Rethinking Karma: The Dharma of Social Justice - Softcover

Watts, Jonathan S; Bhikkhu, Buddhadasa; Swaris, Nalin; Khuankaew, Ouyporn; Loy, David R; Zin, Min; Santikaro, Santikaro; Visalo, Pra Paisan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 6163741919 ISBN 13: 9786163741912

Publisher: Parbpim Printing House, 2020

Synopsis

What is a Buddhist response to political oppression and economic exploitation? Does Buddhism encourage passivity and victimization? Can violent perpetrators be brought to justice without anger and retributive punishment? What does Buddhism say -- or imply -- about collective karma and social justice? Rethinking Karma addresses these questions, and many more, through the lens of the Buddhist teachings on karma. Acknowledging that a skewed understanding of karma serves to perpetuate structural and cultural violence, specifically in the Buddhist societies of South and Southeast Asia, the book critically reexamines the teachings on karma as well as important related teachings on equanimity (upekkha), generosity (dana), and "merit" (punna). The eleven authors featured in this volume are thinker-activists who have been deeply involved in issues of social justice at a grassroots level and speak from their own experience in trying to solve them. For them, these issues are seminal ones requiring deeper contemplation and greater sharing, not only within the Buddhist community at large but among all those who seek to bridge the gaps between our idealization of human harmony, our tendencies toward violent confrontation, and the need for greater social justice.

About this title

About the Author

1) Buddhadasa Bhikkhu was one of the most influential Buddhist monks and progressive teachers of the twentieth century, well known for his criticisms and subsequent innovations of Thai monastic orthodoxy as well as various orthodox Theravadin interpretations of the Buddha s discourses. 2) David R Loy is a professor and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism, and a well known writer on books about Buddhism and society such as The Great Awakening: A Buddhist Social Theory. 3) Ven. Pra Paisan Visalo is the director of the Buddhika Network for Buddhism and Society in Thailand, and a leading public intellectual, social activist, and accomplished dharma practitioner. 4) Santikaro is a leading disciple and translator of the late Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, now living in rural Wisconsin after over 15 years in Thailand. 5) Ouyporn Khuankaew is director of the International Women s Partnership for Peace and Justice (IWP) based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. 6) Nalin Swaris taught Social Philosophy and Methodology of Community Development for seventeen years at the Senior College for Social Work in De Horst, in the Netherlands. 7) Jonathan S. Watts is a former staff and present executive board member of the International Network of Engaged Buddhist (INEB), and editor of various volumes on socially engaged Buddhism such as Lotus in the Nuclear Sea: Fukushima and the Promise of Buddhism in the Nuclear Age and Buddhist Care for the Dying and Bereaved. 8) Upaseka Yaso is the Buddhist name of Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan involved with the global movement to ban anti-personnel landmines, currently working now for Mines Action, 9) Min Zin serves as Burma s country analyst for several research foundations and is a frequent contributor to writings appearing in The Foreign Policy, The New York Times, The Irrawaddy, The Bangkok Post, and other publications. 10) Mangesh Dahiwale is director of international relations at the Jambudvipa Trust in Pune, India. 11) Khuensai Jaiyen is the director of the Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.) based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Edition details

• Publisher: Parbpim Printing House
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 6163741919
• ISBN 13: 9786163741912
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 272
• Editor: Watts Jonathan S