A Buddhist Perspective on Human Rights, Spirituality and Religious Freedom

Jan 19

Ajahn Sulak Sivaraksa, Ven.Mahaghosananda HH Dalai Lama

A Buddhist Perspective on Human Rights, Spirituality and Religious Freedom

Frank M. Tedesco, Ph.D.

True Dharma International Buddhist Mission

Florida, USA

The historic Buddha presciently assigned the greatest existential significance to human life among other realms of existence. Humans have the “right” to choose the Buddhist path to freedom from kammic bondage (samsāra)[1] based on their experience rather than the coercion of inherited religious tradition thousands of years before European concerns about human rights.

The goal of achieving spiritual freedom or the realization of Buddhahood, however, signifies continual, compassionate service to all beings; not only to human beings near and far away, but also to animals, spirits (preta), those in hells, asuras, and devas – each at their respective stage of psycho-spiritual evolution in the cosmos. Rather than human rights as the pursuit of self-interest, individual personal happiness and limited family and communal concerns, the thrust of Buddhist spiritual discipline is to dissolve the ego’s small-minded, personal focus. The Buddhist bodhisattva vow diverts egotistic energies to wider and wider recognition and embrace of the needs of others with universal, unbiased, loving compassion, a cosmological morality. All beings, not just human beings, “are equally subject to transiency or impermanency”.[2]

Buddhists, as human beings, are living in the midst of multiple crises that beset the modern world. They have to negotiate the worldviews and values of the heritage of Abrahamic religions that posit commands of a supreme creator God and permanent souls, and ideas that derive from these unproven notions. For instance, although serious concern for human rights as articulated in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) is widespread in the Buddhist world, [3] the exact equivalent term for “a right” as “a subjective entitlement” or “freedom” is not found in canonical Pāli and Sanskrit or East Asian Buddhist translations of the early literature. A similar idea or meaning is expressed in the concept of “what is due” a person or what is owed or deserving of between individuals or parties. Both within the selective, ordained sangha and in the larger, open, lay community, there are sets of precepts (sīla). These outline reciprocal duties and responsibilities, as well as voluntary, personal restraints that are conducive for peaceful family relations, social orderliness, and a sense of justice for everyone.

Social harmony within the Buddhist ordained sangha, or monastic order, is fostered by meeting regularly (on new and full-moon days) to recite their renunciate vows aloud -- Pātimokkha-Disciplinary Code -- as a voluntary, intentional community (uposatha).[4] The long chant delineates in detail the ordained training rules and norms of behavior and consequent penalties for their infractions. There are hundreds of precepts for both bhikkhus and for bhikkhunis. These are the clergy’s subscribed rules of deportment and reciprocal duties that characterize their respective sangha as a cohesive social unit. These constraints are voluntarily affirmed by adult sangha members as guidelines given by the Buddha. Adherence to the Pātimokkha is understood to hasten progress on the path to realizing nirvana, freedom from the wheel of birth and death, during this life or in future rebirths.

From its ancient beginnings, the Buddhist sangha or Buddhist community of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis was open to sincere petitioners of whatever class or caste. The living Buddhadhamma in the present emphasizes that men and women are each fully responsible for the consequences of their intentional decisions (kamma). It recommends practices to purify the mind and feelings of afflictive emotions with contemplative and meditative techniques, by oneself and in group practice.

Buddha stressed that advancement to nibbāna was determined by personal resolve and effort, regardless of inheritance or social status:

Not by birth do you become an outcaste, not by birth do you become a brahmin; by your actions, your character, you become an outcaste, by your actions, your character, you become a brahmin.

Majjhima Nikāya II, 5.8. Vasetthasuttam “To the Brahmin Vasettha”

This teaching is consonant with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in intent:

Article 1

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty

According to the Buddhadhamma, it is only our intentional or “owned” actions and not external distinctions or arbitrary political decisions in this transient world that determine who we are to become.

Beings are owners of their actions, heirs of their actions, they originate from their actions, are bound to their actions, have their actions as their refuge. It is actions that distinguishes beings as inferior and superior.

