These two sets of characters (read in Japanese as fu-zo fu-gen) come from the Heart Sutra (hannya-shin gyo). They are one pair of a series of negations which highlight the constructed nature of the way we perceive the world. The notion of "progress" or "attainment" has long been recognized in Buddhism as a potential trap for the spiritual aspirant who can get absorbed in his/her own selfish goals on the way to some far-off imagined state of perfection. This is a destination which can never be arrived at since it is the mental construct of a ignorant, selfish mind. In the same way, people in the modern age have become obsessed with visions of a technological and economic progress which will someday culminate in a perfect world of ease and material bounty. This is the lack of progress. The Buddhist path of development is a Middle Way expressed in these characters fu-zo fu-gen. The way is found in neither progressing blindly into the self-obsession of modern development, nor in digressing into a false golden age of pre-modern simplicity.

ARTICLES

Part I: A Buddhist Analysis of Modernity

The Spiritual Roots of Modernity : Buddhist Reflections on the Idolatry of the Nation-State, Corporate Capitalism and Mechanistic Science - David R. Loy

Reinhabiting the Flatland : The Practice of Buddhist Perception for the Modern World - Jonathan Watts

Buddhism for the Next Century : Toward Renewing a Moral Thai Society - Phra Phaisan Visalo

Part II: The Problem of Socially Engaged Buddhism

Emptiness and Form: Engaged Buddhism Struggles to Respond to Modernity - Ken Jones

How Shall We Save the World?: An Anniversary Essay on a Perennial Topic - Nelson Foster

Response by David Loy

Final Comments by Nelson Foster

Socially Engaged Buddhism & Modernity : What Sort of Animals Are They? - Santikaro Bhikkhu

Continuing Interests and Themes

Development:
World Faiths Development Dialogue : Reflections One Year Later - Rev. Alan Senauke

Buddhism and Gender:
Feminism and Buddhism : A Reflection Through Personal Life and Working Experience - Ouyporn Khuankaew

Cover Art: Rev. Masao Fujiki

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