Publication Date
Fall 2024
Abstract
In 1963, Thích Quảng Đức, and subsequently several other Buddhist monks, self- immolated in protest as part of the Buddhist Crisis, a momentous, strong social movement against the American War and South Vietnam’s harsh anti-Buddhist policies. A few short years later, world-renowned Vietnamese Buddhist teacher and peace activist Thích Nhất Hạnh coined the term “engaged Buddhism” to describe his innovative school of thought that argues intentional, nonviolent conflict resolution and active work against injustice, both in Vietnam and abroad, ought to be as central to Buddhist practice as traditional mindfulness and teachings. While there is notable existing research on the radical Buddhist political history and theory of this time period, there appears to be hardly any (at least not available in English) research that studies how this legacy of Buddhism as both intensely engaged with social movements and thinking deeply about intentionally making the wider world a better place has impacted the current Vietnamese Buddhist community’s social engagement practices. Through the review of existing literature on the subjects and the collection and analysis of a set of six qualitative, personal narrative-style interviews, this study aims to fill this perceived hole in the English- language literary canon. Ultimately, it became clear that contemporary engagement practices are not at all rooted in the teachings of “engaged Buddhism” or historical legacy of Thích Quảng Đức and the Buddhist Crisis movement. While contemporary Buddhists practices intentionally keep Buddhists entirely nonpolitical while addressing symptomatic issues in their local communities through charity efforts and need-based problem-solving, Buddhists of the 1960s worked to eradicate underlying societal inequities and injustices to make society as a whole more equitable. The results of this study offer a new understanding of the relationship between contemporary and recent historical Buddhist social engagement practices, as well as solid, foundational work for future, more extensive research on the topic.
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities
Recommended Citation
Miller, Whitney, "Socially-Engaged Buddhism in Vietnam: Theory, History, and their Impacts on Contemporary Practices" (2024). Vietnam: Culture, Social Change, and Development. 1.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/vnr2/1
