Ethics

Spirituality and ethics are two aspects of the same thing, or even two ways of talking about the same thing. By practicing Buddhism, one is endeavoring to become more and more selfless, more and more capable of higher and higher levels of nonviolence, loving kindness, and altruism. The Buddhist path is all about transforming and developing one's character in a specific way defined by the Buddhist community. Moreover, the Buddha as prototype embodies that perfection of character.

Sallie King, Being Benevolence: The Social Ethics of Engaged Buddhism

The goal of ethics is to become a person who does good or virtuous things freely from the ground of a well-tempered character, supported by a matured, resolute, and reasonable knowledge of what one is doing. The path of Buddhism does not dissolve character (which is different from ego and personality). It awakens and illuminates moral character and establishes a 'noble' selfhood in the wide, deep, expressive freedom of creative forms of life and its perfections.

James Whitehill, Buddhist Ethics in Western Context: The "Virtues" Approach

Journal of Buddhist Ethics

 Ethics for the New Millennium
H.H. the Dalai Lama

 Being Benevolence: The Social Ethics of Engaged Buddhism 
Sallie King

The Ethical Precepts and Philosophical Tenets of Zen Buddhism

The Inner Ecology: Buddhist Ethics and Practice
Ronald Epstein

Everyman's Ethics: Four Discourses of the Buddha
Adapted from the translations of Narada Thera

Buddhist Morality and Practice
Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda

Buddhist Morality 
Dr. C. George Boeree, Shippensburg University

Sometimes Full, Sometimes Half Full
Norman Fischer
All of our actions, however small, can have wondrous effects, but only if we are wholehearted enough in our practice of ethical conduct.

Dogen's "Ceaseless Practice"
Dogen Zenji
A non-authoritarian basis for ethics

Spirituality and ethics are two aspects of the same thing, or even two ways of talking about the same thing. By practicing Buddhism, one is endeavoring to become more and more selfless, more and more capable of higher and higher levels of nonviolence, loving kindness, and altruism. The Buddhist path is all about transforming and developing one's character in a specific way defined by the Buddhist community. Moreover, the Buddha as prototype embodies that perfection of character.

Sallie King, Being Benevolence: The Social Ethics of Engaged Buddhism

The goal of ethics is to become a person who does good or virtuous things freely from the ground of a well-tempered character, supported by a matured, resolute, and reasonable knowledge of what one is doing. The path of Buddhism does not dissolve character (which is different from ego and personality). It awakens and illuminates moral character and establishes a 'noble' selfhood in the wide, deep, expressive freedom of creative forms of life and its perfections.

James Whitehill, Buddhist Ethics in Western Context: The "Virtues" Approach

Journal of Buddhist Ethics

 Ethics for the New Millennium
H.H. the Dalai Lama

 Being Benevolence: The Social Ethics of Engaged Buddhism 
Sallie King

The Ethical Precepts and Philosophical Tenets of Zen Buddhism

The Inner Ecology: Buddhist Ethics and Practice
Ronald Epstein

Everyman's Ethics: Four Discourses of the Buddha
Adapted from the translations of Narada Thera

Buddhist Morality and Practice
Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda

Buddhist Morality 
Dr. C. George Boeree, Shippensburg University

Sometimes Full, Sometimes Half Full
Norman Fischer
All of our actions, however small, can have wondrous effects, but only if we are wholehearted enough in our practice of ethical conduct.

Dogen's "Ceaseless Practice"
Dogen Zenji
A non-authoritarian basis for ethics

Engaged Buddhism
Learning
Center

Engaged Practice



Topics - - -
Engaged practice
Groups
Consumerism
Environment
Ethics
Gender and Buddhism
Globalization
Hospice
India Dr. Ambedkar
Peacemaking & Non-violence
Prison Dharma
Racism & Buddhism
Engaged Buddhism in Asia
Engaged Buddhism in the West

Engaged practice

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
The Middle Way Life in a World of Polarity

