what we are all looking for,a secular morality." (Tricycle, Fall 199539a) As a result , the Dalai Lama wasawarded the Nobel Peace Prize, but othersh a v e b e e n n o m i n a t e d ( C h e n g - y e n ,Ariyaratne, and Sulak).

A . T .

(T r i c y c l e ,

Fall 1995 39a)

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What is socially engaged Buddhism? It istrue that 2500 years ago Gautama, theBuddha, left home and never again returnedto take up his former responsibilities ashusband, father, and ruler. Also, his newcommunity, the monastic sangha, offeredan alternative to conventional society.Nevertheless, it is important to rememberthat in its early history the sangha was notset up against society, or in isolation fromsociety, and that the Buddha spent forty-fiveyears after his enlightenment in constantservice to society. In his role of teacher, henever abandoned society.

Even though he recognized that hisunderstanding "went against the stream" ofconventional life, he realized that there weremany people who saw the limitations andfailings of ordinary life who needed andwere ready for his teaching, so that afterhis enlightenment, he began to teach others.

After teaching others, he also sentthem out "for the profit and happiness of themany, out of compassion for the world, forthe profit, gain and happiness of gods andhumans."

Within the first two years of hisenlightenment, the Buddha visited the kingsof the two largest Kingdoms in northeastIndia, Magadha and Kowala, that controlled

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a region over 500 miles wide and he suc-cessfully won their political support.

Based on the example of the Buddha, theMahayana reform movement later outlinedthree ethical principles as foundational toBuddhism: to avoid all evil, to cultivategood, and to save all beings. Accordingly,when the Dalai Lama is asked what his goalsare, he replies by quoting the Bodhi-caryavatara of Wantideva:

For as long as space endures,and

for as long as living beings remain

until then may I, too, abide to dis-

pel the misery of the world.

(Tricycle, Fall 1991: 20)

From this traditional point of view, Bud-dhists have always had a global responsi-bility to relieve suffering, but how this isdone today has some new features whichneed to be mentioned.

Humanistic Buddhist leaders have astrong commitment to ACTION IN SOCI-ETY and physical relief as well as spiritual

Tricycle, Fall 1991: 20)

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teachings. Reliance on meditation alone isrejected as inadequate. For example, theDalai Lama observed that "the sole relianceon prayer had created a 'religious sentiment'that became an obstacle to human efforts tosave Tibet." (Tricycle, Fall 1995:5b) Un-like the old Buddhism, the new internationalBuddhism finds that meditation without ac-tion in society is not enough. However, thenew Buddhism does not abandon meditation,but emphasizes "mindfulness in action." Incontrast to the reforms of the 1960s that hadactivism but no mindfulness, the creativityof this new Buddhism is based on inwardcalmness, mindfulness, and compassion thatis aware of the interdependence of self,others, and the environment, and basedon the impermanence of self and others, hascompassion for others that is free from ego.

This New Buddhism has a NEWMORALITY. For example, the "FourteenPrecepts of the Order of Interbeing" estab-lished by Thich Nhat Hanh are designed notprimarily around monasticism, but nonvio-lence and interdependence in the world. AllBuddhist morality is based upon "right view," namely, the quest for enlightenment. Eventhough o thers may not wish to seekenlightenment, the concern of the Dalai

(Tricycle, Fall 1995:5b)

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Lama is to build a "secular morality" thatpersuades all people that for our commonsurvival, all humans need to: restore amore balanced ecology, establish a morejust economy, ensure more balanced re-lationships between the sexes, avoidabsolutizing any ideology or doctrine, butbe open to all ideas, and be open tochange based on consensus for the common.

This New Buddhism also has a NEWCOMMUNITY that is diffused and cutsacross religious boundaries. New network-ing organizations support the leaders of theNew Buddhism dedicated to social justice,ecology, and human rights that exercise in-fluence through the popular media and newinteractive information technology. The in-fluence of these international leaders isspread through various media such asretreats, videos, the internet, internationalconferences, and magazines, such asTricycle, Seeds of Peace, Turning Wheel,Sakyadhita, Living Buddhism, and the WorldTribune. Although the Sakyadhita mailinglist is only a few thousand, the largest quar-terly magazine, Tricycle , and weeklynewspaper, World Tribune, each have acirculation of about 40,000 subscribers. Al-though Daisaku Ikeda's SGI organization isin 164 countries, it would be a mistake to

Tricycle , Seeds of Peace , Turning

Wheel , Sakyadhita , Living Buddh-

ism World Tribune

Sakyadhi ta

Tr icyc le

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limit the influence of these leaders only totemple membership.

