Socially Engaged Buddhism and the Trajectory of Buddhist Ethical Consciousness Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi Abstract: Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, a senior American Buddhist monk and distinguished scholar and translator, explores the nature of the social activism that has become a more visible aspect of Buddhist practice in recent decades. The author argues that while social engagement is deeply rooted in classical Buddhism, the scope and manner of social engagement have undergone a shift. The author reviews the history of Buddhist thinking on this topic and relates this history to gradual changes in society in general. This article was presented as the Eighth Annual Hsüan Hua (Xuanhua) Memorial Lecture in Berkeley, California, in April 2009. (A companion lecture given by Dr. Raoul Birnbaum follows Bhikkhu Bodhi’s article.)
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1. Introduction
hen I lived in Sri Lanka, I noticed that different shrine rooms in Buddhist temples depict the Buddha in different ways depending on the era from which they spring. Almost all shrine rooms, from any period, converge upon a central Buddha figure sitting in the dhyānamudrā, the posture of meditation—the eyes closed, the legs crossed, and the hands resting one over the other on the lap. But apart from this common feature, interesting differences can be observed. In temples that date back roughly to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the wall behind the Buddha statue is often covered by a mural depicting groups of monks and lay devotees in gestures of reverence, while above, filling the sky row upon row, deities look adoringly at the Enlightened One. In contemporary meditation monasteries, the shrine room is usually spare and utterly simple, containing only a single Buddha figure, again sitting in meditation. However, in many temples from the early- and midtwentieth century, the shrine room evokes a different atmosphere. The ISSUE
9, OCTOBER 2009
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