Adaptation and Developments in Western Buddhism: Socially Engaged Buddhism in the UK 9781472552488

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For Mum and Dad, Michael and Barbara for what you give to us all. For my beautiful wife Pat, for your heartfelt support, encouragement, compassion and love even when there is no more time in a day as they merge from one to another. For Karla, Zoe, Lyndsey and Joshua for walking the journey with me and accepting things just as they are.

Preface In recent years, there has been a growing academic acknowledgement of a contemporary Buddhist phenomenon described as Engaged, or Socially Engaged Buddhism (SEB). It is a contested phenomenon variously associated with finding Buddhist solutions for social, political and ecological problems. The debate about its origins, practice and legitimacy has stirred academics and practitioners alike. First, does such an approach to Buddhist practice constitute a departure with the past, in which case a new expression of an ancient practice is being experienced all around us? Or is this really a continuity of practice, adapted to inform current understanding given that some would describe Buddhism as always having been engaged? Both textual and anthropological studies of Buddhism have often presented it as stereotypically ‘other-worldly’ (Weber 1958/62), lacking in social engagement. This book examines the evidence of an inductive investigation that tests empirically the ‘this-worldly’, ‘other-worldly’ dichotomy, through the relationship of Buddhists to their social settings. It explores a ‘practical spirituality’, one in which the transformation of society takes equal precedence with the transformation of the individual. It brings the question of a SEB ethic to the fore and critically analyses the typologies at work in support of a sociological appreciation of a little examined academic endeavour. This study assesses the UK SEB experience captured through a series of five case studies of Buddhist groups and a survey undertaken over two years in the field. The volume is a groundbreaking and benchmark analysis of SEB in the United Kingdom, drawing for the first time on evidence from practitioner’s experiences with which to characterize the previously dichotomous academic debate. The introduction explains the rationale for the study and presents an assessment of how the phenomena might be understood against a typological model for investigation described by Jones (2003). It uses Smart’s (1989, 1996) Dimensional Analysis as a methodological tool to create a consistent approach within the case-study analysis, and describes the combining of an ethnographic and survey-based model of exploration. Chapter 2 examines the literature both academically and from the perspective of practitioners in the field, examining

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the notion of an emerging field of engaged Buddhist studies. It concentrates on key figures in the debate and their characterizations, exploring the likely outcomes for Buddhist soteriology vis-à-vis liberation. Chapters 3–7 examine five Buddhist organizations/groups as case studies (presented for their differing characteristics within the field of investigation), in the order that follows: Amida Trust, The Network of Engaged Buddhists (NEB), Triratna Buddhist Community (former FWBO), Community of Interbeing and Rokpa Trust. The final chapter draws together comparisons of all five case-study groups using the themes from Smart’s dimensional analysis to reflect upon the characteristics identified empirically. It assesses the typology suggested by Jones in Chapter 1 and concludes by cross-referencing the literature with the empirical evidence, presenting the SEB phenomenon against the wider British Buddhist landscape. This book’s analysis compliments the work undertaken in the United States by Queen and King (1996) examining Asian Buddhist Liberation Movements, and Queen et al. (2000) exploring engaged Buddhism in the West. The empirical evidence makes an impact, effecting previous assumptions in the field and in that sense, provides a voice for those involved in reconciling, adapting and developing Buddhist expression of religiously inspired social change.

List of Abbreviations ABMA ASM BACP BPF C of I CPP DOM FWBO INEB ITZI IZT LBC NBM NBO NEB NKT NRM OBC ONS PCC RA SCAN SEB SGI-UK SHSW SHT SMO SYSS TBC TBH TBMSG TBRL TTM

All Burma Monks’ Alliance Alternative Societal Models British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy Buddhist Peace Fellowship Community of Interbeing College of Public Preceptors Day of Mindfulness Friends of the Western Buddhist Order International Network of Engaged Buddhists Instituto Terapia Zen Internacional Institute for Zen Therapy London Buddhist Centre New Buddhist movement Network of Buddhist Organisations Network of Engaged Buddhists New Kadampa Tradition New Religious Movements Order of Buddhist Contemplatives Office for National Statistics Preceptors’ College Council Radical Activism Saṅgha Coordination Advisory Network Socially Engaged Buddhism Sōko-Gakkai International UK Social Helping Service and Welfare Spiritual, Humanitarian Therapeutic Social Movement Organization School for Youth and Social Services Triratna Buddhist Community The Buddhist House Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha Sahayak Gana Team Based Right Livelihood Businesses Traditional Tibetan Medicine

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Buddhism in Britain has moved beyond the initial period of transmission and institutionalization. Engagement with social and political realities reflects a new confidence and maturity. There is a determined will to integrate Buddhism into the mainstream of British Society, and to establish its presence as a moral force in the nation. Bell (2000: 418)

Engaged Buddhism the UK context Sandra Bell’s remarks above were part of her closing statement in a chapter entitled A Survey of Engaged Buddhism in Britain, in which she considers for the first time in British academic discourse, the implications for the United Kingdom, of a form of Buddhism described variously as, ‘engaged’ or ‘socially engaged’. She concludes by implying that in addition to an expression of Buddhism, which provides ‘Buddhists with important channels of access to the wider society’, engaged Buddhism is likely to have ‘a significant impact on the domestication of Buddhism in Britain’ (Bell, 2000: 418). By this she seems to be saying that Socially Engaged Buddhism (SEB), is likely to become more familiar to British Buddhists (indigenous and migrant), and perhaps, even more optimistically, to non-Buddhists as well? SEB would, according to Bell’s forecast, form part of the emerging British Buddhist landscape, explored in detail by Bluck (2006) in his comprehensive work, British Buddhism: Teachings, Practice and Development. SEB1 in the United Kingdom forms part of a diverse and complex global Buddhist picture with its provenance in parts of Buddhist Asia. In almost 40 years since the mid-1970s it has enjoyed a fairly rapid expansion, albeit the language associated with the term has only been recognized more recently within scholarly

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discourse. This wider scholarly recognition came about as a consequence of an appraisal of engaged Buddhism as a worldwide phenomenon, with expansive works in the United States by Christopher Queen and Sallie King (1996) Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia, and in 2000, when Queen challenged the Buddhist world in his edited volume, Engaged Buddhism in the West. In it he describes a ‘new Buddhism’, as another turning of the Buddhist wheel of Dharma – positing the idea of a ‘new’ Buddhist vehicle – a Navayāna or fourth yāna to add to traditional forms  – Hinayāna (contested  – narrow vehicle), Mahāyāna (reformed Buddhist vehicle), and Vajrayāna (syncretistic Buddhist vehicle) (Queen, 2000: 1–2). Practitioners however, in the United Kingdom, United States, South East and East Asia have been writing about an engaged Buddhist spirituality in a variety of forms since the Vietnamese war of the 1970s (Nhat Hahn, 1987, 1988, 1991; Sivaraksa, 1988, 1992, 1998; Kraft, 1992, 1999; Glassman, 1998). It has also been argued by some (Queen, 2000; Brazier, 2001; Jones, 2003) that, Buddhist reformers brought socially engaged activism to Buddhism long before the twentieth century, citing as exemplars, Japanese Buddhist Masters Hōnen (1133–1212), Shinran (1173–1263) and Dōgen (1200– 53), as well as twentieth-century Buddhist activists such as India’s constitutional author Dr B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956).2 Despite a range of themes that cut across the diverse aspects of Buddhist social engagement there seems to be at least one commonality, in that engaged Buddhists give weight to the notion that both ‘personal’ and ‘social transformation’ are synonymous with their contemporary Buddhist world views.

What do the numbers suggest? In order to attempt to locate this expanding phenomenon this book takes as its starting point research into UK expressions of SEB conducted in ten years from 2002 to 2012. During that time authenticating Buddhist numbers in the United Kingdom has been difficult. However, by combining UK census information and other published sources the data begins to provide the reader with a composite picture, which gives a sense of the UK Buddhist landscape. Comparing the census data from 2001 with the recently released 2011 census data for England and Wales (released 11 December 2012) reveals a significant uplift in Buddhist numbers since 2001. These sources, however, only reflect the numbers of those who voluntarily answered the religions question as ‘Buddhist’. There is an obvious choice involved, and more importantly an evaluative and

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interpretive process to be considered in the way the ‘religion question’ is both asked and answered. The question asks individuals to self-identify under a particular label, which may be associated with some form of ‘affiliation’ but not necessarily ‘belonging’. This affects the response rate and does little to establish much beyond the numbers. There should therefore be some caution in accepting these answers alone as wholly accurate of all Buddhist numbers generally in the United Kingdom. While they provide some important baseline data, the census question on religion does not specifically identify ‘Socially Engaged Buddhists’. The cartography of UK Buddhism requires some consideration of organizational association/affiliation where possible, in an attempt to bridge the gap between the individual (numbers) and the collective (groups). In consideration of the numbers of British Buddhists in the United Kingdom and their organizations, the sources available have real limitations. Baumann (1997: 198) talks of 180,000 Buddhists in Britain (prior to 2001), which was revised against the National Census data of 2001,3 from which Bluck (2006: 15–16) estimates approximately 150,000 Buddhists, accounting for the way questions in the census were phrased differently in Scotland and Northern Ireland, from England and Wales, and acknowledging that 7.7 per cent (4,000,000) of the population didn’t answer it.4 The 2011 census similarly reflects a figure of approximately 7 per cent of the population who did not answer the religion question. The 2011 event, however, seems to have given greater clarity to the religion question, in two respects: first, Scotland and Northern Ireland only asked one question in 2011 and not two as in 2001; and second, evidence of a concerted advertising campaign by the Network of Buddhist Organisations (NBO) encouraging individuals to self-identify as a Buddhist in the 2011 decennial return was not a feature of the 2001 census. The recently released figures (11 December 2012) present a significant rise in Buddhist numbers in England and Wales, with a dramatic increase of 70 per cent in the decade from 2001. This rise is reflected in a figure of 248,000 Buddhists in England and Wales alone.5 The diversity of the UK Buddhist environment can also be seen in a range of organizational sources, for example, the number of entries in the Buddhist Directory (10th edn) 2008–10, which contains 649 organizations (not counting those in ‘related organizations’ and ‘resources’ sections), compared with 437 organizations in the previous edition from 2006 (an increase of over 200). The latest edition of Religions in the UK: Directory 2007–10 (RelUK) identifies 550 Buddhist groups and organizations. Allowing for overlaps, these two sources update Bluck’s earlier estimation of almost a thousand Buddhist groups to nearer 1200 in 2010, based on their offer of two seemingly distinct data sets. This, however, does not account for discrete engaged Buddhist groups and

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subgroups in the United Kingdom, directly or indirectly associated with a range of organizations with various characteristics of Buddhist social engagement (defined in the following section). These include: the Community of Interbeing (91 groups), house groups connected to Sōko-Gakkai International UK (SGI-UK) (more than 300), subgroups within Rokpa UK and Rigpa UK, (an additional 20), the Amida Trust and Tariki (5) and Triratna (former FWBO) Right Livelihood organizations (34), giving an additional figure of 450 associated engaged Buddhist groups. In 2010–11 an estimate of the total number of Buddhist organizations in the United Kingdom number over 1,600. Taking account of the recorded increase in Buddhist numbers in England and Wales and taking the organizational data together (outlined above), the significant increase in Buddhist organizations seems to correlate with the increase in Buddhist numbers. This does not, however, reflect a definitive figure for individuals, either overall (as the census is based on choice) or through group affiliation, as numbers reported by organizations are difficult to verify. Even though there has been a significant rise in Buddhist numbers and asso­ ciated groups/organizations since 1997 (Baumann), the numbers of Buddhists who either self-identify or are seen as part of an engaged Buddhist group and/or associated organization are relatively small proportionately, compared with the wider Buddhist populace. There is, however, in some organizations, significant growth in numbers and geographic spread of affiliated groups (and individuals involved), while in others, the last ten years presents a static picture, or for some, a decline. Herein lies the difficulty of accurately identifying who might be acknowledged as an engaged Buddhist, what being a ‘Socially Engaged Buddhist’ means to those individuals and how they are to be accounted for? From estimates carried out in 2009–10 in connection with this research (based on five case studies that will be examined later), there were a little over a thousand individuals directly associated with groups or organizations that could be identified with the variable characteristics of Socially Engaged Buddhists (that is those directly related to the case studies in the research). Although numbers from the 2011 census have yet to be released in data sets capable of breaking numbers down into traditional/group affiliations, the 2009–10 estimate suggests approximately 1.67 per cent of the total estimated 60,000 Western Buddhist converts in the United Kingdom (2009) might be characterized as engaged Buddhists. What can be identified in terms of demographic profile, however, is that in excess of 90 per cent of engaged Buddhists in the United Kingdom are also likely to be Western converts. However, this does not take account of those

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less formally associated with the groups concerned in the research or to what extent they support SEB ideas? The case-study evidence to be presented herein is by no means a definitive assessment of the total number of people or groups who incline towards SEB in the United Kingdom, as many within organizations like the SGI-UK do not form part of the case studies examined here. Even those within the Triratna Order (formally Friends of the Western Buddhist Order  – FWBO) who are outside of Right Livelihood businesses, and who may form a significant body of support for SEB cannot be accurately counted, without a much wider and more far reaching attempt to ascertain specific individual interests. It may be that the numbers who are personally practising with a social conscience that use Buddhist practices of meditation and ethics in relation to matters of peace, social justice, and the environment are considerably greater. Taking SGI-UK and the Triratna Buddhist Community (TBC) together could add as many as 3,000 to known estimates. However, in trying to constitute what may or may not count as an engaged Buddhist (and the numbers of groups involved), any such claims should be reserved for an appraisal of the evidence contained within and will form something of the reflections in the conclusions to the study. What should become apparent, however, is the numbers involved in the case-study work (approximately 1,000 individuals) supported by the research, which is probably between 20 per cent and 25 per cent of the engaged Buddhist population in the United Kingdom (estimated at between 4,000 and 5,000 taking account of SGI-UK and Triratna organizations).

What is SEB? Keown describes SEB as ‘a contemporary movement, formally, but now less commonly referred to as “Socially Engaged Buddhism” concerned with developing Buddhist solutions to social, political and ecological problems’ (Keown, 2003: 86). Engaged Buddhism in the United Kingdom as a formal (personal not impersonal) physical presence, had its genesis in the movements against nuclear weapons and the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s (Jones, 2003: 173) and holds with the notion of non-violent protest and service, with non-violent solutions to social and international conflict as fundamental to its rationale. Areas of concern also include human rights, disarmament and defence policy, persecution in all its forms, social and environmental degradation, women’s rights, and more recently asylum, global terrorism and the response by governments in the West and the

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international community to a growing militarism in the world. Taken together the commitment to a form of Buddhist personal transformation is born out of a practice directly connected to a wider social transformation of systems, structures and ideologies, some inherently political and others associated with caring and service for people and the environment. The ‘engaged Buddhist movement’ is conceptually a contested idea, and one which will be explored later, but Keown suggests it ‘cuts across the lay-monastic divide and includes Buddhists from traditional Buddhist countries as well as Western converts’ (Keown, 2003: 86). Ken Jones, sociologist, and former long-time secretary and now president to the UK Network of Engaged Buddhists (NEB) defines SEB thus: Engaged Buddhism extends across public engagement in caring and service, social and environmental protest and analysis, non-violence as a creative way of overcoming conflict, and ‘right livelihood’ and similar initiatives, towards a socially just and ecologically sustainable society. It also brings a liberal Buddhist perspective to a variety of contemporary issues, from gender equality to euthanasia. It aims to combine the cultivation of inner peace with active social compassion, in a practice and lifestyle that support and enrich both. (2003: 173)

The combined substantive and functionalist nature of the definition above expresses a form of Buddhist practice, which addresses social and environmental protest issues, including political and social conflict. It seeks a socially just and economically sustainable society, using creative, non-violent means and ‘Right Livelihood’ (among other initiatives) as a means to change individuals and societies for the future. Significantly, it talks first of ‘caring and service’, before ‘protest and the environment’. The former being an area many engaged Buddhists are active in, and one where engaged Buddhists seek to reduce suffering and oppression ‘through the reform of unjust and repressive social and political structures, while not losing sight of the traditional Buddhist emphasis on inward spiritual growth’ (Keown, 2003: 86). SEB as a topic of scholarly discourse assumes a significant Western interpretation, even though there are a number of Asian Buddhist scholars/ practitioners who have, and continue to comment and influence the subject. It also assumes that Buddhists will cultivate inner peace and compassion both introspectively and socially. It is radical in Buddhist terms because it insists on a ‘social dimension’ in a way that asks Buddhist scholars and practitioners alike to interpret a kind of Buddhism across cultures that has not previously been explored in such terms in the West before the mid-1970s. In the case of much of

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Buddhist Asia, where fewer textual arguments or definitions are offered in direct response to this area of analysis, a great deal of what is described as ‘Buddhist social engagement’ is in fact taken for granted, in everyday life. This creates a dichotomy of thought East–West and only adds to the ambiguity in relation to the question ‘what is engaged Buddhism?’ In addition, engaged Buddhism seeks to negate a stereotypical Western perception (still extant outside of the practitioner world) that Buddhism is ‘a world forsaking, passive religion bent on personal enlightenment and nirvāṇa’ (Batchelor, 1994: 359). This stereotype has its roots in early sociological interpretations of Buddhism, not least in Max Weber’s (1864– 1920) writing on Buddhism, in which he describes Buddhists as ‘other-worldly’, characterized by ‘flight from the world’ (Weber, 1922, trans. Fischoff, 1965: 169). Deitrick makes reference to a similar theme when he refers to, ‘Melford Spiro’s insistence that Buddhism is normatively concerned solely with the soteriological needs of individuals conceived in other-worldly terms’ (2003: 252). All of which reinforces the ‘other-worldly’ stereotype, which is no less dispelled by Weber’s still widely portrayed characterization of Buddhism as an ‘anti-political status religion’ (1958: 206). This is an often-expressed early Western sociological characterization of Buddhism as too passive and aloof, with monastic hierarchies, emphasizing meditation and withdrawal, rather than reaching out more widely to humankind. Such a characterization proves to be in direct opposition to the definition of SEB presented by Jones (2003) above, which advocates a ‘this-worldly’ Buddhist practice, which deals head on with social concerns in late modernity, in addition to socially motivated service-based activity. In response to the ‘this-worldly’ outreach to humankind associated with engaged Buddhism, the Mahāyāna Bodhisattva 6 is often seen as the ideal or the icon for the activist. Yet as Keown (2003) points out, some commentators trace the origin of the engaged Buddhist movement internationally and historically to the Buddhist encounter with Christianity during the colonial period (an area given greater attention in Chapter 2), and in the ‘challenge to Buddhism to develop a “social gospel” that speaks to the needs of the poor and oppressed along Christian lines’ (Keown, 2003: 86). This challenge does not, however, always fit the personal and social world views for Asian Buddhists, where Socially Engaged Buddhists in Asia (defined within a Western frame of reference) are often already responding to oppressive circumstances; political or social, which is unconnected with the kinds of influences of Christian social conscience that may characterize their Western counterparts. In many cases in Asia paradoxically, the origin of such a struggle has been against proselytizing Christianity under a colonial banner, as in the missionary

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activity in Sri Lanka, particularly in the nineteenth century. Such activity often resulted in Buddhist responses born out of opposition to an attempted inculcation of Western traits. In the case of Sri Lanka and similar instances where colonial rule once held sway, Western modernizing hegemonic tendencies created a normativity, which despite opposition from indigenous groups left a legacy of influence affecting Asian Buddhists. In attempting to define what SEB is, and what it has to offer to the Buddhist and wider world, there is still ‘disagreement about the precise meaning and implications of the term engaged Buddhism’ (Bell, 2000: 400), in Buddhist circles in Britain and elsewhere. There are those like the Theravāda monk, and head of the Buddhist Prison Chaplaincy, Venerable Khemadhammo, who sees no sense at all in suggesting that SEB is some ‘separate category of Buddhism’. He insists, ‘To me Buddhism is Buddhism and it is about the practice of the Noble Eightfold Path . . . unfortunately, it seems to me that engaged Buddhism is a bit precious’ (cited in Bell, 2000: 401). Elizabeth Harris identifies similar problems of definition and understanding in her discussion of Buddhism and social engagement. While she suggests SEB is ‘an often overlooked but nevertheless central aspect of Buddhism’ (1998: 99) the term is still problematic for some, who claim that ‘the term “engaged Buddhism” is problematic. It implies Buddhism is normally disengaged from society’ (Harris, 1998: 99). The defining of SEB presents continuity versus discontinuity questions (examined later) among others, which suggests that the proponents of engaged Buddhism have much to do if it is to be seen as credible within other forms of Buddhist practice, to which it looks for support for its social and political activities. Deitrick (2003: 252) goes a stage further and questions the ethics of SEB as being ‘only nominally Buddhist’, taking up Daniel B. Stevenson’s questions about American forms of Buddhism (including engaged Buddhism), asking: ‘Is there a point at which institutional and conceptual change begins to threaten the integrity of that [Buddhist] tradition or to stretch it beyond recognition?’ (cited in Deitrick, 2003: 252). Although Deitrick’s rather extreme suggestion is probably intended to be more provocative than factual, it does, however, come to the heart of the matter, namely, the question of what counts as ‘Buddhism’ today? The implications of the dichotomous debate between a Buddhist ‘this-worldly’ and ‘other-worldly’ orientation are, however, only part of the discussion.7 Deitrick does nonetheless; acknowledge the nature of SEB as it has become established in both Buddhist Asia and the West. He claims it is to be understood as ‘a network of diverse phenomena’, which is on the one hand ‘a convenient analytical construct that allows scholars to understand similar, distinct

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socio-religious stirrings throughout Buddhist Asia and the west’. While on the other hand, he agrees that many of these so-called movements have recognized their commonalities and have joined together through institutions like the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB), who set their goal as the creation of ‘an ecumenical World Buddhism’ (Deitrick, 2003: 253). In other words, not only is it a useful analytical construct, it also has various forms of institutional support, often through ‘networked’ organizations that have diverse memberships based on ‘commonalities of intention’ as Buddhists in the world, who see some sense in a unity of purpose in this context. The Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF) in the United States and the NEB in the United Kingdom, have similar diverse memberships; but all could be challenged on their apparent strengths and numbers involved. They appear to be organizations, which at first glance would seem to be part of a worldwide network of similarly minded individuals, which could galvanize significant numbers of activists in support of their core ideals. In fact the numbers involved are small compared to the wider Buddhist communities in their home nations, but they are influential, in that their writing and campaigning in the last ten years forms part of the worldwide acknowledgement of SEB, and as such may be having a greater impact on paper than in real terms change, based on their issues of major concern?

Origins of the term – ‘Socially Engaged Buddhism’ In recent decades, the term ‘Socially Engaged Buddhism’ has become synonymous with a diverse group of individuals from a variety of cultural backgrounds who are engaging in and with various social, political and economic institutions, systems and structures in society, as alluded to earlier. Inspired by Buddhist values and united by a commonality to reduce suffering in the world, such individuals and groups are socially engaged in many forms of social and environmental protest, social service and analysis. The term ‘engaged Buddhism’, according to Yarnall (2003: 286), appears originally to have been coined by the Vietnamese Buddhist master, Thich Nhat Hanh in 19638 during the Vietnam conflict. However, Batchelor insists that the notion of social engagement as a conceptual construct of modernity was developed by Vietnamese Buddhists during the 1930s ‘on the rising tide of national self-confidence that fuelled the drive for independence from colonial oppression’ (Batchelor, 1994: 360). The Buddhist revival movement in Vietnam in the 1930s gained confidence from the reforms on going in China, under the leadership of a Chinese Buddhist abbot

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T’ai Hsu (1890–1947), a Chan reformer in the Linji school. The Vietnamese began to discuss the concept of ‘Engaged Buddhism’ (Nhap Gian Phat Giao), which during the 1940s became linked with the nationalist idea ‘of Buddhism as the true national religion of the land’ (Batchelor, 1994: 355). Thich Nhat Hanh (renowned as a peace activist and founder of the Tiep Hein Order) was drawn to monastic life in 1942 and was to experience the revival movement’s resistance to French colonialism, and later the ravages of war, at first hand. The expanded term, ‘Socially Engaged Buddhism’, emerged during the 1980s. Apart from the usage of these relatively new labels, scholars and practitioners alike are divided as to where, when and how a politically or Socially ‘Engaged’ Buddhism actually first began and equally divided over the legitimacy, authenticity, authority and adaptation of what is seen, by some, as a politicized Buddhist process that has gone on to emerge in Australasia, the United States and Western Europe in the last 40 years. What can be said with some confidence, however, is the use of the term itself seems to have had its genesis in Vietnam in the twentieth century, not least influenced by Nhat Hanh’s formative years.

Questions to be addressed This book aims to locate SEB in the United Kingdom and place it within an emerging ‘Western Buddhism’ (Bluck, 2006: 21). It is in the context of an inductive investigation of engaged Buddhism in the United Kingdom that the evidence presented here will test empirically the ‘developing maturity’ that Bell (2000) credits the movement with, in fact the very idea of SEB in the United Kingdom forming a coherent social movement is part of the challenge to the research? Characterizing SEB and seeking to explain its development and adaptation as a phenomenon within the United Kingdom and its part in the global understanding of Buddhism forms part of a less well-established academic perspective. The implication for Buddhists in assuming a dichotomous  – this-worldly, other-worldly  – view of SEB and a subsequent portrayal of tradition versus modernity in that context is a necessary starting point for the research, as it is extant in much of the literature (Queen and King, 1996; Queen, 2000; Queen et al., 2003). The implication being that an ‘other-worldly’ approach is linked to tradition, and ‘this-worldly’ views are in some way a product of modernity. From this slightly simplistic dichotomy three preliminary possibilities emerge for investigating the adaptation and developments of SEB and its sources of authority in the West: (1) that the relationship of Buddhists to their social

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settings necessitates investigation; (2) whether Buddhists really are disconnected from their environments socially and politically, only seeking enlightenment (other-worldly versus this-worldly) and are thereby apolitical in life; and (3) whether the situation is one of continuity or discontinuity, supporting a continuous (traditional) view, which asserts ‘all Buddhism is engaged’, or one that sees SEB as in some way ‘a new phenomenon’ (in late modernity) and thereby as a break with tradition. These questions have already received some attention in SEB and academic literature, and while they will have some influence on the discourse to come, the wider implications for these questions is rooted in the empirical investigation of SEB and locating it within the British Buddhist landscape in terms of its adaptation and development. In discerning the significance and impact of SEB in the United Kingdom the following questions flow from those raised above in order to better characterize the phenomena in more detail, and to move the investigation beyond where the literature has already started its exploration. They include: What do engaged Buddhists believe? What teachings, ritual or other forms of practice do they follow? How is this manifest in moral/ethical terms? How are engaged Buddhists organized, and what are their relationships to sources of authority  – charismatic and traditional? To what extent is this phenomenon characterized in ways that suggest an emergent and distinctive form within ‘British Buddhism’ or mere adaptation of traditional forms, given the current globalized economic and social world views, which demands an explanation of the religious significance of social responsibility? And finally, is there a disparity between the way academics in the field have characterized SEB and how it is actually understood within the movement (if it is a movement)? For example: (a) have academics theorized about SEB and been factually wrong? (b) are there ways in which academic discourse might be accurate yet not accepted by those in SEB groups/organizations/movements? Or (c) how those in the movements might simply not be interested in academics’ theories? In many ways, the lack (to date) of any significant empirical evidence on British-based engaged Buddhist groups/organizations requires the author to examine putting ‘praxis’ (vis-à-vis the practice of SEB groups/individuals) into ‘theory’. That is – taking ‘praxis’ and ‘theory’ respectively from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) to mean: ‘accepted practice or custom’, and ‘a set of principles on which the practice of an activity is based’. In other words, the characterization of principles of a praxis-oriented Buddhist phenomenon, not previously characterized in micro detail academically and located within British Buddhism formally, is ‘putting praxis into theory’.

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Adapting Ninian Smart’s dimensional analysis The questions set out above were drivers for the research, but in assessing them this study takes its lead from Bluck (2006: 2) when considering a method to employ to provide the necessary critical detail in investigating the SEB case studies (outlined in the following section). Bluck (2006) adopted and adapted Ninian Smart’s (1996a) Dimensional Analysis of Worldviews as a model by which to structure his investigation of a variety of British Buddhist organizations. The research approach here also adopts Smart’s model for analysing world religions, but adapting it to the nature of the research at hand, that of ‘Socially Engaged Buddhism’. In Smart’s original (1989) presentation of the ‘seven dimensions of religion’ he concludes: ‘The point of the [seven dimensional] list is so that we can give a balanced description of the movements which have animated the human spirit and taken a place in the shaping of society, without neglecting either ideas or practices’ (Smart, 1989: 21). The basis of Smart’s development of the dimensional analysis was to present a view of religions that took account of consistent elements of analysis. It was designed to allow for some phenomenological distance from the material, making use of what Smart refers to as ‘dialectical phenomenology’ (1996a: 7). The dimensions are to be seen as being in dialectical discourse with each other, as loosely associated wholes and parts that interact and are interrelated to varying degrees. He suggests this is a balanced process for seeking truths through discussion. Based on the loose association of wholes and parts through the diversity of the case-study analysis that follows, Smart presents (despite criticism of being passé) an intelligent understanding of Buddhism, which he first encountered in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1947. He produced a comparative analytical framework with the specific intent to affirm empirical verification, based on experience that allows the phenomenological dialectical discourse to speak to the reader. He does not, however, fall into the trap of associating analysis with evaluation, and in that sense (for the benefit of what follows) Smart’s model for analysis provides a platform with which to evaluate the case-study evidence presented here. In his 1996a presentation (in which he expanded his ideas), he suggests the reason behind it was to provide a realistic checklist of aspects of a religion, so that ‘a description of that religion or a theory about it is not lopsided’ (Smart, 1996a: 8). This type of analytical approach lends itself to an analysis of Buddhist movements (however defined), as the dimensions allow for a range of religious interpretations, in that they ‘give a kind of functional delineation of religions in

Introduction

13

lieu of a strict definition’ (Smart, 1996a: 9). That is to say, if the seven dimensions are accurately addressed there should be little necessity to create any further defi­ nitions. Even if one element in the dimensional analysis is weaker than another, the overall balance can still be established. For example, when contemplating the use of his analysis for Buddhism, Smart suggests: ‘Buddhist modernists, concentrating on meditation, ethics and philosophy, pay scant regard to the narrative dimension of Buddhism; [while] some newly formed groups may not have evolved anything much in the way of the material dimension’ (Smart, 1989: 21). Overall balance is apprehended in the composition and application of all seven dimensions, not in the amount of material generated in the analysis of each one. The seven dimensions have been adapted as follows: to examine the nature and relative importance of devotional practices and activities including meditation in Socially Engaged Buddhist groups9 (the Ritual or Practical Dimension);10 to examine the teachings of SEB in the context of revival, revision, reform, reinterpretation or innovation (to include appropriation of doctrine across traditions) and to assess any philosophical reflections (the Doctrinal or Philosophical Dimension); to examine what stories (historical or contemporary) have been adopted and developed by SEB, the meaning and function of such narratives, and by what authority they are legitimized (the Mythic or Narrative Dimension); to examine what kinds of feelings and emotions are fostered by social concerns within socially engaged British Buddhist experience, and how that affects the groups’ individuals associated with (the Experiential or Emotional Dimension); to examine how Buddhist moral codes of conduct, formal and informal are utilized, innovated and related to (the Ethical or Legal Dimension); to examine how the embodiment of a socially conscious engaged Buddhism is manifest, including its organizational structure and relationships within and between the group(s)/organization(s) (the Organizational or Social Dimension); and finally, to examine what buildings, works of art or other creations are appropriated, adapted and developed to support SEB practice (the Material or Artistic Dimension). In Smart’s (1996b) explanation of the seven interrelated dimensions, he refers to them simply as Ritual, Doctrinal, Narrative, Experiential, Ethical, Social and Artistic Dimensions (Smart, 1996b: 3–12), a method which was adopted by Bluck (2006) and one adopted here to avoid unnecessary long-winded repetition. However the Ritual or Practical Dimension will be referred to as the ‘Practice Dimension’, as it is mainly dealing with aspects of practice. This approach will help identify similarities and differences in constructing an overall picture of

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Adaptation and Developments in Western Buddhism

SEB in Britain, while retaining its flexibility to allow for variable patterns of adaptation and development.

Background to the research and its application Fundamentally, the research here is working in a space between the Sociology of Religion and Social Theory, in an effort to reflect the praxis-oriented engaged Buddhist environment in the United Kingdom, and offer an inductively influenced, but empirically driven appraisal of the cases examined. The method adopted takes account of a number of methodological dilemmas which beset the author, not least the implications of being an insider researcher (Harvey, 1999; Knott, 2005) and participant-as-observer (Gold, 1958; Holdway, 1982). The research undertaken maps the field of engaged Buddhism in the United Kingdom and, taking account of its infancy, uses an ethnographic exploration of the phenomenon to examine a number of what, potentially, are to be understood as engaged Buddhist groups/organizations. This exploratory criterion was followed as a baseline from which to begin to examine engaged Buddhism, measured against the most comprehensive definition available, which was provided by Jones (2003: 173) and outlined earlier. It should be noted that the initial rationale for selection of groups for the case studies was based on Jones’ definition (adopted by the NEB), and on his exploratory model ‘The Anatomy of Engaged Buddhism’ (Jones, 2003: 174), not from an academic definition, of which there are several to choose from (Kraft, 1992; Queen, 2000; Keown, 2003) but none of which proved as comprehensive. As part of the research design a number of groups were approached, initially by telephone, and subsequently (for those that showed an interest) by letter. At the same time it was decided, as part of the design, to consider the use of a broader-based survey questionnaire, as a way to open up the investigation to a wider ‘engaged Buddhist’ cohort. This was to take account of individuals who might otherwise not have fallen within the research parameters of a selective ethnographic study concentrating on a few case studies. The five groups that were finally chosen were: the Amida Trust (Amida) which split in 2011 to become two organizations, Tariki Trust11 being the other; Network of Engaged Buddhists (NEB); the Community of Interbeing (C of I); Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO) Right Livelihood Businesses (now Triratna Buddhist Order and Community [TBC]  – from May 201012); and the Rokpa Trust (Rokpa). The rationale that resulted in the choice of organizations was

Introduction

15

influenced to a degree by Jones (2003) and his typology The Anatomy of Engaged Buddhism (discussed in more detail later in this chapter). The groups chosen were underpinned by different strands of Buddhism, which included influences within the NEB, which, although it is an affinity group (with members from a range of Buddhist backgrounds) has a predominantly Zen/Ch’an association. Amida Trust were (by the time the fieldwork began) developing a Western Pure Land approach; C of I are part of Thich Nhat Hanh’s (Vietnamese Zen influenced) Tiep Hien Order and lay associations; Triratna (FWBO) have a distinctive Western style; and Rokpa is part of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. The groups concerned reflect something of the three major typological frames outlined by Jones (2003: 174) described as ‘Alternative Societal Models’ (ASM), Social Helping Service and Welfare (SHSW), and Radical Activism (RA). The models will be explained later in this chapter, suffice it to say that there was no other evidence of a thorough working of typologies for SEB groups in the literature, and this therefore became an appropriate starting point, and one that would test this and other typologies in the course of the research. It is interesting to note that the groups are influenced predominantly from a Mahāyāna perspective. Given the large numbers of Theravāda SEB groups in Asia, it was not expected to find that they are virtually unheard of in the United Kingdom. The initial challenge to the research in the field was based on the accessibility of the groups to the author. The questions posed in relation to carrying out a useful ethnographic enquiry were threefold: first, could enough time be spent in the field with the groups to justify the ethnographic method of enquiry (Brewer, 2002; Hammersley and Atkinson, 2002)? Secondly, three out of the five groups could not be designated as full-time Buddhist communities, implying the opportunity to research as a participant observer was therefore limited by geographic and temporal considerations. These factors needed to be assessed and planned into the research strategy, in a way that gave the maximum time in the field available to the author, but divided the time between groups as equally as possible. Finally, taking account of the two aforementioned considerations, the research strategy required adjusted from a full-time (or pure) participant observer, to a more realistic approach, as suggested by Bryman (2004: 301) as ‘participant-as-observer’. Using this method, members of the organizations concerned were aware of the author’s status as a researcher and regular interaction was possible, which meant involvement in the daily life of the organizations but not continuously so. The challenge presented by those groups who were not full-time communities, was in relation to their availability to the researcher. It was resolved, therefore,

16

Adaptation and Developments in Western Buddhism

to treat all the groups in the same way in terms of time spent with each one, but make allowances for the groups who were not community based, and if possible compensate by travelling around the United Kingdom to their satellites. This would then maximize time in the field, and also meant the maximum geographic coverage of the groups and subgroups concerned. It was resolved to concentrate in geographic areas, where there were more than one group in the case study, if at all possible. The research was therefore conducted in all regions of England and Wales and the areas of Eskdalemuir, Glasgow, Dumfries and Galloway, Edinburgh, Fife and Dundee in Scotland. The author resided with the groups where appropriate, or with individual Buddhists in their own homes where there was no group premises nearby. The characteristics that make up the groups structures vary considerably. As this unfolded, it became apparent that the core members (those in community or the most heavily committed) were relatively few in number, between 6 and 15 on average per location, with exceptions of up to a maximum of 60 in others. The group’s associate and peripheral supporters, however, were largely connected to the organization as part of a network, either by electronic and/or in-group journals/newsletters, outside of meeting times. This was certainly the case with Amida (outside of the community), NEB and C of I. However, TBC (FWBO) Right Livelihood teams and some Rokpa locations were the exceptions, as they often had premises where regular attendance was an option in the form of a monastery or centre or work place. The initial research period was to extend over two years between January 2002 and January 2004 (in effect it was extended into late 2004 with supplementary visits in 2005). The follow-up time in 2004/5 involved an additional 25 days, and additional follow ups of 10 days in 2007/8, and 5 days in 2009 and 2012. During this time the author took part in many ritual activities and discussions, attended peace marches, spent time in soup kitchens, with the mentally ill, and engaged in demonstrations and festivals designed to encourage socially engaged understanding and awareness. Other activities involved meditation retreats, Buddhist psychotherapy courses, mindfulness days and time spent working in and with Right Livelihood businesses. Fieldwork diaries were maintained throughout, and during the study 65 tape-recorded unstructured interviews were obtained with a variety of informants from each group, in most parts of the United Kingdom. The numbers interviewed per group amount to: Amida, 11; NEB, 12; C of I, 18; TBC (FWBO) Right Livelihoods, 16; and Rokpa, 8. Some of the same informants were subsequently interviewed in later follow-up enquiries.

Introduction

17

The use of a two surveys (one qualitative and one quantitative) in the research was seen as a highly appropriate way to combine with other data collection methods within the case-study framework. The survey data reflects favourably with case studies in which observation, unstructured interviews, and immersion in a social setting proved invaluable for data gathering across a range of activity. Sampling the wider SEB population using a quantitative survey questionnaire was based on an estimation of the numbers of members (associate and peripheral) in the five case-study groups, but outside the core membership. As many as 750 ‘associate’ and ‘peripheral’13 members were estimated across all five groups (at least that were contactable). The survey questionnaire was piloted in slightly shorter form to members known to Amida and NEB. The response was positive as 15 pilot questionnaires were returned. From this it was decided to distribute 500 revised questionnaires. This method proved successful in that over 51 per cent (253) were returned. The resulting returns were examined using SPSS14 version 14.5 and a profile in line with the three sections of the questionnaire was analysed. The findings can be found with specific reference to each case-study organization in Chapters 3–7 and an overview across all five groups in Chapter 8 where they are presented in three sections, as ‘Demographics’, ‘Networking/ Communication with Buddhists’ and ‘Aspects of Buddhism’. In an attempt to canvass the wider UK Buddhist populace, to ascertain a snapshot of the thinking among British Buddhists more generally about what briefly was known or understood by them (or more accurately by their representatives) in relation to the term ‘Socially Engaged Buddhism’, it was decided to undertaken a simple ‘single-question’ qualitative questionnaire. This simply asked the question ‘How Do You Understand the Term Socially Engaged Buddhism?’ This was distributed by sampling 200 Buddhist groups/ organizations in the United Kingdom. The sampling method adopted was by making use of Murray and Parsons (2003) Buddhist Directory 2004–06, in which every other entry in the directory, up to 200 in total was chosen to receive the single question. This is a little under 50 per cent of the total number of Buddhist organizations in the directory (2004–6), which at that time held 437 entries. Of the 200 distributed over half – 102 questionnaires (51%) were returned, evidence for which will be explored in the concluding chapter. This method of enquiry is suited to examining religious experience in social settings (located broadly within the study of the sociology of religion) and so supports the case presented here for the study of SEB in the United Kingdom.

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Adaptation and Developments in Western Buddhism

Classification and the threefold typology The selection and classification of the five groups which make up the case studies has its provenance in the ‘Threefold Typology’ identified by Jones (2003: 174) and referred to as The Anatomy of Engaged Buddhism, which explains SEB by structure, reflecting three specific group-oriented types by which to understand engaged Buddhist praxis. The types are expressed as: (1) ‘RA’, (2) ‘ASM’ and (3) ‘SHSW’. These types have been taken as a guide, helping to inform the decisions on which SEB organizations were selected as research subjects for this study, but they are not the only criteria. Buddhist affiliation to tradition, and as broad a cross-section as possible from the available main protagonists as UK groups/ organizations, were also strong influences in the decision-making process. It is fair, however, to point out that this typology is the only fully formed analytical tool of its kind available in the current literature. Jones, as retired academic, and insider within the NEB and long-time advocate and writer in the field of engaged Buddhism ranks highly with the few academics that are actively involved in this area of study. As a credible practitioner and teacher within the Western Ch’an Fellowship he also brings an insight to the debate that other academics may not have. The threefold typology outlined above is examined in the conclusions of this book as to its adequacy as a typological explanation of British SEB groups, given a great deal of additional material, by then will have been presented. Figure 1.1 suggests the nature of engaged Buddhism stems from, and is intrinsically connected to traditional Buddhism (used generically); it is suggestive of a continual development of Buddhism not a radical break from it. There are, however, other interpretations, suggested by Queen (2000) and others, which will be discussed in Chapter 2. As a pictorial summary of engaged Buddhism, Figure 1.1 represents the process presented by Jones (2003: 174) adapted with permission from The New Social Face of Buddhism: A Call to Action.

The anatomy of engaged Buddhism As Figure 1.1 suggests and as Jones (2003: 174) employs us to consider: all aspects of personal and social life are developed through the ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ aspects as ‘wisdom’ and ‘compassion’ respectively. It could be seen as a continuum starting on the left, with ‘personal relationships’ (or personal engagement) and extending to the opposite end of the spectrum to an area of social activism, categorized as ‘radical activism’. Social engagement within ‘personal relationships’ according to Jones (2003) can include friends, family and fellow workers and involves mindfully living

Introduction

19

BUDDHISM OUTER ASPECTS Compassion generation (Relations with other beings)

INNER ASPECTS Wisdom generation (Retreats, spiritual teaching)

SOCIALLY ENGAGED BUDDHISM whether in Buddhist or non-Buddhist groupings, whether in paid employment or not

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS (Spiritual, intimate, family, work, social)

ALTERNATIVE SOCIETAL MODELS (Monastic, Quasi-monastic, Communities) &particularly Right2 Livelihood

FORMAL COMMUNICATION BUDDHADHARMA (Teaching, reading, writing, organising a group, interfaith work, etc.)

SOCIAL HELPING, SERVICE AND WELFARE, both in employment and voluntarily

3

RADICAL ACTIVISM (Directed to fundamental institutional and social changes, culminating in societal metamorphosis 1

Figure 1.1  The anatomy of engaged Buddhism Source: Adapted from Jones (2003: 174).

through the experiences that such encounters present, giving attention to issues like family disputes, local ecological concern, workplace difficulties, and death in the family, etc. It presents ‘lifestyle politics’ (or ‘politics of lifestyle’ according to Giddens, 1991: 126) which ask questions of everyday existential experience, about the nature and ethics of one’s behaviour, for example, ethical consumption. Other concerns might ask, how do individuals relate to issues of environmental sustainability, gender politics and ethical equality, or social justice more broadly? Jones and many other engaged Buddhists, consider ‘SEB is best practised if possible in some degree of association with fellow Buddhists who are working towards the same ends’ (2003: 174). Examples of ‘umbrella Buddhist groups’ like NEB, and to some extent Amida, are seen by Jones as beneficial to develop SEB in the West (2003: 175). Formal communication of Buddhadharma (or the way of the Buddha) is considered the next step on the continuum. Out of this, the ‘lifestyle politics’ often motivates potentially engaged Buddhist individuals from their own

20

Adaptation and Developments in Western Buddhism

practice groups in a specific tradition, to an association with other like-minded engaged Buddhists, either as an additional group outside of their home group, or an additional group within their own tradition. Examples include: NEB, who draw members from a diverse array of Buddhist and non-Buddhist backgrounds; TBC (FWBO), reflect subgroups within the mainstream organization, with their own Green groups; The PS Network, or more radically, the Economic and Social Action (ESA) group the Karuṇā Trust, Buddhafield activist group, and the Eco-Dharma Centre. This shift to like-minded association does not usually mean forsaking the home group environment, although this is a possibility. The diagram moves (centre right) into more formally constituted Socially Engaged Buddhist groups and implies that Buddhist and non-Buddhist activists15 can and do work together towards the same goals. From within the umbrella organization (which would be the ideal for Jones, but not essential) there are three specific aspects of engaged Buddhist activity. However, underpinning the whole process are to be found the culmination of the two wings of engaged Buddhism, referred to as, ‘Inner Aspects’ and ‘Outer Aspects’, with the former as a necessary precursor to the latter. The former signifies wisdom/understanding and spiritual attainment, the latter, compassion and harmony in relations with other beings. The two together epitomize the Mahāyāna principle of ‘Wisdom and Compassion’ and the Theravāda aspects of giving (dāna), morality (sīla) and meditation (bhāvanā). Both of these it could be argued, are fundamental to all forms of Buddhist practice and are not confined solely to the domain of Social Engaged Buddhism. However, Jones (2003) presents a caveat that insists, without a thoroughly worked inner developmental process that acts as the ‘received viewer’ of emotional experience, the outer manifestation of action may lack the right view and therefore motivation, being prone to self-righteousness or bias. This he is warning against as a trait to be avoided in the right action of the Buddhist Noble Eightfold Path. Jones’ model extends beyond ‘lifestyle politics’, and can be divided into three areas that form the types described earlier as: ‘ASM’, ‘SHSW’ and ‘RA’. It is these three ideal (structural) types that the research adopts in presenting as broad a spectrum as possible within which to consider the phenomenon of UK Socially Engaged Buddhist organizations. Consequently the placing of the groups within these three types should be seen as provisional and may be the subject of change, depending on the outcome of the empirical enquiry. As a starting point, however, it provides a provisional framework for analysis. The ‘ASM’ type includes the monastic or quasi-monastic and Right Livelihood communities. These are areas where both the C of I and the TBC (FWBO) Right Livelihood businesses feature and are the subject of Chapters 5 and 6.

Introduction

21

The ‘SHSW’ type extends SEB into the public arena of organized forms of service and caring, from which Jones lists: ‘therapy, healing and healthcare, prison work, education, social welfare and environmental projects’ (2003: 175). Rokpa Trust, the charitable arm of Kagyu Samye Ling, appears to fall within the scope of this type and will be described further in Chapter 7. ‘RA’ is at the opposite end of the continuum to ‘personal relationships’ and forms what has been referred to by Bell (2000: 405) and others, as the ‘Hard End’ of engaged Buddhism. It is the most controversial and problematic level of engagement and involves what Jones (2003: 175) refers to as ‘many forms of mass protest, whether demonstrating, lobbying or just bearing witness to suffering and calamity’. The list of concerns for radical Buddhist activists is almost endless. They are involved in efforts to bring about fundamental change at institutional, corporate and governmental level, by initiating change to social policy and practices. This type is provisionally represented by the other two groups in the case study: the Amida Trust and the NEB, which are set out in Chapters 3 and 4 respectively. The research selection process required an across-the-board choice of groups that would fit broadly (and provisionally) within each of the types outlined above. The accessibility of such groups and their willingness to participate was also fundamental to the choice of research subjects.16 Of the dozen or so active SEB-oriented groups or associations in the United Kingdom, the five outlined above present a breadth difficult to balance using others in their place. Other groups include: Rigpa and The Buddhist Hospice Trust, both supporting death and dying, The Triratna PS Network and Eco-Dharma Centre (environmental groups), ESA Group (considering economic implications within society), Angulimala (The Buddhist Prison Chaplaincy Service), The Karuṇā Trust (a UK Charity working in India) and The Living Dharma Programme run by Christopher Titmuss (teaching engaged Buddhism around the world), SGI-UK, Buddhist Healthcare Chaplaincy Group, and a range of educational provision from Clear Vision Trust to Sharpham College of Buddhist Studies. The five groups subject to the case studies to follow were chosen on the following basis: Amida (and now Tariki) are both community based and socially motivated; the NEB is key as an affinity group, to the UK development of SEB; C of I and TBC (FWBO Right Livelihood businesses) were developed out of monastic and quasi-monastic communities. TBC (FWBO) are pioneers of Right Livelihood businesses in the United Kingdom so can be tested against the type as ‘ASM’, while the C of I’s founder, Thich Nhat Hanh (who gave the phrase ‘engaged Buddhism’ to the world), has been accused of running a quietistic engaged Buddhist group (Brazier, 2001: 72). However, Nhat Hahn created a unique

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Adaptation and Developments in Western Buddhism

situation in the West, where an ‘Order’ was created which included both monks and lay people who would work for peace and social reconstruction on an equal footing. Finally, Rokpa, as one of few groups that are therapeutically oriented in their social activity,17 were chosen because of the uniqueness of a number of their projects in the United Kingdom. Each group outlined above: Amida/Tariki, NEB, C of I, TBC (FWBO) Right Livelihood Businesses, and Rokpa will be examined in a separate chapter (Chapters 3–7) using the adaptation of Smart’s dimensional analysis as a framework for the specific objectives for that examination (outlined earlier). The focus throughout will be largely on the substantial numbers of ‘convert Buddhists’ within these engage Buddhist groups in Britain. Before moving on to the five case studies, however, we need to consider more broadly how academics and insiders have characterized SEB in the wider world, but more specifically in the West, including the United Kingdom; evidence of which is in the review of the literature that follows in Chapter 2.

Notes 1 The book uses the terms ‘Socially Engaged Buddhism’ in capital letters as a formal designation where appropriate. It is also interspersed with the use of the term ‘engaged Buddhism’, or ‘social engagement’. The latter two appear with a lower case letter in the first word of the descriptor. The author prefers that only the formal phrase carry all three words in capitals. 2 Hōnen, Shinran, Dōgen and Ambedkar are all referenced as exemplars of reform Buddhists who have affected and continue to affect contemporary engaged Buddhism. 3 The book does not attempt to deliver a breakdown of the census figures, as it has no significant relevance for engaged Buddhism in the United Kingdom, which is predominantly (over 90%), white Western convert Buddhists. For a detailed analysis of UK Buddhist demographics, see Bluck (2006: 11–24). Post 2011 Census data is not, at the time of writing, fully available across the United Kingdom. 4 For a breakdown of the ethnic mix in British Buddhism, see Bluck (2006:16). 5 The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have at the time of writing only released data for England and Wales. 6 Traditionally a Bodhisatttva is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, cultivates bodhicitta (Buddha mind) through which arises a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. There are many explanations of the types of Bodhisattva, but the notion exists in all forms of Buddhism (albeit described with slightly different application of the core aim).

Introduction

23

  7 For a more in-depth discussion of the debate between tradition and modernity, see Chapter 2.   8 See Batchelor (1994: 360–1) for a deeper discussion on the history of the term, which he attributes to conflict in Vietnam during the 1930s and 1940s. It was not, however, understood in the same way as today’s call for overt social and political action, but more to reflect the nature of struggle linked to long-term suffering under a number of regimes influenced by French colonialism.   9 This first dimension (Ritual or Practical Dimension), follows Bluck’s model using the same dimensional analysis and asks a similar question, but of SEB groups. Other researches of contemporary Buddhism may also find the first dimension an essential element of any future studies as the devotional and meditative aspects of Buddhism are fundamental to its understanding and explanation. 10 Although meditation is not often regarded as a ritual, it is strictly patterned, which allows it to fall within this dimension as it is also a form of practice. 11 Tariki came about as a consequence of the former husband-and-wife team that ran Amida Trust separating, out of which Amida continued but Tariki was formed. Tariki is only given an overview in the context of the research as it falls outside the original research endeavour. 12 Triratna will be referred to throughout as TBC, which is an abbreviation of their new name for the former FWBO, but as the fieldwork was carried out in the main when the organization was the FWBO and the WBO (Western Buddhist Order) both FWBO and TBC (short for: Triratna Buddhist Order and Community) will appear throughout the text. 13 ‘Associate’ and ‘peripheral’ are designations to help distinguish from members at the core (or centre) of the group. The former reflects a loose association in which activities will be a part of the membership, but in fairly ad hoc fashion, while ‘peripheral’ members tend to be onlookers, or supporters in name, and sometimes financial contributors, with no or few physical connections with the group/ organization. 14 SPSS is Statistical Package for Social Sciences, which is the ubiquitous choice for statistical analysis of social science researchers world wide. 15 Non-Buddhist activists are a feature of a number of engaged Buddhist groups; they are Buddhists with a small ‘b’ (Sivaraksa, 1993: 68) meaning those non-Buddhists (and it includes non-Buddhists working with Buddhists in engaged groups) who are getting on with working with the message of the Buddha without recourse to myth, culture or ceremony. The integration of Buddhist and non-Buddhist reflects Mellor’s (1991) description of ‘Inter-tradition reflexivity’ (discussed in Chapter 2). 16 Angulimala (Buddhist Prison Chaplaincy) were approached but declined to take part. 17 Other therapy and health-oriented groups include ‘Rigpa’ and ‘The Buddhist Hospice Trust’, both of which play important roles for Buddhists and their families/ friends in death and dying from a Buddhist perspective.

2

Literature Review: Characterizing SEB

Structure The nature and scope of SEB in the United Kingdom has only once previously been surveyed and documented academically. In 1997 Dr Sandra Bell (Anthropologist at the University of Durham) undertook a fairly comprehensive qualitative appraisal of the UK situation for a publication that came out in 2000, edited by Christopher Queen, called Engaged Buddhism in the West. Few academics have considered in micro detail the nature and characterization of SEB in the United Kingdom, they have however observed and commented on the phenomenon that is SEB or spoken to SEB leaders to gain their appraisal of the situation (Batchelor, 1994; Harris, 1998; Harvey, 2000, 2013; Queen, 2000; Keown, 2003; Bluck, 2006) with little reference to the cartography of UK engaged Buddhism. The context therefore, of this review of the current literature, is to go some way to illuminate the areas identified and debated by academics and insider writers from within the diversity of the SEB field of enquiry (some of whom are academics themselves). Such an enquiry will discuss in detail the characterizations put forward, in order to have evidence for comparison with the empirically generated material in the case studies (Chapters 3–7). Moreover, the content of this book is designed to provide an updated vision of the events in the United Kingdom between 2002 and 2012 using the wider academic understanding within which to ground the research. In structural terms, this review will first look at the literature from Bell’s survey, part of which considers the work of insider scholars. In addition, it will focus on literature from within SEB areas of interest (taking accounts from SEB leaders in the main), followed by an appraisal of the writing of academics with specific interests in engaged Buddhism, both in the United Kingdom, United

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Adaptation and Developments in Western Buddhism

States and beyond. Part of that appraisal will evidence proposals put forward for a method of investigation, into what has become increasingly accepted as ‘Engaged Buddhist Studies’ (Kraft, 2000: 497–503, Morgan, 2004: 360–9).

Bell’s UK survey Bell identified the trend among some UK Buddhists to move away from several decades of inward-looking effort designed to establish Buddhism through the study and practice of meditation alone. She implied an alternative approach requires an outreach into communities, which would, if it were to be effective, bring a demonstrable shift of concern from the personal to social issues. Only on this basis would Buddhism in Britain have a more significant social impact. Secondly, such outreach requires that UK Buddhists cease to be preoccupied with, ‘institution-building and its inherent dangers of division through sectarianism’ (Bell, 2000: 400). These factors she associates with growth of large Buddhist organizations over the last 45 years, and is critical of the recruiting policies, which she sees as having added to a more sectarian British Buddhist environment (previously the TBC [FWBO] and New Kadampa Tradition [NKT] may have been included in this critique). It should be noted here that in the last five years (2008–12), the former drive for recruitment among the largest organizations in the United Kingdom has mellowed and if anything has created a more accepting and passive response to growth rather than a driver for it. Both these factors could be considered as important changes to the UK British Buddhist landscape in as far as they could be characterized as evidence of a maturing Buddhism in Britain? Bell also problematizes the term(s) ‘engaged’ or ‘Socially Engaged Buddhism’ as she suggests, even among those who associate with a group or organization that approve of, or self-designate as such, the label raises a number of issues. The question she raises is, who then is ‘disengaged’ if some Buddhists are ‘engaged’? She asks a similar question of a term used by the Dalai Lama as an alternative expression, that of ‘universal responsibility’ implying, there are those who might be seen as ‘irresponsible’? (Bell, 2000: 401–2). There is an evident ambivalence about the range of meanings attached to the concept of SEB, not just from those on the outside looking in but from within as well. It might be countered, however, that such a semantic argument has no real foundation in the application of those who associate themselves with SEB and related ethical values, given any dichotomy relies on a positive position in order to present the negative aspect. The

Literature Review: Characterizing SEB

27

disagreements about the precise meaning and implications of the terms ‘engaged Buddhism’ have, for American Buddhist scholar Sallie King, been summarized in order to help remove some of the ambiguity associated with it. She claims that many Buddhist social reformers, while distinct from one another, start from the same premise, that is, ‘the basic teachings of Buddhism can profitably be read with the intention of determining their implications for social ethics, and for social and political theory’ (Queen and King, 1996: 408). On this reading the ‘engaged’ ‘disengaged’ debate seems to loose some significance, and perhaps King provides a usefully put and simple to understand explanation of what SEB orientates towards, given her assumptions refer in the main, to Asian Buddhist social reformers. However, it does ask an important question of UK Buddhists, as it seems, while there are a number of so-called Buddhist social reformers in Britain, few are recognized as such and of those that are, even fewer have voiced appropriate social concerns around which they have publicly articulated a socially inclusive dharma (teaching). Bell’s research into SEB (2000: 402) goes on to identify the significance of networks as alternatives to, or in conjunction with, more formally constituted groups or organizations. She concurs with Jones (2003: 174) whose assessment, based on the typologies offered up in Chapter 1, assumes engaged Buddhists often have multiple group associations, which can involve retaining traditional Buddhist ties (if they existed in the first place), while allying themselves to an engaged Buddhist group, virtually, or in the flesh. Networks help to connect people with common interests, particularly if they are dispersed geographically, or are embedded in separate institutions, and they have the added advantage of cross-cutting institutional boundaries. Advances in all forms of electronic communication are seen as key to the success of networked SEB groups, not least because many public sector and governmental organizations promote the dominant image for organizations, as ‘the network’. The use of networks also suggests a metaphorical narrative for some engaged Buddhists, as it evokes Buddhist ideas about ‘the relatedness of all phenomena’, which can be seen in terms of the ‘networked structure’ paralleling the central insight of engaged Buddhist organizations, which may have led people to join as a result (Bell, 2000: 402–3). Networks are also known to defuse acrimony in newly developing systems of thinking or organizations, as they are loosely federated and can easily lead to other networks developing with a minimum of effort or organizational knowledge. Bell also associates the translation of Buddhism to the West with psychotherapy; moreover, the relationship of a Buddhist psychology of the mind

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is identified as part of the therapeutic aspects that can be found in contemporary Western societies (2000: 407). The numbers of Buddhist groups and organizations involved in social and environmental projects have increased markedly since the late 1980s; a feature Bell’s (2000) research touches on. These can be as diverse as soup kitchens for the homeless, to tree planting, or inter-religious dialogue within communities. There are even initiatives within Right Livelihood approaches where Buddhist practitioners explicitly draw upon dharma teaching to provide management consultancy and skills training, or specializing in personal development for people at work. In areas like this, and in the caring professions, Buddhist ideas are intersecting with mainstream policy and practice, where local governments and councils are actively employing their services, or funding projects. This has become a significant feature of the SEB landscape in the United Kingdom, characterized by the Buddhist deconstruction of the self and its influence on therapists and clients alike. Education and environmental concern are also features of SEB in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, coming from within specific groups or organizations. They also come in more specialized forms, like that of Sharpham College for Buddhist Studies and Contemporary Enquiry, in Devon, offering a year-long residential course for adults, or Gaia House (also in Devon), which runs courses in conjunction with Sharpham. Specialist Buddhist educational institutions in the United Kingdom are scarce, unlike the United States with its own colleges and faculties in mindfulness type therapies, working in the area of contemplation based on Buddhist practice; for example the Naropa Institute, Boulder, Colorado. Here SEB can be found in a variety of educational strands, in Undergraduate and Graduate Masters programmes including: Art Therapy, Eco-psychology, Contemplative Education, Contemplative Psychotherapy and Peace Studies to name but a few.

Key SEB figures and their characterizations Buddhist writers and commentators Ken Jones, Stephen Batchelor and Christopher Titmuss (former Green Party candidate and political activist) are particularly well known in their work to articulate Socially Engaged Buddhist ideas. They all focus on the problems of survival and sustainability of the planet and individual societies, as overarching concerns within their commentaries. However, they reflect on these ideas from slightly different perspectives. Jones is

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arguably the most significant Socially Engaged Buddhist advocate in the United Kingdom and president and lead figure of the NEB that adopts a sociological reading of Buddhist social engagement. Looking at his earlier work he seems to be suggesting that a Western form of engaged Buddhism is the answer to social ‘dis-ease’ (as does Queen, 2000: 1–31). However, his justification simply claims, ‘Engaged Buddhism is seen . . . simply as the logical extension of the traditional teachings of morality and compassion to the twentieth-century conditions’. Jones’ assessment of how to treat the twentieth-century condition was addressed in his 1989 book, The Social Face of Buddhism: An Approach to Political and Social Activism. Much of what was expressed in that book has been both roundly accepted and almost simultaneously critiqued and characterized as a form of ‘modernist reductionism’1 (Yarnall, 2003: 313–19). In Jones’ 2003 rewrite of the 1989 version mentioned above, now called, The New Social Face of Buddhism: A Call to Action, the tone of the analysis and characterization of the engaged Buddhist world, has a more maturely developed appraisal of the twenty-first-century SEB situation, 14 years on. There is less emphasis in Jones’ (2003) reworked version of the critique of other Western practitioners and their appropriation and misuse of engaged Buddhism in contemporary terms, and more socio-philosophical reflection that attempts to merge engaged spirituality and activism as opposed to separating the ‘secular reductive modernism’ he saw influencing religion from the ‘transcendental (Buddhist) modernism’ (Yarnall, 2003: 315). Jones (2003) talks in terms of a ‘Buddhist humanism’ that characterizes the engaged Buddhist approach, ‘which joins hands with the secular humanism of Western modernity, whether in the face of religious fundamentalism or the cruelties of free market ideology’ (Jones, 2003: 181). His later work (2003: 181–2) takes a more holistic approach and endorses the difficulties of a ‘Buddhist Modernism’,2 in which he sees SEB as, ‘the Buddhist response to the Western liberal and social emancipatory project, as well as to its rationalism and science’ (2003: 180). This project was characterized by Jones as part of the modernizing, missionary Christianity, which advocated a culturally superior colonialism in which Buddhists were accused of detracting from a pure Buddhism, which had characterized the ancient tradition. The Asian Buddhist response was to recreate a Buddhist past, looking through a developing modern lens; something engaged Buddhist traditionists are accused of today.3 Jones (2003) acknowledges, that while there are major differences in approach to engaged Buddhism worldwide, there are, he contends, ‘a number of distinctive and defining characteristics, in terms of shared values and common ways of

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working’ (2003: 181–2). He makes a bold claim about both the literature and the practitioners of social engagement, both of which he suggests define engaged Buddhism ‘as not just social but ethical engagement’ (Jones, 2003: 181). The use of the term ‘ethical’ allows him to exclude ‘Japanese Imperial Way Zen’ (associated with World War II) and what he describes as ‘the hawkish monks of Sinhala heritage who supported the bloody territorial battle in Sri Lanka’ (2003: 181). The political violence is roundly condemned and reinforced by the necessity for ahiṃsā – non-harming – as a prerequisite of Buddhists and therefore engaged Buddhists, as defined in the first ethical Buddhist precept. He goes on to outline seven distinguishing characteristics of engaged Buddhism thus: (1) SEB is ‘based on core tenets of Dharma – compassion, interdependence, selflessness, and the practice of morality and mindfulness’ (2003: 182); (2) SEB has a ‘humanism’ at its heart, which he calls a ‘Buddhist humanism’; (3) SEB is characterized by a limitless ‘interbeing of Indra’s net’, based on interdependence, using the metaphor of the jewelled net of Indra to depict interconnectedness; (4) SEB is also characterized by ‘its use of positive non-violent strategies, which recognise the common humanity of the adversary and his or her dignity and autonomy’ (2003: 181); (5) engaged Buddhists aspire for equal rights and partnership between genders, and to respect ethnic minorities; (6) engaged Buddhists share an ‘active internationalist perspective’ (2003: 182), especially between affluent Western societies and the world’s economically deprived; and (7) engaged Buddhism is ‘characterized by pluralism and inclusiveness and an open-minded non-sectarian spirit’ (2003: 182). As a caveat to these seven characteristics, Jones acknowledges that there is also ‘a degree of fragmentation’ as an additional characteristic in SEB, and in that sense he suggests there is no one coherent phenomenon that is SEB, even at a national level (Jones, 2003: 182). Beyond the now well-known characterizations (2003), referred to above, Jones moves the engaged Buddhist debate on to address the need for a ‘reconfiguration of society’, which has at its heart ‘dharmic principles’, what he calls a ‘radical culture of awakening’ (Jones, 2005a: 5). He brings into focus a sociological frame of reference through which he seeks to explain a Buddhist understanding of society, as developed through the lens of the engaged Buddhist. In his analysis he sees proponents of SEB coming from two directions: first, established Buddhists seeking to bring ‘the ancient tradition of spiritual liberation’ into contemporary discourse with ‘the belief in secular, material liberation’, and secondly, social activists who challenge the failures of political, technical and economic efforts to rid the modern world of its many ills (2005a: 4). His challenge is based on

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notions of a more violent war-torn and strife-ridden world, with less food and other resource security, in which material prosperity only seems to reinforce the individual sense of diminishing well-being. He is also critical of what he sees as the commitment to a social order ‘that can only prosper through an endless material growth that is wrecking a finite planet?’ (2005a: 4). The reason for this radical shift is, he insists, because late modernity has embodied the human emotions of frustration and anger ‘in society’s structures, institutions and cultures’ (Jones, 2005a: 4). This he sees as responsible for supercharging and legitimizing personal delusion. In other words, he suggests these social structures effectively take on ‘a life and a power of their own’ beyond the individual, in what he describes as ‘an emotionally hungry and recklessly exploitative “developed” world, which consequently affects the rest of the planet’ (2005a: 5). There is, without doubt, a Western modernist slant to his argument perceiving the power of objectifying human emotions in social structures, but underlying this is the sound of a previous Marxist positioning in response to the Buddhist emancipatory project, a combination of styles that has an egalitarian/ classless ideal woven into the language. It is, however, a position which acts forcibly to critique Western advances as being responsible for society’s ills, implying Western hegemony is at the heart of exploitation of the planet to the detriment of us all. In his sociological analysis Jones talks of the human interaction through which identity is reinforced by belonging, which he calls ‘belongingness identity’. Through the power of in-group fear and frustration, and the propensity of race, nation or religion to project on others such fears, he accounts for atrocities in the world. These are only escalated upwards through self-righteous ideologies, such that prejudice, discrimination and hatred become actualized. He calls this ‘antithetical bonding’, through which the Buddhist personal diagnosis of greed, hatred and delusion is manifest in the social sphere. It is in this sense he frames Buddhist awakening as ‘a radical turnabout for the individual’ and the corresponding socially engaged Buddhist quest for a ‘radical social change’ (turnabout) to root out the world’s ills. His warning to engaged Buddhists is to avoid this antithesis by working on the inner project of personal liberation as a single perspective when unified through lived-out practice with modern social liberation. We will return to the characteristics above and the ‘how-to?’ of Jones analysis in Chapter 8, but for now let us briefly consider another well-known activist and commentator identified by Bell (2000: 514), Christopher Titmuss. He started out as a child member of the Labour Party, but left Britain in 1967 to follow the

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hippie trail to Asia, becoming a Buddhist monk in Thailand three years later. During this time he spent a period at Buddhadasa Bhikkhu’s retreat centre, who himself has been called a leading light in Thailand’s engaged Buddhist movement. After six years as a monk he disrobed and returned to Britain to become actively involved in ‘Green Politics’, standing as a candidate for Parliament for the Green Party in 1987 and 1992 in his Devon constituency. Titmuss, like Jones, has challenged mainstream political and Buddhist spiritual views on how to connect ‘the way of liberation’ from the Buddhist perspective, with the ‘demands of a political philosophy which connects economic and social justice to ecological factors across the global system’ (Bell, 2000: 416). The interdependence of humanity, in his view, can be obscured by the deluded consciousness that separates and divides self from other. Titmuss sees this in an obsession with profit and a charter for individuals and groups to exploit each other. His contention is that a complete shift in how people regard themselves using the Buddhist doctrine of ‘non-self ’ to undermine the delusion of separateness in politics, the environment and everyday existence will bring about concrete changes in the world they inhabit. He is suggesting that to let go of the ‘independent thinking’, which characterizes so much of society worldwide will result in changes of habitual behaviour and their social consequences. Overconsumption is characterized by the near complete commoditization of the world, which from the Buddhist point of view, he sees as alienating and therefore a source of suffering. This Titmuss suggests is a commonality of understanding that most Buddhists would adhere too. Stephen Batchelor, Buddhist scholar and commentator formerly of Sharpham College in the United Kingdom, has a number of reservations about the necessity to adopt a label like ‘engaged Buddhism’ at all. He maintains that authentic Buddhist practice leads necessarily to some engagement with the world, but has serious concerns about Western Buddhists’ reactions to criticism that their religion is too inward looking. This could result in a form of self-justification according to the values of the societies in which they live, and raises the questions about motivation for SEB, and whether engaged Buddhists are justifying it as a response to Western criticism of Buddhism? Or, is it in fact a spontaneous outflow of their practice? Is it therefore dangerous, asks Batchelor, to privilege one dimension of practice over another? He does, however, imply that if the classic Buddhist tension operating ‘between insight and understanding on one hand and a compassionate response to the world on the other’ is understood as normative for Buddhists, then surely there is no reason to talk of Buddhist engagement as a separate issue at all (Bell, 2000: 413).

