As transformações históricas do budismo e suas implicações ético-sociais

Abstract

Buddhism, one of the world?s great religions, met an expansion to the West since the nineteenth century, while in the East was at risk by a reduction on the number of followers and the ban on its practices by dictatorial regimes installed in the Asian countries during the colonialism and postwar periods. From 1950, it began to manifest a new feature of social and political engagement, expressed in Buddhist social projects that have emerged in different continents and countries. This new configuration, however, is still based in typical ancient Asian tradition, such as meditation, nonviolence, compassion, non-identity and focus on precious human life and interdependence. These concepts came into contact with the rational and individualistic culture of Western modernity. In this context, the actions of engagement, sustained in a Buddhist social theory itself, have approached the classical sociological perception about Buddhism of an introspective, contemplative renunciation of the world religion. Given these issues, this thesis sought to determine how the historical development of Buddhism, particularly the engaged Buddhism, has caused changes in the nature of this religion and how, in new terms, the engaged Buddhism has preserved and promoted, by contrast, culture and Buddhist values in the modern world. In parallel with the study of engaged Buddhism in the world and in Brazil, a research in a Brazilian Buddhist institution, through participant research, sought to characterize these practices, identify their impact on your public and evaluate their contribution to the initiatives of social promotion. It was concluded that, from the effects of colonization, modernity and globalization, the Buddhist institutions are showing greater social involvement. Buddhism, characterized by Weber as a religion of contemplative renunciation of the world, assumed a face of engagement in the world. The Buddhist social projects concile the typical ancient gnostic elements of Buddhism with Buddhist social action, which follow the guidelines of the Buddhist dharma applied to the social field. This meeting of the gnostic with rational may bring contributions and innovations to the field of applied social sciences as well as promote the preservation and expansion of Buddhism.