Contesting Religious Boundaries with Care: Engaged Buddhism and Eco-Activism in the UK

Abstract

The word “Buddhism” conjures up a variety of images and connotations: monks meditating on hilltops, mindfulness, cheerful Buddha caricatures. It is unlikely that these depictions suggest engagement with societal issues. And yet, this is precisely what many Buddhist communities and traditions are involving themselves in around the world. Often referred to as “engaged Buddhism”, this development in the Buddhist tradition refers to the application of Buddhist principles and practices to situations of social and environmental suffering. Nevertheless, there are critics of this emerging trend who contend that Buddhists should refrain from engaging in societal issues, believing that such involvement contradicts the teachings of the Buddha and distracts from the ultimate goal of liberation. Built on two years of ethnographic research, this paper explores the ways in which a particular environmentally engaged Buddhist group known as “Extinction Rebellion Buddhists” adapt their religious beliefs and practices in response to the challenges posed by the Anthropocene, where concerns for our collective world have resulted in increasing interest in the ways in which humans actively care for the environment. In reformulating Buddhist principles and meditation as a “politics of care”, care becomes a tool for change, with the group not only confronting the pressing issues of the Anthropocene but also disrupting Buddhism’s traditionally inward-looking, other-worldly tendencies, carving out space for autonomy and transformation within the broader landscape of UK Buddhism.