organized in association with the International Network of
Engaged Buddhists (INEB)
funded by the Rissho Kosei-kai Fund for Peace
Think Sangha evolved out of an association of friends and colleagues
within INEB who wanted to explore Buddhist approaches to social
analysis in greater depth. The Dhammic Society conference held
in February 1995 in Thailand (for a report of this meeting contact
Think Sangha coordinator Jonathan Watts) and the subsequent publication
of Entering the Realm of Reality: Towards
Dhammic Societies in June 1997 have been the most concrete
accomplishments of our loose association. The initial inspiration
behind Think Sangha was to reinvigorate the core members by developing
a vital, intellectual network to tackle pressing social issues,
make timely analysis and offer practical methods for confronting
these issues.
Of the fifteen actual participants at the meeting and the five
or so others who could not attend, roughly fourteen of them had
been part of the original association. Such a group make-up followed
our idea to form a "sangha" as much as a group of intellectuals.
The closeness and friendship that we have shared in working together
over the past years (for some as many as 8 years) made us confident
that we can count on each other to build this network. The new
participants were carefully selected through personal references
from within the group further ensuring solidarity among us. The
aim of Think Sangha is certainly not to be closed to new voices,
but rather, in the beginning to make sure that we build a strong
base. Such an approach, unfortunately, led to some under-representation
in developing world and female participants in this original group.
Establishing a greater balance through bringing in participants
from such areas is a top priority this year.
Detailed: The dominant culture of a modernizing invasive industrialism
which stimulates - yet can never satisfy - the urge for a strong
sense of self to overlay the angst and sense of lack in the human
condition. As a result, goods, services, and experiences are consumed
beyond any reasonable need. This undermines the eco-system, the
quality of life and particularly traditional cultures and communities
and the possibility of spiritual liberation.
Abbreviated: Consumerism is a way of living in which the meaning
of one's life is the acquisition and consumption of forms and
experiences.
Haiku: The meaning of one's life, the acquisition and consumption
of things
The following chart is an attempt to encapsulate the various ideas the group had for analyzing and confronting Consumerism from a Buddhist standpoint. As with the above definition, it is by no means complete, but rather a initial envisioning of a Buddhist analysis. The essential tool which the group agreed on was the Buddha's framework of the Four Noble Truths to conceptualize any problem. These four form the four major quadrants of the chart. In each of the four, there are some basic tools, values and methods which individuals in the group felt were particularly suitable to confronting Consumerism. In the center of the chart is the core of Buddhism, voidness (sunnata and interdependence (idappaccayata. Voidness is the non-independent, non-free standing or free creating property of all phenomena, akin to not-self (anatta). This implies the interconnectedness or inter-dependency of all forms, and thus this core is but two sides of the same coin. Properly realized, this awareness enables us to see the connections among phenomena, a skill particularly needed in the disconnected world of consumer images. Finally, revolving around the chart is the flow of mindfulness, a method which nurtures this whole process and enables us to disengage from the delusion of Consumerism and to lead a life in harmony with natural truth.
There are three parts to this section. The key characteristics of Consumerism do not fall into neatly defined, separate categories. Rather there is a whole web of interconnected factors. In keeping with the interconnected spirit of Buddhism, we have located three basic "areas". Within each of these areas, a number of interrelated characteristics are discussed.