Harris/B5M, 60. What is Engaged Buddhism?

The Vietnamese Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh (b. 1926) coined the term “engaged Buddhism” in the 1960s to stress the necessity of an active involvement with social suffering in the context of the Vietnam War. The notion of engaged Buddhism focused the awareness and compassion of Buddhist practice on the conflict, organized monastic and lay Buddhists in networks of peace activism and welfare aid, and proposed concrete ways for ending the war.