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Vietnamese Buddhist activist Thich Nhat Hanh has developed his thinking about SEB to include in its characterization ‘being grounded in the practice of mindfulness in one’s everyday life’ and to follow the aim and commitment to relieve and reduce suffering (Hunt-Perry and Fine, 2000: 60). He has, according to Hunt-Perry and Fine, ‘correctly seen that individual and family healing is a necessary link to cultural and political transformation’ (2000: 61). Nhat Hanh’s teaching is explicitly inclusive of social issues and challenges those engaged Buddhists in the public arena. It can be characterized in four ways: (1) how to cultivate true love, compassion and joy as a motivation for socially engaged action, rather than fear and anger? (2) How to go beyond the alienation, anomie and meaninglessness identified in late-modern societies and be ‘truly in touch’ with the suffering in self and others? (3) How to deal with divisiveness and attachment to views in peace movements and within political organizations, which have a tendency to treat political adversaries as enemies? Finally, (4) how to deal with ‘burnout’? This is prevalent in movements for peace and social justice but can be avoided, it is claimed, by activists following Nhat Hanh’s training practices for a mindful life (Hunt-Perry and Fine, 2000: 60–1). In addition, Nhat Hanh advocates the fourfold saṅgha as an essential characteristic of SEB, claiming an equally important role for monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen in the process. His assessment of social engagement states: ‘Mindfulness must be engaged. Once there is seeing there must be acting . . . We must be aware of the real problems of the world. Then with mindfulness, we will know what to do and what not to do, to be of help’ (Nhat Hanh, 1991: 91). This implies that solutions based on mindfulness in daily life are more pragmatically framed and situationally assessed using the ‘mindful awareness’ of the practitioner as the legitimating authority by which to act in a given situation.4 Like Nhat Hanh, another well-known Asian Buddhist activist, Sulak Sivaraksa, founder of the INEB based in Thailand, adopts the approach that engaged Buddhism  does not have to be distinctively Buddhist. He speaks of Buddhism with a small ‘b’, in which those of other faith traditions could find themselves approaching activism or service using the principles of Buddhism as a guide to action, while retaining their own faith-based identity, but with sympathy to the Buddhist perspectives of non-harming, compassion and wisdom (Kraft, 2000: 497). This raises questions of identity and its hybridity or multilayered nature, and implies that to be an engaged Buddhist does not necessarily mean one has to be a Buddhist at all, providing certain Buddhist tenets are present. In an interview with the author (27 May 2003), Sivaraksa claimed that it is not necessary to worry

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about doctrine too much as there are many paths to the truth. Emphasizing this, he suggested he might equally seek advice from the Bible as he would from listening to the Dalai Lama or Thich Nhat Hanh. In other words, the inclusivism that Nhat Hanh implies in his characterization of SEB can also be found in Sivaraksa’s explanation. Sivaraksa went on to state that the fundamental elements of the Theravāda tradition are essential for his understanding of SEB, they being: sīla (morality) samādhi (meditative concentration) and pañña (wisdom). He explains his characterization thus: For me to be Buddhist you practice at least sīla. Sīla is not only personal goody-goodies; sīla is also social justice, addressing capitalism and the poor. Care for the environment this is also sīla. And samādhi – meditation of course – to check your sīla, whether you do that for ego-ism, or whether you do that for all sentient beings. And then of course, the samādhi helps to have real understanding of yourself and the world, and that is pañña. So I feel that without acting in society it is not Buddhism, it is escapism.

He is unequivocal in asserting his conviction that to fail to act in society is in fact escapism and not Buddhism at all. The emphasis being that it is insufficient to adopt an ‘other-worldly’ (introspective approach) in isolation. His claim is, only by combining and reflecting on morality and meditative concentration can wisdom to act (pañña) be a realistic outcome, he does not differentiate between Buddhism and SEB. Sivaraksa’s (2005b) work, Conflict, Culture, Change: Engaged Buddhism in a Globalizing World, highlights the importance of ahiṃsā (non-violence) not as a passive response or as a lack of response, but rather as an active response ‘to violence, with upāya or skilful means [as] action appropriate to the time and circumstance’ (2005b: 5). He suggests that to truly practice non-violence one must transform the three (Buddhist identified) poisons of greed, anger and ignorance and cultivate positive qualities by practicing the six pāramitās of the Mahāyāna tradition (generosity, morality, patience, effort, meditation and wisdom), and/or the four Brahma-vihāras (Divine Abodes) also found in Theravāda teaching, of mettā, Karuṇā, muditā and upekkhā (loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity).

Academic characterizations There are, according to Kenneth Kraft’s (2000) comprehensive assessment of SEB, two distinct areas for consideration academically, when debating how best

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to characterize SEB: first, a ‘social scientific model’ (including method), and secondly, one that uses ‘doctrinal thinking’ (2000: 497–8). He insists most of the characteristic and common issues already noted can be considered doctrinally.5 The following assessment of the academic literature splits broadly – for ease of expression – into these two categories. Both methods of analysis may involve the necessary reinterpretation or re-emphasis of particular texts, and modes of language, particularly around the development of key or core terms. There are at least three areas where key/ core terms might merit attention, not least because words like ‘engagement’, ‘compassion’ and ‘ethics’ are being problematized beyond the norms of philological understanding, because their interpretation is expanding or requires specific attention to clarify it in light of SEB. There are three areas, according to Kraft, where language requires clarification: (1) ‘classical terms’ undergoing reinterpretation, like for example ‘karma’ taking on national or regional application, as in Wratten’s (2000: 462) reference to the ‘national karma of South Africa’, or ‘Right Livelihood’, expressed by Whitmyer, within which one is asked to take on ‘the social criteria of responsibility for the long term consequences of our work’ (1994b: 262–3); (2) ‘Western-language terms’, crucial to engaged Buddhist vocabulary, for example, the Dalai Lama’s (1992) phrase, ‘universal responsibility’, which encompasses foundations for world peace, equitable use of natural resources and concern for future generations through care for the environment; (3) ‘neologisms’, where new phrases or terms are coined or existing ones extended. An example would be Robert Aitken’s (1999) attempts to clarify the meaning of Karuṇā (compassion) and mettā (loving-kindness) in Western translation, which he believes only express clarity of meaning if they are coupled with muditā – sympathetic joy – suggesting ‘perhaps Karuṇā and muditā could be hyphenated to coin an encompassing term. Perhaps muditā could be made an English word to balance “compassion”’ (1999: 447). A fundamental aspect of method can be found in the interpretation and use of the term upāya-kauśalya (skilful means)6 which features in a number of academic characterizations of SEB (Kraft, 1999, 2000; Sivaraksa, 1999, 2005a; Queen, 2000; Parkum and Stultz, 2003). It is often used as a method by which to apply an engaged Buddhist ethic, or perspective to a contemporary issue, or to enable the hearer, by a skilful adaptation of the teacher to understand or act in a particular way, as was the Buddha’s original formula. In the revisioning of the classic use of skilful means, those who refer to it do so as a form of justification for expressions of social engagement. In other words upāya acts as an implicit connection between an ancient Buddhist method of understanding (that allows

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for flexibility and exemptions to moral rule following) and contemporary engaged Buddhist concerns. There are those who would argue that to use upāya in this way supports its original application, certainly as far as breaching normative rules of morality and adapting teaching and practice are concerned (Pye, 1978; Morgan, 2004). However, there are perhaps as many who would argue that the contrary is the case, and that the use of the skilful means dialectic has specific recourse to a period in Mahāyāna thinking, which if misunderstood in a contemporary sense, may prove a shallow form of utilitarianism,7 which would skew its normative meaning and application. Damien Keown has looked carefully at upāya and considered its application. He contends that upāya can be described in two ways; ‘upāya 1’ and ‘upāya 2’ (1992: 157). The first-form deals with normative ethics in which upāya and pañña (wisdom) go together like sīla (morality) and pañña. However upāya 2 is to be understood as ‘not so much the concern of the common man as an attribute of those who are already perfect in ethics and insight’ (1992: 157). By this Keown refers to the activities of the Buddhas and Great Bodhisattvas (Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas) and only they have the knowledge and power to use it. From motives of compassion, bodhisattvas of the seventh stage (of the ten stages on the path to perfect Buddhahood) (upāya-kauśalya-bhūmi) and beyond, can transgress the precepts and do no wrong. Clearly, the normative ethics of ‘upāya 1’ are what is generally at stake in the discussions of SEB. Skilful means (or skill in means) was seen as acceptable if a bodhisattva ‘is without a selfish motive, solely concerned with the interests of others and totally committed to this [ideal]’ (Keown, 1992: 151). That is to say bodhisattvas (and perhaps engaged Buddhists) may have to breach ethical and moral norms in their efforts to work for the interest of others with insight and compassion. Despite the use of skilful means being a contentious area of debate, engaged Buddhists insist it is legitimate to use this Buddhist principle, and have thus appropriated it for their own use, without perhaps the detailed deliberations given to the subject by scholars like Keown. There are also those academics that have suggested skilful means as a methodological tool with which to address, what Kraft and Morgan are calling socially engaged Buddhist studies (Kraft, 2000: 497–503; Morgan, 2004: 359–69). Kraft refers to SEB as an emerging field which must ‘clarify its methods as well as its subject matter’ (2000: 497), while Queen expresses the necessity for ‘new skilful means’ in the development of a Buddhist vision of a new world, in which Buddhist liberation movements have ‘harnessed modern methods of education, mass communication, political influence and activism’ (Queen, 1996: 11).

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In academic terms it is reasonable to draw parallels between the need to develop hermeneutical tools for understanding SEB and finding continuity through the use of a specific method, which also has historical relevance both to Buddhism and Buddhist studies. Skilful means has been used by Buddhists of many cultures to adapt and transplant its teaching and practice across the world over time, and is upheld by Morgan as a key methodological hermeneutic, as revealed by Michael Pye8 in his 1978 work, Skilful Means: A Concept in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Pye acknowledges that when the Buddha did decide to teach he used a diversity of styles and dialects to support ‘the idea of a differentiated yet consistent teaching [which] was the basic style of pre-Mahāyāna Buddhism presumed to stem from the Buddha himself. Skilful means is the Mahāyāna name for this style’ (1978: 126). Morgan goes on to say: ‘whether or not the idea of skilful means is self conscious or explicit in the engaged Buddhist movements, here we have a hermeneutical tool for understanding their place in contemporary Buddhism, which is in continuity with Buddhism historically’ (2004: 361). In support of her identifying skilful means as a concept that is implicitly or explicitly used in SEB, Morgan is surprised that ‘the growing volume of work on SEB, whilst emphasising mindfulness, compassion, the bodhisattva ideal and interdependence, has paid such little attention to skilful means as a hermeneutical tool for understanding and defining Buddhism afresh’ (2004: 368). She goes on to suggest two other concepts as supportive of skilful means; they being: ‘intention’ and ‘that which leads to enlightenment’, both being employed to support the use of skilful means as ‘genuinely Buddhist’. By intention, she refers to Pye’s (1978) emphasis on hermeneutics as a criterion for establishing a genuine Hoben9 (skilful means), which is dependent on right intention, a central issue in all Buddhist ethics. Morgan also refers to the use of what is to be treated as ‘Buddha word’, namely; (1) that which was spoken by the Buddha himself; (2) that which the Buddha heard and approved; (3) the words of disciples whom the Buddha approved and gave authority to teach; and finally, (4) whatever is ‘well spoken’ spiritually, is helpful, leading to Enlightenment (Morgan, 2004: 361–2). Whatever is well spoken varies according to time, place and person, as Williams suggests: ‘Innovation becomes inevitable, the only problem lies in justifying that innovation’ (Williams, 1989: 32 cited in Morgan, 2004: 362). The necessary emphasis of all three concepts (use of skilful means, right intention, and that which leads to Enlightenment) supports aspects of adaptation in Buddhist teaching and practice, which could, subject to meeting the criteria outlined, support a number of late-modern movements that go under the name engaged or SEB (Morgan, 2004: 362). Skilful means is not being used as a tool of analysis

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here, but as a Buddhist concept that could be used to justify aspects of SEB, which an academic might identify. In addition to proposing a methodology for analysing SEB academically, Morgan (2004: 364–9) also summarizes recent literature in SEB and identifies five overlapping characteristic views within engaged Buddhist studies. They are recurrent in the assessment of SEB by other academics and commentators, as we shall see from the appraisals of Queen and King (1996), Queen (2000) and Kraft (2000). These are as follows: (1) The Buddha taught soteriology not social activism; (2) SEB is a Western colonizing of Buddhism; (3) All Buddhism is engaged; (4) Some social activists just happen to be Buddhists; and (5) Engaged Buddhism is a new Buddhist vehicle for the West. As all five views are linked in other ways to topics under consideration in the literature, I will therefore address Morgan’s list in a slightly different order than the way she proposes it. Points (1) and (2) remain the same, but due to the link between (2) ‘a Western colonizing of Buddhism’ and Queen’s thesis that (5) ‘engaged Buddhism is a new Buddhist vehicle for the West’; I propose to deal with that topic as number (3). This gives rise to the debate between the modernist (Queen’s view) and more traditionists’ perspective (the view of Nhat Hanh), who sees ‘all Buddhism as engaged’ – I will therefore deal with that topic as number (4). Finally, at number (5) ‘some social activists just happen to be Buddhists’. Both (4) and (5) will be under the subheading of ‘Tradition versus Modernity’ to follow. (1) ‘The Buddha taught soteriology not social activism’. Here Morgan quotes Gombrich, who asserts: My view of the Buddha’s message as a pure soteriology and my subsequent analysis of Buddhist identity puts me at odds with many modern interpreters of Buddhism, including some Buddhists [ . . . ] Secondly my interpretation puts me at odds with those who see the Buddha as a social reformer. [ . . . ] Though it could be argued that the Buddha made life in the world more worth living, that surely was an unintended consequence of his teaching. (1988: 29–30)

Gombrich (1988:30) does, however, go on to say that he understands modern Buddhist concerns; moreover, he has sympathy with Dr Ambedkar’s10 stance on untouchability in Indian society, which precipitated the mass conversion to Buddhism in India in1956. He goes on to confirm that were the Buddha alive today he would possibly innovate in similar fashion to Ambedkar  – and by implication other socially motivated Buddhists. Gombrich states clearly, ‘such flexibility is certainly in the spirit of Gotama Buddha’ (1988: 31). The first passage

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above is based on Gombrich’s desire for ‘historical accuracy’; it does, however, raise the question, that perhaps another consequence of the Buddha’s teaching was the development of equanimity? This many engaged Buddhists would claim as a key psychological component of inner development, which is manifest outwardly as an evenness of temper, even under stress. It would certainly be difficult then to see equanimity without the possibility of salvation. (2) ‘SEB is a Western colonizing of Buddhism’, links the figure of Ambedkar (as an Indian reform Buddhist leader) with the developments referred to by Heinz Bechert (1966, 1979, 1984) as ‘Buddhist Modernism’, or what Obeyesekere (1970 and 1972), Gombrich (1988), Gombrich and Obeyesekere (1988) and Mellor (1989, 1991) called ‘Protestant Buddhism’. These movements are seen as the result of Western colonial and Christian influences on Buddhists. ‘Buddhist Modernism’ was initiated in the late nineteenth century in Sri Lanka and spread to other parts of Asia. The British power struggle in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from 1796 culminating in 1815 saw the constant influences of Christian missions throughout the greater part of the nineteenth century. From around the 1840s the Christianizing influences were challenged by a number of Buddhist monastics intent on reviving what, for them, was a pristine form of Buddhism. The public debates of the time were a direct challenge to the influence of Christianity in Sri Lanka. The most successful was by a monk called Gunananda Thera in 1873. The text of his public debate with a Christian was translated into English and later published by the American Theosophist (and supporter of the revival) Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (1832–1907).11 He, together with the Anagārika Dharmapāla (1864–1933),12 founder of the Mahā Bodhi Society and an elite member of the emerging middle class in Ceylon, acted as key figures, and major reforming influences in the revival. For those in this trend, Buddhism was essentially reformed from its previously village mythic and magic mysticism to what the reformers saw as the essential teachings of Buddhism without the mythological additions. In the search for an exact understanding of the original teachings of Buddhism, Buddhist modernists from Sri Lanka (and elsewhere), together with Western scholars of Buddhism, closely cooperated. From this search came new concepts, as the result of the challenge of Western cultural influence. The movement was by no means uniform; it did, however, have far-reaching implications for Buddhism and how it is understood around the world today. Meditation as a publicly available teaching became the norm as the result of modernization (it had previously, especially in Sri Lanka, only been available

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to monastics following a teacher). Other aspects involved the spread of these techniques to the laity through writing and an embracing of the reforms by monastics, who disseminated the information to the villages. The creation of lay Orders and categories of practitioner, like the Anagārika or wanderer (even though it did not catch on), all came from this wider understanding of a more publicly imbibed form of Buddhism. The relationship in its modernizing context was both in conjunction with, and in response to, Colonialism.13 The modernization of Buddhism in Ceylon/Sri Lanka and Burma has, from the beginning, been linked with political and social reform. It is this reforming spirit that Queen (1996: 21–8) suggests is the catalyst for engaged Buddhism as a ‘Buddhist Liberation Movement’, underpinned by the efforts, of among others, Dharmapāla, Olcott, and later (1954) the Indian Neo-Buddhist reformer Dr  Ambedkar.14 Out of this reform grew the influences, according to Queen (2000: 2), that acted as a precursor to the development of what he sees as engaged Buddhism’s roots in modernity, which spawned what he called a ‘New Buddhism’ and leads to number three of Morgan’s strands. (3) ‘Engaged Buddhism is a new Buddhist vehicle for the West’ (Morgan, 2004: 367). The language of the vehicle, or Yāna in Buddhism, is being interpreted by SEB as synonymous with a method of identifying historic changes along the Buddhist path over time. In its original formation, however, it may have been more to do with levels/types of motivation on the Buddhist path, and to an extent still is. The three vehicles (dependent on one’s Buddhist perspective) would be the so-called Hīnayāna schools, such as Theravāda, the Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna. The use of this type of analysis might assist in placing SEB in relation to the history of Buddhism as a whole. The transplantation of new styles of Buddhism in the East and West may be viewed by some academics and ‘modernist’ Buddhists, as developments of new yānas. This is certainly the view of Queen (1996, 2000) who stresses, ‘a new focus on the causes, varieties and remedies of worldly suffering and oppression’ (1996: 11). He suggests in his introduction to Engaged Buddhism in the West that ‘Buddhists might call it [SEB] a “new vehicle” – or Navayāna, as the Indian civil rights leader B. R. Ambedkar did on the eve of his conversion to Buddhism in 1956 – or a fourth yāna in the evolution of the Dharma’ (Queen, 2000: 2). Morgan also notes a comment from John Daido Loori (abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery, United States), which suggests that engaged movements are ‘the newest chapter in the Buddhist tradition’ and represents ‘the emergence of a new Buddhism in North America, Europe, South Africa and Australia’ (Morgan, 2004: 367).

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Kenneth Kraft draws on the neologisms mentioned earlier, when he talks of the way engaged Buddhists coin new expressions, which are distinctively Buddhist, but decidedly Western in their orientation. He notes Stephanie Kaza’s report on green Buddhists, who refer to themselves as ‘ecosattvas’ – creating a word that uses part of the term ‘eco’logy and part of Bodhi ‘sattva’ to mean, ‘a bodhisattva of the environment’– for someone who sees themselves as a Buddhist environmental activist (Kraft, 2000: 501). The use of the term ‘interbeing’15 coined by Thich Nhat Hanh is another new word, which is distinctively different to the term interpenetration16 also used by Nhat Hanh, despite it sounding similar at face value. Nhat Hanh insists: When we realize our nature of ‘Interbeing’, we will stop blaming and killing, because we know that we inter-are. Interpenetration is an important teaching, but it still suggests that things outside of one another penetrate into each other. Interbeing is a step forward. We are already inside so we don’t have to enter. (Nhat Hanh The Sun My Heart, in Kotler, 1996: 169)

To ‘inter-be’ is described as both a physical and psychological condition in which, to understand, and practice the interdependence of mind and body which are key characteristics of Nhat Hanh’s teaching. Kraft goes on to express interest in the use of the yāna analogies, and suggests, if ‘the notion of a fourth yāna proves useful, it will need a name. How about Terra-yāna’? (Kraft, 2000: 501). The use of the Latin term for Earth, Kraft attests, implies an ‘earthly spirituality rather than an otherworldly quest for private salvation’ (2000: 501). The use of vehicle language and other neologisms are a characteristic part of the developments in SEB, which, it could be argued, characterize the idea put forward by Queen (2000), of SEB being a ‘new vehicle’ in Buddhism for the West. Queen, as an advocate of the ‘New Buddhism’, (a modernist position), implies that there is a real departure from tradition due to the influence in the nineteenth century of European and American sociopolitical thought. He proposes a thesis of engaged Buddhism as follows: That socially engaged Buddhism – the application of the Dharma, or Buddhist teachings, to the resolution of social problems – has emerged in the context of a global conversation on human rights, distributive justice, and social progress. In as much as these concepts have had few parallels in the classical formulations of early Buddhism, reform Buddhism and syncretic Buddhism, I shall argue that the general pattern of belief and practice that has come to be called ‘engaged

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Adaptation and Developments in Western Buddhism Buddhism’ is unprecedented, and thus tantamount to a new chapter in the history of the tradition[s]. (Queen, 2000: 1)

The implication here is to see engaged Buddhism as a new chapter in Buddhist history and thereby designate it as a ‘new vehicle’ or Yāna. Queen (2000) adopts an approach that develops a fairly comprehensive appraisal of what he suggests is a ‘new vehicle’ in Buddhist terms, and goes to some length to justify it. Jones, (in interview) suggests that Queen has perhaps got carried away with his enthusiasm for the subject, suggesting that the tension between modernity, and hence ‘New Buddhism’ (in Queen’s estimation), and a more traditional approach, like that of Nhat Hanh, Maha Ghosananda (Cambodia), or P. A. Payutto (Thailand), still unduly polarizes the debate between modernity and tradition. Walliss (2002) has addressed this area academically in his work on the Brahma Kumaris, suggesting it is impracticable in most circumstances to retain a black and white view of tradition or modernity, especially as he suggests there is a fundamental flaw in making tradition the binary opposite of modernity. Such a flaw lies in the fact that modernity, by its very nature, when set against tradition, will be seen as progressive forward looking and rational, whereas tradition, seen in opposition, will be designated as ignorant, dogmatic, superstitious and backward looking. However, we shall see that all the engaged Buddhist groups subject to this research have recourse to some form of traditional authority should they need it, and often they do. The challenge to Queen, and other modernists, is in how they assess SEB movements, which may see themselves as having continuity with traditional Buddhist practice, and thereby refute the ‘new’ label associated with much SEB discourse in the West. Queen’s 2000 anthology addresses a wide variety of social concerns: war and violence, ecological degradation, race, human rights, ethnicity, health care, prisons, schools, sexual orientation, gender relations, and the workplace. He states that what unites these issues in their diversity is that they share three characteristics that he identifies as central to all engaged Buddhism: (1) awareness; mindfulness or sati; (2) identification of the self and the world; (3) and the imperative for action. He goes further in his 2002 article by characterizing the political activism and social service of Buddhism as a salient feature of globalized Buddhism, which together with the democratization of laymen and women in the movement, and what he describes as: the pragmatism of a tradition that increasingly stresses actions  – meditation, chanting, morality, and ‘the art of happiness’  – more than words, doctrines and philosophies, the social engagement of Buddhism may be said to parallel

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the activism, if not the militancy, of other world religions, notably Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. (Queen, 2002: 324)

There is a sense that SEB is happy to apply the tenets of other faiths communities to their continued efforts to reduce suffering which reinforces the notion of Buddhists with a small ‘b’. This would appear to be an area where most academic appraisals agree, whether they see SEB as ‘new’ and modernist, or hold with continuity of past traditions, essentially – traditionists. The question of continuity  – discontinuity is, however, far from resolved, as will be seen in the case studies that follow. Attempts have been made in the literature to compare Liberation Theology in Latin America with SEB, particularly in the characteristics of Christian movements who have struggled to be liberated from oppressive conditions. There is, however, a fundamental difference, which Queen points out when defining what he calls ‘Buddhist Liberation Movements’ (1996: 10). That is, even though such movements are ‘voluntary associations guided by exemplary leaders and a common vision of a new society (or world) based on peace, justice, and freedom’ (1996: 10), they are not necessarily people who themselves are being liberated from oppression – as is the Christian case. In other words, engaged Buddhists are more likely to be part of the solution – assisting others from the outside – but not necessarily part of the problem of the oppressed. This has implications for the kinds of individuals who commit to engaged Buddhism, something the survey evidence in the case-study analysis will address. Two marks of the ‘new’ Buddhism according to Queen (2002: 326) are described as its collectivism and its globalization. The collective view is seen as its Buddhist roots, a commitment to the relief of suffering and adopting the Bodhisattva ideal – which is not in the sense he is suggesting new at all. However, the presumption that suffering and its relief have a social dimension that cannot be addressed by private spirituality and morality alone supports his claim (Queen, 2002: 326). Although the potential for global action is real, most of the world’s problems are seen through a media lens which is filtered by engaged Buddhists, who cooperate at a virtual level across the internet by supporting campaigns through individual pledges of financial help, or joint group support financially. Beyond that, even the BPF and the INEB are incapable of finding resources, which could put Buddhists physically on the ground in a particular location to aid humanitarian work. It works at a global level because what happens in the United States, Thailand or elsewhere in the world is communicated and the virtual links via webspace, blog pages, social networks and email discussion groups, Skype or

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You Tube allows for a commonality of purpose and a ‘belonginess identity’ that provides those involved with a sense of the local and the global. What appears to be the core role for many of those who cooperate internationally is (a) fellowship and the development of communication globally and (b) an ability to lobby and draw others’ attention to issues with their writing and publications.

Tradition versus modernity The claims of Queen (2000, 2002), and the characteristics of modernity, however, do have implications for the way engaged Buddhism has been viewed, not least in the way it has been perceived by some academics. For example, Yarnall addresses the dichotomies of ‘tradition’ versus ‘modernity’, which is an academic debate that has continued until now. His proposal is that there are those who do not accept a split between ‘spiritual’ and ‘social’ domains, where ‘to engage in the spiritual life necessarily includes (although it cannot be reduced to) social engagement’ (2003: 286–344). Hence for those with this view, since the time of the Buddha, there has been a developed and continuous form of the sociopolitical dimension, in addition to the supposedly other-worldly, spiritual/soteriological dimension. They are therefore to be seen as ‘traditionists’. This brings us to Morgan’s fourth strand: (4) ‘all Buddhism is engaged’, which reflects the life and teaching of a number of Asian engaged Buddhists who hold this view as traditionists. Some have already been mentioned, such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Sulak Sivaraksa, Maha Ghosanada, P. A. Payutto and Venerable Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, to name but a few. Nhat Hanh (whose Community of Interbeing in the United Kingdom are part of this research) has both lay and monastic saṅghas as part of his Order of Interbeing, who base their teaching on mindfulness, interdependence, interbeing and work towards generosity and patience, compassion and wisdom. All of these are expressed as core teachings in Asian Buddhism and translate, according to Nhat Hanh, equally into the West to assist those in families, at work, in private and public. The social teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh seem to develop naturally from his religious teaching, according to Sallie King (1996: 408). They are seen as very traditional, emphasizing selflessness and interdependence, yet at the same time are applicable for twenty-first-century living, and are equally relevant in Buddhist Asia or the West. For Nhat Hanh and others, Buddhism involves the whole spectrum of interdependent social living and is always engaged.

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Those who are seen as traditionists are  – it should be made clear  – often characterized as such through the observation and discourse of academics looking in from outside, or as insider scholars with a particular interest in the subject. This raises the question of the influence of academics on the SEB debate, and to what extent practitioners hold with, or indeed take any notice of the academic views at all. Adherents of SEB are often content to practice in ways that they see as having positive outcomes on society, with little interest in the academic debate going on around them – an area the case studies will investigate more thoroughly. SEB discussions about tradition are subject to the influences of modernist thinking. Thich Nhat Hanh is a good example, because, despite his claims that ‘all Buddhism is engaged’, implying tradition underpins his thinking, the developments in Vietnamese Buddhism that he has implemented are undoubtedly ‘new’. Queen suggests that ‘the founding [by Nhat Hanh] of the School of Youth for Social Service and the politicization of the Unified Buddhist Church (UBC) represented a new kind of Buddhist practice’ (2000: 8). Traditional then, may not be traditional in the sense of relying on tradition entirely, or basing teaching solely on it. Innovation seems to be a characteristic, even, of those who claim a traditionist’s perspective, something we shall return to in the cross-case analysis in Chapter 8. There is also a second group, who Yarnall acknowledges accept that to a degree there have been doctrines and practices latent in Buddhism with a sociopolitical dimension, but these latencies have remained largely untapped (2003: 287). Such latent tendencies have therefore not been realized in Buddhism until its encounter with Western elements of the modern era, in the late nineteenth century. Therefore modern engaged Buddhism, while retaining features consistent with traditional forms, has enough substantive differences of its own to warrant defining it as a ‘new’ form of Buddhism, a la Queen et al. They are therefore suggesting a discontinuity with the past that defines them as ‘modernists’. The questions this debate raises are essentially twofold: first, how the modernists see traditionists as peering through a refracted modern lens at tradition, which makes them ‘methodologically naïve and historically reconstructive’ (Yarnall, 2003: 287). Secondly, traditionists suggest that modernists have simply misunderstood the essence and spirit of Buddhism and missed the social theories and practices of Buddhists throughout the ages, and are therefore narrow minded in their perception of traditional forms. These questions bring the debate into the arena of what counts by traditional standards as a way of legitimating and thereby authenticating practice, as Deitrick

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(2003: 272) asserts, ‘questions naturally arise about the credibility of engaged Buddhism’s appeal to the Buddhist tradition for support of its social and political activities’. The questioner seems to be asking whether what is important ‘to tradition’ is ultimately, essentially important ‘to modernity’. This may or may not be the case, but it does open up the discussion into two distinct strands. First, the implied references to tradition are in a sense a reference to the purity of religious practice and experience, legitimized by centuries of development. This, however, in the case of Buddhism has to be seen in light of continual change (indicative of impermanence, an accepted Buddhist provision) and cultural assimilation and integration. Taking such factors into account, it seems to pose a question to so-called traditional thinkers: what if all traditions are, by implication, syncretistic and therefore impure? Where then does one find the authentic tradition? Or is it an essential element of SEB, that it requires authentication by tradition, if, as is being suggested, tradition is a culturally relative term? We should bear in mind that much of the SEB teaching has grown out of the Buddhist modernist encounter with the West, which despite seeking pristine traditional validity has often been developed through the modernist lens and is therefore limited when suggesting what may or may not be traditional. What is seen as authentic may be deemed so because it is authenticated by the leaders and teachers around whom the majority of engaged Buddhists coalesce. This is summed up by Kay, who points out that when assessing the authenticity of Buddhist teaching and practices in the United Kingdom: All Buddhist groups in Britain seek to make their teachings and practices comprehensible and relevant to British people and to that extent are involved in a project of adaptation . . . at the same time Buddhist groups are concerned to show that their adaptation of traditional forms, and creation of new forms are authentic expressions of the Buddhadharma. (2004: 36)

There is no doubt that the adaptation process among engaged Buddhist teachers/ leaders is an essential aspect of interpreting Dharma for practitioners. Engaged Buddhism, like other Western forms, requires a great deal of confidence in the teacher on the part of the practitioner, not least because, by the nature of social action or service, the practitioner is always likely to be confronted with ethical17 dilemmas that require decisions to be made on the spot. It therefore seems logical that any training is undertaken in a way that provides the most easily understandable and confidence enhancing methods available at the time. Yarnall (2003: 290–3), together with a number of essentially Asian Buddhist teachers, represents a more continuous approach, akin to Thich Nhat Hanh’s

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position, that ‘all Buddhism is engaged’. However, what is difficult to reconcile within the discourse, at least in academic terms, is the way in which modernists (like Queen and others) have implied that discontinuity with traditional sources, is in some way a reason to appropriate the authority of those sources for contemporary use. Yarnall clearly affirms his opposition to modernist rhetoric when he claims: Many of our contemporary problems (and solutions) may or may not be so ‘new’. The modernist rhetoric of ‘newness’ seduces us into prematurely abandoning the rich mine of the Buddhist tradition and cheat us out of any jewelled resources from which we could have greatly profited. (2003: 336)

Thurman too has deep concerns about the nature of the modernist discussion, which he sees as alienating people from a rich tradition of Buddhist history. He claims: The monastic way of life that has been carried down through history in various Asian countries has a great deal of knowledge concerning the ways that minds and societies work. Without it, we cannot expect to have a Buddhism that stands up to the militarism of the age in which we live. (Thurman, 1992: 85–6)

Thurman’s reference to militarism is an important issue to raise (in light of the early military engagements of the new millennium and the global fight on terror, now firmly established in the lexicon), especially as he is suggesting that traditional monastics are invaluable in the late-modern/postmodern world. They bring the continuity of centuries of transmission and have worked with minds and societies, but to what extent are they able to respond to militarism and other social ills? Notwithstanding the Monastic Orders in Burma identified to the world their intent, with non-violent and for many, engaged action against the military regime in the protests of 2007 out of which the All Burma Monks’ Alliance (ABMA) was formed, and great ingenuity and innovation in communication across Burma was a significant feature of the movement, in the face of imprisonment, beatings and torture by the military junta. On this reckoning Monastic Orders are just as likely to be engaged and more so for some in the face of extreme hardship, where perhaps their lay counterparts could take note. There are a number of examples around the globe where monastics have responded with non-violent and often direct action or provided support or service, including: in the case of Tibet in the struggle with China, Thai monastics in a quasi-military zone in the south of the country, protecting forests from deforestation, working for devastated communities in face of

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tsunamis, support for victims of HIV and AIDS, or working with the homeless and the addicted. The question of monastic discontinuity seems on the face of things to be a mute point. The question of discontinuity links to Morgan’s final strand in her characterization of SEB, which is: (5) ‘some social activists just happen to be Buddhists’. In her assessment of this position, the challenge to SEB is that others may see engaged activities as not ‘distinctly’ Buddhist. There are numerous examples of SEB actions, which have been compared to other religious (non-Buddhist) groups, and questions are asked as to how the SEB activity is any different from, for example, that of the Christians or Quakers? Scholars, such as Darrel Wratten in South Africa have commented on this theme, and disputed that Buddhist actions, like fasts, vigils or peace marches are any different when compared with ‘Christian Catholic or Protestant or Muslim apartheid activities’ (Wratten, 2000: 449). Wratten questions them as being distinctively Buddhist, just because they were carried out in the name of Buddhism. However, it would appear that his challenge is largely focused on methods of implementation, rather than the dharmic concepts that motivate the action, such as compassion, right intention, thought and speech, in which Buddhist wisdom can be found.

Ethical engagement Primarily, Buddhist scholars and ethicists are currently concerned with developing a characterization of Buddhist ethics that will find some resonance with Western ethical theory. Harvey (2000) and Keown (1992, 2000) are two of the most prominent academic figures working in Buddhist ethics in Europe. Harvey’s book, An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics is one of very few in the world that presents a comprehensive comparative assessment of ethical evidence across the Buddhist world in English, and Keown’s The Nature of Buddhist Ethics and his edited Contemporary Buddhist Ethics, draws on a great deal of comparative work in applied ethical theory. Explanations of how one understands Buddhist ethics in a contemporary world are, as Keown suggests, increasingly sought. ‘Both its own [Buddhist] followers and outsiders are curious about how this ancient Asian tradition will respond to the moral dilemmas confronting the modern world’ (2000: 1). The translation of ethical and moral terms into English requires the use of Western ethical terminology in order to explain it. Western Socially Engaged Buddhists are part of that dynamic of Western Buddhists who, perhaps more

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than many others, need a coherent understanding of their ethical position and motives when engaging in social action. Based on non-indigenous antecedents Western and in the main convert Buddhists tend to seek a foundation for their ethical Buddhist social engagement, either through activism or in caring and service. The basic applications of ethics can be summarized according to Harvey under three headings as: 1. Thought on the bases and justification of moral guidelines (normative ethics), and on the meaning of moral terms (meta-ethics). 2. Specific moral guidelines (applied ethics). 3. How people actually behave (descriptive ethics). (Harvey, 2000: 2) Buddhist morality is concerned with the interactions of humans with humans and humans and non-human sentient life (in this it goes beyond many Western forms), and hence its applicability to issues in the environment, including all animal-life forms. A number of Zen traditions explain this orientation as applying to not only animal but also vegetable and mineral (to include microand macro-scopic entities). Harvey (2000: 2) points out that religious-based ethical systems support ethics by motivation and justification of positive ‘other-regarding actions and discouraging actions harmful to others, and strengthening character-traits which foster moral action’. In two respects that definition is wholly applicable to engaged Buddhists and the way they are considered on the one hand, and develop on the other. Engaged Buddhism has been described by Carette and King (2005) as ‘other directed’ in its approach (meaning the same as other-regarding) and engaged Buddhism as a system of ethically responsible development has been described by Jones (2003) and Sallie King (2005) as based on developing character in ethical action. This is not to suggest that SEB differs from other forms of Buddhism in its basic understanding of ethical action. As regards Western ethical theories, Buddhist ethics have been compared with Aristotelian virtue ethics, Utilitarian ethics and Kantian ethics. Buddhism sees volitional actions as karmically conditioning; it is the nature of the volition behind an action of mind, body or speech that contributes to making it a wholesome or unwholesome action and leads to karmic fruit. Unwholesome actions stem from the three poisons of greed, hatred and delusion. If actions are from non-greed, non-hatred and non-delusion, they are considered wholesome, as opposed to unwholesome in character; by being intrinsically connected to the path of liberation (Nirvāṅa) they are seen as leading to that goal.

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Aristotelian virtue ethics has been largely accepted by Buddhist scholars (although not all practitioners) as the closest Western approach associated with Buddhist ethics. Sallie King (2005: 42) suggests that among the strands of ethical theory she has adopted in her investigations of Asian forms of engaged Buddhism, ‘virtue ethics’ takes pride of place. Developed to build characters of virtue it has been promoted academically by Whitehill (1994, 2000), Keown (1992, 2000), Hallisey (1996), Hallisey and Hansen (1996) and King (2005). Harvey (2000: 51), however, suggests that to collapse Buddhist ethics into any one of the three Western forms mentioned above, would be to narrow the rich field of Buddhist ethics, and therefore one should remain open to each as useful in some respects, though the virtue approach seems the closest overall match. Chappell makes note of the fact that Mahāyāna ethics differ from the approaches made in early Buddhism by emphasizing the maxim ‘Avoiding all evil, cultivating good and save all beings’ (1996: 352). He accepts that ethical enquiries have generally concentrated on the first two parts of that statement, as the discipline of avoiding wrongdoing (avoiding all evil), and attaining virtue (cultivate good). He claims, however, that: the topic of ‘saving all beings’ has generally been neglected, even though this is said to be the distinctive mark of the Mahāyāna and is well known through the liturgical formula of the Four Great Bodhisattva Vows first developed in China by Tiantai Zhaya. (538–97). Beings are infinite in number, I vow to save them all; The obstructive passions are endless in number, I vow to end them all; The teachings (used to save others) are countless, I vow to learn them all; Buddhahood is the supreme achievement, I vow to attain it. (Chappell, 1996: 352)

In light of the injunction ‘to save all beings’ as the predominant differentiating feature between the Theravāda and the Mahāyāna (the ideal of the Bodhisattva of great compassion),18 it would certainly appear to encompass a social ethic. Chappell investigates an early Mahāyāna Sῡtra the Upāsaka Precept Sῡtra.19 He discovers that supremacy is given to compassionate action in society over

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monastic spiritual attainment. It also emphasizes helping others out of compassion as the highest practice and the best way to attain Enlightenment. It concludes in chapter 27 (of its 28 chapters) by endorsing the life of a Bodhisattva to both lay and ordained members of the community. The Upāsaka text emphasizes immediately helping others out of compassion, rather than focusing on saving them in an ultimate sense or saving all of them; it thereby avoids absolutes and emphasizes instead the practical benefits of compassion: ‘This unique position is a direct affirmation of the special responsibilities and capacities of laity to act in society, in contrast to the restraint of Buddhist recluses and the abstractions of Mahāyāna meditative philosophy (Chappell, 1996: 370). It does not, however, address the community needs of society, global needs, questions of fairness and justice and problems of social structure and governance. The Upāsaka Precept Sῡtra does, however, argue that compassion benefits practitioners, so that healers also are healed through living compassionately. This develops the ‘understanding that the suffering of others is their suffering’ (Chappell, 1996: 371). The cornerstone of engaged Buddhist ethics appears to be based on the first of the five lay precepts,20 non-killing of sentient beings, described as ahiṃsā (non-harming or non-violence). The key to understanding this principle is as Nhat Hanh implies in his famous injunction, ‘Peace in Oneself, Peace in the World’, the title of a famous calligraphy that has become emblematic of his Tiep Hien Order of Interbeing. The principle of non-harming extends to all actions, of mind body and speech and is given precedence in issues of social action, caring and service and everyday interactions with sentient life. It has highlighted a debate about Buddhist pacifism and non-harming and whether there is such a thing as a just-war ideology.21 The brief outline of ethical theory from a Buddhist perspective, described above, forms an essential part of the investigation of SEB, not least in its UK guise, and will be referred to later in the case studies when assessing the ethical implications of specific groups.

Summarizing the literature There is, it appears, a diverse network of activity associated with SEB in both Western nations and in Buddhist Asia. The increased volume of literature addressing SEB has not yet removed the ambivalence of the terms and range of meaning associated with it. There are some clear distinctions, however, from the more commonly found institutional forms of Western Buddhism within the

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United Kingdom. Most engaged Buddhists, while they may have an allegiance to a particular group or Buddhist tradition, hold at least an affinity for other engaged Buddhists, and their concerns, which are often characterized in similar terms. The imperative for action based on environmental sustainability, peace, poverty reduction and work to reduce other forms of social and political degradation are uppermost in their thinking. This desire to deal with the social ills in the world with compassionate action is fundamental, although the levels at which individuals engage varies greatly, according to motive and intention. The range of activities can extend from compassion for one’s neighbour at one level, through Right Livelihood, environmental projects, to political and social activism and protest at another. The belief that Buddhist principles, doctrinally and ethically can bring about, what Jones (2003: 174) refers to as ‘a radical culture of awakening’ seems a real prospect for many. The method for personal growth is founded on the core tenets of Dharma  – compassion, interdependence, selflessness, practice of morality and mindfulness as the inner work principles. These are manifest outwardly as action underpinned by positive non-violent strategies, national and international positioning, which is at the same time, pluralist, inclusivist and non-sectarian. There is a distinction drawn up by academics, which sees in earlier SEB writing to present a dichotomy, as either modernist or traditionist in its outlook, depending on one’s position, vis-a-vis SEB as a ‘new’ vehicle of Buddhadharma a fourth yāna or a continuous dharmic development changing over time, but acknowledging that ‘all Buddhism is engaged’. This raises the question of the continuity versus discontinuity of SEB. In that context, questions have also been raised academically about the nature and sources of authority, authenticity and validity of SEB and to what extent academics are shaping the discourse. In light of that discussion, one should ask, do practitioners take account of the academic debate at all? The academic discussion also encompasses the development of a hermeneutical concept in the form of ‘skilful means’, by which to apply a SEB ethic and to analyse it. This in turn asks for an appropriate method of developing an ethics of SEB, which has been given some outline consideration, of both a virtue approach and as a distinctive Mahāyāna Buddhist social ethic, suggested by Chappell (1996) which could combine with a more situational approach (Fletcher, 1963). The literature suggests the overall SEB approach, including the UK emphasis, would be to engender a globalized Buddhist imperative to act, in which the reduction of suffering is paramount, and the transformation of individuals and societies are given equal status. For some ‘the shift from a transmundane . . . to

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a mundane liberation’ (Queen, 1996: 11) is seen as the most significant change in thinking. Or as Queen also points out, three fundamental characteristics of engaged Buddhism includes: awareness, identification (of the self and the world) and action (which is non-violent, non-heirarchical and non-heroic) (2000: 6–7). What is also apparent, however, from the literature is the scarcity of empirical evidence from practitioners at grass-roots level. In the main, commentators and contributors to the many SEB anthologies, or individual works, are either academics (as insiders or otherwise), SEB leading figures or Buddhist activist writers, whose status as a writer is often as a professional. The case studies that follow will make efforts to remedy that situation by invoking in some detail the voices of the SEB ‘practitioner’ in the United Kingdom.

Notes 1

2 3 4 5

6 7

8

Reducing social structures, political and economic systems to specific aspects like cheap labour, overconsumption and market pawns; ironically, the very aspects Jones also critiques in the same work. For a more comprehensive discussion of ‘Buddhist Modernism’ see section on ‘Tradition versus modernity’ later in the chapter. For a discussion of the traditionists versus modernist debate see section ‘Tradition versus Modernity’ later in the chapter. More will be made of the nature of mindfulness and its motivating factors in Chapter 5: ‘The Community of Interbeing’. For example, Buddhism and ecology, political and social activism, social ethics, service-based engagement, human rights, liberation and even a Buddhist social theory of engaged Buddhism, all require recourse to a doctrinal rule or principle that forms the basis of a belief, theory or policy. Skilful means covers both adopting teachings and also compassionate precept-breaking. The ethical doctrine that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the criterion of the virtue of conduct. New Oxford English Dictionary (OED) (2001: 2040). Pye (1978) shows in his work, how the concept of ‘skilful means’ is rooted in the classical texts of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka (usually referred to simply as the Lotus Sῡtra), the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa (Vimalakirti) and Prajnā-pāramitā (Perfection of Wisdom) sῡtras. He goes further to identify upāya in the Pali literature, where it holds similar meaning to the Mahāyāna understanding, indicating ‘method, means or device’. The term kusala (skilful) in the Pali texts, points to that which is karmically wholesome or skilful, used in the Nāvasutta of the Sutta Nipāta to refer

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  9

10

11

12

13

14

Adaptation and Developments in Western Buddhism to the skilful teacher as the oarsmen of a good boat, who, with skilful means helps many to the further shore of liberation. He [the Buddha] being ‘skilful knower of the means’ (trans. Hare, E. M. [1945: 47] Woven Cadences of Early Buddhists, Sacred Books of the Buddhists; XV [London: Oxford University Press]). According to Pye, the teaching of the Lotus Sutra on skilful means is only ‘a more dynamic articulation of principles already present in early Buddhism’ (Pye 1978: 122). This is believed to be rooted in the Buddha’s understanding of his Enlightenment, and his realization of the difficulty he was faced with, having to teach beings deeply immersed in samsāra. The Japanese word for skilful means, which Pye designated as key to the method of ‘comparative hermeneutics’, using the ‘hermeneutical control’ of skilful means which suggests ‘all items of doctrine are at once essential and dispensable, and that whether such an item conveys or impedes religious meaning, is at least partly dependent on the spiritual condition of the person concerned’ (Pye, 1980: 29) Comparative Hermeneutics: A Brief Statement. Dr B. R. Ambedkar was the legal mind behind the development of the Indian constitution. He saw the inequity of the caste system as devaluing to those of lower castes in Indian society. Having examined a number of religious alternatives, he opted to embrace Buddhism as an equitable alternative to Hinduism and on 14 October 1956 initiated a mass conversion of ex-untouchable (Dalit caste) Indians. At least 400,000 converted to Buddhism on mass. Ambedkar Buddhism, as it has become known, has taken a politically motivated position in Indian society since that time. Olcott together with Mme H. Blavatsky founded the Theosophical Society, which among other things accelerated Western interest in Buddhism. For a detailed biography of Olcott’s life see Prothero (1996). The White Buddhist: The Asian Odyssey of Henry Steel Olcott. It is suggested by Prothero (1996) that Olcott’s protestantized Buddhism is best understood as the ‘Creolization’ of Liberal American Protestantism and traditional Theravāda Buddhism. Dharmapāla was the son of a wealthy furniture retailer in Sri Lanka who, in an effort to reclaim a pristine Buddhism and oust support for Christian missions in Sri Lanka, worked with Olcott and Blavatsky as reformers of Buddhism. He founded the reforming Mahā Bodhi Society, which eventually secured the temple at Bodh Gayā (India), a famous Buddhist pilgrimage site (scene of the Buddha’s enlightenment) for the Buddhists. He was a pioneer Buddhist activist (in modernity) and together with Olcott is described by Queen (1996: 23), as one of the modern-day founders of what is today called SEB. For a thorough philosophical reading of Buddhism and Colonialism see King (1999) Orientalism and Religion; and Harris, E. J. (2006) Theravāda Buddhism and the British Encounter. Ambedkar (1891–1956) came from the Mahar (ex-untouchable) caste in South India and through efforts on his part and that of his family (who followed the

Literature Review: Characterizing SEB

15 16

17 18 19

20

21

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Hindu reform movement of the Kabir Panth) he received a scholarship to study in America. He also studied in the United Kingdom, and as a lawyer in India formed the Independent Labour Party (1936). He was also chair of the Constitution Drafting Committee at the time of Indian Independence in 1947. For a thorough explanation of ‘Interbeing’ see Chapter 5, ‘The Community of Interbeing’. Interpenetration is a teaching given by Nhat Hanh from the Avatamsaka (adorning the Buddha with flowers) sῡtra, in which he explains the ‘Ten Interpenetrations’, described by the Buddha as the way one interpenetrates with one’s environment. It is a form of non-dual teaching, in which the one and the all are seen as two aspects of the same reality. For an outline discussion of Buddhist ethical theory see ‘Ethical Engagement’ section later in the chapter. Notwithstanding the Bodhisatta does have a prominent role in the Jātaka texts (on previous lives of the Buddha) of the Pāli Canon. This text was translated for the first time into English by Shih Heng-ching as the The Sῡtra on Upāsaka Precepts (1991, Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai). Gyōnen (1240–1321) a vinaya scholar in his work Risshū Kōyō, describes the social responsibility applied to Bodhisattvas which he describes as both lay and ordained. Pañca sīla – the Five ethical Precepts; dating back to the origins of Buddhism are five moral rules as a minimum ethical standard for Buddhists which are (1) not to kill or injure living creatures; (2) not to take what has not been given; (3) to avoid sexual misconduct; (4) to abstain from false speech; (5) not to take intoxicants. They are the cornerstones of morality, especially for the laity. See Batholomeusz (2002), Harvey (2000: 239–85) and Collins (1998: 414–96).

3

The Amida Trust

Historical background The Amida Trust, like other forms of New Buddhist movement (NBM) in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, came into being largely as the result of the influence of a charismatic spiritual leader, in this instance, David Brazier (Dharmavidya).1 Like other Buddhist groups whose genesis in late modernity asks questions about how one adapts and authenticates authority, and functions in Western contemporary societies, the changes in organizational and doctrinal conditions have been rapid and sometimes controversial. The Amida Trust is the umbrella organization which houses within its structure the ‘Amida-kai’, or spiritual association – membership of which is open to anyone who sympathizes with the trust’s principles and work – and ‘Amida-shu’ the school or Pure Land saṅgha (community) in which the ‘Amida Order’ (since April 2005) has become embedded. The Amida-shu are the more committed members, including the ‘Amida Order’, while the Amida-kai are more loosely associated. Membership of Amida-shu (as the religious community within the organization practising Pure Land2 Buddhism) is by invitation only. Membership requires formal commitments to the Amida organization (discussed later in this chapter). Both the association (kai) and school (shu) developed out of an earlier initiative to create a Socially Engaged Buddhist group in the late 1990s. The Trust came into existence formally in Newcastle upon Tyne in April 1996. The group consisted of a number of individuals involved in Buddhism and psychotherapy. Dharmavidya and his wife Caroline (Prasada) were seen as natural leads, being disaffected members of the C of I, which they claim, lacked action in an engaged Buddhist context, and this motivated their efforts to create Amida. The original aim for Amida was ‘to provide an umbrella, not a business,

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for the Buddhist psychotherapy and other interests of the group’ (Dharmavidya, April 2002). The internal discussions led to a formal constitution by November the same year and registration as a charitable trust early the following year. Its charitable objectives are: in support of ‘Dharma’ in education, training, overseas aid, famine relief and religious activity. As part of its early development the Trust had brought together a small network of individuals based in Newcastle upon Tyne where Dharmavidya was working as a Buddhist psychotherapist together with his wife. He had written Zen Therapy in 1995, influenced by his former Zen teacher, the late Jiyu Kennett Roshi.3 As a former psychiatric social worker he went on to develop a form of psychotherapy based on a dialectical appraisal between Carl Rogers’ humanistic approach and Buddhist teaching as understood in the Abhidhamma Piṭaka of the Pāli canon. After its inception it began running its own accredited Buddhist psychology/ psychotherapy and counselling courses,4 attracting therapists from a wide variety of Western backgrounds. This was developed later within a Pure Land framework, resulting in what could be described as a compassionate expression of altruism for all sentient beings based on the Mahāyāna Bodhisattva ideal.5 Since 1997 they have gone on to establish themselves in Buddhist psychology and psychotherapy in international developments in India, Canada, Hawaii, South Korea and Japan but until recently have had only minor contact and growth in continental Europe. The organization acquired a house in Cher, central France,6 and a second property (bequeathed to the organization in Finsbury Park, north London) called Sukhāvatī (a Buddhist heaven in the Pure Land tradition), and in 2001 they moved to a residence called ‘The Buddhist House’, in Narborough, Leicestershire (hereafter TBH). But retained its base in Newcastle upon Tyne. Between 2010 and 2012 the Amida Trust experienced significant change, largely as a consequence of the marital breakdown of David and Caroline Brazier and the subsequent division of property and organizational positions that flowed from it. Caroline Brazier created a new charitable organization called Tariki Trust and remains in the Buddhist House at Narborough, where together with a small group of trained psychologists and psychotherapists (from a variety of spiritual backgrounds) she continues her work in what is described as: Amida Psychotherapy Training Programme in Other-Centred Approach, or more commonly – Other-Centred Therapy, derived from her book of the same name (2009). This work offers foundation certificates and diplomas in Counselling and Psychotherapy, and in addition it provides continued professional development and post-qualifying certificates in Other-Centred Therapy and distance learning

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programmes in Buddhist psychology. Newer developments include Ten Directions  – training in environmental therapy, developed through her latest publication, (2011) Acorns among the Grass: Adventures in Eco-Therapy and Buddhist Chaplaincy Training and spiritual accompaniment. There are now two organizations functioning where one did previously. There are obvious crossovers of approach, and in the transition of much of 2012 and into 2013 there are students in the Tariki programmes who have connections with the former Amida association and vice versa. Both organizations are seeking mutual understanding and are hoping to avoid competition in the Buddhist psychology and psychotherapy arenas. Despite the challenge to members who may feel they have torn loyalties, change essentially only relates to physical meeting sites, and spaces used by Amida as part of its function, and some changes in responsibility for Order members. It also involves new developments into the international arena in a more formalized sense. New organizations have emerged within and beyond Amida. The new ‘Institute for Zen Therapy’ (IZT) (www.instituteforzentherapy.com) is one example of an Amida-supported initiative, reflective of the title of David Brazier’s first book Zen Therapy in 1995, which is providing: Individual Psychotherapy, Counselling, Analysis & Guidance; Professional training in Counselling and Psychotherapy; Short & longer courses in Buddhist Psychology topics; Groupwork and expressive arts therapies; Support & supervision for counsellors & therapists; Access to the wider world of the Amida Order; Network and research events. (www.instituteforzentherapy.com)

Additionally, an international umbrella body has been created, outside of the Amida organization, registered in Spain and administered from Belgium. The international body is called Instituto Terapia Zen Internacional (ITZI) (www. zentherapyinternational.com). This organization is described as an international institute in support of Zen Therapy and the broader application of the use of Buddhist insight to deal with human problems. It claims to be aligned to training organizations and trainers in more than ten countries in Europe, Asia and North America and affirms the Institute of Zen Therapy UK as one of those affiliated bodies (by which it means an intention to cooperate). It is promoting a twoyear distance-learning programme in an internationally developed Buddhist psychology, counselling and psychotherapy programme, which has members from a variety of Buddhist traditions and non-Buddhists as well. The programme is being promoted through an online platform called the Amida Academy.

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The tenor of the organization is in international events, seminars and training developments in support of its aims. Another significant development in 2012 has been the acquisition of the former Amida France property (renamed Eleusis) in Cher by Dharmavidya, and the subsequent development of a new project described as Sacred Places and Ancient Ways, a programme of training and personal development in shamanism (www.lotusinthemud.typepad.com/sacred_places_and_ancient/). This departure from previously associated Amida programmes is moving to an encounter with the spiritual world of the journeyman. It has a two part programme, ‘one being spiritual accompaniment, with levels of initiation and the other being the workshop/pilgrimage series, called “Sacred Place & Ancient Ways”’ (cited in www.lotusinthemud). The programme associated with this development claims an association between shaman and the Buddhist sramana, as an individual giving up worldly attachment for a spiritual life. It talks of letting go of attachment to conventional thinking, and makes an analogy to Buddha as shaman, when visiting his mother in the spirit world. There may be questions about etymological association here, but the implication for the approach is to draw on those outside traditional Buddhist groups and organizations and perhaps engage wider seekers of spiritual truth? This initiative is seeking to shape a new discourse around therapy associated with nature and the natural world. This will be an independent project with a broadly spiritual-therapeutic orientation. During the period since the move to Leicestershire and the reorganization in 2011/12 the organization has evolved from a core of three, with interested guests staying on for varying lengths of time in community living, to an expanding spiritual Order (now more than 30 in number), with an integrated school, developing local saṅghas across the United Kingdom and a wider Friends network. A feature of Amida was until 2011, community living developing a Pure Land saṅgha, training and the application of a variety of forms of social engagement including Buddhist psychology/psychotherapy and counselling. The community living aspect now seems consigned to the past, or at least is in temporary suspension without a formal community residence. TBH is now a Tariki-run concern, which does not want to create a Buddhist community at TBH. It will concentrate on the Buddhist psychology/Other Centred Therapy training as its priority. There are now five Amitaryas7 within Amida including Dharmavidya as Head of the Order, but he no longer has an executive role with the Trust. Amitaryas have taken a life vow to travel wherever they are needed on behalf of the organization. The Amida-shu has grown substantially with members in the

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United Kingdom and internationally, as has the Order. The Order Members have actually outgrown the original UK conception and are now part of the wider community of Order members internationally, which sits outside of the Amida Trust UK. Many other forms of Amidism have been developed internationally with the encouragement of the United Kingdom, but are not under direct UK control. They are part of an affiliated network with similar ideals, values and ethics developed through the Pure Land growth in Amida UK but often sit outside UK borders. For example, Order Members now exist in Canada, Hawaii, Israel, Australia, India and the Benelux countries. Growing support from members of the Amida-kai (association or Friends of Amida) now also extends into the many hundreds internationally and in the United Kingdom.

Nembutsu: The complete ritual devotion Members of the Amida organization refer to the devotional form of Pure Land Buddhism they practice as ‘Amidism’. This is described as ‘a simple approach to spirituality in which all are equal and there is no condemnation, born out of Amida’s grace’8 (Brazier, 2007: 35). The term grace implies a form of gratitude by those practising which is expressed as a supportive phenomenon for practitioners, and is thereby a power beyond self or even conceptual thought. The use of terms like this, that offer an alternative to Buddhists from striving for perfection through one’s own efforts, are highlighted in the devotional practices of Amida followers. They claim to ground their practice in fellow feeling and recognition of the fallible (bombu) nature of those who inhabit the mundane world. The practice therefore highlights the acceptance of an outside source, which is at work through ineffable means within the practitioner. This is described as ‘the calling out of we vulnerable ephemeral beings towards the eternal source of refuge beyond’ (Brazier, 2007: 21). This calling out to a sacred source is grounded in the expression of nembutsu – keeping the Buddha in mind (nein fo; Chinese), or recitation of, or calling out to the Buddha Amida/Amitābha. Such a ‘calling out to Amida’ is both a ‘call-and-response’ model, signalling that salvation comes to practitioners from a source outside of self, but in the calling there is also a response in which hearing the name of Amitābha/Amida Buddha is an important characteristic of one’s development using this method (Sanford, in Payne and Tanaka, 2004: 120). The Amida School places its foundational structure practically and doctrinally in the ‘other-power’ and practice of nembutsu. It is asserted that only nembutsu

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has a transformative ability for the practitioner. The Amida practice is generally walking nembutsu, which practitioners believe has far greater importance than any other form of contemplation or meditation – sitting, lying or standing. Sitting meditation is not completely ignored as part of the practice; but even sitting requires practitioners to recite mentally the call to Amida Buddha – nembutsu. Practitioners learn the walking nembutsu by taking part. There are no complex instructions to learn beyond the recitation of the call to Amida Buddha – Namo Amida Bu (usually Butsu – but shortened by the Amida School). Hence the simplicity seemingly attracts those who have previously engaged in more ‘self-power’ forms of Buddhist practice, what is called at Amida, ‘the path of effort’ or jiriki (Japanese). AM 119 (2003) claims to have ‘tried most forms of meditation from Theravāda to Zen, but the nembutsu, where you give yourself completely to Amida as a fallible foolish ordinary being is the most powerful practice for me’. There are few prerequisites to the practice beyond a genuine acceptance that as individuals most practitioners are incapable of achieving advanced spiritual attainment by their own ‘self-power’ motivations. This practice is offered as an alternative to other contemplative forms and is known as the ‘other-power’ tariki (Japanese) approach. Through this ‘power beyond’ conceptual thought Amida practitioners see Amida Buddha working through them spiritually. This approach is part of the core teaching in the Jōdoshu (Pure Land School) founded by Hōnen Shonin (1133–1212) and developed later by the Jōdo Shin-shu sect (The True Pure Land Sect) established by Hōnen’s disciple Shinran (1173–1262), in medieval Japan. Hōnen is said to have realized his own spiritual failings after many years of practice, following which he asserted that, for most people salvation was impossible on the path of ‘self-power’ (Brazier, 2007: 76). Thus he gave himself to the ‘other-power’ path and taught the nembutsu to ordinary members of society, creating a transformation in Japanese Buddhism, moving it from an elitist world, where religious practice was seen as only the preserve of the rich and powerful. The Pure Land form of Buddhism in the United Kingdom is quite rare,10 and its adaptation in support of an overtly socially engaged Buddhist practice equally so. The development of nembutsu which takes the form of a number of differently chanted or recited versions as well as silent invocations is described by members of Amida (AM 3, AM 5, AM 11), as an all encompassing approach to Buddhist practice in which faith in ‘other-power’ has given people confidence to challenge common areas of concern in the social context. The primal vow11 of Amida is the cornerstone of nembutsu practice. Through it Amida vowed that all who listen to his name, keeping him in mind in settled faith, will be reborn in his Pure Land, and at the time of death there will be no anxiety (Keel, 2000: 46).

