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Facing the Future: Four Essays on Buddhism and Society
This is the compilation of Four Essays on the Social Relevance of Buddhism.
Paperback
Published November 12, 2001
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About the author
Bhikkhu Bodhi
99 books283 followersBhikkhu Bodhi is an American Buddhist monk from New York City. Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1944, he obtained a BA in philosophy from Brooklyn College (1966) and a PhD in philosophy from Claremont Graduate School (1972).
Drawn to Buddhism in his early 20s, after completing his university studies he traveled to Sri Lanka, where he received novice ordination in 1972 and full ordination in 1973, both under the late Ven. Ananda Maitreya, the leading Sri Lankan scholar-monk of recent times.
He was appointed editor of the Buddhist Publication Society (in Sri Lanka) in 1984 and its president in 1988. Ven. Bodhi has many important publications to his credit, either as author, translator, or editor, including the Buddha — A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya (co-translated with Ven. Bhikkhu Nanamoli (1995), The Connected Discourses of the Buddha — a New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya (2000), and In the Buddha’s Words (2005).
In May 2000 he gave the keynote address at the United Nations on its first official celebration of Vesak (the day of the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and passing away). He returned to the U.S. in 2002. He currently resides at Chuang Yen Monastery and teaches there and at Bodhi Monastery. He is currently the chairman of Yin Shun Foundation.
Drawn to Buddhism in his early 20s, after completing his university studies he traveled to Sri Lanka, where he received novice ordination in 1972 and full ordination in 1973, both under the late Ven. Ananda Maitreya, the leading Sri Lankan scholar-monk of recent times.
He was appointed editor of the Buddhist Publication Society (in Sri Lanka) in 1984 and its president in 1988. Ven. Bodhi has many important publications to his credit, either as author, translator, or editor, including the Buddha — A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya (co-translated with Ven. Bhikkhu Nanamoli (1995), The Connected Discourses of the Buddha — a New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya (2000), and In the Buddha’s Words (2005).
In May 2000 he gave the keynote address at the United Nations on its first official celebration of Vesak (the day of the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and passing away). He returned to the U.S. in 2002. He currently resides at Chuang Yen Monastery and teaches there and at Bodhi Monastery. He is currently the chairman of Yin Shun Foundation.
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July 22, 2020
This book collects four essays on the relevance of Buddhism in the modern world (written at the turn of the century). One major thread throughout was that our capitalistic, free-market society isn't operating in line with Buddhist principles — in the name of higher profits, there are poverty levels, income inequality, we're depleting natural resources, etc — and we'll need strong leaders to help us chart a better path forward. Another key takeaway is that institutional Buddhism needs to adapt to stay relevant to younger people, or it will just become an insular, fundamentalist organization that dies out in a couple of generations.
Much of what Bhikkhu Bodhi says is pretty high-level stuff. For example, he's not laying out an economic plan since he doesn't have the knowledge or expertise to do so, but he does give some general ideas for what a more Buddism-centric society would look like. The fourth essay felt a bit out of place, dealing more specifically with Sri Lanka and its processes for training new monks, but it was still interesting since I previously knew nothing about how those processes work.
Overall, I enjoyed the essays. It was refreshing to read someone advocate for making Buddhism relevant to everyone, which includes rethinking how its principles are taught and shared.
Much of what Bhikkhu Bodhi says is pretty high-level stuff. For example, he's not laying out an economic plan since he doesn't have the knowledge or expertise to do so, but he does give some general ideas for what a more Buddism-centric society would look like. The fourth essay felt a bit out of place, dealing more specifically with Sri Lanka and its processes for training new monks, but it was still interesting since I previously knew nothing about how those processes work.
Overall, I enjoyed the essays. It was refreshing to read someone advocate for making Buddhism relevant to everyone, which includes rethinking how its principles are taught and shared.
Displaying 1 of 1 review