In particular, Buddhism has had an important impact on contemporary Western mental healthcare, psychology, and psychotherapy. Many therapists and mental health caregivers have looked to Buddhist philosophy and mindfulness techniques as complementary therapeutic strategies for ending the suffering caused by the mind. A 2019 article in The Atlantic, “Why So Many Americans Are Turning to Buddhism,” cited record numbers of Americans looking to meditation and Buddhism as an antidote to the stress, anxiety, and strain of modern life. 

It’s clear that Buddhism has come a long way from its roots. Although many Buddhist lineages remain strictly rooted in tradition, others have taken a more innovative approach, creatively adapting the Buddha’s teachings to meet the unique challenges and opportunities of today’s world. So how does Buddhism respond to the issues of today’s world? How does Buddhism understand a modern-day issue like abortion or grapple with advances in science? Find these answers and more here.

Discover Deck 6:

Is Buddhism a form of psychology or psychotherapy? Buddhist concepts about how the mind works and tools for alleviating suffering are shaping the way we approach mental health in the West. 

Do Buddhists get involved with politics? The Buddha didn’t teach his lay followers to abstain from politics. Here’s how different Buddhists lineages talk about political engagement. 

Why have some Buddhist monks set themselves on fire? The practice of self-immolation raises many questions about the Buddhist precepts and the Buddhist view of suicide. 

I hear about scandals in Buddhist centers. That makes me nervous about joining one. Ethical conduct is a foundation of Buddhist practice, but dharma centers (like any religious center) aren’t immune to unethical behavior. 

Is there a Buddhist position on assisted suicide? A hot-button issue in many Buddhist communities, Buddhists have taken a stand on both sides of the debate. 

Does Buddhism support sexual and gender minorities? Despite some controversial statements from the Dalai Lama in the ’90s, the Buddhist teachings apply to everyone, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. 

What do Buddhists think about organ donation? While nothing in the Buddha’s teaching strictly addresses this, there are certain funerary practices that require allowing the body to lie undisturbed after death. 

Why are Buddhists in Myanmar killing Rohingya Muslims? The Buddha’s teachings have been twisted to justify violence, and even murder, in Myanmar. 

Does Buddhism support gender equality? Over the past twenty-five centuries, most Buddhist institutions have discriminated against women. That’s changed in recent decades as women have made strides toward greater equality. 

Why can’t women become fully ordained in most Buddhist traditions? Women’s ordination is one of the most widely debated issues in Buddhist communities today.

Does Buddhism promote environmentalism? The growing Green Buddhism, or Eco-Dharma, movement puts the well-being of the planet at the center of dharma practice. 

What is the Buddhist view of abortion? Abortion has inspired much Buddhist debate over the centuries. Today, many Western Buddhists consider it to be a personal decision to be made by the mother. 

Recommended Reading: 

• A Call to Conscience, by Bhikkhu Bodhi 
• The Buddha on Poverty and Plutocracy, by David Loy 
• What Does Gender Have to Do With the Dharma?, by Wendy Biddlecomb Agsar 
• Not Just Mindfulness, by Ira Helderman
• Will Sanghas Learn from the Scandals in the Buddhist World?, by Wendy Biddlecomb Agsar

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The Pali canon—which comprise some of the earliest recorded teachings of the Buddha—contains numerous discourses on human emotions, motivations, and reactions, including those that are latent or unconscious. One of the three principal sections of the canon, the Abidhamma (Sanskrit, Abhidharma) Pitaka, or “Collection of Special Teachings,” is often referred to as a compendium of Buddhist psychology, as it classifies the factors of mental and physical experience and how they relate to each other. The Abidhamma also offers a course of treatment in the form of instructions for ethical conduct, mind training, and the cultivation of wisdom.

D. T. Suzuki (1870–1966), the Japanese scholar of Zen who played a key role in bringing Buddhism to the West, impressed prominent psychologists and psychoanalysts from Karen Horney to Eric Fromm to Carl Jung, with his thoughts about common ground shared by the two fields. The dialogue between Buddhism and psychoanalysis has continued ever since.

Indeed, Buddhist ideas about how the mind works and how we construct and cling to our conceptions of self and the world around us have had an impact on psychotherapists and psychologists—so much so that Buddhist strategies for cultivating mindfulness practices such as meditation have been incorporated into Western therapeutic practices and clinical settings. A number of Buddhist teachers, too, especially teachers of Vipassana, or Insight meditation, have backgrounds in or currently work in psychology and psychotherapy, and psychologists and neuroscientists have for some time conducted studies of experienced meditators and the effects of their practice on mental states and pathways in the brain. Some Buddhists are concerned that the integration of a Western psychological perspective into Buddhist teaching, and the cooptation of Buddhist techniques and views into psychotherapy, can dilute or ignore Buddhism’s fundamental goal of liberation. It’s important to remember, they say, that the Buddha’s path leads to a transformation so radical that it transcends birth and death—and results in a lasting happiness not dependent on the psyche.