Majjhima Nikāya 135: Culakammavibhanga Sutta; III 202-6

Within Buddhist societies, fully ordained renunciates individually and collectively are ideally considered “fields of merit”, exemplars and embodiments of the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path (magga) of wisdom (pañña), morality (sīla) and concentration because of their arduous self-discipline. The sangha, throughout its long history and wide geographical spread, has been open to all sincere seekers of whatever ethnic background. In a sense, there are no “aliens” in the sangha as all are considered family –– brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of the “good friend” (kalyānamitta), the Buddha, on the same path to liberation and compassion to all beings. Ideally, there is no upper caste or lower caste, but unfair cultural patterns of social hierarchy do intrude within local sanghas, reflecting archaic beliefs of the surrounding society.

The Buddha said that “Noble friendship is the entire holy life”[5], which we find echoed in

Article 1 that “human beings… should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Openness and regard for the dignity of the individual as just like ourselves may also be a factor in Buddhism’s spread throughout the polyglot Indian subcontinent and across the vastly diverse, multi-ethnic cultures of Southeast and East Asia. Whatever their social and linguistic heritage or personal history, Buddhist monastics are completely dependent on their lay congregations for material support and sustenance and, reciprocally, are honored as venerable guides and models of voluntary, selfless, dhamma teaching for the lay community.

Non-ordained Buddhist laymen and laywomen have a smaller and less restraining set of voluntary training guidelines (Five or Ten Precepts- pancasīla or dasasīla) to moderate their behavior in the world of family and society. They are not excluded, however, from study of the teachings at any and all levels. They are assured by the scriptures that they can achieve extinction of suffering, depending on their effort (vāyāma), mindful circumspection in all activities (sati) and practice of concentration (samādhi) on the Eightfold Path.

As for practical lay life, the Sigalovāda Sutta (Digha Nikāya, D.31) suggests models of conscientious behavior in social relationships appropriate to the historic Buddha’s India, that remain applicable to our own families and society today. The Buddha taught a set of six reciprocal duties in this Sutta -between parents and children; teachers and pupils; husband and wife; friends, relatives and neighbors; employer and employee; clergy and laity. According to Buddhist ethics authority Damien Keown, ‘it does not seem unreasonable when analyzing these relationships from the beneficiary’s perspective, to employ the vocabulary of rights. Thus, parents have duties to their children, and children have a right to support, nurture, education and protection from their parents.”[6]

The life of the historic Buddha exemplified freedom of thought and freedom of choice to remain faithful to or change religion according to personal discernment. Leaving home and seeking truth with various teachers until his enlightenment (bodhi) and engaging in dialogue with various believers and teachers throughout his forty-five-year mission, Buddha admonished seekers to “ehipassika” [7]– “see it (dhamma) for oneself”- recognize what is true for oneself, not on faith, unsubstantiated assertions or ecclesiastical authorities.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:

Article 18

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19

Everyone has the right of freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

From its earliest teachings found in core scriptures, the Buddhadharma dignifies both men and women by asserting their free will or agency to examine their own beliefs and mental processes introspectively, as in the ubiquitous Dhammapada. [8] The Buddha is also said to urge all dhamma farers to analyze and question all forms of social, cultural and religious authority and opinion, with skeptical curiosity in the oft quoted “charter of free inquiry” the Kālāma Sutta[9].

Shifting now from Buddha’s focus on the development of personal discernment and insight into the nature of the mind for the sangha and laity, Buddha also addressed important worldly concerns of good governance in kingship and wholesome social life of model citizenry, much in keeping with the values expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; not in the modern terminology of current political institutions words but in a similar attitude of benevolence towards all peoples and cultures.

In a legendary past life story (Jataka V, 378), the Buddha teaches that a good king has to follow strictly the “tenfold virtues of the ruler” (dasavidha-rājadhamma) -- that head or chiefs or rulers of people, countries, nation or other organs ought to adhere to-- and that may have been held in mind by Buddhism’s most famous ruler Emperor Asoka (304-232 BCE) when he had his Edicts inscribed in stone all over the Indian subcontinent.[10]

Dasavidha-rājadhamma

Tenfold Virtues of the Ruler

1. dāna (charity) - being prepared to sacrifice personal pleasure for the well-being of the public, such as giving away wealth and property to support or assist others, including giving knowledge and serving the public interest. He should not try to be rich by making use of his position.

2. sīla (morality) - practicing morality in both mind & body and being a good example for others. Leaders should at least observe the Five Precepts.

3. pariccāga (sacrifice of comfort), being generous and avoiding selfishness; practicing altruism to inspire efficiency and loyal service for the common good.