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The call to Amida Buddha or keeping the Buddha in mind is described as pervasive. In the calling out verbally, the practitioner of nembutsu feels that ‘Nyorai12 called him/her’, in a reciprocal practice where listening is said to be as important as calling. This keeping in mind (nein fo) refers to all forms of Buddhist practice when they are practised in the spirit of response to Nyorai. One could say, therefore, that Amida members practise nien fo and that nembutsu is the core of that practice. Practitioners are asked to have unconditional faith in ‘otherpower’, which suggests a slightly utopian world from the Pure Land perspective. In practical terms Amida supporters lay claim to the nembutsu encompassing a way of being in the world, which can be seen in a number of examples of social action within the Amida community. AM 6 (2003) comments on a demonstration in Trafalgar Square as part of the ‘Stop the War Coalition’ initiative over the Iraq invasion, saying: I think nembutsu in unusual places make people stop and think for a moment. You are, as it were, a force, which has a reaction on the audience. Other people came along and were sitting there next to us, so it is a very different kind of force, an example of other power. One that makes people stop and think, giving an expression to what Buddhism can mean in terms of bringing about this kind of contemplative space. (AM 6, 17 November 2003)

The community at Amida when in residence follow a five-day cycle of practice, which cuts across the normal seven-day week experienced outside the community. The five days include four formal training days and one rest day, outlined below by AM 5 (2004): On the remaining four days we start the day with morning chanting in a way that sets the tone for the day and to some extent represents the main strands of Buddhism. We draw on a different traditional form of chanting, poems and sūtra recitation for each day. On the first day we have a Tibetan form, the second is chanting from the Theravāda tradition. The third day is chanting from the Chinese Chan poems and the fourth day is chanting from the Japanese Pure Land tradition and the Heart Sūtra.

The chanting styles adopted in the morning service are similar to those in use by the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives (OBC) of which Dharmavidya was once a part, and may be a legacy of that relationship. The use of terms like liturgy to refer to the morning service, its Gregorian plainsong, invocations to Amida using the four tone nembutsu, hymns to Ippen, and the adaptation of Christian hymn tunes like Immortal, Invisible for the hymn Enlightened Compassionate are all indicators of a highly adaptive liturgical practice (Daily Chanting, 2004: 1–10).

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Retreats are generally themed from ‘weekend-beginners’ level to more extensive five- and nine-day retreats, which are for the most part run in conjunction with the topic of practice in the five-day cycle at the time. There is a specific annual retreat; the Bodhi retreat, which was run from TBH in December each year and is now organized on the same days for all Amida centres and saṅghas around the world in a coordinated response. In 2012 the retreat associated with it was coordinated between centres in Canada, Hawaii, India, United Kingdom and Belgium. It is traditional to hold a retreat at this time of year in the memory of the enlightenment of Śākyamuni Buddha celebrated on 8 December in this organization, in common with other East Asian Buddhist traditions. The retreat includes teachings, seminars, formal and informal gatherings, nembutsu practice and prolonged chanting periods, themed ceremonies and personal sharing. At this retreat, ordinations, commitment ceremonies and renewals of refuges, membership and precepts take place. During the retreat period there are school, Order and Ministry meetings. All members of Amida-shu are encouraged to attend. The highlight is the challenging 24-hour nembutsu, where participants remain in the shrine hall in recitation and invocation for the whole period. Upon completion certificates of attendance are awarded to participants. Another intense retreat is the five-day Nei Quan (Naikan; Japanese) retreat, meaning ‘inward enquiry’, which is part of the deeper experience of examining one’s own nature through a process of questions that acts as a life review. Amidashu has developed a method of adapting Japanese methods of approach for their own use, but uses the Chinese words or phrases to describe them as a way of distinguishing the adapted form from its original Japanese source. This is the case here as the Japanese naikan is regarded as a therapeutic approach used for individuals, not group settings (Brazier, 2007: 69). Amida have developed a group-centred Nei Quan retreat which develops inward enquiry using a set of questions which concentrates on relationships in life over time; starting with the primary care given by mother, moving on in time-related increments through childhood, adolescence and into periods within adulthood. The questions posed ask the participant to ask themselves: what did this person do for you? What did you do in return? What trouble did it cause? This retreat has been created to move people on emotionally and psychologically in a cathartic way, as it deals with conflict and difficult issues in life. During this reflection the meditation room is partitioned off so that participants occupy their own space. Retreatants may sit, lie or stand during the exploration, use writing or drawing as an aid but conduct the process in

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complete silence. The only communicating with fellow retreatants is formal sharing circles at the halfway point and end of the retreat. Retreatants are not allowed to leave their allocated spaces except to sleep and use the toilet. The basis of this approach is to seek out, even in those who have wronged individuals, the truth that no one is completely cruel, wicked, immoral or corrupt. Part of the 2004/5 SEB Survey material was designed around questions that reflect individuals’ practice; it included questions about meditation, chanting, Buddhist studies and retreat attendance. One meditation question does ask about ‘meditation or other ritual’ in order to incorporate such experiences as nembutsu. Table 3.1 identifies 65 out of 66 Amida members engage in some form of meditative or other ritual practice, equivalent to 98 per cent of the sample of Amida members in the survey. The two variables used to calculate the crosstabulation being ‘current membership’ and ‘mediation or other ritual’. It identifies 252 respondents in the total survey of which 66 are Amida members. The follow-up question asks respondents to quantify how often they engage in meditation. The response can be seen in Table 3.2.

Table 3.1  Current membership of Amida: ‘Meditation or other ritual practice crosstabulation’ Count Meditation or other ritual practice

Current membership of   Amida Total

Yes No

Yes

No

65 174 239

1 12 13

Total 0 0 0

0 0 0

66 186 252

Table 3.2  Current membership of Amida: How often do you meditate cross-tabulation Count How often do you meditate?

Current membership   of Amida Total

Yes No

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Daily

Total

2 8 10

3 3 6

24 51 75

37 115 152

66 177 243

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Those who meditate ‘daily’ are 56 per cent of the Amida sample; Meditation ‘sometimes’, 36 per cent of the sample; ‘Rarely’ meditating are 5 per cent and ‘never’ 3 per cent of the sample. Those who meditate ‘sometimes’, or ‘daily’, amount to 92 per cent who have a fairly regular meditative practice. Questioned about chanting, 58 per cent claimed they did chant. In relation to Buddhist studies, 71 per cent claimed to study Buddhism formally while 50 per cent of the sample engaged in pūjās as formal offerings distinct from meditation, even if combined within a ceremony.

An engaged spirituality: Teachings of Amida The doctrinal position of the Amida Trust has changed since its inception in 1996 from an uncertain position in the beginning, which relied heavily on the previous experience in Zen and Theravāda Buddhism of Dharmavidya,13 to a much more comprehensively thought through position today, which sees the Pure Land doctrine and practice defining the organization. Today, the Amida School describes itself doctrinally and philosophically as a form of Pure Land Buddhism whose teachings affirming the trikāya nature of Buddha, the bombu nature of the adherent and the primacy of nembutsu among Buddhist practices (www.amidatrust.com). The three essential aspects of Amidist doctrine could be viewed as: (1) Amida’s Pure Land in which rebirth is desired; (2) The bombu paradigm, which identifies individuals and institutions, (religious and otherwise) as fallible and characterized by human weakness; and (3) The nembutsu. These three aspects are expressed more simply by Brazier as, ‘nyorai [Tathāgata], ourselves and the relationship between the two’ (Brazier, 2007: 20). The initial uncertainty is indicative of developing structures with little more to work with than a vision of a better world through the conduit of Buddhism; one that has characterized a number of developing ‘New Religious Movements’ (NRMs) throughout the twentieth century in their search for a doctrinal position (Barker, 1999). Amida is not only an NRM but also an ‘NBM’14 and to some extent mirrors the journey of Sangharakshita when developing the TBC (FWBO – another NBM). Dharmavidya acknowledges the difficulties of the early days, stating: We were amateurs, starting from scratch. Everything we did involved reinventing the wheel. We had not really thought about the Trust as a membership organization. Nor was it conflict free. Ideals tend to breed conflict. The attempt to be all things to all people was perhaps necessary in the early days, but it was insupportable in the medium or long term. (Brazier, 2007: 93–4)

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Dharmavidya highlights three areas that influenced the shift to the Pure Land doctrine: first, that other Pure Land schools welcomed them and supported them in their early period. Not least that other Pure Land masters showed equal respect for the laity and the saṅgha as part of that support. Secondly, there was, in his opinion, an ease with which Western minds could relate to the thinking of a Pure Land as a template for a changed world, where a form of faith in ‘other-power’ towards a heavenly abode (metaphorically or physically) added a quasi-Christian understanding to a Buddhist perspective. Finally, this was a form of Buddhism that required a simply expressed form of practice ‘nien fo’ – keeping the Buddha in mind, as a form of refuge (outlined above). The Pure Land seemingly offered the potential for change in the world that had resonance for Western practitioners, despite the traditionally held view that its liberating power was in a Pure Land (Sukhāvati) after death. Amidism (in this context) sees all experience as ‘other-power’ (tariki) focused, and hold strongly to the idea that the less-than-perfect status of the person and of the world is a starting point for reflection on one’s origins in dependency (conditioned arising), out of which all life is characterized as encounter. Such an encounter with ‘otherness’ is, according to Dharmavidya ‘the state to realizing that otherness is all that there is’, this is in fact how he describes śūnyatā (emptiness) from the Amida perspective. The Amida-shu have reinterpreted the implications of Amida’s primal vow for practitioners and introduce it as ‘Just as it is; just as you are’, meaning no matter who or what your circumstances, one is acceptable to Amida Buddha just as one is. Japanese Pure Land forms like Jōdo Shin-shu takes a more salvation-based approach, unlike the classical Pure Land Buddhism that originally developed in China (and Jōdo-shu in Japan) in which ‘self-power’ (jiriki) and ‘other-power’ (tariki) is combined. Chinese Pure Land forms claim that through recitation, meditation and visualization practices, vowing to be reborn and manifesting the mind of faith, one attains ‘Buddha Remembrance Samādhi’, uniting one’s selfpower with the other-power of Buddha Amitābha/Amida. Herein lays the major difference between Amida Buddhism and other forms of Pure Land practice, as Amidism takes the Jōdo Shin-shu position on ‘other-power’ alone as their route to salvation. The need to settle into a recognized doctrinal form came about in part due to the tensions described above, and partly because people wanted to know what type of Buddhism they were getting involved with and wanted confidence in a structure that could sustain and support their engagement. The organization could ‘not afford to remain amorphous, however politically correct it sometimes

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seemed to be to try to do so’ (Brazier, 2007: 95). Like many other forms of British Buddhism that do not adopt a clear philosophy, the Amida-shu were pressed into creating a sustained link to an Eastern tradition for the sake of stability within the organization. There was a necessity to authenticate their doctrine and practice, which they did within the Pure Land tradition. The nembutsu practice associated with the Amida community can be described doctrinally as well as in practice terms. It has, according to Dharmavidya, five elements, which help practitioners who are engaged with humanitarian and sociopolitical issues as Buddhists: 1. Faith is a primary element in the efficacy of nembutsu, but not an exclusive one. 2. Contrition is a necessary preparation for nembutsu. 3. Good works spring naturally from nembutsu. 4. Nembutsu is shorthand for all Buddha’s teaching. 5. Nembutsu brings us into the presence of the sacred. (David Brazier, 2005)

These elements represent taking refuge in Amida Buddha; they are not an orthodox view within Pure Land schools but it is nonetheless an adaptation which is also doctrinally supportive of the ‘five element refuges’ adopted by the Amida School which reads: In Amida we take refuge In the Buddha we take refuge In the Dharma we take refuge In the Sangha we take refuge In the Pure Land we take refuge

Most Buddhists take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Amida Buddhists additionally take refuge in ‘Amida Buddha’ and in the ‘Pure Land’. The two additional refuges are said to deepen one’s appreciation of the original three. This refuge has been reinterpreted by claiming that the Buddha Śākyamuni discovered the ‘primal vow’ of Amida Buddha and was consequently able to live a life of service to all sentient beings. The implication here is that the Buddha (Śākyamuni) had an awakening of faith leading to his enlightened state. This faith is claimed to be a condition in which virtues naturally arise. Openness, as an ordinary bombu individual to faith in ‘other-power’, manifests in a naturally arising morality in which virtue is developed and in that sense faith is seen as equivalent to enlightenment. Faith in Amida Buddhism therefore seems to mean to entrust oneself to reality – to things just as they are (tathatā) – not to anything supernatural, nor

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to wishful thinking. This notion of enlightenment seems to break with the idea of early Indian Buddhism, which sees the Buddha as transcending his human nature by virtue of which he participated in the supermundane condition attained by all Buddhas past and future. Yet, as will be seen below, Amidism upholds the doctrine of the three bodies of a Buddha (trikāya) in which the Buddha manifests himself in three modes or dimensions. Refuge in the Dharma means both the Buddhist teaching and reality. The Buddha pointed out reality as birth and death, bliss and affliction, paths of noble living and paths of corruption. The faith-based approach is said to be open to those willing to accept it, which means following the dharma on a noble path. Refuge in the saṅgha means the community of those, ordained and lay, who follow the path pointed out by the Buddha. To take refuge in saṅgha is to commit oneself to being part of the movement that the Buddha founded for the emancipation of this world from delusion. Refuge in Amida Buddha means refuge in measurelessness. The historical Buddha gave teachings about Amida Buddha, which according to the Amidashu help individuals to see all existence in the aspect of what is immeasurable and ungraspable so that one might turn away from ‘little lives and mean minds’ and be released into a greater vision. Refuge in the Pure Land identifies two paths in Buddhism according to Amidism: the ‘Path of Sages’ and the ‘Pure Land Path’. Amida Buddhism is a Pure Land Path based on faith in the vision of the Pure Land rather than on achieving personal enlightenment by one’s own efforts. The trikāya nature of Buddha dovetails with the doctrinal positions of rebirth in the Pure Land after death, other-power, bombu nature and the nembutsu. The Amida-shu explanation of the three bodies of a Buddha is to incorporate them into a philosophical scheme that follows Hōnen’s depiction and that of other Pure Land teachers. The Nirmānakāya refers to the historical physical Buddha Śākyamuni who projected himself into the world of suffering beings. The Sambhogakāya is a reward body whereby a Bodhisattva completes his vows to become a Buddha, epitomized by Amida in the Pure Land and finally the Dharmakāya body is a ‘truth body’ embodied in the Buddha, often seen in the form of Vairocana Buddha. Amidist doctrine understands the trikāya doctrine in relation to ‘grace’, which is an idiom related to the ‘Light’ of Amida, which cannot be obstructed  – in Japanese it is mugeko – unimpeded light. The measureless light (Amitābha) or grace is said to illumine this and all other worlds. From this light come the ‘Four Immeasurables’: loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity

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together with the ethical and compassionate teachings of Buddhism. This implies those who open themselves to Amida’s Light (grace) will automatically become loving and compassionate through the natural process of softening of the heart, which occurs, according to this teaching, as a consequence. In other words ‘unconditional love is a response to unconditional acceptance’ (Brazier, 2007: 124).

Social engagement in the service of the Pure Land Amidism accepts all Buddhist scriptures, noting particularly canonical literature and commentaries, but is shaped by only a small selection known as the Pure Land Sūtras. These comprise of the Larger and Smaller Pure Land Sutra (Sukāhvatī-vyhūa Sūtras) in addition the Pratyupanna Samādhi Sūtra, the Lotus Sūtra (Jp. Myoho-renge-kyo) and the Meditation (visualization) Sūtra (Chin. Kuan Wu-Liang-Shou-Fo Ching). In the Larger Sukhāvatī Sūtra, Śākyamuni Buddha gives his disciple Ānanda a detailed description of the ‘Realm of Bliss’. He also recounts the history of the Bodhisattva Dharmakāya and describes the 48 vows in detail. In the Smaller Sukhāvatī Sūtra Śākyamuni Buddha speaks to his disciple Śāriputra about the ‘Realm of Bliss’, giving a concise description of Amitābha’s Buddha-realm but missing out the 48 vows. The Meditation Sūtra, also regarded more generally as a meditation manual, gives a detailed description of the features of the Pure Land. This includes descriptions of the characteristics of Amitābha Buddha and the attendant Bodhisattvas: Avalokiteśvara, representing engaged compassion, and Mahāsthāmaprāpta, representing wisdom. All three are often depicted together, with Amida in the centre forming a trinity. While much of what is described above in doctrinal terms overlaps narratives employed by the Amida-shu, fundamentally there are three aspects to consider within the interpretative nature of much of the Amidist analysis: first, how is the character of Amida Buddha to be understood, either as a symbolic figure or a real Buddha among Buddhas with whom practitioners have a relationship? Secondly, what is the Amida group’s understanding of SEB and how it is presented to the world? And finally, what is its relationship to the wider religious context including inter-religious involvement? The first has been touched on above but needs clarification. The figure of Amida Buddha can be understood either allegorically or historically depending on whether one believes Śākyamuni is telling an allegory or he is telling a history

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in his narration of the Larger Pure Land Sūtra. If it is an allegory, then Amida is simply a symbolic character in a story and the story is probably meant actually to tell the reader something about Śākyamuni himself. If the story is history then the account is more like a cosmological vision in which one is being told something about the greater process that is going on. The Amidist approach is to opt for the latter. The Pure Land approach holds the key to how SEB is interpreted by the Amida organization. It gives a frame for engaged Buddhism that is rooted directly in its scriptures and is not a case of Western liberal thinking added on to Buddhist sensibility, but rather a direct application of Pure Land principles. As is explained above, the Pure Land Buddhist does not worry about his or her own salvation. They are therefore deemed to be free to get on with the Buddha’s work, which is not self-serving. ‘Amida Buddhism is thus engaged, visionary, faith-based, devotional, egalitarian, altruistic, inclusive, tolerant, confident, and mystical all at the same time’ (Dharmavidya, October 2006). This SEB approach it could be argued, takes the ability to decide out of the hands of practitioners to a degree, if you follow the Pure Land ideal set out by Amida. One may or may not be moved by the suffering of others, but providing one has faith that nyorai is moved by it, then the ‘other-power’ dynamic is said to work through individuals. There has been a significant shift in thinking within Amida in recent years (2007–11) and a broadening of the scope of the engaged Buddhist endeavour, which has resulted in Amida redefining itself as being involved in ‘Culturally Engaged Buddhism’. Dharmavidya described the Amida response on the front page of their website, thus: We are culturally engaged in that we are not only engaged in socially useful or politically implicated actions; we are also engaged in the arts and letters and performance; we are concerned about the kind of values that underpin society, and especially that conduce to community; we are concerned to generate the conditions that give rise to creativity; we are interested in friendship, co-operation and synergism, and in unleashing the energy of people who have something to offer, helping them to become both true individuals and contributing members of ‘rightly resolute groups’.

The fundamental additions to what is normative among engaged Buddhists is a direct reference to art and performance, creativity and synergy. This approach falls into three categories: (1) Resist Oppression; (2) Assist the Afflicted; (3) Demonstrate an Alternative. The notion of ‘resisting harm doing’ is the first line of action. When carried out from an Amidist Buddhist perspective it

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is informed by a sense of fellow feeling for all parties involved, not least the oppressor. Sympathy for the oppressor may shape the type of action as opposed to immobilizing one from action altogether. There is no place for punishment in this model of engagement, only for action conducive to a better future. The Pure Land approach to ‘assisting the afflicted’ should lead to avoidance of condescension, and to help empower rather than merely assist, by building mutuality and friendship. ‘Demonstrating an alternative’ comes about as an extension of the idea of saṅgha in which engaged work builds wider communities, which is seen as a learning opportunity. The bombu paradigm enables groups and individuals to see themselves as fallible, prone to making errors, in which case opportunities for sharing experiences are created. The learning experience becomes a learning cycle in which action yields experience upon which one reflects; such reflection develops mutual understanding and cooperation. From this cohesive state of development further foundations are laid for future action. Within Amidism SEB is seen as a form of training and spiritual development, functioning at group and individual level, which, according to Dharmavidya, ‘asks practitioners to investigate the meaning of compassion, wisdom and faith using real situations which have important consequences’ (Dharmavidya, October 2006). SEB work in the wider community is a powerful tool that has a fundamental influence on the Amida spiritual community. It develops flexibility as individuals pursue their vocations, discovering their own bombu nature and that of society in the process. The fellow feeling that this engenders has transformative affects according to Amida members, who commit themselves to the nyorai both as strength to assist and to protect them in SEB work. The rationale for a form of SEB supported by the doctrine of the Pure Land and reinterpreted, as a creative narrative is unique in UK engaged activity, and may also be so in the rest of the world, where a comprehensive adaptation of the Pure Land has been reworked into its own rationale for SEB. This model is more a friendship-based approach than a service-based model, although it may carry elements of both. The fact that the Amidist approach works creatively using a pluralist narrative is designed to attract individuals to the group. There are, however, no overt efforts to create large numbers of members, albeit numbers have continued to grow since the reorganization, and there is no sense of proselytizing from within the organization. A new generation have come forward to run Amida Trust, allowing Dharmavidya as Head of the Order to step away from his former Executive role and concentrate on the new developments in ITZI and Eleusis in France.

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Why choose the Amida experience? An area of neglect in the academic study of SEB in the West has been the motivating factors for individuals that lead them to join a particular group or organization formally or informally. Individuals encounter Amida through a variety of routes. First, through the impressive web presence of the organization, through which the use of member’s blogs creates a constant flow of up to date information otherwise unknown among other UK Buddhist groups (notwithstanding TBC) with the same level of intensity.15 Research into those members’ present up to 2010 suggests over 60 per cent came into contact with the organization through their website. A second route of encounter is through the Amida Learning Community; an educational approach to the courses on offer designed with a prospectus and yearly calendar of courses, which run from September to June to parallel academic years. This approach includes professional long-term courses and short-term ones, some stand alone, while others form part of ongoing blocks of training. Some of these are combined with volunteer training and placements in the United Kingdom and overseas. It will be interesting to note if a lack of a residency affects numbers attracted to informal gatherings or whether the new generation of websites and saṅghas will attract people in the same way. The third generally accepted method of encounter is through the literature produced by Dharmavidya (David Brazier). He has written seven popular books on Buddhist psychology, social engagement and the development of Pure Land Buddhism in the West, and continues to write prolifically on the web through blogs and websites in addition to books and articles. Caroline Brazier too is a well-written advocate of Buddhist psychology and Other-Centred approaches, and developments associated with the trajectory of the Tariki Trust will also be of interest in the coming years. To what extend mutuality of approaches can be a sustaining factor for both organizations, only time will tell. The experiential and emotional response of most people who are associated with the Amida organization can be seen across three areas of interest: (1) they are deeply concerned about the planet and the propensity for humanity to destroy the ecosystem; (2) they have grave concern for the way late modern life is affecting societies and individuals based on conflict, degradation and inequalities in the world; and/or (3) they have a sense of seeking an alternative lifestyle, which opens up to them through therapy using Buddhist techniques. The basic motivator encompassing all three is seeing in Buddhism the potential for a better world.

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In response to questions about why people came to be involved with Amida, the following are some of the motivational responses (2002–5): I met Modgala at the Arms trade demo. I’d seen the website it wasn’t that great then; just got it going I think. I like the Buddhist lifestyle and the freedom you get in a community like this. We can challenge the world, using spirituality as an alternative to what is being served up at the moment. (AM 3, November, 2002) I came because I was searching for something, but now I know I was being led. I am of the heart – I follow that, and the fact that there is a focus on being a foolish being – that there is another power, which is infinite beyond words, which will guide us without express appreciation, gratitude, or contradiction, helped me to relax. I am not striving for perfection. It is a devotional lifestyle, which takes account of all my strengths and weaknesses. I feel comfortable in the community. It’s what I’ve been looking for, for a long time. (AM 11, January, 2004) I was reading a book of David Brazier, The New Buddhism. It had a bite, and I like religion and philosophy with a bite, so I was very curious at meeting this author, and I asked if I could join them; first as a paying guest for a month, and after I decided to stay. (AM 7, August, 2005)

The responses above are a few of many, but are typical of those who saw or heard about the group and their humanitarian projects; saw the alternative lifestyle for the freedom it presented to follow a course of action in the world supported by a spiritual practice; and through genuine concern for the planet and its peoples took up a lifestyle radically different from that previously undertaken. The charismatic nature of Dharmavidya comes through in the response of many who have read his literature, heard him speak, or conversed with him one to one, or in one of his many blogs on the internet. Those predisposed to seeking an alternative approach to the ills of the world clearly make up the majority associated with the Amida organization. Some were activists earlier in life and had become disillusioned with the liberalism of much of today’s protest, or simply grown away from it due to lifestyle changes. There are many who have said the way the Pure Land is explained, as ‘faith oriented’ through ‘grace’ in ‘other-power’ resonates with them. It allows some to see (in this form of Buddhism) a resonance with former Christian associations that is not in direct opposition to Buddhism (theist versus non-theist). The pluralist approach seems to be a positive factor in a multicultural environment, and not a negative one. A cross-tabulation of survey evidence looking at former religious convictions can be seen in Table 3.3. Here, of 64 Amida members in the

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Table 3.3  Current membership of Amida: Other faith before Buddhist cross-tabulation Other faith before Buddhist (Christian)

Current membership of Amida Total

Yes No

Yes

No

34 94 128

30 86 116

Total 64 180 244

survey sample, 53 per cent (34) were formally Christian. There is no evidence of a rejection of former Christian influences within the organization. There has been some concerns raised in relation to the reorganization but that has been tempered by a maturity within the organization after 16 years, out of which a new direction is being sought (putting aside personal issues). There is a sense of moving forward with the new challenges of functioning without a residency and a general feeling among the Trust, Order and school, that new ventures in international terms, and growing Order numbers is a positive response to change.

Amida precepts and rules The Amida-shu (incorporating the Order of Amida Buddha – OAB) and Amidakai (association/friends) are governed by a constitution within which there are rules and precepts by which to live an ethical life. Members of Amida-shu are enjoined to live ethical lives, but in recognition of bombu human nature and the diversity of life circumstances of people living regular lives in society, only a minority of lay people in the school formally commit to the keeping of specific precepts. According to Dharmavidya:16 It is better to do one’s best to live an ethical life than to commit to specific rules and then find for various reasons that one is not fulfilling one’s commitment. Those who do wish to take the five lay precepts or the ten Mahāyāna precepts may discuss the matter with a member of the Order. (November, 2007)

The preference for lay members of the community is to take a fivefold refuge (outlined earlier) rather than the usual three refuges and five ethical precepts. Ordained members of the Order live according to a religious rule. In the case of ministers and Gankonin (trainees) this currently includes 156 precepts and for Amitaryas/acharyas (qualified priests) and Novices, a further 82, making

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238 in all. According to Dharmavidya (December 2008), ‘they are designed to regulate the life of a mobile, socially engaged saṅgha living in the contemporary world but grounded in faith and devotional practice, which emanates from the Pure Land tradition’. The rules are not therefore based on traditional vinaya categories but are founded on a combination of the 48 vows of the Bodhisattva Dharmakāya (who became enlightened as Amida Buddha) and subdivided categories that make reference to a variety of areas of conduct and Pure Land practice, some normative and some aspirational. The rules include a section in support of social engagement, On Working for the Improvement of Society, under the subheading On Social Construction (rules 140–51). The inclusion of this category is a specific intention to highlight the implications for behaviour based on a socially engaged practice. They require ‘Order Members’ to: work for the improvement of society (rule 140); having tender regard for those afflicted by disease, poverty, social oppression or misfortune (rule 141); take regard for those subject to cruelty and deprivation (rule 142); work for liberation of all using non-violent means (rule 143); not to be slow to assist beings in need where one has means (rule 144); to oppose oppression and right the wrongs it causes (rule 145); to renounce caste, race, nationalism, patriotism and forms of political partisanship, seeing them as idolatry (rule 146); to act in ways conducive to the establishment of societies that are not built on privilege and oppression (rule 147); to seek to understand oppressed and oppressor and reconcile all parties wherever possible (rule 148); to not become involved in coercive activities except where there is no other way to save a person from their own destructive impulses (rule 149); to support the freedom of others that they may peacefully and respectfully enjoy the whole world without confinement (rule 150); and to work for peace (rule 151) (www. amidatrust.com/precepts.html). Dharmavidya commented helpfully on the precepts and rules, saying: Following some of the above may appear to be asking for super human abilities of Order members, however the principle of faith in the grace of Amida is the key to the practice and therefore requires no more than to entrust oneself to that ‘other-power’ approach. (Dharmavidya, October 2006)

The remaining subsections of the rules are based on the ten Bodhisattva vows of the Mahāyāna the five ethical precepts and part of the noble eightfold path of the Theravāda with practical applications of Pure Land teaching, which include the additional rules about community living and cooperation for novices and Amitaryas, including rules on celibacy (optional).

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There is a twofold ordination pathway, which allows participants in a lay capacity to move from an informal lay position (as an interested party and perhaps an Amida-kai member) to a formal position within the school and Amida Order. Stage one is the progression to ‘Seminarian’ or ‘Trainee’, which effectively means the layperson is admitted to the Amida-shu (school) in either capacity. Criteria for admission to the school includes being a practicing Buddhist who has taken threefold refuge for at least one year and participated in Amida activities throughout that time. At this stage there is no requirement to have taken the Five Precepts. It is possible to change paths from ‘Trainee’ to ‘Aspirant’ (from a fully ordained trajectory to a Ministry route) with the approval of the Head of the Order (Dharmavidya). Otherwise the natural progression for ‘Trainees’ is to ‘Postulant’ if the fully ordained path is the route being anticipated. ‘Postulants’ should have a religious vocation, live by the Five Precepts and undergo intensive training and study of the religious life. Thereafter the paths are not generally seen as interchangeable. The fully ordained pathway would move from ‘Postulant’ after 12 months training to a ‘Novice’. Such a move requires ordination procedures; the ‘Novice’ taking 238 precepts the same as an ‘Amitarya’. Ordination can be carried out by any ‘Amitarya’ but is usually undertaken by the Head of the Order. The natural progression is from ‘Novice’ after three years of training to a ‘fully ordained Amitarya’. This final step is anticipated to be for life. The requirement of celibacy exists for single Amitaryas but not for those who are married. The pathway to ‘Ministry’ is the natural progression from ‘Aspirant’. An ‘Aspirant’ intends to ordain in this pathway and will remain in it for at least a year. The ‘Aspirant’ should have an unambiguous vocation for the religious life, live by the Five Precepts, eat vegetarian food, and avoid alcohol, drugs and tobacco. They should study the religious life to which they aspire and take up the probationary position of Gankonin (meaning vow mind in Japanese), a role that has superseded the use of the term ‘Chaplain’ (as a junior Buddhist priest). The main focus of the Gankonin is threefold: (1) working with a congregation (which are designated groups by the Head of the Order  – currently London, Leicester, Sheffield, Malvern and Newcastle upon Tyne); (2) assisting a Minister, and (3) in active service in a culturally engaged Buddhist setting. They will undertake training from time to time and are ordained to keep 156 precepts on the approval of the Head of the Order. A ‘Minister’ is a ‘fully ordained priest’ keeping the same precepts as the Gankonin. The active focus is in the service of a congregation and/or service

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in an engaged Buddhist setting. This has flexibility built in and is dependent on individual circumstances, the key here is ‘being active’. It is not expected to be a lifetime commitment (but could be). Disciplinary procedures can be found in the (2006) Provisions for Structure, Continuity and Governance (known as Provisions). Procedures are dealt with under section 10: Equitable Settlement of Plaints, Complaints and Disputes and are the responsibility of the peacemaker (an appointed officer of the Order). The perspective to be adopted is that of equity rather than legalism, the aim being to restore confidence between people and make it possible to move forward, minimizing harm and providing conditions for long-term healing. Complaints refer to allegations made of members of the school by non-school members. Plaints concern allegations made about members of the school by one or more school members. The overarching criteria for bringing procedures into being are based on the following: If any member of the Amida school, by his or her conduct or publicly expressed views, appears to be denying the validity or abusing the spirit of the ordinances of the school, or bringing it into disrepute, and private counsel has proved to no avail, then experienced Order members may be appointed by the Peacemaker to attempt to restore him or her to unity and to ascertain whether a basis for grievance or a cause of suffering exists that may be rectified. (Provisions, 2006: S10)

If unity is not restored the convocation (a generational group of up to 18 Order members) concerned, or the Order as a whole can record a minute of disunity, and in exceptional circumstances the Order may terminate membership of the Order or of the school. Interestingly, of the 66 respondents to the 2004/5 SEB Survey 60 (91%) said they practised ethical precepts, of which Five Precepts was the minimum standard (see Table 3.4). Table 3.4  Current membership of Amida: Practice ethical precepts cross-tabulation Practice ethical precepts

Current membership of Amida Total

Yes No

Yes

No

Total

60 178 238

6 4 10

66 182 248

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Creating a structure from scratch The Amida organization has developed from a vision of a better world following Buddhist principles towards social engagement, into a fully formed, constitutionally approved (Provisions of the Amida School and Order amended 2008, 23 January 2012) organization. The organization claims a historical lineage developed from Shan Tao, Hōnen and Shinran, which has taken adaptation and authority to a new level in British Buddhist terms since the creation of the FWBO (now TBC) which also came from scratch, but based on Sangharakshita’s experiences in India. Early concerns were about training therapists in Buddhist psychology and offering the public an alternative to mainstream approaches as the core idea of the organization. This has remained a core area of work, and in the reorganized provision plays a prominent role, with IZT formally supported by Amida. As members grew a structure became necessary and was written into the Amida School and Order: Provisions for Continuity, Structure and Governance in 2004. These have been through two redactions, in 2008, and latterly through amendments/edits on 23 January 2012, and are less formally known as ‘Provisions’. The formal structure of the organization is formulated in the document ‘Provisions’, which is effectively a blueprint for the current and future developments of the organization. The section for mission is described as ‘fostering Pure Land Buddhist faith and its application for spiritual, social, psychological and practical benefit to all sentient beings, past, present and future’. Key to this statement is the links to past and future, which are seen as important both developmentally going forward and in more traditional Pure Land terms looking back at ancestors, Buddhist icons and personal losses. As part of the structure, the Amida School members are required to reaffirm their commitment to the school and Order, where applicable every calendar year, 3 years, or 5 years dependent on service. The development of formal congregations (previously in Leicester), now in London, Sheffield, Malvern and Newcastle has come about under the criteria that members in an approximate geographic location, meeting at least once a week, can become a congregation of Amida. Since the reorganization in 2011–12 the central location has moved from Leicester to London, which is being developed more in keeping with the early ideas of 1996 in forming a Therapy Centre primarily, which can accommodate Buddhist activity. The developments at Sukhāvatī in Finsbury Park are yet to be formalized, and it may take time to re-establish its position in light of recent changes.

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In the reorganization of 2011–12 the majority of earlier appointments of a variety of officers within the organization were retained and changes in the Provisions kept to a minimum. The Head of the Order (Dharmavidya) has invited a new deputy head and a registrar to take up posts, in addition to a new secretary, peacemaker and archivist. These appointments are conferred by Ordained Order members (only) at their annual gathering in August/September called the ‘Conclave’. It is here that major change affecting the Order (including new Ordained Order Members) is heard and discussed. Channels for petition (yellow paper), consultation (Green paper), proposal (White paper) and Acts (Red paper) have been put in place and papers as described above are directly associated with the process. They can be written to the Head of the Order or initiated by him, for and on behalf of the Order. The school and Order meet twice yearly in addition (spring and autumn), and at the annual Bodhi retreat in December. Amida-Shu came into existence in April 2005 following the creation of ‘Convocations’ within the Order. The first convocation or first generation and subsequent generations each being made up of a minimum of 4 Order members or a maximum of 18. The second generation and subsequent generations have a ‘Link Member’ who is a member of the earlier generation to act as a link between convocations. The second generation within the Order was formed in 2006 and the third and subsequent generations will follow the analogous route of the second and third in its formation. The Amida structure and its relationship to the Trust (under which it originated) is that the Trust acts as the legal body in the United Kingdom. Its source of influence involves ‘the members’ that includes the Amida-shu (school) and Order described as the Pure Land Buddhist saṅgha, and Amidakai (association). The Amida Order consists of three categories – lay members, ministers and Amitaryas. Probationary grades exist as described above. Appointment to the Order of Amida Buddha is by ordination, as acknowledged above by accepting fivefold refuges and associated vows.

Amida international volunteering scheme The volunteering programme in India has proved a valuable working project for the organization, not least in their recourse to social action in deprived parts of the world. Amida has developed links with the TBC (FWBO) Karuna charity in Delhi in order to facilitate an educational programme there, which has been

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running since 2005 and is now an autonomous Amida project sponsored by the UK Amida Trust. They have a small centre in the south of the city and recruit volunteers for this service-based work each September. Volunteers receive six weeks training, formally at TBH or at the Amida France retreat centre prior to departure. There will now be training of volunteers in London at Sukhāvatī prior to volunteers going out to India. The ongoing developments in Delhi are supported and organized by Rev. Sahishnu (Ordained Minister in the Order) who runs the programme working with deprived children from ex-untouchable families from the Dalit caste. Some are from Ambedkar Buddhist families but many are not. The volunteer training involves: Introduction to living and working in communities and specific teaching or group work skills depending on placement. Introduction to the relevant society and culture of placement, to Pureland Buddhism, principles of engaged Buddhism and its history in Amida Trust, and team building and cooperative working (www.amidatrust.com). Volunteers are away on projects for five months at a time and some have stayed on in India to facilitate others coming out to assist. The Indian project is educationally based, teaching basic literacy and numeracy across the religious divides among the population, it is not restricted solely to the Ambedkar Buddhists. A second project in India, The Tathāgata Trust project is not a direct Amida activity. The Trust is based in Assam and is working with a school there in support of education for Assamise tribal children from the mainly Tai tribe. It is supported by ITZI as an international collaboration (a feature of the role ITZI is now playing independent of Amida Trust UK).

The Amida social profile The survey evidence offers a demographic social profile of the Amida membership, which is only a snapshot in time, but provides useful indicative data. Amida respondents make up 26 per cent of the survey sample across all five case-study groups (66 respondents). Demographically the sample are 91 per cent white European, 2 per cent East Asian, 2 per cent Afro-Caribbean, 3 per cent South East Asian and 2 per cent ‘other’ – not stated. The average age of members is 49 years old, divided almost equally by gender: 52 per cent male and 48 per cent female. Marital status, reflects 38 per cent of respondents are married, 27 per cent single, while those divorced amounted to 12 per cent, and separated 9 per cent

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(making a combined divorced and separated total of or 21%). Those cohabiting were 12 per cent of respondents (2% failed to answer). In addition, 29 percent of those questioned had a partner who was Buddhist. Respondents were asked if they self declared as Buddhist, and 54 out of 66 responded positively (85%). Of the remaining 12: two claimed to be agnostic Buddhists, two Quakers, two Osho followers, one each of Buddhist-Pagan, Hindu, Spiritualist and three searching or seeking. Of the 66 respondents, 77 per cent claimed to be Western convert Buddhists and three (4%) indigenous Buddhists. In educational terms the Amida sample proved to be 40 per cent professionally qualified, 23 per cent Liberal Arts and Scientific combined qualifications, 12  per  cent Liberal Arts, 14 per cent Scientific and 11 per cent vocationally educated. Of those, 54 per cent were graduates and 28 per cent also held postgraduate qualifications. Both graduate figures are relatively high and tend to suggest a well-educated cohort. The income profile of Amida respondents is set against a graded scale of income starting at less than £5,000, rising by five thousand increments to a maximum of £30,000 +. It includes unwaged as a separate category. Table 3.5 reflects the income profile. Just over 15 per cent of respondents were average national income earners, between 20,000 and 25,000 pounds (in 2004/5). Over a quarter 26 per cent earned less than £15,000, of which 17 per cent earned less than £10,000 and 11 per cent were unwaged. At the middle-income level, 51 per cent earned over £20,000, just over 35 per cent earned over £25,000 and 22 per cent earned over £30,000. The fact that 37 per cent of respondents were either unwaged or earned less than £15,000 shows a high proportion of those surveyed below national average income levels. Proportionately there are undoubtedly those who were community based in this group and who were not therefore in regular employment. ‘Accommodation type’ asked respondents about the kind of property or status of occupancy they have. This showed that 68 per cent (45) were owner occupiers, 18 per cent (12) rented privately, one person (2%) lived in council rented property, one (2%) lived in a cooperative, four (6%) lived in community and three (4%) specified ‘other’. The combined owner occupier/private rented group were 86 per cent of the sample. Table 3.5  Current membership of Amida: Income profile Unwaged

11%

8%

9%

9%

12%

15%

14%

22%

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In ‘networking and communication’ terms, 72 per cent of Amida members in the survey use the internet. Of those, 82 per cent for surfing Buddhist information and to a lesser degree 31 per cent engaged in Buddhist debates or forums, of which Amida has a number. There is also evidence for the first time, of how the Amida group members surveyed also associate with other Buddhist groups/organization. This reflects multiple memberships across more than one group. The following is a reflection of the percentage of the Amida sample that are also members of the other four groups in the case studies: 28 per cent are NEB members; 22 per cent TBC (FWBO) members; 18 per cent C of I members; and 4 per cent members of Rokpa. This reflects the cross-association of mainly Western convert Buddhists in formally seeking out more than one form of Buddhist interest or inspiration, and while it may not specifically address the question of why they associate with more than one group as far as SEB is concerned, it is a point of interest to be addressed qualitatively. On the question of ‘faith commitment before coming to Buddhism’, over half (53%) were formally Christian in some self-defined context, as the crosstabulation (Table 3.3) identifies. Further questions about how respondents understood their spiritual leader (Dharmavidya) revealed the following: 15 per cent saw him as a Buddha; 36 per cent as a Bodhisattva, 79 per cent as a Skilful Teacher. The remaining survey questions were about ‘Aspects of Buddhism’. Responses were in ‘agreement’ or ‘disagreement’ to the questions posed. The summary answers are reflected in Table 3.6. In summary, virtually all respondents accept the concept of SEB. The majority, by inference, see SEB as a combination of Western and Asian influences. Also, 39 per cent see ‘all Buddhism as engaged’ while a similar percentage (42%) see dharma as social action. Overwhelmingly, 75 per cent see SEB as a path of ‘inner dharmic development mirrored by outer social action’. The cross-tabulation in Table 3.6  Current membership of Amida: Aspects of Buddhism Question All Buddhism is engaged? SEB is a result of Western influences in Asia Not to accept the notion of engaged Buddhism SEB is a wholly Western construct SEB is Dharma as social action SEB is Dharma with social action added on SEB is inner dharma work mirrored by outer action

Agree (%) 39 5 2 8 42 9 75

Disagree (%) 61 95 98 92 58 91 25

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Table 3.7  Current membership of Amida: Inner dharmic work mirrored by outer action cross-tabulation Inner dharmic work mirrored by outer action

Current membership of Amida Total

Yes No

Yes

No

Total

48 97 145

16 78 94

64 175 239

Table 3.8  Current membership of Amida: Are you a Socially Engaged Buddhist cross-tabulation Are you a Socially Engaged Buddhist?

Current membership of Amida Total

Yes No

Yes

No

Total

53 129 182

12 47 59

65 176 241

Table 3.9  Current membership of Amida: Does Buddhism need a social ­orientation cross-tabulation Does Buddhism need a social orientation?

Current membership of Amida Total

Yes No

Yes

No

Total

52 118 170

11 46 57

63 164 227

Table 3.7 reflects the latter. Respondents were asked specifically if they considered themselves SEB. As shown in Table 3.8, 82 per cent said they were. On the question of how respondents understood nirvāṇa within the Amida membership, 81 per cent agreed that they understood it in the ‘Here and Now’, suggesting a this-worldly mundane liberation. When asked if Buddhism needs a social orientation, the majority (83%) said it did, as shown in Table 3.9.

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Art in material culture: A therapeutic response There is a strand of artistic expression, which runs throughout the Amida organization and is seen as very important for spiritual development. In the early days Prasada (Caroline Brazier) developed an arts retreat, which was designed to engage families on summer retreat in France, where children and adults could both enjoy each other’s talents in a thoughtful rural environment. The inspiration for the arts week on the retreat is ‘to allow the unspoken to manifest in the “otherpower” nature of artistic expression’ (Caroline Brazier, 2007). Beyond that, most participants jointly create an installation, mosaic, bamboo sculpture or flower decoration out of whatever is available at the time. Many of the participants report being inspired beyond the spoken word, and finding talent they were unaware of, which they suggest is as a result of the grace of Amida Buddha. As Susthama (Amitarya) implies below: . . . tile, bamboo, flower, painted art installations now scatter the surrounding land of the Amida France . . . each speaking to the undercurrent of our creative potential – spiralling, reaching, flowering, holding and exploding us toward the unspoken and revealing what is present. (Susthama, 2007)

The location in France (renamed Eleusis) has 32 acres of land, on which can be found a variety of creative enterprises connected to nature, not least the bamboo meditation grove, planted a number of years ago, and now shaped as a natural space, and enjoyed by visitors as a symbol of the eco-therapy associated with its use. According to Dharmavidya the new venture in France in support of spirituality of the shamanic kind will continue to make creative use of the land and buildings where art therapy, dance and other expressive therapy might be explored. He has also indicated France would be available for other group use, including Tariki. This artistic legacy lives on within Amida as art therapy is seen as part of the creativity of formal workshops, using clay, and group painting as well as in conjunction with therapy-based mindfulness approaches, which can be derived from a number of sources. Writing Our Way Home is a mindfulness-based writing project independent of Amida but directly linked to Amida members through Satyavani (a Gankonin in the Order) and her husband Kaspalita (Order member) who have created it. Satyavani (Fiona Robyn) is a published author and has developed a mindfulness writing programme called writing small stones, explained thus: ‘a small stone is a short piece of writing that captures a fully engaged moment’ (www. writingourwayhome.co.uk).

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The principle behind this activity is to use an art form to enhance the power of mindfulness, paying attention to any small detail at least once in a day and writing it down then sharing it. This form of creativity is brought directly to Amida through the Malvern Saṅgha run by Kaspalita and Satyavani and links into other forms of Amida practice, where art and language overlap.

Summary The Amida model of engagement includes the implicit suggestion that the Pure Land perspective provides the Buddhist with the solution to dilemmas about whether, or how, one should engage in society. The adaptations of the nembutsu as the key to faith in ‘other-power’, removal of the five ethical precepts as a requirement for all – unless the commitment to keep them is tenable – and an alternative adaptation of the five element refuges are all aspects of thought and practice which cohere. Such coherence suggests that by understanding the ‘narrative of ordinariness’ from which virtue is said to arise, a consequence is likely to be finding mundane liberation in the form of an awakening of faith (shin jin). Liberation is seen not as an end product but an ongoing encounter with ‘other’. Here, entrusting oneself to reality ‘just as it is just as you are’ portrays an acceptance through grace, which in psychological terms seems to endear practitioners to the task (even if it seems hopeless). The language speaks to those for whom transcendence is a necessary part of practice. To be accepted ‘just as you are’ is a fundamental aspect of one’s social identity and in that sense is important to practitioners. Unconditional love is described as a response to unconditional acceptance, where a softening of the heart appears to be the prerequisite of the engaged approach, which is clearly mystical and in that sense is expressed as transformative. Amida’s Pure Land in the West can be interpreted as ‘Amida at the human level’, where transformation and replication of mini Pure Lands in everyday experience is all that is required. Consequently, there is no necessity therefore to be concerned about one’s salvation providing you follow the nembutsu. The ethical approach to Pure Land practice is to see the normative use of the five refuges. A more aspirational approach is adopted with the 156 or 238 rules of ordained Gankonin, ministers, Novices or Amitaryas. Despite the lack of an official vinaya tradition, many of the rules adapted have their provenance in traditional forms. However, the Amida rules/precepts are not enforceable or punishable if broken, the ethos being one’s openness to ‘other’ in the form of Amida’s grace as the way to live the ethical life.

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Amida has created a new form of Pure Land Buddhism, after initially struggling to realize the potential for a holistic SEB membership organization. Implicit in that creation is seeing social engagement located directly in the Pure Land teaching and not as an adjunct to Western, left liberal, late modern sensibilities. Even in the use of art as a ‘retreat subject’ the exploration involves what they describe as an ‘Amidist’ approach, in which creativity is seen as ‘otherpower’ focused. The survey analysis reinforces much of the ethnographic work and gives foundation to a number of earlier anecdotal accounts of British Buddhism. It does, however, see a real division between income levels, which is probably indicative of those in community life and those who are not. Amida members see the concept of SEB as a mixture of Asian and Western influence and not one or the other in isolation. It confirms aspects of Jones’ typology, where 75 per cent of respondents see inner emotional awareness and development as crucial to outer manifestations of action and 42 per cent suggest dharma is social action. In the Amida case, 82 per cent claimed they were SEBs and even higher proportions followed ethical precepts and meditative or contemplative practices. In appraising Jones’ typological model, his inclusion of groups like Amida as part of the ‘Radical Activist’ type may appear appropriate, but the evidence suggests a more complex picture of this organization. While they clearly fall into this type they also fall within the scope of the other two – ‘Alternative Societal Models’ and ‘Social Helping, Service and Welfare’. Their Pure Land approach is described as a friendship approach more than a service model but it seems that both are applicable to Amida and include a quasi-monastic Order. In this sense they fall within all three of Jones’ ideal types described in Chapter 1.

Notes 1 Meaning – ‘Dharma Knowledge’. Dharmavidya is used generally throughout the book except if Brazier is the author specified in the literature. 2 Dharmavidya insists on using the term Pureland (written as all one word) as a synonym for Amidism. He distinguishes between that form and the more traditional form – Pure Land, which he suggests explains the realm or field of a Buddha. The distinction seems to be unconventional in its use. 3 Founder of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives (OBC) a Zen monastic order in the United Kingdom and United States.

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  4 The Applied Buddhist Psychology course is internally accredited (within Amida) and externally assessed but does not provide a nationally recognized qualification. To achieve this one can apply to the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) for accreditation. This is contingent on a lengthy practicebased process.   5 There is a vast array of literature on this, too extensive to quantify in detail here. The world of the Bodhisattva is set out in Śāntideva – The Bodhicaryāvatāra, trans. Crosby and Skilton (1995). As an example of a good secondary source see The Bodhisattva Vow (2000) by Geshe Sonam Rinchen, trans. R. Sonam, (Snow Lion Pub’s). Atisha’s Bodhipathapradipa is set out in the Lam Rim genre in Hedi Köppl’s (2004) translation of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche’s Uniting Wisdom and Compassion: Illuminating the Thirty-Seven Practices of the Bodhisattva, Wisdom, United States.   6 Known formally as Amida France, at Le Fremental, Cher, France until 2012 and renamed as Eleusis. Dharmavidya’s project to explore spirituality beyond the Amida Trust in the interest of forming alliances for spiritual and therapeutic investigation.   7 Amitaryas is a word created by the Amida teachers made up of two words ‘Amida’ and ‘Arya’; it suggests by combining the two – ‘Amid-aryas’ the ‘Amida Aryas’ or Amida-noble ones, from the Sanskrit. The letter ‘d’ was changed to ‘t’ to become Amitaryas, using the first part of the word Amit from Amitāyus (infinite life)/ Amitābha – Buddha of infinite light – the Sanskrit from which Amida derives.   8 Grace takes on the Christian connotations of omnipotence, infinite love, mercy, favour or goodwill while remaining a Buddhist concept within the Pure Land tradition.   9 Those participants in the research who underwent formal interviews have been assigned AM (denoting Amida) as a prefix and a number in order to identify them. 10 According to the Buddhist Directory (BD) 2004–6 there are only two groups or organizations in the United Kingdom. One of which is the Amida Trust, the other the Three Wheels Temples (London and Southampton) and the UK national network organization – The Pure Land Buddhist Fellowship, which is a forum for anyone interested in the tradition. 11 The eighteenth vow of Dharmakara Bodhisattva prior to being reborn as the Buddha Amida. 12 Nyorai is the Japanese equivalent of Tathāgata (one thus come or one thus gone) 13 Earlier Buddhist involvement was with the Forest Saṅgha (Thai Theravāda monastic saṅgha in the West) and the OBC (a Western Zen order) and Community of Interbeing (another Western Zen Order). 14 For more discussion about the characterization of NBMs see evidence in Chapter 8 – ‘Cross Case Analysis’. 15 The webspace for Amida Trust is at www.amidatrust.com. However, there are no links from that site to any of the Amida ‘ning sites’ or the lotusinthemud.

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typepad sites. You can, however, link to Institute for Zen Therapy www. instituteforzentherapy.com from where you can link to: Friends of the Amida Order Culturally Engaged Buddhism www.amidatrust.ning.com, Light of Amida: Retreats, Spiritual Practice and Religious Vocation (site for practitioners hosting retreats and other forms of spiritual training) www.amidatrust.typepad.com/light and Sacred Places and Ancient Ways (exploring shamanism as a spiritual practice) www.lotusinthemud.typepad.com/sacred_places_and_ancient/ additional links to Instituto Terapia Zen Internacional (ITZI) www.itzi-red.ning.com from where there are links around the world to a variety of affiliated groups. Amida Trust Facebook is linked to all sites (except ITZI) and Nembutsu TV, the Amida YouTube site can be found at www.youtube.com/user/AmidaTrust?feature=watch Various Order member blogs can also be found throughout the sites as well. 16 Dharmavidya has taken the title ‘Reverend Master’, bestowed following the formal ratification of the Order of Amida Buddha, 2005 (OAB) or simply ‘Amida Order’.

4

The Network of Engaged Buddhists (UK)

Historical background The NEB was created in 1983 by a group of Buddhists who were involved in environmental activism, some of whom were at the time members of the Green Party. It is the longest established SEB organization in the United Kingdom. The motivation for the creation of such a network stemmed from the implications of having Cruise missiles installed at American military bases in Britain. The move was seen as a Buddhist protest to the nuclear phenomenon and in support of the British peace movement. As the now president of NEB, Ken Jones, explained, ‘the catalyst for getting NEB going was the movement against nuclear weapons’. The context into which NEB emerged allowed those involved to create an ‘affinity organization’,1 as Bell (in Queen, 2000: 403) points out, ‘[NEB was] a pressure group to provide an opportunity for personal and social transformation’. The NEB saw itself as the British equivalent of the BPF2 in the United States, whose name it held originally, with the prefix ‘British’, and with whom it later became affiliated. The difficulty was that many of its early members belonged to other activist groups and therefore concentrated their energy elsewhere other than NEB. It was decided therefore, to create a network of concerned Buddhists who could retain their original ties to peace and other activities, while finding a forum in a Buddhist context within which to express their concerns. Many of those involved were part of the liberal left, deeply concerned at the prospect of nuclear proliferation in the world, inheriting many of their social concerns from the counterculture of the 1960s. The organization became a platform from which the thoughts of its members could be discussed and disseminated and their energy channelled into social

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issues relevant to British Buddhists. It was initially anticipated that larger networks would develop, dependent on geographic location, linking with smaller groups where individuals could get together to discuss common values and aims. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh was invited to lead NEB retreats in the early days, which encouraged those inspired by him to join the NEB. However, as Bell confirms, ‘preparations for the founding of a UK branch of Thich Nhat Hanh’s C of I in 1996 focused the attention of his followers away from the NEB’ (2000: 404). Prior to the creation of the C of I the NEB had several hundred members, which are now reduced to fewer than 200. In 2001 there was a crisis in the Network, in that interest, like the numbers had declined to the point where Jones (the then secretary) asked if it was worth carrying on. He commented in interview ‘it [the NEB] went on, and progressed rather slowly. I felt a little bit like a one-man band, although not entirely, but at times I felt like that’ (Jones, July, 2003). The AGM of 2001 supported the need to continue and the formation of an e-group discussion site was set up on the internet to support the website, which also underwent some updating. The core number of members in regular contact and attendance at meetings or retreats is difficult to estimate, but it is often as little as 6 or as many as 25, despite the membership fluctuating between 200, and its current (2012) low ebb of 118. It is fair to say the NEB sees itself in crisis in 2012 not dissimilar to 2001 and that is reflected later in the chapter. The NEB is a ‘non-sectarian affinity network’, it is not a community (as a residency) nor does it have any form of ordained positions as part of its structure. It adopts an ecumenical approach to the Dharma, which is considered one of its fundamental strengths by many of its members. This view is reflected by one informant, NEB 3 (Lon),3 who claimed: ‘to be a member of NEB without the sectarian issues of institutions and hierarchies is a breath of fresh air, probably one of the main reasons for staying with it’. Prominent members of the Amida Trust and the C of I are also core members of the NEB as are a number of TBC (FWBO) members. There are also a few active Theravādins, and several followers of Tibetan Buddhism of various lineages. Membership also includes a number of non-aligned independent Buddhists with Zen sympathies and a couple of non-Buddhists with activist interests within the core group. It is not unusual to find that NEB members are often affiliated to both the Amida Trust and the C of I and in more recent times TBC (FWBO). In some respects their other affiliations have often relegated NEB to a secondary outlet for their activism, be that in protest, writing letters and lobbying, demonstrations, or environmental and ecological engagement. Where,

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however, NEB has retained at least a core group is in the fellowship created and the freedom of thought that it brings to participants and members. The NEB continues to produce a commendable journal, which has had several evolutionary titles, starting out as Down by the Riverside, Indra’s Network, and is now Indra’s Net. The quality of the writing and presentation for such a small organization is exceptional, and the audience for the message is probably considerably bigger than the group that produces it, as the result of this publication. Those on the mailing list continue to receive a copy of the journal, as the ‘one constant’ in communication terms, throughout the Network’s short history. Jones reinforces this saying: ‘[T]hat’s [Indra’s Net] the one continuous thing that we managed to do.’ Interestingly the only other constant is Jones himself, who until 2005 was secretary and a one-man originator of a prodigious amount of written material on social engagement. This constant voice in hardcopy format is, however, subject to review, as the organization can no longer afford to produce the printed version. In 2013 it will revert to online text via its website (www.engagedbuddhists.org.uk) and may create an annual review. The NEBs purpose is described as: a discussion forum for the development of engaged Buddhism, and a contact point about it; a support group for anyone who is trying to combine social engagement with spiritual practice; a channel for organizing and publicizing appropriate action in line with Dharmic principles (www.enaggedbuddhists.org.uk).

Practice shaped by Zen In order to analyse the practice of the NEB membership it is essential to understand that as an ‘affinity group’ they are grounded in a number of Buddhist groups, some more traditionally oriented, while others may be seen as NBM in a wider UK context.4 Buddhist movements like NEB are not about a revival of traditional forms but are ‘more accurately regarded as adaptations of religion to new social circumstances’ (Clarke, 2006: 20). While they represent, in style and in their appeal an accommodation of new conditions, there is a continual tension with the secular rationalizing tendency of late-modern societies, which forms the basis for much of the critique of the global encounter that groups like the NEB share with other NRM. The practice base for a group with diverse Buddhist interests is not, as one might imagine, a multiform affair. On the contrary, while individuals come together in meditative and other ritual activity and may follow their own

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personal meditation styles privately, the overarching emphasis is taken from the Zen tradition in the form of the Western Ch’an Fellowship (a NBM with a lay following), in which the spiritual mentor of NEB, Ken Jones, practices and teaches. Jones follows a Western Ch’an Buddhist practice and was a close associate of the group’s late Dharma heir Dr John Crook (prior to his death in July 2011). Jones’ influence on engaged Buddhism is reflected in the practical application of the teachings of Ch’an Buddhism, developed in the United Kingdom and elsewhere by the abbot of a Taiwanese Ch’an, Linji school, Master Shen-Yen Dharma Master to the late John Crook.5 Jones also brings his own analysis of daily life practice based on the life and work of Zen Master Dōgen to NEB activity, and is the teacher and mentor for many in the organization. There is no formal meditation training for NEB members, as most already have a practice of their own. Should a complete beginner become involved the, Western Ch’an experience of meditation, of ‘just sitting’ (Zazen) or as it is also known ‘silent illumination’, would be explored. As the NEB only meet formally twice a year (in the spring and autumn) the meditative emphasis differs, not least, as the formal ritual activity is only a small part of their gatherings. As the spring event is only now a single day, practice is limited to workshops and discussion. The autumn meeting is a more formal affair as a five-day retreat. It takes place at Chagford in North Devon at the home of a C of I teacher and NEB member, whose large Victorian house is used for retreats. During the retreat the morning and evening sitting each day follows the Western Ch’an format Shikantaza,6 where sitting in a circle for half an hour in the meditation hall, alternates with 15 minutes of circular kinhin (walking meditation), and a further half an hour sitting. The beginning of a period follows the traditional announcement of ringing a bell three times (shijōsho), and the end of a round by ringing the bell once (hzōensho). Before and after sitting, meditators perform a gassho – bow to the cushion (zafu), to fellow practitioners and to the teacher (in this case Jones). Additionally they bow to the iconic image of Kwan Yin (Bodhisattva of universal compassion), who sits on a small table as part of the circle, both on entering and before leaving the hall. The retreat has a theme, represented by a suitable kōan7 for participants to work on. It is organized to be partly silent and part workshop in orientation, together with a number of more specifically ritual elements, like the Kwan Yin pūjā, which adds to a blend of practice requiring an openness and commitment on the part of the retreatants. Jones plays a prominent role as facilitator of the

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retreat and has developed Ch’an and Zen ‘kōans’ as a way to tease out the nature of social engagement in daily life practice. The Kwan Yin pūjā (offering ceremony to the deity of great compassion) is a ritual conducted on the final evening of the retreat, which begins with the participants bowing to the shrine of Kwan Yin at the sound of the bell and the facilitator offering incense. The retreatants sit in pairs facing each other in close proximity, about a metre apart. The facilitator talks the participants through the exercise of ‘seeing the other as they really are’, and in so doing reflecting on who is the other? Do they really differ from self? The exercise involved careful visual examination of the face of the partner in the exercise. Looking deeply into the eyes of your partner at close proximity gives a sense of that which exists behind the eyes; in effect a light into the mind, beyond mere recognition, while creating a sense of intimacy of connectedness and compassion. The proximity of a face close up is in an intrusive space, where the emotions generated by that close encounter can shift from acute embarrassment or shy reticence, to a realization that the mirror is in fact before you – ‘what is seeing, is being seen’. The group members (in later discussion) claim there can be no difference, ‘the faces are not two but one’. As one participant put it ‘what is seen there is much suffering and much joy, but it is not different in any way from self ’ (NEB 2, LEW). The response of practitioners reflects a transcendence of self and other in the ritual. The intimate nature of the exercise had a profound affect on the participants (including the author)8 all of whom commented on the powerful feelings of compassion that were generated by the ceremony. The ceremony concluded with each pair in turn coming forward to the shrine to offer incense and prostration while the remainder chant, what they referred to as the Kwan Yin mantra Om Tare, Tuttare, Ture Svaha in a rising and falling crescendo. This is, however, more commonly known as the mantra to Tārā,9 albeit not within NEB circles. Other ritual activity includes a contract for the retreat read out collectively in the meditation hall at the beginning. In addition, morning refuges and precepts are recited collectively at the beginning of morning meditation, thus: Recollecting Gotama Buddha and all his true heirs, I take refuge in this teaching and in those who follow it with me. I seek to practise and promote: compassion for all living things; non-violence and justice in all human affairs; truthfulness and goodwill in speech and writing; and a middle way for all beyond privation and greed. May I be mindful of the transience of life, the suffering in the world, and the triviality of self now and when I go forth.

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The mealtime grace read collectively takes on ritual form at the beginning of meals, followed by a closing grace, at the end. The closing verse reintroduces silence to the retreat, which falls in and out of silence dependent on workshop or other activity. The ritual verses are of Zen origin, adapted for the benefit of a contemporary audience, and used in Western Ch’an settings as well as for the NEB. The mealtime grace in particular highlights the interconnectedness of humans in, and of nature, and reinforces the notions of a virtuous approach, perfection of Buddhahood, and the Bodhisattva helping all beings so that they may be enlightened. From the NEB perspective these three elements could be the mantra of the engaged Buddhist. Jones has developed an ‘Emotional awareness’ practice, which is seen as fundamental by NEB members. It is based on the psychological tools necessary for individuals to explore their innermost emotions as a precursor to accepting themselves as they are, without the deluding aspects of ‘self-need’, which the self projects for a number of ego related reasons. This is the ‘inner work, which mirrors outer action’. It is not dissimilar in outcome to the Amida approach to Bombu nature but is arrived at by a very different process. While Buddhist meditation practice works towards the deconstruction of the self, the difficulty that such a deconstruction presents should not be underestimated according to NEB practitioners. They imply that it is especially difficult for those who profess a socially engaged practice. The inference being, there is a great deal more potential for the ego-affirming elements of life to take on fixed ideological meaning in the activist experience, if one is not aware of that danger. Jones has repeatedly cautioned against what he calls, ‘the fetishism in Western Buddhism of meditation’, (Jones, December 2012) without a practical application to everyday experience and tools to explore that. He goes on to say: ‘It is no use speaking of emptiness or śūnyatā to most Western Buddhists, but talk about a concept like suchness and it is more tangible to the average listener’ (Jones, December 2012). Donald Rothberg (2006: 5), writer and teacher, endorses the ‘inner outer perspective’ being offered by Jones, claiming that inner and outer transformations are impossible without each other. He sees the danger of an inner path of spiritual transformation that is not socially informed, and a socially manifest activism, in service or protest, which does not have an inner spiritual dimension. Emotional awareness is, for Jones, the necessary ‘inner’ aspect referred to by Rothberg. Jones sees this as essential before any outer action can take place, without falling into the trap of self-righteousness, or what he calls ‘the

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subterranean preoccupation with self-image’ (Jones, August 2004). He goes on to describe meditators as ‘having an ego fortress, in which one resides, but has an incomplete awareness of it’ (Jones, September 2007). Meditations, however, can still the mind in an effort to uncover what he refers to as ‘the long lawsuit with reality’, which he argues, life entails. The ‘emotional awareness’ meditative experience involves a recollection of key incidents in one’s life, which, as they unfold, ‘may be quite unnerving or even profoundly disturbing’ (Jones, September 2007). This practice is not unlike the nei quan retreat experience discussed earlier within Amida. It differs in that it examines three kinds of fortitude, namely: (1) what kind of livelihood one has followed? (2) What kind of close relationships has one developed? (3) What are the views and attachments to people and things that have developed in one’s life? This self-interrogatory approach is designed to open one up to recognizing one’s views and rational attachments. The inherent difficulty is the degree to which the investigation is all mixed up with ego, which affirms life as having selfreflected meaning. This asks questions about an individual’s identity, making the concept of identity key to this practice. It allows one to look at the link between internal feelings of conscience, desire, fears and other emotions, and external constraints such as position in one’s family, work roles and other experiences. It also allows individuals to see how culture in the form of film, TV, music, sport, literature, the press, advertisements and so on make up the background against which much of one’s conscious life is lived. The ‘self ’ is therefore seen as a mixture of feelings, emotions, and experiences created partly through reflecting on one’s life and apparent worth – through the stories we tell of ourselves. The approach being adopted by the NEB seeks to uproot these feelings, emotions and experiences through the self-reflection of the practice, which identifies the impact that such feelings/emotions have on others. The practice asks meditators to look at their own construction of views of people, and life more generally, and understand that they are trapped inside their own perceptions to some extent, even though practice helps to clarify this. The views people have are reinforced through assumptions about others, and through those one associates with. From the Buddhist perspective the view is not the problem, but the emotional weight one gives it, which distorts those views, is. The observation of emotion asks the practitioner to assess to what extent they are holding views that are ego protecting. If one cannot distinguish them then SEB cannot work, as the inner/outer balance is disrupted. This for many practitioners is a more difficult process than other forms of meditative practice, which do not demand the same cognitive approach.