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However, the kind of seclusion the Buddha prescribed for training the mind and developing skillful qualities that lead to enlightenment would have precluded political activity. Indeed, the Vinaya, the Buddhist monastic code, prohibited monks and nuns from engaging in civic society apart from carrying out roles as teachers and emissaries of the Buddha.

But over the course of history, of course, monastic hierarchies in Buddhist countries became de facto political leaders—that has been the case in Tibet, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Japan, and many other places. Monks (and in a handful of cases, nuns) have wielded considerable political power on local, national, and international stages. The Dalai Lama and the Supreme Patriarch of Thai Buddhism are both examples of that.

Some tension exists today between Theravada monastics in particular, some of whom believe that political engagement is not appropriate for ordained monks and nuns and some who think it is a moral obligation, particularly with regard to environmental and social justice. “Engaged Buddhism” is a contemporary Western term for the activity of practitioners from various traditions who believe that political activism on behalf of social justice is a natural outgrowth of developing wisdom and insight or, in the case of Mayahana Buddhists, an outgrowth of recognizing the interconnectivity of all things. The term “Engaged Buddhism” is attributed to the Vietnamese Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hahn, who was a leader of the antiwar movement during the Vietnam War and worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. In the years since, numerous Engaged Buddhist organizations have formed, including the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and the Zen Peacemakers Order.

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The startling media images of these acts have raised many questions about how self-immolation squares with Buddhist practice and the precept against killing as well as with the Buddhist view of suicide. From the perspective of Buddhists who support the protesters, self-immolation is not suicide but an act of physical protest that ends in death. It has been considered the most profound gesture of public opposition available to monastics, one calculated to generate widespread attention to their cause.

The Dalai Lama himself treads a fine line in his public stance on Tibetan self-immolations, neither condemning nor condoning them because of their context in a “very delicate political issue.” The renowned Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh, who became famous for his eloquence in advocating for an end to the Vietnam War, wrote a letter to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1965 explaining his support of the monks who had set themselves on fire during the war. They weren’t committing suicide, he said, because their aim wasn’t self-destruction but rather compassion toward their fellow beings. He wrote: “Like the Buddha in one of his former lives—as told in a story of the Jataka—who gave himself to a hungry lioness that was about to devour her own cubs, the monk believes he is practicing the doctrine of highest compassion by sacrificing himself in order to call the attention of, and to seek help from, the people of the world.”

From an orthodox view (as in some forms of the Theravada tradition), however, it is impossible to see self-immolation as a skillful action. Any self-harm, particularly when it leads to death, inevitably creates negative karma and would be deemed a suicide.

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The five precepts that most Buddhists pledge to live by are also intended to safeguard practitioners and the people they encounter from the consequences of bad behavior: in this regard, the second precept (not to steal or take what is not given) and the third (not to engage in sexual misconduct) come in very handy.

But even though ethical conduct is the foundation of Buddhist practice, both teachers and students can become entangled in scandal, especially that involving sexual misconduct. Students may become so enthralled by a teacher that they see his or her sexual attention as a form of spiritual approval rather than as the violation it really is. And teachers may delude themselves into believing that the guidelines don’t apply to them.

Or a teacher may believe, and may convince students, that the teacher’s behavior is always a means of helping students cut through their own delusion and mental obstacles on the spiritual path. When applied to sexual conduct, that approach is a recipe for abuse, as we have seen in recent cases.

Like any religious community, Buddhist communities can become isolated and enabling of misconduct. To upend that tendency, dharma communities must openly and honestly regulate themselves—just as the Buddha intended.

Before committing to any Buddhist teacher, exercise critical examination of that teacher’s personal behavior. And as the psychotherapist and former Tibetan Buddhist monk Lobsang Rapgay has said, “If students really want to find a good teacher . . . they should find one who shows true interest in the student’s well-being, by which I mean to say they show interest in that student as a person.”

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Certainly, many Buddhists are either conflicted about the question of assisted suicide or take the opposite stand from the orthodox one. Many see it as an act of compassion, on the part of both the person who wants to die and the one assisting. And when it is undertaken by both parties with a clear mind and the intention to relieve suffering, Buddhists have argued, it is less likely to generate bad karma or an unfortunate future rebirth. It is also unlikely to result in the dying person’s mind being clouded by fear and pain during the transition from this life to the next.

Still other Buddhists, particularly those who work in palliative care and hospice settings, say that assisted suicide should be considered on a case-by-case basis; judging it harshly, they believe, is as much a problem as the act itself.