4. ājjava (honesty) - being honest and sincere towards others, performing your duties with integrity and warm-heartedness

Having entered a royal court or a company of people
one should not speak lies.
One should not speak lies (oneself) nor incite others to do so.
One should completely avoid falsehood.

Sutta Nipāta 2.399

5. maddava (gentleness)––having gentle temperament, avoiding arrogance and never defaming others. Firm yet kind in administration. Uprightness.

6. tapa (self-control) –- restraining passion and indulgence and performing duties without indolence. Exemplifying austerity and circumspection.

7. akkodha (non-anger nor hatred) – being free from revenge and remaining calm in the midst of confusion. Avoiding political victimization

8. avihimsa (non-violence) – exercising non-violence, promoting peace and avoiding war

9. khanti (forbearance) - practicing patience in service of public welfare; equanimity in praise and blame

10. avirodhana (uprightness) - respecting opinions of other persons, avoiding prejudice and promoting public peace and order; spirit of amity and harmony among his people.[11]

Other virtues mentioned by the Buddha that need be contemplated by national and international leaders who wish to implement the UN UDHR Articles in spirit and action are found in Digha Nikāya, II, 196, and III, 223. Here it is taught that the king must not have any partial or jaundiced views against his subjects as the ruler of the country. He must direct and spread the contemplative cultivation of Brahmavihāra – bhāvanā - Four Divine Abodes or States of Mind- towards all sentient beings, animals and humans alike:

1. mettā - loving-kindness and friendliness for all

2. karunā: compassion or mercy, feeling others’ suffering as if one’s own

3. muditā: sympathetic joy, being happy for others’ happiness and successes, without envy

4. upekkhā - equanimity - the ability to accept others as they are.

In the Digha Nikāya III,182,288, the ruler of a country must avoid the Four Biases or Prejudices (agati) against his subjects, wherever they live and whatever their skin color; namely,

1.chandagati- biases because of like

2. dosagati- biases because of dislike

3. mohagati- biases because of delusion or stupidity

4. bhayagati- biases because of fear.

This means that rulers must nurture every subject in their states equally and fairly.[12]

Of course, the dhamma teachings of ancient India are recommendations and ideals that are aspirational than and challenging for any political leader in our complex modern times of pandemics, nuclear threats, climate change and widespread media disinformation and brainwashing to realize.

There are a few outstanding personalities who are human rights advocates in Theravada and Mahayana Buddhist countries. Each national situation represents complex sociopolitical conditions and vexatious assaults and challenges to the free expression of human rights and human dignity.

Doubtlessly the most famous spokesman for human rights in the Buddhist world is the longtime exiled 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso. Many books, articles, TV and radio news interviews, full-length films and documentaries have chronicled his extraordinary life and the tragic plight of the Tibetan people since the invasion by Chinese Communist troops in 1949. The destruction of thousands of ancient monasteries and holy places and the killing of untold thousands of Tibetans are well-established facts. Many Tibetans were tortured and incarcerated during the early decades of mainland Chinese occupation.[13]

The harsh political repression of Tibetan dissidents continues unabated in forced labor camps. Countless native Tibetans have been and are displaced from their property and home territory.

Pristine Tibetan mountains, valleys and rivers continue to be despoiled and natural resources of Tibet are being plundered for the economic development of China and the multitudes of Han Chinese settlers in Tibet who now outnumber native Tibetans. Tibetans themselves are now a minority in their own country and their rights to assembly as Tibetans using their own language are ignored. [14]

Article 7

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 20

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Whatever justification the Chinese Communist regime has for advancing into Tibet in1949, it is in blatant disregard of and an affront to the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Dalai Lama has remained a strong advocate of nonviolence in the face of the Chinese near genocide of his people and destruction of Tibetan Buddhist culture. He fled to India in 1959 and continues to be defended by the Indian government. The Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. China has demanded that he and the hundred thousand and more Tibetan refugees who followed him return to Tibet. There is no assurance that they will be protected from abuse if they do so. More recently in the news, the Chinese government has committed outrageous human rights violations against the Uyghur Muslim minority as well as the Falon Gong religious sect.

Article 13

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within

the borders of each State.

2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and

to return to his country.

Article 14

1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum

from persecution.

