DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Should Buddhists Be More Socially Engaged?

**Seeseeskeva** · 07-05-2012, 02:07 PM

However at BWB we're primarily a Buddhist learning community for the discussion of the teachings of the Buddha and not a political or social action site aiming to try to change the world.

There are "engaged Buddhism" sites on the internet which people can join for that purpose if that's their main requirement.

Aloka-D,

Please accept my apology. I am very sorry if I have broken the code of this forum. I am still new to this forum. Probably I should not have started this thread (and the previous one). I did not intend to initiate arguments on political or social actions.

I just have a question on Buddhist compassion. It comes from my heart.

I am from Japan, so I am culturally much closer to Buddhism than to Christianity. Here in the U.S., I meet with American Buddhists and read Buddhist literatures in English. I am very impressed how earnestly Americans practice Buddhism.

I also have made friends with Christians in the U.S. They are very good friends. They supported my family when my son was dying and through all the painful events that followed. Now I hear about their Christian teachings and activities. Naturally I start to compare the two religions.

Because of my recent experience, compassion has become an important subject of my contemplation. I am very serious about it. My understanding about compassion will determine how I will live from now on. It will impact me, my wife, child, and parents. I am trying to find a reason for living the rest of my life.

From my point of view, I see lack of discussion from Buddhists about actively exercising compassion for people suffering in other regions of the world. However, my perception might be totally wrong. I might be ignorant of Buddhist efforts. That is why I would like to learn from other people in this forum.

This is my personal inquiry. Nothing more. I was hoping that some discussion in this forum could help me shape my understanding of Buddhist compassion (it actually did help, thanks to the participating members).

If I feel that Buddhism is inadequate, lacking social dimension of compassion, I will work with Christians and may become a Christian myself.

Would you please advise if this forum could foster such a discussion? Should I try other sites?

I am leaning toward the latter. I understand that we want to avoid emotional arguments. Discussion has to be healthy, promoting inner peace, and I know it may be difficult with this subject.

Thank you, and again I'm sorry.

07-05-2012, 02:07 PM	#18
Seeseeskeva Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 419 Senior Member	However at BWB we're primarily a Buddhist learning community for the discussion of the teachings of the Buddha and not a political or social action site aiming to try to change the world. There are "engaged Buddhism" sites on the internet which people can join for that purpose if that's their main requirement. Aloka-D, Please accept my apology. I am very sorry if I have broken the code of this forum. I am still new to this forum. Probably I should not have started this thread (and the previous one). I did not intend to initiate arguments on political or social actions. I just have a question on Buddhist compassion. It comes from my heart. I am from Japan, so I am culturally much closer to Buddhism than to Christianity. Here in the U.S., I meet with American Buddhists and read Buddhist literatures in English. I am very impressed how earnestly Americans practice Buddhism. I also have made friends with Christians in the U.S. They are very good friends. They supported my family when my son was dying and through all the painful events that followed. Now I hear about their Christian teachings and activities. Naturally I start to compare the two religions. Because of my recent experience, compassion has become an important subject of my contemplation. I am very serious about it. My understanding about compassion will determine how I will live from now on. It will impact me, my wife, child, and parents. I am trying to find a reason for living the rest of my life. From my point of view, I see lack of discussion from Buddhists about actively exercising compassion for people suffering in other regions of the world. However, my perception might be totally wrong. I might be ignorant of Buddhist efforts. That is why I would like to learn from other people in this forum. This is my personal inquiry. Nothing more. I was hoping that some discussion in this forum could help me shape my understanding of Buddhist compassion (it actually did help, thanks to the participating members). If I feel that Buddhism is inadequate, lacking social dimension of compassion, I will work with Christians and may become a Christian myself. Would you please advise if this forum could foster such a discussion? Should I try other sites? I am leaning toward the latter. I understand that we want to avoid emotional arguments. Discussion has to be healthy, promoting inner peace, and I know it may be difficult with this subject. Thank you, and again I'm sorry.
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