SUNY series in Religious Studies
Engaged Buddhism's Struggle for Social Justice and Complete Liberation
- 256 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
SUNY series in Religious Studies
Engaged Buddhism's Struggle for Social Justice and Complete Liberation
About This Book
Classical Buddhism lacked an understanding of systemic injustice and its contribution to collective suffering. Despite the teaching of impermanence, classical Buddhist schools viewed social institutions as given and offered no path to social transformation. Today, Buddhists are shaped by multiple religious and secular traditions, including those stemming from the Hebrew prophets. The prophetic tradition offers a socially and religiously powerful conceptāthe concept of justiceāthat reconfigures the Buddhist dharma. In a time of unparalleled peril, Buddhists are challenged as never before to turn wisdom into strategic action to foster systemic social change. Compassion is not enough. Prophetic Wisdom shows how Engaged Buddhists can expand their understanding of the causes of collective suffering and develop nonviolent means for social transformation through a dialectic of love, power, and justice. It concludes by confronting the poison of racism in the American body politic.
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part One: The Prophetic Wisdom of Elders
- Part Two: Liberation in the American Context
- Part Three: From Prophecy to Praxis: Strategic Action and Social Liberation
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
- Back Cover