2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Volumes have been and are being written in print and online about events in Tibet and the charismatic Dalai Lama. He has received numerous international human rights rewards despite ubiquitous PRC propaganda and protests. A search of “human rights” on the Dalai Lama’s website yielded 341 hits this morning alone.[15]

Article 19

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Human Rights Watch provides up-to-date news about the “highly repressive rule” and curbing of human rights and religious belief in Tibet and other ethnic minority regions in China.[16]

Another Buddhist paragon of peace and equanimity when confronted with horrific human rights abuses is the late Supreme Patriarch Venerable Maha Ghosananda of Cambodia. Called the “Gandhi of Cambodia”, he, too, like the Dalai Lama, witnessed the wholesale slaughter of thousands of his sangha members and murder, torture and forced servitude of two million of his countrymen––25% of the population––during the Khmer Rouge genocide of Cambodia by the Pol Pot regime 1975-1979.

Practically every Article of the UN Declaration was violated in these years. Capitalism, Western culture, city life, religious expressions, and all foreign influences were extinguished in favor of an extreme form of peasant Communism…Newspapers and television stations were closed, radios and bicycles confiscated, and mail and telephone curtailed. Money was forbidden. All businesses were shuttered, religion banned, education halted, health care eliminated, and parental authority revoked. Cambodia's cities were forcibly evacuated. In Phnom Penh, two million inhabitants were evacuated on foot into the countryside at gunpoint. As many as 20,000 died along the way…

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

As the Cambodian sangha’s surviving patriarch Somdech Maha Preah Maha Ghosananda, while losing his entire family, had to provide consolation to thousands of desperate Cambodian escapees living in refugee settlements, returning to a bombed-out homeland still invested with enemy guerilla fighters. He is renowned for leading meditative Dhammayietras––peace walks through extremely treacherous, land mined fields. [17] Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times, Maha Ghosananda’s deep compassion and forgiveness are reflected in the following poem, which can be intoned as a contemplative prayer:

Cambodia has suffered deeply.

From deep suffering comes deep compassion.

From deep compassion comes a peaceful heart.

From a peaceful heart comes a peaceful person.

From a peaceful person comes a peaceful family and community.

From peaceful communities comes a peaceful nation.

From peaceful nations come a peaceful world.[18]

One practice that the venerable employed in the very hot and dirty, makeshift tent camps to help heal his grieving and materially devastated people was the repeated chanting, all day-long and all night-long, of these lines from chapter 1: Twin Verses of the Dhammapada:

“He was angry with me, he attacked me,

he defeated me, he robbed me”

- those who dwell on such thoughts will

never be free from hatred.

“He was angry with me, he attacked me, he defeated me,

he robbed me”- those who do not dwell on such thoughts will

surely become free from hatred.

For hatred can never put an end to hatred; love alone can. This is an unalterable law. People forget that their lives will end soon. For those who remember, quarrels come to an end.[19]

Unfortunately, nearly every Asian country with a majority Buddhist population has experienced civil war, foreign invasion, self-defeating war mongering or systemic poverty and tyranny during the past hundred years. We have mentioned the challenges faced by the Dalai Lama and Maha Ghosananda. Other Buddhist leaders responded with their own distinctive forms of social engagement with remarkable energy, innovation, even creative genius.

The prolific Thich Nhat Hanh of Vietnam responded to the war in Vietnam by trying to reach out through international avenues outside Vietnam to negotiate with both sides to make peace. His efforts did not yield fruit but rather distrust from both sides. Martin Luther King, Jr., however, admired his attempts to save lives and nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. Like the Dalai Lama, followers of Nhat Hanh have translated many of his works and sermons and established centers all over the world, to deepen their understanding of his interpretation of engaged Mahayana Buddhist philosophy[20], modernized vows and meditation methods and concern for the environment.[21]

Internationally less well-known but nationally influential are the Theravāda Buddhist laymen Sulak Sivaraksa of Thailand[22] and A.T. Ariyaratne of Sri Lanka.[23] Both are very prominent in their own country and among Buddhist human rights activists in Asia. Each has responded to national human rights violations in creative ways, with their distinctive cultural conventions and “engaged” dhamma applications.[24]

A.T. Ariyaratne has been called the “Gandhi of Sri Lanka”. He has received many international awards for his deep commitment to Gandhian principles of nonviolence, rural development and self-sacrifice for the welfare and “awakening of all”. His grassroots, village-based initiative movement in Sri Lanka is called the Sarvodaya Shramadana movement. He considers his movement an “educational experiment”, a “kind of spiritual revolution” that empowers rural villagers (most of the people of Sri Lanka, the “Common Man”) with a spirit of selfless service to help one another, respect each other’s rights, and build strong community bonds.[25] Harmonious communication and sharing of resources in health, education and technical skills leads to the development of the local economies and alleviates needless suffering caused by distrust and conflicts. Sarvodaya places disadvantaged villagers at the center of equitable and moral social change, which allows neither extreme poverty no extreme affluence.

