Buddhist Behavioral Codes and the Modern World

Within the scope of the English-language literature on Buddhism, the codes of behavior mandated by Buddhist doctrine represent an infrequently discussed topic. The selections here consist of essays on Buddhism by 17 scholars and practitioners, who address the ongoing evolution of Buddhist doctrine as reflected in its cultural, temporal, political, and geographical accommodations from the earliest days, to the present, and into the future. Past precedent is used as a means of clarifying the precise role of the precepts in the modern world as Buddhists face the 21st century and continue to encounter diverse cultural contexts.

Scholars, practitioners, and students alike will find instructive the theoretical as well as practical issues that are covered, including textual criticism, hermeneutics, cross-cultural studies, theories of action, psychology, death and dying, feminism, business management, challenges to the Western scientific paradigm, and religion in popular culture. Three main questions are explored from diverse perspectives: What was and is the significance of the precepts; how can they best be applied, and creatively adapted, to changing social conditions to best fulfill the original intentions of the Buddha; and how are we to determine present upayic demands to avoid violating those intentions? As many argue in these pages, there is much more at stake in the issue of sila/vinaya than simple guidelines for an obsolete lifestyle to be discarded at will. Rather, the case can be made that they represent an intrinsic part of Buddhist cultivation, even a sine qua non of successful, consummate practice.

CHARLES WEI-HSUN FU is Professor of Buddhism and East Asian Thought in the Department of Religion, Temple University. He is editor of several book series, including Resources in Asian Philosophy and Religion (Greenwood Press) and is co-editor of Buddhist Ethics and Modern Society (Greenwood, 1991). He has authored numerous books and articles in the fields of Eastern and Western thought and has lectured extensively throughout Asia, addressing the role of Asian culture in the modern world.

SANDRA A. WAWRYTKO is on the faculties of Philosophy and Asian Studies at San Diego State University. She has written numerous articles in the areas of comparative philosophy and feminism and is co-editor of Buddhist Ethics and Modern Society (Greenwood, 1991). She has recently completed Crystal: Spectrums of Chinese Culture through Poetry (1994), and is currently working on A Source Book on Taoism for Greenwood Press.