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To open to a shift in one’s state of mind is to reflect the kōan, which is paradoxically extraordinarily simple and profoundly difficult simultaneously. Accepting wholeheartedly the pain in one’s life seems to be the crux of the emotional awareness practice. From there one can go out in the world avoiding the sense of guilt and inadequacy characteristic of so many activists, and deal more lightly with life, for the sake of one’s practice and one’s own sanity, avoiding ‘burn out’ emotionally. Here, it is argued that developing oneself inwardly allows one to act outwardly in the world with greater understanding (wisdom) and compassion. The indivisibility of self and other as a result of this process of mind and body synergy is reflected in Jones’ use of specific techniques to highlight this potential for the engaged Buddhist. Human agency is seen to be inextricably linked with the universe suggesting an interconnectedness of all phenomena. The 2004/5 SEB Survey looked at the practice of the wider NEB membership (outside the core group), beyond those interviewed during the ethnography. A high 99 per cent (72 of possible 73 members) meditate, which is outlined below in the cross-tabulation Table 4.1.10 The regularity of meditative practice is expressed in Table 4.2. Those who meditate daily are 66 per cent of the sample; meditating sometimes are 30  per  cent, suggesting 96 per cent of NEB members have a fairly regular Table 4.1  Current membership of NEB: Practice meditation cross-tabulation Practice meditation

Current membership of NEB Total

Yes No 99

Yes

No

Total

72 174 2 248

1 2 0 3

73 176 2 251

Table 4.2  Current membership of NEB: How often do you meditate cross-tabulation How often do you meditate? Never Current membership of NEB Yes No 99.00 Total

2 8 0 10

Rarely

Sometimes

1 5 0 6

21 52 0 73

Daily

Total

46 106 2 154

70 171 2 243

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meditation practice. Meditation as a preoccupation of Western Buddhist practice is reflected in these figures. Other aspects of practice include: 67 per cent of NEB members confirm that they practice chanting; 80 per cent take part in Buddhist studies; 56 per cent participate in pūjā (offerings). When asked how often members attend retreats 34 per cent claim to attend retreats regularly, while 47 per cent attend sometimes, suggesting 81 per cent have some consistent retreat experience (more will be made of the practice analysis later in the chapter).

Teachings from a Zen perspective The Zen understanding described above in a practice sense has also become the dominant doctrinal influence of NEB although many members retain their autonomy in this, but adhere to its principles without any apparent concern in formal meetings. Jones brings something of the Zen tradition to NEB and more significantly as a mentor and teacher. The interpretation of doctrine, practice, narratives and ethics for contemporary SEB within NEB, have in the main been formulated by him and are the subject of ongoing discussion with his Dharma fellows. The aspects of Zen used in an explanatory sense within NEB are adapted with specific emphasis for engaged Buddhist practice. Unravelling where practice ends and doctrine begins, however, is slightly more problematic, as the overlap is significant. It is to the doctrinal notion of emptiness (śūnyatā) that Jones offers to the NEB (and other Buddhist activists) what he describes as a way out of the two dimensional struggle between this and that, which he claims traps activists (Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike). He takes as an example, the teachings of Zen Master Dōgen to identify this dualistic struggle, which Dōgen sees as the origin of duḥkha.11 He reflects on the necessity for humanity to manifest their inherent ‘Buddha Nature’12 in the world they create, by continuous practice, for no other reason than to practice continually (Gyoji). This, it is suggested, is a method of practice for engaged Buddhists simply to enjoy their own inherent (Buddha) nature, without question of means and ends. In seeing inherent Buddha Nature, according to Jones: ‘[W]e create and enlighten the world and the world creates and enlightens us. Activity, expression and action are one and the same thing’ (2004b: 1). There is, it seems, a symbiotic interconnection with the world that is indivisible from life. This method of seeing the perfection of Buddhahood

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inherent in all beings is a fundamental shift in emphasis from the Amida approach, which clearly ‘emphasises human imperfection’ in their Pure Land interpretation. Returning to the doctrine of emptiness, Jones (2003: 228) infers that ‘[d]welling in emptiness can clarify form’. By this he means that in the acceptance of emptiness, which is itself empty of any intrinsic self nature, there is a realization of the ‘emptiness of self-need’, which opens up situations to the ‘unfolding, transient, insubstantial flux of phenomena – and yet at the same time they are no less real’ (2003: 228). Here the sense of paradox is in allowing for this acceptance of things as they are, both empty of intrinsic existence but at the same time real, as the fundamental difficulty for engaged Buddhists, whose passion to change the world could otherwise become an obstacle to the very doctrine and practice which supports it. Drawing on the work of McClellan (1994: 10–13), Jones reflects on a similar dilemma for the Deep ecologists,13 which parallels the engaged Buddhists difficulty of coming to terms with their passion for the world. The danger for engaged Buddhists is, it seems, to over emphasize their passion and so fail to accept their position as ordinary beings in a complex world, which may result in disillusionment, despair and burn out, if not understood in terms of: ‘Yes, the world is perfect and at the same time there is still much to do . . . the dishes need to be washed up, and deep contemplatives are expected to do their share (McClellan, 1994: 11). In assessing the Madhyamika thinking about emptiness, ‘mutually defining relativity’ is described by Jones (2003: 11) as binary opposites, which are only understood in relation to each other. They are different but not independent of each other, and in this sense ‘relation’ can help understanding of phenomena that are described as ‘empty of independent, intrinsic being’ (2003: 12). It is actually difference that defines them, as pointed too in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra.14 In other words, as Jones (2003: 12) describes, ‘[T]hey are terms of relation, not of reality.’ The tendency to attribute separateness and fixed phenomena simply serves to reinforce self and deny other. The doctrine of emptiness according to Jones: ‘is paradoxical and cannot be grasped by logic. It can only be experienced through meditative awareness in which the “I” recedes and dependence is reduced on solidly structuring and differentiating our experience’ (2003: 12). Such an experience suggests the self-protecting ego effectively shapes and distorts the sense of reality, by solidifying and separating as outlined above, or views reality distortedly, as a mere transient illusion, or reifies emptiness into something more real than reality. For engaged Buddhists, the balance to be

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struck is being conscious that meditators should not identify with ‘emptiness’ and lose touch with the ‘phenomenal world’. The shift that comes about through meditative awareness in which phenomena as ‘self-other’ are transformed in a non-duality of oneness consciousness is described as the result of experiential realization, as Jones points out, ‘The “new” world that is experienced  – which has been present all the time  – is more manageable and has a liberative lightness about it’ (2003: 13). As a result, he claims phenomena are no longer being experienced with laboured resistance. For the engaged Buddhist this balance is seen as essential in the process of ‘empowerment through acceptance’, dealing lightly and creatively with the phenomenal world in the face of much adversity. The implication being that inner liberative strength manifests outwardly in liberative action. The teachings and practices of Dōgen, in particular on the ethical understandings of good and evil, his teaching on morality and kōan practice, are key teachings for the NEB. Dōgen is often referred to by NEB members as inspirational of SEB, based on a number of teachings, including the text Bendōwa (Negotiating the Way), in which he affirms the necessity to practise in the world, being unable to avoid it. He declares (in translation): ‘Those who think mundane affairs hinder the practice of the Buddha-Dharma know only that there is no Buddha-Dharma in their daily life; they do not yet know that there is nothing mundane in the Buddha- Dharma’ (Waddell and Abe, 2002: 24). Dōgen’s view reinforces the necessity to practice in the world, as there is no transcendental world in which to practise, and to see mundane life is to see the Dharma. Other areas of Zen influence include teachings from the Prajñā-pāramitā15 literature, particularly the Diamond Sūtra and the Heart Sῡtra, which emphasize the teaching on emptiness (śūnyatā). The Prajñā-pāramitā literature bestows the Bodhisattva ideal16 as the highest form of the religious life while at the same time paradoxically insisting that there is no such thing as the Bodhisattva (as an inherent existence), or as all knowledge, or as a being, or as the Perfection of Insight. If one understands these seeming contradictions, that is to be perfect. The paradoxical nature of the teaching is given great emphasis at NEB events. It is seen as capable of bringing practitioners to understand the paradox of life, which is the acceptance of one’s own reality on which to build change. What Jones affirms in his own work, and also affirmed in that of Macy (1991) and Moon (2004) is that: The Dharma asks us to see things as they are; sometimes the language used is to accept things as they are. This doesn’t mean things shouldn’t be changed.

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It means we need to accept that they are as they are before we can change them. (Jones, November, 2008)

NEB 8 WAL (26 August 2003) reinforces this, saying: The bottom line characteristic of a mature Socially Engaged Buddhism is surely emptiness – the emptiness of self-need . . . this is where a lifetime of mindful activism leads and without which all other SEB characteristics are liable to fail.

The NEB narrative of engagement The use of stories, contemporary and ancient, is part of the narrative understanding of the NEB. Members as well as scholars are aware of the interest in SEB, which has required negotiation intellectually and practically in the West in the last 40 years. Definitions have formed part of that contemporary narrative, but what is unclear is whether scholars have demanded them or practitioner scholars feel under pressure to produce them. The definition below has been modified slightly from what has become the working definition of engagement for the NEB and can be found in the inside front cover of every edition of Indra’s Net (the NEB Journal). In the summer edition (2005), Issue 36, it reads: Engaged Buddhism is engagement in caring and service, in social and environmental protest and analysis, in non-violence as a creative way of overcoming conflicts, and in ‘right livelihood’ and other initiatives, which prefigure a society of the future. It also engages with a variety of contemporary concerns of relevance to an evolving Buddhism. Engaged Buddhism combines the cultivation of inner peace with active social compassion in a mutually supportive and enriching practice.

The definition above describes in the most comprehensive way what engaged Buddhism ‘is’, and what it ‘does’, it is both substantive and functional (Furseth and Repstad, 2006: 16) and for that reason is probably the most apt descriptively in current circulation. There is a hermeneutic at work within the group that has become an accepted form of interpretation towards an understanding of engaged Buddhism in contemporary terms; an example being Jones’ (2004a) The Four Noble Political Truths.17 This sense of interpretation and rethinking suggests a ‘revisioning of Dharma’ in line with the principles of the Network. It is necessary to look at the Buddhist influences that run through the NEB and how they are interpreted. Such interpretation involves a revisioning that is applicable to contemporary issues of concern and can cover topics as diverse as

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creating media releases on engaged Buddhist practice to principles of Buddhist Activism. Within this contemporary narrative there is a ‘method’ versus ‘issues’ interplay going on, something that was highlighted by Watts (2005) in his report to the Think Saṅgha,18 Exploring the Method of Socially Engaged Buddhism. The nature of this interplay involves a ‘how to mentality’ where the creative application of Buddhist ideas (methods) to modern problems (issues) is constantly under revision. This type of revisioning of Dharma is not necessarily an overt hermeneutic of scripture, but more a broad reapplication of Buddhist principles to contemporary social concerns (Clarke, 2006: 20–2). There is no consensual view or policy position on such issues, which tend to be negotiated in debate at meetings or retreats. This process of negotiation and debate reflects the way NEB is organized procedurally and organizationally, not least in its questioning of how to employ methods appropriate for specific issues as a way to bring diverse interests within engaged Buddhism into a communicative space. The theoretical narrative of a ‘radical culture of awakening’ talks about a society born of a shift in hearts and minds, which would become the established custom or habitual practice. Jones proposes the necessity for ‘a road map showing the way to start building the future now’ (Jones, 2005a: 16). These changes are predicated on radically changing the way individuals experience their daily world, social responsibilities and act out their lives. This depends on sufficient numbers of people developing their awareness of what moves them as human beings, which requires a ‘whole social culture of awareness, a culture of awakening to our true potential’ (Jones, 2005a: 16). Such a culture, Jones claims, would see contemplative enquiry valued as no less important than earning a living or raising a family. Morning meditation would have an equal status in society with the morning yoga practice or work out in the gym. Meetings of all forms, including those in authority, would start with an awareness check out of members’ personal agendas, their feelings and inner concerns as well as the agenda on the table. Despite the undoubted idealism that such a suggestion might imply, a culture of mindfulness with an ethical understanding is already in place in Japanese and much of American professional life.19 In short, such a radical culture of awakening implies radical changes in unethical institutions, laws, social structures and norms. The suggestion is that Buddhism as a religion without a creator God is best placed to act as a catalyst for change in its appeal to the common experience of living a life. This could not work, however (if at all), without a coalition of the contemplative spiritualities from around the world; a position humanists

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and agnostics, Jones suggests (2005a: 17), would not find untenable given the practice of inner enquiry as the foundation for such a society. Jones is, however, not naïve enough to believe a radical culture of awakening would heal social problems overnight, but suggests that it ‘would begin to dissolve the underlying bloody mindedness that makes them so intractable’ (2005a: 18). He claims that the world is ripe for such a historic change, which would provide a positive environment for spiritual growth and only with that would it be possible to build a ‘socially just and ecologically sustainable global commonwealth’ (2005a: 18). The practicalities are currently beyond the reach of any socially engaged Buddhist group or coalition of groups within any Western society, even with an additional coalition of contemplatives. The numbers involved are so small that without huge institutional and political influence, even in the face of a dying planet, it is unlikely to ever become a project beyond thought. That will not, however, stop the thinking, reinforced by the economic global crisis and significant climatic uncertainties that have galvanized the green lobby in many parts of the world, despite the United Kingdom’s political elites only paying lip service to the greening of politics.

Emotional awareness at the root of engagement The events of 11 September 2001 in New York and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan and then Iraq created a revival of fortunes for the Network, in the same way that the nuclear threat of the early 1980s had galvanized support for its creation. The Global terrorist attacks and resultant wars appear to have been the catalyst that reinvigorated interest in the NEB, something Jones is conscious of, and comments: [J]ust as the catalyst for getting NEB going was the movement against nuclear weapons, it is interesting that the latest surge has come from the movement against the Iraq war, and Afghanistan before it. (Jones, August 2006)

A new generation of NEB members emerged post 9/11, and it is apparent from interview evidence that many have moved towards a Buddhist group that is prepared to deal with issues like war and violence among men and to the planet, by confronting these issues head on; confirmed by NEB, 3, 6, 7. Members come to NEB from different backgrounds and for a variety of reasons, often seeking out NEB because they were, or remain, activists socially

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and politically. Many have sought to reconcile their spiritual leanings with their social and political angst, both in their determination to accept things as they are, manifest as a feeling of empowerment, and to see social change based on their Buddhist understanding of the world they inhabit. As NEB 5. BRI (18 July 2003) asserts: I took my first steps with Buddhism, with the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order and I went on several weekend retreats. However, as an active local politician and campaigner I found the introversion of some of the discussions frustrating. I came across Ken’s book, which had exactly the approach I was looking for. I wrote to him and went to the next NEB retreat; I’ve been involved ever since.

A similar story can be found among other members; NEB 6 IM. (16 August 2005) claimed: I think I came across NEB when I came across a copy of the original version of Indra’s net, which I found to my way of thinking and feeling. It was probably called Down by the Riverside then, or something similar. But what immediately struck me, as I was very active politically, was a way which you could combine a Buddhist experience, and by that I mean Buddhist practice, with social and political action.

NEB 7 OX (10 November 2004) adopts a similar rationale, saying: I had spent almost all of my life as a Buddhist trying to see the connection between myself as a Buddhist and myself as a leftish quite politicised, community worker. I wanted to make a link with a group who shared that search.

Of the 11 core NEB members interviewed during the research (virtually all the active participants in the Networks twice yearly meetings), only one claimed to come to NEB through an influence other than the social or political backdrops outlined above, essentially by reading about the group. Few make the leap directly from an activist world to a Buddhist activist world; for many there is a great deal of contemplative time in between the disillusionment of the activist approach to life and finding, in Buddhism, a way to work inwardly in order to clarify outward action. For many, the feelings and emotions fostered by social concerns are still embedded in their psyche. What, however, seems to give solace to those deeply held frustrations, is perhaps the most valuable feature of inner path spiritualities like Buddhism, the relentless directing of attention back to the self. This creates, what NEB members see as an authentic concern (stemming from their Buddha Nature), for suffering fellow beings and the planet, and seeks to transcend the

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sense of a separate, self-absorbed ego – a preoccupation of the majority of NEB, members and other UK Buddhists.

The ethics of social action The ethical dilemmas facing SEB are largely founded in the inner/outer dichotomy. An exclusively inner transformation, however profound, is not the end of the trail, as not only do greed, anger and delusion need to be uprooted in personal lives, according to Buddhist thought; but they also have to be dealt with, according to engaged Buddhists, as social and political realities. It is in seeking how to be effective in dealing with these realities that NEB members and other SEBs attempt to reinterpret traditional Buddhist ethical concerns in late-modern society through an ethics of Buddhist, social action. Unlike the Amida Trust outlined earlier, the NEB does not have a formally documented ethical approach in similar terms to the rules of the Amida Order. As a Network, its members bring with them their own ethical principles based on the minimum standard of practice; the Five (lay) Precepts. What is apparent in NEB is a lack of proscription of any kind as far as personal ethics are concerned. That said, the survey evidence shown below in Table 4.3 ‘practical ethical precepts’, represents a picture of NEB membership and their preceptual commitments. A total of 96 per cent of NEB members are practising the Five (ethical) Precepts. Although 4 per cent of the sample claims not to follow formal Buddhist precepts of any kind, they probably account for non-Buddhists in the sample. As with Amida, the NEB follow the Mahāyāna ethics of compassion and wisdom based on the Bodhisattva ideal and additionally they employ the use of ‘skill in means’ (upāya-kauśalya), as a method of understanding and of explanation. As NEB 3 Lon (19 February 2003) says, ‘one of its [NEBs] great strengths is skilfully adapting dharma for modernity’. Through its literature and Table 4.3  Current membership of NEB: Practice ethical precepts cross-tabulation Practice ethical precepts Yes Current membership of NEB Total

Yes No 99.00

68 168 2 238

No

Total

3 7 0 10

71 175 2 248

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teaching a considerable effort has been made in the NEB to present an ethical understanding of engaged Buddhism, and the concept of ‘right view’ as a method of enquiry underpins this process. The nature of Buddhist practice is based on developing virtues towards an enlightened state. Virtue ethics are accepted by NEB members as legitimate, but are questioned as not being the only means of working ethically in the world towards enlightenment. The virtues developed by the Bodhisattva are the aspiration and the hopeful emulation of NEB practitioners; however, they question the nature of those ethics. The questions that have been raised by NEB members are based on practical existential dilemmas, such as asking how one deals compassionately with loved ones near to death or whether euthanasia is a viable alternative to suffering for those beyond medical help. Other discussions have been about the judicious use of force stemming from discussions about peacekeeping forces in the world, and the Buddhist perspective on their use and effectiveness. The broadest consensus seemed to err on the side of specially trained peacekeeping forces who, with an approach of compassionate action, would use judicious force to protect the innocent. The wider implications of these debates were to ask: where traditional virtues are affected by acts of compassion that may involve killing or violence to some degree, how should that be viewed, and indeed understood from the Buddhist perspective? NEB discussions continue along the lines that there appeared to be an ethical divide between ‘literalists’, who treat Buddhism as if it were a ‘religion of the book’, where the precepts must be applied literally no matter what the circumstances, and those with a ‘situational morality’ that questioned this approach. This is premised on the complexities of life in which the kinds of decisions outlined above, need to be considered as being ambiguous.20 Jones (2005b: 8) reflects the thoughts of the Venerable Ajahn Sumedho, (former abbot of the Amaravati Forest saṅgha). On euthanasia, Sumedho explained: We seem to want to take absolute, moral and fixed positions on questions such as ‘How do you feel about euthanasia?’ Our minds tend to be conditioned to take a fixed view on [such] issues, and we interpret life morally. But the Buddha mind is not fixed on a position and is able to take into account all the things that are affecting a given situation . . . and yet what Buddhism has to offer is not moral positioning but real morality; the opportunity to take responsibility for our own decisions. (Venerable Sumedho, 1991: 50)

Sumedho’s view is supported by NEB 7 OX (10 November 2004), who reflects: ‘The ethical principles that support Buddhist practice are about dealing with

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situations in the world as we find them.’ It is important here to clarify to what extent situationalism is being offered as a tool of moral enquiry? Jones does not suggest that situational morality should often override the cultivation of virtues on the Buddhist path, he states: [N]ote, however, that the situationists are concerned with ethically extreme, complex and problematic situations. The literal precepts certainly do not cease to be invaluable base lines, from which we should depart only with great reluctance and circumspection. (Jones, 2005: 9)

Gilpin (2005: 9) suggests the virtuous qualities to be cultivated by Buddhist activists and non-activists alike are ‘“the Four Immeasurables” (Brahmavihāras) of loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity [which] are, in effect, the goal of all social action.’ NEB 9 Lon (10 May 2009) agrees with this: [R]ecently I feel that one of the most profound practices for engaged Buddhists, is the meditation on the Brahma-vihāras. Having recently contemplated them at length on a retreat, I feel they should be made more of within NEB and a wider Buddhist use.

The point is that to experience things, including pain and emotional distress/ dilemmas, just as they are, without the refraction of the lens of one’s own selfneed, is a basis for ethical decision making, and essential to socially engaged living. The constant refrain of much contemporary discourse demands recourse to ethical thinking and acting in the world. This inner cultivational aspect provides the cognisance with which to act outwardly. This then is the ethic of ‘Buddhist social action’, according to the NEB, which stems from ‘right view’ (discernment/motivation) and creates a situational response based on seeing the situation ‘just as it is’, in combination with a virtue approach which makes use of the ‘Four Immeasurables’ as guiding principles for social action.

Affinity group organization From beginning in 1983 until 1986 the character of the British ‘BPF’ (as it was then called) was shaped very much by the energy and personality of David Arnott (one of its founding members) and David Brandon. It was based on Buddhist efforts to bring social awareness and transformation to a society that was heavily committed to the nuclear world view of the Cold War. However, when Arnott

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left in 1986 it fell to a small nucleus of five committed people, including Jones and Martin Pitt (now a Dharmacarya in the C of I) the only two survivors with roles in the Network, to step in and act as part of a coordinating group, making decisions in between more general BPF meetings. The basic organizational features that emerged in those early collaborations are set out in the minutes of a meeting of 29 November 1986 entitled, a Born Again bpf. They included changing the name to NEB, creating a quarterly newsletter, running quarterly retreats and the fostering of local groups and contacts linked by regional and national networking. Such groups as the Leeds NEB developed with great energy but were short lived and regional and local groups have never since been a possibility, due to a lack of sufficient commitment to create a regional organization under the NEB umbrella. During the 1990s Eric Teare was largely responsible for holding the group together as membership secretary, treasurer and Indra’s Net editor. The character of the ‘affinity group’ reflects members with energies in more than one place and consequently reduces the chances for local or regional group identity under the NEB umbrella. The basic structures that were put in place then, essentially hold good now in principle, and many of the same problems of bringing people to the organization are still extant, with some notable additions. The Network retained some structural organization in the form of officers, referred to as an executive committee or ‘NEB Exec.’ within which there is a chair, secretary, treasurer, membership secretary and Jones as retreat coordinator and spiritual mentor to the Network (becoming president in 2007). A small group, of executive members and others, constituted the editorial board of Indra’s Net. At the Autumn 2005 business meeting a proposal to adopt a constitution was held over for later discussion and in late 2007 the constitution was ratified and posted on the revamped website in 2009. The paid-up membership, at its height (2006–7) numbered around 200, but in 2012 are only 118. They are scattered in all parts of the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man, together with members in Canada, Australia, Thailand, India, the Netherlands and Germany (the overseas members are only a handful of individuals). Membership is £15 or £10 unwaged, but from 2013 the Network will cease to become a paid members organization. The Network retains regional representatives as it did in earlier manifestations; they are, however, rarely called upon, as there are no official regional/local groups or meetings outside of the two six-monthly meetings outlined above. The Network supports a website, which was updated through a complete rebuild in 2009–10. There is also a moderated ‘e–discussion group’ forum

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called ‘nebsangha’ whose membership is around 220 and a Facebook page. The NEB retains its collaborative links to worldwide organizations like INEB in Thailand, and to the BPF in the United States. It collates articles on contemporary issues and posts them on the site, and from 2013 it will seek to create an electronic downloadable version of Indra’s Net annually, now the print version has ceased. The website will function as the main communication tool of the organization from 2013, as a decision was taken at the annual general meeting in September 2012, to reduce commitments to executive members and costs to the organization. It will adopt a networked communications model as a signposting tool for others, and not an activist organization in its own right. This is in light of a fall in membership and a necessity to retain a presence and function in the best possible way while planning for the future of the organization. NEB is not structured hierarchically either spiritually or organizationally and is a clear ‘affinity network’ based on fellowship and an open spirit of sharing. This has been reinforced by the decision above, even though actions in their own right are temporarily on hold. The ‘Affinity Group model’ in social movement terms has worked well for NEB, who have adopted what Goodwin and Jasper (2003: 167) refer to as ‘small, semi-independent groups of like minded activists, which typically co-ordinate their actions with other, similar affinity groups’. Examples of NEB actions where this has been the case, include the ‘climate change camps’ in 2007 (at Drax Power Station in Yorkshire and Heathrow Airport), or Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEI) Exhibition in 2005. This model would also fit the Amida profile, despite Amida having a more centralized system of authority. Jones, as the most senior member, carries the weight of spiritual mentor; one he sees as a paternal position within the network. An informant bears this out in interview claiming: It’s [NEB] a freethinking environment. I mean people will look to Ken for a lead, because he is the most experienced both in practice terms and scholarly terms, and he’s probably done more than anyone else in the UK. He has thought through the theoretical underpinning of social engagement in its development as a Buddhist way of life (NEB 6 IM).

The Network has in the past struggled to retain people who are sufficiently committed to running the organization due largely to a lack of people prepared to do more than accept the journal three times a year and meet up once or twice as outlined above. Bell in her survey ‘A Survey of Engaged Buddhism in

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Britain’ noted that when she carried out her research in the summer of 1997, there were: people who identify themselves as engaged Buddhists by joining an organization that incorporates the term in its title, but who do not themselves necessarily participate in overt forms of political or social activism beyond writing occasional letters or collecting signatures for petitions in support of humanitarian, animal welfare or environmental causes. (Bell, 2000: 401)

A relatively high number of those on the mailing list for NEB probably fall into the category Bell describes and could be referred to as ‘Peripheral members’. The fact that large numbers of UK Buddhists have sympathy with causes defined as relevant to engaged Buddhists seems to be the case. A survey for an engaged Buddhist project in India on behalf of a project proposal by Karuṇā and Clear Vision Trusts, within TBC, gathered almost 300 respondents, 77  per cent of which were from TBC. The popularity of the demands on British Buddhists to recognize themselves in a globalized world in which there is much need is perhaps perversely an issue for NEB. With the growth of SEB activity in the period between 2002 and 2009, and a better understanding of the issues it presents there has been a significant amount of integration of SEB ideas into more mainstream organizations in British Buddhism, like for example, Triratna, SGI UK, New Kadampa Tradition, C of I and even Amida Trust (given its latest changes). In principle then those who may once have come to NEB to explore these issues, are now acting in their own saṅghas, which may be affecting the need for the previous networked model? There are perhaps other factors that should also be given consideration: First, with no easily identifiable traditional position in a Buddhist sense (if you are not aware of a strong Zen influence), of either lineage or monasticism, outsiders may be reluctant to explore what the Network has to offer. Secondly, as a purely lay organization without a hierarchy or lay ordination process, those who do not know of the work of NEB or Jones in the field may find it difficult to identify with a visually recognizable leader, particularly as Jones has taken a step back in recent times. Finally, having no base or fixed location or regular meetings is potentially detrimental to continuity and development in many ways. The numbers of NEB members while currently in decline has never shown significant growth since before 1996 when Thich Nhat Hanh established his C of I UK. It is also apparent that those Buddhists with an activist background are few in relative terms compared to Buddhists in the United Kingdom as a whole. NEB attracts a proportion of former secular activists who are on the margins of

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society, along with Buddhist activists on the margins of Buddhist society in the United Kingdom. It has always been the members’ intention to act as a Network, and so to retain simple structures within which to work. This will be the position for NEB, at least in the immediate future.

NEB social profile NEB members surveyed in the 2004/05 Survey make up 29 per cent of the total sample across all five case-study groups. Demographically, the sample is 55 per cent male and 45 per cent female, the average age of the group being slightly older than Amida at 52 years of age. Ethnically they are overwhelmingly white European at 95 per cent, with 1 per cent Afro-Caribbean and just over 4 per cent ‘other’. The marital status is represented in the cross-tabulation Table 4.4. Marital status indicates the following: 23 per cent single, 39 per cent married, 5 per cent separated, 16 per cent divorced, 11 per cent cohabiting and 4 per cent widowed. The number of respondents with a Buddhist partner (similar to Amida) is almost a third of the sample (29%). Just over half (56%) have children, and of those, a little over a quarter (27%) are children under 18. In terms of accommodation, education and income, the survey reflects the following: almost 60 per cent live in owner-occupied property with 28 per cent in private rented homes. These figures combine to make 88 percent in private accommodation  – similar to the Amida sample, but they have a different distribution – in Amida more are in owned property and less in private rented than NEB where 5.5 per cent lived in community, 4 per cent in rented council property and one was living in a cooperative. Graduates among NEB members amounted to 64 per cent of the sample and those with a postgraduate qualification are just over 34 per cent (both higher Table 4.4  Current membership of NEB: Marital status cross-tabulation Marital status Single Married Separated Divorced Widowed Cohabiting Total Current membership of NEB Total Count

Yes

17

29

4

12

3

8

73

No 99.00

74 2 93

46 0 75

12 0 16

26 0 38

3 0 6

16 0 24

177 2 252

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than Amida). Those educated professionally (a self-designation in the survey) were 26 per cent; scientifically  – just under 17 per cent; the same for Liberal Arts education (17%), while just fewer than 28 per cent were educated in both Liberal Arts and Science combined, with 6 per cent in vocational education and 7 per cent other. The income levels for NEB members reflects income under £15,000 accounts for 45 per cent of the sample (much less in Amida at 26%); between £20,000 and £30,000 is 30 per cent of the sample (much higher in Amida at 50%). In general, Amida members are higher income earners than NEB members. In networking and communication terms, 67 per cent of NEB members use the internet  – 73 per cent for surfing Buddhist information and 38 per cent for engaging in Buddhist debates or forums. There is also evidence of how the members within the case-study groups associate with each other, identifying multiple memberships across more than one group, as follows: 26 per cent of NEB members are also members of Amida; 20 per cent of NEB members are members of TBC; 16 per cent are members of C of I; and 4 per cent are members of Rokpa. ‘Aspects of Buddhism’ questions present the following: 82 per cent of the sample (60 members) saw themselves as Western converts to Buddhism, as Table 4.5 indicates. In addition there was one Asian Buddhist; three non-Buddhists (activists seeking/searching); two of other faiths (both Christian) and seven ‘other’ (not stated). When asked about their faith before Buddhism, 53 per cent of the sample claimed to be Christian. When questioned about their teacher (Jones), 10 per cent saw him as a Buddha, 45 per cent as a Bodhisattva and 75 per cent as a skilful teacher. Table 4.5  Current membership of NEB: How would you describe yourself cross­tabulation How would you describe yourself? Western Indigenous NonOther Other Not Total convert Buddhist Buddhist faith known culture Current Yes membership of NEB No 99.00 Total

60

1

3

2

7

0

73

138 2 200

2 0 3

11 0 14

8 0 10

17 0 24

1 0 1

177 2 252

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A total of 93 per cent said they were an SEB (reflected in Table 4.6). Additionally, 80 per cent of the sample claimed Buddhism needed a social orientation, and on the question of nirvāṇa, 70 per cent saw it as in ‘the here and now’, while only 5 per cent saw nirvāṇa as not attainable in this lifetime. Questions on the provenance of SEB revealed: only 8 per cent suggested SEB originates from Western influences in Asia; only 2 per cent fail to accept the notion of SEB as a concept, while only 7 per cent see SEB as a wholly Western concept. Similar to the Amida Trust responses, the majority view is that SEB is an accepted reality and that it stems from a combination of Western and Asian influences. On the question of ‘continuity versus discontinuity’ 44 per cent claim ‘all Buddhism is engaged’. In addition 41 per cent claim SEB is ‘Dharma as social action’ with only 7 per cent claiming that it is ‘Dharma with social action added on’, and the majority (67%) agreed SEB is to be understood as ‘Inner Dharmic work mirrored by outer action’.

NEB and its material culture In material terms NEB has no base of its own, and adapts the Western Ch’an influences from its mentor in ritual and symbolic activities. Taking an image of Kwan Yin (deity of great compassion), a bell and incense to retreats is a feature of NEB, as a mobile affinity group. An example of NEB mobility is their presence at the Buddhafield festival each summer, (organized by the TBC Buddhafield Saṅgha). The festival lasts for five days and takes a contemporary Buddhist theme each year, which is played out in debate, ritual pūjā on a grand scale (with up to one thousand people taking part), music, art and poetry and a variety of teachings. NEB occupy what is called the ‘Activist Tent’ as a place for daily Table 4.6  Current membership of NEB: Are you a Socially Engaged Buddhist crosstabulation Count Are you a Socially Engaged Buddhist?

Current membership of NEB Total

Yes No 99.00

Yes

No

Total

66 115 1 182

5 53 1 59

71 168 2 241

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discussion and debate about Buddhist approaches to humanitarianism in protest and service. This is one event that raises the public profile of the organization. Where the NEB profile differs from the other groups in the case study and elsewhere is in the lack of an effective space, which they can call a base, or a temple, or even an office. Without a fixed base and funding for part-time or fulltime staff to disseminate information, their profile may well remain marginal. That said, it should also be remembered that communicating a Buddhist message of any kind in the United Kingdom, has its own inherent difficulties, not least in the generally agreed perception that UK Buddhists are more conservative (generally) than other Western Buddhists (certainly more so than their American counterparts). The tendency for many UK Buddhists is to work within their own frame of reference, vis-à-vis the group they associate with and to that end they can be insular in their outlook. One advantage for SEB groups, however, is that practitioners will associate with other SEB groups (evidenced by the survey) even if their doctrinal positions have different emphasis. The ‘nebsangha’ e-group is the catalyst for updating information to the group membership. The website and the e-group are becoming increasingly important and are useful spaces for announcements, discussions and developing a rendezvous based on activist initiatives, in addition to maintaining links between other Buddhist and inter-faith groups and the Network. Significantly, NEB members of nebsangha are often also members of the Amida e-forums and the UK-Interbeing yahoo group of the C of I, reinforcing the networked links of UK Socially Engaged Buddhists.

Summary The NEB as an affinity group has adapted a form of social engagement that owes its practical application to an interpretation of East Asian Buddhism under the guise of the Western Ch’an Fellowship. This comes from Jones (as spiritual mentor), which he has adapted as a practice for the contemporary world. It also draws on Master Eihei Dōgen and therefore Sōtō Zen approaches. There is no formally taught method of meditation within NEB, and most participants use their own practice, as they generally come from other Buddhist groups and organizations. This is not true for all, as some only associate with NEB, but that is the exception rather than the rule. While the two formal meetings each year take the Western Ch’an approach of sitting Shikan-taza, and walking Khinhin, practice also follows Zen Master Dōgen as an exemplar of the

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kōan tradition, using a Chinese style, however – Hua-tou. The emphasis is not about the sudden enlightenment of the individual through the use of the kōan, but more about a realization of a more mundane kind; that of seeing beyond the this and that of dualistic life, into a form of ‘empowerment through acceptance’ as insight into an engaged Buddhist life. To some extent the kōan has a speaking as well as a listening quality, in which seeking a solution to its paradox takes on a particular spiritual form. The core practice is self-investigation of one’s ‘emotional awareness’ in an effort to understand one’s personal pain and in so doing shift one’s thinking to a new way of seeing (not unlike the nei quan meditations of Amida). In doctrinal and philosophical terms the adaptation of a Western Ch’an approach seeks to acknowledge the interconnectedness of the universe, the Bodhisattva seeking to help all sentient life to enlightenment and the perfection of an inherent Buddha Nature towards perfect Buddhahood. This is in stark contrast to the Amida approach of the imperfection of the human form, in which ‘other-power’ is the only salvific approach. The use of doctrinal devises like the emptiness doctrine is also contrasting to Amida’s approach, which seeks to avoid any discussion about emptiness (śūnyatā) as a confusing issue for Western minds. In more recent work Jones’ everyday Buddhism approach is characterizing ‘suchness’ and ‘thusness’ as opposed to emptiness, with a view to being more tangibly understood by practitioners. He supports Dōgen’s view that while form is empty of any self-nature it is also at the same time real; yet if those whose passion for the world (SEBs), are not aware of the danger of overemphasizing their passion, it will become an obstacle to the very practice which it seeks to support. The balance to be struck is neither to lose touch with the phenomenal world (through dwelling in emptiness) nor to overemphasize the ills of the world. The inner liberative strength of a balanced approach requires one to accept one’s own reality on which to build change. Jones claims this will manifest outwardly in the liberative action of social engagement. NEB as a NBM21 is adapting religion to new social circumstances and takes this contemporary narrative as a critique of Western late-modern consumerdriven society. It is unusual in contemporary Buddhist terms because it attempts to express definitively a substantive and functional approach to engaged Buddhism, which few other forms of Buddhism attempt. The use of a hermeneutics interprets teachings for a contemporary audience using tools of explanation, for example, Jones’ Four Noble Political Truths. This reapplication of Buddhist principles to contemporary concerns like politics, ethics, oppression and the environment have uncovered a ‘methods’ versus ‘issues’ approach within

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NEB which is under constant revision, and the work on methods is reflected in the NEB website description from Jones’ article of the same name, which suggests a need for: ‘story telling, deep listening, structural analysis and a gallery walk are all described as ways to encourage participants to call on all of themselves to cultivate the wisdom and understanding we are seeking in socially engaged Buddhism’ (www.engagedbuddhists.org.uk). Jones proffers a narrative of a ‘radical culture of awakening’ in which social attitudes to self and other would become transformed through the example of the contemplative religious communities around the world. The change is said to be as a result of a shift in thinking where ‘emotional awareness’ becomes the core practice of individuals, becoming institutionalized in all walks of life. Such a change is unlikely to ever be a reality given the small numbers of largely marginalized individuals as SEBs, whose affective presence to change prevailing Buddhist attitudes towards a social dimension is far from certain, let alone creating a cultural shift across the planet. The issues surrounding the UK and US response to global terrorism seems to have galvanized support for NEB, whose membership had increased by almost 60 per cent since the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, only to drop by almost the same figure by late 2011. The emotional response from NEB members is to a sense of uncertainty, and fear of hopelessness in the face of such global problems. This is born out in the response of NEB members to their concern to link social and political activism to the spiritual life (NEB 5, 6, 7, 8). NEB sees the compassion necessary in the Buddhist approach to social and political engagement as an authentic concern for the inherent Buddha Nature of suffering humanity. Such concern seeks to transcend the sense of a separate self-absorbed ego. NEB has no proscriptive personal ethics or formally documented rules outside its constitution as a legal framework for function. The 2004/05 Survey shows over 95 per cent of NEB members practice the minimum of five lay precepts. The NEB approach seeks to follow the Mahāyāna ethics of compassion and wisdom based on the Bodhisattva ideal, using ‘skill in means’ as a method of understanding and explanation. The skilful adaptation of the Dharma impacts on how to be effective in dealing with social and political realities, when reinterpreting traditional ethical concerns for late modernity. The Buddhist application of ‘right view’ is seen as a method of enquiry ethically. Using a virtuous approach raises questions for NEB members, who see a traditional virtue response being modified by the acceptance of acts of compassion that may involve killing or violence. How then are these issues to be dealt with? This vexed area has created an ethical divide

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between literalists, who see the applicability of precepts in all aspects of life, creating a – ‘religion of the book’ mentality – and situationalists who see a degree of ambiguity in ethical decision making. The NEB approach advocates the ability to combine ethical aspects of engagement whereby the ‘Four Immeasurables’ are seen as the goal for all social action. The combination of virtue, situational and literal approaches are possible if one investigates each ethical issue without self-need. This points to the acceptance of things as they are – the suchness, thusness of a situation – where there is no refraction of self-need, allowing for an authentic ethical decision to be reached in principle. NEB as a NBM has no hierarchical structure, but rather takes the approach of an ‘affinity group’ in activist terms. It follows the social movement theoretical concept (Goodwin and Jasper, 2003: 167) of ‘affinity group’, described as a small semi-independent unit, pledged to coalition goals, tactics and principles, including, in NEBs case, non-violent direct action (2003: 213–14). Ironically, in the wider activist world such groups are often seen as the most anarchic and disruptive, working as small cells and cooperating with others to make actions workable. The inner path spirituality seems to resonate with former secular activists, which may account for the predominantly white ethnic majority, given the nature of ‘new social movement organizations (SMOs)’22 in the United Kingdom, out of which NEB developed. NEB is non-sectarian ecumenical Buddhist organization with a constitution in place. Its strengths and weaknesses can be seen in its organizational structure. Often members are empowered by the lack of hierarchy or ordained positions, but this may also be responsible for failing to attract newcomers, who are often uncertain of a group structured around socially oriented Dharma, (as with Amida’s early experiences). As activism is generally a marginalized activity in society, so too is its marginality even greater, in what is a minority religion in the United Kingdom. This is compounded as SEB is ‘on the margin of the minority’ in a Buddhist context also. In demographic terms NEB is not unlike Amida, with an almost 95 per cent white European membership, a similar single, married, divorced and separated profile, and almost a third of the group with a partner who is Buddhist. Over 80 per cent being Western convert members, of which 53 per cent were formally Christian. A significant 93 per cent see themselves as SEBs; 80 per cent of the 93 per cent claim Buddhism needs a social orientation. Appraising Jones’ typology, 67 per cent saw SEB as ‘inner work mirrored by outer action’ while 44 per cent suggested ‘all Buddhism is engaged’. Although

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a number of NEB members have ‘Social Helping, Service and Welfare’ responsibilities, as an organization, NEB retains its ‘Radical Activist’ label in its more general activist approach. It does not, however, neglect the service aspects of SEB, which Jones has clearly declared, ‘accounts for the largest proportion of engaged Buddhists’ (Jones, August 2007). In material and artistic terms NEB is characterized by the mobility of its icons and ritual paraphernalia. The symbolism of movement perhaps represents NEBs constant movement without a fixed place they can call a home, temple or office, which may also add to the difficulty in disseminating its message more widely. There is a sense that a better-resourced group may grow its social profile, and so attract more Buddhists, in what is a global climate, many would suggest, that is ripe for engagement, but which may well be providing nourishment through more mainstream Buddhist groups.

Notes 1 2

3 4

5

6 7

Affinity, in the sense of like-minded support albeit from a range of Buddhist perspectives, including some non-Buddhist activists with sympathies. The BPF came into being in 1978 at the Maui Zendo, San Francisco, United States, co-founded by Nelson Foster, Robert and Anne Aitken and several Zen practitioners including activists like Gary Snyder, Joanna Macy and Jack Kornfield. It adopted an ecumenical approach to the Dharma as a matter of principle, seen as strength in the face of Buddhism’s sectarian history. See www.bpf.org for more details of their work. Informants were interviewed and a prefix NEB with a number and an abbreviation for the location used in the text to designate them, e.g. NEB 3 (Lon). For a deeper discussion about what constitutes a NBM see Chapter 8 – ‘Cross-Case Analysis’ – a discussion that reflects Professor Peter Clarke’s (2006) summary in New Religions in Global Perspective: 4, 10–21, 87–92, 264–9. Master Shen-Yen – experienced in both the main lineages of Chan – Linji (Rinzai) and Caodong (Sōtō). He is a second generation teacher in the lineage of the Great Master Hsu Yun, who did a great deal to restore Chan to China in the early years of the twentieth century. He transmitted the Linji lineage to Dr John Crook of the Western Ch’an Fellowship a close associate of Ken Jones. The Japanese translation from Chinese Ch’an. Western Ch’an takes a number of Sōtō/Chinese forms of enquiry. Kōan practice started out as setting legal precedent, originally in the Tang Dynasty (618–907), and their use in Buddhist practice grew out of a tradition of Ch’an masters commenting on word and deed of former masters. Later manifestations

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  8

  9

10

11

12

13 14 15

Adaptation and Developments in Western Buddhism developed the sense of ‘observing the phrase’, and the ‘Hua-tou’ or breakthroughKoan flowed from Rinzai and was used in some Ch’an settings too. This can lead to Kensho – an initial insight into Buddha Nature. It was suppressed in Soto Zen in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries despite the fact that Master Dōgen accredited master of Sōtō Zen used Kōan practice. NEB use the Hua-tao practice, repeating it continually in search of insight. Having seen my partner in this exercise several times since the ceremony, it is not unreasonable to suggest that there was something of an emotional barrier crossed that night that gives the participant an insight into the inexplicable nature of a person’s character behind the eyes. It was considered a truly personal and very profound statement of compassion without any other emotional baggage. Tara is a tantric deity in Tibetan Buddhism, and a Mahyāna Bodhisattva which comes in a range of colours (white, Green, Red, Black, Blue and Yellow) denoting a range of Buddhist virtues. Used by NEB for her outer inner practices surrounding compassion and emptiness. The cross-tabulation tables work with the total numbers returned in the survey (253 or 51% of the total of 500 sent out) and extracts specific groups (in this case NEB members) and their relationship to a variable (in this case meditation). The word ‘Yes’ affirms membership of NEB and ‘No’ the non-members of NEB in the variables being explored (in the above case members of the other four case studies). The number 99 denotes non-response to either the meditation question and/or NEB membership. The total number in the survey (253) will not always appear in cross-tabulation tables – as the specific question searching more than one variable will only produce the total in response to the two or more variables in the cross-tabulation query. The first of the ‘Four Noble Truths’ often characterized by unsatisfactoriness. It is generally divided into three aspects: ordinary suffering of illness, separation from loved ones, etc., duḥkha produced by change due to the impermanent nature of conditioned phenomena, and duḥkha of conditioned states, which teaches that what one calls ‘the individual’ is a combination of ever changing physical and mental forces which are called ‘five aggregates’, this reflects the teaching of no-self (anātman). Originally thought to be one’s potential for enlightenment. In East Asian Mahāyāna Buddhism it often came to be seen, not as potential, but as the inherent ‘Buddhahood’ of every sentient being. A reference to enthusiasts of the Gaia process theory school of thought, many of who are engaged Buddhist environmentalists. Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, chapter two: Collection of All the Dharmas, Section XXVII, verse 76; trans. D. T. Suzuki ([1932] 2003) The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra: A Mahāyāna Text: 76. The Perfection of Insight is the last of the six perfections, which make up the central element of the Mahāyāna path. The cultivation of insight results in the

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17

18

19

20

21

22

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direct realization of emptiness, which is, according to the literary corpus to be understood as the culmination of the Bodhisattva’s practice. It is, however, only the sixth of the ten Bodhisattva levels (daśa-bhūmi). The embodiment of the spiritual ideal of the Mahāyāna, meaning ‘a being oriented towards enlightenment’. A career can take immeasurable time over three kalpas and involves the cultivation of the six perfections, based on a vow to save all sentient beings from suffering. Progress is measured in the ten stages/levels of the Bodhisattva path. An article presented to the BPF US, as part of their web resource (www.bpf.org) and as a discussion paper to NEB, under the title An Activists Toolbox for Popularising the Social Dharma (2004). This article presents the basis of a Buddhist Social theory based on an explanation of the Four Noble Truths explained in relation to a politicized social world as understood in the twenty-first century. This is not a reinterpretation of the Four Noble Truths rather an illustration of them with contemporary references to Duḥkha (unsatisfactoriness or suffering). Think Sangha is a Socially Engaged Buddhist think tank affiliated to the BPF US and INEB (Jones is a member). Their core activities involve networking with other thinker-activists to produce Buddhist critiques of social structures. See: Moore (1997) The Accidental Buddhist: Mindfulness, Enlightenment and Sitting Still; Schonberger (2007) Mindfulness Feasibility Study [online]; and Schwenk (2007) Managing Mindfully: Buddhism and Business [online]. The issue of engaged Buddhist ethics developing a situation ethics that runs alongside and works with the virtue ethics approach is an issue given greater attention in Chapter 8. NBM should not be understood in terms of the negative ‘deviance’ explanations of NRMs. Such an explanation is incomplete (Finney, 1991: 381) and will be discussed in more detail in the Cross-Case Analysis in Chapter 8. See Goodwin and Jasper (2003) ‘Introduction’,165–8 and McCarthy and Zald (2003) in Goodwin and Jasper (eds), Social Movement Organizations, (London: Blackwell Publishing), 169–86.

5

The Community of Interbeing (UK)

Historical background The C of I UK can be described collectively as the ‘UK Sangha’ of an international organization, which follows the teaching and practices of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.1 He has been mentioned briefly as an early teacher to the NEB (Chapter 4) and being responsible for coining the term ‘engaged Buddhism’ (Chapter 1), from his experience during and after the Vietnamese war. Thich Nhat Hanh’s use of the term ‘engaged Buddhism’ created a more inclusive, action-oriented approach to the ravages of a war-torn Vietnam, and was born out of a conversation between a peasant farmer and a member of the School for Youth and Social Services (SYSS) team that he had created. As Nhat Hanh (1993a: 59) pointed out: [T]hat statement [engaged Buddhism] became the ground[ing] of our philosophy of social service  – engaged Buddhism. The Buddha has to be in society. You cannot remain in the temple any longer, because people are suffering too much.

Nhat Hanh grew up in the Vietnam of the late 1930s and 1940s. Ordained as a novice at 16, he was well aware of the reform movement in Vietnamese Buddhism against French imperialism, which was strongly nationalist in its approach. The Vietnamese saṅgha was influenced by the activist approach of the Chinese reforming monastic Tai Hsu, who reformed aspects of Chinese Buddhism after the revolution of 1911 toppled the Manchu Dynasty. Thich Nhat Hanh has a worldwide profile as a Buddhist peacemaker, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967 by Martin Luther King Jr. He has committed his life to teaching a form of mindful awareness of body, mind and speech that has enhanced his reputation as a respected Dharma teacher and Zen Master. In the last 30 years he has produced more than 70 books on his teachings

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and practice, including on art (calligraphy) and poetry. In recent times he has worked for reconciliation in a number of conflict areas in the world, including Palestine and Israel. Nhat Hanh created the ‘Order of Interbeing’ (Tiep Hien2) in Vietnam in 1964 as a response to the increasing pressure he found himself under, from both the American-backed government of the south (who had declared his so-called neutralist poems deploring the war as pro-communist), and the communists in the north, (who declared him a puppet of America). Several of his colleagues in the Van Hahn University (which he helped to develop) and a number of his followers were persecuted and some killed. He narrowly survived attacks on his own life during this period. The Tiep Hien Order was, as Batchelor (1994: 358) points out, ‘[A] reformed Buddhist movement that emphasized social responsibility and pacifism based on the practice of mindful awareness.’ The C of I Manual of Practice (2003: chapter five, page 8) suggests the Order is, ‘based on the principles of Engaged Buddhism which emphasises social responsibility and peace work’, an area fundamental to Nhat Hanh. In February 1966 Nhat Hanh ordained three men and three women from the ‘School of Youth for Social Service’.3 These original Order members worked to develop a mindfulness-based serenity despite the war premised on the Zen principles of Nhat Hahn’s own lineage. They collectively ran social service projects, rebuilt bombed-out villages, printed literature and helped war victims, in addition to running an underground movement for draft resisters. Each weekend they held a ‘Day of Mindfulness’4 (DOM) to help renew themselves for the next week’s efforts, coming together collectively to recite the 14 mindfulness trainings5 and chant the Heart Sūtra of the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras. They remained together as an experimental saṅgha with no additional Order members being admitted until 1981 (the original experimental model serving as a template for the Core Order today). Thich Nhat Hanh spent a considerable amount of time campaigning in America during the latter part of the 1960s and was eventually made aware that his safe return to Vietnam was not guaranteed. As a result he had been unable to return to his homeland until early in 2005. Having found himself in exile with his compatriots, including the nun sister Chân Khōng (one of the original six Ordainees), they moved to Fontvannes near Paris, where they established the ‘Sweet Potato Farm Community’. They concentrated on helping Vietnamese refugees and developing retreats around the world to offer peacemaking and compassion to those who would listen. His popularity grew and the development of Parallax Press in the United States and the formal constitution of the ‘Unified

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Buddhist Church’ there, helped promote his teaching through literature and the development of US-based communities. He is described by Seager (1999: 202) as, ‘the single most important source of Asian inspiration [for engaged Buddhism] in this [US] country’. All of his books (over 75) in English are currently in print. In 1982 he and his growing ‘Order’ established Plum Village (Village de Pruniers) near Bergerac in the Dordogne region of South Western France. Before long, people from all over the world were visiting and involving themselves in retreats and mindfulness training. During the 1980s and 1990s the ‘Order of Interbeing’ worldwide grew to approximately 500 monastic and lay core members (The International Sangha). UK interests in the teachings of Nhat Hanh developed throughout this period; largely due to the way his teachings (of the late 1980s and early 1990s) became a catalyst for many wanting to undertake further investigation. A number of participants in UK events subsequently visited Nhat Hanh in his Plum Village retreat complex, and inspired by what they found, returned to the United Kingdom with thoughts of creating saṅghas under the umbrella of Nhat Hanh’s mindfulness community organization. A number of informal saṅghas were created, but it wasn’t until 1994 that supporters became energized sufficiently to formally constitute the C of I, UK and register as a charity.

Mindfulness practice The core practice of the C of I is ‘Mindful Living’, suggesting a lifestyle which requires that one practises mindfulness of the moment consistently. Regular practitioners claim to be working to change ‘habit energies’ in pursuit of a more mindful daily practice. Nhat Hanh (1975) insists mindfulness is intrinsic to one’s ‘being’ and should be expressed through all of one’s actions at every moment in life. As an art it is something that is continually learned and expressed; the suggestion being, it is a matter for cultivation through practice, even though Nhat Hanh seems to be suggesting it is inherent in all humans. The focus for mindful activity within the C of I is breathing. The full awareness of breathing is considered an invaluable resource, as a means of stilling and calming the body and mind by dwelling in the moment. There are a number of prompts to encourage mindfulness. In retreat settings and other forms of collective practice, the ‘bell of mindfulness’ prompts retreatants to return to their breathing. Similarly, there are a number of Gāthās (mindfulness verses) that can be used as prompts in daily life. These are intended

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to help retain awareness and concentration during activities. Prompts to mindful activity can include everyday objects, like traffic lights, the telephone ringing, or natural elements like an opening flower, if they help one return to the breathing and foster awareness. Mindfulness as understood by the C of I is always mindfulness of something. It is described by CI 9 FIF (29 April 2003) in very practical terms: I think for me being in the moment is the most profound thing that I have understood about my Buddhist practice; for example, the bell stop; when the bell rings, stop, concentrate on breathing, being in the moment, three times. Stuck at the traffic lights waiting for it to turn green, you can breath and use it to bring you into the moment. The telephone ringing; stop and breathe three times before answering it. None of this is other-worldly, it is all practical and useful.

The mindfulness teachings have been developed in all forms of activity. They reflect early Buddhist forms and use the meditative descriptions of Samatha referred to as ‘calm abiding’ and Vipassanā referred to as ‘looking deeply, insight’. Calm abiding is to create a stillness of mind, whereas looking deeply is more generally to bring your whole attention to whatever you are observing in order to see what lies behind it. Mindful speaking and listening is an application of Samatha in speech. It encourages the practitioner to stop to think before reacting verbally. Listening, similarly, involves inhibiting habitual responses, such as judgements, in order to truly hear what the other person is saying. The potential for awakening is already within each practitioner, according to the C of I understanding. This is referred to as the ‘Buddha Within’ (Buddha Nature). It is described by Nhat Hanh (2003: 2/13) as: ‘The capacity for understanding and love and when these qualities are present the Buddha is revealed. This knowledge gives us the confidence that we already have within us, the person we wish to be.’ Nhat Hanh claims practising in the present moment releases practitioners from the negative cycles of dwelling in the regrets of the past or worries of the future. The appreciation of Buddha Nature as inherent and therefore potentially realizable within humanity is similar to that adopted by NEB. The variety of practices is vast, including: ‘Chanting and Recitation of scriptural discourses from the Prajñāpāramitā literature’, ‘Gāthās’ (verses), working with the ‘Mindfulness Bell’, ‘Sitting and Walking (Kinh Hanh) Meditation’, ‘Offering Incense’, ‘Touching the Earth Practice’, ‘Sūtra Reading’, ‘Invoking the Name of the Bodhisattvas’, ‘Taking Refuge’, ‘The Two Promises’, ‘Recitation of Five and Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings’ as well as a variety of mindfulness activities

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for walking, entering and leaving ceremonies, eating, sleeping and resolving conflict. In sum a recipe for ‘mindful living’. Meditation within the C of I generally takes the form of sitting meditation following the ānāpāna-sati method of mindfulness of breathing, sometimes guided by a facilitator. This is usually followed by a period of Khin Hanh (slowwalking meditation). This general approach is followed in a number of different ritual/devotional situations, including DOM on a local or regional level. These methods are a feature of Retreats, Ordinations, Lamp Transmission Ceremonies as well as in Mindfulness Training Ceremonies where five and/or fourteen (ethical) mindfulness trainings are undertaken. Preparation is seen as important to the meditation process as the sitting or walking experience. Entering the meditation space or room – be it at home, in a DOM group or on retreat – takes on a ritual aspect, walking slowly in Kinh Hanh6 to the seat or cushion, footwear free. One bows to the shrine and the cushion and takes a seat. A common Gāthā recited on entry is: ‘entering the room – I see my true mind. I vow that once I sit down – all disturbances will stop’ (Manual of Practice, 2003: 8). Guided meditations are common at group meetings and start with the sound of the bell three times (representing Buddha, Dharma and Sangha). At a Glasgow DOM the facilitator talked the participants through a guided meditation taken from Nhat Hanh’s (1993b) book, The Blooming of a Lotus. The meditation followed six Gāthās breathing in and out on each verse with mental injunctions to acknowledge each breath. On completion of the guided meditation everyone stood to the sound of the bell, and after a second bell, bowed to each other, turning on the third bell, before commencing indoor walking meditation (Khin Hanh) slowly, in a clockwise direction. The in-breath is coordinated with the movement of the left foot while walking and the out-breath with the right. One is aware of a unity in the movement of the group. While walking, participants hold their hands in front of the body and retain a gentle smile to relax face muscles. The focus is on the movement and breathing, being aware of contact with the earth as one walks. After three complete circumambulations of the room, the bell was sounded and the original seating position was found. Once seated, three sounds of the bell signalled the start of the silent seated meditation, which was a meditation focusing on the breath (ānāpānasati). This lasted for approximately 20 minutes and concluded with the sound of a single bell. The bell is seen as essential in all ceremonial and ritual activities for punctuating the event and bringing individuals back to the present moment. The UK Community has the flexibility to use as many or as few of the ceremonies, recitations and discourses that are available to them through the

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teaching of Nhat Hanh in The Plum Village Chanting and Recitation Book (2000), and The Manual of Practice: Handbook of the UK Community of Interbeing (2003), which has standardized the mindfulness practices, recitations, ceremonies and discourses for UK C of I members. Common practices include ‘Touching the Earth’, which involves standing with palms joined, bending slowly to the ground so that all four limbs are touching the floor, palms uppermost  – showing an openness to the ‘Three Jewels’  – Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. It is claimed that one breathes in all the strength and stability of the Earth, and breathes out one’s suffering. This can be a three or five prostration process. The earth is seen as indivisible from the human form and practitioners are encouraged to undertake this practice to help let go of a sense of separateness that pervades human consciousness. The Five and Fourteen (ethical) Mindfulness Trainings are ritually undertaken at DOM events, and will be discussed in more detail later. After the recitation of these trainings ‘The Three Refuges’ are recited followed by a recitation for sharing merit, to conclude. Children are offered the ‘Two Promises’ instead of the ‘Three Refuges’, which is an innovative development using basic language, premised on the term ‘promise’, being an understandable part of younger practitioners’ vocabulary. This ceremony has been made a part of the ceremony for formally reciting the ‘Five Mindfulness Trainings’, and is generally used on family retreats or on other occasions where children are present and practising alongside adults. The Two Promises are: (1) I vow to develop understanding, in order to live peaceably with people, animals, plants, and minerals; (2) I have vowed to develop my compassion, in order to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. The practice aspects outlined above are not ‘goal oriented’ in a ‘means’ ‘ends’ sense; for example, walking meditation is not a means to an end, it is an end in itself. Nhat Hanh sums this up, saying: I suggest that you walk like a Buddha, taking steps as the Buddha did. Each step leaves the imprint of peace, joy and innocence on the surface of the earth, and the earth becomes the Pure Land. It is not by preaching or expounding the sūtras that you fulfill the task of awakening others to self-realisation; it is rather by the way you walk, the way you stand, the way you sit and the way you see things. (2003: 16)

The message seems to be that to practice mindful living in all aspects creates the exemplar in life that brings others to ‘self-realization’  – an awareness that suggests a Pure Land on earth, not by an ‘other-power’ means like the Amida

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approach – rather by a combination of other-power and a self-power, which is described as the Buddha Nature within. The SEB 2004/5 survey looked at practice within the wider C of I membership. The C of I sample within the survey accounted for 21 per cent (52 respondents) of the total sample across all five case-study groups (253). When asked if the sample practised meditation 100 per cent (52) responded positively that they did. Table 5.1 shows the regularity of meditation within the sample. Within the sample 58 per cent practice daily, 36 per cent practice sometimes and 6 per cent practice rarely. Other practice questions related to chanting, which 83 per cent practice; Buddhist studies 71 per cent; Buddhist languages 20 per cent; and pūjās 56 per cent. On the question of retreat attendance, all 52 respondents (100% of the sample) claim they attend retreats. Of that number 37 per cent (19) attend regularly, 42 per cent (22) attend sometimes and 21 per cent (11) attend rarely. The figures are indicative of a very strong practice base within the sample – perhaps vindication of a strong commitment to ‘mindful living’ – propounded within the C of I.

The doctrine of engagement The doctrinal position of the C of I can be summed up in the approach of Thich Nhat Hanh, who asks the practitioner: not be idolatrous about, or bound to any doctrine, theory or ideology, even Buddhist ones. Buddhist teachings are guiding means to help us learn to look deeply and to develop our understanding and compassion. They are not doctrines to fight, kill, or die for. (Nhat Hanh, 2000: 74)

The emphasis here is to see Buddhist doctrine for what it is, as a guide, not a dogmatic principle. There seems to be two underlying principles for life, epitomized by Nhat Hanh’s teaching: (1) ‘mindful living’, engendering Table 5.1  Current membership of C of I: How often do you meditate cross-tabulation How often do you meditate?

Current membership of C of I Total

Yes No

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Daily

Total

0 8 8

3 3 6

19 56 75

30 125 155

52 192 244

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(2) ‘peace through social responsibility’; these, arguably are, the axiom of his social engagement. World peace appears only to be possible through the internal transformation of individuals. Such a transformation is the manifestation of the Buddha Nature within, which works outwardly as an example of what Nhat Hanh has called ‘Being Peace’ and has written a book under this title (Nhat Hanh, 1996: 9). The use of the term ‘Interbeing’ reflects a sense of totality in the teaching, which reinforces the blurring of boundaries between conceptual relativism and absolute truth, as influenced by the Hua-yen teaching7 in which Nhat Hanh’s approach is both pluralistic and inclusive in every sense. His understanding of ‘Interbeing’ (analysed below) will reflect this influence. ‘Interbeing’ is a relatively new term coined by Nhat Hanh (1987: 6) to describe the essential interconnectedness of the universe. It is a challenge to practitioners to look beyond the world of dualistic opposites and concepts. He explains the principle doctrine of ‘Interbeing’ by suggesting that one examines the nature of the universe as evidence of its interdependence; in early Buddhism this was called Dependent Origination (Pratītya-samutpāda).8 Central to understanding this position is the realization that there is no separate self to people or things. Therefore, everything is empty of a separate self and is interdependent in the universe which is in constant flux and change. The interdependent nature of all phenomena is central to many Buddhist teachings and dovetails with the principle of all as non-self (anātman). Nhat Hanh and the teachers in the UK Community express the term ‘Interbeing’ using the Prajñā-pāramitā Heart Sῡtra, which he refers to as the Heart of Understanding in the (1988) book of the same name, in order to explain the use of the term wisdom. This is not understood conventionally  – as the quality of a wise man, but as a process to perfect insight using the idea of śūnyatā, usually translated as ‘emptiness’. Nhat Hanh teaches that this ‘emptiness’ is always emptiness of something; it is ‘empty of a separate self ’. Both the C of I and the NEB are firm in their doctrinal understanding of ‘emptiness’ as key to their practical application of Dharma and its implications for engaged Buddhism, both taking a Zen approach to this. Nhat Hanh’s insight, however, is to turn the notion of emptiness around, from a negative to a positive, so instead of using the term ‘no separate self ’ to describe emptiness, he uses the term ‘Interbeing’, meaning connected to everything. Here one can see the influence of the Huayen thinking. Nhat Hanh, like the NEB, also uses the interconnectedness of the jewels in the metaphor of ‘Indra’s Jewelled Net’ to explain the nature of ‘Interbeing’.

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Each jewel only exists as a reflection of the light cast by each and every other jewel in the net (which themselves only exist as reflections). Looking deeply at any one jewel therefore offers the potential to reveal the whole universe. The understanding of ‘Interbeing’ is interpreted on a wider universal scale in this context, suggesting that everything in the phenomenal world can be seen to coexist with, and at the same time be part of the universe. Equally, at the same time the reflection of each single element is in everything in the universe. A slightly narrower view of this can be seen where all causes and conditions arise in dependence on each other, based on the 12 causal links as expressed by the Buddha; for example, in the Bahudhātuka Sutta of the Majjhima Nikāya iii. 63 of the Pāli Canon. The nature of ‘Interbeing’ as both a positive reflection on emptiness and interdependence is at the heart of Nhat Hanh’s teaching on the Heart of Wisdom Sūtra. Nhat Hanh (1988: 17) insists, ‘Emptiness is the ground of everything. Thanks to emptiness everything is possible.’ The emptiness, he suggests, is an optimistic concept, because form is emptiness, form is possible, in form everything else is found (i.e. reflected); feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness. Emptiness is to be understood here, as full of everything (full of life), it does not mean non-existent. To highlight this, Nhat Hanh associates the nature of emptiness with that of ‘Interbeing’ in explaining the interconnectivity of all existence in the phenomenal world. He suggests that all things ‘inter-are’, and in that connection also ‘inter-be’. He describes the Buddhist explanation of the five skandhas (form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness) that constitute the human being, as five rivers flowing together, only existing in dependence on each other; none having a separate self, they are therefore empty of a separate self. They need to coexist, and in that context ‘they have to “inter-be” with all the others’ (1988: 9). He uses the example of a ‘piece of paper’ (1988: 3) as both empty of any separate self and as Interbeing with elements of sunshine, clouds, water, a tree, a logger, etc., all of which he describes as nonpaper elements Interbeing in the paper due to the interconnection of all those non-paper elements in dependence of creating the paper. The point he makes is that everything can only ‘inter-be’ it cannot just ‘be’. The C of I are encouraged to see the non-duality of ‘individual and whole’ involving the dissolving of fear, essentially, a fear of death. Nhat Hanh suggests, if human beings are understood to ‘inter-be’ with everything else, they cannot be born or indeed die, as what they are is ‘continuing’ along an unending continuum of changing forms. The changes of form brought about by decay of the human body can be deconstructed into the physics of elemental science and beyond, as

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the epitome of the Buddha’s explanation of impermanence, interdependence and lack of self. With the Prajñāpāramitā insight, individuals, (who are indivisible from their surroundings) by virtue of developing peace in themselves, are effectively creating peace in the world. This is the principle upon which the C of I, Socially Engaged Buddhist practice is based. Despite the slightly abstract nature of the theory of Interbeing and emptiness, the fundamental message underpinning the doctrine is that of grounding oneself in everyday experience. Chapter 2.2 of The Manual of ‘Practice’ implies that one’s ‘own direct experience is our best teacher’. This is supported by Nhat Hanh’s insistence that to experience ‘Interbeing’ one should: just look out of the window and gaze at the view. Breathe, and bring yourself wholly into the present moment. It is possible that you may experience yourself as part of a continuum, part of the natural world. You may lose your usual sense of any separate self. It is this experience which is wisdom. This is not philosophy; you do not need a degree to understand it! It is a wisdom grounded in everyday experience. (2003: 5)

The pragmatic nature of this approach looks to demystify the doctrinal and philosophical elements that are read into discussions about aspects like ‘Interbeing’ or ‘emptiness’.

