Engaged Buddhism East and West

This chapter focuses on the emerging phenomenon of Engaged Buddhism East and West, looking at its traditional roots and contemporary branches and discerning its impact on peacefulness, justice, tolerance, human and environmental rights, and related sociopolitical concerns. It explores the organizational leadership and participation in Engaged Buddhist processes, and what impact this movement has in both primarily Buddhist nations as well as in countries where Buddhists are a tiny minority and its practitioners may not have been born into Buddhist families. In the present era, many Buddhists search for social applications of teachings that may have existed in pre-modern Asia and are relevant to their own contexts. Engaged Buddhism would be far less visible, resonant, and collegial without Sulak's passions and total commitment to a Buddhist renewal. Sulak Sivaraksa, a Buddhist scholar, keen social critic, and expansive activist, challenges structural injustice and exploitation in all its forms.