In the past year, Think Sangha has been grappling with the issue of modernity. While this term is not exactly clear to most, we have found it useful in creating a frame for looking at the multiple social issues which face us today, such as globalization, development & poverty, consumerism, corporate agendas & free trade, fundamentalism, gender, structural violence and so on. Reflections on this theme have culminated in the second print issue of our Think Sangha Journal. The first section of this issue contained three essays is framed around a Buddhist analysis of modernity. The second section of the issue revolves around a recent dialogue we have been having in Think Sangha on the problematic nature of socially engaged Buddhism (SEB). Much of this debate has focused around this issue of modernity. Questions have been raised such as, "How authentic is engaged Buddhism, if its edge of social activism is based in modernist concepts like human rights?". The last section of the journal contains two articles which represent Think Sangha's past and future. The first is on Think Sangha's involvement in the World Faiths Development Dialogue, dialogue on poverty with the World Bank. This dialogue was part of Think Sangha's focus on consumerism and economic development over the past two years and remains an ongoing concern. The second, by INEB Women's Project coordinator Ouyporn Khuankaew, is a reflection on her ongoing activities to merge Buddhist practice with feminist activism. As an original member of Think Sangha, she is one of the bridges to this underdeveloped concern of Think Sangha that we hope to make the focus of a future Think Sangha Journal. The articles from this issue are also found here on this web site in the Papers and Viewpoint section.

For the coming year, Think Sangha has been making plans for holding more regionally based meetings rather than one large international meeting. The intention behind this is to expand the variety of perspectives within the group, which as mentioned above is still somewhat limited. Our larger hope, though, is not so much the expansion and growth of the group itself but rather that people in various places speaking various languages will pick up on this idea of social analysis rooted in spiritual and religious viewpoints and go on to form their own think sanghas - to explore their own social and cultural issues (which may or may not include modernity), to share and commune with other such groups (like ours) in the spirit of weaving wider webs of community based on common beliefs and commitments. We hope our continuing efforts will contribute in some small way to such developments.