Interpreting Zen in the West The C of I is open and inclusive in the context of its understanding of teachings and basic scriptures, and the methods it adopts. The Charter of the Order of Interbeing (Nhat Hanh, 1998: 105) sets out in chapter 2 the influences on the community as follows: The Order of Interbeing does not consider any sūtra or group of sūtras as its basic Scripture(s). It draws inspiration from the essence of the Buddhadharma in all sūtras. It does not accept the systematic arrangements of the Buddhist teachings proposed by any school. The Order of Interbeing seeks to realise the spirit of the Dharma in early Buddhism, as well as in the development of that spirit through the history of the saṅgha, and its life and teachings in all Buddhist traditions.

Thich Nhat Hanh saw, in the development of the ‘Unified Buddhist Church’ in Vietnam, a unifying narrative. He took this ‘unifying’ concept forward into

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the United States and France as an opportunity to present Buddhism to the Western world as inclusive, and innovative while portraying a simplicity, which has endeared his teaching to many around the globe. This can be summed up under the heading of ‘Mindful Living’ based upon the basic responsibility to reduce suffering in the world collectively and within the individual. The ensuing narrative of ‘social responsibility and peace’ is echoed by the Dalai Lama – who follows the same ethos  – writing in the forward to Nhat Hanh’s (1991) Peace Is Every Step, he states: ‘Although attempting to bring about peace through the internal transformation of individuals is difficult, it is the only way [ . . . ] Peace Is Every Step is a guidebook for a journey in exactly this direction’ (Tenzin Gyatso in Nhat Hanh, 1991: VII). Teachings for the C of I are very much in keeping with Nhat Hanh’s style of interpreting and revising the language of Dharma for a Western audience. Nhat Hanh’s revisioning style endears him to the Community, who appreciate the nature of the secondary sources that are passed on to them, and give their seal of approval, remarking often on the accessibility of the teaching due to the simple manner in which it is explained. As, CI 18 WAL, explains in interview: We don’t work in the script of the original tradition. The teaching is very much from secondary sources in many ways. We often take readings from Thây’s books, of which there are very many. They are modern interpretations of the sūtras, or often from the chanting book of the Order,9 which are based on translations from the sūtras. It depends on the source.

‘Interbeing’ is both practical and philosophical in approach. Liberation is to be understood as realizing the ‘interbeing-nature’ of individuals. If one continues to see oneself as separate then awakening is not possible, and peace will elude the practitioner. Once one perceives the interconnected nature of one’s existence one is deemed to be resting in the heart of understanding (Nhat Hanh, 2003: 6). The realization of interbeing is the aspiration of C of I members and those of the Order of Interbeing. In such an approach to life there is the narrative of a contemporary social engagement premised on an individual transformation of peace as a manifestation of an outward expression of peace in the world. In principle the method is not too far from the ‘inner/outer’ approach already discussed, both within Amida and the NEB, albeit the emphasis is different vis-à-vis imperfection of humanity (Amida) versus perfection of Buddha Nature (NEB, C of I). However, there is less emphasis on the collective outer manifestations in the C of I approach, which has led to some criticism of the organization as quietist.

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The tension of quietism During the research for this book many individuals and groups were engaged in discussion and interview about the nature of SEB practice within the C of I. Without exception, all interviewees and the vast majority of those spoken to informally had an understanding of SEB based on Nhat Hanh’s experience in Vietnam during the war. The subsequent teachings of mindful living are, it is generally agreed, practices to develop inner calm/peace, which manifests outwardly as peaceful. This style of practice has formed the basis of a critique of the UK C of I as being quietist as an engaged Buddhist Community. David Brazier (Dharmavidya) (2001: 72–4) makes explicit reference to the C of I’s ‘quietism’ in The New Buddhism. He asserts that Thich Nhat Hanh has moved away from his original activist vision of the 1960s and 1970s, insisting that the original radical move to give monastics and lay members equality under a Charter, has slid into a more traditional conservative model, where the monastic community are in charge and the lay Order are there to facilitate them. He accuses the Western members of not having any real enthusiasm for engaged Buddhism, wanting a kind of religion that teaches mindfulness and gentleness in daily life and helps relieve stress and anxiety. He goes further (2001: 72) and claims ‘[T]hey [Westerners] want their spiritual disease ameliorated without the trouble of attending to its social causes’. He also suggests, ‘though radical by sentiment, they are effectively conservative by practice’ (2001: 72). In response to this critique, CI 4 BRM (15 May 2003) claims: The evolution of the UK sanghas is new in relative terms, it is important to understand ourselves in our early development and growth without trying to impose ourselves in society. Mindfulness based engaged activity is going on all around, there are those that are involved more than others in socially orientated activities for peace, oppression and human rights, we are not all advertising the fact; all Buddhism is after all engaged.

Conversely, however, another Community member CI 15 LIN (17 August 2002) stated: ‘The difficulty is not with Thây but with the British community, what Brazier is saying is very pertinent’. There is an obvious tension between those who see C of I as too conservative and focused on mindfulness to the exclusion of social action and those who suggest a newly evolving UK Community is more cautious than conservative.

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Others were asked about their understanding of engaged Buddhism within the Community and as individuals; CI 2. CA (17 April 2008) says of Nhat Hanh’s teaching and the question of engagement: It is engaging with the human dilemmas, the individual and social anxieties, particularly in the West. It also includes other people of faith. A number of Christians find Thây’s work very rewarding and he himself acknowledges it is better to be a good Christian, than trying to be a Christian Buddhist hybrid, if you like. He is one of few teachers of Westerners that can take the form out of Buddhism without dissolving it. He actually removes the ‘isms’ in Buddhism and opens it up as a universal practice for all, regardless of faith. The art is in the seeing and mindfully dealing with life that way, also in accepting things for what they are, but applying Buddha Nature to change.

The claims above (CI 2) suggests a more universal approach as part of the debate, in which the applicability of the teaching holds good across religious boundaries – a feature of engaged spirituality. The social content is not ignored here, suggesting that an already established characteristic of engagement is to ‘accept things for what they are’. Another informant, CI 4 BRM (15 May 2005), when asked, ‘how do you understand the term socially engaged Buddhism’, responded: Well, I think as individual practitioners, Buddhists do engage in things around them. They are not in some way isolated from the world, even if that is a view of meditators held by some. The term itself is interesting in that it comes from the French engagé, which stems from the 1930s and the struggle of the workers. [ . . . ] it [Nhat Hanh’s teaching] is essentially Zen with influences from Taoism and Confucian sources. Thây has a background that has French influence, having been exposed to French cultural influences in his homeland. So in some ways he is using the east-west encounter, as he understands it, to present a form of Buddhism that sets out this French idea of a struggle, together with the Zen idea that Buddha Nature is in all of us. We are there now [in the struggle] and if we engage we will be awakened to it.

CI 17. (17 June 2003) comments on her understanding of engaged Buddhism thus: I completely and utterly relate to Thây’s vision that it is not enough just to sit on the cushion, and I am very taken with his teaching on that. You actually strive for personal happiness. You do it in order to have a beneficial ripple effect on others and for the benefit of others.

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The view above (CI 17) in some ways bears out Brazier’s earlier critique, of ‘radical in sentiment but conservative in practice’, suggesting the importance of personal happiness over social action. On the question of Buddhists protesting politically, CI 8 EDIN (29 April 2005) suggests that on an individual level one or two people have been involved in protest as Buddhists (essentially against the 2003 war in Iraq), however, as a saṅgha it has not been considered as an activity with which to engage. The general understanding of the UK C of I is that SEB manifests itself through mindfulness training, and is an interdependent development of peace in oneself resulting in peace in the world – the nature of Interbeing. Peace is described as the ‘way’ and not an external to be sought after or attained. This view of SEB is primarily an individual-to-individual influence, despite Nhat Hanh and the wider monastic community’s more coherently individual-to-collective influences within Vietnam and elsewhere. Here they are still engaged in a great deal of social service and helping in communities, in the ‘Helping and Touching Programme’; from sponsoring children’s education, orphans and the elderly, to developing training and supporting teachers and social workers. In addition, there is still much work involving infrastructure, on bridges, roads and digging wells, there are also ongoing programmes to provide for flood victims in central Vietnam – an area that suffers regularly in the monsoon season. Additionally there are continuing tensions with the authorities as the 2009 forced eviction of 379 Order of Interbeing monks from Bat Nha Temple attests. The UK Community are committed to the position adopted by Nhat Hanh, and coalesce around his leadership, comfortable in the knowledge that mindful living is, they believe, the answer to peace in the world based on the principles set out above. To that end, individual social action in overt protest or campaigning is, with a few exceptions, largely avoided, as they emphasise the notion that they will, by living mindfully, beneficially ‘inter-be’ with society. This is seen as ‘engaging skilfully’ and reflects the conservatism and caution mentioned above.

Mindfulness as an ethical approach Practising ethical behaviour can lead to a quietness of mind, seen as essential for understanding and compassion. The Five and Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings are intended to deliver a stability of mind and an awareness of suffering, which cultivates compassion to protect people, animals, plants and minerals. They should be understood as deep aspirations, which helps participants to grow in

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mindfulness, and not as prescriptive ethical guidelines. This implies an ability (through diligent practice) to create less suffering in one’s own life (by inner development), resulting in less suffering in the lives of others with whom one is in contact. Subsequently, life, it is claimed, becomes freer and more joyful. This is a classic inner/outer approach implicit of the individual-to-individual encounter of the C of I, which expects a practitioner would cultivate compassion but makes no overt claims to outward collective action. The implications for a more ethical lifestyle, based on these principles, are to make better-informed choices supported by the ‘Mindfulness Trainings’. The realization of the trainings is in one’s everyday actions. Each moment of life, according to the C of I and Order, gives the opportunity to put them into practice. The ethics of choosing even mundane items of consumer goods, how one decides which bank or financial institution to belong to, or to use a motor vehicle only when it is necessary, all have effects on humans, animals, plants and minerals, and it is that type of decision making that the ‘Mindfulness Trainings’ are intended to provoke serious thought about. The survey evidence from the C of I sample reinforce the view that its members take seriously an ethical approach to life, as 100 per cent of the sample claim they practice ethical precepts of some kind in daily life. The Five and Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings reflect a view put forward by Nhat Hanh (1998: 4) that the inner world of the mind and the outer world are not separate, they are in fact the same reality. To understand the world is to understand the mind. This type of understanding is not intellectual but experiential. The present moment is expressed as the only available time to individuals and groups; therefore to realize now is to have peace now. According to Nhat Hanh: ‘Means and ends cannot be separated . . . based on the insight that means are ends, all activities and practices should be entered into mindfully and peacefully’ (1998: 6). Trainings are designed to protect and guarantee liberty and prevent difficulties and confusion. They are to be accepted but not made proscriptive, as practice is a subjective matter. Hence, understanding developed from the Mindfulness Trainings can only be attained through direct experience. The first seven of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings deal with the problems associated with the mind, the next two (eight and nine) with speech and the last five (ten to fourteen) with the body. The first three Trainings reject fanaticism and political or religious self-righteousness. The fourth is a challenge to Buddhist compassion to go beyond contemplation and diminish suffering through compassionate involvement. The fifth has implications for Right Livelihood beyond harmful professions, to account for the way in which one

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spends one’s time, energy and material resources, practically as well as morally. The sixth looks beyond seeing anger as it arises, to applying an antidote and realizing its affects socially. The central training is the seventh, which reminds one of mindfulness training in the midst of daily activity. The eighth and ninth trainings address factionalism, dealing with compassionate listening, loving speech and truthfulness to prevent this. The tenth is to assist in maintaining a compassionate saṅgha, realizing its autonomy and preventing its use as a political tool. The eleventh deals with the environment and the need to sustain it in daily activity. The twelfth expands the traditional admonition not to kill by requiring a need to protect life. The thirteenth deals with profit making and with moral consequences dependent on the cost to another society or living being. Finally, the fourteenth deals with respect for life, having regard to the morality of sexual relations for lay members, and chastity for monastics. The Five Mindfulness Trainings declare an awareness of suffering caused by the destruction of life (first training) exploitation, social injustice and oppression (second training), sexual misconduct (third training), unmindful speech, the inability to listen to others (fourth training), and unmindful consumption (fifth training). As an antidote to these five forms of suffering, the individual commits to the following (presented in summary), in order to redress the suffering caused (Kornfield in Nhat Hanh, 1993a: 88–9): 1. Cultivating compassion and learning to protect life in all forms, not to kill, let others kill or support acts of killing. 2. Cultivating loving-kindness and to look for the well-being of all forms of life (animal, mineral and plant). To give generously of time, energy and material resources to those in real need. Not to steal or allow anyone to profit from human suffering of any kind. 3. Cultivating responsible sexual relationships long term to safeguard families, couples and society and to protect children from sexual abuse, and prevent families being broken by sexual misconduct. 4. Cultivating loving speech and deep listening. To refrain from gossip and to attempt to reconcile and resolve conflicts. 5. Cultivating mindful eating, drinking and consuming to protect health (physical and mental) of individuals, family and society. This includes a determination to avoid toxins and alcohol that are harmful to everyone in society. Toxins include food, books, films, magazines, TV and conversations that harm consciousness. The determination is to transform self and society with a diet and lifestyle that transforms fear, violence anger and confusion.

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The traditional Five Precepts are expressed simply as vows to avoid certain behaviours; the additional vows implied in the expansion of the precepts into Nhat Hanh’s ‘Five Wonderful Trainings’ (2003: 12–14), are in two parts – first, each precept is a ‘vow to . . . and a “determination not to”’ (Kingston, in Nhat Hanh, 1993: 90–1). While there are those who see the positive interpretation of the trainings ‘as bringing into being through words and deeds a compassionate world community (Kingston, 1993: 91), the implication for the widening of the vows is that the positive vows add weight to the traditional ‘determination not to’. Yet it is easy to be overwhelmed by the scope of the trainings, as CI 12 BRM (24 May 2003) indicates, saying: I took the five mindfulness trainings, which was emotionally a big step to take. It was the first time that I committed myself to taking any trainings or precepts. From an ethical perspective, I eat ethically, I don’t drink alcohol because of the precepts and all these things have to be brought into the broader sphere of life. Someone like me can be very alienated in the workplace. You can feel very different, I sometimes question just how useful that is, in terms of personal transformation.

The question of ‘empowerment through acceptance’ is raised by CI 15 LINC (17 August 2003), who presents his ethical position thus: To be a bodhisattva in the world is to be just that, the person who makes every effort to use practice in everyday life for the benefit of others. We follow the Kwan Yin model, the goddess of compassion. It is often not about being on the front line of marches, or at a protest, or at some kind of eco-warrior camp, but a more subtle, fundamental ways of living. It is about an ethical attitude to life based on Buddhist principles that you have to put into practice. Difficult issues like abortion need to be dealt with compassionately. You cannot take a literalist view of these things, if you are to use skill in your endeavours to see compassion in the world. There is no moral high ground in Buddhist practice, only compassionate understanding, and if you develop understanding that is the wisdom, that is the ultimate goal. Paradoxically, you will find liberation in that.

The relationship of literalism to situationalism has been discussed briefly in Chapter 4, and will be further investigated in Chapter 8. What is apparent from the comments of practitioners on the ethical understanding of the Mindfulness Trainings is that they are only useful if used pragmatically and with skill and compassion in one’s own situation, and are largely pointless if you understand them but make no effort to practice.

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The monastic and lay Order of Interbeing follow the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings in addition to the vinaya rules (vows of monastics), which prior to revision were almost 400 years old (but originate in the Vinaya Piṭaka). The traditional prātimokṣa rules of the Liu Quān school into which Nhat Hanh was ordained in 1949 were revised in 1997 by the ‘Dharmacarya Council of the Plum Village Practice Center’. They follow the traditional format of the Sūtra Vibhaṅga of the Vinaya Piṭaka but have been updated in the use of language, and the methods of restitution have been developed around reconciliation. The categories of precepts have been renamed thus: the 4 ‘Degradation Offences’; the 26 ‘Saṅgha Restoration Offences’; the 23 ‘Release and Expression of Regret Offences’; the 90 ‘Expression of Regret Offences’; the 100 ‘Fine Manners Offences’; and the ‘Seven Ways of Putting an End to Disputes’. The degree of severity of the offences has not been altered, but new methods of reconciliation have been adopted. ‘Expressions of regret’ are dealt with for the 26 saṃghā vaśeṣa offences, by way of temporary exclusion to a site where the offender practices alone, and undergoes probation (not dissimilar to the original principles of the vinaya teaching). What is new is the reconciliation process called ‘Beginning Anew’, a ceremony designed to invoke expressions of regret and including a repentance gāthā, which may finish with a song, holding hands and breathing, or hugging meditation. The ten novice precepts and the mindful living for novice monks and nuns was updated by the Dharma Teachers’ Council at the same time, and published by Nhat Hanh in the 1997 book, Stepping into Freedom: An Introduction to Buddhist Monastic Training. Nhat Hanh’s ethical approach, while wide-reaching, emphasizes what good can be done as well as aspects to avoid. Many of the implications drawn out of the trainings underscore the interconnectedness of social and natural life and ask practitioners to apply them to contemporary issues and daily living (Seager, 1999: 204). There is within this framework of a moral and spiritual lifestyle the necessity to take a critical evaluation of social structures, particularly inequity and injustice in which individuals and societies more generally have vested interests.

Organization: Monastic and lay The constituted C of I UK has seven trustees who act collectively on behalf of the membership of the ‘National Sangha’. The C of I is registered as a charity, No. 1096680 and incorporated as a company limited by guarantee,

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No. 4623280. Its aims, as expressed by the Charity Commission registry (12 December 2007) are: 1. To advance, support and encourage the study and practice of Buddhism and mindful living in accordance with the teachings of meditation Master Thich Nhat Hanh, in the United Kingdom and overseas, in keeping with the Five Buddhist Mindfulness Trainings and the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing (Tiep Hien). 2. To assist and encourage the formation and activities of regional and local groups, having this common purpose. The trustees are responsible for developments within the saṅgha together with the Dharmacaryas.10 They are all senior members of the National Saṅgha and therefore take responsibilities as facilitators within their own local and regional groups. In addition, they oversee conformity within the terms of the ‘Charter of the Order’  – setting out governance and procedures. There are a number of formal officers within the trustee group including a facilitator for meetings (a rotating position), a treasurer and secretary, and a subgroup making up a steering committee that can co-opt other members for support. In addition subgroups have been established to enable communication between the National Saṅgha and local groups and members. The subgroups have forums on the website for messaging suggestions, queries, responses, which is described as part of the Saṅgha Coordination Advisory Network (SCAN). There are five subgroups within SCAN, which include: SCANbur – overseeing bursary schemes and developments; SCANcot  – overseeing the ‘Being Peace Cottage’ and association with New Barn Centre, in Dorset, the first national centre of C of I; SCANorg – oversees SCAN as an operation to help with better communication and developments for new subgroups where necessary; SCANres – oversees the review of resources and their development, such as introductory material or other resources for use by members; and finally SCANvis – who are responsible for monastic visits to the United Kingdom and coordination with Plum Village about them. Responsibilities also involve liaising with local and regional saṅghas, to assist with guidance in matters of Dharma, the booking of locations for talks and retreats, as well as national and regional activities based around the mindfulness-of-living teachings and Dharma training of Thich Nhat Hanh. The trustees hold office for two years then move on. There are no rules to prevent re-election after a period of absence. They meet quarterly and hold an ‘Annual Assembly’ (AGM) each year in March. A formal constitution is in place, which is not to be confused with the ‘Charter’, which only governs the ‘Order

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of Interbeing’ and not the ‘Community’. Their business meetings are conducted using a method of consensus adopted from the Quaker model, and mentioned in the ‘Charter’ as the appropriate way to conduct business. Income generation within C of I has largely been unimportant, beyond putting on national events for Thich Nhat Hanh’s visits/retreats as local saṅghas were in the main house-based groups which could hire space in their own right as it was required, there was therefore little capital or ongoing revenue costs to the organization. A UK practice centre called ‘The Being Peace Centre’ was purchased in 2008 and is now established at New Barn, Dorset. It is envisaged that monks from Plum Village will take up short-term residencies throughout the year, of six to eight weeks at a time. At the moment monastic influence in the UK saṅgha is by invitation and oriented to running specific retreats, like the ‘Family Retreat’ in Derbyshire each year or Order training programmes. Nhat Hanh has suggested that the ‘Being Peace Centre’ will be creating a Pure Land in the United Kingdom. In organizational terms, the saṅgha or community of members meeting together to practice is seen as the most important area of concern in the UK Community. This is highlighted in interviews with C of I members who, without exception, stress the importance and necessity of practice in the saṅgha. This relationship is explained as ‘indivisible’, between individuals and the group. The individual to society (saṅgha) nexus is a reciprocal one spiritually. The term ‘Saṅgha’, for the C of I encompasses a group of people practising together within the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. As C I 19 ND (18 June 2003) affirmed when talking about local saṅgha (group) development: The growth of a saṅgha is almost like a spontaneous arising, there is no emphasis on recruitment; people find each other. Someone comes into contact with a member and they decide to join with others and create another saṅgha, it really is that simple.

Some saṅghas double as both local and regional groups, depending on the distinction to be drawn between weekly meetings, which are in the main local ones, and monthly meetings, which are often described as DOM. The latter tend to be open to other local groups in reasonable geographic reach and draw members from a wider regional area together. The level of cooperation does extend beyond the regional DOM, to include regional short retreats; this is the case in the Midlands, the West Country and Scotland, and in Northern Ireland

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becoming increasingly the case across a wider geographic area throughout England and Wales. As C I 17 ND (17 June 2008) explained: We have local sanghas and regional sanghas really; the regional groups sometimes subsume the local ones. We have a West Country Sangha here, which takes account of people from Plymouth, Exeter, and Barnstable; and I know elsewhere is similar. There is now a hierarchy of regional over local. The regional meetings – Days of Mindfulness – are defined by how far people are prepared to travel to have a Day of Mindfulness really, and the local groups similarly, are defined by how far the people will travel for an evening together. There is no real criterion beyond that.

In addition to local and regional meetings there is the ‘National Sangha’, which is essentially any event pertaining to C of I members which is an open invitation for all members to participate. This includes retreats, training programmes, Annual Assembly meetings (AGMs) and any other function that may also be open to members of the public outside the Community. An example would be Thich Nhat Hanh retreats in the United Kingdom, which are so popular that they are always considered public events. There are now 91 saṅghas in the United Kingdom, more than double since 2007 and 568 saṅgha members in the UK Community in December 2012. However, informal lists of those who wish to take part in Thich Nhat Hanh events (and are therefore outside the saṅgha), give numbers totalling in excess of 1500. Membership of a local saṅgha is obtained simply by participating in a meeting. The policy of the C of I is openness and inclusivity and does not require any overt commitment to Buddhism or indeed the teaching of Nhat Hanh as a prerequisite of membership. A fundamental part of Nhat Hanh’s ethos is that one should be true to one’s own religious or spiritual commitment and that practice in his tradition can complement other religious or spiritual expression. In practice, however, few members follow other religions. The formal steps to membership require a £22 subscription fee, or a concessionary rate of £11. The fee entitles the member to receive Here and Now the Community’s Newsletter, priority booking on all national events, discounts on literature by Nhat Hanh, and free insurance for meetings organized by C of I members. There is no pressure to join and there is clearly no sense of recruiting members or proselytizing. The C of I structure of lay membership is straightforward; members of the C of I are those who have paid a subscription, they may or may not be members of a local saṅgha. Those lay members who have taken the Five Mindfulness Trainings are considered the ‘Extended Community’ of the C of I. Lay Order members are

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those that have been ordained in the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings; they are considered part of the ‘Core Community’. Order members can be distinguished visually from other lay members by the brown jacket they wear at ceremonial events, marking their inclusion in the Order of the C of I (Tiep Hien). The monastic saṅgha have the option to be ordained in the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Tiep Hien Order. They may choose not to, and remain monastics in the Vietnamese lineage of Thien (Zen), following their own vinaya tradition of 250 preceptual rules. This, to date has not been the case, and all monastics have taken the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order in addition to their monastic vinaya rules and are also therefore part of the ‘Core Community’. In summary the ‘Core Community’ is made up of the lay and monastic Order of Interbeing members and non-Order monastics (should there ever be any). The ‘Extended Community’ are lay members who have taken the Five Mindfulness Trainings; other lay members are simply paid-up members. All Order members are so-called because they have been ordained by Nhat Hanh, a senior monastic, or a Dharmacarya in the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings. The UK Community currently has six Order members who are also ordained Dharmacaryas. They are empowered to teach and to ordain with the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings, new lay Order members. They cannot ordain monastics into the Order. The ‘Lamp Transmission’ (traditional in Ch’an and Zen) is marked by each Dharmacarya recipient receiving an oil lamp, which is lit by Nhat Hanh to symbolize the passing on of the Dharma lineage to those present (the lamp representing the light of Dharma). The need for Dharma teachers is seen as crucial to the development of the UK Community who have no ready access to monastics in the Order, the nearest being in Plum Village. These teachers are part of the initiative of the Core Community to connect with local saṅghas in their endeavour to teach and also as part of the ongoing ‘Dharma Training Programme’. Despite the Core Community having monastic/lay Order equality, the relationship in reality is based on guidance from Plum Village, through the monastic saṅgha. The Trustees and steering group (including Dharmacaryas) set policy in consultation through SCAN, and regional saṅghas draw together wider practice groups than do local ones. Now that there are six Dharmacaryas in the UK Saṅgha, the Dharma Training Programme for local and regional saṅghas has improved, as there are now more teachers available to undertake this work. The 2011–13 Dharma Training retreats – Deepening our Practice are themed for 2013 on Impermanence, Sustainable Living and Interbeing. The Vietnamese Community have a largely separate saṅgha; with a Vietnamese Dharmacarya, who openly accepts that there are cultural differences, mainly

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related to language that prevent real integration in the United Kingdom. They do, however, integrate through the monastic community during United Kingdom, or regional events, and in Plum Village where Vietnamese, French and English are spoken. Other areas of integration involve the coming together of both communities in London at Christmas and for the Vietnamese New Year in February. There is also ongoing cooperative work between the British Vietnamese and the white British saṅghas in supporting ‘Interhelp’, a charity set up to support Buddhist practice in Vietnam involving teaching, supporting orphans and working in rural areas.

C of I social profile The SEB Survey represents 21 per cent (52 respondents) of the total sample across all five case studies, drawn from C of I membership. The social and demographic profile reflects 94 per cent of members in the sample are ethnically white, with only 2 per cent ethnically Asian and 4 per cent described as ‘other origin’. In gender terms the sample is 67 per cent female and 33 per cent male (showing a high proportion of female respondents). The average age of the sample is 53 years of age. The marital status of the sample identifies a third (33%) as single (similar to the national average); 44 per cent are married (closer to the national average); there were no separated respondents, and only 9 per cent divorced respondents; widowed members were 6 per cent and cohabiting 8 per cent. The sample showed 17 per cent of respondents had Buddhist partners (much lower than Amida and NEB); however, 55 per cent have children of which 26 per cent were under 18. In educational terms 45 per cent of the sample were graduates and 23  per  cent also had postgraduate qualifications. When asked to describe their education 12 per cent claimed they were professionally educated; Liberal Arts education accounts for 37 per cent; a Science education accounted for 13 per cent of the sample; while 29 per cent had both a Scientific and Liberal Arts combined education; 8 per cent (4) were ‘other’, and one vocational. A major differentiation between educational groups within C of I, Amida and NEB is found in the self-designated professional category; where Amida have almost 40 per cent professionals in the sample – which may account for their psychology/psychotherapy influences  – while NEB have almost a third of professionals compared to the C of I with only 12 per cent. Accommodation and income profiles for C of I reveal: 75 per cent of the sample are owner occupiers and 17 per cent private rented occupiers, making

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a total of 92 per cent in some form of private housing. There is only one (2%) council rented property occupier, and one person (2%) living in a community in the sample; no cooperatives and two (4%) ‘others not stated’. The income of C of I members in the sample is presented as: 14 per cent unwaged; 14 per cent earning under £10,000 (making 28% under £10,000); 43 per cent of the sample earning between £10,000 and £25,000 while 29 per cent earn between £25,000 and £30,000 +. Those who were Christian before coming to Buddhism were 59 per cent of the sample. Respondents with multiple membership of the other Buddhist groups in the survey were 23 per cent of the sample (12) who were also members of Amida; and a similar figure 23 per cent (12) were members of NEB, with 9 per cent (5) with TBC (FWBO) membership, while only one was a member of Rokpa. This suggests the same people had more than one affiliation and may be a member of all three. Questioned about their teacher (Thich Nhat Hanh), respondents revealed that 29 per cent saw him as a Buddha, 71 per cent as a Bodhisattva and 83 per cent as a skilful teacher (more than one choice was possible). On the significant question: ‘Are you a Socially Engaged Buddhist’, 75 per cent of C of I members said they were, which Table 5.2 identifies. This compares to 93 per cent of NEB members and 82 per cent of Amida members who said they were Socially Engaged Buddhists. When C of I members were asked to self-define by religious labels, 69 per cent said they were ‘Western convert Buddhists’, 6 per cent ‘non-Buddhist’, 6 per cent ‘other faith’ and 19 per cent ‘other not stated’ – which is difficult to speculate on, but may reflect ambiguity about labelling themselves. In relation to the provenance of SEB the survey asks, ‘if it stems from Western influences in Asia’? – only 4 per cent believed it did. Asked ‘if SEB were a wholly Western idea’? 100 per cent – the whole sample – claimed this was not the case. When asked if ‘all Buddhism is engaged’? (Nhat Hanh’s claim), surprisingly, only Table 5.2  Current membership of C of I: Are you a Socially Engaged Buddhist ­cross-tabulation Are you a Socially Engaged Buddhist?

Current membership of C of I Yes No Total

Yes

No

Total

39 143 182

13 46 59

52 189 241

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38 per cent claimed it was. However, when asked to express what they thought SEB was best described as: 64 per cent claimed it was ‘inner dharmic work mirrored by outer social action’, expressed in Table 5.3. A further 36 per cent suggested SEB is to be understood as ‘Dharma as social action’. On the question of ‘Does Buddhism need a social orientation’? 79 per cent claimed that it did. Evidence of the samples thoughts on nirvāṇa, show 89 per cent saw it as ‘here and now’. When asked if nirvāṇa was attainable or not in this lifetime, an overwhelming 98 per cent said it was attainable in this lifetime. Finally, activities related to their use of the internet revealed; 56 per cent of the sample surf the net, of that number 67 per cent search for Buddhist information and 26 per cent engage in internet debates or e-groups discussions about Buddhism.

Mindfulness as an art form The C of I have one national centre of their own but mainly meet in homes or rented spaces. Some of these are shared Buddhist buildings, like the Ashley House headquarters of ‘Rokpa’ in Glasgow, which is used by the ‘Glasgow C of I Sangha’. Similar cooperation exists at Chagford in Devon, meeting place of the West Country Saṅgha and is also used by NEB for their annual retreats. There is an acknowledged relationship between UK engaged Buddhists and the Quakers movement (Religious Society of Friends), born out of an affinity for their nonviolent approaches to peace. Several Friends Meeting Houses are used by C of I saṅghas: The Heart of London, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Brighton are a few examples of this. The use of iconic Buddhist deities like Avalokiteśarva (Chinese; Kuanyin), or Buddha rūpas (images) are to be found decorating small shrine tables in spaces used by local and regional saṅghas. A common feature of such Table 5.3  Current membership of C of I: Inner dharmic work mirrored by outer ­action cross-tabulation Inner dharmic work mirrored by outer action

Current membership of C of I Total

Yes No

Yes

No

Total

32 113 145

18 76 94

50 189 239

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decoration are natural elements like stones, pieces of wood, leaves and flowers, depicting the indivisibility of nature from humanity, which according to C of I ‘inter-be’ and ‘inter-are’. The ubiquitous ‘Mindfulness Bell’ is a feature of all ritual and ceremony, and is the main prompt for bringing members back to the present moment as a tool to aid mindfulness in daily activity. Members often download the sound of the bell for use on their computers, to return them to mindfulness during everyday work. The literature of Nhat Hanh is also found in practice settings, where it is used for readings or prompts for guided meditation practice. The C of I website (www.interbeing.org.uk/) is professionally produced and helpfully easy to navigate. A feature of the site and of Nhat Hanh’s artistic talent is the calligraphy he writes, which has become a feature of C of I publications as logos, which are almost trademark like in style. The use of calligraphy greetings cards, are one of the current fundraising approaches towards raising money for the Being Peace Centre, as are art works created by Saṅgha members successfully raising several thousand pounds for the ‘Being Peace Centre’ at the Nottingham National meeting in April 2012. The website includes access to the online version of The Manual of Practice, current updates and news from around the United Kingdom, as well as events and teachings for download. Some saṅghas, like the Heart of London have their own independent web presence linked to the main site. All acknowledge Thich Nhat Hanh, as a remarkable figure, and afford him the equivalent of ‘Buddhist celebrity status’, the irony being, his presence as someone who has seemingly overcome ego in the human condition is the source of his celebrity. In the context of Jones typologies under investigation, the C of I could be seen as an ASM. According to Jones’ explanation of this model, the Order fits as it is a ‘quasi-monastic and monastic amalgam’, reflecting a blend of the traditional and the modern in which the C of I are breaking ground by creating equality between the lay Order and the monastic Order members. This designation is, however, quite weak in its definition of what characterizes an ASM. The relationship of the quasi-monastic lay Order members in the United Kingdom, to their more ‘community-based’ (that is living in community) and established ordained brothers and sisters in France and the United States, suggests the ordained community fits the ASM model more readily than the ‘non-community based’ lay Order members in the United Kingdom. This raises the question of how well the model Jones presents supports the idea of lay Orders? C of I members, however, tend to see their local and regional saṅghas as their communities so may still be legitimately afforded ASM designation.

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Summary The practical application of mindful living requires a commitment to the practice which many of the C of I members work diligently towards. There aspirations, however, are not always met, but there seems to be resilience to this based on the strength of belief in Thich Nhat Hanh as a realized teacher. Nhat Hanh’s effort to reinterpret and innovate practice into the twenty-first century has the authority of his lineage on the one hand and respect for his personal history as a peacemaker and his teaching methods on the other. Mindfulness, however, unlike Buddha Nature, requires cultivation, even though Nhat Hanh insists it is intrinsic to one’s being, that is, we all have it, but can cultivate more. It seems that the cultivation of mindful practice is the catalyst to the realization of the Buddha Within, and only through practice can the capacity for understanding and love release the person one might wish to be. A number of practices, discourses, songs, recitations and ceremonies are part of almost any daily event in which mindful practice, formally or informally, is initiated. The practice is the cornerstone of the C of I and the Order of Interbeing. The standardization of these practices through The Plum Village Chanting Book, and The Manual of Practice has left little room for indecision about where, when, and how to practice within the C of I. The practical expositions on aspects of practice, like for example, recognizing ancestors, through practices like ‘Touching the Earth’, is to be understood at a number of levels. Respect for ancestors (blood lines) and teachers is one aspect, but fundamentally the connection to past and future, and the indivisibility of these concepts goes to reinforce the interconnectivity of the teaching and practice. It is to the question of separation that most of Nhat Hanh’s practices return, as a practical experiential lesson to identify the lack of a separate self, or indeed separate phenomena, in a world where the Hua-yen influence from the Avatamsaka Sūtra seeks to remove the sense of separateness (equally acknowledged by NEB). Practice for the C of I is not goal oriented in a means ends sense. Meditation, for example, is not a means to an end; it is an end in itself, as are all the practices undertaken. The evidence of a strong practice within the C of I is to be found in the survey material, where 100 per cent of the survey sample both meditate and attend retreats. The practice, like the teaching, is oriented towards ‘social responsibility and peace’, the axiom of social engagement for the C of I, and Order of Interbeing.

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Nhat Hanh, (1996: 74) asserts ‘that world peace is only possible through the internal transformation of individuals’ which he has expressed as ‘Being Peace’; where to ‘inter-be’ or ‘inter-are’ epitomizes the doctrine of ‘Interbeing’  – a word created by Nhat Hanh to reinforce beyond the interdependent nature of all phenomena. This interconnectedness is described in the non-duality of the individual and the whole, which is more than mere interpenetration as professed in Hua-yen thinking. Such thinking blurs the boundaries between dimensions, as ‘Interbeing’ implies a sense of totality, not only in the doctrine, but in the practical, emotional, experiential and ethical aspects of the practice it engenders as well. The Hua-yen influence on the teaching of emptiness turns emptiness around to express it as connected to everything, and in that sense make it a positive, from an otherwise negative inference of being empty of any intrinsic essence or self nature. Nhat Hanh takes emptiness to be optimistic and uses ‘Interbeing’ as a positive reflection on emptiness. He suggests all phenomena ‘inter-be’, they cannot ‘just be’; implying a ‘mutually defining relativity’ according to this teaching on emptiness. Therefore one cannot have concepts like good and evil without their mutuality in ‘relation’ of each other. If that is the case there is no evil to be found without ‘good’ with which to compare it? All aspects ‘inter-are’ in this sense. The insight this approach is said to develop opens one up to the notion that birth and death are but a continuum of changing forms, dissolving the fear of death and arousing the ‘Buddha Within’ who dwells in the Prajñāpāramitā insight. Peace within is described as being inextricably linked to action outwardly. Consequently, to be a Buddhist in the C of I it would seem to be impossible to be anything other than engaged – hence Nhat Hanh’s claim that ‘all Buddhism is engaged’. To be anything other than engaged would seem to deny the fundamental principle of ‘Interbeing’. The ‘narrative of unification’ of Buddhist scriptures and teachings, and the inclusive language, reinterpreted for mainly Western audiences, has the influence of Buddhist modernism behind it; in that Nhat Hanh’s French colonial influences play a significant part in his interpretation of texts and practice for the West. The fact that he was subject to east-west pressures before, and during the Vietnam War, characterized much of his own Buddhist thinking in Vietnam, where the Unified Buddhist Church first became a reality. He took the ideas of ‘social responsibility and peace’ to reduce collective suffering in a war-torn society, and used them as examples with which to teach audiences around the world (not just in the West). His focus is to transform society through individual transformation – with an ‘individual-to-collective influence’, but the interpretation of many within the UK

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C of I is for a more ‘individual-to-individual influence’, based on an uncertainty of approach towards overt transformations of the collective (society). The UK Community seem content to see transformation born out of peace within, without recourse to direct social action, hence the critique levelled at the group of it being quietist. However, if ‘all Buddhism is engaged’ then the numbers who support that idea within the C of I would probably have been higher than the survey evidence suggests  – with only 37 per cent of the sample acknowledging the fact. This is perhaps evidence of a tension within C of I itself, between ‘caution’ and ‘conservatism’ on one hand and Nhat Hanh’s injunction to be ‘more involved’ on the other. There is little doubt that the charismatic nature of Thich Nhat Hanh, as an exemplar of what many see as a realized teacher (71% described him as a Bodhisattva), draws members to the group. Moreover, the way he expresses his message with profound simplicity resonates with Western minds. The expansive Five and Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings express Nhat Hanh’s innovative style and close attention to the experiential approach, in which the mind and the world are inseparable. Here the ‘individual-to-individual’ influence can be apprehended, which may be another reason for the lack of overt action among the UK C of I members. In that sense, perhaps the style of the teachings they receive leans towards the less overtly social action orientation, emphasizing the mindfulness approach. The context in Vietnam and the United Kingdom differ significantly, in that, there is no urgency to act in Western societies if one chooses not to. The Mindfulness Trainings prompt serious consideration for everyday issues of concern, including: the environment, sexual health, well-being, consumption and oppression. It follows that such a wide-ranging set of precepts demand an experiential and often times, situational approach in their application. Direct experience is what counts in decision making, which takes both a ‘vow to’, and a ‘determination not to’ approach. Although the general feeling is that the ‘Mindfulness Trainings’ are not prescriptive, their wide-reaching and detailed exposition creates the impression that they might be. Certainly there are those among the interviewed who felt so, and some who saw them as a little confusing at best or unattainable at worst. Social structures within the C of I as an organization are predicated on the importance of meeting together as a saṅgha in order to practice. This is fundamental to the continued development of the organization in the United Kingdom. The fulfilment is based on the mutually defining relativity of individual-to-group and vice versa. There is no group sustainability without

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individual participation and no individuals to participate without the group with which to engage. There is a hierarchy of groups, which are described as ‘national’, ‘regional’ and ‘local’ saṅghas. An egalitarian model would suggest all are equal in practice terms, but in organizational terms the National Saṅgha has responsibility for events at that level, the regional groups subsume the local ones in terms of drawing a number of local groups together for DOM, and local saṅghas support local needs to share and practice in small numbers within people’s homes This is of course contingent on geographic location and ability to travel. It is open to all religions and none, and sees its applicability in answering a universal need in humans – to find peace in oneself in order to bring about peace in the world. To be Buddhist with a small ‘b’ is no less important than Buddhist with a capital ‘B’. What matters is the understanding of practice as an end in itself not as a means to that end. In the context of Jones typological description of SEB, the designation for monastic and quasi-monastic organizations is that of an ASM. This approach works better with the community-based monastics of Plum Village than it does with the non-community-based lay members and lay Order members of the UK Community, which will be considered further in the cross-case analysis in Chapter 8. Overwhelmingly, the C of I are ethnically white (94%), Western converts (69%), middle aged, well educated and largely middle class. They follow the previously established multiple membership strategy of Amida and NEB, in that at least 20 per cent of those in the sample were also members of the other organizations. However, only 75 per cent claimed to be SEBs compared with Amida (82%) and NEB (92%), perhaps reinforcing the caution/conservatism mentioned above. The development of C of I into the future may largely depend on the outcome of the ‘Being Peace Centre’, and what affect that may have towards a more centralized approach to their practice and training. If other centres are seen as a way to regionalize, and thereby galvanize attendance and training, that may be a positive model to follow. The location of the New Barn for many is not easily accessible due to its southerly position. If growth continues would the concerns about feedback and better communication from national to regional and local level increase? The integrity of Nhat Hanh continues to do much to further C of I developments and adaptations within British Buddhism, succession planning, however, in international and national terms is probably a quietly kept concern.

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Notes   1 Known as Thây, meaning ‘teacher’ in Vietnamese.   2 Tiep translates as ‘being in touch with’ and ‘continuing’. Hien means ‘realizing’ and ‘making it here and now’. Being in touch with the reality of the world and mind, continuing in the path of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, realizing real-life insight is beyond ideas and doctrine, and only the present moment is real and available; peace is therefore to be understood as in the moment, not in an unknown future.   3 This organization, originated by Nhat Hanh in 1967, was responsible for training groups of Buddhist peace workers in rural areas of Vietnam during the war.   4 Days of Mindfulness are discussed later in ‘Mindfulness Practice’.   5 Ethical rules developed by Nhat Hanh for the Order of Interbeing (including lay members), which are analysed in detail in the section: ‘Mindfulness as an Ethical Approach’.   6 Kinh Hanh means slow walking in Vietnamese, and is to be distinguished from outdoor walking meditation.   7 See Garma C. C. Chang’s (1971) The Buddhist Teaching of Totality: The Philosophy of Hwa Yen Buddhism. Chang expresses, in his interpretation of Hua-yen as pluralistic and inclusive much of Nhat Hanh’s sentiment.   8 Later thinking of the Madhyamaka school influenced by Nāgārjuna, insisted that the doctrine was synonymous with emptiness (śūnyatā). The doctrine could only be coherent if phenomena were devoid of self-essence (svabhāva).   9 The chanting book refers to Nhat Hanh’s (2000) Plum Village Chanting and Recitation Book. 10 Dharmacaryas meaning ‘Dharma teachers’, who are lay Order members given the ‘Transmission of the Lamp’ by Nhat Hanh (or senior monastics) enabling them to teach and ordain Order members. This is discussed later in the chapter in more detail.

6

Triratna (FWBO) and Right Livelihood Businesses

Historical background From May 2010 the Triratna Buddhist Community and Order (TBC)1 formerly The Friends of the Western Buddhist (FWBO) and its Order members, (WBO) came into existence. TBC has been the subject of a number of academic studies in the United Kingdom and elsewhere (Mellor, 1989, 1991; Bell, 1991, 1996; Baumann, 1998, 2000; Panyasiri, 2004; Kennedy, 2005; Bluck, 2006) to name but a few. There is also a great deal of literature written by insider scholars of the TBC, not least by their founder Sangharakshita (formerly Dennis Lingwood, b.1925) who has produced over 40 literary works presenting the FWBO/WBO and now TBC position on life as a Western Buddhist in the contemporary world. In addition TBC insiders have produced studies2 examining the ‘Team Based Right Livelihood Businesses’ (TBRL) of the organization in support of enquiry into one of the most formidable Buddhist movements created in Western society. From a business perspective, research has compared TBC businesses with other, more orthodox forms of business models and technology. For these reasons it is not proposed to dwell on the history or structure of the organization beyond what is needed for clarity, or as it affects the empirical investigation into ‘TBRL Businesses’ from a SEB perspective. In the context of this study, the TBC movement seems to fall within the typology suggested by Jones (2003: 174), as an ASM. This designation reflects the quasi-monastic organizational style, which relies on ‘lay ordination as essential to its structure, and Right Livelihood’. There are, however, a number of ambiguities with this designation – some of which were reflected on in the previous chapters with reference to Amida and the C of I. We will come back to

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this problem with the ASM designation and its implications in the concluding section of this chapter. What is apparent, however, from Jones’ explanation of his typology, and that of other writers (Eppsteiner, 1988; Maull in Moon, 2004; Rothberg, 2006) and academics (Queen and King, 1996; Seager, 1999; Queen, 2000), is the sense that ‘Right Livelihood’ has become an accepted characteristic of SEB. With this in mind this chapter seeks to examine the credibility of the assertion that ‘Right-Livelihood’, as one aspect of SEB, has become synonymous with an investigation of social settings related to the TBC. It should be noted that other mainstream SEB activity, in Eco-dharma, sustainable living, and social activism of various kinds have significant support within the TBC, some of which will be appraised in brief as a subplot running alongside the main theme which is TBRL Businesses. The FWBO grew rapidly through the 1970s and 1980s to become one of the largest Western Buddhist movements. There are now approximately 80 TBC urban centres and retreat centres and activities in over 20 countries. Triratna is one of the principal Buddhist movements in the United Kingdom, India and Australasia and is becoming increasingly well established in Western Europe and the United States. In May 2010, after consultation among International Order members the FWBO and WBO changed its name to Triratna (three Jewels) Buddhist Community and Order, based largely on an expanding Indian Order who were concerned that ‘Western’ in the organizational title was not applicable for them. Despite the early growth, the 1990s and the early part of 2000s saw a plateau and a slow down in numbers of ordinations, which have now slowly begun to grow again, mostly in international settings, particularly in India. The movement as a whole is contemplating the more recent changes in the structure of the organization (outlined later in this chapter) and the way forward in the early part of the twenty-first century. Sangharakshita effectively retired in 2000, handing over his responsibilities as spiritual leader to a group of senior Order members who were based in Birmingham. They subsequently effectively decentralized the power base of the movement giving complete autonomy to the individual Buddhist Centres’ chairs and their governing committees. The TBC approach is based on the perception that the Buddhist tradition has an underlying unity, in that all schools teach a path to enlightenment, and define this path through common principles. These principles reflect a wider concern for good in society (Vishvapani, 2001). The movement seeks to return to what its founder saw as the basic principles of Buddhism3 and find ways of living them out in the context of the modern West. It intends to be neither an

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importation of Buddhism to the West nor an adaptation of it. It presents itself as a re-expression of Buddhism in its new surroundings (Clarke, 2006: 20) vis-à-vis Western-influenced cultures around the globe, and in that sense takes a largely essentialist perspective on Buddhist practice. This is also mapped in the Indian context but with a number of cultural caveats. Mellor suggested that TBC/FWBO, are selectively translating Buddhism for the West as opposed to transferring it, as ‘what emerges as Buddhism is refracted through the lens of the receiving culture’ (Mellor, 1991: 91). As Bell makes clear, ‘The [TBC] FWBO is centrally concerned with the reformation of self on which it predicates the reformation of society’ (1996: 88). The TBC sees itself as following the example of Buddhist traditions throughout history that have been flexible and pragmatic in communicating Buddhist teachings in new environments, and yet have remained true to its core teachings and values. TBC (FWBO) is a Buddhist movement founded in London in 19674 by Sangharakshita,5 who, following his conscription to the army during the Second World War spent 4 years as an Anagārika6 (travelling in India and Nepal) and 16 years as a Buddhist monk in South and South East Asia7 (mainly in India, Sri Lanka and the Himalayan borders close to Tibet). Having returned to England in the mid-1960s, and failed to retain a position with the English Sangha Trust he saw the need for a new Buddhist movement that was faithful to the values and teachings of the Buddhist tradition (as he understood them) and was relevant to the conditions of the modern world. The organization claims to seek to create all the conditions needed for the effective practice of Buddhism in modern society. Sangharakshita soon found people who responded to his approach, and it wasn’t long before the first FWBO centres developed. Initially this was in Bethnal Green (East London), where the newly ordained members of the ‘Western Buddhist Order’ taught meditation and basic Buddhism. Following their experience of conditions on retreats, some people started living communally. From these experiences grew the first residential FWBO communities. As these new residents became more committed to their Buddhist practice, they also developed ways to work together cooperatively in ‘Right Livelihood’ businesses.

Practice in Right Livelihood settings TBC is one of the best known advocates of ‘Right Livelihood’ as a sustaining practice in the United Kingdom, in which the spiritual and the economic have been fused. Its ethos is based on community, spiritual friendship, and a creative

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energy, which has led to the development of ‘Right-Livelihood Businesses’ as sustainable models to support Dharma in the West. The development of Right Livelihood businesses in the TBC has its roots in the creation of Windhorse Trading (Howes, 1993: 209) which started up in the late 1970s as the result of a number of Order members selling retail goods on markets in the East End of London. The success of this project led to an expansion by moving from retail to a combined wholesale and retail enterprise. However, the wholesale component became dominant and remained so for quite some time. In the early 1980s, the retail arm of Windhorse Trading (what became Windhorse: Evolution) was created, and at that point the business began to expand exponentially; largely as the result of becoming involved in the sourcing and importation of most of what it sold, both in the retail and wholesale markets. Uniquely in the West at that time, TBC/FWBO began to integrate spiritual practice in to all aspects of work life, which became the catalyst for TBRL Businesses. Meditative and ritual devotional activity is invariably drawn from Buddhist scriptural texts, later teachings and institutional embellishments over time. Sangharakshita recognized the difficulties of attempting to transplant Buddhism from Asian cultural backgrounds into late-modern Western society. His own Buddhist influences were taken, essentially from the Theravāda teachings in India, of his teacher Bhikkhu Jagdish Kasyap and at least six Tibetan mentors.8 These teachers had initiated him into several Tibetan Tantric practices, including those of White and Green Tārā, Vajrasattva (a mantra for the dead), the Bodhisattva initiation, and other initiations of a variety of Bodhisattvas including Padmasambhava, Majuñghośha, Avalokiteśvara and Vajrapāṇi. This broadly Tibetan background explains the emphasis on ritual explorations of these practices among the TBC (including its Right Livelihood businesses). He also claims Chinese and Japanese lineage connections, in addition to the Theravāda practice he was ordained into. This multi-method approach to meditative and ritual devotion brought an unusual ecumenism of practice to the United Kingdom and has since been used in different settings contingent on practitioners experience and commitment. Beginners meditate using the ānāpānasati approach (mindfulness of breathing) which is a core practice for even more advanced practitioners. Mettābhāvanā (developing loving-kindness) in the traditional Theravāda form of a five stage practice is also taught. This involves the emanation of goodwill for the benefit of others, beginning with oneself, then friends, a person who is neutral to the practitioner, an adversary and all beings. The use of mettā (loving-kindness) is seen as a force which can affect change, and not as a merely abstract practice.

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The ritual influences adopted by the movement involve a selective mixture of Theravāda, Tibetan and even Zen ‘just sitting’ (Zazen) practices. Meditations involve samatha methods from the Theravāda tradition outlined above, and for more advanced practitioners the ‘Four Immeasurables’ (Brahma-vihāras), in addition to a vast array of mantras and visualizations (sādhana) supported by the Tibetan influences outlined, including the Bodhisattva Vows as an essential part of life in the Order. A fundamental reason put forward by TBC members for collective ritual activity, is the positive energy developed from collective experience. This they suggest is equally true in the Right Livelihood setting as in any other. As Padmasuri (2003: 54–5) asserts: Other methods of cultivating positive emotions are found in dedicated spiritual practice, such as meditation and devotional practices and rituals. Individuals in the business all have their daily meditation time when they will be cultivating love and compassion towards others. But we also sometimes engage in collective devotional practices that can really help us contact and develop our emotional feelings towards our ideals. Collective practice or ritual, makes the transformation of our emotional nature much easier than practice on one’s own.

Collective ritual and individual devotion are both features of Right Livelihood businesses. The synergy between practice and the ideals mentioned above seeks transformation in self and society through the medium of the business involved. Successful businesses are seen to be so because practitioners believe in the quality of the practice, be it mindfulness during a working day or ritual devotions prior to work commencing. The practice inspires and the business benefits as a consequence, as the example below portrays. In the ‘Evolution shop’ in Glasgow, ritual practice and devotional action is common. When asked about ritual experiences, FWBO 9 GLAS (28 April 2003) explained: I very much enjoy the ritual element of right livelihood. We practise every morning and by tuning into some aspect of ritual it makes the day somehow more inspiring. We will probably just engage in a short Pūjā based on a meditation perhaps mettābhāvanā, loving kindness meditation, or some other aspect of awareness or mindfulness, like mindfulness of breathing. It is mindfulness for me that is an important part of my practice. By simplifying mental states in interaction with your everyday working activity you become more aware of things like the aesthetic quality of the displays you’re working with, or indeed the way in which you communicate the spirit of Buddhism through good practice on the till everyday.

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The spirit of communicating Buddhism through the practice expressed above creates an overt interaction at the point of contact with the public. This has a psychological affect on customers, acknowledged by the author, who has approached members of the public in the course of the research and ascertained the motivation for shopping or eating in a Buddhist run business. The answer is almost always about the quality of the service and kindness of the individuals working there. All ritual devotions involve practice and are seen as expressions of ‘Going for Refuge’. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, of the Indian tradition, Tibetan, Chinese and Japanese gurus form part of the ‘Going for Refuge’ practices. These practices are taught to Mitras (committed friend[s] of the Order), and Order members on retreats, as part of the Order ‘Refuge Tree’ visualization. In this practice, evil is symbolized in the body as ‘black sludge’ being dissolved away by the white light of purity emanating from the ‘Refuge Tree’, which is surrounded by the Buddhas (past, present and future), Bodhisattvas, gurus (including Sangharakshita) and all the traditional Buddhist scriptures imaginable piled high in a heap behind the Buddhas (Subhuti, 1994) (www.freebuddhistaudio.com/meditation/). FWBO 13 BRIS (16 June 2008) from the Bristol Evolution shop outlined the ritual in their Right Livelihood environment, saying: We salute the shrine at half past nine. Then we have a poem or reading. We sit and contemplate for a short time, and then we start checking in and have about five minutes each. This is a chance to discuss any issues that might have arisen about business or practice, colleagues, difficulties we might be suffering. All these are issues help towards a better working environment. At the end of the day we transfer merit before we go. On Thursdays we spend the first quarter of the day working on ethics and right livelihood. We are currently working towards having shop retreats with the staff team.

The transformative nature of ritual comes through from the examples of the informants above. The collective nature of ritual in a Right Livelihood setting is expressed as a powerful practice tool, and seems to prefigure the motivations of the team members at the start of each working day. Personalized and group expressions of meditation in the work environment and consensual ethical working with mindfulness as the cornerstone to everyday experience are part of what Jones describes as his vision of the ‘Radical Culture of Awakening’. In many ways TBC is the only Buddhist organization in the United Kingdom to have adapted everyday work as a Buddhist practice that has an impact in society. This leaves the question of how TBC fits into Jones’

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typology open for further discussion, as the ASM, while it works to characterize TBC and ‘Right Livelihood’, does not necessarily explore the changes in society it might engender as a consequence. The typology suggests only ‘radical activists’ are prefiguring a society of the future. Perhaps the ability to interact with mainstream society suggests the need to rethink how Right Livelihood is viewed within Jones’ framework, an issue I will return to in more detail later in the chapter. The structured team developments and combined Buddhist/business strategies have eroded the boundaries between Buddhism and business in Right Livelihood environments. The nature of practice with awareness is brought out by Padmasuri (2003: 145), who suggests, ‘[F]or a team to work both in terms of the task and as a spiritual practice, its members need to develop and maintain a kindly awareness of each other.’ An aid to this awareness is the daily ‘reporting in’ with a fuller sharing of experience once a week. This type of informal training attunes all the team to the feelings and emotions of their colleagues before the working day begins. It alerts each individual to the states of minds of the others, which can prove invaluable in communicating with sensitivity, creating harmony (mettā practice) and enhancing mindful activity. The TBC meditation system adopts the ‘Mindfulness of Breathing’, the development of ‘loving-kindness’ and ‘just sitting’ as the main meditation practices taught. In addition, devotional practices, reflection and walking meditation form the primary meditations. The essential aspects of meditative practice are mindfulness, concentration and emotional positivity. At ordination into the Order, visualizations and devotions on a Buddha or Bodhisattva are given to the Order member, and insight meditation is also adopted at this point. In summary, the meditative practices can be seen as a progressive path which works consecutively through Mindfulness of Breathing, Mettābhāvanā, just sitting, visualizations and devotions including insight meditation practices. The SEB Survey asked practice-based questions of the then FWBO respondents. They were asked if they meditate, how often, and whether they practice chanting, Buddhist studies, Buddhist language training and pūjās. As Table 6.1 shows, the response was an overwhelming 100 per cent to the question of meditation. Table 6.2 reflects the amount of commitment to meditation, asking how often it occurs in individual practice. Those who ‘meditate daily’ make up 73 per cent of the sample; ‘meditation sometimes’ is 25 per cent of the sample; ‘meditation rarely’ is 2 per cent, and no respondents ‘never meditate’. Of the other practice elements in the survey, 81

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Table 6.1  Current membership of FWBO: Practice meditation cross-tabulation Practice meditation

Current Membership Of FWBO Total

Yes No

Yes

No

Total

96 152 248

0 3 3

96 155 251

Table 6.2  Current membership of FWBO: How often do you meditate cross-­tabulation Count If yes how often do you meditate Never Current membership of FWBO Yes No Total

0 7 7

Rarely Sometimes 2 4 6

24 52 76

Daily Total 70 86 156

96 149 245

per cent chant, 87 per cent engage in Buddhist studies, 9 per cent are involved in Buddhist language study and 84 per cent take part in pūjās. These figures reflect the positive commitment of Triratna members to meditation and devotional practices.

Doctrinaire but softening? TBCs unique approach to doctrine sees a conscious selection and combination of Theravāda, Mahāyāna and Zen teachings, acknowledged by Bluck as, ‘something genuinely new in a Buddhist movement’ (2006: 162). This combination, however, may well be the reason for the positive response to doctrine, by its 1,100 Order members (Order Survey 2007) and many thousands of followers, despite criticism, which has ranged from doctrinaire and intolerant (www.fwbo-files. com/), to Protestant Buddhist (Mellor, 1991: 73, 77) or misogynistic, promoting homosexuality and casual sex (Bunting, 1997: 2). The doctrinal position of ‘Right Livelihood’ in the movement can be seen in everyday activities of the many Right Livelihood businesses around the United Kingdom, and in the concept of Right Livelihood itself. Sangharakshita adopts

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an essentialist position which suggests there is a core of ‘common material’ to be found in Buddhist scriptures, which avoids the cultural accretions of Asian social influences. He would argue that such influences in Buddhism are culturally specific and that the scriptures are where the ‘real Buddhism’ is to be found (Sangharakshita, 1990: 60–1). Within that core is the teaching on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, which is expressed as the ‘doctrinal unity’ within the movement. Right Livelihood is taken from a traditional Buddhist approach, and is a name for work which is ethical and is one of the eight sections of the Noble Eightfold Path (ariya-aṭṭhaṅgika-magga) towards enlightenment. The Eightfold Path9 is the last of the ‘Four Noble Truths’ of Buddhism and is the path that leads from saṃsāra to nirvāṇa. It is described as the path that leads to the cessation of suffering; and a path to be practised by following all eight sections simultaneously not in linear fashion. The fifth element of the Noble Eightfold Path – ‘Right Livelihood’ – was singled out in the creation of the aims and objectives of the Order as follows: We intend to help develop the Bodhisattva Ideal of aiming at the attainment of enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, and to popularise the leading of a life of simplicity and non-exploitation, in accordance with the Buddhist principle of right livelihood. (Subhuti, 1995b: 114)

This is a cornerstone of teaching that has seen Right Livelihood as a sustaining and creative force within the movement. It also has a number of characteristics of SEB in adopting the Bodhisattva ideal; popularizing the Dharma through a life which is non-exploitative, therefore ethically appropriate; and using Right Livelihood as the sustaining model in society. The section on Right Livelihood in the latest manifestation of the Triratna website explains it under the heading – ‘social engagement’ (www. http://thebuddhistcentre.com/text/right-livelihood). The key to TBC doctrine and practice is to be found in ‘Going for Refuge’ to the ‘Three Jewels’ (Buddha, Dharma and Saṅgha), described by Sangharakshita as, ‘the basis for our new Buddhist movement’ (1990: 86). This is presented on five levels, all of which would have relevance for practitioners involved in Right Livelihood businesses. The first is ‘Cultural Going for Refuge’, which is about social participation, under which Right Livelihood would be an option for a ‘Friend’ of the Order; ‘Provisional Going for Refuge’, includes some response to the teaching of the Three Jewels, meditation and study, which would also include Right Livelihood, perhaps at the level of ‘Friend’ or ‘Mitra’; ‘Effective Going for Refuge’, through which one reorientates one’s life, could be seen in Right Livelihood terms at the level of the commitment of an Order member;

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‘Real Going for Refuge’ and ‘Ultimate Going for Refuge’, in which transcendence and enlightenment itself are to be apprehended respectively, suggests only committed Order members are likely to attain such a condition of the mind, with no distinction between oneself and the refuge (Bluck, 2006: 160). The significance of ‘Going for Refuge’ is in ‘Sangharakshita having discovered it himself and expressing it doctrinally as a profoundly transforming “spiritual rebirth”’ (Bluck, 2006: 160). Sangharakshita’s interpretation of doctrine is, however, highly individualistic (despite claims of influences from his teachers), which is highlighted in the preoccupation with creating a new society of genuinely ‘self-reliant individuals’. Such a group is described slightly idealistically, as capable of dealing with ‘mental defilements’ and in that sense is outside the normative influences of society. They are seen as the ‘true individuals’ following the Triyāna path of Hinayāna, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna; here all three Buddhist vehicles are equally valued and are not seen as a progressive teaching. Right Livelihood is a significant aspect of the Noble Eightfold Path doctrinally and is also a significant building block in the TBC practically and spiritually. Members of Right Livelihood businesses (as outlined above), ‘Go for Refuge’ at a personal and collective level within their Buddhist working environments, forming part of the aspirations of the Order towards a ‘transformation in society’, expressed below in SEB terms.

TBC/FWBO and social engagement In the 1970s people in the FWBO started working together as a way of raising money for other projects. They soon discovered that Right Livelihood could itself be a means of spiritual practice. As a training ground for developing awareness and the capacity to cooperate and take initiatives, it became a contemporary narrative from a traditional source (the Noble Eightfold Path) updated for a Western audience. As a sustainable project financially and spiritually, Right Livelihood can be summarized under the headings generosity, cooperation, honesty and ethical trading. FWBO 1 BG (17 February 2005) explains Right Livelihood in the context of creative narrative, within TBC: ‘Well you could say it was laid down by the Buddha and in effect what we are trying to do, and what Sangharakshita gave us a chance to do, was to explore ways to work it out.’ This exploratory ethos in developing Western forms of Buddhism is one that has held sway with Order members from the beginning. There was strong

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support for the development of ‘TBRL Businesses’ based on the principle that the community had developed Buddhist Centres using Right Livelihood methods of cooperation, sharing and working ethically for a common goal since its inception. As FWBO 10 CAM (14 May 2003) pointed out: You don’t have to develop a laity to support the monkhood so what do you do about financial support? What came out of that most obviously was the Buddhist Centres. They all came together as a team-based activity, and so there you are, with a ready-made thesis on which to hang right livelihood.

Right Livelihood as a practice became an essential element for an organization that did not subscribe to the traditional monastic lay model as an appropriate way to develop Buddhism in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Without a monastic Order there could be no reciprocal support from the laity. Indeed, TBC Order members are seen as a lay Order by other Buddhists, due to having no orthodox vinaya-based monasticism. The then FWBO Right Livelihood project was seen by many as an experiment, in keeping with the early creativity of the movement. It is now a maturing experiment, spanning almost 40 years, and suggests that even in the working environment of a gift shop there is an opportunity to follow the Buddhist principles of practice based on altruism, kindness, mindfulness and ethics (Padmasuri, 2003: 3). The blueprint put forward by Sangharakshita in 1967/8 is consistent with many of the features of engaged Buddhism today. Despite the fact that he has never been aligned with SEB thinking at a personal level, it is hard to see how his dream of a new Buddhist Society in the West differs greatly from discussions along similar lines advocated by engaged Buddhist practitioners and teachers like Jones. This vision has been reinforced by the TBC, who today recognize on their own web pages that ‘Right Livelihood’ is part of a wider SEB approach to contemporary living, explained thus: FWBO [TBC] members engage in a range of compassionate activities. For some Buddhists their livelihood is a vocation, and many work in the caring professions, in hospitals, schools, charities, social work and so on. Others give their free time – for example, prison visiting, volunteering at hospices or on telephone help lines, befriending the aged, giving blood, environmental campaigning – whatever motivates their altruism. Others practice the path of Right Livelihood by working on teams and enterprises with other Buddhists, to raise funds for the spiritual community. (www.fwbo.org/fwbo/ socialengagement.html)

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The expansiveness of this (TBC) approach to engagement is a recent addition to their web presence and public profile, indicative of the wider pressure within the organization to be more socially proactive in both the vocational field of Right Livelihood, but also in wider areas like climate change and peace campaigning, in addition to the service-based activities within caring and helping professions and voluntary work. Padmasuri (2003: 16) reinforces this position as she explains that Sangharakshita’s, dream was that this community of Buddhists, or sangha, would address all aspects of life: social life, the home, and economic livelihood. This would comprise, firstly, public centres where meditation and Buddhism could be taught together with more indirect methods of self-transformation such as yoga and the arts; secondly, living communally with other Buddhists; and thirdly, collective work. Buddhist practice is often spoken of as a transformation of self, yet Sangharakshita also saw how it could mean the transformation of a whole society.

