Engaged Buddhist Community as a Human Right Response: A Case of Buddhist Participatory Communication

Abstract

Religions have played very important roles in resolving conflicts and problems for mankind in addition to providing the paths to happiness and salvations based on their uniquely defined traditions and frameworks. In the past several decades, where world problems have become more complex, including peace and conflict resolution, requiring more complex international standards and frameworks, the declaration of human rights was announced, promulgated, and implemented into governance and development policies adopted by many countries worldwide, in order to facilitate the ways that problems, conflicts, and various causes of suffering could be solved, with clear international standards and guidelines.

Religions, Buddhism included, have provided responses (pragmatism) to world as well as human problems in the face of human rights, which have been expanded to include communication rights, the right to livelihoods, and beyond. This paper utilizes the Buddhist pragmatism framework to connect to the issue of human rights including communication rights from historical, social, cultural, and development aspects. It also discusses case studies of well-known Buddhist spiritual leaders who have been involved in “interpretation and dissemination” of teachings by the Buddha for solving modern day problems.