The Engaged Buddhism Movement is a movement in which Buddhist spiritual practice is inseparable from social action on humanitarian and environmental issues. The term "Socially Engaged Buddhism" refers to active involvement by Buddhists in society and its problems. Participants in this nascent movement seek to actualize Buddhism's traditional ideals of wisdom and compassion in today's world. The "Tiep Hien" Buddhist Order (The Order of Interbeing), the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF),and the work of the Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre are examples of non-sectarian,socially engaged and ecologically responsible Buddhist practice.
(Philip Russell Brown)
The Tiep Hien Order (The Order of Interbeing) and its Precepts
The Tiep Hien Order was founded in Vietnam in 1964 during the war. It derives from the Zen School of Lin Chi, and is the 42nd generation of this school. (Thich Nhat Hanh, 1987a,p85) "The words "Tiep" and"Hien" have several meanings. "Tiep" means to be "in touch with" and"to continue". "Hien" means "to realize" and "to make it here and now". (Thich Nhat Hanh, 1987b,p11)
The order was founded in the following manner. In 1964, responding to the atmosphere of hatred, intolerance and suffering during wartime, a group of Vietnamese Buddhists, many deeply grounded in Buddhist philosophy and meditation,founded ..(the).. Order to become an instrument of their vision of engaged Buddhism. Composed of monks and nuns, laymen and laywomen,the Order of Interbeing (Tiep Hien) never comprised great numbers,yet its influence and effects were deeply felt within their country. Highly motivated and deeply committed, members of the Order and their supporters organized anti-war demonstrations, printed leaflets and books, ran social service projects, organized an underground for draft resisters,and cared for many of the wars suffering innocent victims.
During the war, many members and supporters died, some from self-immolation,some from cold-blooded murder, and some from the indiscriminate murder of war. At this time, it is impossible to say whether any remnant of the Order still exists in Asia, even though several members did emigrate to the West, and have recently ordained a number of Westerners and Vietnamese refugees.
Yet the Fourteen Precepts that they recited weekly, while war, political repression, and immense suffering tore apart their familiar world, are now being offered to us. (Epp Steiner,1985,pp. 152-153)
"The fourteen precepts of the Tiep Hien Order are a unique expression of traditional Buddhist morality coming to terms with contemporary issues. These precepts were not developed by secluded monks attempting to update the traditional Buddhist Precepts. Rather, they were forged in the crucible of war and devastation that was the daily experience for many Southeast Asians during the past several decades." (Epp Steiner in Thich Nhat Hanh,1987, p5.) They are as follows:
The First Precept:
Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology,even Buddhist ones. All systems of thought are guiding means: they are not absolute truth.
The Second Precept:
Do not think the knowledge you presently possess is changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. Learn and practice non-attachment from views in order to be open to receive others' viewpoints. Truth is found in life and not merely in conceptual knowledge. Be ready to learn throughout your entire life and to observe reality in yourself and in the world at all times.
The Third Precept:
Do not force others, including children, by any means whatsoever,to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat, money, propaganda or even education. However, through compassionate dialogue, help others renounce fanaticism and narrowness.
The Fourth Precept:
Do not avoid contact with suffering or close your eyes before suffering.Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. Find ways to be with those who are suffering by all means,including personal contact and visits, images, sounds. By such means,awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the world.
The Fifth Precept:
Do not accumulate wealth while millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of your life fame, profit,wealth or sensual pleasure. Live simply and share time, energy and material resources with those who are in need.
The Sixth Precept:
Do not maintain anger or hatred. As soon as anger and hatred arise,practice the meditation on compassion in order to deeply understand the persons who have caused anger and hatred. Learn to look at other beings with the eyes of compassion.
The Seventh Precept:
Do not lose yourself in dispersion and in your surroundings. Learn to practice breathing in order to regain composure of the body and mind, to practice mindfulness and to develop concentration and understanding.
The Eighth Precept:
Do not utter words which can create discord and cause the community to break. Make every effort to reconcile and resolve all conflicts,however small.
The Ninth Precept:
Do not say untrue things for the sake of personal interest or to impress people. Do not utter words that cause division and hatred. Do not spread news that you do not know to be certain. Do not criticize or condemn things that you are not sure of. Always speak truthfully and constructively. Have the courage to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may threaten your own safety.
The Tenth Precept:
Do not use the Buddhist community for personal gain or profit, or transform your community into a political party. A religious community,however, should take a clear stand against oppression and injustice and should strive to change the situation without engaging in partisan conflicts.
The Eleventh Precept:
Do not live with a vocation which is harmful to humans and nature. Donot invest in companies that deprive others of their chance to live.Select a vocation which helps realize your ideal of compassion.
The Twelfth Precept:
Do not kill. Do not let others kill. Find whatever means possibleto protect life and to prevent war.
The Thirteenth Precept:
Possess nothing that should belong to others. Respect the property of others, but prevent others from enriching themselves from human suffering or the suffering of other beings.
The Fourteenth Precept:
Do not mistreat your body. Learn to handle it with respect. Do not look on your body as only an instrument. Preserve vital energies( sexual, breath, spirit ) for the realization of the Way. Sexual expression should not happen without love and commitment. In sexual relationships, be aware of future suffering that may be caused. To preserve the happiness of others, respect the rights and commitments of others. Be fully aware of the responsibility of bringing new lives into the world. Meditate on the world into which you are bringing new beings.
