Socially Engaged Buddhism

This chapter examines a sampling of the beliefs and practices to ascertain whether there are emerging patterns that link the otherwise independent, globally dispersed movements of engaged Buddhism. The rise of socially engaged Buddhism since the middle of the last century has been intensively documented and analyzed by scholars for more than 30 years. The doctrines of suffering (dukkha) and action-rebirth (karma-sasāra), and the moral guidelines known as Five Precepts (pañcasila), may be taken as markers of the philosophical breadth and depth of the new Buddhism, and of its readiness to enter into dialogue with philosophies and theologies beyond its borders.