I. Introduction: Socially Engaged Buddhism in Thailand

During the last year, as part of my sabbatical research, I had the opportunity to explore Buddhism in Thailand, with a particular view to how Buddhism addresses social problems, or "Socially Engaged Buddhism." For some people, the thought of Buddhism in relationship to social problems and social injustice is a bit of a stretch. Their image of Buddhism has mainly to do with meditation: silent monks and practitioners, sitting on cushions, exploring the inner depths of their minds as they follow their breathing. What, if anything, could such a religious practice have to do with social change? Some might say that the Buddhist belief in karma and the related concepts of rebirth and merit-making hinder a Buddhist's ability and incentive to work for social change. If all of life is determined by cause and effect and there is no God to intervene or to lure a person to a more liberating view of reality, then is it not clear that the way things are, is simply the way things are? Is not our life experience merely a product of the choices, actions and intentions that individuals have made over time, both in this life and in previous lives? If one's next life is determined by the kind of karma one develops now and in previous lives and if punna, or the making of merit--primarily by the giving of alms to monks (dana) and to the temples--aids a practitioner towards a better rebirth in the next life, then what would be the incentive to intervene and suggest another way in this life? Isn't a person just working out his or her own karma in his or her own way?

What if any basis is there for saying that Buddhism is a religion that acts to create a better world, in this life, especially for those who suffer the most because of systemic forms of oppression: i.e. gender oppression, economic disenfranchisement, social neglect, as in the case of people who suffer from HIV/AIDS? It is true that Buddhism holds as its main premise that there is a way to eliminate suffering. But how can Buddhist monks be involved in the elimination of suffering if their lives are primarily confined to the temple, if they cannot even touch a woman, if they cannot vote? Buddhism in Thailand appears to present a mass of contradictions, at least to the outsider.

Into this contradiction, I decided to throw myself as part of my research and as a faculty leader of a Warren Wilson WorldWide field course to Thailand. As a scholar who has primarily been trained in Christian theology, with a particular focus on women's and environmental concerns and the ways theologies evolve when they are practiced and expressed by the poor, I have always been attracted to the ways that other religions seek to address similar social, political, and economic problems. When the opportunity for my sabbatical arose, I knew that my year would be best spent by immersing myself in an Asian culture: smelling the smells, hearing the sounds of the chanting and bells, meeting the people who daily must live within what often appears to me, as an outsider, to be a contradiction.

Fortunately, two opportunities came my way in a short span of time that led me in the direction of Thailand for my research. In 1997, I received a phone call from a new friend in Hot Springs, NC, informing me that a Thai Buddhist social activist, twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and winner of the King of Sweden's "Right Livelihood" award, would be visiting our region. Ajaan Sulak Sivaraksa stepped into my life and the life of my family and Warren Wilson College when he spent several days in 1997, and again in 1998, speaking to us about the ways that Buddhism uses non-violent means to address problems of personal and structural violence in society.

In the next year, I had the opportunity to travel to Austria to participate in a Salzburg Seminar on "Religion, Art and Culture," with the gracious help of a grant from the Mellon Foundation and the Appalachian College Association of which our school is a member. While in Salzburg, I met four Thai educators and artists who whet my appetite even more for this land and all it could teach me. In the following year, I was invited to return to Salzburg, this time thanks to the generosity of the Freeman Foundation and a seminar on "Asia and America: The Search for Common Values." Quickly, it became even more obvious to me that the education that I had been given--with its primary emphasis on European and American history, culture, and theology/philosophy--did not provide me with the tools to understand even a small portion of what it means to live and thrive in Asia in the 21st century. After that experience, I also realized that while I would not be able to understand the massive land and population base that constitutes Asia within the confines of a one year research project, it would be possible to explore the complexities of how religion and culture support and challenge one another in one Asian country. Thailand would be my choice.

Fortunately, another good friend of mine, Dr. Kathy Meacham of Mars Hill college, who had met Ajaan Sulak during his previous visits, decided to travel to Thailand with her daughter to engage in research during the summer of 2000. Kathy introduced me to Ajaan John Butt, a Presbyterian minister who directs the "Institute for Religion and Culture" at Payap University. From that point on, I knew that I would have a home base in Chiangmai from which to engage in my research. Thus, I traveled to Thailand for the first time in January of 2002 to begin my project. I returned again in late December of 2002 and early January of 2003 with eleven students and one other Warren Wilson Staff member, Carolyn Wallace, our Director of Service-Learning. This website guides you through the highlights of that research and the ways that our experiences are enhancing my own quest and that of my students in the search for common values.

If you have questions or comments about this research, please email: jeanne@warren-wilson.edu