What's Buddhist about Socially Engaged Buddhism
David Loy

The Fourteen Precepts of Engaged Buddhism
Thich Nhat Hanh

Dharma for Healing the World
Joanna Macy

New Voices in Engaged Buddhist Studies
Kenneth Kraft

Engaged Buddhism 
Joan Halifax Roshi

Practices for Activists
Joanna Macy

Rules of Engagement
Kazuaki Tanahashi

In Engaged Buddhism, Peace Begins with You
Thich Nhat Hahn interview

Comprehensive Bibliography - Socially Engaged Buddhism
Buddhist Peace Fellowshio (compiled by Donald Rothberg - 2005)

Justify Your Love: Finding Authority for Socially Engaged Buddhism: Ways of Relating Buddhist Tradition and Practice with Social Theory
Diana Winston

How Shall We Save the World? 
Nelson Foster
Can Buddhism Save the World? A Response to Nelson Foster
David R. Loy

Socially Engaged Buddhism & Modernity: What Sort of Animals are They?
Santikaro Bhikkhu

Global problem-solving: A Buddhist perspective
Sulak Sivaraksa

Books >>>

Groups

Buddhist Peace Fellowship
BPF serves as a catalyst for socially engaged Buddhism, helping beings liberate themselves from the suffering that manifests in individuals, relationships, institutions, and social systems. BPF's programs, publications, and practice groups link Buddhist teachings of wisdom and compassion with progressive social change.

Zen Peacemakers
Zen Peacemakers are individuals, groups and organizations dedicated to realizing and actualizing the interconnectedness of life. The effects of Zen practice unfolds in the meditation halls, at work, within families and within community. For the past 25 years Zen Peacemakers have been developing new forms, methods and structures in the areas of peacemaking, social enterprise and Zen practice, emphasizing the transformation of the individual and society.

Think Sangha
A socially engaged Buddhist think tank affiliated with the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF) in the United States and the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) using a Buddhist sangha model to explore pressing social issues and concerns. The group's methodology is one based in friendship and Buddhist practice as much as theory and thought. The Think Sangha's core activities are networking with other thinker-activists, producing Buddhist critiques of social structures and alternative social models, and providing materials and resource persons for trainings, conferences, and research on social issues and grassroots activism.
Article about: Exploring the Method of Socially Engaged Buddhism

International Network of Engaged Buddhists (UK)

International Network of Engaged Buddhism/
Sathirakoses-Nagapradeepa Foundation
A network committed to social justice with ecological vision and based on engaged spirituality and Sulak Sivaraksa, Our Founder, Honouring seventy years if living and working for justice, peace, democracy and sustainable livelihoods.

Consumerism 
Consumption and consumerism are now central global issues, touching concerns such as environment, community development, education, and sex and gender issues. Buddhists are exploring what unique contributions the Dharma can offer.

Key Characteristics Of Consumerism & Buddhist Foils
Think Sangha

An alternative to consumerism
Sulak Sivaraksa

Consumerism and the Precepts
Taigen Leighton

Consumerism & The Way Out Of Consumerism
Ken Jones

The Religion of Consumption: A Buddhist Rebuttle
David Loy & Jonathan Watts

Shall We Pave the Planet, or Learn To Wear Shoes? A Buddhist Perspective on Greed and Globalization
David R. Loy

Demythologizing Consumerism: A Buddhist Pathway
Jonathan Watts, Think Sangha
The First Noble Truth (Dukkha): The Spiritual Roots And Delusion Of Consumer Culture
The Second Noble Truth (Samudaya): Deconstructing Consumer Behavior
The Third Noble Truth (Nirodha): A Life Beyond Consumer Attachment
The Fourth Noble Truth (Magga): Practicing Personal and Social Connnection

Spiritual Materialism and the Sacraments of Consumerism: A View from Thailand
Phra Phaisan Visalo

Overcoming the Grip of Consumerism
Stephanie Kaza

 Buddhism And Consumerism
Venerable Thubten Chodron

The Crisis of Comsumerism
Judith Simmer-Brown

Books >>>

Environment
"The ecological crisis we witness today is, from a Buddhist perspective a rather predictable outcome of the kinds of deluded behaviour the Buddha described 2500 years ago. Greed, hatred and stupidity, the three poisons the Buddha spoke of, have now spilled beyond the confines of the human mind and village politics, to poison quite literally the seas, the air and the earth itself. And the fire the Buddha spoke of as metaphorically engulfing the world and its inhabitants in flames is now horribly visible in nuclear explosions and smouldering rainforests, and psychologically apparent in the rampant consumerism of our times."Stephen Batchelor