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Buddhism does have an issue with ethical misconduct, sexual or otherwise, but anybody—straight, gay, queer, trans—has the capacity to live according to the five precepts or guidelines for ethical behavior. The Pali records of the Buddha’s discourses do not include any regulations concerning the sexual activity of lay followers. But the vinaya, the monastic code of discipline, forbids monks and nuns from having sexual relationships with men, women, and pandanka (a Pali word for people with indeterminate sexual characteristics or who do not conform to sexual norms—including prostitutes). In other words, there are no loopholes that monks and nuns can use to get around the vow of celibacy.

Still, like all communities, Buddhist communities are made up of human beings, some with cultural prejudices or personal preconceptions that color their attitudes toward and treatment of LGBTQ people. In the 1990s, the Dalai Lama once said that “according to Buddhist tradition” homosexual sex would be considered sexual misconduct. He ultimately back-peddled on the statement, though, and more and more Buddhist teachers in the United States are out as members of the LGBTQ community, as are their students.

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On the other hand, in many Buddhist traditions—especially in East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist schools—allowing the body to lie undisturbed after death is a common funerary practice. It’s believed that letting the body rest undisturbed while relatives chant and meditate nearby helps the consciousness of the deceased to take leave of this life and move on to the next. In Tibetan Buddhism, this stage is thought to take 49 days. Other traditions (for example, Theravada) assume that unless serious obstacles are lodged in the mind, rebirth will take place right away.

Moreover, the condition of the mind at death is considered to be one of the most important factors (in addition to accumulated past karma) that determine what kind of rebirth we take. If the mind is peaceful, receptive, and happy, our chances of entering into a positive next life are much greater. Hence some teachers, especially in Tibetan schools, suggest that people who are not very developed spiritually may risk becoming upset or distracted in the bardo—the state between death and rebirth—if the body is cut open to harvest its organs.

Generally speaking, however, organ donation is considered a personal choice (and likely one that helps the donor generate good karma, as it’s an act of generosity that has positive repercussions for the living).

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Moreover, the Buddha rejected all forms of racism and insisted that human beings should be judged only on the basis of their behavior. If you pass a negative judgment on someone’s behavior, the practice of lovingkindness (metta) and the development of the “four sublime states” will allow you to view all beings with unlimited love, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity.

Thus, it would stand to reason that a group of people who call themselves Buddhists would never support racist rhetoric and violent persecution of another cultural or religious group. But that is exactly what has been taking place in Myanmar (formerly Burma), where the Buddhist Bamar majority has been carrying out a genocidal campaign against Rohingya Muslims as well as persecuting other minorities.  

But because groups identifying as Buddhist are made up of ordinary human beings, it is unfortunately not surprising that some are deluded enough that they twist the teachings to justify violence—even murder. This has happened over the centuries in most other major world religions as well. What has taken place in Myanmar is a cautionary tale for all of us.

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As recorded in the Pali canon, which comprises some of the earliest Buddhist teachings, the Buddha praised the attainments of his female disciples but refused to ordain women until his stepmother, Mahapajapati, and his attendant and cousin, Ananda, convinced him to. Still, when women were allowed to ordain, they were saddled with eight “heavy rules” (in Pali, garudhammas) that kept them subordinate to monks. Some scholars argue, however, that this account and the eight further rules are later additions.

In the centuries since the Buddha’s death, men have dominated the hierarchies in all Buddhist traditions. In Asia, it was widely believed that a woman had to be reborn as a man before she could attain nirvana. That wasn’t a teaching from the Pali canon, however, and though some passages in later Mahayana texts can be interpreted to support the belief, others contradict it.

Nuns’ orders that granted full ordination died out in many Buddhist countries centuries ago—and in some cases, were never established in the first place—leaving various forms of novice and lay ordination as the only option for women. But recent developments arguably are making full ordination available to women practicing in traditions where it is not offered. In the countries of East Asia where Chinese Buddhism took hold, lineages of Mahayana nuns that grant full ordination are thriving, and there is a movement to “transplant” this practice, with fully ordained Mahayana nuns and monks ordaining Theravada and Tibetan novices. Theravada and Tibetan monks have also held ordinations. Though this would finally open the doors for all Buddhist nuns to access a status monks have long enjoyed, the validity of such ordinations is a matter of debate.

As women across the world have made strides towards gender equality in the last century, Buddhist women and their male allies have worked to uproot gender discrimination in their communities. Buddhist women founded an international association, Sakyadhita, in 1987 “to benefit Buddhist women [and] reduce gender injustice.” More recently, the #MeToo movement has shaken Buddhist communities with revelations of widespread sexual misconduct and assault, sparking a public reckoning and building on preexisting efforts to address sexism and abuse. There is more to be done to achieve gender equality, and many Buddhists believe the Buddha would approve.

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