"Engaged Buddhism “(EB) as a term first coined by Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh in 1965, which meant to evoke and induce a form of spirituality that is socially and politically aware and active. Since then, EB as phenomenon variously related to locating Buddhist answers for social and political concerns that continually has been discussed in academic circle and experimentally practices by religious groups in Asian and western countries. In Germany, EB groups instructed by different Buddhism schools have increased rapidly since 1990s. To tackle the social and political issues like peacekeeping, climate change, gender equality, poverty relief, engaged Buddhists in Germany not only take part in the traditional donation activities but also practice social engagement within their immediate surroundings. In this challenging time, the emergence and development of EB communities in Germany expresses the increasing demand of transforming and reforming original Buddhism teachings and values reconciling with modern reality.

In this Q-Team, we will firstly cover the terminological discourse on EB in Germany and methodology training. Then, we do empirical case studies analysis on selected EB groups in Germany by investigating their standpoints to current issues and narratives of social engagements, teachings and practices, motivation, ethics as well as collective organization forms, trying to obtain a full know-how picture of EB groups in Germany to give potential religion development policy advice.


Semester: WiSe 2022/23