According to Ariyaratne:

Sarvodaya means the Awakening of All – from an individual Human Personality to Humanity as a whole. This awakening has spiritual, moral, cultural, social, economic and political dimensions. Whatever we do in one of these sectors influences all other sectors.[26]

Article 25

1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. .[27] All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.[28]

The many multifaceted international programs of Buddhist socially engaged activism and human rights advocacy pioneered by the indefatigable scholar and outspoken author Sulak Sivaraksa cannot be summarized briefly.[29] He established The International Network of Socially Engaged Buddhists (INEB) in Siam (Thailand) with other Buddhist and non-Buddhist thinkers and social activists in 1989.[30] INEB is a loose umbrella organization that encourages and supports a spectrum of human rights programs. It embraces humanitarian support of Rohingya refugees, understanding Buddhist approaches to the dying and hospice care in Taiwan, fact-finding commissions on Buddhist-Muslim relations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and support for the establishment of a bhikkhuni sangha in Thailand. INEB also issues many public statements of Buddhist concern regarding the many social, political and ecological crises affecting our globe.[31]

An important, advanced educational organization within INEB is its Institute for Transformative Learning. Founded by Sulak Sivaraksa, the Institute aims to become a model of Buddhist higher learning in Asia. The Institute aims to “nourish the moral imagination while cultivating peace and reconciliation, environmental healing, alternative education, sustainable economics, and the capacity for spiritual growth and leadership.”[32]

Article 26

2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

Thanks to the universal vision of Sulak Sivaraksa, INEB has a special place in the Buddhist world for bringing together leaders of disparate, far-flung and unrepresented dhamma traditions for interactive tours, retreats and socially engaged, problem-focused working groups. In past decades, they only met in formal conferences for diplomatic or honorific purposes, often with strict government scrutiny, as when South Korea was under a series of dictatorships until the 1990s. The lifting of travel restrictions has allowed Korean Buddhists to make pilgrimages to the homeland of the Buddha in India and visit other Buddhist countries and meet activists like Sulak and his talented associates.

Perhaps the most recognized Korean Buddhist leader to reach out beyond the Korean peninsula is Venerable Pomnyun of South Korea. Venerable Pomnyun is uniquely distinguished for his multidimensional activism within South Korea and ongoing efforts to reach out to his nation’s secretive, belligerent and totalitarian neighbor North Korea.[33] He and his JungTo Society (JTS)–

“Sukhāvati” sangha- are experienced, former student dissidents who fought the repression of human rights in Korea for many years. Rather than “fight fire with fire”, however, they bring the bodhisattva vow of patient, loving kindness and compassion to their activism. JTS demands that all members demonstrate their determination to act as sincere dhamma-farers when confronted with obstacles. Members are required to complete a strenuous, monastic-like initiation process.[34]

While venturing to the major Buddhist sites of India for the first time in 1991, Venerable Pomnyun was appalled by the dire poverty and hopelessness he witnessed in the lowest strata of Indian society in Bihar and Calcutta. Because he felt deep regret for not being more generous to suffering people in the past, he made “an oath to compensate for (his) behavior by working for a greater number of unfortunate people who suffered from hunger, disease and illiteracy.”[35].[36]

The pursuit of basic human rights, social ennoblement, and human dignity for millions of oppressed people in India, was the primary vision and passion of the distinguished Indian statesman Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (1891-1956). He eventually chose Buddhism as the vehicle of social transformation after investigating Christianity, Sikhism, and other faiths. Despite his lowly birth as an Untouchable, he was granted generous support to acquire advanced education in economics and law in the United States and Great Britain. Returning to India, he was eventually recognized for his brilliance and legal acumen. Urged by Mahatma Gandhi himself, the Congress-led Indian government appointed Ambedkar to serve as the nation’s first Minister of Law and Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee on Indian Independence Day 1947. Only two years later, the Constitution he designed was adopted in 1949!

