Journal of International Buddhist Studies

The Spirit of Socially Engaged Buddhism: Public Welfare Operations of Rescue Groups Supported by Buddhist Institutions in the Northern Region of Thailand

2025-05-06T11:33:53+07:00

Amidst the dangers of people's social lives in a context where Buddhist institutions drive themselves toward becoming socially engaged in Buddhism, this research draws on a purposive sampling of 30 key informants—Buddhist monks and volunteer rescue team members in northern Thailand—who are directly involved in rescue operations. Thematic analysis (TA) was then applied to identify core themes. Employing qualitative research methods, the study aims to gain a deep understanding of rescue groups' public welfare operations, focusing on two important aspects. First, it investigates the operating model of the public welfare operations of the rescue groups supported by Buddhist institutions. And secondly, it analyzes the roles of the public welfare operations of the rescue groups. This article collates sociological perspectives of this effort with Buddhist concepts. The research findings indicate that assisting, supporting, and integrating public welfare operations are at the heart of the operating model of rescue groups that are supported by Buddhist institutions. Assisting refers to direct aid by Buddhist institutions without intermediaries; supporting involves mobilizing resources to enable others to assist; and integrating positions the institution as a social network node, coordinating multi-sectoral participation. Its implications are apparent in three key roles: as initiators in problem-solving, as centers for coordinating cooperation, and as facilitators in strengthening the Buddhist institutions.

Burning Refuge: Spiritual and Political Liberation in the Navayana Buddhist Movement

2025-08-07T15:15:55+07:00

This paper discusses how the Theravada Buddhist scriptures in the Pali Canon support B. R. Ambedkar’s Navayana Buddhist movement in their struggle to eradicate caste and gender-based discrimination in the social, political, and legal spheres. Among these teachings are passages that record the stories of low caste and female disciples who free themselves from all fetters, spiritual and political. This paper focuses on the verses of Awakening by early Buddhist nun Puņņikā Therī in the Therī Apadāna and Therīgāthā, recognized for having realized full enlightenment on par with males. An ancestor of Navayana Buddhists, she was born low caste and female and is an inspiration for this movement’s advocacy for the equality of all people in the contemporary context. From the onset, women have actively advocated in this regard for themselves and their communities. Their socially engaged grassroots Buddhist approach emphasizes the inseparable link between spiritual and political liberation on individual and communal levels. The Buddha’s simile in AN 10.51 aptly expresses the impetus for this movement: a wholesome desire for liberation from suffering as a burning fire consuming all obstacles and a refuge, both temporal and ultimate.[1]

[1] This article is based on a talk given at the March 2024 Conference: Burning Refuge: Social and Political Liberation, Harvard University, US.

Negotiating Sacredness: Buddhist Iconography and Market Dynamics in Ladakh's Thangka Trade

2025-09-09T23:08:17+07:00

Over the last few decades, artists in Ladakh have made significant changes to sacred Buddhist art, particularly in how they create thangkas. Thangkas were primarily used in religious ceremonies, but are now sold in tourist markets and monasteries. This commercialisation of thangkas raises questions about their authenticity, ritual value, and cultural continuity. This paper is based on ethnographic work conducted in the Leh district of Ladakh, India, in 2025, which integrates semi-structured interviews with artists, shop proprietors, and women conservators of the Shesrig Foundation with visual analyses of paintings and murals. The findings show that artists respond differently to commercial pressure. Rabden and Chuskit adhere closely to canonical iconometry, consecration rituals, and devotional discipline, whereas Birju and Tsewang modify imagery, pigments, and production speed to cater to the demands of tourists. Synthetic colours have replaced mainly natural, mineral-based colours, although natural materials continue to be used in conservation work and for high-value commissions. Shop owners often act as cultural mediators, educating buyers about cultural significance and the ritual placement of thangkas, and encouraging their participation. The women conservators of the Shesrig Foundation are a big change in a field that has mostly been run by men. This study demonstrates that changes in Ladakh’s thangka trade are not a story of decline, but of ongoing negotiation, where livelihood, ritual practice, and cultural continuity coexist in dynamic tension.