The Place of Meditation in Engaged Buddhism
Christopher S. Queen
International Journal of Buddhist Thought and Culture June 30, 2018 DOI: 10.16893/ijbtc.2018.06.28.1.159 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism Meditation |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | The paper reviews a twenty-five-year debate among Ambedkar Buddhists over whether meditation supports or undermines social activism. Critics object to the commercialization of mindfulness and its corporate and military applications, and Indian activists and secularists have raised doubts about Goenka Vipassana and Trailokya Baudda Mahasangha training centers. The authors conclude the question is significant for these new Buddhists and for Engaged Buddhism generally, but remains unsettled. |
Abstract
Buddhist meditation, also known as mindfulness and vipassana, has been a hallmark of Buddhist revival in many parts of the world. Engaged Buddhists - those who see their practice as a collective response to the institutional causes of suffering and injustice in society - have generally regarded meditation as a foundation and a resource for their struggle. Recent criticisms of meditation have been raised by engaged Buddhists in Asia and the West, however. The commercialization of mindfulness training, and its application to corporate and military settings, have raised objections from engaged Buddhist leaders and scholars in the West. In India, the popularity of the Vipassana training centers founded by S. N. Goenka and the meditation training offered at the Trailokya Baudda Mahasangha centers, has also raised doubts among activists and secularists. Are meditators more or less effective as social activists in the name of the Buddha’s Dhamma? In this paper we look at this debate among Ambedkar Buddhists over the past twenty-five years, concluding that the matter is significant for the practice of these new Buddhists and for Engaged Buddhism generally - but far from settled.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |