The Term "engaged Buddhism, " i.e., socially engaged Buddhism, was first used by the Vietnamese Zen monk Thich Nhat Hahn in 1963 in his book by that name. It was written during the Vietnames War and expressed the spirit of his attempt to form a non-aligned, non-belligerent Buddhist coalition that he described as "an enemy-of-neither combatant." Later he would say that indeed Buddhism has always been (socially) engaged. Yet his term has been picked up by both Buddhists and non-Buddhists in Europe and the United States as a designtion of something new that is occurring in Buddhism. And books, articles and presentations on the subject have multiplied. We must ask: Why should this be the case? Why should Buddhists be, have been, considered socially inactive, either by themselves or by others? And what is new about today's "engaged" Buddhism that has not been characteristic of Buddhism in the past?
目次
1. Buddhism and Society in the Past 2. Engaged Buddhism of the Present 3. Socially Engaged Buddhism in the Future
