liveliness [edit ]
The grandson of a taiwanese immigrant [ 3 ] whose surname was Lim and born into an affluent Teochew [ 4 ] Sino-Thai family, [ 5 ] Sulak Sivaraksa was educated at Assumption College in Bangkok and at the University of Wales, Lampeter, [ 6 ] where he is nowadays an honorary fellow in Buddhism. [ 7 ] He passed the Bar in London in 1961. [ 8 ] Upon his reappearance home, he became the editor of Social Science Review cartridge holder. many considered it the leading Thai intellectual daybook of its time. [ 9 ] : 199 By 1968 the Social Science Review had become “ the intellectual articulation of the nation ”. [ 9 ] : 199 besides in 1968, Sulak founded the Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation ( SNF ), which publishes “ the intellectual successor ” to Social Science Review and acts as an umbrella organization for a group of NGOs. [ 9 ] : 204 soon after his hark back to Thailand, he directed his energies towards the growth of sustainable models for a quickly changing economic and sociable environment. The military coup d’etat of 1976 forced him into exile for two years. At this time he toured Canada, the US, and Europe to lecture academic audiences. Because of the coup, Sulak ‘s commitment to peace was strengthened. Since then he has championed passive resistance in war torn and suppress countries like Sri Lanka. [ 9 ] : 206 His idolatry to peace and passive resistance is demonstrated by his leadership and membership in external peace organizations like Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Peace Brigade International, and Gandhi Peace Foundation. [ 9 ] : 206 After he returned to Thailand, Sulak was prompted to establish the Thai Inter-religious Commission for Development ( TICD ), and soon thereafter Sulak was appointed president of the asian Cultural Forum on Development ( ACFOD ) and the editor program of its newsletter, Asia Action. [ 9 ] : 206 In 1982, Sulak established the Thai Development Support Committee as a way to coordinate early nongovernmental organizations to better tackle boastfully problems that they could not tackle alone. [ 9 ] : 204
Reading: Sulak Sivaraksa
The extraneous contacts he made while in exile proved beneficial when Sivaraksa was arrested in 1984 for lèse majesté, causing external protests which pressured the government to release him. Sivaraksa was again charged with lèse majesté in September 1991 after a speak he gave at Thammasat University about the repression of majority rule in Thailand. Sivaraksa fled the county and went into exile until he was able to convince the courts of his innocence in 1995. He was awarded the swedish Right Livelihood Award in 1995, the UNPO ( Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization ) Award in 1998, and the indian Millennium Gandhi Award in 2001. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the American Friends Service Committee in 1994. [ 9 ] : 198
Sulak was a firm critic of swear Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He publicly accused Thaksin of adultery at rallies organized by the People ‘s Alliance for Democracy. however, he has never cited any evidence for his claims. [ 10 ] During a protest on 26 February 2006, Sulak called Thaksin a deplorable pawl. Sulak ‘s comments were condemned by Somsri Hananantasuk, former Chairperson of Amnesty International Thailand, who said that such words could provoke ferocity. [ 11 ] In 2007, he spoke out against proposals to declare Buddhism Thailand ‘s “ national religion ” in the new constitution, arguing that to do so would exacerbate the existing conflict in southerly Thailand. [ 12 ] Sulak Sivaraksa besides appears in the objective film about the Dalai Lama entitled Dalai Lama Renaissance. [ 13 ] Sulak Sivaraksa is an advocate for social and political change in Thailand, adenine well as globally. Sivaraksa has written respective influential works that have both inhale people to work towards justice and provoked controversy from political leaders. however, Sulak Sivaraksa ‘s speeches and early writings discus political and economic putrescence in Thai government, universal joint ethics, and socially engaged Buddhism. Some of Sivaraksa ‘s most influential works include his autobiography, Loyalty Demands Dissent, vitamin a well as Seeds of Peace: A Buddhist Vision for Renewing Society, and Conflict, Culture, Change: Engaged Buddhism in a Globalizing World. Sulak Sivaraksa ’ randomness writings, equally well the organizations he has created, express his desire for a moral and ethical worldly concern from a Buddhist position. Sivaraksa ‘s religious religion is clearly the initiation of all of his political and social beliefs, so far he uses his religious beliefs to create social change in a modernist fashion. Sulak was arrested on 6 November 2009 for lèse majesté. He was bailed out shortly thereafter. [ 14 ] In 2014 Sulak was again charged with defamation of the monarchy after questioning the historicity of a 16th-century royal duel on elephantback. He was cleared of these charges in December 2017. [ 15 ] In a 2019 consultation with The Isaan Record, Sulak expressed his disappointment with the politics of Prayut Chan-o-cha, but saw great promise in the originate of new progressive parties. [ 16 ]
Books [edit ]
Pridi Banomyong in S. Sivaraksa Opinion [edit ]
Royal Majesty with Thai Future [edit ]
Loyalty Demands Dissent [edit ]
Sulak Sivaraksa presents his view of Buddhism is his autobiography, Loyalty Demands Dissent. Along with a first hand account of this animation, he besides includes information about his views on the relationship between religion, society, and politics. Two chapters in his autobiography, “ Interfaith Connections ” and “ Working with the Monks ”, discuss Buddhism ‘s relationships with other religions and besides the changes in buddhism that he believes are necessary for it to apply to the modern world .