Buddhism and Ecology: Challenge and Promise
Donald K. Swearer

Principles and poetry, places and stories: The resources of Buddhist ecology
Donald K. Swearer

Green Buddhism
Stephanie Kaza

The Greening of Buddhist Practice
Kenneth Kraft

Can We Keep Peace with nature?
Stephanie Kaza

An Assessment of Buddhist Eco-Philosophy
Donald Swearer

To Save All Beings: Buddhist Environmental Activism
Stephanie Kaza

The Ecological Self
Joanna Macy

The Deep Ecology Platform
Joanna Macy

Deep Time
Joanna Macy

Interdependence
Joanna Macy

The New New (Buddhist?) Ecology
J. Baird Callicott

The Foundations of Ecology in Zen Buddhism
Ven. Sunyana Graef

The Relevance of Vipassana for the Environmental Crisis
Prof. Lily de Silva

Books >>>

Ethics

See Learning Center's ethics page >>>

Gender and Buddhism

Feminism and Buddhism: A Reflection through Personal Life & Working Experience
Ouyporn Khuankaew

Buddhism, Feminism, and the Environmental Crisis: Acting with Compassion
Stephanie Kaza

See Learning Center's Women and Buddhism >>>

Gay Buddhist Fellowship

Globalization
"The relentless drive by world-wide corporate entities to force their products on to the richer sectors threatens the global balance of natural resources and the lifestyle of indigenous people." Sulak Sivaraksa

Globalisation Represents Greed
Sulak Sivaraksa

A Buddhist Critique of Transnational Corporations
David Loy

The Religion of the Market
David Loy

Globalization and Buddhism
Alfred Bloom

Globalization from a Buddhist Perspective
Pracha Hutanuwatr and Jane Rasbash

Hospice

See Learning Center's Dying and Death page >>>

India and Dr. Ambedkar

Dr. Amedkar & His People web site

Writings of Dr. Ambedkar

Arising Light - a film on Dr B. R. Ambedkar and the untouchables

Peacemaking and non-violence

Buddhism and Non-Violence
Sulak Sivaraksa

Non-violence: A Study Guide
Thanissaro Bhikkhu

The Budhha Taught Nonviolence, Not Pacifism
Paul Fleischman, M.D.

Mindfulness is the Key to Peace
Sulak Sivaraksa

Buddhism and Peace
Jan Willis

Buddhist Ideas for Attaining World Peace
Ron Epstein

Vowing Peace in an Age of War
Alan Senauke

The Personal Roots of Peace
Thich Nhat Hanh

 Peace Making
Thich Nhat Hanh - audio CDs

Buddhism and Nonviolence Global Problem-Solving
Glen Paige

Books >>>

Prison Dharma

Symbols and Narration in Buddhist Prison Ministry: The Timelessness of Skillful Means
Virginia Cohn Parkum, Blue Mountain Meditation Society

Prison Dharma Network
A nonsectarian Buddhist network for prisoners, prison volunteers, and correctional workers supporting prisoners in the practice of contemplative disciplines, with emphasis on the meditation practices of the various Buddhist traditions. An affiliate of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and a village of the Peacemaker Community.

The Prison Monk
Fleet Maull interview

The National Buddhist Prison Sangha
Zen Mountain Monastery's National Buddhist Prison Sangha is a right action program offering spiritual guidance and support to prison inmates.

Angulimala Buddhist Prison Chaplaincy Organisation
Teaching and practice of Buddhism in UK Prisons

The Engaged Zen Foundation
An independent organization of Buddhist practitioners involved with prison ministry, dedicated to fostering meditation practice in prison.

