JBE online conferences seek to explore themes of contemporary concern to scholars and practitioners of Buddhism. The emergence of "Socially Engaged Buddhism" has been a significant feature in the evolution of Buddhism over the past century, and particularly in the last twenty years. Characterized by a reorientation of Buddhist soteriology and ethics to identify and address sources of human suffering outside of the cravings and ignorance of the sufferer-such as social, political, and economic injustice, warfare, and violence, and environmental degradation-Engaged Buddhism has been manifested in a wide range of popular movements, development projects, and service organizations in Asia and the West.
As a cultural impulse that transcends and unites many vehicles and lineages of Buddhism, including the Theravada, Pure Land, Zen, Vajrayana, and Nichiren traditions, Engaged Buddhism has been formulated and practiced by ordained and lay adherents and sympathizers, often in cooperation with members of other faiths. Organizations such as the Sarvodaya Shramadana in Sri Lanka and the Buddhist Peace Fellowship in Berkeley have promoted a new form of Buddhist activism that seeks to transform the self and the world through mindful awareness and compassionate service. The walking-bodhisattva-as-activist is venerated alongside the sitting-Buddha-as-awakener as traditional disciplines and virtues of Buddhist practice are directed to the challenges of the modern world.
The proceedings of the first conference on the topic of human rights have recently been published as a book (RoutledgeCurzon Critical Studies in Buddhism Series). It is envisaged that the proceedings of the forthcoming conference on socially engaged Buddhism will also appear in print in due course as well as being permanently archived online.
THE EDITORS
JOURNAL OF BUDDHIST ETHICS
On-line Conference on "Buddhism and Human Rights" 1-14 October 1995
