Ariya-Vinaya is a series of meetings that began in July 2000 following a consultation between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Ajarn Sulak Sivaraksa. The first meeting was held from 17-21 July at Wongsanit Ashram, Siam and the second meeting 21-27 January 2001 at Suphanburi, Siam. The third meeting will be held from 7-9 February 2002 at Wongsanit Ashram.
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Objectives
To bring together leading progressive monastic and lay Buddhists from various traditions, parts of the world, and lifestyles, along with their colleagues from other spiritually based movements for social transformation.
To foster a sense of community among participants that will support genuine friendships, deeper sharing and continued exchanges.
To exchange ideas, practices, and experiences concerning Ariya-Vinaya within the evolving modern context and structures of violence.
To experiment with modes of interaction that are inspired by Buddhist traditions of transformation.
To have creative, constructive, and inspiring fun together; to meditate; and to spark off new cooperative initiatives.
Ariya-Vinaya: exploring a noble discipline appropriate for the 21st century
Globalization, modernity, post-modernity, materialism, consumerism, structural violence, these represent some of the dominant forces in human social interaction today. These forces are transforming human life in powerful and often destructive ways. The control of people's destiny is increasingly being given over to forces that are too often widely divorced from people's actual needs and concerns. As the world is changing rapidly people must assert their right to have control over the direction and definition of development. Development is supposed to mean positive change in people's lives. Unfortunately the voice of the majority of the worlds population has been overlooked in the creation of the structures which wield the most power in today's world: transnational corporations, governments and religious institutions as well.
The Buddhist tradition itself contains a wealth of pertinent insight into exactly these issues. It is highly appropriate and indeed crucial that those Buddhists who are concerned with the welfare of humanity, spiritual, political, environmental and social, should join together to try and utilize the wisdom of the Buddha in a socially relevant way; by initiating alternatives to the mainstream. The tools and knowledge are already there but a concerted effort is needed to bring them to bear on the social ills of our world. In addition, the course of such an effort will naturally need to bring together the entire global Buddhist community, which comprises an immense diversity of people and traditions. This is an important first step towards the eventual goal of establishing and furthering dialogue and unity among all of the world's wisdom traditions, perhaps the best hope humanity has of establishing a peaceful and fair global society.
Common spiritual analysis of the root causes of structural violence and the impact of consumerism on our cultures will inspire towards the development of broad based alternatives in economic life, politics, care for the environment and education. The development of broad based alternatives and concerted efforts for social transformation constitutes the rationale for the Ariya-Vinaya project.
In consultation with H.H. the Dalai Lama a proposal was developed for a progressive series of dialogues and sharings to be held beginning with Buddhist monastic persons, expanding to Buddhist lay persons and then to other world wisdom traditions. These dialogues and the actions arising from them will use as their launching point an investigation of the idea of Ariya-Vinaya from the teachings of the Buddha.
A Reasonable Hope: Buddhist Contributions
A Buddhist contribution to making our global society more peaceful and fair can draw on, broadly, two main strands of its tradition. First, an analysis of structural violence using Buddhism's rich tradition of exploring the roots of selfishness and violence within human individuals. Progressive Buddhists have been applying these teachings to social issues with increasing creativity, depth, and practical clarity. Concurrently, the Buddhist ethical tradition has always challenged the status quo of economic, political, and cultural power values and structures. The concept of Ariya-Vinaya (Noble Moral Discipline) applies both to the monastic lineage and the lay people.
The Buddha actually never referred to his teaching as being one that is entirely intellectual or entirely moral. He often referred to his teaching (Buddha-Dhamma) holistically as Ariya-Vinaya, ‘Noble Discipline.' In this sense ‘noble' not only means ‘high' or ‘great' but all-encompassing. It is this kind of balanced approach which is also demonstrated in the engaged Buddhist movement. This movement is applying spirituality, which has an element of intellectuality, of knowledge and personal salvation or wisdom, to social issues, the practical and tangible. This includes solidarity based on compassion and the appreciation of diversity.