It should also be remembered at this point, that Sangharakshita’s involvement as a monastic in India, with the ex-untouchable Buddhists and their former leader and reformer Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar had a lasting effect on the TBC/ FWBO founder. An effect that has seen the creation of the Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha Sahayak Gana (TBMSG), now also TBC in Indian and ongoing support for them through the Karuna Trust charity in the United Kingdom, whose work to bring equality of life to 150million Dalits in India has not gone unnoticed, particularly with a Patron like Dame Judi Dench. It is not unreasonable to suggest that Sangharakshita’s vision of creating a Buddhist Society in the West was influenced to a degree by the social inequalities and degradation of his Indian Buddhist brothers and sisters. This vision was undoubtedly galvanized by the efforts of Ambedkar, who emphasized Buddhism as a contemporary narrative towards social reform, and who had plans for the revival of Buddhism in society in India. It was seen as radical in the United Kingdom compared to the limited attempts to introduce culturally specific forms of Asian Buddhism under the auspices of the English Sangha Trust, The Buddhist Society and minimal Tibetan and Zen influences of the late 1960s.

Emotional power as an aspect of engagement Fundamental to the emotional positivity of TBC members is a sense of compassion for the world and oneself born out of the mettbāhāvanā practice.

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It is claimed that when one encounters happiness it produces sympathetic-joy for another’s good fortune. The vicissitudes of life when contemplated produce equanimity, as a steady unshakable positivity developed from deep insight into the human and non-human condition. This is the Brahma-vihāra practice from which positive emotion and insight are said to spring. The positive emotions are described as ‘integration’, a term used to imply bringing mental (cognitive) and emotional ‘energies’ together so that attention is not fragmented or divided. The Brahma-vihāras have been described by Lefebure (2005: 134) as important to SEB as a method of grounding emotions, which otherwise would tend towards self-righteousness, or rage at the plight of the world. The use of mettā practice includes to ‘will’ loving-kindness even to one’s enemies, and to respond with compassion to the cries of the world. This is seen as a feature of engaged Buddhist practice, which could potentially be enhanced by the Brahma-vihāras. The overcoming of envy and rivalry is found in the acceptance of sympatheticjoy for others, which is seen as rejoicing in their spiritual progress, and finally, equanimity – the state of balance and peacefulness in all outward circumstances – is the peace of mind that frees one to work with and for others in society without clinging to results, whether one’s specific efforts are successful or not. Work needs to be meaningful in a practice sense for those in Right Livelihood environments. The work, while potentially problematic in creating a tension between practice and the ethics of how one raises money, on the whole can be justified on two grounds: first, raising money for the Dharma, and secondly integrating work into life as a Buddhist, said to develop one’s spiritual practice by greater awareness and kindness leading to cooperation and social responsibility ethically. The movement has seen a great many of its members engaged in SEB activities since 2001. Lokabandhu claims that what motivates practitioners in this direction is born out of love, not power, raising awareness and attempting to understand the underlying causes of suffering, expressed below, thus: How to do this effectively depends on time and social circumstances. Engaged Buddhism in the West is a story of experimentation — finding ways to make a difference within the spirit of Buddhist ethical precepts. Both the principles and practices of this work are still being clarified; the principles include always acting from a basis of Love rather than Power, seeking to effect change by raising awareness, and exemplifying not coercing; Buddhists try to understand and affect the underlying causes that create suffering, and work to strengthen the connections that exist between all life, rather than slip into polarisation. (Lokabandhu, 2007: FWBO.org)

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In the Brahma-vihāras the TBC have grounded an emotional and experiential practice which feels appropriate for SEB, including Right Livelihood. The characterization of ‘love not power’, ‘raising awareness for change’, and ‘exemplifying practice and working to strengthen connections for all life’ include Right Livelihood approaches and go some way to address the motivations behind members engagement in social and environmental action.

Right Livelihood as ethical engagement The TBC follow the traditional Five Precepts as their basis for moral behaviour. Their interpretation of them (particularly the third and fifth precept10) has proved controversial since their early development. Bluck unpacks Subhuti’s views as being that to repress sexual desire is as bad as indulging in it, seeing a release of sexual desire as a healthy means of attaining sexual satisfaction, but suggesting a period of chastity as a useful means of achieving contentment (2006: 166–7). The experimentation with alcohol and drugs of the 1960s and 1970s was seen by some as potentially helpful, if not habitual, for loosening inhibitions and gaining some insights. These controversial views have been reinterpreted by Order members by looking at skilful and unskilful actions and emphasizing the positive aspects of ‘loving kindness, generosity, simplicity and contentment, truthful communication and mindfulness, rather than abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech and intoxicants’ (Abahya, 1996 cited in Bluck, 2006: 167). The emphasis here is on self-awareness, which runs through the FWBO and can be seen in the ‘ten ethical principles’11 given to Order members at ordination. These do not follow the renunciant aspects of the ten novice precepts of the Theravāda tradition, and are seen as elaborations of the Five Precepts. The principle is to avoid what Sangharakshita (1984: 43–4) has described as the divisiveness of different lay and monastic precepts. As a consequence of this position, the TBC has rejected vinaya texts and traditions, claiming the importance is in emphasizing commitment and not the monastic lifestyle. These principles are employed in Right Livelihood settings and can be seen in the dayto-day activity of those involved. The sense of an enduring well-prepared ethically sustainable business, run by, and for Buddhists and the wider community, creates a number of tensions when applying the model to the retail sale of consumer goods, as is the case of the Windhorse ‘Evolution’ shops. Objectively, Evolution shops have no

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intrinsic Buddhist value, in that they seem to play a part in feeding what engaged Buddhists consider to be the ego-driven angst of Western consumer society, and thereby presenting an ethical dilemma by their very existence. However, the creation of ‘Evolution as a brand and shop chain’ has been defended from within and from outside the Order. Whitmyer (1994a: 15) in his introduction to Mindfulness and Meaningful Work, ‘Doing Well by Doing Good’, looks at both secular and spiritual writers on the subject and defends it on two counts, stating: ‘The underlying themes [of Right Livelihood] throughout are: (1) it is not necessary to sacrifice one’s true self in order to make a living, and therefore, (2) right livelihood can be a practical reality.’ In making this statement, Whitmyer implicitly places the ethical business model as a priority. He suggests that being true to the ethical principles of Buddhist teaching, or indeed to a secular ethical model, is to recognize one’s own potential in Buddhist/human terms, avoiding the unnecessary ravages of greed, hatred (coercion) and ignorance (delusion). In the case of the TBC (FWBO), the vast majority of those interviewed during the course of the fieldwork (FWBO 1 to 9, 11, 12, 13 and 15–17) expressed their position as an ethical undertaking based on Buddhist principles, vis-à-vis making money for the Order, which is seen by them as making money for the Dharma. FWBO 11 CAM (15 May 2003) insists that work in a Right Livelihood shop is also socially engaged work as a Buddhist, claiming: I’m making money for the Dharma here, and having an influence on other people. So yes, I don’t see why that is not engaged activity. In all honesty it is not really important to think about the labels or the concepts. What is important is to act, something I bring to all my life here [in the shop] or anywhere else.

FWBO 12 CAM, when asked if there is a tension between ‘selling and Dharma’, responded thus: For some people yes, I suppose there is. For me no; I see it as a positive ethical lifestyle of a Buddhist working to support other Buddhists and so I don’t have a problem with it. Right Livelihood is a practice. The fact that practice and work are the same thing actually reinforces the practice, and it allows you to retain the balance; mindfulness develops in your working life as well as elsewhere.

The determination among those interviewed and observed to continue their work in Right Livelihood businesses aids their vision of sustaining Buddhism in Western society as a way to prefigure change. As Baumann (1998: 123) pointed out, TBC members’ ‘ultimate aim is to bring about a transformation of

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Western society’. Right Livelihood businesses have evolved with the intention of avoiding products that cause harm to people or the environment, and where possible concentrate on those that are beneficial to the world. For example, it is claimed12 that TBC businesses have been at the forefront of the development of vegetarianism in the United Kingdom, while Windhorse Trading (through the Windhorse saṅgha) endeavours to strengthen its development of fair trade links with the majority of its suppliers in the developing world. The reality being that the free market is ironically supporting the endeavour for change, but as many interviewees have said, their vision is far greater than what they can at present actually achieve, but that will not stop them trying. For the businesses to be deemed successful greater considerations than the profit-and-loss account needs to be addressed. The spiritual development of the team as a group and as individuals depend on following ethical principles of Buddhist morality in which relations between people working within them are free from manipulation or exploitation. The sourcing of goods as ethical also has implications for the environment, not only on the communities that supply them (in the case of Windhorse Trading) but also as it affects the planet. The 2004/5 SEB Survey reflects the positive commitment by all respondents to the question of whether individuals practice ethical precepts. The result shown below in Table 6.3 identifies 100 per cent commitment to the precepts.

The decentralized TBC: Towards a new society From its beginnings the FWBO (TBC) had an energetic, largely young, male dominated culture, which developed Buddhist Centres that are now an established feature of many towns and cities in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. There are at the time of writing (2013) 31 established Buddhist Centres nationwide, 30 outreach groups, 12 retreat centres, 35 businesses (of which 20 are Windhorse Table 6.3  Current membership of FWBO: Practice ethical precepts cross-tabulation Practice ethical precepts

Count Current Membership Of FWBO Total

Yes No

Yes

No

Total

96 142 238

0 10 10

96 152 248

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Evolution retail outlets) and 58 single-sex communities (of which 36 [62%] are male and 22 [38%] are female).13 Despite the male communities being almost twice that of the female ones, the numbers of individual males to females is much closer. The 2007 ‘Order Survey’ conducted by Lokabandhu reflects an overall picture of fractionally under 2:1 males over females, which is indicative of the growth in large numbers of female Order members in the last five years. This follows a downward trend of male numerical dominance since the late 1980s, which saw a sharp fall between 1987 and 1991, and a steady declining rate ever since. It is important to note that many more female Order members now live outside communities, and are happy to travel to the Buddhist Centre or a Right Livelihood business, should they be part of one. Table 6.4 reflects evidence from the 2004/5 SEB Survey. While it does not act as a guide to male and female numbers in the TBC overall, it reflects the sample ratio, which is much closer to a 50:50 split (male 51% and female 49%). The central administrative functions of the TBC are based in Birmingham at Madhyamaloka (Chantry Road) which includes the Liaison Office, the Office of the Order, and the Shabda (newsletter) Office. There are plans to move all from Madhyamaloka to a new headquarters at Coddington Court, near Great Malvern, Herefordshire (a former private school) in 2013. Work is ongoing on the site, which will house accommodation for men and women, a new home for Sangharakshita, a library, lecture hall, meditation hall and dharma training facilities. Although these centralized offices are still in place, the Order and the movement has been through a time of considerable change in the last decade (2003–13), having decentralized its institutional power bases of the Preceptors’ College Council (PCC) and the College of Public Preceptors14 (CPP  – the College) in 2003. This was as the result of an opening up of discussions about the inappropriate behaviour of the founder Sangharakshita in the early days of the organization. This situation is reflected in the release of Vishvapani’s15 (2005) Table 6.4  Current membership of FWBO: Male or female cross-tabulation Male or female

Current membership of FWBO Total

Yes No

Male

Female

Total

49 71 120

47 85 132

96 156 252

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report, ‘Growing Pains: An Inside View of Change in the FWBO’, which has been circulated throughout the Order and movement more generally, but only to selective Buddhists outside the movement, like the NBO. The radical shift in the movement has been largely driven by Subhuti and a small group of Order members (seven) gathered together in a group called the ‘Madhyamaloka Meeting’. This group was created in 2001, tasked with reform, and faced with a great deal of emotional turmoil as the revelations about their founder became known within the movement. Shabda (TBC Newsletter) printed a series of open letters in 2003/4 sent in by many who were disturbed by the revelations. Ultimately they questioned the authority of their own ordination process, which could have meant the unravelling of the movement if not resolved. The decision to go public and open up the movement to the possibilities of melt down was a brave one, and even led to Subhuti offering to stand down if the movement believed he too was damaged by complicity; knowing, he accepts, that Sangharakshita had been sexually active during the early years of the movement. The inference being, he acknowledged impropriety in Sangharakshita’s relationships, although he did not make that claim overtly. As the most senior spiritual guide in the movement after Sangharakshita, Subhuti had carried the weight of the collective headship of the Order through his chairmanship of the College and PCC, post the founder’s retirement. The changes to come were based on the need to restore faith in the movement among its members, and at the same time to prevent the ordination process, which was long and often arduous, from collapsing. The College of 11 Public Preceptors had responsibility for the ordination of all Order members worldwide (approximately 1,100). Their inability to govern the Order in an open manner had, it is suggested (Vishvapani, 2005), been largely as a result of too much pressure, travelling continually around the world to engage in the ordination process, and being blinkered by loyalty to their founder, which had constrained them. Subhuti openly accepts the necessity to debate the authority for ordination in the Order as Vishvapani (2005: 7–8) records: The article [in Shabda] must raise questions in many people’s minds about spiritual ‘authority’ in the Order. I regard this as a very good thing – although not one that is easily and finally resolved . . . Early on, Bhante’s [Sangharakshita’s] spiritual authority was everything. Simply with growing numbers and greater geographical spread, increasing experience and maturity among Order members, the emergence of new Preceptors, and Bhante’s withdrawal, the situation is much more complex and requires a new consensus. Revelations

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about Bhante’s behaviour underline that questions must be asked about spiritual authority, including about who confers ordination and on what basis. I believe we need to debate this very widely so that we can try to reach a new common understanding on the subject.

The tensions that had existed for some time with the centralized power of the College and PCC had become an area of concern for some senior Order members, many of whom it seems were trapped in a role that they were incapable of addressing for the greater good of the movement. What is apparent is the openness of the debate, hitherto unknown on such a scale within the Order, and a realization that a shift in thinking was necessary from the senior members of the Order. Vishvapani acknowledges that the PCC were in danger of being so out of touch with the movement on the ground that it was as if they were living in two separate worlds. After a year of consultation16 the decision was to create autonomy with the Buddhist Centres at the heart of the decision-making process, as they were the groups most affected by likely decisions within the Order. As a movement based on the model of a spiritual community, it took its collective identity from the fact that there was recognition of each other as all ‘Going for Refuge’ to the ‘Three Jewels’. The Order was self-governing at each level, as a community of spiritual friends (Kalyāṇa-mitras) made up of a number of autonomous organizations and overlapping projects. The nature of this structure found enmeshed in it the need for consensual agreement at every level, which was basically the way it had always run. On reflection, this interwoven autonomy requiring consensus at each level could be seen as the reason that the organization did not implode and splinter into factions (Vishvapani, 2005: 16). This then was the status of the majority of Right Livelihood businesses and the Centres themselves. They were all self-determining projects, authorized by the legal or constitutional status put in place by those who had created them, for the greater good of the movement and the wider community. The dynamism of this grassroots interaction with society seems to be more attuned to local environments and circumstances, than perhaps it was to its former spiritual hierarchies, represented by the PCC and College. The major change therefore, in the new proposals, was to remove the overseeing roles of the PCC and College, which had in the past existed over and above the largely voluntary networks that made up the movement on the ground. The Preceptors College acknowledged it would no longer be responsible for appointing presidents or other offices to the

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Order. That would become part of the autonomy of the Centre chairs, chapters and committees. The College, however, did not dissolve entirely, as it was felt that they still had a role to play with regard to the appointment of Order members. The overarching factor for all Order members is the common standards of ordination, as it is this, which affords the sense of being of the same spiritual community. To have different styles of ordination would, it was believed, undermine the Order, as all who were ordained in this system knew they had followed an identical process and therefore had a real bond with fellow Order members. The Madhyamaloka Meeting and College agreed, after consultation within the movement, that authority for ordination should still lie within the tripartite system. This included the College (with restricted powers), Private Preceptors – designated as such because they were local to centres, and therefore deemed to be on hand at a local level (which the CPP never had been), and Order members in the local centres. These three groups were to determine the readiness of candidates for the ordination process. Without that continuity with the past, it was felt there could be no effective practice and commitment, which would render the ordination process pointless (Vishvapani, 2005: 17). The resulting restrictions on the College were to create a greater number of Public Preceptors,17 which allowed the ordination process to be decentralized, although retaining its content. Smaller groups of College members, known as ‘Kulas’,18 could agree ordinations between them at a local level. The effective Headship of the Order, born previously by the College, was removed and the PCC agreed to dissolve. The hope was that the College could get on (in its new form) with the ordination process and the movement would once again be the creative source of collective direction it had been throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The effectiveness of the changes has taken time to permeate through the movement and uncertainty that did exist seems to have been redressed by the decision in 2010 to change the name of the movement to Triratna. It is almost as if that was a necessary response to a period of great change, from which a new chapter in the history of the organization will flow. The structure of the TBC relies on the tripartite categories of ‘Friends’, ‘Mitras’ and ‘Order members’ to function as a saṅgha (spiritual community). The level of involvement with the TBC can be assessed from the three titles above. All those associated with the movement and wish to participate are considered Friends of Triratna. Their relationship to the organization can be as casual as going to a Buddhist Centre or class (usually meditation or basic Buddhism classes), to taking the necessary steps towards becoming a Mitra.

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The Mitra is understood as the next stage in the pattern of spiritual progress towards ordination. Mitra is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘friend’, and those who are accepted as such are marked by a deeper spiritual commitment to the Buddhist path as practiced in the community. The Mitras are considered a saṅgha within a saṅgha and are supported by Order members who assist in their training and development on the path. There are special activities for Mitras, including specific retreats, and study groups which follow a three-year course, which covers the key aspects of the Buddha’s teaching and Sangharakshita’s approach to it. Order members are the end result of a process in which a ‘friend’ commits to become a Mitra and a Mitra completes a training programme in preparation for ordination into the ‘Order’. At their ordination candidates are given the Three Refuges and Ten Precepts together with a mantra and associated visualization (sādhana) and prostration practice. The use of the kesa or neck scarf (borrowed from Japanese Buddhism) is the official symbol of the Order member, worn for practice, ceremonial and teaching activities (Bluck, 2006: 157).

Organizing Right Livelihood When you think about Right Livelihood and the TBC (for those who know the organization) thoughts are of a multi-million pound organization based in a large industrial unit in Cambridge called Windhorse Trading Ltd. However, the numbers of creative Right Livelihood projects associated with TBC is many more than Windhorse alone. In addition to the Windhorse enterprise there are at least a dozen others and potentially more. These businesses include: cafes, second-hand shops, Buddhist funeral services, Buddhafield Festival, Carers’ Breaks, Mindfulness therapy, New View Residential, Indian Dhamma Trust and the Karuna Trust. Windhorse Trading includes a retail chain of 20 ‘Evolution’ shops (in the United Kingdom), a wholesale business and the parent company. As the major enterprise this section will concentrate on ‘Windhorse: Evolution’ and ‘Windhorse Trading’. When Windhorse started out, as just a few men in vans, buying and selling, there was little concern for the ethics of the products being sold. As FWBO 10 CAM asserts: When I took over [Windhorse Trading] there was a degree of ambivalence and confusion about where we fitted in [within the framework of the FWBO/TBC]. When I went there [Windhorse Trading] it was very much a decentralised and an

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anarchic model, in danger of becoming completely idealised . . . you see they had started something in a very idealistic way which they were not psychologically, emotionally or financially really capable of seeing through. Back then we were dealing with the wholesalers in the main and would buy from them, the emphasis then, being not so much on the ethics, but about finding the products that sold. The difference now is that we source about 65% of our products ourselves, which are ‘Fair Trade’. I am trying to push that to 70 or 75%. The difference now being, we buy far more handicraft goods, which has a direct result for the economies we source from in all kinds of positive ways.

This shift from an idealized encounter with market trading as a way to make money for the developing London Buddhist Centre to a business with a ten million pound a year gross turnover is a remarkable business achievement. But even more so, it is an example of an ethically sustainable Buddhist Business, underpinned by the founding principles of the Order and, they would claim, the application of the Buddha’s ‘Noble Eightfold Path’. In organizational terms the formal business training for those in ‘Team Based Right Livelihood’ settings is at the discretion of the team19 and is closely related to the type of activity a team is undertaking. ‘Windhorse: Evolution’ offers a blueprint in the form of a Support Handbook to Right Livelihood teams, setting out the vision, which it describes as ‘Bhante’s20 vision of TBRL as an element of the New Society’. The Handbook has three aims, which are described as: (1) to raise funds for the TBC; (2) to create conditions for spiritual development; and (3) to promote and encourage TBRL throughout the movement. This approach reinforces the determination of the movement to see a change in social conditions born out of Right Livelihood businesses. The ‘Evolution’ shop chain, as the core business example, was historically organized around a single-sex team (although this has changed) with the assistance of Windhorse: Evolution. They offer training in the organization of the shops internally, their management, stock monitoring and ordering, as well as providing stock lists from which the shop’s staff chooses the products they intend to sell. They will also work with the team financially in order to support a new ‘Evolution’ shop venture. The relationships of single-sex teams is said to work based on the assumption that single-sex communities were a replacement for nuclear families, and that men’s and women’s spiritual needs differed.21 This, however, is a view originated over 30 years ago, and despite a now marginal conservative voice among senior (generally male) Order members that still advocate these policies, it would seem

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that the majority are less convinced by the ideas of single-sex living. This is being discussed within Right Livelihood teams, and the effects of these more open debates have created major visible changes in approach in many locations. Many more Order members are married or indeed involved in other occupations outside communities and Right Livelihood, often for purely economic reasons.22 Attitudes to women have changed, indicated by the huge increase in females who are ordaining in to what is being seen increasingly, as a ‘single-mixed community’ (Maitrisara, 2008). Nonetheless, despite some closures of shops on economic grounds (three between 2005 and 2008) and some consolidation in the Windhorse: Evolution company, Right Livelihood businesses are still seen as an essential part of sustaining Buddhist Centres and are indivisible from practice for those with a vocation to work in them. The trend of consolidation into the economic downturn has not prevented growth in the last two years (2010–12) and Evolution shop numbers are now at an all time high with 20 in the chain.

Bethnal Green: A Buddhist Island in East London Bethnal Green, East London, is the home of the first major urban FWBO Buddhist Centre, known as the London Buddhist Centre or LBC. The creation of the LBC was in fact the first attempt at running a Right Livelihood business. For many years the LBC was the focus of development for the then FWBO. The area of Bethnal Green where the Centre is situated is both a typical example of other towns and cities in the United Kingdom,23 in terms of TBC development, but at the same time is a unique example of the development of Right Livelihood businesses. Unique in the sense that nowhere else in the United Kingdom and probably the English-speaking Western world is there such a proliferation of Buddhist businesses in a single square mile. It is that sense of an abundance of Buddhist activity emanating from the Centre that suggests the notion of the ‘Buddhist Island’, in East London.24 At its height there were ten Buddhist businesses in the Bethnal Green square mile around the Buddhist Centre: Two cafes (‘The Wild Cherry’, run by a female team and ‘The Gallery’, run by a male team); ‘Friends Organic’ whole food shop (male team); an ‘Evolution shop’ (female team); ‘The Arts Centre’ which houses a mixture of male and female artists, sculptors and musicians; ‘Sudana’, now ‘Lama’s in Pyjamas’ bric-a-brac shop (female team); ‘Bodywise’ has rented space where alternative health and therapy coexist alongside yoga and other group activities (overseen by a female team); ‘The Bodhi Tree’– an education-based

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team providing Buddhist education to schools in London; The ‘former FWBO Communications Office’ (female team with male input); and the Buddhist Centre ‘bookshop’. In addition to these, but not set up in specific buildings in the area, are a group from the Buddhist Centre who support projects to clean up parks in the area frequented by needle using drug users; an affiliated print shop, and associations with a drug rehabilitation scheme, the local housing association and a homeless project. The implications of such a Buddhist stronghold might suggest a community within a community, a sort of enclave. However, the reality of the author’s experience, while working in the shops and businesses in the area (based on talking to shoppers and other consumers during the fieldwork period), is twofold: first, there is a genuine appreciation of the Buddhist businesses supporting the local economy and community, and secondly, the friendly uncomplicated atmosphere in the cafes and shops seems to add to the well-being of those (Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike) that come into contact with them. During the two periods of work in the locality, the author only found positive voices from consumers in the area, not all of who knew that Buddhists ran the businesses.25 FWBO 12 CAM (15 May 2003) supports this, claiming: ‘So many people say how good it is to shop with us, as opposed to other shops in the area. They see us as more ethical; a lot know we are Buddhists’. The expansion in Right Livelihood businesses would seem a logical step for the movement. There is, however, increasing concern that with a decline in single-sex communities fewer Order members and Friends are following into Right Livelihood businesses as part of their spiritual practice and commitment to their Centres. The result of falling numbers has seen non-Buddhists employed in the shops, with a reasonable degree of success, despite some scepticism and greater overheads. This may say something about the nature of commitment of members or perhaps more about wider economic pressures today. The less sceptical were right to remain optimistic as Evolution shops, may be subject to economic vagaries but seem to be growing in number again.

The SEB Survey and FWBO/TBC The social profile of the FWBO members in the 2004/5 SEB Survey identifies a sample size, which was 38 per cent (96 respondents) of the total sample across all five case-study groups. Demographically, the sample is essentially ethnically white, with 89 per cent white Europeans, 3 per cent African/Caribbean, 1 per cent

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Table 6.5  Current membership of FWBO: Marital status cross-tabulation Marital status Single Married Separated Divorced Widowed Cohabiting Total Current Yes membership of FWBO No Total

53

14

9

9

1

10

96

40 93

61 75

7 16

29 38

5 6

14 24

156 252

South Asian and 7 per cent other-origin not stated. This profile shows a slightly more diverse ethnic mix than the three previous groups: Amida, NEB and C of I. The male-female divide was almost 50:50 with an average age of 41 years; 95  per  cent of the sample claimed to be Buddhist of which 48 per cent were Christian before coming to Buddhism. Table 6.5 reflects the marital status of the sample. The majority – 55 per cent are single, only 15 per cent were married, 9 per cent separated, 9 per cent divorced, 1 per cent widowed and 10 per cent cohabiting. The evidence of a higher proportion of single respondents is perhaps indicative of single-sex community living. Like NEB and Amida, the TBC have a high percentage of respondents with a Buddhist partner (28% of the sample). A third of the sample have children of which 67 per cent (18) are under 18 years of age. ‘Education’, ‘accommodation’ and ‘income’ questions reveal: educationally, the sample represents 71 per cent who were graduates and 34 per cent with a postgraduate qualification – the highest number of graduates among the groups examined thus far. In profile terms the educational makeup reflects 29 per cent self-designated professionals, 21 per cent Liberal Arts educated, 28 per cent Science and Liberal Arts combined, and 14 per cent Science only, with 5 per cent vocationally educated. Only Amida has more professionally educated members in the survey, due in part to the numbers of therapists who are members. With regard to accommodation, only 42 per cent of respondents were in owner/occupation – the least of the groups analysed thus far, with 18 per cent in private rented space. Therefore only 60 per cent of the sample lives in private accommodation. Interestingly, 33 per cent (a third) live in community, indicative of the communal lifestyle. Rented council housing accounts for 4 per  cent of the sample and 3 per cent live in ‘other’ accommodation not stated. There are, however, 56 per cent of respondents sharing accommodation with someone other than a spouse, partner or blood relative, which suggests, over and above community living (33%), an additional 23 per cent share their accommodation

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outside the community. In this sense perhaps the trend is for members to share space with other members, which could include the 18 per cent in rented space and a further 5 per cent unaccounted for. Income among the sample reflects 8 per cent of the sample is unwaged. In addition, a high proportion (42%), earn under £10,000, meaning half the sample (50%) earn under £10,000. This is indicative of the ethos of Right Livelihood, from which workers only take what they need in monetary terms to survive. There is 23 per cent of the sample that earn between £10,000 and £20,000; therefore, including the unwaged, 73 per cent of the sample earns less than £20,000 a year. The middle-income bracket, between £20,000 and £30,000 accounts for 16 per cent of the sample, while at the upper end of the income scale only 11 per cent earn over £30,000. These respondents are earning considerably less than all the other groups on average. In relation to multiple membership of other Buddhist groups, 16 per cent were also Amida members, 16 per cent NEB members, 5 per cent C of I members and 2 per cent Rokpa members. This indicates 39 per cent of the sample is a member of a Buddhist group other than FWBO/TBC. The question asking respondents to describe themselves showed 92 per cent claimed to be Western converts, 2 per cent indigenous Buddhists, 3 per cent other faith and 3 per cent other-not stated, indicated in Table 6.6. Table 6.6  Current membership of FWBO: How would you describe yourself crosstabulation How would you describe yourself Western Indigenous Non- Other Other 99.00 Total Convert Buddhist Buddhist Faith Culture Current membership Yes of FWBO No Total

88

2

0

3

3

0

96

112 200

1 3

14 14

7 10

21 24

1 1

156 252

The survey questions about their teacher (Sangharakshita) revealed 16 per cent saw him as a Buddha, 25 per cent as a Bodhisattva, and 75 per cent as a skilful teacher. When asked if they understood the term SEB, 90 per cent said they did. When asked ‘are you a socially engaged Buddhist?’ 81 per cent claimed they were a higher than expected response. This could be indicative of the notion that SEB approaches ideas and responses to Dharma are being mainstreamed in organizations like TBC. Table 6.7 outlines this position.

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Table 6.7  Current membership of FWBO: Are you a Socially Engaged Buddhist crosstabulation Are you a Socially Engaged Buddhist? Current membership of FWBO Total

Yes No

Yes

No

Total

72 110 182

17 42 59

89 152 241

On the question of provenance, 42 per cent of the respondents claimed ‘all Buddhism is engaged’, suggesting a continuous approach. Only 4 per cent of the sample accepts SEB came about as a result of Western influences in Asia, and only 9 per cent claimed SEB is a wholly Western concept. When asked to express how to explain SEB Dharmically, 36 per cent claimed it is ‘Dharma as social action’. Only 12 per cent agreed that SEB was ‘Dharma with social action added on’, while the majority (57%) saw SEB as ‘Inner Dharmic work mirrored by outer social action’. Table 6.8 identifies this: Table 6.8  Current membership of FWBO: Inner dharmic work mirrored by outer action cross-tabulation Inner Dharmic work mirrored by outer social action

Current membership of FWBO Total

Yes No

Yes

No

Total

52 93 145

40 54 94

92 147 239

When asked whether ‘Buddhism needs a social orientation’, 76 per cent suggested it does, as Table 6.9 confirms: Table 6.9  Current membership of FWBO: Does Buddhism need a social orientation? cross-tabulation Does Buddhism need a social orientation?

Count

Current membership of FWBO Total

Yes No

Yes

No

Total

63 107 170

20 37 57

83 144 227

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Respondents were asked to consider how they understood the term nirvāṇa, with 57 per cent seeing it as in the ‘here and now’, and 86 per cent claiming nirvāṇa is attainable in this lifetime. This may be indicative of the thinking that ‘one ultimately becomes the Buddha that one contemplates’, as expressed in the TBCs reflection on ‘spiritual rebirth’.

Material culture in the TBC Sangharakshita (1988, 1992) and Subhuti (1988) have for many years reinforced their feelings that art in the wider Buddhist sense (architecture, painting, sculpture, music, poetry) is not only a focus for devotional activity but inspires individuals towards an appreciation of aesthetic forms, which supports the development of spiritual consciousnesses. Much of this inspiration is in the desire to create new cultural forms, of which Right Livelihood could be seen as being an example. The FWBO and now TBC has, from its inception, shown a great deal of respect for art and artistic endeavour, which has manifest in the decoration of many of its shrines with hand-sculptured Buddha images with Western features and Asian robes. Artistic license is also found in the redevelopment and renovation of many culturally important buildings in towns and cities around the United Kingdom. Examples of which can be seen in the Cambridge Buddhist Centre, a former theatre, whose auditorium is now a main meeting space; and others, like the former Fire Station at Bethnal Green which now houses the LBC, all of which are Right Livelihood projects. Within Centres and businesses there is a great deal of visual imagery; a good example being in the ‘Windhorse: Evolution’ warehouse at Cambridge, where a 30-foot-high sculptured stupa stands in the centre of the warehouse acting like a focal point at the centre of a mandala, or in shops and cafes where a small shrine will be found tucked away in staff quarters out of view of the public gaze. Much of the artistic talent for creating literature (supported by Windhorse Publications in Birmingham),26 comes from within the organization. Professionally produced webspace and newsletter epitomize some of the professional talent of former journalists, editors and literary professionals in print media, who are now Order members using their talents to support the development of a Western Buddhist culture. The TBC still retains its in-house Order magazine Shabda which deals with the internal news of the Order and is also closely aligned to the Urthona magazine,

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exploring the Arts and world culture from a Buddhist perspective as a spiritual practice. It is produced in Cambridge by Order members who run it as part of TBC Arts, a Buddhist Arts educational charity. Urthona, 22 October 2005, devoted its entire coverage to the issue of Art, Awareness and Social Change, in which it explores SEB from the perspective of the arts and culture. It investigates ‘Art and Buddhism’ as the tools for social change, as described by Ratnagarbha (2005: 3) in the editorial: Many would say that all artists can do is draw our attention to injustice and suffering in the most graphic way possible. This issue is based on the conviction that artists, all of us in fact, are capable of something better. We look at ways in which art can engage with society without selling out to the material values that underlie most political philosophies. Ways in which art can be used not as an instrument for political propaganda, but as a path of transformation, in partnership with direct political action on equal terms.

TBC have for many years explored art as a spiritual practice and there are a number of Right Livelihood businesses established in the Arts. The establishment of Art Centres at Bethnal Green and in Brighton, where both have established links to natural health treatments and yoga classes is a common feature of TBC interests. The Arts Centre in Bethnal Green houses painters and sculptures as well as fully functioning dance studios, there is space for graphic designers and musical areas set aside for musicians. The strength of the approach to art in all forms is in practitioners seeing their talents as spiritual practice in that sense art is also seen as Right Livelihood indivisible it seems from Dharma.

Summary The FWBO (TBC) was not known for its cooperation and communication with other Buddhist groups and organizations in its more formative years, and in the late 1990s was subject to critical publicity from ex-members and the media. The Guardian article of 27 October 1997, accused the Order of misogyny, claiming state benefit and a predisposition to homosexuality that was having a negative affect on spiritual development. This did little for the public face of the Order or Buddhism more generally in the United Kingdom at the time. However, there has been, in the last decade (2003–13) a considerable opening of the FWBO and TBC to the scrutiny of its own membership, the wider world, and the wider Buddhist world, certainly in the United Kingdom. The open debate about homosexuality

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and misogyny within the Order has led to a form of communication that has seen the PCC dissolve and a willingness to publicly address the movement’s position and reappraise its focus going forward. This has perhaps shown a maturity that has been over 40 years in the making. The decentralized approach, giving autonomy to what could be described as one of the ‘Three Pillars of the TBC’  – ‘The Centres’, (their chapters and chairs), was not to everybody’s liking. Out of this comes questions about the sustainability of the ‘Second Pillar’  – ‘Right Livelihood businesses’  – whose former source of employees were former members of the ‘Third Pillar’ – ‘singlesex communities’ – now depleted by more than half from 1988. This may seem like an ambiguous picture for what is undoubtedly the strongest attempt by any organization to Westernise Buddhism in recent British Buddhist history, and more profoundly to address real change in the public arena. There are, however, at least three optimistic aspects to this discussion; not least that non-Buddhist staff in mixed and non-mixed settings seems to be working for Evolution, to add to which, the ordination of females is growing (1.8 men to 1 woman in 2007) and many have an interest in Right Livelihood (Order Survey 2007). This is seen as a direct result of changing attitudes to women in a decentralized organization, which is being described as a ‘singlemixed community’ (Maitrisara, 2008). Secondly, the openness to other Buddhist organizations seems to be focused around SEB conceptually, with concerns for the planet ecologically, injustice, poverty and global violence in all its forms. This comes with an overt approach by the TBC, to not only recognize SEB, but also offer its own definition and narrative understanding of what it means to be an engaged Buddhist. They have gone as far as to suggest three areas which SEB should attend to: (1) motivation by ‘love’ and not power; (2) raising awareness to effect change; and (3) attempt to understand the underlying causes of suffering and work to strengthen connections between all life, avoiding polarization in the attempt (www.thebuddhistcentre.org/socialengagement/html). Finally, after revelations of Sangharakshita’s sexual impropriety opened up questions about the authority of ordination, the decentralized movement did not implode. Had it done so, years of ordination training and the practice of many thousands of Order members around the world would have unravelled. Perhaps the reason for its sustainability is, paradoxically, the very structures within the organization that Sangharakshita had put in place over the years, to prevent a melt down in the face of extreme conditions. As a movement based on the model of a spiritual community, its collective identity is in the fact that all ‘Go for Refuge’ to the ‘Three Jewels’. There are self-governing structures at a number of levels in which

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spiritual friends, in many autonomous organizations and projects, work and live. This became the strength of the movement in seeking consensus at each level in order to cooperate. This ‘enmeshed autonomy’ is likely to be the reason the Order survived (Vishvapani, 2005: 16). The 2004 SEB Survey identifies 39 per cent of the survey sample holding memberships of other engaged Buddhist groups, like Amida and NEB, and at a more practical level joining in with their teaching and campaigning projects. Greater integration can also be found among regional Buddhist councils, slowly developing in the United Kingdom, all of whom have a TBC input. Similarly the summer Buddhafield Festival organized by the TBC, has become the focus of many Buddhist groups, and a place for much activist activity between SEB groups, including TBC. There were two surprising aspect in the survey findings: first, to find over 80 per cent of the sample claiming to be engaged Buddhists. This may go some way to answer questions about cooperation and integration with other Buddhist groups, something Bluck (2006: 178) hoped for in the conclusion to an earlier study of the organization. Secondly, there are 56 per cent of respondents sharing accommodation with someone other than a spouse, partner or blood relative, which suggests, over and above community living (33 per cent), an additional 23 per cent share their accommodation outside the community. In this sense perhaps the trend is for close TBC members to share space with other members, which suggests a less formally defined form of community living, in more easily managed personal spaces, which may prove economically and practically more appealing. Taking account of the implications for sustaining Right Livelihood businesses; despite some closures on economic grounds, the majority are functioning and sustaining centres financially in the process and some increases in Evolution shops is evident in the last two years. Some effort is being made to generate interest in Order members to work in them, and one business in West London has moved to employ non-Buddhists full time as a way to avoid closure, due to insufficient numbers of Buddhists to sustain it. This indicates a very different business model but while a growing trend is not yet the norm. Increasingly, those working in Right Livelihood are seeing themselves as SEBs, and are expressing their understanding of SEB Dharmically as developing ‘inner emotional awareness mirrored by outer social action’. TBC has gone so far as to present the Brahma-vihāras as a grounded emotional and experiential practice for integrating SEB (including Right Livelihood) into the lives of Buddhists. This has a great deal of overlap with a ‘loving-kindness’ approach to SEB, which

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requires compassionate action and ethical decision making from its exponents. The ethical dilemmas presented by Right Livelihood businesses in the TBC include the tensions over what one sells and how it is sourced. These can be ameliorated by a situational approach to ethics integrated with a virtues method, explored in the previous chapter. Bowie (2004: 135) explains such a method as a ‘Virtues of Benevolence’ approach to moral character building.27 This employs the Brahma-vihāras as the foundation of ethical decision making. This approach is reinforced by the positive aspects employed by the TBC in reinterpreting the Five Precepts, to include loving-kindness, generosity, simplicity and contentment, truthfulness and mindfulness, as the positive counterparts to abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech and intoxicants. The TBC meditation system deployed by Sangharakshita and developed by Order members sees in its progression an integration of mental and emotional factors through the mettābhāvanā practice, insight and visualization. These work to develop positive emotion towards equanimity from which practitioners can work in and for society without clinging to results. SEB in the TBC is also supported by the influence of Dr Ambedkar and the many links to the Order in India. SEB is even to be found in the desire to create ‘new cultural forms’ towards a new society, when it is explored from the perspective of ‘Arts and Culture’ in Urthona the Arts magazine of the TBC. The question of Jones’ typology and the fit for TBC Right Livelihood businesses raises a number of questions about the lack of detail in his exposition of the types he describes. TBC and Right Livelihood fall clearly within the scope of the ASM model. Following the TBC ethos of creating a ‘new society’ in a Western context, Right Livelihood is seen as a crucial part of that vision, and a practical application of it over many years. This attempt to create a shift of consciousness in society is described by Jones as the ‘Radical Culture of Awakening’, which he credits with a ‘radical activist’ approach. TBC are not radically activist as an organization in the SEB sense (although many individuals would fit that designation), so the typology seems inadequate, to a degree, to deal with the complexities of the organization. In Jones’ own estimation, however, the TBC are the only UK group who have come near to creating a truly ‘Alternative Societal Model’. What is not possible to discern from this study, without further research, is the likely impact TBC Right Livelihood businesses are having at the point of interaction with wider society. Allied to that question is how they might be affecting social norms at the point of interaction. Suffice to say that informal questioning of customers suggests a positive outcome based on their experience, which is characterized by feelings of friendly quality of service and kindness.

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There would seem to be more than one characteristic of engaged Buddhism at work here, as the theme of a Buddhist practice that is intended to affect societal change by personal transformation (Bell, 1996), has also been echoed in all three groups examined thus far. What is apparent, however, is the sense that SEB and Right Livelihood are increasingly becoming synonymous.

Notes   1 Triratna Buddhist Community and Order (TBC) will be referred to throughout, some reference to FWBO in this chapter arises before their name change in May 2010.   2 See unpublished PhD thesis (University of Aston) submitted by Howes (1993); an unpublished MSc thesis (University of Manchester) submitted by Kjonstad (1993); and an unpublished MA thesis (University of Montana, United States) submitted by Bodhipaksa (2000).   3 For more information on the so-called recreation, or re-expression of ‘Modern Buddhism’ see Lopez (1999) Modern Buddhism.   4 Initially the FWBO was known as the ‘Friends of the Western Saṅgha’, but changed its name a year later (1968), to ‘Friends of the Western Buddhist Order’ (FWBO). At the same time Sangharakshita founded the Western Buddhist Order (WBO), and ordaining the first WBO members the same year.   5 Sangharakshita means ‘he who is protected by the spiritual community’.   6 Anagārika is a Pāli term meaning ‘one who does not inhabit a house’. It came to denote an intermediate role between layman and monastic in the twentieth century as the result of the Sri Lankan Anagārika Dharmapāla adopting the term in the nineteenth century.   7 For an autobiographical account of his time in Asia as both a Theravāda and Mahāyāna monastic, see his (2003) book Moving against the Stream: The Birth of a New Buddhist Movement.   8 Sangharakshita’s mentors included Dhardo Rinpoche; Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche; Dudjom Rinpoche; Chattrul Samye Dorje; Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche; Kachu Rinpoche and Yogi Chen, a Chinese recluse who practiced Ch’an Buddhism but had lived and practised in Eastern Tibet.   9 The Noble Eightfold Path consists of Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Meditation. Practised simultaneously they are divided into ‘Morality/Conduct’ (Speech, Action, Livelihood); ‘Meditation’ (Effort, Mindfulness, Concentration); and ‘Wisdom/Insight’ (View, Intention). 10 Avoiding sexual misconduct and the use of alcohol and drugs, which distorts consciousness.

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11 The first four of the Five Precepts; abstinence from harsh divisive and frivolous speech; covetousness, hatred and false views. Positive aspects include: loving kindness; generosity and contentment; truthfulness, kindly, meaningful and harmonious speech; and tranquillity, compassion and wisdom. 12 See www.thebuddhistcentre.org/rightlivelihood.html for information on the promotion of vegetarian cafes as right livelihood businesses. 13 In community living there are near to twice the number of males to females. However, among members as a whole the male to female ratio is 1.8 males to one female. Many females live outside the community but are active in the movement. The move away from community living is a common trend in the organization, which is of concern to some, mostly to those who live within a community. 14 The PCC was a body that held authority for appointing presidents to effectively oversee Buddhist Centres, and was responsible with the College for organizing the ordination process, which between them, gave the authority (passed on by Sangharakshita) of collective heads of the Order. 15 Vishvapani is a senior Order member who undertook a review of change in the FWBO between 2003 and 2005. His report to the ‘Madhyamaloka Meeting’ sets out the reasons for the radical change to decentralize power, devolving it to Buddhist Centre chairs and committees. 16 Both Vishvapani and Subhuti wrote separate and collaborative articles for Shabda during the consultation period with a view to reaching the widest possible consensus on going forward as a movement. The articles can be found in Subhuti and Vishvapani (2003) ‘Shaping the Future of the Order and Movement’ (Shabda, July 2003) and Subhuti (2003) ‘The Future of the Order and Movement: Further Thoughts’, (Shabda, October 2003). 17 Private Preceptors are those responsible for supporting individuals (one to one) through the ordination process locally within Centres. To create the many more Public Preceptors needed to oversee larger numbers of ordinands, more Private Preceptors were co-opted to Public Preceptor roles with a five-year renewable tenure. 18 Kulas is being used here as a shortened version of the term Kulaputra or kuladuhitç, meaning a noble-born son or daughter respectively. In the context above, the TBC Preceptor is seen as a male or female devotee, who carry the authority of the noble one’s in the ordination process. 19 Teams are often formed as a result of a common interest among members at a local Buddhist Centre, who see practice and work as synonymous and a way to support the local Centre. 20 ‘Bhante’ is the Pali honorific term to address a monk. 21 See Subuti (1988: 35) Buddhism for Today: A Portrait of a New Buddhist Movement; and (1995b) Women, Men and Angels; also, Sangharakshita (1992: 13) Buddhism

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and the West: The Integration of Buddhism into Western Society, for a justification for single-sex communities and hence Right Livelihood businesses. The idea of only taking sufficient funds from a business to survive is in tension with economic pressures of living outside community, where a living wage is necessary in order to survive – hence a drop in numbers wanting to work in Right Livelihood businesses in recent years. The general position nationwide implies an area where a Buddhist Centre will be supported by residential communities, and usually one or two Right Livelihood businesses dependent on numbers involved and the size of the town or city. The surrounding areas are predominantly mixed communities of ethnic minorities in which the highest density of religious affiliation is Muslim. This assertion is based on a period of over two weeks on two separate occasions in 2003 and 2005 when over 40 consumers were engaged in casual conversation about their knowledge of the establishments they were using and its proprietors. It does not profess to be a scientific survey, but certainly suggests a positive feeling among local people, most of whom were not Buddhist. Windhorse Publications is a publishing house run by the TBC and is also a Right Livelihood business. For a more in-depth appraisal of SEB ethics see the cross-case analysis in Chapter 8.

7

The Rokpa Trust

Historical background Rokpa is an international Buddhist charity1 established in 1980 by Dr Akong Tulku Rinpoche (b. 1940) co-founder of Kagyu Samye Ling, Tibetan Monastery, in the Scottish borders, and Lea Wyler2 (a supporter of Akong Rinpoche from Switzerland). Rokpa’s aim, according to its literature and website,3 ‘is to improve the quality of life of the poorest peoples around the world irrespective of their religion, nationality or cultural background’, (www.rokpa.org). The word ‘Rokpa’ in Tibetan means ‘to help or to serve’. Its motto on all official paperwork is ‘Helping where help is needed’. Rokpa supports or runs over 180 projects in Tibet, Nepal, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The majority of these are aimed at giving children from the poorest backgrounds the opportunity for education and training. It also funds healthcare and a small number of environmental projects. In addition, it seeks the preservation and regeneration of Tibetan culture and language. Rokpa Trust is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity in the UK No. 1059293, whose objectives are described by the Charity Commission, thus: (1) To promote the Buddhist Religion and to foster non-sectarian interreligious dialogue and understanding; (2) To provide medical care and therapy; (3) To provide education; (4) To relieve poverty. The Rokpa Trust divides its interests into three broad areas: ‘Spiritual’, ‘Health and Education’, and ‘The Relief of Poverty’. To achieve the first of these, the trust has developed a number of Tibetan Buddhist Centres in the United Kingdom, the most notable being the Kagyu Samye Ling monastery and Tibetan Centre.4 Although Samye Ling came into existence prior to Rokpa being established, it is now under the Rokpa Trust umbrella. In addition, Holy Island in the Firth of

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Clyde was acquired by the trust as a Buddhist and interfaith retreat centre known as ‘The Centre for World Peace and Health’. A second retreat centre for long-term (four-year) retreats was established on the Isle of Arran, called Samye Dechen Shing. The trust has established Britain’s first school of Tibetan medicine and supports the ‘Tara Rokpa Therapy Association’, which provides help and training in a number of forms of therapy (www.tararokpa.org). The Rokpa Trust (www.rokpauk.org) developed from the aspiration of Akong Tulku Rinpoche who came to the United Kingdom in 1963, having fled Tibet with his brother Lama Yeshe-Losal Rinpoche (b. 1943). Akong Rinpoche co-founded Samye Ling monastery in 1967 with the late Chōgyam Trungpa (1937–87), creating the first Karma Kagyu5 centre in Europe. The centre’s early development was characterized by New Age thinking associated with many of its visitors. However, according to Holmes and Holmes (1995: 89–90) this mood changed as the 1960s counterculture faded, and Chōgyam Trungpa ‘returned his monastic vows’ and left for the United States. The 1970s saw a period of consolidation at Samye Ling, and visits from the sixteenth Karmapa (the reincarnated spiritual head of the Kagyu tradition) and a greater commitment to meditation and practice saw the beginnings of a Western form of Tibetan Buddhism, which is characterized by its flexibility to adapt to Western sensibilities while retaining much of its tradition. The 1980s saw some expansion with Lama Yeshe Losal taking up residence as retreat master (1988) for the traditional ‘cloistered four-year retreats’. The Tibetan style Temple, designed by Akong Rinpoche, opened in 1988 and the monastic residents’ numbers grew to around 50, with many thousands of visitors each year. Akong Rinpoche returned to Tibet in 1983, where he was shocked at the poverty and lack of support for the traditional lifestyle and culture in Tibet since the Chinese occupation. Since then he has worked ceaselessly for the expansion of humanitarian activities both in Tibet and Nepal and in many other parts of the World. He also has responsibility for a number of monasteries outside of his other charitable work. Akong Rinpoche is trained in Traditional Tibetan Medicine (TTM) which has developed as a project in the Eastern regions of Tibet, as well as a model for Tara Rokpa Therapy in the Unite Kingdom. Rokpa is also responsible for overseeing a number of environmental projects, such as the ‘Greenhouse’ projects in Tibet, a homeless project and winter food and medical programme in Nepal, as well as sew-to-work programme for women in Kathmandu. Rokpa undertakes similar work with the homeless and runs poverty initiatives in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

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The development of Rokpa resulted in Akong Rinpoche spending considerably more time travelling as part of the international profile of the charity, and his monastic responsibilities in Tibet. Consequently, the continued development of Samye Ling was left in the hands of his brother Lama Yeshe Losal, who was appointed abbot in 1995. The continued expansion of Samye Ling corresponds with the expansion of other religious, charitable and therapeutic projects in the United Kingdom under Lama Yeshe, including Tara Rokpa therapy in a variety of centres and practices. Lama Yeshe works closely with his brother on developments, despite Akong Rinpoche’s overseas commitments.

‘Four limitless meditations’ towards engagement The meditative and devotional practices that characterize the Karma Kagyu tradition emanate from the adaptations of practice at Samye Ling, and are said to develop a ‘positivity of mind’, much like the practices within the TBC, many of which are taken from Tibetan forms. Meditative experience is practised in conjunction with a variety of other practices, including pūjās, where prayers, chanting and offerings are made and visualizations are created, according to the level of experience of the practitioner. The lama as a guru figure teaches in his own way, and in that sense meditation and devotions may vary from their original Tibetan form. There is a consistent approach from Akong Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe, which focuses on the necessity to find devotional practice that resonates with Western minds. As Akong Rinpoche’s (1994) book Taming the Tiger implies, individuals need to find ways of taming their own minds out of which compassion for others spontaneously arises (1994: 11). Meditation and devotion are dedicated to a variety of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas including the female aspect of the Buddha’s wisdom and compassion, Green Tārā; and Chenrezig (Avalokiteśvara), described by Lama Yeshe (2003) as the ‘Great Lord of Compassion’. These deities are the focus of Vajrayāna visualization practice and are key to the work of many in Rokpa who use such practices personally to strengthen their approach to suffering in the world. As RK2 SLING claims: As far as I can see Buddhism has always been engaged in social work. People’s minds are fed to give them wisdom and the ability to look after their own needs. This comes from practice, which develops compassion for themselves and others; this is the mind-help they need. Compassion and wisdom exists through the Chenrezig practice in oneself and in others.

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Rokpa members identify with this practice in which they see themselves as Chenrezig, and identify within them compassion in all daily activities. This they see as an offering to the deity, which benefits all beings. Everyday activities like, walking, sitting, eating and sleeping become meaningful practice (Yeshe-Losal, 2001: 111). The formal Chenrezig pūjā is carried out only after an empowerment of transmission is conferred on the practitioner. The transmission process applies to the ‘lineage’ and the ‘scriptures’, which gives permission to practice the visualizations and read the text respectively. This forms the main visualization practice (sādhana), among Rokpa members subject of this case study. Practitioners are said to be able to see their own Buddha Nature more clearly through, pūjās, which include offerings, mudrās (symbolic hand gestures), and the use of drums, bells and cymbals to invite the deity into the presence of the practitioner. In addition to the sādhana practice, meditation takes the form of both śamatha and vipaśyanā in all forms of taught practice, from the initial meditation training designed to transform the five poisons of jealousy, anger, ignorance, desire and pride, to more complicated advanced practices like Mahāmudrā deity visualizations and mantras. The stages of development include working with what Lama Yeshe (April, 2005) describes as ‘Four Ordinary Foundations’, meditating in turn on precious human life, impermanence and death, karma and existence in saṃsāra (Bluck, 2006: 113). The ‘Four Special Foundations’ (ngōndro) practice follows designs to reduce the grasping ego, brought about through visualization of the ‘Lineage Tree’ (another appropriation by the TBC), taking refuge, and prostrations. This practice is common among Rokpa members, as RK 8 (CAR) makes clear, saying: Of the many practices within the tradition ngōndro is very helpful in helping to transform negativity in life and purify one’s karma. That is a basis for changing your thinking, and other practices like Chenrezig, which help support compassion for all beings. These are my main practices. I approach the suffering in the world because I have these practices to support me.

The tantric practices, which may develop from these are specific to practitioners who have developed a single practice through experience in the Kagyu Mahāmudrā tradition. Such progress may take many years and involve mandala offering to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to develop generosity and merit and ‘Guru Yoga’ in which the guru is seen as the Buddha, which is emphasized through the importance of an individual’s teacher. Here meditation is taught experientially and not developed from a book or other manual. A mark of the Mahāmudrā practice is repetition 110,000 times.

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The year round retreat programme at Samye Ling and other teaching centres (Samye Dzongs) offer a variety of meditation courses from weekends to longer more specific courses, where empowerments are given in Guru Rinpoche, Chenrezig or Tārā practices. Significantly the development of the ‘four limitless meditations’ of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity are part of most of the retreats and courses at Samye Ling. They are also emphasized in the Rokpa centres at Dundee, Edinburgh and Cardiff as foundational of inner awareness training, out of which the transformation of mind into that of universal compassion is said to occur (Lama Yeshe, December, 2003). Akong Rinpoche’s ‘Taming the Tiger’ involves visualizations on the wild aspects of mind which use the practice of inhaling others’ suffering and exhaling goodness towards them (Bluck, 2006: 116). These are expressed as foundational for dealing with areas of therapy and humanitarian aid. They could be seen as essential for compassionate practice from the SEB perspective. ‘Taming the Tiger’ used in a therapy setting is part of the ‘Tara Rokpa Therapy’ training designed by Akong Rinpoche and Edie Irwin (co-author in the therapy and psychotherapist). It is being used in places like Lothlorien (a Rokpa project), where care for those with mental health issues is primary. It is said to move individuals on from their personal life story, to working with the mind and emotions using a series of therapeutic exercises. These exercises are practised in sequence individually, as well as in a group context. The group is seen as very important to help integrate creativity and relaxation through exercises like painting and massage, and through mutual support with the exercises. The emphasis is on a compassionate understanding of oneself and others, while at the same time, one is said to understand mind on deeper and deeper levels. This process may take a number of years to work through (as many as 6–8). In the last years of the Tara Rokpa training, the emphasis is more on active compassion (compassion directed outwardly). The therapist’s view is that whatever one’s experience may be, it needs to be fully acknowledged for people to move on and mature. The maturing process is described by RK 2 SLING, claiming: This maturing process is born of an inner richness, which is experienced as we come to understand and accept various hidden and lesser known aspects of ourselves more openly. Becoming less embarrassed to be ourselves renders us freer to engage in all aspects of our world, and to be of use and help to those around us.

Therapy and spiritual practice are taken to be ‘effectively indivisible’ from this perspective. It would seem that the blurring of these boundaries allows

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practitioners and therapists alike to emphasize, in the universal compassion of the ‘four limitless meditations’, a commonality of purpose; as Akong Rinpoche says, ‘kindness, wherever it is shown, generally evokes a response, while its opposite causes anger, sorrow and pain’ (1994: 8). This sense of ‘kindness’ seems to be a manifestation of compassion born out in the Mahāmudrā tradition, which recognizes the unity of compassion and insight and asks practitioners to focus on improving the nobler qualities of human existence. This is a very practical approach which seeks to develop loving-kindness and compassion by facing up to (and trying to resolve) one’s personal problems. It involves helping others by exploring, through Mahāmudrā, the real nature of one’s own mind, learning how to cling less to one’s illusions and devote more time to others. According to Lama Yeshe (2001: 138–9), Mahāmudrā training should lead to an emancipation of mind, providing practitioners have confidence in the practice, which asks them to accept that deep down in one’s mind there is a perfect Buddha Nature, and there is nothing one can do, only accept that perfect nature as a reality. Evidence from the 2004/5 SEB Survey reflects the commitment to practice on the part of respondents to the survey, despite the fact that Rokpa respondents only make up 10 per cent of the total survey sample (26 respondents in all). Of those that responded, all (100%) meditate; 88 per cent engage in Buddhist studies; 71 per cent take part in pūjās; and 44 per cent are involved in Tibetanlanguage studies. Of those that meditate, 92 per cent do so regularly and 8 per cent sometimes; in addition, 85 per cent of the Rokpa sample attend retreats on a regular basis.

Teachings which develop compassion The doctrinal emphasis within Kagyu and hence Rokpa is on the practical application of the teaching of the Buddha through its transmission by the Indian sages that carried it into Tibet between the eighth and twelfth centuries. The Kagyu tradition (like the other three main Tibetan Vajrayāna traditions) puts a great deal of emphasis on the idea of an unbroken line of transmission. In the Kagyu case, that is from the Buddha to the current spiritual leader, the seventeenth Gyalwa Karmarpa.6 This is an important aspect of the contemporary thinking within the Kagyu tradition, both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Bluck identified the fundamentals, upon which Kagyu teaching is based, as ‘those [teachings] common to all forms of Buddhism: purity of conduct,

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non-aggression and self-mastery through meditation’ (2006: 116). This is in addition to developing compassion for all beings, outlined above, by developing the Mahāmudrā teachings as core to the tradition, through the direct aid of the lama as spiritual teacher. This is seen as essential to the continued master-pupil transmission within the monastic line, and the authority and authenticity that the transmission provides for the lay practitioner is manifest as the guru-disciple relationship. Kagyu teaching takes a very inclusive view of doctrine and spirituality generally. Rather than viewing spirituality as something ‘other’ or exotic, and solely the domain of priests and religion, it is seen as a natural part of each and every individual; an often neglected aspect. Although spirituality is, according to Kagyu tradition, to be seen as a natural dimension of everyone, the lineage should be preserved, as a precious message is being transmitted through them from master to pupil. Such preservation allows for the flexibility of the teaching to accommodate different individual temperaments an important aspect for Westerners as a practical lineage. The practice encourages openness to all comers and emphasizes greater compassion in everyone, of any, or no particular religious conviction, as RK 4 SLING points out: Buddhism is open to all walks of life unlike other religions. We do not exclude other religions, all forms of faith or belief or not, are part of the world we exist in and everyone can take something from Buddhism that will help with their long-term mental health; giving them the stability and wisdom to understand their life in the world. Whatever individuals practice Buddhism in this world they have a responsibility to bring benefit to all other beings in the world. What we call the Bodhisattva.

The emphasis on openness and responsibility resonates with much that has already been expressed by engaged Buddhists (in previous chapters). The fact that Rokpa (as a Kagyu form) see the Bodhisattva path as the pre-eminent position for practitioners reinforces their practical approach to spiritual, humanitarian and therapeutic work in the world, from which others, they claim, will surely benefit. The key to practising for the benefit of all beings is described as: development of bodhicitta, loving-kindness, taking refuge in the guru and the Bodhisattva vow. In the Kagyu tradition, doctrine is a belief based on mind training to awaken the inherent Buddha Nature and see phenomena (dharmas) as they really are. Its application in the Kagyu requires a guru and the practices he imparts to assist in the discovery. The relationship of Dharma to life is in discovering the true nature of things, by direct observation. It is said to show each and every thing for what

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it is, above and beyond all the projections that the conditioned mind creates. Dharma practice could almost be called phenomenology, were it not that the true nature of things is described as having an unexpected sacredness, a peace, wisdom and a state of loving compassion beyond anything one could imagine. Furthermore, Dharma is not seen as an intellectualized analysis of things, but rather, from a Buddhist perspective, a compassionate study of how phenomena work in synergy (interdependence) that creates the perceived existential reality and, more importantly, how they can be forged into a path of total liberation. In the Kagyu line, Dharma and life are seen as indivisible and in that sense the practical development of compassion and the skilful use of that compassion are the cornerstones of the Rokpa organization. In understanding that relationship to the world and the interdependence of all phenomena, the inner development allows the outer manifestation of compassionate action. As Rokpa members have portrayed, living the Bodhisattva ideal is a practical reality based on the acceptance of the emptiness of one’s own self nature in the phenomenal world.

Empowering narratives for engaged activity The traditional narratives of Tibetan Buddhism exist in the identification of each school with its lineage masters.7 In that sense the Kagyu tradition is no exception. It follows the line from Indian sages (seen as founders) like Tilopa (989–1096) Naropa (1016–100) and early Tibetan masters Marpa and Milarepa. These four lineage holders encompass different temperaments, and epitomize in their diverse approaches to Dharma four different paths to enlightenment. The paths are respectively seen as that of a meditator (Tilopa), scholar monastic (Naropa), householder (Marpa) and the ‘crazy yogi’ (Milarepa) (Bluck, 2006: 118). There is a great deal of complexity in authenticating the accuracy of lineage within the tradition, as it does not only relate to transmission and initiation of teaching lineages but to incarnations as well. The transmissions are passed on from authentic lineage holders and eventually those persisting in the training will find their own ‘root guru’ who will influence their practice as a whole and become their inspiration. In the context of Rokpa and their humanitarian and therapeutic work, Akong Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe are seen as exemplars as lineage masters, from whom a great deal of support and spiritual guidance is received for those who would adopt the path to work for the benefit of all beings. They are both keen to see Westerners avoid the kinds of spiritual materialism that simply reinforces

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egocentricity, by gathering religious knowledge rather than engaging at a practical level with the inner work of mind, which manifests as Buddha Nature in compassionate work in the world. As RK 7 DUN suggests, when talking of the liberative quality of a practical approach: In the Kagyu lineage liberation comes from inside yourself, not liberation from yourself. It can’t come from others. The Kagyu, we call the practical lineage. Just as change comes always unannounced, we are prepared to work practically for the benefit of others. There is a case for seeing life simply as mindfulness in the moment, in every moment. There is also a discipline of body speech and mind, and it is that which needs to be communicated to all walks of life. We call this the Mahāmudrā, the practical lineage. We believe we are liberated, if we adopt this practical lifestyle, so the emphasis is important here.

Thus, authentic narratives expressed through lineage masters are seen as powerful tools for developing this ‘practical lifestyle’. Without Akong Rinpoche or Lama Yeshe there would probably be no Rokpa organization to engage in the ‘practical compassion’ RK7 DUN talks of. This sense of ‘practical compassion’, it could be argued, is synonymous with ‘engaged Buddhism’. In this, there is seen to be no separation between individual liberation and the goal of enlightenment potentially for all sentient life. In other words, the engaged Buddhist path is no different from the path of the Bodhisattva. The contemporary narrative of engagement could therefore be seen, as conterminous with that of liberation through the altruism of practical compassion as a significant continuity of approach.

Motivated Bodhisattvas within Rokpa The strength of character of Akong Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe (as outlined above) has encouraged Kagyu practitioners to engage in taking practical responsibilities for groups and individuals who are suffering in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in the world. The diverse variety of action-oriented organizations will be explored later in the chapter, but what is it that motivates Rokpa members to act? Equality features strongly among Rokpa practitioners. There are equal opportunities for monks, nuns, laymen and women, all of whom take responsibility for the running of Rokpa centres and projects. As Lama Yeshe (April, 2003) points out: My organization is one of the most liberal traditional lineages in the world, equality is very important here. So here, now, I have total equality. There is

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no separation between the monks and nuns. They are equal in every sense, and also the lay community here, they also have equal positions. In Rokpa similarly, we do not discriminate on grounds of gender, religion and faith or belief.

Those practitioners of Rokpa interviewed during the fieldwork, without exception, acknowledge that their motivation for working in any, or all of the humanitarian, therapeutic or spiritual groups associated with Rokpa is based on the principle of the Bodhisattva. This process begins, according to Harvey (1990: 122) ‘with the arising of the bodhi-citta, the aspiration to strive for Buddhahood for its own sake, and for the sake of helping suffering beings’. This arising is born out by the motivation to help suffering beings through the guru-disciple relationship between practitioners, Akong Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe. They are both seen as enabling people to take on humanitarian and therapeutic projects, which are sustained by the spiritual practices from within the tradition. As RK 7 DUN implies, the qualities of the two Lamas are quite extraordinary, saying: What is important is that we all continue to work for the benefit of others following the great Bodhisattva path, which has been set for us. Often the difficulty is that people fail to see that they have the ability to follow that path. This is something Akong Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe instil in people, they give people like me the confidence to work for the benefit of others.

The Bodhisattva ideal is seen as the rationale for Rokpa in Cardiff where RK 8 CAR affirms: ‘In Rokpa we have a particular remit. We try to project the Bodhisattva ideal in everything that we do.’ A similar understanding is expressed at Rokpa Glasgow, where RK 1 GLAS explains: Chenrezig that is the main practice here, we do that every Friday, and you can see it really helps with the way we deal with the wider community here in the city. It is all about compassion. Compassion in Buddhism is a huge part of the practice, something that is probably the most important part of our practice here. The Bodhisattva way is the way we work, that is part of the practice here and at Samye Ling. The very foundation of our work is based on this practice.

