Engaged Buddhism
4/17/19
Abigail Reed
The term engaged Buddhism came about in 1965 by a Vietnamese monk by the name of Thich Nhất Hạnh. The meaning behind the term ‘engaged Buddhism’ was meant to evoke and induce a form of spirituality that is socially and politically aware and active. In 1998 Hạnh’s gave a sermon at Plum Village focusing on the teachings of the Buddha and he argued, “Once we realize that our forms, feelings, and perceptions are non-permanent then we begin to see the no-self nature, and then we see the interdependent nature, and once we see the interdependent nature, we see the Buddha”.
Hạnh’s teachings include the process of ‘letting go', which is extremely prominent in the worldview that everything is co-dependent. The worldview of engaged Buddhism is that “all things and beings are interconnected in a complex web of socio-historical and political circumstances, which both produce and are produced by one another”. Hạnh focuses immensely on the interconnectedness of everything, which is similar to the teaching of deep ecology and he states, “Our ecology should be a deep ecology—not only deep, but universal… We need to protect the ecology of the Earth and the ecology of the mind". From the deep ecology stand point all things are interconnected including plants, animals, minerals, humans, etc. and for the ideals behind engaged Buddhism is the recognition of interconnectedness or ‘interbeing’.
Abigail Reed
The term engaged Buddhism came about in 1965 by a Vietnamese monk by the name of Thich Nhất Hạnh. The meaning behind the term ‘engaged Buddhism’ was meant to evoke and induce a form of spirituality that is socially and politically aware and active. In 1998 Hạnh’s gave a sermon at Plum Village focusing on the teachings of the Buddha and he argued, “Once we realize that our forms, feelings, and perceptions are non-permanent then we begin to see the no-self nature, and then we see the interdependent nature, and once we see the interdependent nature, we see the Buddha”.
Hạnh’s teachings include the process of ‘letting go', which is extremely prominent in the worldview that everything is co-dependent. The worldview of engaged Buddhism is that “all things and beings are interconnected in a complex web of socio-historical and political circumstances, which both produce and are produced by one another”. Hạnh focuses immensely on the interconnectedness of everything, which is similar to the teaching of deep ecology and he states, “Our ecology should be a deep ecology—not only deep, but universal… We need to protect the ecology of the Earth and the ecology of the mind". From the deep ecology stand point all things are interconnected including plants, animals, minerals, humans, etc. and for the ideals behind engaged Buddhism is the recognition of interconnectedness or ‘interbeing’.
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