Various aspects of thought and practice from Buddhist traditions are be- ing adapted and applied to meet individual and social needs in our time. The application of Buddhist forms of knowledge and power to meet social needs has historically been part of Buddhist activity throughout Asia and is one reason that Buddhist institutions garnered the social support they needed to become established in those cultures. So, applying Buddhist ideas and practices to meet contemporary needs is not new, but how they are being used now is problematic in two ways. First is the tendency to subsume modern secular applications of Buddhist practice under exces- sively individualistic, consumer-based agendas that lose the inclusive so- cial-ethical frameworks that had informed such practices in traditional cultures. Second is the tendency to separate modern adaptations of Bud- dhist practices from the Buddhist institutions those practices are drawn from, thereby directing the social and economic support generated by those practices away from their sources. Three kinds of modern applied Buddhism are noted that help ameliorate those two problematic tenden- cies: socially engaged Buddhism, Buddhist critical-constructive reflection, and current meditation programs that include robust relational and ethi- cal frameworks.
目次
Abstract 1 Introduction 2 Buddhist Applications in Asian History 4 Buddhist Applications Today 6 Problematic Aspects of Modern Buddhist Applications 8 Three Modern Kinds of Applied Buddhism that Help Correct those Problematic Tendencies 16 Conclusion 22 Bibliography