The practical application of the Bodhisattva is a training for life, one in which the vows to eradicate suffering in beings is taken seriously and in which there is a striving for perfect Buddhahood, albeit this motivating factor is rarely communicated. It is important to recognize that the people involved with Rokpa who have communicated with the author, do themselves understand their own

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existence as that of the Bodhisattva, since their own quest for enlightenment is very closely commingled with works of compassion for others. In that context, compassion for the suffering of others tends to be seen as indivisible from the priority of liberation for oneself, since being concerned with the welfare of others is said to diminish selfishness. Rokpa members in this study understand the cultivation of compassion as the best way to eliminate ego, desire and suffering for oneself. When asked why they volunteered within Rokpa, RK 9 GLAS responded: We are inspired by Akong Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe and there is a great deal of value in what we do for the community. We are of little use as Buddhists if we can’t help those around us. That is the whole principle of the Kagyu lineage. We work with those that need our help. We are more fortunate than them, and it is incumbent upon us as Buddhists and human beings to do something positive. To be Buddhist is to live one’s practice. We follow the Chenrezig practice; we take refuge in the three jewels of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and work through compassion based on empowerments bestowed upon us by our teachers. That is the way of it.

Similar sentiments were put forward by others working on the Rokpa Glasgow soup run, and by other volunteers at Rokpa House. A number of informants were asked how they understood the compassionate voluntary work they were doing, and whether they saw it as engaged Buddhist practice. The following was the response from RK 2 SLING in an interview at Samye Ling: Rokpa works to help people. That is the Buddhist way, supporting all beings. We are working with people who need someone to help them with their spiritual welfare. They rely on other people’s help, we provide the help. So my strength here it seems, is in our ability to work with all people, and all other religions. As far as I can see Buddhism has always been engaged in this kind of social work.

It would seem that the motivation of guru figures in the form of senior monastics at Samye Ling, and understanding the serious quest of the Bodhisattva as a personal spiritual path sustains the practice and stimulates a good deal of Rokpas’ success. Respondents to the survey explained how they saw their teachers within Rokpa, as: a Buddha (16%), Bodhisattva (58%) and overwhelmingly with a 95 per cent response rate as a skilful teacher, in keeping with the emphasis on skilful means within the Kagyu tradition that helps inform its flexibility. Interestingly only 22 per cent saw their Rokpa teacher as a guru, which may be indicative of the

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personal relationship to a guru. With 54 per cent of the sample being Christian before coming to Buddhism, there may anecdotally be a reluctance to surrender to a guru figure based on previous preconceptions of what surrender means.

Ethical flexibility The flexibility of rule keeping and vow making at both a lay and monastic level takes a virtues approach to ethical behaviour, shaped by a positive rewording of the Five Precepts, described by Lama Yeshe (April, 2008) as: the ‘Five Golden Rules’, which together help to keep the community; monks and nuns and lay people focusing on the spiritual life, because to tame the mind, body and speech is what is needed so that we can accept our responsibility in the world to ourselves and others. We should protect the life of all beings, agree to respect others, and protect them and their property, be truthful in all our dealings and protect the health of ourselves and others.

While the rewording does not go as far as the Five Mindfulness trainings of the C of I, it nevertheless asks practitioners, in addition to the refraining elements of the precepts, to protect life, to protect others’ property, to speak the truth, to encourage health and to respect others (Bluck, 2006: 121). The focus of ethical behaviour is, according to Lama Yeshe (April, 2008), to be seen as a positive move towards helping by developing compassion for suffering beings; a core element in the lives of committed Rokpa members. Non-harming includes a vegetarian diet, unlike the practice in Tibet where the climatic conditions do not favour such an approach. Monastic vows are the same for monks and nuns who can take 35 vows, which increases to more than 200 on higher ordination. As part of an adaptation in the West, a temporary ordination is available for up to three years as a novice, following a probationary period of at least 6 months of keeping five root vows (taken from the ‘Five Golden Rules’ – Lama Yeshe). This method is to reduce incidents where Westerners have taken vows for life and been unable to fulfil them. A prominent virtue of Bodhisattvas is seen as their ability to use appropriate methods to reach as many suffering beings as possible. They have the skill to employ just the right means in getting someone to make steps towards understanding the Dharma, regardless of whom that person might be. This focus on upāya also characterizes Mahāyāna and Tibetan Vajrayāna forms of practice. Since only a few people are suited to take advantage of the strictest forms of monastic practice that are outlined in the vinaya, various other forms

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of religious practice have been established within the Mahāyāna so as to provide methods of spiritual development that correspond to the varieties of people who exist within any given population. There are broad ethical principles at work for Westerners in the Kagyu tradition, summarized by Akong Rinpoche, who insists taming the mind (or the Tiger) allows for simultaneous taming of the body and speech. He claims: the practice of discipline and virtue increases the quality and value of our lives [ . . . ] that is why we need right conduct [ . . . ] one useful method is to regard all virtuous actions as positive and all non-virtuous actions as negative. The aim is simply to increase the positive and reduce the negative, so that eventually everything is positive. Each morning we should reaffirm the right motivation to do good and to cause harm to no one. Living with the welfare of others in mind can bring value and dignity to the simplest of tasks. (1994: 54)

The emphasis here is clearly on the positivity of virtue born out of discipline of mind, speech and body, which sees welfare of self and others as fundamental to its success. The key to this development is avoiding the ten unwholesome acts, and developing through good conduct the ten wholesome acts. Survey evidence shows 100 per cent of respondents claim to keep the Five Ethical Precepts, presented in Table 7.1.

Rokpa structure and organization Rokpa Trust has three wholly owned subsidiary companies as part of the group: first, ‘Rokpa Developments Ltd’, which is responsible for the working of Rokpa UK, including Tara Rokpa Therapy Centres and the Homeless in the UK project. Secondly, ‘Holy Island Development Company Ltd’, which is responsible for the development of the Centre for World Peace and Health on Holy Island and the Glenscorrodale retreat centre on Arran, and finally, ‘Samye Project Development Table 7.1  Current membership of Rokpa: Practice ethical precepts crosstabulation Practice ethical precepts Yes Current membership of Rokpa Total

Yes No

24 214 238

No

Total

0 10 10

24 224 248

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Company Ltd’, which deals with the phased building operations and developments at Kagyu Samye Ling monastery and the ‘Pure Lands Retreat Centre’ nearby. Rokpa receives approximately 40 per cent of its income from donations and charitable giving (including legacies), 40 per cent from accommodation, rental income and courses and the remaining 20 per cent from trading activities both from Samye Ling, its subsidiaries and investment income. As the first rural Tibetan Monastery and retreat centre in Europe, it attracts teachers from the Kagyu lineage around the world and other visiting Tibetan masters. This has given it one of the highest Western profiles in Tibetan Buddhist terms. The prestige that has developed and the commitment by followers of the lineage have in no small measure added to the ability of the organization to support humanitarian projects around the world. The scale of these projects is such that ongoing fundraising and large investments of capital sums is essential to complete them. Rokpa as an organization is recognized as a major NGO in Tibet and Nepal, and has been successful in Tibet due to the careful diplomatic work of Akong Rinpoche with the Chinese authorities. Over time they have allowed him greater access and freedom to support his homeland. The organizational structure of Rokpa is underpinned by the spiritual community of the fourfold Vajrayāna Kagyu Saṅgha (monks, nuns, lay men and lay women) which originated in the United Kingdom at Kagyu Samye Ling and from where all other ‘Samye Lings’ and ‘Dzongs’ throughout the world have their origin. They take their name from Samye monastery in Tibet, one of the earliest Buddhist centres in the country, c. 767 CE. The word ‘Ling’ denotes a monastery with land and ‘Dzong’ an urban or town monastery. World wide there are 13 centres outside the United Kingdom, 8 in Europe, 4 in Africa and 1 in Russia. In the United Kingdom there are Samye Dzongs in Cardiff, Edinburgh and London, and smaller centres in Warrington and Sussex. Tara Rokpa centres created to teach TTM and therapies exist in Edinburgh (which shares the building of the Samye Dzong there) and Mundesley in Norfolk. In addition, there are two main Rokpa centres in Scotland, one in Glasgow and one in Dundee (with satellite groups in the Highlands). Finally there is the Lothlorien therapeutic community project (for people with mental health difficulties) at Castle Douglas. Rokpa is the umbrella name under which all of Akong Tulku Rinpoche’s monasteries, centres and projects are gathered, and has its business headquarters at Kagyu Samye Ling.

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Rokpas’ aims can be described as ‘Spiritual’, ‘Humanitarian’ and ‘Therapeutic’ (SHT). The ‘spiritual’ dimension of the centres in the United Kingdom (and elsewhere) is threefold: (1) to provide places of peace, refuge, regeneration and reconciliation for anyone, of any faith; (2) to generally encourage the study and practice of Buddhism; (3) to specifically promote the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. The humanitarian work of Rokpa has been briefly outlined above in relation to its worldwide activities and the role of the soup runs in Glasgow and Dundee in support of the homeless. The distinction between the humanitarian and the therapeutic dimensions can be seen in the application of the Rokpa projects. To use Jones’ typology, the ‘SHSW’ aspects of Rokpa can be found in their domestic approach to therapy, implying its adaptation for use in Western contexts largely based on traditional Tibetan approaches, both to Buddhism and medicine. While therapy is not confined solely to the United Kingdom, Akong Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe have made every effort to integrate Tibetan Buddhism as an aid to help bring mental and spiritual well-being to Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike in Western environments. There is in that sense no division between Buddhism and therapy or other forms of aid they are all said to be part of the Bodhisattva path (Lama Yeshe, April, 2008). The centres on which the research focuses are Kagyu Samye Ling, Rokpa Glasgow, Rokpa Dundee, Rokpa Cardiff and Lothlorien. In organizational terms, all the Rokpa centres are run by management committees, upon which at least one Rokpa Trust Trustee (director) will have a position. Technically Akong Tulku Rinpoche (as president) has a seat on all committees, as does Lama Yeshe Losal, as chair of the Trust. In reality, Lama Yeshe or his delegate maintains a physical presence in the running of the various centres.

Rokpa House Rokpa Glasgow is situated in Ashley Street in the city and, along with the local TBC Centre, has become a focus for a range of Buddhist activity in the city. ‘Rokpa House’, as it is known, is host to meetings of a Sōtō Zen Buddhist group, a Theravāda Buddhist group and the C of I. In addition the Brahma Kumaris meet there and there are classes in Yoga, Chi Kong, Dance and Aromatherapy, Alexander Technique, Astrology workshops and meetings of the Order of the Cross. The overall aim of Rokpa Glasgow is its inclusive approach to support

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the people of Glasgow with activities that are seen as beneficial to them. As Masterton (2003) suggests in an interview: The Rokpa Glasgow House is intended to address this issue [personal suffering and social dysfunction in society] by creating opportunities for people to take part in tension and stress relieving activities under the guidance of qualified therapists and masters.

As part of that delivery, Rokpa rent out the spaces available in the six-roomed building to the groups mentioned above. Anyone renting space does so with the permission of the managing committee, based on it being beneficial to members and the general public of Glasgow (www.ksdglasgow.org.uk/index/glasgowcentre). Rokpa raise funds to sustain its activities, which effectively makes all the Rokpa sites potential Right Livelihood businesses. Although established as practice-based facilities, they attract participants with spiritual aspirations and interests who are also potential donors and volunteers. Beyond the commercial dimension, there is, however, a serious spiritual message being delivered, one that looks to encourage people to work in peace and harmony with their fellow beings in order to support those less fortunate in life. Moreover, for those who commit through taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, the epitome of a Rokpa practitioner’s practice is in following the Bodhisattva ideal. Rokpa House has responsibility for the soup-and-sandwich run for the homeless in Glasgow up to three times a week. The soup kitchen is a collaboration between Rokpa and the ‘Simon Community’ in Glasgow (who work with the homeless). The author’s own experience of the soup run (George Square from 10 p.m. on a Monday evening), suggests that of the 60–70 people who benefited from the food and drinks supplied, most would struggle to survive without it. Talking to the service users on the streets of Glasgow, there is a sense that without regular food supplies, especially in the winter, most would be more heavily involved in offending behaviours in order to sustain them, or to get them off the streets into custody overnight. The majority of those who use the service are drug or alcohol addicted, which results in a failure to maintain any regular eating patterns. The soup run does provide a regular meal at least once a day.

Lothlorien: An alternative approach to mental health Lothlorien is a therapeutic community (www.lothlorien.tc) for people with mental health issues, set in a rural location in South West Scotland, near to Castle Douglas.

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Although it carries the name of a mythical Celtic forest, it is run under the auspices of the Rokpa Trust, and was originated by Akong Rinpoche. The name avoids direct association with Rokpa and thereby Tibetan Buddhism, because the centre is an inclusive environment for people of all religions and none, and therefore seeks to offer a neutral caring approach that is not labelled as specifically Buddhist. It is, however, acknowledged by RK 5 LOTH who works there: that the Buddhist values of compassion and tolerance are the basis of our approach, but we are not a religious community and are open to everyone. We started out by befriending people and that holds good today, there is a special place for friendship in Buddhism and all of life.

The community is housed in two log houses that stand in a secluded wooded area, which is part of the 17-acre site. The land has well-developed vegetable gardens, woodland and pasture land which are used on a daily basis as part of a process that helps ground people (literally) in their environment. On site there are generally eight residents with mental health issues and five voluntary co-workers. They live together in the main 14-bedroomed log house and a further five people live in the long-term house, ‘Roan Lodge’, which opened in April 2003. There are five full-time staff, known as the ‘Core Group’, that come in on weekdays and are responsible for maintaining the programmes on offer and facilitating the therapeutic programme and Tara Rokpa Therapy. There is now a full-time member of staff responsible for working specifically with the longterm members of Roan Lodge and one of the four staff members is the dedicated horticultural support worker. The community provides the opportunity for residents to develop their potential through living alongside people who are relatively well in an atmosphere of friendship, acceptance and mutual support. The project came about as the result of people arriving at Samye Ling during the 1980s who were looking for a refuge or a home, and who otherwise would probably have been in long-term psychiatric care. Akong Rinpoche realized that Samye Ling was not properly organized to support people with chronic or acute mental health difficulties and began to look around for a suitable property to house these people. Rokpa bought Lothlorien in 1989, as RK 5 LOTH recalls: At first there were three of us who came as volunteers from Samye Ling. Not necessarily with any particular experience. Some did have some care work or residential experience, but others didn’t. We basically just started this as a kind of supportive household, but there wasn’t really a proper working structure in place to begin with; that slowly evolved. We started with a very simple premise of befriending people.

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That professional help came in the person of Brendan Hickey, the current project manager, who had trained in Buddhist psychotherapy and psychology with the Amida Trust. He helped ‘professionalize’ the environment and put in place some important working practices. Together with Akong Rinpoche, the staff at Lothlorien developed a method of working that involved a non-medicalized approach to mental health issues. The premise was that as a result of the therapies on offer, including the Tara Rokpa psychotherapy, the necessity for drug-related interventions would be minimized. This has proved to be the case and has worked with considerable success. Consequently, the model has gained attention from mainstream psychiatric services, and has been taken up by local social services in the area and others across the country who regularly refer clients to the centre. The daily routine involves a period of chores in the morning followed by the community meeting and two hours each of designated work periods, morning and afternoon. The therapeutic community centres residents in a way that sees the community itself as synonymous with recovery. It requires cooperation, development of interpersonal skills, and creates a sense of feeling valued through developing personal and social relationships, supported also by the befriending co-workers. The gains made by residents are seen as valued if they are voiced and the core group and co-workers who are psychotherapy trained assist with facilitating residents to voice positive responses to the community experience. One-to-one psychotherapy is not used only in collective work. The ‘Tara Rokpa Therapy’ is seen as a valuable way of working on oneself and situations and obstacles in daily life. It was designed, according to Hickey, ‘in order to assist with the development of the therapeutic model’ (Hickey, 2008). The therapy is offered three afternoons a week, and massage is also an option. The therapy training and application follows a three-stage programme, in which the experience gained from one becomes the basis for practising the next. The training programme is part of a five-year sequence, which starts with a program called ‘Back to Beginnings’, which is a preliminary investigation of life as a whole in order to see who one really is. It provides a structure for looking at negative and positive experience in a balanced way, using methods that follow on in each stage of the programme. These include art therapy using painting, drawing, writing, relaxation and massage. The crux of the self-understanding is to relate human existence to the ‘five elements’ of earth, wind, fire, water and space. A key feature of the therapy is the group meetings, which are a necessary part of daily life, and the gardening therapy, which not only sustains the community in food for the most part, but also acts as a physical grounding with the five elements. As RK 5 LOTH, explains:

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As a group activity this is a sort of psychotherapeutic process held within a group context. Then there are other stages of the therapy process leading on to more spiritual practices. I think in the Tara Rokpa process, you can see it is very clearly Buddhist practice, using the Buddhist principles of Buddha nature and working with wisdom and compassion, and the exercises are using visualisation. There are some strong similarities to the Dharma practices. I think Akong Rinpoche has cleverly synthesised his form of therapy so that it would meet, if you like, the Western way of looking at things.

The basic principle of elemental interconnection presents a therapy that is perhaps Buddhist in all but name. It works, however, by concentrating on people’s strong points aiming towards self-support. Community members are empowered and see themselves as having something to give, as well as take, from communal life. As a former horticultural support worker pointed out: In a therapeutic community there is an emphasis on participation and shared decision making, responsibility for the tasks of maintaining the community, the sharing of authority and a belief in the therapeutic role of everybody in the community. (www.lothlorien.tc 2002:2)

The work is self-motivated and requires group input, friendship and support, for working on problems encountered and in coordinating oneself with others. The importance of the therapy as a group activity as opposed to an individual exploration of the person is a unique development, acknowledged by Philpot (2004: 14) in his report to the online journal for social work and social care, Community Care, in which he talks to the project manager Brendan Hickey, who suggests: The sense of community is what attracts people. One of the classic things about people with mental health problems is that they have isolated lives. They often don’t work; they lose their friends and become estranged from their families because of their illness. We are an accepting community where people can make a positive contribution. In the conventional services people are very much recipients of care, whereas here they can be positive – they can cook, garden, do practical work about the house. This is about mutual support.

Most community members spend approximately two years in the main house, they are required to sign up for a minimum of six months and only have a 10 per cent drop out rate. This time frame is designed around the ‘Back to Beginnings program’. In ‘phase one’ of that programme, the five elements are investigated as they appear in nature, and hence there is a great deal of time and energy spent on site developing the gardening projects. The emphasis is on how one relates to

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each of the elements physically and emotionally within oneself. The second phase is called ‘Balancing the Elements Within’ and involves visualizing of each element in a non-solid form. This comes at the end of the ‘Back to Beginnings’ process and helps to stabilize emotions. At the end of about 18 months there is a week planned for ‘re-experiencing the face of life from conception through birth’, which develops a sense of the preciousness of human life and the importance of inner (mind oriented) stability (Akong Rinpoche, 1994: 16). The group then continue to meet regularly for at least two months afterwards to do further work with the elements and to integrate the birth experience with everyday life elements. In other words the everyday experiences that are worked through are symbolic of ‘new-birth’, which is of a new beginning, not unlike the Nei Quan retreat approach adopted by the Amida Trust and NEBs emotional experiential meditation. The next stage of the therapy is a progression to the ‘Taming the Tiger programme’, which covers a little more than a year. It is a series of ‘therapy exercises’ given by Akong Rinpoche and published in his book (1994) of the same name. It is a practice that requires practitioners to follow it in the order laid down, both in group meetings and working individually. The group work continues together with the art therapy aspects, which are integrated with the practice of the exercises. The final part of the four- to five-year program is called the ‘Six Realms’, which Akong Rinpoche explains as: [A] six-month course investigating the origins attributes and consequences of dwelling in the six negative emotional states: 1. Pride, 2. Jealousy, 3. Desire and Busyness, 4. Stupidity, 5. Greed and Craving, 6. Anger and Hatred. Each state and our experience of it is explored, and how each state arises within us and combines with and leads to the others. (1994: 194)

Various antidotes are then developed as a result of investigation and exploration, mainly through practising awareness and visualization. The project manager suggests (in Philpot, 2004) that the therapeutic regime is based on the routine of each day – the household chores, the meeting, communal lunch and, importantly, the work on the land. These tasks, he insists, are linked to healing: When people chop wood or work in the garden it is about the Buddhist notion of mindfulness: bringing body and mind together in carrying out a task. People with a mental illness spend a lot of time inside their own minds. This work takes us out of our minds into the present moment.

The awareness aspect (or mindfulness) cannot be underplayed in the healing process, which implies that a ‘grounding’ of the routine and the physical work

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means getting a stronger physical presence in the world by doing daily tasks so that mind and body are together. The emphasis is on a daily rhythm, a routine that eventually leads people back into society, where many have successfully found work and are now selfsustaining. The ethos at Lothlorien is designed around the necessity to avoid labelling people as ‘well’ or ‘unwell’, as ‘expert’ or ‘non-expert’. As a therapeutic healing community it is apparent from the co-workers who live in with the residents that the journey is often as challenging and revealing to their understanding of openness and personal development, as it is to the residents themselves. Those interviewed were asked to consider whether the work being undertaken at Lothlorien was SEB. The responses were positive from three of the five co-workers and staff that were spoken to. No one thought the label of ‘engaged’ or ‘not engaged’ was particularly useful, but they clearly held the view that their work was engaged at the social/communal level. The notion of working in the world for the benefit of others is a consistent mantra, it seems, among Rokpa members, as well as other engaged Buddhists.

Tara Rokpa therapy centres Tara8 Rokpa therapy is a syncretized therapy explained by Akong Rinpoche, in a lecture transcribed by Jarosewitsch (1996) thus: I would like to talk about the meaning of the name ‘Tara Rokpa Therapy’, to give a little interpretation of the name. There are three parts to the name: Tara, Rokpa and Therapy or training or technique. Tara is a Sanskrit word, which in Tibetan is called Dolma. Dolma means to free something, to be free or the method of freeing. Rokpa is a Tibetan word and means to help, help oneself, or help from giving to other people in the sense of usefulness. Training or therapy, you know better than me, they are English words. You can see it has three languages put together, Sanskrit, Tibetan and European.

The name suggests a ‘freedom’ from unsatisfactoriness by ‘giving or helping’ and ‘training’ in order to breakdown habitual patterns, which is seen as a transformative method for future health and well-being. The development of this method relies on compassion and acceptance in order to work with everyday difficulties ranging from stress to more acute mental health issues. Two Tara Rokpa therapy centres have been developed in Edinburgh and Norfolk where students can train in TTM and ‘Taming the Tiger’ therapy9 as

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therapists. These centres are specific for training and practice. There are smaller Rokpa centres in the United Kingdom, which also use the techniques, but rely on visiting teachers and therapists to assist in its implementation on any longterm basis. The approach that has evolved works holistically, dealing with the whole person, from the starting point of an individual having the potential (Buddha Nature) with which to heal; being complete from the outset, not in someway incomplete and psychologically flawed, which is often the starting point from a Western perspective.10 Since the late seventies, Edie Irwin has worked with Akong Rinpoche on a series of exercises, relaxation methods, mindfulness training and visualizations, and helped him to structure these into a coherent path of training that takes into account the Western psychotherapeutic experience. She first presented ‘Taming the Tiger’ therapy as a teaching at Samye Ling monastery in 1984. Since then, art therapy, writing and massage have been included as complimentary practices. The time frame is fairly loosely arranged and can be a process of self-realization and inner development that takes from five to six years for an individual, but hopefully with a group focus. Unlike the continuous approach at the Lothlorien Community, practitioners come together in groups at convenient times throughout the year and so need to maintain their own regular practice in between. The method follows a similar pattern to the Community framework, starting with ‘Back to Beginnings’, over two years, then ‘Taming the Tiger’, ‘The Six Realms’ and a separate phase called ‘Compassion’ taking about a year each to work through. Rokpa Dundee was set up in 1999 and run by the Venerable Gelong Karma Jiga, a monastic from Kagyu Samye Ling who has responsibility for the Dundee Centre and oversees the centre at Aberdeen, (which was established in 2000) and the Highlands (developed in 2001). The Dundee Centre also runs a soup kitchen in the town and has alternative therapists and Tara Rokpa Therapy on offer, together with meditation classes and Buddhist teaching. The principle practice on offer at all three centres is a form of ‘Self Discovery Training’ aimed at supporting individuals spiritually through a series of mindfulness techniques and Tara Rokpa therapy to deal with stress and conflict, which it insists offers an improved quality of life. This type of therapy is aimed at organizations such as businesses, government agencies and local authority and other public sector employees. It is taking Buddhist-based therapy approaches into mainstream society, and has had some recognized success along the way. A ‘Discovery Session’ is a day event in which an individual’s potential is said to be realized, by group work and interactive exercises, which are said to reduce

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staff sickness levels in the long term. It is presented as a method to reduce stress, improve communications and relations, reduce costs and increase efficiency among members of an organization (Karma Jiga, December 2003). Similar sentiments are echoed in the work of, ‘Rokpa Cardiff ’, who work with visiting Lamas and teachers to establish a Kagyu practical presence in South Wales. They too run ‘well-being’ projects and alternative therapies and are closely linked to drug awareness campaigns and education in local schools. Their meditation class is open to people of any religion or none, as well as a Tibetan practice group for those following the Kagyu lineage. The Cardiff project also supports humanitarian aid in the locality, helping asylum seekers by providing food parcels, working with prisoners and staff at HM Prison Cardiff, and with substance abuse initiatives. They have a number of partners in the city, for example, Mind, The Red Cross, Cardiff City Council and even the Caerphilly Rugby Club. They run regular Chenrezig and Guru Rinpoche practice and separate ‘Taming the Tiger’ workshops. They also have the ongoing support of Karma Jiga from Dundee, who works with them over extended periods of up to three months at a time. In organizational terms, Rokpa Trust is the hub of a wide-reaching networked organization, with Samye Ling as the ‘Mother Centre’, which although it works internationally under a number of separate charities, in the United Kingdom it is housed under one umbrella. There is autonomy of activity but it is born of the same core practice and is fundamentally a Buddhist-backed organization that is ‘SHSW’ oriented to use Jones’ typological example.

Rokpa survey evidence The SEB Survey 2004/5 presents a demographic social profile of the Rokpa respondents as 96 per cent white European and 4 per cent Asian (of Tibetan origin). The respondents were 54 per cent male and 46 per cent female with an average age of 45 years. They were predominantly single (42%), with 15 per cent married and 35 per cent either divorced or separated and only 2  per  cent cohabiting. Of the married and cohabiting couples 41 per cent were with Buddhist partners, considerably higher than among other groups surveyed in the research. In terms of family, 36 per cent of the sample had children of which 22 per cent were under the age of 18. The survey identifies 92 per cent of respondents who call themselves Buddhist, and a further 8 per cent who are from another faith (6% Christian, 2% Pagan). It

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also confirms the evidence from the other groups in the research of cross-group membership between SEB organizations. In the case of Rokpa 12 per cent of those surveyed are also members of Amida and NEB, while 8 per cent are TBC (FWBO) members and 4 per cent C of I members. The survey addressed areas of ‘education’, ‘accommodation’ and ‘income’. In education graduates amount to 17 per cent of the sample while those with a postgraduate qualification are 8 per cent, (significantly lower than the other four groups in the research). However, 40 per cent of the sample holds professional qualifications (many in therapy and psychology, similar to Amida), while Liberal Arts and scientific educations account for 20 per cent of the sample in each. Liberal Arts and scientific educations combined accounted for 16 per cent, and 4 per cent had a vocational education. In accommodation – a total of 69 per cent live in owner-occupied property, with 8 per cent in private rented accommodation, 12  percent in council rented accommodation, 4 per cent in community living and 7 per cent other not stated. These figures reflect the largest council rented group in the survey as a whole, and are second only to the C of I (75%) for owner occupation of property. In income terms, Rokpa respondents are 12 per cent unwaged; 16 per cent earning under £10,000; 24 per cent between £10,000 and £20,000; 32 per cent between £20,000 and £30,000; and 16 per cent over £30,000. Compared with the other groups’ income profiles, Rokpa show a higher proportion in the £20,000 to £30,000 band and are averagely placed in the other bands. Consideration of how SEB is to be understood today is reflected in the large numbers who agree that ‘All Buddhism is engaged’ (67% of the sample), outlined in Table 7.2. Only 4 per cent agreed its provenance came from Western influences in Asia and only 12 per cent agreed that its origins were born of a wholly Western concept. The survey asked respondents to consider characteristics of SEB present in contemporary narratives and found the majority (61%), understood the necessity of ‘inner dharmic work mirrored by outer action’ as an essential element. Fewer, Table 7.2  Current membership of Rokpa: All Buddhism is engaged crosstabulation All Buddhism is engaged

Current membership of Rokpa Total

Yes No

Yes

No

Total

16 88 104

8 124 132

24 212 236

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Table 7.3  Current membership of Rokpa: Are you a Socially Engaged Buddhist cross-tabulation Are you a Socially Engaged Buddhist?

Current membership of Rokpa Total

Yes No

Yes

No

Total

22 160 182

4 55 59

26 215 241

35 per cent, saw SEB described as ‘Dharma as social action’, while the least popular response (only 4%) was in describing SEB as ‘Dharma with social action added on’. The term ‘SEB’ was understood by 88 per cent of respondents in the sample and a significant 85 per cent claimed they were ‘engaged Buddhists’, as Table 7.3 identifies. Even though the numbers of Rokpa members in the overall survey is quite small, the significance of almost all of them claiming to be engaged Buddhists cannot be ignored. This is reinforced by 71 per cent of the sample who agreed that Buddhism needed to portray a social orientation in its thinking and action. Both Lama Yeshe and Karma Jiga expressed the need for social concerns as Buddhists, who out of compassion for suffering felt they could do no other. There is a strong emphasis on the idea that ‘all Buddhism is engaged’ as it is born out of compassion for self and other.

Art as humanitarian aid The impressive Samye Ling Monastery is seen as the spiritual heart of Rokpa; without it much of its humanitarian work would be in danger of failing, as the monastery provides valuable resources for the overseas and national projects. These resources include income to help support and sustain aid work, in addition to valuable start-up funding for projects like Lothlorien and the TTM training in Edinburgh. While Akong Rinpoche makes every effort to develop autonomous Rokpa activities, all require the necessary links to Samye Ling, if not financially, certainly spiritually. The Tibetan reforestation programme is one example of the necessity of Samye Ling’s high profile to bring support to many in Eastern Tibet, whose land is eroding due to deforestation and climatic changes. The focus is therefore on the preservation of Tibetan culture, both in the homeland and in the United

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Kingdom. Much of the funding from the sale of crafts, artwork (including thangkas), carvings and statue casting at Samye Ling help sustain humanitarian programmes (20% of Rokpa income). In Nepal, women are encouraged to take up apprenticeship schemes which are funded by Rokpa; through these they learn to design and sew clothes, rugs and other materials. Traditional Nepalese craftwork is also shipped to Samye Ling for sale in the Temple shop. There is a well-developed tradition of thangka painting within Tibetan culture which is sustained at Samye Ling by its resident artist Sherab Palden, who is responsible for training thangka painters in the United Kingdom. Many of the thangkas in the shrine room at Samye Ling are his work, as are the screen printings. The large golden Buddha in the earth-touching posture dominates the shrine room, surrounded by ornately carved statues and cabinets containing Tibetan scriptures on either side and a thousand smaller golden Buddhas in cabinets on three walls. The iconography is a reminder of the spiritual narratives that are visual depictions of much Māhāyana cosmology and a fundamental reason why it is an inspiration to thousands of Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike (www.samyeling. org). There is a sense that material and spiritual art and iconography serves not only as a reminder of Tibetan Buddhist culture, but also as an important visual artefact on the British Buddhist landscape, which by its very presence serves to support the Rokpa projects at home and abroad in a variety of ways, not least that it draws many thousands of visitors each year to Samye Ling.

Summary Rokpa shows a degree of flexibility in the adaptation of practice for Western sensibilities while at the same time retaining much of tradition. There is an overarching principle of striving practically to address the suffering of sentient beings. This is portrayed by concerns internationally for poverty and the loss of a traditional Tibetan lifestyle. In the United Kingdom the mental health of many in poverty or under lifestyle pressures from late-modern concerns is the focus of much of the spiritual, humanitarian and therapeutic work which characterizes Rokpa. In this sense the typology of ‘SHSW’ seems well suited for the type of support being offered, by a variety of Rokpa teaching centres and therapeutic projects. The ‘positivity of mind’ is a focus of the meditation and devotional practices being taught. The variety of practice includes visualization and prostrations, which are developed from traditional foundational meditations and reinforced by

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the experience of a guru who may adapt the teaching dependent on practitioners’ temperament and lifestyle. Fundamentally, practitioners are moving towards greater loving-kindness and compassion for all beings (including self). The Chenrezig practice, like the Kwan Yin practice of Amida, C of I and the NEB, and Avalokiteśvara practice in the TBC, is said to strengthen everyday activity. This, it is claimed, makes mundane tasks meaningful, by developing the ‘four limitless meditations’ (Brahma- vihāras) (Lama Yeshe, 2003), through which the foundations of inner awareness are developed, transforming mind into that of universal compassion. This is seen as a genuine compassion (not a self-righteous one), formulated around the inherency of one’s own Buddha Nature. There are difficulties in differentiating doctrine from practice in the Kagyu tradition, as to do so one needs first to step into the practice to understand the inherency of Buddha Nature. With the aid of a guru, this can ultimately become an experienced reality. The teachings are seen as requiring involvement with suffering beings in the form of the Bodhisattva ideal, which suggests one takes responsibility for one’s own spiritual well-being and that of others. The responsibility extends to the preservation of lineage, which is synonymous with preserving the teachings. Taking responsibility implies there is suffering on a global scale, a consequence of which is to act to alleviate such suffering, an issue that dominates much of contemporary thinking. Akong Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe promote ‘practical compassion’; this, for engaged Buddhists is no different to the path of the Bodhisattva, as altruistic practically oriented compassion. The contemporary narrative of the SEB can be seen in the survey evidence from within Rokpa as a continuity of practice and teaching, which sees ‘all Buddhism as engaged’, premised on ‘inner dharmic work mirrored by outer action’. In emotional and experiential terms, the motivation to act within Rokpa comes largely from the individual relationships between skilful teachers (expressed in the survey) and practitioners. The vows to eradicate suffering in beings are taken seriously, and deep-rooted compassionate concerns, or fellow feeling, are developed through the practice. Most practitioners identify with the inspiration they receive from Akong Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe, whose work they see as lineage holders and spiritual practitioners. Through this inspiration they see the possibilities of action, even though their effects on the world are so far small, or even sometimes ineffectual. Ethically, the flexibility of positively rewording the Five Precepts, working from a base of non-harming and ‘taming the mind’, body and speech leads to right conduct. The use of skilful means is becoming a motivating factor for many

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Westerners, albeit there is a danger of misinterpretation. Within the Kagyu tradition, discipline and virtue are foremost in the mind of those making ethical decisions which are indivisible from practice. In that sense skilfully approaching ethical concerns from the position of right conduct would appear to mean living with the welfare of others in mind if the Bodhisattva vows are being followed. The social structure of Rokpa emphasizes a businesslike approach to fundraising that is becoming a necessity for successful charitable organizations. While Bluck (2006: 127) separates the therapeutic activities as, ‘less directly connected with Buddhism’, engaged Buddhists would argue that therapy is just as much practice as meditation or visualization; all of life being inextricably linked to the Bodhisattva path of the practitioner. In that sense Jones’ typology probably works better with Rokpa than some of the other groups previously outlined. There is a conscious attempt on the part of Akong Rinpoche to integrate therapeutic and humanitarian fields within Tibetan Buddhism in the West, in the same way that all of life in the Tibetan context includes TTM. The question of continuity seems to hold firm for the concept of SEB, which may not be readily identified by its label within the Kagyu tradition, but is clearly identifiable in its form, as this chapter outlines. While the label is questioned, the ethos doesn’t seem to be, and there is evidence within the research that the label of SEB is used by others (including practitioners and academics) as a way to express the wider social context of Buddhist concerns. The survey evidence identifies 88 per cent of respondents understand the term SEB, and 85 per cent actually identify themselves as being engaged Buddhists. This reflects a growing and widening participation, at least with identification with the label, which largely stems from a popularizing of the social context for UK Buddhists in the twenty-first century. It might be argued that the broadening of the definition of social engagement encompasses many who previously may not have identified themselves with it, but now realize they too fall within its frame of reference. In addition, the traditional integration of arts and crafts into Tibetan Buddhist life is also part of the humanitarian and therapeutic aspects in the West, where Buddhist practice and doctrine, motivated by monastic exemplars who have integrated art into therapy and aid, puts Rokpa clearly within the field of SEB.

Notes 1 Rokpa International has tax-free charity status in Switzerland, where its international headquarters is based.

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  2 Lea Wyler is a former Swiss actress, who after visiting India and Nepal in 1980 was so struck by the poverty there that she vowed to spend the rest of her life working to eradicate it. Now a full-time ambassador for Rokpa.   3 See, www.rokpauk.org and Rokpa News (2006) Autumn; distributed quarterly.   4 As the oldest Tibetan Monastery in Europe, Kagyu Samye Ling has been well received in the Scottish borders and has done much to maintain its Scottish links. There is a strong geographic concentration of Rokpa organizations in Scotland, mainly as they are in areas close to the influence of the hub of the network within the Trust, the Samye Ling Centre.   5 The Kagyu (Tib. bKa’ brgyud, ‘Oral Transmission Lineage’) is one of the four main Tibetan schools and traces its origins from Marpa (1012–97) and his disciple Milarepa (1040–123). The formulation of the Kagyu was not formally recognized until Gampopa (1079–153) organized the teachings into the Kagyu School, famously expressed in his work The Jewel Ornament of Liberation (Keown, 2003: 133; Bluck, 2006: 110).   6 The Karmarpas were the first known systematically reincarnating lamas – the first tulkus in Tibet. They date back to the first Karmarpa, Dusum Chenpa (1110–193), said to be a reincarnation of the great Indian siddha Saraha. Buddha mind is said to emanate in many ways, but sometimes as a perfectly enlightened master, filled with the authority and majesty of insight and endowed with the power of Buddha activity (buddha-karma). This master is known as the Karmapa. Since the first Karmarpa they have all reincarnated in Tibet.   7 See Holmes (2000) The Kagyu Lineage and the Karmarpas, and (2001) The Tibetan Patriarchs of the Kagyu Lineage, at www.samyeling.org   8 Tārā is the name of a very important Bodhisattva in Tibetan Buddhism. As a female deity she has a cult status and is seen as a compassionate figure and an emanation of Chenrezig (Avalokiteśvara).   9 Taming the Tiger is a book written by Akong Tulku Rinpoche in 1994 to promote his method of therapy, based on meditational exercises which provide a basis for self-knowledge, mind therapy and self-healing. 10 For a comparison of the East West approach to psychotherapy see Aronson (2004) Buddhist Practice on Western Ground.

8

Cross-Case Analysis and Conclusions

Introduction This chapter draws together the evidence from the previous five chapters (3–7), offering comparative reflections on the case studies using the dimensional analysis as a guide. In addition, the 2004/5 SEB Survey material will be explored across all five case studies to reinforce the analysis. This material extends to include the ‘single question questionnaire’ which reflects a ‘snapshot’ of opinion from a wider Buddhist group beyond those SEBs directly connected with the research. The chapter will also make reference to SEB and its relationship to the literature and wider social movements, refining understandings of how SEB might be characterized in comparison to other forms of British Buddhism, concluding with reference to the research questions set out in Chapter 1.

Cross-case analysis – practice Fundamental to the SEB approach is the lived experience of those studied. All groups meditate using a variety of styles and ritual devotions, for example Amida’s Nembutsu and Nei quan. All rely on levels of emotional awareness, promoted by NEB to uproot negative emotions/feelings against the backdrop of one’s personal and sociocultural position. This method uses self-reflection to identify its impact on others and to see in the emotions the ego-protecting mechanisms and strategies employed. Jones (2003) suggests if these emotions cannot be identified, the inner work and outer action dynamic will be unbalanced. The inner/outer approach is axiomatic for all five groups and more generally among SEBs worldwide. Meditative awareness can be seen in the use of the

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Zen-influenced sitting and walking within C of I, NEB and even Zazen within the TBC (FWBO), and Amida follow the Pure Land, taking from its Japanese heritage the nembutsu (calling to Amida Buddha). All of these engender an emotional, psychological and physical response. The TBC and Rokpa overlap in the use of mettābhāvanā and sādhana methods, also using the ‘refuge tree’ visualization with other mindfulness practices. The use of mindfulness in a variety of ways is fundamental to the practice of all the groups in the study. The practice of the four Brahma-vihāras has been adopted by SEBs to reinforce a loving-kindness approach, described by TBC members in Right Livelihood settings as a kindly awareness of each other. Similarly, Rokpa (through the Kagyu tradition) adopt what they call the ‘Four Limitless Meditations’ (appamānas – another name for the Brahma-vihāras) developed to transform mind into universal compassion as a foundational approach to inner awareness. This method has also been adopted by Amida, NEB and C of I. Where Rokpa and the TBC also compare favourably is in their approach to practice which engenders a ‘positivity of mind’. The development of universal compassion is epitomized through the practice and devotion to the iconic figure of compassion known variously as Avalokiteśvara, Chenrezig, Kwan-shi-yin and Kwan-yin. These practices engage the individual in another fundamental of SEB in this study, living the life of the Bodhisattva as an essential element of engagement in and with society. The emphasis for SEBs is for inner transformation in order to transform society, which is seen as a challenge due to the secularizing humanism of late modernity,1 not least to its social and political structures in the world. All such practices seek to remove a sense of separateness in the phenomenal world where there is no separate self to be found, due to the interconnectivity of all phenomena. These practices are to be understood as, not goal orientated in a ‘means ends’ sense but are an end in themselves. This is reflected in the specific focus of all five groups towards ‘social responsibility and peace’. The fact that the directions from which each group approaches this axiom of SEB differs is indicative of sources from which each seeks its authority. Amida in its complete adaptation of the Pure Land, NEB as a proponent of developing emotional awareness from Ch’an sources, C of I in the mindful experience indivisible from life influenced by Hua Yen thinking, TBCs progressive meditative path (influenced by both Theravādin and Tibetan forms) and Rokpa’s use of Chenrezig, Mahāmudrā and Guru practice approached with Westerner’s in mind (while retaining traditional forms), are examples of such sources. Essential to the practice is the shift in thinking from personal to a wider social context as a natural consequence of

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contemporary conditions. Unlike former social environments such conditions embed individuals in a global world, where the local and the global tend to be thought of in the same mental and physical space. It is not a change in thinking necessarily, as is sometimes implied, but an adaptation of it vis-a-vis adapting religion to new social circumstances. Evidence from the SEB 2004/5 Survey across all five case studies reflects a profile of practice among the groups overall, and is referred to below in Table 8.1. The strength of meditative consistency is apparent with three groups meditating across 100 per cent of the sample. The greatest support for Buddhist studies comes from Rokpa members as does language study, indicative of Tibetan forms, which require much arduous work to support understanding. Chanting reflects the greatest support from C of I members, who have a wide variety of songs and chants in the Plum Village Chanting and Recitation Book and pūjā indicates the highest number come from TBC, who characteristically are known for creating a vast array of pūjās.

Doctrine In adapting doctrine, SEB uses the idea of śūnyatā (emptiness) adapted in the nature of its explanation for Western audiences and expressed by Amida in a limited sense ‘as all encounter is other’, in other words ‘otherness’ is all that there is and everything is therefore empty of intrinsic self-nature. Conversely, NEB, C of I, FWBO and Rokpa express the emptiness of self-nature, referring to Buddha Nature and human perfection as the core of their understanding. Amida sees the imperfection of humanity as a starting point, born out of the Pure Land approach to the Bombu (foolish nature) of beings. This is seen as essential to their ‘other power’ approach in which they see grace in the Tathāgata Amitābha/ Amida as the only guiding principle. Table 8.1  Practice across five cases

Amida NEB C of I TBC Rokpa

Meditate(%)

Chant (%)

Pῡjā (%)

Language study (%)

Buddhist studies (%)

98 99 100 100 100

58 67 83 81 69

50 56 56 84 71

11 11 20 9 44

71 80 71 87 88

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Despite differences in approach, based largely on the influence of spiritual leaders to determine the types of skilful teaching practitioners can understand, the aims of the teachings are similar. In taking social responsibility as a Buddhist, these teachings express a determination to live a Bodhisattva life, in which a practical understanding of the interdependence of all phenomena reinforces the reduction of separateness. This allows the inner work of mind to manifest in outer social action without recourse to results (Jones, 2002). The emptiness doctrine attempts to remove the conceptual dualistic struggle between ‘this and that’, in which emptiness can clarify form (Heart Sῡtra). Conceptually, the suggestion is that, the removal of an acceptance of separate self causes the ‘I’ to recede and opens up practitioners to the emptiness of self-need. This removes the self-righteousness associated with suffering humanity, which is seen as distinctively Buddhist. The basis of such an approach is to accept one’s own given, but independent, reality on which to build change (personal and social). C of I refer to this concept as ‘Interbeing’, in which emptiness is seen as implying an optimistic vision and where all interconnected phenomena ‘inter-be’ or ‘inter-are’ as a non-dual expression of individual and whole. In this sense ‘Interbeing’, more than mere interpenetration, is connected to and part of everything simultaneously and is therefore offering a sense of totality and a positive approach to emptiness. Rokpa acknowledge the necessity to live the Bodhisattva life, which is inextricably linked to acceptance of the emptiness of one’s own self-nature in the phenomenal world. All five groups emphasize openness and inclusivity in addition to social and personal responsibility in their teaching. TBC and Rokpa seek to develop an understanding of fellow feeling in the world through different empowerments conferred to authenticate the appropriateness of advancement/progression on the Buddhist path. Rokpa, through the Kagyu approach require practitioners to receive empowerments before gaining access to teachings and practices, while TBC incorporate a similar approach into their ordination process. The fundamental doctrinal principles supporting all five groups are largely based on Mahāyāna teachings towards compassion and wisdom, in which Theravāda teachings are accepted and subsumed. In Right Livelihood terms, TBC emphasize the significance of a Tri-yāna approach (using all three vehicles of Buddhism), within which the Noble Eight Fold Path is characteristic of a sustaining development towards a changing society. Despite an essentialist view of teaching informed by Protestant Buddhism (a characteristic of all groups in the West to some extent), the TBC draws on a diverse variety of approaches, which reinforce their ethos for change with Dharma at its heart on a global scale.

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They see Right Livelihood as synonymous with SEB, as living the Bodhisattva path, popularizing Dharma, and as non-exploitative and ethically appropriate. C of I emphasize a similar approach to doctrine as the TBC, not bound to fixed positions in which they see ‘all Buddhism as engaged’; suggesting that to see it any other way would be to deny the principles of interbeing. There is an empowerment through acceptance approach at work within all the groups, albeit Amida emphasizes the imperfection of human nature, while the other four emphasize the perfection of inherent Buddha Nature. The doctrinal tendency seems to emphasize a largely continuous approach in which personal transformation through ‘inner work’ in spiritual practices informs ‘outer action’. How these are manifest, however, differs considerably. Amida’s grace through ‘other power’ in the social and psychological fields, NEB’s social action, C of I’s slightly more quietistic approach, TBC’s self-reliant individuals and Rokpa’s determination to use adapted traditional therapies and meditative techniques towards social change, through collective approaches to mental health. All seek liberation in a mundane sense as a feature of their approach, which does not deny transcendence in any way.

Narrative All five groups in the case studies adapt contemporary narratives as a critique of late-modern society, emphasizing social responsibility and a collective response to it. The narrative of a contemporary SEB draws on traditional approaches adapted to current Buddhist concerns. Amida sees in the ‘narrative of ordinariness’ (fallible nature) a hierarchy of Amida Buddha over the historical Buddha Śākyamuni. They claim Śākyamuni’s surrender to Amida’s grace developed an awakening of faith in the Pure Land for the historical Buddha. Practitioners understand that such an awakening is both in everyday activity (creating mini Pure Lands) and after death. They interpret the Pure Land in the West in an everyday sense to mean a Pure Land at a human level. Such an understanding is seen to negate any reason to be concerned for one’s own salvation. Virtues are said to arise naturally from the freedom of a mundane liberation, in the knowledge that surrender to the Pure Land path of Amida means that one is accepted ‘just as one is’. It is claimed that surrender to Amida allows followers the freedom to work for the benefit of all beings; it resonates with former Christian practitioners who see faith as central, and its approach is claimed to be affective in its simplicity.

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NEB seeks to promote a narrative for an ethical culture of awareness, referred to by Jones (2003) as a ‘Radical Culture of Awakening’ which takes on interpretive approaches to contemporary concerns adapting religion to new social circumstances (Clarke, 2006: 20). NEB and the TBC have formulated definitions of engagement (functional and substantive) in an effort to clarify the nature of their role personally and as a collective. NEB have a clearly defined approach, taking emotional awareness as the foundation for a response to the root existential human experience, through which separateness is reduced and a coalition of contemplatives from different religions are (according to Jones) essential to the Radical Culture of Awakening. Significantly, of all five groups, NEB has the fewest members of other faiths in the survey (see Table 8.2) and it does not comment on the viability of the Radical Culture of Awakening? Table 8.2 reflects the potential involvement of other religions in the five groups case studied. The figures are derived from a combination of ‘other faith’ and ‘other’ in the ‘how would you describe yourself cross-tabulation’ (across all five cases). Significantly, C of I has the greatest potential for involvement with other religions, which reflects its inclusive and pluralistic approach. NEB, on the other hand, with the smallest potential for involvement with other religions, identifies theoretically with an inclusive approach, but in practical terms has very few members of other faiths to call on. C of I through Thich Nhat Hanh promotes a narrative of unification both of teachings interpreted from a Zen background for the West, and practice, similarly re-expressed and innovated for contemporary life. Key to this is his approach to social responsibility and peace expressed as an ‘individual-to-group’ approach. This, however, is widely reinterpreted in the United Kingdom as an ‘individual-to-individual’ approach, transforming society only where individual contact occurs with no real desire for overt collective action as a group. Some of which is born of caution and a tendency towards conservatism. Table 8.2  Potential for involvement with other religions across five cases Other religions (%) Amida NEB C of I TBC Rokpa

11 9 25 11 16

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227

Right Livelihood is increasingly seen as a key aspect of SEB and is portrayed by TBC as a sustainable approach to a new society. The re-expression of the traditional narrative of Right Livelihood from the Noble Eight Fold Path, has given it both a collective interpretation and a prominence in its practical application, which has created a multimillion pound business as a support for developing Dharma in the West. This is largely unprecedented in Buddhist terms outside the United States. The applicability of Right Livelihood, even in a gift shop, is justified through the Buddhist principles of altruism, kindness, mindfulness and ethics, where the spiritual and economic are fused and a lack of separateness is professed, where work and practice are synonymous with each other. In recent times the decentralization of the TBC has had a significant affect on the Order’s approach to SEB more widely, beyond the implicit links to Right Livelihood. Order members are embracing social, political and environmental concerns and have gone so far as to define SEB for themselves, giving it a prominent place on the TBC website (www.thebuddhistcentre.org/) and moreover on TBC agendas. In Rokpa the traditional narrative of protecting lineage and passing it into the West is manifest in the work and actions of Akong Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe-Losal, who promote global social responsibility for peace and well-being through the Karma Kagyu tradition adapted for the West. The narrative is re-expressed in the West in a way that revolves around compassion of the Bodhisattva, as found in the teaching and therapy centres adopting the practical approach of the Kagyu. It holds with an understanding that supports the idea that ‘all Buddhism is engaged’ and retains an open and inclusive response to suffering beings. Common elements among all five groups include: social responsibility, performing a functional utility in society, which is inclusivist, pluralist and flexible, seeking peace in individuals and society. Table 8.3 identifies the former religious inclination of Buddhists in all five groups across the survey sample; in all cases approximately half of the sample were Christian before coming to Buddhism. Table 8.3  Christian before Buddhist across five cases

Christian before Buddhist

Amida (%)

NEB (%)

C of I (%)

TBC (%)

Rokpa (%)

53

53

59

48

54

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Experiential/emotional dimension The experiential and emotional aspects of SEB in the United Kingdom examine a variety of subjective views from a range of individuals from across all five groups. There are, however, a number of common strands. The notion that SEBs working for change should accept outcomes without recourse to self-righteousness against seemingly insurmountable social concerns, such as, world poverty or the degradation of the planet, is something members of all five groups express. This may be acceptance through grace in the constant encounter with the other, trusting to things just as they are in the Amida case, or empowerment to act without concern for results through the concern of inherent Buddha Nature for suffering humanity of the other four. Acceptance of outcomes is a form of empowerment through an apprehension of emptiness of self-need, developed through emotional awareness. There is, in addition, a common appreciation of spiritual leaders in each group: Dharmavidya, Ken Jones, Thich Nhat Hanh, Sangharakshita, Akong Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe, in whom practitioners invest a great deal of emotional energy as their gurus/mentors and guides. These teachers motivate, innovate and act as inspiration for practitioners. The SEB spiritual leaders’ considerable experience colours the nature of SEB in each group as much of the previous five chapters has identified. All five groups acknowledge SEB through their leaders, accepting it as a phenomenon of late modernity, even though some may have reservations about the use of the label and what it implies (Rokpa and C of I UK membership). There is considerable concern among SEB practitioners with regard to planetary/ ecological issues, social justice and the inequity of social and political systems. The fundamental motivating factor for many is the reduction of evident suffering in an interconnected world. This is expressed through either an overtly engaged approach through social action or a more conservatively inclined practice through example by individual encounter, seeking to effect change in more subtle ways. In SEB groups there is a collective approach to these issues for many, motivated by their relationships with their spiritual mentors; described across the board as either ‘Buddhas’, ‘Bodhisattvas’ or ‘Skilful Teachers’: see Table 8.4. In experiential terms there is a great deal of frustration for many NEB, Amida and TBC members, at the lack of political debate in conservative British Buddhism. Other common concerns applicable to C of I reflect the use of labels defining who is and is not a SEB. The question of how one understands oneself as a SEB is reflected below in Table 8.5. Significantly, Rokpa and the TBC present with over 90 per cent of the sample who are Western converts, whereas C of I has only 69 per cent Western converts

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Table 8.4  How you understand your Buddhist teacher across five cases

Amida, Dharmavidya NEB, Ken Jones C of I, Thich Nhat Hanh TBC, Sangharakshita Rokpa, Akong Rinpoche Lama Yeshe Losal

Buddha (%)

Bodhisattva (%)

Skilful teacher (%)

15

36

79

10

45

76

29

71

83

16

25

75

16

58

95

Table 8.5  Religious category across five cases2

Amida NEB C of I TBC Rokpa

West Convert (%)

Indigenous Buddhist (%)

Non Buddhist (%)

Other faith (%)

77 82 69 92 92

3 1 0 2 0

9 3 6 0 0

3 2 6 3 4

Other (%) 8 7 19 3 4

in the sample and an anomalous 19 per cent ‘other’, which may reflect issues around labelling. TBC members seek a positive outcome for self and the world through the practice of the Brahma-vihāras, which has a quality that requires an emotional response through loving-kindness etc., which is also a common feature of all the groups in the case studies. Envy and rivalry, it is claimed, can be overcome through the development of sympathetic joy for others, which will lead to equanimity, described as a balanced attitude to all outward circumstances (Lokabandhu, October 2007a). This gives peace of mind to facilitate work in society without clinging to results. A greater awareness and kindness leads to cooperation when taking social responsibility, which for TBC Right Livelihood practitioners is manifest in positive feeling for those one comes into contact with (including customers). Again, the ‘Four Immeasurables’ are associated with more than one dimension as they work across a number of levels practically, doctrinally, emotionally and ethically. All five groups have an interest in this approach, out of which comes a sense of fellow feeling born out of what Rokpa

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sees as the discovery of the nature of life through direct experience – a type of phenomenological positioning.

Ethics SEB is characterized by its ethical approach to life which involves positive non-violent (non-harming) strategies, and which recognizes the dignity, common humanity and autonomy of all people (even adversaries). The ethical approach to SEB, across all five groups, takes as its starting point the five ethical precepts of the layperson. This is true of all except Amida, who under the direction of Dharmavidya have chosen to replace the Five Precepts with the Fivefold Refuges (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, Amida and Pure Land). Amida practitioners, however, retain the Five Precepts for normative use once a greater commitment to the Buddhist life is affirmed. Amida follows a method of lay ordination into the Order of Amida Buddha, as does the C of I into the Tiep Hien Order and the TBC into the TBO. Rokpa have adapted the traditional monastic vinaya of the Kagyu line and created an intermediate position for Westerners who commit to monasticism, where up to three years may elapse as a temporary ordinand before lifetime vows are made. NEB as an ‘affinity network’ has no lay order or monastic training and retains the five ethical precepts as its minimum standard for regulating ethical behaviour. An emphasis on ethical awareness seeks to define engaged Buddhism not only in terms of spiritual and social engagement, but as ethical engagement also. Amida follows an aspirational method towards ethics, in which commitment levels determine how many and to what extent one follows precepts, as either 156 for Gankonins and Ministers or 238 for Novices and Amitaryas. Like the TBC and the C of I, these are non-vinaya rules, which have been adapted for contemporary concerns. Here again the Brahma-vihāras are featured, this time as a precursor to ethical behaviour, from which flows the natural approach of transforming mind to universal compassion from which ethical behaviour stems. The source of ethical consideration for SEBs arises from their concern for ‘social responsibility and peace’ and may be as diverse as abortion on the one hand, balancing the right to life against social, medical or mental health concerns of potential parents, or the implications of global terror on the other. The C of I and TBC approach ethics from the perspective of the lay ordinand. The C of I see rules appropriate to a complete re-expression of ethical concerns in their Five and Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings. The TBC have adopted the first

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four of the five ethical precepts along with undertakings to avoid covetousness, hatred and false views and slanderous angry or wasteful speech, that is, the three forms of right action, four of right speech and three of right thought. They have adopted the positive aspects of loving-kindness, truthfulness and kindly speech, generosity and contentment, and wisdom compassion and tranquillity as the ‘Ten Pillars of Buddhism’ (Sangharakshita, 1984). Table 8.6 describes the serious approach to ethical precepts across all five groups. As can be seen, respondents almost unanimously follow at least the minimum five ethical precepts. When considering the nature of Buddhist ethics as adapted by SEBs, a question arises about the division extant between those who see precepts as a literal undertaking, and those who take a more situational approach (Fletcher, 1963). The nature of Buddhist ethics identified in the literature (Harvey, 2000) falls across a variety of approaches. Considerable evidence supports the virtues approach to ethical decision making in a Buddhist context. Where, according to some engaged Buddhists, this method falls short, is in the decisions that affect the greater good of humanity/society, seen as fundamental to a SEB approach. An example of this was pointed out by FWBO 4 BG (19 February 2005), claiming: There is also the complexity of this moral dilemma, when you go to Cambridge, ask about this, because one of the reasons we can’t say we are categorically ‘Fair Trade’ is because we do use companies that may use young people or children as labour and that is a criteria that fair trade adopt that no child labour is ever used. But I think that what our buyers have found is that those children, if they weren’t doing the woodcarvings, would be picking up rubbish from the streets or worse. Again, you are involved in a very, very real ethical dilemma, and what is actually the best thing to do? You can’t really hide behind a so-called moral stance and take the moral high ground when you know that what you are doing is going to benefit the young people more than if they weren’t doing it.

The compassionate action here is based on the well-being of the children, not on the bureaucracy of Fair Trade rules and associated moral ‘purity’. Table 8.6  Precepts across five cases Precepts (%) Amida NEB C of I TBC Rokpa

91 96 100 100 100

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Such situational decision making does not detract from the ethics of virtue practised by Buddhists, rather it complements, if not parallels, a virtue approach, using the skill of compassionate understanding, which in itself is morally virtuous. As Bowie (2004: 135) points out: [Buddhist] moral virtues are involved in building a moral character. These can be said to fall into three groups: 1. Virtues of conscientiousness: Veracity, truthfulness and righteousness. 2. Virtues of Benevolence: Loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. 3. Virtues of self restraint: self control, abstinence, contentment, patience, celibacy, chastity, purity.

The fair trade example above clearly falls within the ‘Virtues of Benevolence’, of loving-kindness and compassion, and there are many more examples of this type of moral deliberation that arise, not only in Right Livelihood, but across a range of engaged Buddhist activities as well. This then is an example of combining situational ethics with a virtues approach. For the author of the situational approach, Fletcher, this works on the principal that ‘Christian-Love’3 is the only applicable method of dealing with each situation. The consequences of the use of ‘Love’ should be carefully judged in making the decision whereupon the greatest ‘Loving-outcome’ should be followed. This sense of ‘Christian-Love’ (brotherly love) could be usefully compared to Buddhist compassion. Keown (1992: 190) describes situational ethics as utilitarian in character, which according to Bowie (2004: 43) is stretching a point, as he contends that ‘Act Utilitarians’, when determining whether an act is right, judge it on the value of the consequences of the particular act, although the action that it justifies can change. For situationalists, the action is always assessed in the light of ‘Love’ and therefore does not have the flexibility of action that Act Utilitarian demands. Nevertheless, the situational morality of Fletcher’s approach is essentially Consequentialist, out of which good arises for the greater number. The ability to apply a Christian concept of ‘Love’, which is not dissimilar to compassion in the Mahāyāna sense, seems to suggest that situational ethics may have its uses for helping to inform decisions made by engaged Buddhists? This is, however, to be seen as a last resort for caring/compassionate action that breaks a precept, and not as a normative course of action (Jones, 1997). Across the five groups there are a number of ethical tools by which to make decisions, all in different combinations dependent on the dilemma being faced. There is, it seems, an ethics of Buddhist social action which adopts the combined use of the Mahāyāna ethics of ‘skilful means’ guided by compassion and wisdom,

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and a virtues approach based on ‘Right View’, with both supported by the Brahma-vihāras as ‘Virtues of Benevolence’ (Bowie, 2004: 43). Fundamental distinctions between ethics of social action and traditional vinaya rules rest on the ability of the practitioner to adopt a positive ‘determination to’ and ‘a vow not to’, based on the positive interpretations for ethical precepts to be found in Amida, C of I, TBC and Rokpa. These positive aspects are counterparts to the virtues of self restraint adopted in most vinaya systems. NEB, while having no particular positive expression of the Five Precepts adopts a Mahāyāna approach based on compassion and wisdom and a situational method in an attempt to avoid inappropriate literalist interpretations.

Social/organizational The social structures of SEB groups in the case studies fall broadly into functionalist, pluralist and inclusivist categories, in that they seek to function in a social context as a Buddhist antidote to a world they see as consumed with the three fires of greed, hatred and delusion. This approach requires an openness to the ‘other’ across social and cultural boundaries as a prerequisite to an inclusive social organization, embracing Buddhists and non-Buddhist alike. The groups vary in structure and organizational method, but with the exception of NEB are constituted as charities whose aims are broadly in support of Dharma, humanitarian aid and therapy; they are non-sectarian ecumenical Buddhist organizations. They all exist to support and sustain practice and can be linked to Jones’ typology (in Chapter 1) of ‘Radical Activist’, ‘Alternative Societal Models’, and ‘Social Helping Service and Welfare’. All five groups would fall into the category of new Buddhist movement. Amida is designated by Jones (July 2003) as a radical activist group in terms of its overtly engaged activism, but it also houses a substantial social helping service and welfare arm in the form of its therapies and psychological work (even accounting for the division and creation of Tariki Trust). It could also be designated an ASM in its current form with a quasi-monastic lay Order around which its structure is organized. NEB has no hierarchy and is described as an ‘affinity group’ that relies on collaborative action in small numbers to fulfil its function both in activist and teaching terms. A large gathering for NEB would be 15–20 people. Amida and the TBC could fall within the ‘affinity model’ as collaborators on actions. TBC, with its ethos for a changed society and an emerging SEB activism, currently falls within the ASM designation. All three

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groups in social movement terms fall within the designation of new SMOs (Tilly, 1988: 5). The SMO designation was originated for movements like the anti-nuclear lobby of the late 1960s (out of which NEB was created) and applies to structures which are ‘egalitarian groups that encourage everyone to participate in decision making’ (Goodwin and Jasper, 2003: 166), avoiding the trappings of bureaucracy, paid staff, experts, hierarchy, impersonal rules and a permanent division of labour. Some, but not all of these criteria fit the SEB model of organization. Where the SEB groups are consistent is in adopting forms of action in anticipation of a change towards the kind of future they envisage (Goodwin and Jasper, 2003: 166), in NEB’s case towards a ‘Radical Culture of Awakening’. SEB groups as a whole might fall within the designation SMO, as they are organizations with little coordination among them, each reassured by the existence of the others but with little direct need for them. Individually, SEBs have similarities with SMOs which carry symbolic messages in their structures. However, where SEB groups differ fundamentally is in their setting aside of goals, the means being the ends and not a means to the ends. Nonetheless they fit the SMO model in wanting to show they are certain kinds of people (in the SEB case compassionate) and are radically different from existing SMO organizations as Buddhist activists. Despite SMO ‘affinity groups’ being associated with anarchism and a distrust of hierarchy, they come close to SEB models like Amida, NEB and parts of the TBC in structural terms, and these may still fit the SMO approach despite differing motivations from their SMO counterparts. Eyerman and Jamison (2003: 367) identify certain types of SMOs which share a common culture, including the category of religion, which they claim are closely associated with what they refer to as ‘structures of feeling’ (2003: 367). These structures go beyond the merely emotive and reflect a ‘truth bearing significance’ which forms their collective identity. In this context it is not unreasonable to draw comparisons between SMOs and SEBs, including, in the ‘affinity group’ approach, NEB, Amida, TBC, and in the context of the wider ‘structures of feeling’, which broaden the SMO model, C of I and Rokpa. All five groups can be characterized as inclusive and open, suggesting an approach which sees Buddhists with a small ‘b’, who are already part of other religious or spiritual groups, forming a significant part of SEB organizations. This can be seen in Table 8.2 which goes some way to identify the potential for ‘other faith’ involvement. In terms of a simple generic pattern to identify SEB groups in an organizational sense, they could be described as subject to a ‘Universal

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Engaged Buddhist Structure’ in which each group has ‘Core’, ‘Associate’ and ‘Peripheral’ membership. In Amida’s case, core members are Order members, associates being members of Amida-shu and peripheral those who form part of Amida-kai. NEB has a core executive and attendees of the twice yearly meetings; its associates may join them on marches or demonstrations and its peripheral members are those who restrict their involvement to e-group discussion sites (nebsangha) or writing letters to lobby institutions and political powers and form a majority that subscribe to their journal. Similar designations fit the C of I, with core Order members being those ordained in the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings, while associates have taken the Five Mindfulness Trainings (the extended community), and peripheral members are those who have paid a subscription and receive a newsletter, who may or may not be a member of a local group. TBC has a core order (TBO), associates (Mitras), and peripheral membership (Friends); while Rokpa have a core monastic saṅgha, associate supportive members in therapy and fundraising, and peripheral supporters who attend centres occasionally and may or may not support the group financially. The 2004/5 SEB Survey has highlighted a demographic profile for each group (presented in previous chapters) and identifies across all five case studies the overall demographic of UK SEB respondents to the survey. The total sample returned a total of 253 questionnaires from the original 500 distributed (50.6%), covering all five groups, with respondents’ average age being 48year old. The gender divide identified 120 (47%) were male and 133 (53%) female. SEBs in the survey are essentially white European (between 91% and 96%), with little ethnic mix for a movement that professes an inclusive approach. This is a worrying trend for many British Buddhists and is largely a question for Buddhism in the West more widely. It perhaps reflects that social structures and opportunities for ethnic minorities are limited in coming into contact with what is (at least on this evidence) still a largely white middle aged and middle class Western Buddhism. Ethnicity across all five cases is reflected in Table 8.7. The overall marital status of the sample is reflected in Table 8.8. Table 8.8 reflects the highest percentage of married couples (44%) are in the C of I sample, and they also have the lowest divorced and cohabiting percentages (9% and 8%). The family ethos is strong in C of I. TBC have the highest percentage of single people (55%) and joint lowest married (15%) and divorced (9%) percentages, which may be indicative of single-sex community living. Rokpa have the highest percentage of divorced (23%) and separated (12%) individuals in the survey with lowest rate for cohabiting (8%) and married (15%). This may

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Table 8.7  Overall ethnicity across five cases White (%)

Afro Caribbean (%)

South & SE Asian (%)

East Asian (%)

Other (%)

91 95 94 89 96

2 1 0 3 0

3 0 2 1 0

2 0 0 0 0

2 4 4 7 4

Amida NEB C of I TBC Rokpa

Table 8.8  Overall marital status across five cases Single (%) Amida NEB C of I TBC Rokpa

27 23 33 55 42

Married Separated Divorced (%) (%) (%) 38 39 44 15 15

9 5 0 9 12

12 16 9 9 23

Cohabiting (%) 12 11 8 10 8

Widow Other (%) (%) 2 2 6 1 0

0 4 0 1 0

indicate the large numbers of people who come to Samye Ling/Rokpa post separation or divorce, a historic pattern for many years, often looking to find solace and supported there. Amida have the highest number of cohabitees in the sample at 12% and NEB have the lowest number of single people in the sample (23%). Table 8.9 reflects the type of accommodation being occupied by those in the sample across all five cases. C of I follow a trend by having the highest percentage of owner occupiers (75%) and the lowest number of council rented homes (2%) and those living in community (2%). In the TBC, a third live in community (33%) despite dwindling numbers. Indicative of this is the 42% that are owner occupiers. NEB rent the most private space (28%) and Rokpa members, who are mostly divorced and separated (35% combined), rent the most council housing (12%). Table 8.10 below reflects educational type in the sample across five cases. Amida and Rokpa have the highest number of Professionals (both 40%), which reflects their psychology and therapy portfolios. Amida also have the highest number of vocationally trained members (11%) and Rokpa the highest Scientifically trained (20%), which may also be indicative of their therapeutic approach. C of I have the highest Liberal Arts (37%) and combined Arts and Science (29%) educated members, which perhaps fits the trend from the other tables above in terms of their conservative demographic.

