All Beings Are Engaged: Environmental Engaged Buddhism in the U.S. and Japan

Abstract

The purpose of this project has been to answer the question ‘what is environmental socially engaged Buddhism?’ Although there has been much scholarship already done on this relatively new phenomenon in Buddhism, this question is still a sticking point in the literature. Inherent in the above question are others, how does one define a Buddhist school, how does the genealogy of the engaged environmental movement fit into the overarching history of Buddhism, and so on. Up until the emergence of this specific movement, the academy has outlined methods to define what makes a school, sect, or movement (these terms themselves are fluid depending on individual writers) in Buddhism. But for eco-Buddhism, these methods do not work as well as the older forms of Buddhism. Although this project has been small in scope, it is hoped that a more definitive answer to what is environmental engaged Buddhism may be reached. In short, the answer is that the environmental movement within socially engaged Buddhism is one that is significant, modern, varied, all at the same time while being unified. Therefore, this project seeks to ask that environmental socially engaged Buddhism deserves a new categorization in the field of Buddhist studies, and that therefore the traditional categorizations of Buddhism do not work.