Envisioning Dharmic Societies

Envisioning Dharmic Societies

by Kenneth Kraft

A good society would recognize the inherent worth of all people and would help its citizens to cultivate inner peace. This essay is based on an address delivered by the author at a symposium held by Religions for Peace and Rissho Kosei-kai of New York at the Japan Society in New York to commemorate the centennial of the birth of the late founder of Rissho Kosei-kai, Rev. Nikkyo Niwano, on December 14, 2006.

In 1990 I had an opportunity to conduct research in Japan on Buddhist responses to contemporary social issues. At the time, there was no accepted term in Japanese for engaged Buddhism. Now a new expression is gaining currency: shakai-sanka bukkyo, literally "society-participating Buddhism." Rev. Nikkyo Niwano may not have been familiar with this particular term or with the modern concept of engaged Buddhism, but he certainly exemplified its meaning. We are just beginning to appreciate his pioneering role in the development of a globally engaged Buddhism.

One of the teachings Rev. Niwano drew from the Lotus Sutra, the text that nourished him throughout his life, is that authentic spiritual liberation is not a solitary affair. He wrote:

The Lotus Sutra asserts that, in order for man to become truly happy, in addition to individual enlightenment and happiness in one's individual life, it is necessary to purify the nation (society), thus going a step further. It is in the spirit of the Lotus Sutra for a person to make efforts not to escape from actuality but rather to positively wrestle with it and strive to purify it.(1)

This passage concisely affirms a core principle of Mahayana Buddhism. Bodhisattvas--and bodhisattvas-in-training--seek "not to escape from actuality but rather to positively wrestle with it." At the same time, Rev. Niwano's phrasing nicely captures the expansive thrust of engaged Buddhism. We can run a simple experiment to test this second reading. In the same passage, substitute "engaged Buddhism" in place of "the Lotus Sutra," and see if it still makes sense:

Engaged Buddhism asserts that, in order for man to become truly happy, in addition to individual enlightenment and happiness in one's individual life, it is necessary to purify the nation (society), thus going a step further. It is in the spirit of engaged Buddhism for a person to make efforts not to escape from actuality but rather to positively wrestle with it and strive to purify it.

The meaningful flow of the amended version suggests that engaged Buddhism is indeed anchored in classic Mahayana teachings. For Rev. Niwano, they are not two.

As Buddhism evolves in today's world, new concerns will continue to arise. For the past half century or so, Buddhists of many persuasions--monks, nuns, laypeople, scholars, activists--have turned their attention to current dilemmas such as injustice, war, and environmental degradation. Traditional Buddhism did not or could not address some of these large-scale causes of suffering. Today, engagement also calls for a forward-looking use of the imagination. Can we envision human beings living harmoniously with one another and the earth? Do communities have untapped reservoirs of wisdom and compassion analogous to the buddha-nature of individuals? What might a more enlightened society be like?

Buddhistically speaking (here I am using "Buddhist" in the most inclusive sense possible), a good society would recognize the inherent worth of all people. Such a society would help its citizens to cultivate inner peace. The education system would teach mindfulness as a basic competency. Nonviolence would be a civic virtue and the most valued path in international relations. Poverty would be eradicated, with the once poor becoming full participants in the political system. The environment would be protected. And so on. Our planetary to-do list keeps growing.

A common reaction is to dismiss such aspirations as too utopian. Is that response a sign of realism or shortsightedness? Engaged Buddhists and like-minded folks are beginning to expand these small concepts into full visualizations of desirable societies. Some recent coinages evoke the possibilities: an enlightened society; a culture of awakening; a culture of mindfulness; the awakening of all (sarvodaya). Two Rissho Kosei-kai terms also point in this direction: brighter society and dharma world. Maybe we need a brand-new word that reflects a true synthesis of dharma and democracy, such as "dharmacracy"!

Engaged Buddhism contends that the genuine foundation of world peace is the inner peace of individuals. If a sufficient number of people experience contentment firsthand, swords will be beaten into plowshares as a matter of course. Thus the Dalai Lama emphasizes "inner disarmament," and Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh advocates "being peace." Rev. Niwano makes the same point: "There is no other way to establish lasting peace on earth, to change this hellish stage completely, than to reorient our minds, to restore our souls."(2) A corollary of this approach is that we cannot really work for peace if we are angry, anxious, or burned out. Means and ends must align.

Buddhism calls this world of dust and sorrow, as ordinarily experienced, samsara. Yet that is only a partial view. When samsara is perceived correctly, it is seen to be undefiled, complete, and radiant. Engaged Buddhists seek to advance beyond the realization of the world's inherent wholeness to the implementation of that wholeness. Rev. Niwano exemplifies this turn. Consider the following passage, in which he is commenting on the Lotus Sutra:

That the Buddha entrusted the saha-world [samsara] to the bodhisattvas who emerged from the earth teaches us that the world in which we live should be purified and made peaceful through our own efforts. . . . We are responsible for creating the Pure Land where we live.(3)

"We are responsible for creating the Pure Land where we live" bears repeating. Now there's a challenge! It even includes a little Zen hook: spiritually speaking, where do we live?

In the summer of 2006, religious figures from around the world met in Kyoto to confront violence and promote shared security. They issued a declaration that states in part:

A well-developed concept of shared security articulates security needs, how they are to be met, and the necessary agents, instruments, and relationships to achieve it. Importantly, shared security would highlight the collective responsibility of all people to meet our common need for security.(4)

That is, we're all in this together, and the sooner we realize it the better. Some permutation of this insight can be found in the wisdom traditions of every culture. Today, our collective responsibility also encompasses the nonhuman beings with whom we share the biosphere.

Before the modern era, religions depicted better worlds in their own distinctive vocabularies, and that sufficed. Whenever these visions of earthly and heavenly paradises are brought together, they illuminate one another. Participants in interreligious dialogue now seek a common language that resonates anew. Is there a way to integrate the singular speech of sacred texts and the sober prose of joint declarations? I believe that Rev. Niwano was remarkably prescient in this regard. Here is a statement he made more than three decades ago:

Let the countries now at war lay down their arms. Let the soldiers of the countries involved withdraw from the battle front. Let the developed nations come to the aid of the developing nations that are suffering severe shortages of food and medicines. It is absolutely essential that we restore at least a temporary peace by taking these steps. However, the real work begins after this. Each country should be encouraged to achieve its maximum growth according to its unique potential. And when each country has sufficiently developed its own fundamental nature, we will find that all nations can coexist without infringing upon each other's rights, that international relations are smooth, and that harmony has been achieved. We would then have found, for the first time, the lasting peace we have sought so long.(5)

Notes

1. Nikkyo Niwano, A Buddhist Approach to Peace (1972, 1977), p. 62.
2. Ibid., p. 76.
3. Nikkyo Niwano, Buddhism for Today (1976, 1980), p. 177.
4. "The Kyoto Declaration on Confronting Violence and Advancing Shared Security" (2006), p. 4.
5. Niwano, A Buddhist Approach to Peace, p. 58.

Kenneth Kraft is professor of religious studies at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Dr. Kraft has served as an advisor to the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, the Forum on Religion and Ecology, and the World Faiths Development Dialogue. His books include Eloquent Zen: Daito and Early Japanese Zen and The Wheel of Engaged Buddhism: A New Map of the Path.

This article was originally published in the July-September 2007 issue of Dharma World.


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