Now, I'm Buddhist before I'm an anarchist. But for me they create a positive spin together. I mean Buddhist sanghas are run on principles of mutual aid, and the economy is a gift economy. So I don't disagree with the Buddha though, I'm not going to steal someone's property, I actually do believe in a protection of personal property. We all need to use things like land or a house etc. All I want is some space to develop my anarchist dream. But what do you do when someone wants to own the air you breathe or the water you drink; or the land under your feet. These are conflicts that Buddha wasn't speaking to in the ancient era. I wanted to ask Buddhists their thought, but considered this might be too politically charged for the main subreddit. Anyways thanks for listening.

Hi comrades,

Recently a mod on an important Buddhist subreddit stickied a series of posts endorsing the "three state solution" to the colonial war against Palestine, a "solution" which Vijay Prashad rightly identifies as ethnic cleansing. On that same post, a conversation between that mod and another user (who is very active on Buddhist reddit and discord) reveals that both consider opposition to the apartheid state to be unacceptable and anti-semitic.

At a time when a genocide is being committed in Gaza with the full backing of the United States, what on earth can we do about this? As a policy, I don't think there's anything to be gained by debating genocide with zionists. With these particular people, once my views were clearly outlined, I blocked them (which of course has the side-effect of preventing me from replying on their posts in the future, at least using this account). I also don't think going around starting fights with people is great optics-wise and its potential to be vindictive/self-serving rather than an effective and properly motivated opposition to genocide.

Aside from the massive death and destruction, what is really concerning is that these and other users attempt to justify their views as "the Buddhist way". Now I would understand a sort of principled pacifism here, but the solutions that these guys favour are not pacifistic, they are genocidal. Consider the damage that can ensue from hitching the wagon of the Buddhadharma to the engine of fascism... the kind of self-importance and indifference you have to cultivate to endorse such policies even if it means mass murder and forcible displacement.

I know this is far from the first encounter between Buddhism and fascism, but this is happening right now and the scale of the catastrophe that is unfolding has the potential to be without precedent at least in most of our lifetimes. And I know reddit is far from the centre of the universe, but what we are witnessing happen is a consolidation of right wing forces that has the potential to feed into this massive havoc. It's not just about Palestine, either; as has been repeatedly pointed out, what we are seeing is the blueprint for the treatment of colonised, marginalised, and working people for the next century.

Namaste, everyone. I been wondering that are there any BSOs around NC? I want to get more involved and want to understand more on Buddhist socialism.

I believe we need an international organization of socialist/anarchist Buddhists to organize and create a support network for Buddhist resistance, in addition to advancing studies, propaganda and actions on radical Buddhism. I know reddit isn't the best tool for this kind of thing, but it's hard to find such a large number of radical Buddhists anywhere else. Anyone interested in taking this idea forward?

Sorry for the English mistakes, this is not my first language.

Hi everyone,

Does anyone here happen to have a pdf or epub of this book they'd be willing to share:

"Living Nembutsu: Applying Shinran’s Radically Engaged Buddhism in Life and Society" (Jeff Wilson, 2022)

I've been looking around a bit but haven't managed to get my hands on a copy so far.

Many thanks!

I just finished Berkman's "What is Communist Anarchism?" and beside it being an incredibly lucid exposition of anarcho-communism, I often found it resonating strongly with Buddhist thought. Just off the top of my head: his recognition of a deep interdependence between all beings and their labour and his acknowledgement that the nature of current conditions and actions are precisely what decides the quality of their fruits (the means define the ends). Importantly, he continually emphasises the need of a "social revolution", a revolution of spirit: a spirit of true liberty, joy, kindness, and solidarity. I believe that this transformation of mind Berkman points at is congruent with qualities that Buddhism praises and develops.

Any thoughts? Strongly recommend reading this work if you haven't already.

The Bodhisattva Vow:

However innumerable all beings are,
I vow to save them all.
However inexhaustible delusions are,
I vow to extinguish them all.
However immeasurable Dharma teachings are,
I vow to master them all.
However endless the Buddha's way is,
I vow to follow it.

~ Translated by Nyogen Senzaki.

___

By having no family,
I inherited the family of humanity.
By having no possessions,
I have possessed all.
By rejecting the love of one,
I received the love of all.
By surrendering my life to the revolution,
I found eternal life.
Revolutionary Suicide.

- Huey P. Newton, from Revolutionary Suicide (1973)