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Table 8.9  Overall accommodation across five cases Own Accommodation (%) Amida NEB C of I TBC Rokpa

Private Rented (%)

Council Rented (%)

18 28 17 18 8

2 4 2 4 12

68 60 75 42 69

Community (%) 6 5 2 33 4

Co-op (%)

Other (%)

2 1 0 0 0

4 2 4 3 7

Table 8.10  Education across five cases Professional Liberal and Scientific Liberal and Vocational Other (%) Scientific (%) (%) Arts (%) (%) (%) Amida NEB C of I TBC Rokpa

40 26 12 29 40

23 28 29 28 16

14 17 13 14 20

12 17 37 21 20

11 6 1 5 4

0 6 8 3 0

In membership terms, the multiple memberships across all five groups is reflected in Table 8.11. Significantly, Amida and NEB have almost a quarter of members who are also members of C of I, while they have cross-members between themselves of 26 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. TBC members who are also Amida members are 22 per cent of the TBC sample, and NEB members in the TBC is 20 per cent. TBC members who are members of Amida and NEB are 16 per cent in each, while Rokpa members in Amida and NEB are 12 per cent in each. These figures show significant multiple memberships among SEB groups, identified here for the first time. In terms of the overall understanding of the provenance of SEB, Table 8.12 represents the views across all five groups. Rokpa has the highest number who saw ‘all Buddhism as engaged’ (67%) and yet they also have the highest proportion of members who see SEB as a wholly Western concept (12%). The former is the preferred choice of all groups and supports the earlier assertion of a continuous approach within SEB in terms of understanding it growing out of traditional forms, which have been adapted for new social conditions. Table 8.13 reflects a dharmic understanding of SEB in cases.

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Table 8.11  Cross-membership matrix across five cases Amida (%)

NEB (%)

C of I (%)

TBC (%)

Rokpa (%)

– 26 23 16 12

28 – 23 16 12

18 16 – 5 4

22 20 10 – 8

4 4 2 2 –

Amida NEB C of I TBC Rokpa

Table 8.12  Understanding of SEB across five cases All Buddhism is engaged (%)

Western influence in Asia (%)

39 44 38 42 67

5 8 4 4 4

Amida NEB C of I TBC Rokpa

Wholly Western Concept (%)

Don’t accept SEB (%)

8 7 0 9 12

2 0 0 0 0

Table 8.13  Dharmic understanding of SEB across five cases Dharma as social action (%) Amida NEB C of I TBC Rokpa

42 41 38 36 35

Dharma + social action added on (%) 9 7 8 12 9

Inner/outer work (%) 75 67 64 57 61

The study groups overwhelmingly sees SEB dharmically as ‘inner development mirrored by outer social action’; it is also an indication that Dharma can be understood as social action where between 35% and 42% of the sample suggested this is the case. This supports the inner/outer dynamic which makes engaged Buddhism distinctively Buddhist in the eyes of many SEBs.

Artistic/material In material and artistic terms, SEB across all five groups have a significant interest in art in the wider creative sense. Groups like NEB and TBC Right Livelihood

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businesses (outside the Buddhist centres), are interested in the use of iconic paraphernalia as mobile groups. In Amida’s case, the context of other power, it is claimed, has a positive effect on those engaged in artistic endeavour on retreats and in other therapeutic settings. The TBC under Sangharakshita claim art supports spiritual consciousness; an approach none of the other groups would deny. Rokpa uses art therapy specifically in Tara Rokpa therapy and NEB have developed aesthetic ritual activity like the Kwan-yin pūjā, as have C of I with innovative adaptations of the Tea Ceremony, Back to Beginnings, and Hugging Meditations, in addition to Nhat Hanh’s trademark calligraphy.

Considering Jones’ typology The empirical findings from the research have been outlined in some detail above and comparative analysis across all five cases gives a more coherent picture of a movement that may be, as Jones describes, ‘fragmented, and in this sense is very far from being a coherent phenomenon, even at national level’ (2003: 182). The findings, however, supported by the cross-membership matrix above (Table 8.11) and the loosely federated approach of SMOs suggests otherwise. In fact it could be argued that within the context of Jones’ own typology (2003: 174), in defining groups under the designations RA, ASM and SHSW, there is significant cohesion, which suggests a ‘unity in diversity’. In that sense SEB (at least in the United Kingdom) has the feel of a movement around which many who associate with it coalesce, both in cross-association/membership and characteristics, which affirm a common approach to Buddhism as it works to reduce suffering in the world through action and/or service. Within the context of the typology, the research suggests that overall it works in some capacity to account for each of the five groups in the study. There were, however, questions raised earlier about the adequacy of seeing the three strands: RA, ASM and SHSW as separate. Amida for example would be better suited if they were identified with all three; TBC may also fit at least two with its growing engaged Buddhist emphasis outside Right Livelihood since decentralization; NEB under RA and Rokpa under SHSW are probably the best fits, while C of I in the UK struggle to fit the ASM designation, and yet the Tiep Hien Order in Plum Village and elsewhere would do so. This may become more relevant for C of I once the national UK centre is established, albeit, it is not currently a central location in terms of a headquarters in the same way that TBCs move to Coddington Court will be.

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It may be appropriate in considering a typological approach to SEB to merge all three strands into one, removing the tendency to create a continuum, postulated by Jones in an earlier manifestation (Jones, 1989, 2001) when he saw SEBs as on a line between a ‘Hard End’ (RA) and ‘Soft End’ (service-based) approach. This was not a useful descriptor as it was seen as a critique of other Buddhists who were not in some way engaged at the ‘hard End’ (Bell, 2000: 405), which many saw as divisive. Consequently, Jones created the more elaborately developed 2003 model, The Anatomy of Engaged Buddhism. Merging the three strands may well create a more balanced taxonomy of UK SEB, to be seen as dimensions of any SEB group.

SEB moving on Further considerations of the empirical findings helps move the study on from previous studies undertaken and in that sense gives a platform to reflect on the literature and academic theorising about SEB and its relationship to the wider British Buddhist landscape. Bell’s (2000) study sought to advocate the need for a change in British Buddhism from a preoccupation with institution building, and for a shift in engaged Buddhist terms from the personal to the social; something she claimed (in research in the field in 1997) was an aspiration for the successful development of Buddhism within the wider UK religious landscape. In an engaged Buddhist context, both are coming to fruition. SEBs, as this study has shown, are clearly addressing the wider public concerns Bell describes, and organizations like the TBC have, since decentralization, removed any overt claims to expansionism, an approach with which they had previously been labelled. Bell’s significant insight into the importance of networks for SEB still holds good, as it did 16 years ago (when Bell undertook the fieldwork). The network is still the preferred method for connecting people with a shared interest, as its many linkages cross-cut organizational boundaries, made even more fluid and flexible by the exponential increase in information and communication technology, which all the groups concerned in the study make use of with varying levels of success in communication terms. The electronic/virtual networks also provide a continuous forum for debate and argument and symbolize in their structure Buddhist ideas about relatedness and interconnectivity of all phenomena; an axiom of SEB. This virtual world, however, also provides a comfort zone for the more peripheral, and some associate SEBs, who may be in danger, some

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might argue, of conducting their ‘engaged’ practice from a safe haven in front of their computer screens. It should not be forgotten, however, that the numbers actively participating in written forms of involvement on e-groups and forums is quite small and often very niche. There are, however, greater numbers of lurking peripheral members who would rather read than write, and their numbers are largely unexplored (with the exception of the NEBs nebsangha group). In consideration of the academic debate over the nature of SEB within the dichotomy of modernist versus traditionist (Queen, 2000: 1, 5, and Deitrick, 2003: 263), the findings here suggest an overwhelming move towards the continuous approach that ‘all Buddhism is engaged’. Queen’s view that SEB is a new phenomenon in the light of the global conversation with Western social and political thinking and culture, and is therefore a break with tradition in that respect, is not born out in the findings presented here. He problematized the discussion by presenting it in black and white terms, something Walliss (1998, 2002) saw as problematic in his own discussion of modernity and tradition within the Brahma Kumaris movement, insisting the recourse to tradition makes the relationship infinitely more complex than Queen would have us believe. There is no evidence from the study that SEB is a new Buddhist vehicle, a Nava-yāna or a fourth turning of the wheel of Dharma. The informants within the study and the survey material suggests the majority see SEB as an adaptation of traditional Buddhist thought and practice for new social circumstances (Clarke, 2006: 20), a move towards a more syncretistic relationship between tradition and modernity rather than a clear break from it. Another academic with whom SEBs disagree is Deitrick (2003: 263), whose insistence that SEB is only nominally Buddhist is contested. His claim that SEB are forgetting that ‘suffering has but one cause and one remedy, that is attachment and the cessation of attachment’ is factually incorrect, as the overwhelming evidence of inner work, emotional awareness and recourse to basic Buddhist tenets of practice testify. The consideration given to suffering in the world at a personal and social level clearly asks practitioners to understand the implications for the second and third noble truths. Batchelor’s suggestion that Western Buddhists should be aware of the dangers of self-righteousness as a motivating factor for engaged activity is largely dispelled by the findings also (Batchelor cited by Bell in Queen, 2000: 413). His question is about whether SEBs are justifying there position as SEBs, based on a fear that in Western society Buddhism is accused of being too inward looking, suggesting they are therefore using their self-righteousness as an excuse for engagement.

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Or, conversely, is their motivation a genuine and spontaneous outflow of practice for a suffering world? The latter seems to be affirmed by the axiomatic view that such an outflow is motivated by the understanding of the emptiness of self-need, giving it a genuine Buddhist approach to compassion. That is to say, practice, which is not driven by selfish motives, does not involve the ego of self-need as it is understood to be empty of self-nature. This also partly negates his point that Western Buddhists may be justifying their activities as SEBs through the cultural norms and values of their own societies. This is partially true, as one cannot become hermetically sealed from the lived experience of one’s own culture, but the motivational issues are Buddhist and in that sense rely on compassion and wisdom to be useful and authentic. The considerable ambiguity Batchelor (1994) foresees with the label of ‘engaged Buddhism’ continues to be problematic for some of those involved with SEB and others. The majority within the study, however, seem content with it, and the survey reflects overwhelming support for it being a recognizable and understandable term within the movement. To this end, the single question questionnaire, sent out to Buddhists who did not profess any overt connection with SEB will have something to say about how widely understood the term is within the British Buddhist landscape. This was intended only as a snapshot to provide some form of corroboration or otherwise for the feelings represented by SEB respondents to the 2004/5 SEB Survey. The numbers it affects are still relatively small but nonetheless it does present a consistent message, which despite the sample size should not be ignored. The questionnaire was distributed randomly to 200 Buddhist groups selected from within the Buddhist Directory (2004–6), and simply read ‘How Do You Understand the Term Socially Engaged Buddhism’? Of the 200 distributed 102 (51%) were returned. Out of those, 52 per cent not only reflected an understanding of the term, but also in fact affirmed its ethos in a variety of ways. Of the remaining 48 per cent, 21 per cent acknowledged some understanding of the term, but in 14 cases were negative about it as it was seen as detracting from the soteriological Buddhist path; in addition 7 papers were not filled in but returned. The remaining 27 per cent of the sample could be called the ‘don’t knows’ as they clearly had no knowledge of the term. Although the responses to the single question are more than likely only the view of one person and therefore cannot claim to be representative of the group concerned, they are nonetheless an indicator of the profile of SEB among the wider UK Buddhist population, 66 per cent of whom (including the 14 negative responses) understood the term and 52 per cent actually affirmed it.

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An area where practitioners largely ignore the academic debate about SEB is the discussion about methodological tools by which to explain it. The use of skilful means (upāya) is presented by Morgan (2004) in the literature as if it were part of a methodological toolkit, this, however, is to give too much weight to its academic potential, when in fact skilful means is a Buddhist concept which has implications for moral decision making. She goes on to suggest, however, it is a device with which SEBs could interpret ethical issues and in that sense is continuous with tradition in a Buddhist context. She sees this in addition to an approach with which to clarify the subject matter within engaged Buddhism. The idea of skilful means may be of interest to SEB leaders and academics but has little impact on practising individuals, who are likely to accept the authenticity and validity of practice, based on a leader’s acknowledgement of it coupled with their own experience (ehipassiko). But perhaps more fundamentally for many, there is the legitimating authority of mindfulness through emotional awareness to act, in a situational context.

Conclusions and characterizations The research seeks to address a number of questions identified in Chapter 1, which culminates in presenting characteristics of engaged Buddhist groups and individuals in the UK, based on empirical research. Primarily the book aims to locate SEB in the United Kingdom and place it within an emerging ‘Western Buddhism’. The placing of SEB in the British Buddhist landscape has been covered in some detail through the adaptation of Smart’s ‘Dimensional Analysis’, from which it is apparent that many of the dimensions overlap and may be read across each other where this occurs. In order to better place SEB in this framework, it is useful to reflect on the significance of the movement in relation to other Buddhist organizations in the United Kingdom currently, and the differences and similarities that presents. Notably, SEB retain many traditional aspects of Buddhist practice as the dimensional analysis outlines. There are, however, varying degrees of difference, not least because SEB groups are to some extent essentializing their practice and teachings; a common approach within the TBC, and a partial consequence of the Buddhist Modernism debate, in which adaptations and interpretations of Buddhism which came to the West were shaped by that discourse. In adapting SEB for the West, there are attempts to separate out some of the cultural accretions from its Asian heritage. The TBC is probably the greatest

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advocate of this approach, but Amida and NEB have adapted specific teachings from Pure Land and Zen origins. Notwithstanding C of I and Rokpa have monastic support for engaged practice, both originating in traditional forms but adapted in a contemporary setting. Thich Nhat Hanh and Lama Yeshe-Losal acknowledge their approach to practice is tailored to a number of essential elements that resonate with Western practitioners, as a consequence of developing and adapting Buddhism in the West. SEBs seek to live an interdependent life that accepts in the main all forms of teaching and practice, taking what is useful in a situational sense and applying its principles. As Bell (2000: 400) noted, SEBs have the ability to profitably read basic Buddhist teachings in order to determine their implications for social ethics and social and political theory, as one aspect of the engaged life. The development of such a theory is beyond the scope of the current work but would reward attention in future research in the attempt to synthesize a Buddhist social theory of engagement based on an interpretivist approach to Buddhism and social theory. Despite a great deal of adaptation and re-expression of teaching and practice in the formation of SEB in the West, there are no attempts to deny the validity of any Buddhism around the world where it is Buddhism born of ethical engagement (Jones, 2003). Waterhouse (1997: 219, 237) examines authority sources in British Buddhism associated with texts, lineage, teachers and personal experience, all of which overlap and interconnect to some degree. In textual terms, NEB draws on the adaptations of Western Ch’an sources while acknowledging other Buddhist texts (Theravāda and Mahāyāna); C of I have no fixed corpus of texts and are influenced by Zen, Ch’an, Taoist and Confucian sources; TBC draw on several schools of thought following their Triyāna approach; Amida, while developing and adapting a Pure Land form for the West adopt Theravāda, Chinese, Japanese and some Western psychological thinking into their discipline; and Rokpa retain the basis of its Kagyu lineage but clearly reflect the content with Westerners in mind, particularly as it affects therapies, the core of their UK activity. Lineage has varying significance for the groups in the study; Rokpa, C of I, Amida and TBC have both formal and informal lines, through masters and their ordination processes, while NEB with no fixed lineage connects through Western Ch’an to their Dharma heirs, with associations made by Jones as a teacher in his own right in that tradition. Teachers are crucial to the shape and adaptations in the UK context, not least that they all carry the charismatic label to a degree. Amida and NEB leaders are inclined to social action without reservation; C of I (as expressed earlier) are more conservative in approach, effecting change on an individual-to-individual

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basis; Rokpa through therapy and fundraising for projects at home and abroad seek to effect change in mental health in a positive sense; and a new finding in the research has highlighted within the decentralized TBC, a developing and growing SEB arm attuned to social action beyond the implicit connections of Right Livelihood towards a changing society.4 Should this newly formed approach continue to take root, the TBC may become the UK leaders in SEB, as they have greater recourse to numbers of Buddhists and resources than many other smaller groups. A considerable strength and similarity with other UK Buddhists, is in what Kay (2004: 19) suggests is an experimental and pragmatic approach to Buddhism, which should not be ignored when considering adaptation and development. For SEBs this approach is fundamental, as, arguably, experimentation created all five groups case studied, all of which are NBMs developed out of concern for social conditions in the twentieth century. NEB developed out of the anti-nuclear lobby; Amida out of the disappointment with C of I quietism towards social action and the desire to apply Buddhist psychology to a Western environment; C of I out of the ravages of war-torn Vietnam; FWBO now TBC as a response to the British Buddhist hierarchy of the English Sangha Trust, looking for a specifically Western Buddhism; and Rokpa out of the plight of Tibet and due to the Chinese invasion and the subsequent loss of Tibetan culture in the homeland. This is coupled with a realization that those with mental health issues in the United Kingdom could benefit from traditionally reworked approaches to therapy. In the context of the often-expressed negative views of NRMs, from which the term NBM emerged, there is an argument to see SEB groups as new, but without the negative connotations. Bell (2000: 398) described the NKT, FWBO and SGI UK as ‘closely bound, hierarchical organisations with an undisguised commitment to recruitment and expansion’. This does not fit the SEB NBM profile, few of which have any desire for recruitment. Even the TBC since shifts in authority has taken a more organic approach to growth, removing many former barriers between it and other Buddhists in the process. None of the groups are closely bound or hierarchical beyond spiritual attainment, or expansionist in their outlook. All claim to be open and inclusive of those of all religion and none. SEB organizations are new in the sense that their approach is seeking what Clarke (2006: 20) calls ‘the Fundamentals’, in response to the relativizing efforts of globalization, when looked at through the late-modern lens. By this he means NRMs (including NBMs), are part of a new, universal search for fundamental approaches to meaning making in the twenty-first century. Such fundamentals of SEB include: equality through ethical engagement; a response

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to secularization which sees allies in the secular humanists in the face of religious fundamentalism; concern for a harmonious and sustainable planet in the light of limited resources and their subsequent waste; and a basic approach to the core tenets of Dharma – compassion, interdependence, selflessness and the practice of morality and mindfulness. Contemplating the related research questions reveals much evidence for having approached and answered them, both in the content of the individual chapters and in the cross-case analysis that followed. The continuity versus discontinuity debate has seen the continuity aspect prevail among the case studies (as can be seen above). In that context most respondents see ‘all Buddhism as engaged’. There is, therefore, no correlation between ‘other-worldly’ and traditional forms of Buddhism as far as SEBs are concerned, in fact the opposite is the case; the continuity with tradition view, sees ‘this-worldly’ aspects of Dharma as not just a modernist development. SEBs are not apolitical or disconnected from their environments, only seeking enlightenment, but are actively engaged in their environments for the benefit of all beings and seeking a mundane realization, which does not in any way negate a transcendent form of enlightenment. The dimensional analysis and cross-case comparison has adequately appraised those areas within the study which sought to answer questions about who was attracted to SEB, and how they were organized in relation to monasticism, sacred space and iconography. In the context of the likely disparity between the ways academics in the field have characterized SEB and how it is understood empirically within the movement, examples of theory, which may be factually wrong, can be seen above in relation to Deitrick’s (2003) approach to SEB as only nominally Buddhist. In theoretical terms, evidence of academic discourse which may be correct, but ignored, can be seen in the example of the use of the Buddhist-originated concept of skilful means put forward by Kraft (2000) and Morgan (2004) above. While Queen’s (1996, 2000) approach to continuity and discontinuity may still be correct vis-à-vis the ‘New Buddhism’, it is not supported in the research on SEB undertaken here. This leads to the culmination of the research questions and becomes a suitable place to offer some closing reflections, giving consideration to: the place of SEB in the British Buddhist landscape, whether it is an emergent distinctive form within UK Buddhism, and how best to characterize it to aid understanding. The label ‘new’ has currency given the emergent SEB movement only developed in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, and for many years, until the catalyst of 9/11, was a small and largely unheard of approach to Buddhist practice. It has

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gained weight among Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike through its growing popularity, both with figures like the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh with international profiles, and in light of globalized developments and impending environmental disruption, especially through ‘Global warming’. Nevertheless, against the widespread militarism of major political powers and much suffering through loss of life in wars, civil unrest, global terrorism, and widespread disease and poverty, the SEB project seems but an insignificant tick on an elephant’s back. However the movement, as already portrayed, has a great deal of energy for one so small, and is currently making steady progress among major Buddhist groups in the United Kingdom, like the TBC and SGI UK. There is a sense that SEB will continue to attract those who see the usefulness of a networked approach to engagement, which allows one to retain a link to SEB while being part of another organization. Whether the singular approach of a solely SEB organization gathers any support will depend largely on groups like NEB, who are probably the only one capable of acting as a focal point for others, effectively holding the ring like the BPF in the United States. But for that to happen they require greater resources financially and commitment physically. The irony being, the NEB as an affinity group is struggling largely because SEB is spreading through larger and better-resourced groups, who then offer the kinds of supportive environments for SEBs in house. Characteristically, UK SEB could be described under the seven aspects below: ll

ll

ll

ll

ll

Practice is based on the core tenets of Dharma – compassion, interdependence, selflessness, morality and mindfulness in which the inner work of personal change is essential for creating social conditions to reduce material affliction and foster personal growth. There is a positive adaptation of teaching across all traditions and cultural boundaries where practitioners are not bound by fixed doctrinal positions or ideologies. SEB can be understood through action or service, which includes the spiritual, humanitarian and therapeutic approaches towards Dharma, where no one aspect is valued above any other. An openness (pluralism) and inclusivity (all religions and none) including the fourfold sangha, with an open-minded non-sectarian approach towards social responsibility and peace, shared values goals and aspirations. Not just social but also ethical engagement which seeks the equality of genders and races. Using non-violent strategies, legitimized through mindful awareness by which to access and act in a given situation,

248

ll

ll

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pragmatically framed and situationally assessed. This has recourse to the four immeasurables, a virtues approach and compassion and wisdom, which values the autonomy, dignity and common humanity of all, including adversaries. To interact across groups/organizations and hold loosely to a SMOs approach, underpinned by a profound inner/outer dynamic of engagement. Retaining an internationalist perspective influenced by Western values but not to the determent of other sentient life or societies. To hold a creative artistic/material approach to Dharma in which the spiritual and the material are fused, clearing the way for practice without self-need.

Many conclusions have been presented in summarizing the dimensions and survey material in this chapter and those that came before, and no one phrase or sentence will draw together all the characteristics of a diverse movement within an equally diverse Buddhist landscape. The core of SEB might be summarized under the terms ‘democratization’, ‘pragmatism’ and ‘engagement’. The appeal of SEB to Buddhists in the United Kingdom is not in the traditional view of romantic associations with the East, but more about ‘social responsibility and peace’ in an age where it is all too easy to see Thich Nhat Hanh’s term ‘engaged’ – presented originally in the French as engagé – implying a struggle, as a hopeless proposition. Although the nature of SEB is fragmented and loosely connected, it is perhaps best summarized by Gerlach and Hine (1970: 19) who claim: ‘[T]here is no defined head and yet they have loose links among the parts.’

Notes 1 The challenge is emphasized due to the lack of a self-transforming inner narrative associated with much of secular humanistic thinking. 2 ‘Non-Buddhist’ and ‘Other faith’ categories in Table 8.5 differ, as the Non-Buddhists are those not declaring a label in the 2004/5 SEB Survey. The Other faith category is made up of those who declare commitment to a ‘named faith group’, other than Buddhism. 3 The use of the term ‘Christian Love’, described as agape, from the Greek agapé, ‘brotherly love’ could be seen as closely paralleling compassion in a Buddhist sense. 4 This emerging group has come to light through subsequent enquiry and would need investigating in the future for any SEB study looking at UK SEB.

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Index Abhidhamma  58 ABMA  47 absolute truth  130 academic characterization  34–44 action  18, 48, 74, 99, 110, 125, 215, 227, 234, 239, 247 and collective  137 and compassionate  50, 107, 186, 198, 231 and devotional  159 and direct  47 and engaged  47, 48 and environmental  168 and ethical  49 see also ethics and imperative for  42, 52 and inner  96, 98, 106, 118, 133, 137, 221, 238, 248 see also inner path and liberative  101 and non-violent, direct  118 and outer  52, 96, 105, 114, 118, 147, 150, 214, 217, 221 and political  105, 116, 183 and right  120, 231 and secular  111 or service  46, 247 and volitional  49 activism  36, 43, 49, 92, 96, 103, 118, 137, 233 and engaged  21, 233 and environmental  91 and political  42, 117 and radical  15, 18, 19, 89 and social  18, 29, 38, 52, 111, 156 Afghanistan  104 ahiṃsā (non-harming)  30, 33, 34, 51, 202, 217, 230 and first precept  30, 51 and non-violent strategies  5, 30, 34, 52 Akong Tulku Rinpoche  191, 192, 193, 195, 196 and Kagyu Same Ling  Monastery  192 and Rokpa Trust  193

and Taming the Tiger  195 and Tara Rokpa Therapy  193 Ambedkar, B. R.  2, 32, 38, 39, 40, 81, 166, 186 and mass conversion  38 and neo-Buddhist  40 Amida Buddha (Ch. Amitābha)  61, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 70, 75, 76, 85, 222, 225 Dharmakāya (Bodhisattva)  69, 70, 76 and faith in  68–9 and primal vow  67 and refugee in  68 and nembutsu (keeping  Buddha in mind)  61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 86, 221, 222 Amida Trust  4, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 57, 58, 61, 66, 72, 81, 92, 106, 111, 114, 208 and Buddhist House, The (TBH)  58, 60, 64, 81 and counselling and psychotherapy  58, 59, 60 and engagement, model of  86 and France (Eleusis)  58, 60, 72, 81, 85 and Jones on typology  18–19 and Kai (spiritual association)  57, 61, 77, 235 and liturgy  63 and networking  16 and Order of Amida Buddha (OAB)  57, 59, 75, 77, 80, 106 Amitarya (ordained priest)  60, 75, 77, 80, 86, 230 Gankonin (Jap. Trainee)  75, 77, 85, 86, 230 Minister  76, 77, 80, 81, 86, 230 Novice  75, 77, 230 Postulant  77 and precepts and rules  75, 77 and retreats (Nei Quan)  64, 97, 116, 210, 221 and Shu (school)  57, 60, 67, 68, 69, 70, 75, 77, 80, 235

262

Index

and Tariki Trust  4, 14, 21, 22 and Western Pure Land  15 see under Pure Land Anagārika Dharmapala  39, 49 see also Buddhist Reformer Anatomy of Engaged Buddhism  14, 15, 18–19, 240 see also SEB and threefold typology and alternative societal models (ASM)  15, 19, 20, 21, 148, 152, 155, 156, 161, 186, 233, 239 and radical activism (RA)  15, 18, 19, 20, 239 and social helping service and welfare (SHSW)  15, 20, 21, 205, 213, 216, 239 antithetical Bonding  31 Aristotelian Virtue ethics  49, 50 see under ethics Arnott, David  108 art therapy  59, 71, 85, 87, 124, 166, 166, 177, 182–3, 216, 218, 238–9 authority, sources of  10, 11, 13, 33, 37, 42, 47, 52, 57, 79, 103, 110, 149, 172, 197, 209, 222, 244, 245 Buddha  37 charismatic  11 for ordination  172, 174, 184 questions about  52 SEB  222 shared  209 transmission  197 back to beginnings therapy  208, 209, 210, 212, 239 and art therapy  208 and five elements  209 and group activity  209 and Taming the Tiger  212 Bahudhātuka Sūtra  131 Bat Nha Temple  136 Batchelor, Stephen  9, 32, 241 Bechert, Heinz  39 beginning anew  140 being peace  129–30 see Nhat Hanh and social responsibility  130 Being Peace Centre  130, 141, 142, 148, 152 and cottage  141 Bell, Sandra  1, 8, 10, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 110, 111, 157, 240, 241, 244, 245

and survey of engaged  Buddhism  1, 21, 25, 26 belonginess identity  31, 44 Bethnal Green  157, 177, 182, 183 Blavatsky, H. P.  54 Bluck, Robert  1, 3, 10, 12, 13 Bodhisattva vows 50,  69, 70, 76, 80, 159, 218 Bodhisattvas  7, 36, 37, 41, 43, 50, 51, 58, 70, 76, 83, 94, 96, 106, 107, 113, 126, 127, 139, 193, 200 and Avalokiteśvara (Chenrezig)  70, 158, 193, 200, 222, 224 and Green Tārā  193 and initiation of  158 and Kawn Yin  94 and path of perfection  36 and virtues of  107, 202 and visualizations  161 Bombu nature  61, 66, 68, 72, 75, 79, 96, 223 Bowie, Robert  186, 232 Brahma Vihāras (divine abodes)  34, 108, 168, 185–6, 233 Brazier, Caroline  57, 58, 73, 85 see also Tariki Trust Brazier, David  2, 21, 57, 58, 59, 61, 66, 74, 134, 136 see also IZT British Buddhist landscape  1, 2, 11, 26, 216, 240, 243, 246, 248 Buddhas, nature and role of  19, 35, 37, 38, 39, 44, 60, 69, 70, 83, 113, 146, 160, 161, 164, 180, 182, 193, 194, 196, 201, 216, 226, 228 Buddha images (rūpas)  147, 182 Buddha mind (Bodhicitta)  107, 175 Buddha nature  95, 105, 116, 135, 149, 196, 197, 199, 209, 212, 217, 225, 228 Buddha realm  70 see also Pure Lands Buddha within  149, 150 Buddha word  37 Buddhadaśa  32, 44 Buddhadharma  19, 46, 52, 101 Buddhafield  20, 114, 175, 185 Buddhahood  36, 50, 96, 116, 200 and dharma and saṅgha  68, 163, 201, 206, 230 and great Bodhisattvas  36 and large golden  216

Index and realized teacher  146, 149, 151, 180, 201, 299 and Śākyamuni  64, 68, 70, 225 and three bodies of a (trikāya)  66, 69 Buddhist activist  2, 20, 21, 33, 53, 99, 105, 108, 112, 234 Buddhist business strategies  161 and ethical model of  170 Buddhist Centres  156, 165, 170, 173, 177, 191, 204, 239 Buddhist Directory  3 Buddhist Liberation Movement  36, 40, 43 Buddhist modernism  29–30, 150, 243 and Protestant Buddhism  39, 224 Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF)  9, 43, 91, 108, 109, 110, 247 Buddhist psychology  27, 58, 59, 60, 73, 79 Buddhist social reformers  27, 38, 166 Buddhist with a small ‘b’  33, 43, 152, 234 calligraphy  51, 124, 148, 239 Cardiff, Rokpa  200 Census data, England and Wales  2–3, 4 Centre, World Peace and Health  192 Chagford, retreats  94 Chan Kong, sister  124 Ch’an (school)  15, 18, 222 Chappell, D.  50, 52, 222 characteristics of SEB  2, 4, 16, 29, 30, 31, 41, 42, 53, 102, 163, 214, 239 in conclusion of  247–8 and Jones on SEB  29–30 and Nhat Hanh on  41 and Morgan on  38 and Queen on  42, 53 Charismatic leaders  11, 57, 74, 151, 224 Charity Commission UK  141, 191 Charter of the Order of Interbeing  132, 141 Chenrezig  193 see also Bodhisattvas Chogyam Trungpa  192 Christianity, and colonial influence  7, 29, 39, 42–3 and hymns  63 and love  232 Community of Interbeing (C of I)  15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 57, 83, 92, 94, 111 and ASM  21, 148 and Buddha nature in  126 and ceremonies in  130, 132, 133 and collectivism  43

263

and conservatism/caution, in  136, 151, 152, 226 and core and extended community  143, 144, 235 and Dharmacarya (teacher)  94, 109 see also Dharmacarya and DOM  124, 127, 128, 142, 152 and emptiness (śūnyatā)  130, 131, 132, 150 see also Interbeing and ethics of  126, 130, 136 and five and fourteen  mindfulness trainings  127, 137–40 and two promises  126 and Heart of Understanding Sutra (Prajñāpāramitā sūtra)  130, 132 and Here and Now magazine  143 and Indra’s jeweled net  130 and manual of practice  124, 148 and meditation on breathing (ānāpāna-sati)  125, 127 and Bell of mindfulness  125, 148 and Gāthās (verses)  125, 127 and walking (Kin Hanh)  127 and mindful living  125, 126, 137, 147 and Order of Interbeing (Tiep Hien)  44, 51, 124, 125, 132, 133, 136, 140, 141, 144, 149 and quietism  134, 245 and ritual in  126, 127, 128, 149 and saṅgha (local and regional)  142, 143, 148 and SEB survey  129, 145–7 and website of  148 compassion  32, 35, 137, 232 conclave  80 consequentialist  232 convert Buddhists  4, 6, 22, 49 see also Western converts convocation  78 counselling (and psychotherapy)  58, 59, 60 Crook, John (Western Ch’an Fellowship)  94 cross-group affiliation  92 Dalai Lama (14th)  26, 34, 35, 133, 247 and peace  133 and universal responsibility  35 demographics  4, 17, 81, 112, 118, 145, 178, 213–15 of Amida  81

264

Index

of C of I  145 of NEB  112, 118 of Rokpa  213–15 of TBC  178 Dependent Origination (Pratītya-samutpāda)  130 devotional practices  13, 61, 71, 74, 76, 127, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 182, 193, 216 and Amida nembutsu  61, 74 and DOM  127 and emotional awareness  221 and going for refuge  158, 159, 160 and positivity of mind  193, 216 and Pure Land tradition  76 Dharma  40, 41, 46, 52, 58, 68, 69, 83, 87, 92, 94, 99, 101, 102, 103, 114, 116, 117, 118, 123, 127, 128, 130, 133, 140, 141, 167, 169, 171, 180, 181, 183, 197, 198, 201, 202, 206, 209, 215, 224, 225, 230, 233, 238, 241, 244, 246, 247, 248 in Buddhadharma  19, 20, 101 and ‘eco-’  20, 21, 156 and ecumenical approach to  92 and followers of  99 and heirs  94, 244 and revisioning of  103 and training  144 in the west  158 Dharmacarya  94, 109, 140, 141, 144 see also C of I Dharmakāya (Bodhisattva)  76 see also Bodhisattvas Dharmavidya (David Brazier)  57, 58, 60, 63, 66, 67, 68, 71, 72, 73, 75, 77, 80, 83, 85, 134, 228, 230 Amida Buddha (OAB)  60, 77, 80 on Amidism  72 and Buddhist psychology  58, 59, 60, 73, 79, 245 on culturally engaged Buddhism  71 and Eleusis  72 on fivefold refuge  68 and head of the Order of  and IZT and ITZI  59, 79 and liturgical practice  63 on nembutsu (nein fo)  67, 68 see also Amida Trust and new Buddhism  134

on otherness as śūnyatā  67 and power to liberate  66, 67 and other power (tariki)  67 and self power (jariki)  67 on precepts and vows  72, 76, 77 and Pure Land doctrine  66, 67 on quietism  134 on Shamanism  60 as a spiritual leader  228, 229 and western minds  67 dharmas  197 Dōgen Zenji  2, 94, 99, 101, 115, 116 DOM (days of mindfulness)  124, 127, 128 Down by the Riverside  93 dualistic opposites  130 and non-duality  131 Dundee, Rokpa Centre  200 ecological factors  32, 41, 59, 73 ecosattvas (Bodhisattva of the environment)  41 eco-system  73 eco-therapy  59 Edinburgh, Rokpa Centre  204 education  21, 28, 36, 58 and ecumenical approach to  92 egalitarian  31, 71, 152, 234 ego  34, 96, 97, 100, 106, 117, 148, 169, 194, 199, 201, 221, 242 and affirming  97 and driven  169 and egocentricity  199 and ego-ism  34 and elimination of  201 and fortress  97 and grasping  194 and overcome  148 and self-absorbed  106, 117 and self-protecting  100, 221 e-group discussion  92 eight fold path, noble  (ariya-aṭṭhaṅgika-magga)  8, 20, 59, 76, 163, 164, 176 elemental sciences  131 Eleusis  72 see also Amida France emotional awareness  87, 96, 97, 98, 116, 117, 185, 195, 221, 222, 226, 228, 241, 243 empowerment through acceptance  101, 105, 116, 139, 228

Index empowerments  194, 195, 201, 224, 225 and Chenrezig, Guru Rinpoche and Tārā practices  195 emptiness (śūnyatā)  67, 96, 99, 100, 101, 102, 116, 130, 131, 132, 150, 198, 223, 224, 228, 242 see also interbeing and Diamond and Heart sūtras  101 and doctrine in all 5 cases  223 and emptiness and form  100, 131 and Hua-yen influence on  150 and interbeing as positive  130, 131 of self need  102, 228, 242 and struggle with ‘this’ and ‘that’  99, 224 engaged Buddhist studies  26, 36, 38 English Saṅgha Trust  157, 166, 245 Enlightenment  7, 11, 37, 51, 64, 68, 116, 163, 164, 198, 199, 201, 246 and Bodhisattva ideal  163, 199 and faith equivalent  68 and means ends of  149 and path of  199 ethics  35–6, 37, 48–51, 61, 99, 106, 107, 117, 137, 160, 165, 167, 175, 186, 227, 230–3, 244 and Amida Trust  75–8 and Aristotelian virtues  49, 50, 107 and engagement with  35 and ethical theory  51 and euthanasia  6, 107 and Harvey on  48–51 and Kantian  49 and hermeneutic  37 and Keown on  36, 38, 49 and normative  36 and Mahāyāna social  50, 106, 117, 232 and NEB  117 and right livelihood in  160, 165, 167 and secularization of  232, 233, 244 and situational  33, 52, 107, 108, 118, 139, 151, 186, 231, 232, 233, 243, 244, 248 and skillful means (upāya kauśalya)  35–8, 51, 232 and Utilitarian  149, 232 and virtues of benevolence  186 and volitional action  49 and Windhorse  175, 176 factionalism  138, 173 fellowship  93

265

finite planet  31 five and fourteen mindfulness  trainings  126, 127, 136, 137–40, 141, 144, 151, 235 see also C of I five fold refuges  75, 230 five precepts  77, 78, 106, 139, 168, 186, 202, 205, 217, 230, 233 and five wonderful trainings (C of I)  139 and fivefold refuges  230 and gankonin (vow mind)  77 and golden rules  202 and Mahāyāna, wisdom and compassion  233 and positive reinterpretation of  186 and TBC rewrite of  168 four fold saṅgha  33, 204, 246 and Vajrayāna saṅgha  204 four Immeasurables (Brahma Vihāras)  69, 108, 118, 159, 229 and four limitless meditations  193, 217 Four Noble Political Truths  102, 116 Four Noble Truths  163 Four ordinary foundations  194 Four special foundations (ngōndro)  194 fragmentation of SEB  30 France  58, 60, 72, 81, 85, 125, 133, 148 and Amida France  58, 60, 72, 81, 85 and arts retreat  85 and ordained saṅgha in  133, 148 and Plum Village  125 and renamed Eleusis  60, 72 FWBO, formerly  92, 146, 155 see under TBC Gankonin (Jap. vow mind)  75, 77, 85, 86, 230 Gāthās (mindfulness verses)  125, 127, 140 Ghosananda  42, 44 global system  32 global terror  104 globalization  43, 245 going for refuge  160, 163, 164 Gombrich, Richard  38, 39 on Ambedkar  38 on Protestant Buddhism  39 on soteriology  38 Gotama Buddha  38, 95 grace  61, 69, 70, 74, 76, 85, 86, 223, 225, 228 and Amida  61, 69, 70 in other power  74, 76 greed  31, 34, 49, 106, 169, 210, 233 and three poisons  49

266

Index

green Buddhists  41 green politics  32 green Tārā  158, 193 growing pains  172 and Vishvapani  156, 171, 172, 173, 174, 185 Gunananda Thera  39 gurus  160, 193, 194, 197, 198, 200, 201, 202, 213, 217, 222, 228 and disciple relationship  197, 200, 202, 217 and practice  222 and Rinpoche  195, 213 and Rokpa teacher as  201 and root  198 and surrender to  202 Harvey, Peter  14, 48, 49, 50, 200 on bodhicitta  200 on Buddhist ethics  48 on normative, meta and descriptive ethics  49 on other regarding action  49 Heart of London Saṅgha  147, 148 heart of understanding  130, 131, 164 Heart Sūtra (Prajñāpāramitā)  63, 101, 130, 131, 224 helping and touching programme  136 hermeneutics  37 see under skillful means  Hīnayāna  2, 40, 164 Holy Island  191, 203 and Centre for World Peace  and health  203 Hōnen  2, 62, 69, 79 Hua-tou (kōan)  116 Hua-yen influence  130, 149, 150, 222 humanism, Buddhist  29, 30 humanism, secularizing  29, 222 humanitarian projects  43, 68, 74, 111, 115, 192, 195, 197, 198, 200, 204, 205, 213, 215, 216, 218, 233, 247 and action or service  247 and aims are SHT  205 and Amida support for  68, 74 and Bodhisattva path  197, 200 in Cardiff  213 as charities  233 as essential for compassionate practice  195

in protest and service  115 and samye Ling as a resource for  215 in Tibet and Nepal  192 ideal, Bodhisattva  7, 36, 37, 43, 50, 58, 101, 106, 117, 163, 198, 200, 206, 217 ideal types  15, 20, 21, 87 and structures of  20 ASM  15, 18, 20, 21, 148, 152, 155, 156, 161, 168, 233, 239 RA  15, 18, 19, 21, 239 SHSW  15, 18, 20, 21, 239 idealism  9, 31, 61, 66, 71, 103, 159, 164, 176 and activist  9 and conflict  66 and Marxist  31 and Pure Land  71 and Windhorse  176 identity  31, 33, 38, 44, 86, 97, 109, 173, 184, 234 and belongingness  31, 44 and Buddhist  38 and collective  173, 184, 234 and faith-based  33 Gombrich on  38 and multi-layered and hybrid  33 and non-sectarian  30 and questions about  97 and social  86 ideology  29, 51, 129 and antithetical bonding  31 and emancipatory projects  29, 31 free markets  29 globalization  34, 43, 52 just-war  51 and late modernity  7, 11, 31, 57, 117, 222, 228 and New Age movements  192 and non-dual spirituality  101, 131, 150 and not bound by  129 and phenomenology  12, 198 and postmodernism  47 imperfection of humanity  133, 225, 233 and perfection of Buddha nature  96, 99, 101, 116, 133, 225, 233 inclusivist  30, 52, 129 and pluralist  130 Indra’s Net  30, 93, 102, 105, 109, 110 and Indra’s network  93

Index inner development  39, 83, 137, 198, 212, 217, 238 and dharmic work  114, 147, 181, 214, 217 and liberative strength  116 inner/outer  96, 98, 106, 133, 137, 221, 238, 248 inner path  96, 105, 118 and peace  102, 134 inner work  52, 83, 84, 96, 104, 199, 221, 224, 225, 241, 247 and transformation  106, 222 innovation  37 Institute for Zen Therapy (IZT)  59, 79 Instituto Terapia Zen Internacional (ITZI)  59, 72, 81 interaction  15, 31, 49, 51, 159, 160, 173, 186 and individual-to-collective  134 and individual-to-individual  134 Interbeing  4, 30, 41, 44, 51, 115, 123–4, 130–2, 133, 136, 140, 142, 144, 149, 150, 224, 225 see also C of I and doctrine of  150 and Indra’s jeweled net  30 and ‘inter-are’  41, 131, 148, 150, 224 and ‘inter-be’  41, 131, 136, 148, 150, 224 and interconnected nature  133 and interdependence (relatedness of all phenomena)  27, 32, 37, 44, 130 and nature of  136 Interbeing, Order of  125, 132–3, 136, 140, 142, 144, 149 see also Nhat Hanh, Thich and community of  4, 14 and international saṅgha  125 interfaith retreat centre  192 Interhelp (charity)  145 International Network of Engaged  Buddhists (INEB)  9, 33, 43, 110 see under Sivaraksa, Sulak Internationalist perspective  30, 248 Iraq war  104 Irwin, Edie  195 jiriki (jap. self power)  62, 67 Jodo Shin-shu (Pure land sect)  62, 67 Jodo-shu (Pure Land sect)  62 Jones, Ken  2, 5, 6, 14, 15, 18–22, 27, 29, 30, 31, 42, 49, 94, 96, 98, 103–4, 110, 224, 226, 233, 240, 244

267

and anatomy of engaged Buddhism  14, 15, 18–22, 240 and antithetical bonding  31 on Buddhist humanism  29 on Buddhist modernism  29 on Dōgen Zenji  94 on emptiness  96, 100 and ideal types  20, 238, 239 on inner and outer aspects  20, 224 on liberative action  116 on radical culture of awakening  52, 103–4 on situational ethics  108, 232 as spiritual mentor  110 on threefold typology  18 just war ideology  51 see also ideology justice, economical and social  32 Kalyāṇa- mitras (spiritual friends)  173 Karma  35 Karma Jiga  215 Karma Kagyu (Tibetan school)  191, 193, 194, 197, 198, 217 and Kagyu Samye Ling  Monastery  191, 192 and Mahāmudrā  194 and practical compassion  217 Karmapa, Gyalwa, seventeenth  192, 196 Karuṇā (compassion)  34 Karuṇā Trust  21 Kaza, Stephanie  41 Keown, Damien  5, 6, 14, 36, 48, 50, 232 on ethical engagement  48 on normative ethics  36 on virtue ethics  50 Kesa (scarf/robe)  175 King, Sallie  2, 27, 44, 49, 50 see also Queen Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia  2 on Buddhist social reformers  27 kōan (paradoxical question)  94, 95, 98, 101, 116 Kraft, Kenneth  2, 14, 26, 34, 35, 36, 41, 246 on engaged Buddhist studies  26, 36 on methodological tools  36, 38 on neologisms  41 on skillful means  35, 246 kulas (noble ones)  174 Kwan Yin (Kwan-Shi-Yin)  94, 95, 114, 139, 217, 222, 239

268

Index

Lama (spiritual guide)  197 Lama Yeshe Losal  198, 199, 200, 202, 205, 227, 228, 244 and adapt for western Buddhists  244 and deity visualization  193 empowerments  194 golden rules  202 and guru  228 humanitarian projects  200 Mahāmudrā training  196 retreat master  193 Lamp Transmission (Tiep Hien Order)  127, 144 late modernity  7, 11, 31, 57, 117, 222, 228 see also ideology liberation, the way of  32, 49, 53, 76, 84, 86, 133, 139, 198, 199, 201, 225 and interbeing nature of  133 in Kagyu tradition  199 and mundane  53, 84, 86, 255 Liberation Theology  43 light of Amida Buddha  69 lineage preservation  98, 99, 217, 227 Linji school (Ch’an Buddhism)  10 literalists  107, 108 Loori, John Daido  40 Lothlorien  195, 206–11 and befriending  207 and Brendan Hickey  208 and mental health  207 and therapeutic community  206, 211 Madhyamaloka meeting  174 Mahāmudrā practice  196, 197 Mahāyāna  2, 7, 15, 20, 34, 36, 37, 50, 51, 52, 58, 75, 117, 162, 164, 202, 203, 232, 244 and Bodhisattvas  7, 58, 76 and Chappell on  50, 51, 52 and ethics of  50, 52, 107, 232 and Japanese masters of (Hōnen, Shinran, Dōgen)  2 and six pāramitās of  34 and skillful means  36, 37 and vehicle analysis  40, 106 wisdom and compassion in  20 mandala offering  194 mantras (meditative verse)  159, 175 Manual of Practice (C of I)  124, 132, 148, 149

meditation  5, 7, 13, 16, 20, 26, 34, 39, 40, 62, 64, 65, 85, 94, 95, 103, 125, 174, 186, 194, 196, 217, 222, 239 and Brahma Vihāras  108, 159 and classes  212, 213 and deconstruct self  96 and devotion  193 and four immeasurables  196 and guided  127, 148 and hall  171 and mindfulness of breathing (ānāpāna-sati)  127, 161 and Nei Quan (retreat)  64, 116 and nembutsu  62 positive experience of  158, 161 samādhi (concentration)  34 sādhana (visualization)  67, 159, 161, 194, 218 and vipaśyanā (insight)  161, 194 walking (kin hanh)  126 and Zazen (just sitting)  94, 159 methods of SEB  36, 38 and versus issues  103 mettā (loving kindness)  34, 35 mettābhāvanā (loving kindness meditation)  158, 159, 161, 186, 222 mindfulness (sati)  127, 128, 129, 133, 136, 140, 149, 164, 169, 175, 186, 199, 210, 222, 243, 246 and bell of  125, 148 and days of (DOM)  127, 128, 142, 152 mitras (friends)  160, 173, 174, 175, 235 modernism, Buddhist  13, 39, 42, 45, 47 monastics  39, 47, 134, 140, 144, 152, 201 and modernism  39, 47 and equality in C of I  134 and vows  140 at Plum Village  152 at Samye Ling  201 in the Thien (Zen) lineage  144 Morgan, Peggy  36, 37, 38–48 and five characteristics of SEB  38–48 movement against nuclear weapons  91 movements, Buddhist  5, 7, 12, 32, 37, 155, 157, 163 and new Buddhist movements (NBM)  57, 93, 233 and western Buddhist  156 Muditā (sympathetic joy)  34, 35

Index Mudrās (symbolic hand gesture)  194 Mugeko (unimpeded light)  69 Namo Amida bu (butsu) call to Amida  Buddha  62 Naropa Institute  198 narratives  13, 99, 102, 103, 133, 214, 217, 225 of Buddhism  13 as critique of late modernity  116, 225 dimension  13 of engagement  27, 199, 214 of lineage master  198 of ordinariness  70, 86, 225 of Pure Land  72 of radical culture of awakening  103, 117 of right livelihood  227 of social responsibility  133 within TBC  164, 184 national saṅgha (C of I)  140, 141, 143, 152 navayāna (new Buddhist vehicle)  2, 38, 40, 241 see also new Buddhism NBM  57, 66, 93, 94, 96, 118, 245 nembutsu  61, 63 neologisms  35, 41 Nepal  191 Network of Engaged Buddhists (NEB)  6, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 29, 83, 91, 93, 94, 103, 107–8, 226, 230 and affinity group  109, 110, 114, 115, 118, 230, 233, 234, 247 and emptiness  130 and engaged Buddhism  9, 123 and ethics  106–8, 233 and journal of  93 and members of  98 and mobility of  119 and narrative of  102 as NBM  116 and nebsangha e group  115 and peripheral members  111, 235 and retreats  92, 94, 99, 103, 105, 109, 114 and website of  117 and Western Ch’an  114 New Barn (C of I)  142 new Buddhism  2, 40, 41, 42, 43, 74 134,  246 New York, nine eleven  104 NGO  204 Nhat Hanh, Thich  9, 10, 15, 21, 33, 34, 38, 51, 92, 123 and Brahma Vihāras  108

269

all Buddhism is engaged  38 and Buddhist activist  33, 123 and calligraphy of  51 and characterizing SEB  34 and engaged Buddhism  21 and fourfold saṅgha  33 and inclusive teaching  33 and interbeing  41 and mindful life  33 Morgan on  44 Nirvāṅa (skt),  7, 49, 84, 114, 147, 163, 182 and Order of Interbeing  124 Sivaraksa on  4 on social responsibility  124 and social teaching  44 and Tiep Hien Order  15, 51 as traditionist  44 and Vietnamese conflict  9, 123 and Zen master  92, 123 Nobel Prize nomination  123 Noble eightfold path (ariya-aṭṭhaṅgikamagga)  8, 20, 76, 163, 164 Non-Buddhist  1, 19, 20, 48, 59, 92, 99, 106, 113, 146, 178, 184, 185, 205, 216, 233, 247 non-harming  30, 33, 51, 202, 217, 230 non-sectarian  52, 118 non-violence  6, 34, 51, 95, 102 non-violent direct action  118 Norfolk Rokpa  204 NRM (new religious movement)  66, 93, 245 Olcott, Henry Steel  39, 40 Order of Amida Buddha (OAB)  75, 80 Order of Buddhist Contemplatives (OBC)  63 Order of Interbeing  44, 51, 124, 125, 132, 133, 136, 140, 141, 144, 149 see also C of I and Tiep Hien  15, 51, 124, 141, 144, 230, 239 Order survey (TBC)  171 ordination  127, 141, 155, 156, 161, 168, 174, 175, 184, 202, 224, 230, 244 other directed  49 other power (tariki)  61, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 71, 74, 76, 86, 116, 128, 129, 223, 225, 239 other worldly  7, 8, 10, 11, 34, 44, 126, 246

270

Index

and Max Weber  7 and this worldly  7, 8, 10, 11, 84 and this worldly liberation  84 pañña (wisdom)  34, 36 Parallex Press  124 pāramitās, six (of the Mahāyāna)  34 Payutto, P. A.  42, 44 Peacemaker  78 perfection  61, 74 of Buddha nature  96, 99, 101, 116, 133, 223, 225 and imperfection  100, 116, 133, 223, 225 perfection of wisdom (Prajñā-pāramitā)  124, 126, 132 personal transformation  6, 139, 187, 225 and caring and service  6, 49, 51, 102 and political systems  3, 6, 247 and social transformation  2, 6, 91 Pillars of TBC  184 Pitt, Martin  109 political influence  104 and action  105 and activism  28, 36, 42, 52, 111, 117, 193 and activity  8, 46, 71, 105 angst  105 and correctness  67 and debate  228 and elites  104 and engagement  10, 117 and environmental  5, 11, 227 and failures of  30 and mainstream  32 and organizations  33 and partisanship  76 and philosophy  32 and powers  235, 247 and realities  1, 106 and reform  40 and social conflict  6 and socio-political thought  41, 44, 45, 68 and system  228 and theory  27, 244 and thinking  241 and violence  30 positivity of mind  193, 222 Prajñā-pāramitā Heart Sutra  130 Prajñā-pāramitā literature  124, 126, 132

prātimokṣa (monastic rules)  140 Preceptors College  173 precepts, five  51, 64, 75, 76, 85, 86, 87, 95, 106, 107, 117, 118, 137, 139, 140, 151, 167, 168, 170, 175, 186, 202, 203, 217, 230, 231, 233 and Amida  75, 76 and five golden rules  202 and five wonderful trainings  139 and Mahāyāna  75 and ten novice  140, 168 and ten precepts  175 Private Preceptors  174 provisions of governance  78, 79, 80 Pūjā (ritual devotion)  66, 94, 95, 99, 114, 129, 159, 161, 162, 193, 194, 196, 233 and Buddhafield  114 and empowerments  194 and Kwan Yin  94, 95 and right livelihood  159 and TBC forms of  233 and Tibetan forms of  193 Pure Land  5, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 66, 67, 68, 70, 71, 72, 74, 76, 79, 80, 86, 87, 100, 128, 142, 204, 222, 223, 225, 230, 244 and doctrine  72, 87, 222 and ethics  230 and human imperfection  100 and religious rules  76 and retreat centre  204 and Śākyamuni Buddha  225 and Sukhāvatī  58, 67, 70, 79, 81 and the west  15, 74, 86, 225, 244 Pure Land Sūtras  70 Quakers (Religious Society of Friends)  147 Queen, Christopher  2, 41, 42, 44, 45, 47, 156, 241 on Buddhist liberation movements  43 on new Buddhism  41, 42, 43, 241 quietism  57, 133–6, 225 radical activism (RA)  15, 18, 19, 20, 239 see also anatomy of engaged Buddhism as model of threefold typology  18, 19, 20 radical culture of awakening  52, 160, 226, 234 reapplication of Buddhist principles  103

Index reconfiguring society  30 reform Buddhist movement  40, 41, 124 reinterpretation of texts  35 religion of the book  107, 118 Religions in the UK: Directory  3 research methods  14 research questions  11 researcher activity  16 retreats  16, 64, 92, 94, 99, 103, 105, 109, 114, 124, 125, 128, 141, 142–3, 147, 157, 160, 175, 192, 196 and Amida  16, 64 and C of I  125, 127 and communal living  157 and family  128 and four year  192 and mobility of  114 and NEB  92, 94, 109, 147 and TBC  105, 160 and training  142–3 revision of dharma  133 right livelihood  5, 6, 14, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 28, 35, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 175, 176, 178, 180, 182, 183, 184, 185, 225, 227, 229, 238, 245 and arts projects  182 and Bethnal green  177 and Buddhist businesses  177, 178 and experiment with  165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 175, 176, 178 and TBRL  176 organization of  175–7 and transformation of  160 and western Buddhist culture  182 right view  22, 107, 108, 117, 233 Rinpoche, Akong Tulku  191, 193, 195, 198, 199, 200, 201, 203, 204, 205, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 215, 217, 218, 227, 228 rituals  11, 13, 16, 20, 42, 107, 108, 117, 233 Rogers, Carl  58 Rokpa House (Glasgow)  205–6 Rokpa Trust  14, 15, 21, 191, 192, 203, 205, 213 and governance  205 and hub at Samye Ling  213 and international projects  192 and retreats  192, 195, 196 and subsidiary companies  203

271

sādhana (visualization)  159, 175, 194, 222 samādhi (meditative concentration)  34, 67, 70 saṃghā (saṅgha) community  33, 44, 57, 67, 69, 72, 73, 76, 80, 86, 111, 114, 125, 128, 133, 134, 136, 138, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 147, 152, 170, 175, 204, 206, 230, 235 and Buddhafield  114 and C of I  123 and national  140, 141 and forest saṅgha  107 and fourfold saṅgha  33, 247 and Kagyu  204 and nebsangha  110, 115, 235 and Pure Land  57, 60 take refuge in  68, 69 and Vietnamese  123 Saṅgha Coordination Advisory  Network (SCAN)  141 Sangharakshita  66, 79, 155, 156, 157, 158, 160, 162, 164, 168, 171, 172, 175, 180, 182, 184, 186, 231, 239 and relationships  172 school of youth for social service  45, 123, 124 SEB (socially engaged Buddhism)  5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and ambivalence towards  26 anatomy of  15, 18 and characterizations of  11 and definitions of  5–6, 21 ethics of  232 see also ethics and genesis of  5, 9, 10 and Jones on  2, 5, 6, 14, 15, 18–22, 27, 29, 30, 31, 42, 49, 94, 96, 98, 103–4, 110, 224, 226, 233, 240, 244 see under Jones and Keown on  5, 6, 36, 48, 50, 232 and Morgan on  38–48 and SEB survey on  17, 146, 161, 171, 213–15, 235 and threefold typology of  15, 19, 20, 21, 232 western interpretation of  6, 36, 37 self righteousness  20, 96, 137, 167, 224 selflessness  44, 52, 144 self-realization  128, 212 Shabda (TBC Order newsletter)  171, 172, 182

272

Index

Shan Tao  79 Sharpham College of Buddhist  Studies  32 Shen Yen, Master  94, 107, 150 Shinran  2, 62, 79 situationalism  33, 186, 232 see also ethics Sivaraksa, Sulak  2, 33, 34, 35, 36, 44 on Buddhism with a small ‘b’  34 on upāya-kauśalya (skillful means)  36 skillful means (Mahāyāna concept)  36, 37 Smart, Ninian  12–14, 22, 243 and dimensional analysis of worldviews  12, 13 Social Movement Organisations  (SMO)  118, 234 social order  31 social responsibility and peace  222 social scientific model  35 soteriology  7, 38 soup run, Glasgow  206 South Africa  191 spiritualist  82 spirituality  2, 6, 20, 29, 32, 43, 51, 58, 59, 60, 62, 74, 79, 85 and attainment  20, 51, 245 and community development  72, 85, 204 and engagement  29, 72, 135 and grace  62 and growth  6, 10, 41 and inner path  105, 118 and leaders  156, 224 and liberation  30 and Shamanism  85 and therapeutic and humanitarian  198, 200, 205, 216, 247 and well spoken  37 Subhuti  72–175 Sukhāvatī (Pure Land in the west)  58, 67, 70, 79, 81 and Amida in Finsbury Park  58 and Pure Land after death  67 Sweet Potato Farm Community  124 Tai Hsu  123 Tai Tribe  81 Taintai Zhaya (four bodhisattva vows)  50 Taming the Tiger Therapy  212 tantric practices  194 Tara Rokpa Therapy Association  92

Tariki (other power)  62, 67 Tariki Trust  4, 14, 21, 22, 58, 59, 60, 73, 85, 233 Tathāgata Trust  81 TBC (Triratna Buddhist Community)  5, 14, 16, 20, 21, 22, 26, 66, 73, 79, 80, 83, 92, 113–14, 161, 164, 170, 176, 183, 205, 214, 222 and arts  183 and doctrine of  163 and ethics  186, 230 and meditation  186, 229 and pūjās  23 and right livelihood (TBRL)  164, 168, 170, 176, 183, 205, 214, 222 and social profile  178–82 and three pillars of  184, 186 team based right livelihood (TBRL)  155 see also right livelihood thangka painting  216 and Sherab Palden  216 Theravāda perspective  34 Thien (Zen) lineage  144 three jewels (Buddha, Dharma  Saṅgha),  127, 128, 163, 201, 206, 230 three refuges (C of I)  128 Tiep Hien Order  51 see under Order of Interbeing Tilopa  198 tradition and modernity  29, 42, 44–8 Traditional Tibetan Medicine (TTM)  218 transmission of dharma  196 trikāya doctrine of three bodies of the  Buddha  66, 69 unconditioned  70, 86 unification narrative  150 Unified Buddhist Church  45, 132 United States of America  2, 9, 10, 28, 40, 43, 91, 110, 124, 133, 148, 156, 192, 227, 247 universal compassion  217 universal responsibility  35 Upāsaka Precept Sūtra  50, 51 upāya-kauśalya (skillful means)  35–8 see under skillful means upekkhā (equanimity)  34 Urthona magazine of TBC  182–3, 186 utilitarianism  36, 232

Index and Act Utilitarian  232 and Consequentialism  232 and Keown on  36, 232 Vairocana Buddha  69 vajrasattva (mantra for the dead)  158 vajrayāna  2, 164, 193, 196, 202, 204 values, Buddhist  9, 157, 207 and ethical  26, 61, 248 and material  183 and shared  29, 92, 247 of societies  32, 71 and western  248 Vietnamese nationalism  110, 136 Vinaya Piṭaka  76, 86, 140, 144, 165, 168, 202, 230, 233 vipaśyanā (skt) vipassanā (pali)  insight meditation  194 virtues approach  68, 107, 108, 186, 202, 225, 231, 232, 233, 248 and Aristotelian of benevolence  186, 232, 233 of conscientiousness  232 and right view  of Bodhisattvas  107 of self-restraint  232, 233 Vishvapani  173 visual artifacts  216 visualization (sādhana)  67, 70, 160, 161, 175, 186, 193, 194, 195, 210, 216, 218, 222 and Buddha remembrance samādhi  67 and Chenrezig  194 and lineage tree  194 and mantras  194 and refuge tree  160, 222 and taming the tiger  195 and Tara Rokpa therapy  212 and transmission process  194 volunteering (India)  80–1, 165 vows  139, 140, 192, 200, 230 and Bodhisattvas  75

273 of monastics  140, 192, 202 as precepts  139

Weber, Max  7 websites  73, 74, 92, 109, 110, 115 western audience  133 Western Ch’an Fellowship  18, 94 and John Crook  94 and Ken Jones  94 and Linji school of Ch’an  94 and Master Shen Yen  94 western converts  4, 6, 82, 83, 113, 118, 146, 152, 180, 228, 229 western hegemony  31, 164 western practitioners  67 western psychotherapeutic  experience  212 western Pure land  73, 255 Whitmyer, Mindfulness and Meaningful Work  169 Windhorse: Evolution  168, 169, 170, 175 Windhorse saṅgha  170 Windhorse Trading  170, 175 Work as a Buddhist practice  160 Writing Our Way Home  85–6 Writing Small Stones  85 Wyler, Lea  191 Yāna (Buddhist vehicle)  2, 41, 42, 52 Yarnall, Thomas  29, 44, 45 Zafu (jap.) cushion  94 Zazen (just sitting)  94, 222 Zen  1, 49, 58, 59, 62, 66, 92, 94, 99, 107, 115, 124, 162, 166, 191, 226, 244 and influences on practice  166, 222 and interpreted for the west  226 and transmission of lineage  244 Zen Master Dōgen  92, 123 Zen sympathies  92 Zen Therapy  58, 59 Zimbabwe  191