Engaged Buddhism: Pebbles in the Pond

From a dharma talk given by Kenn Duncan, Sept. 23, 2025

So let’s start this talk with a short common definition of engaged buddhism, or sometimes you’ll hear socially engaged buddhism: in general the term references the movement of applying Buddhist solutions or teachings, or practice to social, political and ecological problems. 

Definition of this action was sort of acknowledged and further developed in the latter half of the 20th century. The actual term engaged buddhism is credited to the Vietnamese Zen Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, he sort of coined it to describe his and others work to try and bring about peace during a time of great turmoil and war in his home country. 

So the concept of engaged Buddhism is to lower suffering and oppression of all beings through the transformation of unjust and repressive social and political constructs, while not losing sight of the emphasis on inward spiritual growth. 
The Buddha’s teachings guide us to study our own human experience so that we can develop the wisdom that brings liberation from suffering and manifests lovingkindness and compassion toward other beings and their suffering.                       
So engaged buddhism might (as Thich Nhat Hanh says) just be buddhism, buddhism we bring off the cushion and into the world in the form of social service, working with those who are suffering, working on programs that emphasis compassion, engaging in helpful professions or just simply bringing mindfulness into our daily lives and to those around us.

Carol pointed out the importance of idea of interdependence in Buddhism in her talk last week (everything being connected) and this made me think that this interdependence is a key aspect in the suffering we see in the world. 

It’s possible to suffer as a result of social conditions or natural circumstances like poverty, injustice, oppression, natural disaster and other conditions that might arise in a collective way, one thing affecting another, one person affecting another. So if this, than dukkha/suffering does need to be addressed also in a collective way to remove these conditions for all beings in our worlds.

This can feel daunting and overwhelming if we start to look at the weight and the extent of all the suffering of even just ourselves, much less the entire world.  So how do we take our practice off the cushion and into the world and will it make a difference? (The other internal battle, can I, will I make a difference?) I truly believe the answer is yes. 

Even in the story of the Buddha, as he reached enlightenment, the apex of his spiritual journey, his journey does not end there.  Even in the midst of the blissful state that is liberation from suffering he got up from under the Bodhi tree to travel out and share his awakening and insights with those who still suffered. So in essence he was bringing his own practice and insight into daily life.   

As it is told the Buddha spent the better part of the next 40 years traveling around India teaching the dharma. His decision to get up from the “cushion” and go into the world might be seen as an act of engaged buddhism. His teachings and discourses do include passages on worldly topics like politics, poverty, crime, war, peace and even ecology. And who knows how much joy he may have spread just by being who he was with those around him. A quick smile from the buddha to someone having a hard day, or just a communal sit with others in Sangha may have changed the moment, the day or even the lives of other beings thus changing the world.

So how do we take our practice into the world like this and what do we have to do to make a difference.  I believe it can be as small as taking the awareness you develop, the calm and peace, the compassion for yourself and others that you cultivate within you in our practice and apply it as you walk your path in the here and now.  

It’s the ripple effect >> have any of you noticed a time where you may have been with or around someone who was clearly having a bad day, and showing anger or frustration (forms of violence) outwardly and noticed that it may have worked it’s way onto your day as well? Or seen it in action playing out in front of you between other people? 

However subtle it may be, such anger or violence leaves victims in its wake: other people, things, one’s own equilibrium and coolness, the moment itself. These small-scale incidences of violence accumulate relentlessly, are multiplied on a social level, like harsh ripples on the pond, and become a source of the large-scale violence that can sweep down upon us. The harm builds on itself.

In contrast, any act performed with full awareness, mindfulness, any gesture that fosters happiness in another person, can be seen as an expression of nonviolence, non-harming. So we don’t have to wait until bullets are flying to work for peace. A more constant practice can happen each day against our own anger, carelessness, and self-absorption. This daily practice of awareness, mindfulness and compassion, moment to moment also builds on itself.

Its like the compassionate stone tossed into a still pond creates harmonious ripples in all directions, every act, every thought, could have infinite repercussions in realms seen and unseen. Again in buddhism we may refer to this as nonduality, interrelatedness, or interbeing. If each being is not fundamentally separate from other beings then the suffering of others is also our own suffering, the violence of others is also our own violence as well. Likewise the joy of others, also our own, we can share their joy.

And our joy, our compassion, our lovingkindness can also create ripples in all directions. In this we can see the importance of the inner work we are doing and how that can develop the wisdom and insight we will need to take this practice off the cushion.

In Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings he notes that peace work is more of an inner activity than an outer one:
“It is not by going out for a demonstration against nuclear missiles that we can bring about peace. It is with our capacity of smiling, breathing, and being peace that we can make peace.”

He says that personal peace is accessible in this very moment if one knows where to look; “touch” the peace and joy that is already within you: 

“There is always another “this” that will follow the present one. If you are not living in peace at this moment, you will never be able to.”

Buddhism often gets a bad rap in that it’s seen to promote personal transformation at the expense of social concern. Some Buddhist teachings claim that the mind does not just affect the world, it actually creates and sustains it. According to this view, cosmic balance is most effectively preserved through an individual’s spiritual practice. 

Then there is the amendment, if you will, of engaged buddhism, that inner serenity can be impeded or affected by external conditions. In an effort to address the arising external conditions that can create suffering we take our practice off the cushion and into the world.  This creates a sort of link to our inner work and our work on the behalf of others.  

Inner work of self alone and on the behalf of others generosity, inner wisdom and outwardly compassion. So engaged buddhism entails inner work as well >> social change and inner change are inseparable.  

Effective social action must also address the greed, anger, and ignorance that cripple us as groups and as individuals. Work on oneself is therefore essential.

When we consider, or ever find ourselves believing or even wondering in our meditation sits,  that we should be taking action instead of sitting, consider that our meditation practice itself is this action. It is not an escape from suffering, or withdrawal from society. It is preparing us to be in society. We learn to use our breath to calm our mind and body.  We find clarity and awareness. We practice being attentive and seeing the nature of all things. By noticing simply our breath, I am aware that I am breathing in, I am aware that I am breathing out. This awareness can spread into our awareness in our everyday activity. This awareness can guide our actions on a daily basis, in each moment.

Thich Nhat Hanh notes that when we meditate we may have the impression that we leave everything behind—family, society, and all the complications involved in them—and come as an individual in order to practice and search for peace. This is already an illusion, because in Buddhism there is no such thing as an individual.

In the same way, the individual is made of non-individual elements. The kind of suffering that you carry in your heart, that is society itself. You bring that with you, you bring society with you. You bring all of us with you. When you meditate, it is not just for yourself, you do it for the whole society. You seek solutions to your problems not only for yourself, but for all of us.

I believe it’s important to recognize that we can bring this practice into our immediate world and it can make a difference.

What is close at hand cannot be neglected:

We talk about social service, service to humanity, service for others who are far away, helping to bring peace to the world—but we often forget that it is the very people around us that we must live for first of all. If you cannot serve your wife or husband or child or parent, friends, neighbors, coworkers and fellow sangha members how are you going to serve the larger society on the whole?

If you practice Buddhism in your family, in your closer circles, it is engaged Buddhism, it is taking our practice off the cushion, it is making a difference no matter how small the pebble or rock. Once it hits the water there are ripples – and they can be ripples for the good of all beings.

May our practice be for the benefit of all beings.