Author: Chanju Mun
Publisher: Blue Pine Books
ISBN: 0977755304
Category : Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
This book contributes to the increasingly important issue of how Buddhists should respond to war, violence and the injustices of the world. The collection of essays in this volume is the most comprehensive on the theme of peace and justice in Buddhist contexts to date. The distinguished contributors equally represent the two major Buddhist traditions, Theravada and Mahayana, and investigate the subject from the rich array of expertise in Buddhist theories and practices. The book is intended for social scientists, peace activists, Buddhist scholars, engaged Buddhists and all people concerned about social conditions. Readers will find this Buddhist wisdom on peace and justice may broaden their understanding of the relationship of self to other. The contributors hope these uplifting messages will lead to the discovery of ways of brining about happiness in this world of conflict and injustice. (

Author: Jessica Marie Falcone
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501723499
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 427

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Book Description
Battling the Buddha of Love is a work of advocacy anthropology that explores the controversial plans and practices of the Maitreya Project, a transnational Buddhist organization, as it sought to build the "world's tallest statue" as a multi-million-dollar "gift" to India. Hoping to forcibly acquire 750 acres of occupied land for the statue park in the Kushinagar area of Uttar Pradesh, the Buddhist statue planners ran into obstacle after obstacle, including a full-scale grassroots resistance movement of Indian farmers working to "Save the Land." Falcone sheds light on the aspirations, values, and practices of both the Buddhists who worked to construct the statue, as well as the Indian farmer-activists who tirelessly protested against the Maitreya Project. Because the majority of the supporters of the Maitreya Project statue are converts to Tibetan Buddhism, individuals Falcone terms "non-heritage" practitioners, she focuses on the spectacular collision of cultural values between small agriculturalists in rural India and transnational Buddhists hailing from Portland to Pretoria. She asks how could a transnational Buddhist organization committed to compassionate practice blithely create so much suffering for impoverished rural Indians. Falcone depicts the cultural logics at work on both sides of the controversy, and through her examination of these logics she reveals the divergent, competing visions of Kushinagar's potential futures. Battling the Buddha of Love traces power, faith, and hope through the axes of globalization, transnational religion, and rural grassroots activism in South Asia, showing the unintended local consequences of an international spiritual development project.

Author: Ian Harris
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824865774
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
This pioneering study of the fate of Buddhism during the communist period in Cambodia puts a human face on a dark period in Cambodia’s history. It is the first sustained analysis of the widely held assumption that the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot had a centralized plan to liquidate the entire monastic order. Based on a thorough analysis of interview transcripts and a large body of contemporary manuscript material, it offers a nuanced view that attempts to move beyond the horrific monastic death toll and fully evaluate the damage to the Buddhist sangha under Democratic Kampuchea. Compelling evidence exists to suggest that Khmer Rouge leaders were determined to hunt down senior members of the pre-1975 ecclesiastical hierarchy, but other factors also worked against the Buddhist order. Buddhism in a Dark Age outlines a three-phase process in the Khmer Rouge treatment of Buddhism: bureaucratic interference and obstruction, explicit harassment, and finally the elimination of the obdurate and those close to the previous Lon Nol regime. The establishment of a separate revolutionary form of sangha administration constituted the bureaucratic phase. The harassment of monks, both individually and en masse, was partially due to the uprooting of the traditional monastic economy in which lay people were discouraged from feeding economically unproductive monks. Younger members of the order were disrobed and forced into marriage or military service. The final act in the tragedy of Buddhism under the Khmer Rouge was the execution of those monks and senior ecclesiastics who resisted. It was difficult for institutional Buddhism to survive the conditions encountered during the decade under study here. Prince Sihanouk’s overthrow in 1970 marked the end of Buddhism as the central axis around which all other aspects of Cambodian existence revolved and made sense. And under Pol Pot the lay population was strongly discouraged from providing its necessary material support. The book concludes with a discussion of the slow re-establishment and official supervision of the Buddhist order during the People’s Republic of Kampuchea period.

Author: Irfan A. Omar
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118953428
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Written by top practitioner-scholars who bring a critical yet empathetic eye to the topic, this textbook provides a comprehensive look at peace and violence in seven world religions. Offers a clear and systematic narrative with coverage of Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Native American religions Introduces a different religion and its sacred texts in each chapter; discusses ideas of peace, war, nonviolence, and permissible violence; recounts historical responses to violence; and highlights individuals within the tradition working toward peace and justice Examines concepts within their religious context for a better understanding of the values, motivations, and ethics involved Includes student-friendly pedagogical features, such as enriching end-of-chapter critiques by practitioners of other traditions, definitions of key terms, discussion questions, and further reading sections

Author: Daisaku Ikeda
Publisher: Dialogue Path Press
ISBN: 9781887917193
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Throughout the eleven conversations of Peace, Justice, and the Poetic Mind, Buddhist thinker and leader Daisaku Ikeda and Australian peace scholar and activist Stuart Rees explore the diverse conditions that must be in place for peace to flourish and persist. Many of these fall under the banner of social and economic justice, and all constitute expressions of the nonviolent way of life, individually and socially. Adding a unique aspect to the quest for peace and justice, the authors draw attention to the power of poetry to awaken a sense of our common humanity and inspire a commitment to the dignity and well being of others.

