Description:
These volumes are the culmination of sixteen years of research and engagement in the growing Socially Engaged Buddhist movement in Japan by the International Buddhist Exchange Center (IBEC) @ Kodosan in Yokohama, Japan. They follow its two publications dedicated to the Northeast Japan
tsunami and nuclear disaster in This Precious Life: Buddhist Tsunami Relief and Anti-Nuclear Activism in Post 3/11 Japan (2012) & Lotus in the Nuclear Sea: Fukushima and the Promise of Buddhism in the Nuclear Age (2013).
Volume II presents the new Socially Engaged Buddhist activities of 21st century Japan, a dynamic movement arising out of the social crisis of Japan's "disconnected society" (mu-en shakai). It focuses on five sub-movements in end-of-life care, suicide prevention, disaster relief and Buddhist chaplaincy, poverty and homelessness, and anti-nuclear activism and holistic development. An Afterword ponders the possibility of a new movement for gender justice.
Volume I provides an essential presentation of historical themes and a comprehensive survey of Socially Engaged Buddhism in the modern era.
Brief description: Jonathan S. Watts graduated from Princeton University in 1989 with a B.A. in comparative religions and political science. He has been workingwith the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) in a variety of capacities since 1990. Living in Japan for over 25 years, he has beencoordinating the Engaged Buddhist project at IBEC since 2006 and the Japan Network of Engaged Buddhists (JNEB) since 2009.
Review Quotes:
"This revelatory book sheds a whole new light on Buddhism in Japan, a Buddhism that is socially engaged, brave, and totally surprising. This is a must-read for all of us. The writing is bright and clear; the research deep and thorough; the characters in the book are profoundly memorable." Roshi Joan Jiko Halifax, founder Upaya Zen Center and Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program
"A long-awaited correction to old stereotypes that Japanese Buddhists escape the world by staring at walls, or succumb to the world by marrying and drinking. Japanese Buddhism leaves its medieval traditions to deal with a sustainable social future; memorably inspiring vignettes of Buddhists addressing real-life issues. Engaged Buddhism from an engaged Buddhist-Jonathan Watts walks the walk with grass-roots leaders of Buddhist responses to hospice, homelessness and suicide, natural and man-made disasters. Watts knows Japan and its engaged Buddhists like no one else; his latest volume is an engaging resource for anyone interested in Buddhism, or activism, or both." Dr. Carl B. Becker, professor at the Kyoto University Kokoro (Heart-Mind) Research Center and renowned thanatologist