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well-known “political Bhikkhus” include Ven. U Ottama of Burma,
who had been actively involved in fighting against British colonial
rule in the 1930s. He is considered a national hero of modern
Myanmar yet he did not hold any political post except once in 1935
when he was leader of the All India Hindu Mahasabha. Another
prominent Buddhist monk was Ven. Wisara who was repeatedly
imprisoned and tortured by the colonial government for “inciting
sedition”, and forced to wear plain clothes and abandon religious
observances. He died in prison after a 166-day hunger strike against
the British rule in Burma.
In Sri Lanka, Ven. Dr. W. Rahula (author of the well-known
book “What the Buddha Taught”) had in his book “Heritage of the
Bhikkhus” provided strong arguments for monks to be socially and
politically engaged. He was the founder and joint secretary of the
Mahajana Peramuna, a political party formed in 1948. (He was
not so successful in his political venture but this turned out to be a
blessing, for he later concentrated on Buddhist studies and became
a renowned Buddhist scholar.)
In India, the SEB had been associated with the anti-caste
movement led by Dr. Ambedkar. Dr. Ambedkar was born into an
Untouchable caste. A learned scholar, he soon discovered through
his studies that the Untouchables were formerly Buddhists, who were
forced to become outcastes for refusing to convert to Hinduism. He
studied all the major religions and concluded that Buddhism would
be the best choice. He converted back to Buddhism in October
1956, followed by 500,000 followers. That was the largest mass
conversion in recent history. (In October 2017, I was invited to
Nagpur to attend the 60th Anniversary of the great conversion)
In Thailand, Ven. Buddhadasa propagated “Dhammic
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Socialism” at the end of the Vietnam War. At a time when the
mere mention of the word “socialism” could land one in jail, his
engagement in public affairs of this nature was considered radical.
One of his disciples Dr. Sulak Sivaraksa is now a leading figure in
SEB, whom I have the pleasure of meeting several times.
During the 1930s, monks in Vietnam were involved in anti-
colonialist movements and their “radical” involvement came to a
height during the 1960s when Buddhism was gruesomely suppressed
by the Ngu Dinh Diem regime. That led to the self-immolation of
Bodhisattva Thich Quang Duc in 1963.
Describing the Buddhist movement of 1960s in Vietnam, Ven.
Thich Nhat Hanh used the Vietnamese term “入世佛教” which
was translated as “Le Bouddhisme Engage” in French. The term has
since been translated as “Socially Engaged Buddhism” in English.
However, SEB is not a unified movement. It emerges in
different countries at different times to meet the challenges at that
point in time. (The saffron revolution in Myanmar in 2007 may be
seen as a continuation of such a movement). Nonetheless, it has
certain common characteristics such as radical engagement, non-
violence, and mass involvement in public policies.
As seen in the descriptions earlier, the movement engages the
powers that be radically, such as demanding for political rights
and liberation from suppression, by organising and mobilising
the masses to make such demands. A salient characteristic is that
the strategy adopted had always been one that is “non-violence”.
Interestingly, one may asked, why is the term “non-violence” instead
of “peaceful” being used? Well, the word non-violence originated
from the Sanskrit term “Ahimsa” , which is a combination of A,
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