Author: Scott E. Hendrix
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 817

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Book Description
This book provides reliable information about important world religious leaders, correcting the misinformation that can be on the internet. Religious leaders have shaped the course of history and deeply affected the lives of many individuals. This book offers alphabetically arranged profiles of roughly 160 religious leaders from around the world and across time, carefully chosen for their impact and importance and to maximize inclusiveness of faiths from around the world. Scholars from around the world, each one an expert in his or her field and all holding advanced degrees, came together to create an essential resource for students and for those with an interest in religion and its history. Every entry has been carefully edited in a two-stage review process, guaranteeing accuracy and readability throughout the work. Not strictly a biographical reference that recounts the facts of religious figures' lives, the book helps users understand how the selected figures changed history. The entries are accompanied by excerpts of primary source documents and suggestions for further reading, while the book closes with a bibliography of essential print and electronic resources for further research.

Author: Deegalle Mahinda
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780998858401
Category : Buddhism and politics
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Justice and Statecraft: Buddhist Ideals Inspiring Contemporary World'gathers research exploring Buddhist views as expressed in the Buddhist canonical texts, chronicles and social history of Buddhism in Asian societies from the inception of Buddhism in the Indian sub-continent to the 21st century in the West. The purpose of this collection is to examine in-depth how Buddhist ideals have influenced statecraft'the skillful management of state affairs'including politics, civil administrations and social transformations in Asian societies. A key area of focus is how Buddhist ideals revitalized development of forms of governance by encouraging adherence to rule of law and Buddhist teachings inspired notions of justice. Adopting historical, philosophical, and textual and social science approaches, this volume investigates styles of good governance that Buddhists envisaged and practised.

Author: Mary Shepard Wong
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 135018408X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Bringing together scholars and educators based in Myanmar, the USA, the UK, Denmark, and Thailand, this book presents new perspectives and research on the struggle for social justice and peace in Myanmar at this critical juncture. It shows how actors from diverse backgrounds and regions of Myanmar are drawing from their identities, evoking their agency, and using critical pedagogy to advance social justice and peace. The chapters provide the compelling life stories of the authors, specific examples of what they are doing, and insights of how their work might be applied to other contexts. The topics discussed include addressing structural violence, peace curriculum development, identity-based conflict, teaching the history of the country, promoting inclusion, civic education, critical pedagogy, teacher agency, and agendas of research funding for peacebuilding. The foreword and afterword, written by well-known scholars of Myanmar, address the relevance and importance of the book vis-a-vis the current social and political crisis following the February 2021 military coup.

Author: Olivier Urbain
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 085772455X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
The prominent Buddhist religious leader and advocate for peace, Daisaku Ikeda, has placed dialogue at the centre of his efforts towards securing global justice and conflict resolution. However, far from constituting abstract plans for the future of the world, Ikeda's dialogues represent very concrete and focused activity. He concentrates on one significant individual (such as Joseph Rotblat, Linus Pauling and Mikhail Gorbachev) at a time, or sometimes small groups, in order to attempt the transformation of thinking and society through intense discussion. This book offers detailed exploration of this crucial aspect of Ikeda's philosophy of peace. Contributors examine topics such as: the background to Ikeda's dialogic thinking as found in the Lotus Sutra; Buddhism as a practical philosophy of dialogue; Ikeda's use of dialogue, specifically in the field of education; and dialogue in relation to the abolition of nuclear weapons. Ikeda's concept of dialogue emerges as a paradoxical movement towards common ground based on respectful difference. This study will appeal to students of peace, politics and modern Buddhism.

Author: Chanju Mun
Publisher: Blue Pine Books
ISBN: 0977755312
Category : Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages : 477

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Book Description
Buddhism and Peace: Theory and Practice is among the most comprehensive books on this topic to date. Of the seven international seminars on Buddhism and Leadership for Peace, which have gained worldwide reputation in leading discussions on Buddhism and peace, the seventh seminar was the most successful. Thirty-one eminent scholars and activists among the more than forty participants presented papers on Buddhism and peace from the varying perspectives of their expertise. The two major Buddhist traditions, the Theravada and the Mahayana, are equally represented in this book. Likewise, a balance is struck in this book in terms of the number of articles dealing with theory and those concentrating on practice. The result is a collection of essential readings on the application of Buddhist wisdom for peace activists, scholars of religion, social scientists, and others in these troubled times, Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike.