ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 32, 2025
Engaged Buddhism in Finland—Too Cautious to Take Action
Mitra Härkönen and Johannes Cairns
University of Helsinki
Socially engaged Buddhism emerged in the 1960s with the participation of Buddhists in Asia and the West alike in the anti-war movement and war relief efforts. The movement rapidly expanded to encompass numerous social and environmental concerns and projects. Although many theoretical studies discuss doctrinal aspects concerning the relationship of Buddhism to social action, very few empirical studies have been conducted investigating how Buddhists relate to social action and which doctrinal aspects they emphasize in actual practice. Here, we address this knowledge gap by examining the stances of Finnish Buddhists on social engagement. The study respondents represent a wide set of Buddhist traditions and groups in Finland. We identify several attitudes—positive, positively indifferent, reserved, and critical—among the respondents. Intriguingly, even those with a positive or positively indifferent attitude frequently display high caution in taking social action, preferring to keep it as an individual affair outside of the activities of the Buddhist group. The cautionary stance is related to Buddhist teachings such as impartiality, a meditation practice-focused approach to Buddhism, and financial and personnel resource constraints of Finnish Buddhist groups. We also suggest the stance could be partly explained by social and geopolitical factors. We argue that because Buddhist teachings relate to social engagement in an ambiguous fashion, individual and social factors can outweigh their influence among Buddhists.
I commend the authors for producing fresh data on Buddhists’ social engagement. The data presented and the reasons offered for Finnish Buddhists’ “social passivity” are interesting; the article makes a useful contribution to the field.
However, I have a concern with the article’s framing. Presenting Buddhists’ socially engagement as beginning in the 1960s perpetuates an inaccurate stereotype—that engagement arose only with peace activism in Vietnam. The following scholarly works, all now reasonably well-known, discuss the emergence, decades earlier, of the modern iteration of Buddhists’ socially oriented activities:
• Main, Jessica L., and Rongdao Lai. “Introduction: Reformulating ‘Socially Engaged Buddhism’ as an Analytical Category.” The Eastern Buddhist, vol. 44, no. 2, 2013, pp. 1-34.
• Gleig, Ann. “Engaged Buddhism.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion, 28 June 2021. https://oxfordre-com.uml.idm.oclc.org/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-755?rskey=ZQpg0z&result=1
• Brown, Donna Lynn. “Beyond Queen and King: Democratizing ‘Engaged Buddhism.’” Journal of Buddhist Ethics vol. 30, 2023, pp. 1-58.
Hence, the dating of Buddhists’ modern-era social engagement needs to be earlier than the authors claim. In addition, scholarship shows that Buddhists were involved in society and undertook socially beneficial activities well before the modern era. Premodern Tibetan monasteries, for example, were long involved in economic and political matters, as well as charitable activities, health care, and education. That idea that premodern Buddhists were all socially disengaged is a stereotype rooted in Orientalism that should not be perpetuated. It would be best if scholars avoided these two inaccurate stereotypes: that modern-era Buddhist social engagement began in the 1960s; and that premodern Buddhists were all socially disengaged. Instead, today’s engagement would be better understood and presented as part of a long historical evolution in how Buddhists work to help their neighbours and better society.
I agree completely with the sentiment of this comment but acknowledge I have not (yet) read the article and imply no criticism of its authors.
In our current, troubled times, we should welcome, encourage, and extend Buddhism’s and Buddhists’ concern for the wellbeing of all sentient beings (and our environment).
My aspiration is that socially engaged Buddhism continue to serve as a useful means, employing mindfulness, compassion, and right action as a force for good in the political, economic, and social realms.