T h i s N e w B u d d h i s m i sINTERRELIGIOUS. Many Western Chris-tians also should be counted as part of the"community of concern" represented by theNew Buddhism. An increasing number ofactivities and books involve these New Bud-dhist leaders with other religions. DaisakuIkeda is presently completing a book calledChoose Dialogue that he is writing with anIranian Muslim, Majid Tehranian. ThichNhat Hanh's book Living Buddha, LivingChrist is a bestseller, as is the Dalai Lama'sbook and video, The Good Heart, that con-s i s t s o f h i s comments on Chr i s t i anscriptures.

The New Buddhism reverts MOTHEREARTH. Understanding the interconnected-ness of all life, and the destructive historyof humankind on this planet, this NewBuddhism: involves a sense of shame aboutpast human arrogance, it respects the regu-lar patterns of life and death, it tries to re-store the balance of nature both within and

World Tr ibune

1 6 4

C h o o s e D i a l o g u

L i v i n g B u d d h a ,

Living Christ

The Good Hear t

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around ourselves, and it engenders affectionand respect for the wild.

The New Buddhism involves the searchfor a more just and sustainable NEWECONOMICS. Although the world is in-creasingly unified under a global marketsystem, social groups are increasingly be-ing separated from each other based on thedivision of the rich and the poor, and natureis becoming increasingly damaged. Sincethis economic system is increasinglydivisive, the new Buddhists are committedto finding ways to make it more just andsustainable by developing more consumeractivist groups, minimal standards of safetyfor workers and the environment, plus fairpay for all employees regardless of genderor position. At present, the CEOs of the 365biggest companies in America make 326times the amount earned by the averagefactory worker, and thousands of times morethan the workers in third world countries whoare sub-contracted to produce many goodsfor American companies. These figurescontrast dramatically with CEOs in the1940s who made only 12 times the wage ofan entry level employee. The economic in-stitutions are is drastically different todayand so are our responsibilities for reform.

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3 2 6

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This New Buddhism is GENDERINCLUSIVE, so that all social power anddecisions should be shared and balancedamong the sexes. As a result of VenerableGrand Master Hsing Yun s yearlong effort,in February 1998 at Bodhgaya the nun slineage was restored to Sri Lanka and Burmaafter centuries of absence, and was hencebegun for the first time in Tibet, Thailand,Cambodia, and Laos. Still ahead is the needto change the eight vinaya rules that placemonks above nuns. Equal gender participa-t ion is more important than cul tura ltraditions.

Enhancing all of these features are twoelements that are entirely new. One is thenew science and information technologythat enables Buddhists to understand muchbetter what is involved with saving all be-ings locally and in other countries of theworld. The other major element that is newis the proliferation of institutions, some de-structive and others that enhance life, thatradically changes the work of Buddhists.The task of reforming individuals is joinedwith the responsibility to improve institu-t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e s ( l a w s , e d u c a t i o n ,governments, hospitals, and business) ascrucial instruments for "saving beings."

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These two elements provide a radicallydifferent setting for practicing Buddhism to-day in contrast to traditional Buddhism.

Kamakura Married and EngagedBuddhists

New Buddh i s t movemen t s i n t heKamakura period (1185-1333) liberatedBuddhist practice from government controland aristocratic ownership in Japan. This"reformation" consisted of the spread ofBuddhist teachings among ordinary peoplethat transformed religious practice. Whilethis popularization of Buddhism was a ben-efit to many, the new religious structures ofKamakura Buddhism also adopted organi-zational styles that contrast sharply with ourage of democracy, equality, and infor-mation. Whereas elite Japanese Buddhismwas socially married to the power structuresof the government and nobi l i ty , theKamakura reform movements of liberationand popularization built opposing forms ofBuddhism that suited their times, and whichmay also contradict contemporary leader-ship trends. To illustrate how different peri-ods require different methods, a brief com-parison will be made between the innova-tions of the pioneer of Kamakura reforms,Honen Genku (1133-1212), and the patternsof the New Buddhism of today.

1185-1333

1133-1212

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Certainly Honen is notable for challeng-ing the limits of the traditional Buddhistinstitutions by bringing Buddhism out of themonastery and into the street, and he wasattacked by the monastic elites for attract-ing commoners and disreputable people, thehumble and the outcaste. In this way, Honenwas like the reformers of today by practic-ing a "socia l ly engaged" Buddhism.However, in other ways he was quitedifferent:

Honen's greatest work, Senchakushu,begins by quoting the Chinese Pure Landthinker, Daocho (562-645), who divided allBuddhism into two kinds, the way of thesages and the way of Pure Land devotion-alism. Honen argued that for this age ofmappo" (when Buddhism was in decline),only exclusive devotion to Amida Buddhaand rebirth in his Pure Land would save us.In this way, Honen was reductionistic andexclusive. In contrast, the New Buddhismaffirms our interdependence and works tobe as inclusive of all spiritual resources ofour human heritage, including interfaithdialogue.