The Order is truly non-sectarian. It "does not consider any sutra or any group of sutras as its basic text. Inspiration is drawn from the essence of the Buddhadharma as found in all sutras. The Order does not recognize any systematic arrangement of the Buddhist teaching as proposed by various schools of Buddhism. The Order seeks to realizethe Dharma spirit within primitive Buddhism as well as the development of that spirit throughout the sangha's history and the teachings in all Buddhist traditions". (Thich Nhat Hanh,1987)
In the Order there are two communities. The Core Community whichconsists of men and women who have taken the vow to observe the 14 precepts of the Order. Before being ordained as a brother or sister of the Order, one should practice at least one year in this way.
Upon ordination, the person has to organize a community around himself or herself in order to continue the practice. That community is called the Extended Community. This means all those who practice exactly the same way, but have not been ordained into the Core Community. The people who are ordained into the Core Community do not have any special sign at all. They don't shave their heads, they do not have a special robe. What makes them different is that they observe a number ofrules, one of them is to practice at least 60 days of retreat, of mindfulness, each year, whether consecutively or divided into several periods.
If they practice every Sunday, for instance, they will have 52 already. The people in the Extended Community can do that, or more,even if they don't want to be ordained. In the Core Community people can choose to observe celibacy, or lead a family life. (Thich Nhat Hanh, 1987, pp. 87-88).
The Zen Buddhist Master, Thich Nhat Hanh, believes that this type of Buddhist practice will be acceptable to many Western practitioners. He and his colleagues have experimented with it for 20 years and in his opinion it seems suitable for modern society.(Thich Nhat Hanh, 1987,p. 85.)
The Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF)
The "Statement of Purpose" of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship is as follows: "To make clear public witness to the Buddha Way as a wayof peace and protection for all beings; to raise peace and ecology concerns among American Buddhists and to promote projects through which the Sangha may respond to these concerns; to encourage the delineation in English of the Buddhist way of nonviolence, building from the rich resources of traditional Buddhist teachings a foundation for new action;to offer avenues to realize the kinship among groups and members ofthe American and world Sangha; to serve as liaison to, and enlist support for, existing national and international Buddhist peace and ecology programs; to provide a focus for concerns over the persecution of Buddhists, as a particular expression of our intent to protect all beings; and to bring the Buddhist perspective to contemporary peace and ecology movements."
The fellowship "was founded in 1978 to bring a Buddhist perspective to the peace movement and the peace movement to the Buddhist community. Buddhists of many traditions join the Buddhist Peace Fellowship to explore personal and group responses to the political,social,and ecological suffering in the world. Drawing on the teachings of nonviolence and compassion,and recognizing the essential unity and interdependence of all beings,BPF members and chapters seek to awaken peace where there is conflict,bring insight into the institutionalized ignorance of political systems,and offer help in the Buddhist spirit of harmony and loving kindness where it is needed."
"As a network of individuals and local chapters, BPF serves to promote communication and cooperation among sanghas in the work of nourishing all beings and resisting the forces of exploitation and war. The Buddhist Peace Fellowship is a member organisation of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and participates with other denominational peace fellowships in programs of ecumenical concern. National staff and local chapters respond to regional, national, and international peace and social action issues. Operating within the broad guidelines of the BPF Statement of Purpose, chapters retain their autonomy and function independently. New chapters may form wherever BPF members and friends are actively supporting each other in practices of engaged Buddhism. Members and local chapters have been involved in disarmament, environmental activities, and human rights, including campaigns opposing political oppression of Buddhists in Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Tibet. Chapter and national activities have included":
- education and support for personal choices to live simply, conserving energy, and resist harmful products and policies
- sponsoring teaching retreats and conferences
- letter-writing campaigns for human rights
- participation in vigils and demonstrations
- work with refugees from struggling countries
- support for socially conscious financial investment and consumerism,
- days of mindfulness practice
(The above information has been quoted from the BPF Membership information Leaflet.)
The Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre
"The Vietnamese tradition of Mahayana Buddhism to which the Abbotof the Van Hanh Monastery and director of the Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre,Venerable Thich Quang Ba, belongs is engaged Buddhism. In this tradition, to practice the Buddha's teaching is not to withdraw from society but to become engaged with it as Dharma practitioners. Accordingly,the Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre operates a range of social welfare programs."(Robleski,in Sakyamuni News,Oct,1991) Two particularly noteworthy programs are the Refugee Assistance Fund and the Vietnam Sangha Appeal. The aim of the Refugee Assistance Fund is "to assist one of those groups most in need, those who have found the Government in their native country so oppressive that they have risked their lives to escape. The program assists mainly (but not only) Vietnamese refugees, most ofwhom have been in refugee camps for years."(Robleski,in Sakyamuni News,Oct,1991,p3.)
The Vietnam Sangha Appeal aims to provide financial support for the training of monks and nuns who will be reestablishing Buddhism in Vietnam. "Since the Communist victory in Vietnam Buddhism has suffered persecution and oppression, leaving it in a very weakened state. Although conditions are still bad, over the past few years the Vietnamese Government has found it necessary to develop contacts with the outside world and attend to its international image, and so there has been some toleration of religious activities. As part of this new reform policy about ten Buddhist training institutes have been allowed to open,for the education of monks and nuns."
"These institutes are under Government control, but still Sutra Vinaya and other Buddhist subjects can be studied by approximately 1,000 students. These institutes are, however, desperately poor. They are in need of even the most basic requirements - food, clothing andshelter - as well as money for books and their study materials."
"If Buddhism is to revive in Vietnam it must have the leadership of a trained and educated Sangha....In a country as poor as Vietnam a little hard currency goes a long way, and even $7.00 a month would provide a scholarship that could support a student monk or nun."
"Thich Quang Ba hopes to be able to provide these institutes with much-needed financial support. He plans to send money direct to the individual institute, and also wants to launch a scheme in which people can sponsor a single sangha member, providing him or her with a personal scholarship. These students, the best and brightest, would be selected by the head of their school." (Kearney,1992)
Source:
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