Interfaith Connections [edit ]
An authoritative expression of Sulak ’ s work as an engage buddhist is his focus on inter-religious dialogue. Spending some of his early years in Great Britain enabled him to present Buddhism in a means that is congruous with western logic. His concern for social change as a religious matter moved him to found the Coordinating Group for Religion and Society ( CGRS ) in 1976, which included Buddhist men, but besides students, women, Catholics, Muslims, and Protestants. While many had religious backgrounds, Sulak has stressed the fact that they were all just people who were coming together to discuss social change. Sulak ‘s commitment to inter-religious dialogue has been important throughout his life. Sulak established a kinship with the World Council of Churches ( WCC ) and believed that there was much study to be done within society by Buddhists and Catholics together. When discussing the negotiation between Buddhists and Catholics, Sulak states “ the estimate that one religion is better than the other plainly doesn ’ triiodothyronine exist ”. [ 17 ] : 162 This perspective concentrates on the work that needs to be done in company by people of all faiths .
Working with the Monks [edit ]
With growing business about communism in Asia in the early-1960s, Sulak received fund in 1962 to promote a reform of Buddhism as an option means to social change. He traveled to monasteries where he encouraged the monks ‘ education in higher institutions of learning so that they would be “ concerned about conservation, peace, and society ”, because he writes, “ our monasteries had to become more advanced, and our monks needed to understand the West. We ca n’t keep Buddhism as it is. It has to change to meet the modern worldly concern ”. [ 17 ] : 88
Read more: Real Sociedad
In a movement to modernize monasticism, Sulak began a group named sekhiyadhamma in order to increase sociable awareness among monks. Sulak claims that he relied heavily on the ideas of Buddhadasa Bhikkhu and Bhikkhu P. A. Payutto in forming his own ideas. While Buddhadasa Bhikku advocated a theory of Dhammic socialism, Payutto ‘s main focus in Buddhism was studying the original teachings of the Buddha and making them more applicable to the modern world. [ 17 ] : 91
Seeds of Peace: A Buddhist Vision for Renewing Society [edit ]
“ buddhism with a minor ‘b ‘ ” [edit ]
In “ Buddhism with a Small ‘b ‘ ” in Seeds of Peace, Sulak discusses the germinal teachings of the Buddha. He presents mindfulness, tolerance, and interconnection in a way that makes them applicable not lone to the individual, but to entire communities. “ Buddhism with a Small ‘b ‘ ” seems to call for a religion that is not institutionalized or concerned with ritual, myth, and culture. [ 18 ] : 68 Sulak feels that these dimensions of religion lead to chauvinism and prejudice, so he believes humans must step aside from these and focus on the basic teachings of the Buddha. Sulak advocates a return to the Buddha ‘s original teachings as a intend of social reform. In addition, he believes that the social proportion of Buddhism can not be ignored because Buddhism is “ concerned with the lives and awareness of all beings ”. [ 18 ] : 66 Sivaraksa besides explains that many Buddhists understand religion and politics “ as two relate spheres ”, implying that government should adhere to the moral and ethical values that Buddhism, or any religion, has to offer. [ 18 ] : 66
Conflict, Culture, Change: Engaged Buddhism in a Globalizing World [edit ]
“ buddhist Solutions to Global Conflict ” [edit ]
In a chapter on Buddhist solutions to ball-shaped conflict in Conflict, Culture, Change: Engaged Buddhism in a Globalizing World, Sulak Sivaraksa explains the principle of passive resistance in the teachings of Buddhism. Sulak describes the three forms of ferocity according to the Buddha ‘s teachings, “ Every action has three doors, or three ways we create karma : through body, address, and mind ”. [ 19 ] : 3 Sulak explains that passive resistance, or ahimsa, does not mean non-action. For exercise, if a person sees a crimson act and does not attempt to prevent it, this can be considered an act of violence because the bystander is not acting with compassion. Sulak applies these ideas to sociable and political situations as a reaction to sociable injustice. He uses the rationale of passive resistance as a call for action against social injustice, defining a scheme to bringing about long-run peace to the universe : peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peace building. [ 19 ] : 9 Sulak ‘s application of Buddhist principles show his purpose of instilling morals and ethics into corrupt institutions around the global .
socially engaged buddhism [edit ]
socially Engaged Buddhism advocates religion as a mean of reform. He states, “ religion is at the heart of social change, and social change is the perfume of religion ”. [ 18 ] : 61 Sulak advocates environmental security and environmentally sustainable ways of life through the practice of Buddhist principles. [ 19 ] Sivaraksa calls for the “ value of simplicity ”, and connects this with the Buddhist estimate of “ the freedom from attachment to forcible and animal pleasure ”. [ 19 ] Sivaraksa chooses to highlight the universal and rational aspects of Buddhism and eschews ritualism and mythology in order to make Buddhism more applicable to contemporary ball-shaped issues. By presenting Buddhism in this fashion, people of all faiths can relate to, and interpret his work in a universally religious light. [ 18 ] Though he is both a Buddhist and Thai nationalist, he makes it clear in his bring that all religions should be tolerated and respected .
Works [edit ]
See besides [edit ]
References [edit ]
Read more: The MMS Institute Thailand