Honen rejected hope for salvation inthis world and undermined confidence in anyhuman activity, placing total reliance on thesaving compassion of Amida Buddha andotherworldly salvation through rebirth in

562-645

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his Pure Land. By contrast, all the leaders ofthe New Buddhism of today are committedto working in this world to seek relief ofsuffering through compassion and enlight-enment here-and-now. Modern ChineseBuddhist leaders such as Cheng-yen, Hsing-yun, and Sheng-yen, were inspired by theChinese reformer and internationalist, Tai-xu (1889-1947), who was committed to edu-cation and building the Pure Land here onearth. Similarly, the leaders of the NewBuddhism are working to save beings in thisworld here-and-now, both spiritually andphysically, as much as possible.

Whereas Honen was impressed by thekarmic debt that humans had incurred basedon beginningless karma that totally ob-structed salvation by their own efforts(jiriki), the present Buddhist reformers af-firm the inherent goodness of the humanheart (Dalai Lama) and seek to empowerordinary people by emphasizing their Bud-dha nature, dignity, and inherent worthhere and now.

Honen had a pessimistic view ofhuman history, believing that he was livingin the age of the decline of the dharma(mappo") when all human effort was fruit-less and the only hope was in another re-birth in another land, the Western Pure Land

1889-1947

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of Amida. By contrast, contemporary lead-ers of the New Buddhism work with aprofound sense both of individual evil ten-dencies and institutional structural violencehere-and-now, while also being buoyed upby faith that the dharma can be effective inthis world when we remove ego and workcollaboratively. The many examples of theimprovement of knowledge, institutions, andtechnology provide encouragement to be-lieve that the combination of mindfulnessand work can reap some positive decreasein suffer ing. Also, awareness of theunpredictability of life and the transforma-tions brought by recent inventions suggestthat even when there is no rational hope ofimprovement, one should still try.

Honen went outside the monasteryinto the streets, but today's Buddhists arefinding the streets are not as effective asthe information highway. Honen's societywas institutionally impoverished by havingvery few options basically there was onlythe government and the monastery so headvocated freedom and hope by rejectingthe elitist institutions and emphasizing indi-vidual empowerment with the single tool ofnembutsu for salvation. However, today'sBuddhist leaders can seek to reform theirinstitutions by collaborating with more di-

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verse and inclusive institutions, such aseducation, democracy, and the internet toe n s u r e d i v e r s i f i c a t i o n , m a x i m u mparticipation, and fulfillment of all one'spotential.

Honen had total confidence in theabsolute authori ty of the Buddhistscriptures. However, today's leaders arereturning to the skepticism of Gautama Bud-dha who pointed up the relativity of allwords and concepts (Sutta-nipata VIII). To-day we live in the age of spin doctors whocan artfully twist any words or concepts totheir advantage. Accordingly, education hasled to skepticism about any single book orpoint of view or institution, while technol-ogy has offered a host of alternative sourcesof information. Honen was brilliant but lim-ited to his tradition and in awe of the writtenword, whereas today's leaders have awealth of information from various media(TV, telephone, internet, and so on) with thepostmodern awareness that no single sourceis adequate or authoritative.

Honen and Daocho never realizedthat the reason their Chinese or Japanesecontemporaries found it difficult to under-

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stand Buddhist scriptures was not just be-cause o f the dec l ine o f the dharma(mappo"), but because of cultural differ-ences between India and China, or India andJapan. Today's leaders recognize these cul-tural differences not as barriers or failures,but as sources of diversity and enrichment.Rather than hoping to copy another cultureand its mode of enlightenment, that led toDaocho and Honen's despair of duplicatingIndian Buddhism, today's leaders accept thedifferences and work interactively for mu-tual enhancement as a source to stimulatenew creativity.

In the Kamakura period, common peoplewere freed from the control of the aristo-cratic establishment through a method ofempowerment that was otherworldly,exclusivistic, pessimistic about this worldand human ab i l i t i e s , au tho r i t a t i ve ,reductionistic, and monocultural. Today inorder to check the destructive power of theeconomic elite, new coalitions are neededto protect and build on the diversity ofcul tures , re l ig ions , ecosys tems, andcommunities. While recognizing that eachform of life has its own integrity and value

whether biological or human no per-son or group is all sufficient, no matter how

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Religious: A Framework for Com-

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(Belmont,California: Wadsworth,

1996)

Eppsteiner, Fred, ed. The Path of

Compassion: Writings on Socially

powerful. Because of our interdependence,everyone is partial and cannot long survivewithout collaboration and renewal fromothers, while each individual is precious andneeded to balance and improve the whole.Whereas the liberating documents of theKamakura period were isolated selectionsfrom the Buddhist scriptures, today all ofreligious scriptures need to balanced byeach other and interpreted in the light of theDeclaration of Human Rights and the EarthCharter. Each being may be married to aparticular form and practice to live, but willbecome narrow and destructive without en-gagement with a wider diversity of life.

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humanistic buddhists and social liberation ( i )

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