Racism and Buddhism

On Race & Buddhism
Alan Senauke

Engaged Buddhism in Asia

Sarvodaya
Joanna Macy

A Thai perspective on socially engaged Buddhism: A conversation with Sulak Sivaraksa
Donald Rothberg

Engaged Environmental Projects in Asia

The Search for Socially Engaged Buddhism in Japan
Jonathan Watts, Earth Sanha

The Ordination of a Tree: The Buddhist ecology movement in Thailand
Susan M, Darlington

Buddhism and Deep Ecology for the Protection on Wild Asian Elephants
Danniel Henning

Steering the middle path: Buddhism, non-violence and political change in Cambodia
Yos Hut Khemacaro

National Political Violence and Buddhism Response in Cambodia
Ubasak Ros Sotha

Nonviolent Buddhist Problem-Solving in Sri Lanka
A.T. Ariyaratne

60 Years of Achieving Peace in Siam
Sulak Sivaraksa

Engaged Buddhism in the West

Activist Women in Buddhism

Web sites

Buddhist Peace Fellowship

Network of Engaged Buddhists UK

Books

Engaged practice

 The Engaged Spiritual Life: A Buddhist Approach to Transforming Ourselves and the World
Donald Rothberg (Beacon - 2006)

 Engaged Buddhism in the West
by Christopher S. Queen

 Action Dharma: New Studies in Engaged Buddhism 
Christopher Queen (editor) (RoutledgeCurzon - 2003)

 Engaged Buddhist Reader
by Arnold Kotler (Parallax -2005)

 Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddhism 
Thich Nhat Hahn (Parallax - 2005)

 Socially Engaged Buddhism
by Sulak Sivaraksa (B.R. Publishing - 2005)

 Not Turning Away: The Practice of Engaged Buddhism
Susan Moon (editor) (Shambhala 2004)

 The New Social Face of Buddhism: A Call to Action
Ken Jones (Wisdom - 2003)

 Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia
Christopher S. Queen (editor), Sallie B. King (editor) (SUNY - 1996)

 Being Benevolence: The Social Ethics of Engaged Buddhism 
Sallie B. King (U. Hawaii Press- 2006)

 Conflict, Culture, Change: Engaged Buddhism in a Globalizing World
Sulak Sivaraksa (Wisdom - 2005)

 The Path of Compassion: Writings on Socially Engaged Buddhism
Fred Eppsteiner (editor) (Parallax - 1988)

Consumerism

 Mindfulness in the Marketplace: Compassionate Responses to Consumerism
Allan Hunt Badiner (editor) (Parallax - 2005)

 Hooked!: Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire, and the Urge to Consume 
Stephanie Kaza (editor) (Shambhala - 2006)
Key Buddhist thinkers reflect upon aspects of consumerism, greed and economicspairing of consumerist critiques with core Buddhist concepts.

Environment

 Buddhism and Ecology: The Interconnection of Dharma and Deeds 
Mary Evelyn Tucker (editor), Duncan Ryuken Williams (editor)

 Dharma Rain
Stephanie Kaza, Kenneth Kraft (editors) (Harvard Center for World Religions - 1998)

 Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism & Ecology
Allan Hunt Badiner (editor) (Parallax - 2005)

 Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought: Essays in Environmental Philosophy
J. Baird Callicott, Roger T. Ames (editors) (SUNY - 1989)

 World as Lover, World as Self
Joanna Macy (Parallax - 2005)

 Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World 
by Joanna R. Macy, Molly Young Brown (New Society Publishers - 1998)

Peacemaking

 Buddhist Peacework: Creating Cultures of Peace
David Chappell (editor) (Wisdom - 2000)

 Peace Is Every Step
Thich Nhat Hahn (Bantam - 1992)

Buddhism and science

With its focus on the nature of mind and its implications for the concept of reality, Buddhism offers explanations for metaphysical issues within psychology and studies of consciousness. Some popular conceptions of Buddhism connect it to discourse regarding evolution, quantum theory, and cosmology, though most scientists see a separation between the religious and metaphysical statements of Buddhism and the methodology of science. Nevertheless, commonalities have been cited between scientific investigation and Buddhist thought. The Dalai Lama in a speech at the meeting of the Society for Neuroscience listed a "suspicion of absolutes" and a reliance on causality and empiricism as common philosophical principles shared between Buddhism and science. As both Buddhism and science are open to criticism from within, there is some disagreement over whether one is being badly influenced by the other. (Wikipedia)

Buddhism and Science: Probing the Boundaries of Faith and Reason
Dr. Martin J. Verhoeven

