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Understand you: Buddhism And Its Impact On Society

Buddhism And Its Impact On Society Video

Contemporary Buddhism has covered the gamut in terms of issues affecting human life: psychology, cosmology, philosophy, phenomenology, neuroscience, meditation and other practices of personal development, Ikpact, myth, mysticism, wisdom literature, and at least the rudiments though inadequate of community.

Yes, that requires all caps, since most people seem to skip over it. Buddhism is great at teaching you to be detached, free of mental suffering, and compassionate for self and others. Indeed, many Buddhists will tell you point blank that there are no problems to solve. If nothing else, people are deeply involved in the effort to survive, which Societty numerous problem-solving capacities. Seeing this gigantic void at the heart of contemporary Buddhist practice, I have decided to stake my flag in the ground, and say that we need to develop Buddhist ethics to the highest Buddhism And Its Impact On Society possible, and as such it needs to be capable of coping with real world problems, real in the conventional sense.

My inspiration for this task comes from my two greatest influences in my Buddhist way of life: Dr. Ambedkar and Joanna Macy. Ambedkar took on the enormous responsibility of guiding the entire nation of post-colonial India into constitutional democracy, and took on the responsibility for ending the caste system in India.

So how do we begin to develop a Buddhist ethics?

And what is a Buddhist ethics? Most people myself included would first think of the Five Precepts as Buddhist ethics. But that seems to be as far as it goes. We should be participants in the problem-solving process of society, and not abdicate responsibility to someone else.

The relief of suffering and the prevention of suffering require us to creatively solve problems, We can also do Buddhism And Its Impact On Society we can to reduce the impact of human societies on the lives and habitats of other species, and prevent further harm to our ecosystem. To do this, we have to care enough to participate in the process of problem-solving. Kant said we have to espouse values and behaviors that, were they to become universal principles, would be conducive to the well-being and justice for all. The Utilitarians, like Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, said that we should work out the greatest good for the greatest number of people. The individual should not be sacrificed for the whole, however, because individuals have inherent worth, and the rights Siciety preserve Buddhims individuals often accrue to the well-being of the whole social-ecological system.

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We know from experience that upholding the human rights of individuals creates a more just and compassionate society for everyone. But we also know that ascribing too much value to the wants and comfort of individuals and particular groups can have devastating impacts on society as whole and the ecosystem. While we want people to benefit from their work and wealth, to allow individuals to acquire excessive wealth causes a systemic inequality that leaves others with less than they need to live on and destroys the Amd as a whole. To do so, we have to work out the impact of particular values and behaviors at various levels and scales of society, from the individual to the small group family, neighborhoodto the larger community religion, state to the world global systems to the planetary ecosystem.

Ethical impacts and decisions will vary depending on which level and scale of the system we are dealing with. The only way to work out such Buddhism And Its Impact On Society complex response to a complex Ahd in Buvdhism complex system is to deliberate our ethical decisions with many other groups of people who represent every level and scale of impact. The principle of pratityasamutpada is the central Buddhist principle that we exist in interdependence with everything else, that our actions have consequences karma on all interdependent beings and living systems, now and into the future. And we must represent the interests of those who cannot speak for themselves, including the entire Ijpact eco-system on which we depend.

So this is the broadest rough sketch on how we might begin think about an expansive system of Buddhist ethics. This appears to be overly simplistic, but then, ethical principles are usually of a very broad, general type. The actual working out of an ethical decision Scholars Service Importance For Of Motto far more complex and requires the input and deliberation of, or at least consideration of, living beings at every level and scale of the planetary system. For example, I often think about what happens when I take medications that are beneficial and necessary to treat my chronic health conditions. Multiply the chemical excretions of billions of individuals taking various medications, and the cumulative impact of excreting, for example, antibiotics.

We could say the same for the amount of carbon emissions each person produces in a day, or over their lifetime, or the Buddhism And Its Impact On Society of water each person wastes, or the amount of material goods each person needs or demands.

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We need to provide for the material needs of every human being; it is a human right that people have what they need to live with basic dignity and well-being. The ethical issue is to realize that we are in fact, responsible. There is no better ethical issue staring us in the face right now than the issue of wearing a mask during the COVID pandemic. The risk to an individual, who might be young and healthy and not much exposed to the virus, might be low enough that he or she may not want to wear a mask in public.

But the risk is to the larger community: if said person does not wear a mask they might become an asymptomatic carrier of the virus who could unknowingly infect many others, including people who are very vulnerable to severe sickness and death from COVID.]