Reflecting Ambedkar’s concern for universal human rights, especially for the most deprived people within Indian society, his text provided constitutional guarantees and protections for a wide range of civil liberties for citizens. It included freedom of religion, the abolition of Untouchability and the outlawing of all forms of discrimination. Ambedkar argued for extensive economic and social rights for women, support for a system of reservations of jobs in the civil

services, and not least, schools and colleges for members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. It was akin to “affirmative action” in the United States. However, conservative factions within the government resisted his reforms. Subsequently, Ambedkar resigned from the cabinet in 1951, following rejection of his draft of the Hindu Code Bill, which guaranteed gender equality in laws of inheritance, marriage, and the economy.

Withdrawing from public life for a few years, Ambedkar devoted the rest of his unexpectedly short life to the revival of Buddhism in India. He executed what may be his greatest contribution to Buddhist history by dramatically embracing the dhamma in a public conversion (diksa) ceremony in Nagpur on Oct. 14, 1956. This date is also associated with Emperor Asoka’s conversion to Buddhism.[37] The next day Ambedkar administered the Buddhist vows to nearly half a million Untouchables, thereby initiating a peaceful revolution for human rights and dignity in India.

“I feel Ambedkar is the first social engaged Buddhist, although that word was unknown in his time... because he was to feel that Buddhism and politics must go together” -Sulak Sivaraksa[38]

It is estimated that there are over 50 million “new Buddhists” in India today. Outside of Asia, this is probably the least known of all Buddhist movements. Ambedkar died less than two months after his historic diksa ceremony. Dr. Ambedkar’s Buddhist revolution is being spearheaded by an all-India network of dhamma activists organizing and teaching all levels of schools in towns and villages in over twenty-five different states in India.

The major training centers for Buddhism, Ambedkar thought and human rights advocacy, are the Nagaloka Conference Center, the Nagarjuna Training Institute, affiliated with Nagpur University[39]in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India and Manuski Trust in Pune that trains and develops human rights investigative teams for grassroots activism wherever needed.[40]

‘My final words of advice to you are educate, agitate and organise;

have faith in yourself’. B.R. Ambedkar

“Indeed, his words could be a rallying cry for human rights defenders everywhere.”

Dr. Corinne Lennox, School of Advanced Study, University of London 14 April 2016 [41]

Article 26

1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Most of the Buddhist human rights leaders discussed above have already passed away or like Thich Nhat Hanh[42], A.T. Ariyaratne and Sulak Sivaraksa are very elderly and ailing. It is up to the next generations to apply the Buddhist perspective of the rights of humanity and all sentient beings in our interdependent and interconnected ecosystem. Our material and spiritual survival depends on this comprehensive and compassionate vision for the rest of the century.

References

Ariyaratne, A. T. Buddhist Economics in Practice in the Sarvodaya Shramadana

Movement of Sri Lanka. New York: Sarvodaya Support Group, 1999

Blundell, David. Director. Arising Light: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and a New Era in India.

Preview. Santa Monica, California. Navaloka Productions, 2006.

Dhammika, S. trans. The Edicts of Asoka. Kandy: The Wheel, No. 386/387, Buddhist Publication Society, 1993.

Queen, Christopher S., and King, Sallie B. eds. Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia. Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 1996.

Queen, Christopher, Prebish, Charles and Keown, Damien, eds. Action Dharma: New Studies in Engaged Buddhism. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003.

Cozort, Daniel and Shields, James, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Buddhist Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.

Easwaran, Eknath. The Dhammapada. Petaluma, California: Nilgiri Press, 1986.

Keown, Damien, “Human Rights”. In The Oxford Handbook of Buddhist Ethics. Edited by Daniel Cozort and James Shields. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.

King, Sallie B., Being Benevolence: The Social Ethics of Engaged Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2005.

Nyanatiloka. ed. Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines (third edition). Singapore: Singapore Buddhist Meditation Centre, 1970.

Perrera, L.P.N. Buddhism and Human Rights: A Buddhist Commentary on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Karunaratne and sons, 1991.

Tedesco, Frank M. “Social Engagement in South Korean Buddhism”. In Action Dharma. Edited by Christopher Queen, Charles Prebish and Damien Keown. London: Routledge Curzon,2003.

