political activism; Buddhism peace movement; Saigon; engaged Buddhism; Vietnamese Buddhism; Vietnam War
摘要
This thesis examines the political activism of Vietnamese Engaged Buddhism in the 1960s, particularly the Struggle Movement for social justice and democracy of 1963 and the Peace Movement of 1966. It explores the Buddhist leaders' motives and their political means to deal with Saigon military government and senior advisors to the White House. The thesis sets out to prove that socially and politically Engaged Buddhism is inherent in the Buddhist tradition and not alien to Buddha's teachings. It also proves that Vietnamese Buddhism has always been engaged since the dawn of Vietnamese history. The Buddhism Peace Movement is assessed in accordance with Buddhist principles such as non-violence and non-attachment to temporal power. Except a few minor incidents, it was found that the Buddhist leaders strictly adhered to the non-violent principle and Vietnamese Engaged Buddhism could have provided a political alternative, the Politics of Enlightenment, which could avert the unnecessary destruction of the Vietnam War.