Ariya-Vinaya, therefore, does not simply mean detailed codes of conduct and moral structures. Nor is it just a matter for the monastics and other clergy. The term should be understood in a wider sense, encompassing the definition, conceptualization, and interpretation of individual behaviors, social practices, institutions, cultures and ways of living, as well as the establishment or enactment of specific codes of conduct when they are required. Moreover, all these activities must adapt in accordance with the time, place, persons, and communities in which they take place. Thus, Ariya-Vinaya is the application of Dharma in diversified settings and represents the creative dynamism of Buddhist disciplines and practices, vis-a-vis the need for social change.
Discussions on these matters have taken place with increasing frequency in various Buddhist countries and in the West. However, these have generally been limited to specific lineages, countries, or issues. They have mostly been stand alone conferences and seminars that have difficulty developing continuity and are rather academic in tone and format. Some groups, communities and networks have already developed an admirable range of concrete projects, which, by need of effectiveness, in general concentrate on single issues or local situations. These existing efforts need empowerment, appreciation and multiplication. Therefore the proposed Ariya-Vinaya project should involve Buddhists from various traditions and places. The idea is to re-think, re-interpret and re-apply Buddhist disciplines and social practices in contemporary local and global situations for monks, nuns, and male and female laypersons, as well as for various forms of Buddhist communities, organizations, and institutions. And the way they interact with like-minded activist endeavors within the diversity of other religions and beliefs.
Ariya-Vinaya is a series of meetings that began in July 2000 following a consultation between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Ajarn Sulak Sivaraksa. The first meeting was held from 17-21 July at Wongsanit Ashram, Siam and the second meeting 21-27 January 2001 at Suphanburi, Siam. The third meeting will be held from 7-9 February 2002 at Wongsanit Ashram.
Globalization, modernity, post-modernity, materialism, consumerism, structural violence, these represent some of the dominant forces in human social interaction today. These forces are transforming human life in powerful and often destructive ways. The control of people's destiny is increasingly being given over to forces that are too often widely divorced from people's actual needs and concerns. As the world is changing rapidly people must assert their right to have control over the direction and definition of development. Development is supposed to mean positive change in people's lives. Unfortunately the voice of the majority of the worlds population has been overlooked in the creation of the structures which wield the most power in today's world: transnational corporations, governments and religious institutions as well.
The Buddhist tradition itself contains a wealth of pertinent insight into exactly these issues. It is highly appropriate and indeed crucial that those Buddhists who are concerned with the welfare of humanity, spiritual, political, environmental and social, should join together to try and utilize the wisdom of the Buddha in a socially relevant way; by initiating alternatives to the mainstream. The tools and knowledge are already there but a concerted effort is needed to bring them to bear on the social ills of our world. In addition, the course of such an effort will naturally need to bring together the entire global Buddhist community, which comprises an immense diversity of people and traditions. This is an important first step towards the eventual goal of establishing and furthering dialogue and unity among all of the world's wisdom traditions, perhaps the best hope humanity has of establishing a peaceful and fair global society.
A Buddhist contribution to making our global society more peaceful and fair can draw on, broadly, two main strands of its tradition. First, an analysis of structural violence using Buddhism's rich tradition of exploring the roots of selfishness and violence within human individuals. Progressive Buddhists have been applying these teachings to social issues with increasing creativity, depth, and practical clarity. Concurrently, the Buddhist ethical tradition has always challenged the status quo of economic, political, and cultural power values and structures. The concept of Ariya-Vinaya (Noble Moral Discipline) applies both to the monastic lineage and the lay people.
Ariya-Vinaya, therefore, does not simply mean detailed codes of conduct and moral structures. Nor is it just a matter for the monastics and other clergy. The term should be understood in a wider sense, encompassing the definition, conceptualization, and interpretation of individual behaviors, social practices, institutions, cultures and ways of living, as well as the establishment or enactment of specific codes of conduct when they are required. Moreover, all these activities must adapt in accordance with the time, place, persons, and communities in which they take place. Thus, Ariya-Vinaya is the application of Dharma in diversified settings and represents the creative dynamism of Buddhist disciplines and practices, vis-a-vis the need for social change.
Projects