Tipitaka – For convenient and reliable Pāli text resources in English,

see https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B9%83s%C4%81ra_(Buddhism)

[2] See Masao Abe, “Religious Tolerance and Human rights: A Buddhist Perspective,” in Religious Liberty and Human Rights in Nations and in Religions, ed. Leonard Swidler (Ecumenical Press: Temple University, Philadelphia, 1986

[3] The late distinguished Sri Lankan scholar L. P. N. Perera has done us all great service by applying his formidable mastery of Pali Canon and associated literature by offering us erudite commentaries on all 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Human Rights and Buddhism: A Buddhist Commentary on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Karunaratne & Sons: Colombo, 1991).

[4] The uposatha (Sanskrit, Upavasatha) is a day of observance in Buddhist tradition. Initially, the monks used to hold uposatha on the 8th, 14th, and 15th days of each half month, but as time progressed, only 2 days, that is, 14th and 15th days of each half month, were designated as the uposatha days. The recital of the pātimokkha before the bhikkhu saṅgha was to be done once in a fortnight, that is, either on the 14th or the 15th day, which in due course of time fixed for the 15th day only. Lay people observe the eight precepts do meditation and confess commitment to the Dhamma on uposatha days. See https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-94-024-0852-2_15

[5] See Sunil Kariyakarawana, Buddhist Chaplain to Her Majesty’s Forces, https://www.academia.edu/24584417/Aspects_of_Noble_Friendship_Kaly%C4%81na_Mitra-t%C4%81_in_Buddhism

[6] Damien Keown, Human Rights, The Oxford Handbook of Buddhist Ethics (Oxford: Daniel Cozort and James Shields (eds), 2018), 8, (pre-print version of chapter).

[7] “come and see”.

[8] A congenial translation of The Dhammapada is by Eknath Easwaran, (Nilgiri Press, Petaluma, 1986). The first verses read:

1. Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draws it.

2. Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves.

[9] Soma Thera, https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wheel008.html

[10] The Edicts of King Asoka http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/edicts-asoka6.pdf

[11] http://www.lankalibrary.com/Bud/dasa-raja-dhamma.htm

[12] https://www.scribd.com/document/38464523/Some-Buddhist-Thoughts-on-Good-Governance-Edition-3#download

[13] http://www.tibetjustice.org/reports/un/detention.html

[14] https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/07/29/china-crackdown-tibetan-social-groups

[15] https://www.dalailama.com/search/results?q=human+rights&x=6&y=7 May 19, 2019

[16] https://www.hrw.org/ya-zhou/china-and-tibet

[17] https://www.amazon.com/Step-Maha-Ghosananda/dp/0938077430

[18] https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/posts/the-dhammayietra-patience-compassion-understanding-and-a-border-conflict-part-1

[19] See The Dhammapada, translated by E. Easwaran, 78, cited in Note 7.

[20] https://thichnhathanhfoundation.org/

[21] https://plumvillage.org/

[22] www.inebinstitute.org

[23] https://www.sarvodaya.org/founder

[24] A. T. Ariyaratne was recipient of the Gandhi Peace Prize in 1996. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhi_Peace_Prize

[25] https://www.sarvodaya.org/collected-works-vol-1

[26] Ariyaratne, A. T. Buddhist Economics in Practice in the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement of Sri Lanka. New York: Sarvodaya Support Group, 1999.

[27] https://www.sarvodaya.org/vishva-nikethan

[28] https://www.vishvaniketan.org/

[29] A comprehensive analysis of Sivaraksa’s career and critique of modern society and Buddhist reform is Donald Swearer’s firsthand field research Sulak Sivaraksa’s Buddhist Vision in Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia, eds. C. Queen and S. King, (SUNY: Albany, 1996).

[30] http://inebnetwork.org/about/

[31] http://inebnetwork.org/public-statement/

[32] https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/550f27dfa88e4c0e83a8c5514ed3e047-the-ineb-institute-bangkok

[33] https://www.jungtosociety.org/pomnyun/

[34] Frank M. Tedesco, Social Engagement in South Korean Buddhism, Action Dharma, eds. C. Queen et al. (RoutledgeCurzon: London, 2003) 170.

[35] F. Tedesco, op.cit., note 21, 181.

[36] https://www.jungtosociety.org/pomnyun/

[37] See our earlier discussion of the Edicts of Asoka and the Dasavidha-rajadhamma.

[38] Interview excerpt in Arising Light documentary film preview by David Blundell, 2006. www.arising-light.org

[39] http://www.nagaloka.org/

[40] http://manuski.in/programmes/human-right-advocacy/

[41] “Dr. Ambedkar: a visionary for human rights”