![]() ![]() ![]() The revived Buddhism in India has not travelled a very long journey in India. ![]() Both of these compliment each other and, therefore, both are interdependent to each other. Since the term pertains to the Buddhists who seek the ways to apply the insights gained from meditation practices and Dharma teachings to situations of social, political, and economic suffering and injustice, these two can not be seen as distinct to each other. Active engagement of Buddhist ideas can be divided on two levels: spiritual development and social development. Thich Nhat Hanh chose to apply was adopted in the situation of war, but in the normal situations, Buddhists can engage themselves even in much wider social perspectives. What can be the better example from the detailed illustrations of the Pāramīs in the different Jātaka stories. It is needless to reiterate that, Buddhist scriptures are flooded with the stories of the devotion and commitment of the Buddha as well as his disciples to the society, not only in the form of ideas, but also in the form of action. It was the first example in the history of humanity by anyone to reject the interest of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ for the whole of the humanity. Engaged Buddhism, as a specific term might have emerged in the recent times but, undoubtedly, as a concept it had already begun with the departure of Gotam, the Buddha from his householder life to the society, to the humanity. As an ideal monk to do the spiritual practices so that they could understand the grief and agony of others, and on the other hand, to go out of their Viharas to offer their services to the common people of the society and they gave this way of life a new Chinese term, translated as Engaged Buddhism into English, although not considered to be very accurate translation. They thought that when the other part of the society is enveloped with the fear, pain and suffering so would it be appropriate for them to confine themselves to their spiritual practices, hiding from the external world? They decided to expand the field of their actions. As we know, during Vietnam War when he and his Dhamma friends were engrossed in their meditative practices and surrounding society was afflicted with the sufferings of the war, the question arose in their mind regarding the objective of their religious life. Siddharth Singh, Associate Professor, Department of Pali & Buddhist Studies Banaras Hindu University, India Engaged Buddhism, as a specific term, is originally coined by noted Vietnamese Zen teacher Ven. Engaged Buddhism in India and Role of Theravada Buddhism: Perspectives and Prospects Dr. ![]()
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