The
International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) was created in 1989
by Thai social activist and writer Sulak Sivaraksa and a small circle of
like-minded friends — kalyanamitta — in Asia and the West. I
have been attending INEB conferences — first annually then bi-annually —
for the last eighteen years, and this expanding circle of spiritual
friends has been an essential source of support and education for me,
and a venue for Buddhist action in Asia.
Our resources have
always been limited — one more or less fulltime staff person and a small
office — so INEB has, of necessity, functioned as a network. The
conferences, beyond the presentations and plenaries, allow people to
meet and develop ideas for local, national, regional, and topical
programs that operate independent of INEB’s direct coordination. In the
past this has led to training for women’s empowerment, support for
environmental action by Thai monks, collaboration with ex-untouchable
Buddhists in India, witness delegations to Burma, Bangladesh, and
Cambodia, and many more grassroots activities. INEB's Think Sangha
(about which more later) evolved in the 1990s from a group looking at
the need for Buddhist social analysis. While networks and projects may
be ephemeral, the relationships among us endure.
This year’s
conference, INEB’s 20th anniversary, was organized in and around Chiang
Mai in the north of Thailand. Over the course of a week’s activities —
including a three-day meditation retreat led by Dharmachari Lokamitra
from Friends of the Western Buddhist Order and Trailokya Bauddha
Mahasangha Sahayaka Gana (TBMSG) , the conference itself, talks and
cultural evenings at Wat Suan Dok, an international alms round
collecting money and medicine for Burmese refugees, a day-long festival
of engaged Buddhism, and an evening peace walk through the crowded
streets of Chiang Mai — more than two hundred people, lay and monastic,
took part. By my count there were representatives from Thailand, Burma,
Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Sri
Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Ladakh, Tibet, Europe, South
Africa, Australia, and the U.S.
Aside from the heat — it was in
the nineties for my first four or five days in Thailand — in the midst
of great busyness some vivid points come to mind.
• The strong
presence of youth and the promise of generational continuity. There were
articulate and dedicated young people in almost every Asian
delegation. Tempel Smith, with whom I worked at BPF, brought a group of
eight youth from the U.S., at the start of a six-month Asian immersion
Tempel has organized.
• Large and active participation from a
number of countries — Burma, Sri Lanka, India, Japan, and more — which
allowed for the creation of national and regional working groups
following up from the conference.
• The leadership and
visibility of women in virtually every aspect of planning and
presentation. Looking back over my years in INEB, though patriarchy has
not completely disappeared, this seems to me something we are getting
right.
• The return of many old friends for this 20th anniversary, some of whom had been apart from the network for ten years or more.
I
am grateful to the conference organizers for several opportunities I
was given to present and share ideas. At the conference plenary, Ven.
Dhammananda, the formidable Thai bhikkhuni, and I spoke about our
experience and vision of engaged Buddhist community and organization. I
helped my old friend Ouyporn Khuankaew explore issues of gender. On the
last day I took part in an interfaith panel —Buddhist, Christian, Muslim
— looking at spiritual practices that support our respective social
action.
In the Upaddha Sutta the Buddha explains to Ananda that kalyanamittata,
spiritual friendship, is the all of the holy life. This understanding
is at the heart of INEB. Over all these years friendship is the
mysterious force that draws me across the ocean again and again. Maybe
it is not, at last, so mysterious. “Only connect” — this is the
watchword of sentient beings. We yearn for connection on the deepest
biological level, and then, laboring in delusion, we build walls of
self, race, gender, nation, and so on to protect ourselves from the
responsibilities that come with connection. If we remember “only
connect” and cultivate connection as we strive to do at INEB, then the
suffering and joy of our many lives becomes our common human treasure.
I include below the statement read at Chiang Mai’s ancient Tha Pae gate, at the end of our peace walk.
INEB CONFERENCE STATEMENT
This
week in Chiang Mai the International Network of Engaged Buddhists
celebrated its 20th anniversary with a successful conference dedicated
to peace and social transformation. As kalyanamitta, more than
two hundred socially engaged Buddhists from twenty-five countries –
from Asia and the Pacific region, from North America and Europe –
joined together for study, dialogue, and dharma practice, committing
ourselves to work for peace.
We affirm our deep belief that the
suffering of society – war, racism, poverty, gender oppression,
destruction of the environment, and cultural degradation – can be
transformed into liberation for all beings.
We affirm and have seen ourselves that peace can arise from even the fiercest of conflicts.
Together we confronted critical concerns that affect life on this precious and fragile planet:
• the intertwined disasters of consumerism and environmental destruction; • the vital need to empower and educate young people; • the pervasive oppression of women, and all gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgendered men & women; • the denial of human rights and meaningful livelihood; • the need to preserve Buddhism and all traditional culture and religion; • and the obscenity of war, civil strife, and violence.
These
concerns, wherever they arise in the world are our concerns. They are
close to our hearts. In the Buddha's way and in the way of every great
religion, we know that we must meet this suffering not with faith
alone, but with all our efforts and action day by day.
