Buddhism in Contemporary Society

Overview

Recall questions on engaged Buddhism, tolerance and the truth claims of other religions, non-religious world views and internal diversity, interfaith dialogue, Buddhism's compatibility and tension with science, and the 14th Dalai Lama and Sri Dhammananda.

What you need to know

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Questions from this subtopic

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1. 1

   Which Buddhist teachings support engagement with social problems?

   Model answer

   Compassion and loving-kindness as trainable dispositions; dependent origination, which makes suffering a matter of conditions that can be changed; dana as a practice; the analysis of greed, hatred and delusion, which can be applied to institutions as well as individuals; and the tradition's insistence that a ruler is bound by dhamma.

2. 2

   What is engaged Buddhism?

   Model answer

   The movement that applies Buddhist practice directly to social, political and environmental problems. Thich Nhat Hanh, who coined the English term, worked for peace during the Vietnam war; Ambedkar led a mass conversion of Dalits in India as a route out of caste; the Sarvodaya movement in Sri Lanka organised village development on Buddhist principles; and Buddhadasa in Thailand argued for a form of social organisation drawn from dhamma.

3. 3

   What is the Buddhist basis for religious tolerance?

   Model answer

   Buddhists point to the absence of a command to convert, the insistence that the teaching be tested rather than accepted on authority, and canonical episodes in which the Buddha tells a new follower to go on supporting the teachers he previously supported. Ashoka's edicts urging restraint in speaking about other people's religions are also frequently cited.

4. 4

   How do Buddhists view the truth claims of other religions?

   Model answer

   Positions vary. Some Buddhists are inclusivist, treating other teachings as partially true or as suited to different capacities, an approach Mahayana skilful means makes easy to formulate. Others hold that the way out of samsara was uniquely set out by the Buddha and that other paths, however admirable, do not deliver it. Buddhists generally reject a creator God, which limits how far agreement with theistic religions can go.

5. 5

   How do Buddhists respond to non-religious world views?

   Model answer

   Often with more sympathy than to theistic ones, since Buddhism has no creator to defend, values investigation and describes itself in terms of method. Buddhists nonetheless part company with materialism over rebirth, karma and the status of consciousness, and some argue that secular versions of Buddhist practice keep the technique while discarding the framework that gives it a point.

6. 6

   How do Buddhists respond to diversity within Buddhism itself?

   Model answer

   Mostly without demanding uniformity: there is no central authority, no creed and no mechanism for excommunicating a school, and traditions with very different practices have coexisted for centuries. Real friction exists nonetheless, over the authenticity of Mahayana scriptures, over women's ordination, and over whether Western adaptations remain Buddhist, and sectarian and nationalist conflict has occurred where Buddhist identity has been tied to a state.

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