What Buddhism Offers Science
H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama

Toward a Buddhist Philosophy of Science
Jim Kukula

Buddhism, The only real science
Ajahn Brahmavamso

Future Directions in Study of Buddhism and Science
Bhikkhu P.A. Payutto

Buddhism Meets Western Science: A dialogue on the mind and consciousness
Gay Watson

Buddhism and the Brain
Derek Ellerman

A Dhammic Pedagogy: True Religion and True Science
Jonathan Watts

Dharma, Dogma and DNA
Jose Reissig

 Buddhism and Science: Breaking New Ground
B. Alan Wallace (editor) (Columbia University Press - 2003)

 Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism And Neuroscience Converge
B. Alan. Wallace (Columbia University Press - 2006)

 The Universe in a Single Atom
H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama (Morgan Road Books - 2005)

 Two Views of Mind: Abhidharma & Brain Science
Christopher deCharms (Snow Lion - 1997)

 Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Brainscience and Buddhism
H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama (Snow Lion- 1999)

 Toward Sustainable Science
P.A. Payutto (Buddhadamma Foundation)

Web sites for Buddhism and science

Mind and Life Institute 
Establishing a mutually respectful working collaboration and research partnerships between modern science and Buddhism and promoting the creation of a contemplative, compassionate, and rigorous experimental and experiential science of the mind which could guide and inform medicine, neuroscience, psychology, education and human development.

Dying and death

Using Meditation to Deal with Pain, Illness and Death
Ven.Thanissaro Bhikkhu

The Spritual Needs of the Dying: A Buddhist Perspective
Ven. Pende Hawter

Ministering to the Sick and the Terminally Ill
Lily de Silva

Buddhist Approach to Patient Health Care
Kusala Bhikshu

Preparing for Death & Helping the Dying
Sangye Khadro

Death & Dying in Tibetan Buddhist Tradition
Ven. Pende Hawter

Death and Rebirth
Dr. Nick Ribush
Excerpts from FPMT’s Discovering Buddhism at Home correspondence course

Death, Intermediate State and Rebirth
H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama

Caring for the Dying
Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Death and Dying
Ajahn Jagaro

Our Real Home: A Talk to an Aging Lay Disciple Approaching Death
Ven. Ajahn Chah

Being with Dying: Contemplative Approaches to Working with Dying People 
Joan Halifax

Organizations - hospice and care

Maitri Compassionate Care
San Francisco

Zen Hospice Project 
San Francisco

Amitabha Hospice Service
Auckland, New Zealand Affiliated withFoundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT)

Buddhist Lotus Hospice Care Foundation
Taiwan

Spiritual Care Program
West Cork, Ireland - Tibetan tradition

Books and tapes

 Making Friends with Death: A Buddhist Guide to Encountering Mortality
Judith L. Lief
A down-to-earth guide to the various issues surrounding death. The first section is entitled "Cultivating a personal awareness of death." Many analogies and examples that we can all relate to are given about our views of the subject. Simple exercises at the end of each chapter give the reader a chance to illuminate his or her views.

 Living in the Light of Death
Larry Rosenberg
Rosenberg takes an honest look at what happens to people who will lose the fight--a group that, in the final analysis, includes everyone.

 Graceful Exits: How Great Beings Die: Death Stories of Tibetan, Hindu & Zen Masters
Sushila Blackman
108 stories recounting the ways in which Hindu, Tibetan, and Zen Buddhist masters, both ancient and modern, have confronted their own deaths. By directly presenting the grace, clarity, and even humor with which great spiritual teachers have met the end of their days.

 Being With Dying
Joan Halifax Roshi (Sounds True)
the Being with Dying audio learning course combines Eastern and Western psychology, philosophy, and contemplative practices from many spiritual traditions. This innovative, hands-on approach has taught medical professionals, social workers, clergy, community activists, and spiritual seekers an elegant path for taking the fear out of the dying experience.

 The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo 
Francesca Fremantle (Shambhala - 1998)

 The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
Sogyal Rinpoche

 Death and the Art of Dying in Tibetan Buddhism
Bokar Rinpoche

Buddhism and psychology