Why the Dalai Lama is a Socialist: Buddhism and the Compassionate Society

by Terry Gibbs

Overview

To the surprise of many, the Dalai Lama recently declared that, 'I am a socialist'. While many Buddhists and socialists would be perplexed at the suggestion that their approaches to life share fundamental principles, important figures in the Buddhist tradition are increasingly framing contemporary social and economic problems in distinctly socialist terms.

In this novel and provocative work, Terry Gibbs argues that the shared values expressed in each tradition could provide signposts for creating a truly humane, compassionate and free society. Hopeful about our potential to create the 'good society' through collective effort, Why the Dalai Lama is a Socialist is grounded in the fundamental belief that everyday human activity makes a difference.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783606450
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/15/2017
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Terry Gibbs started her political life as an activist and popular educator working in solidarity with various social movements in Latin America. She has since lived, worked and conducted research around the world, landing in such places as a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, a Marxist guerrilla camp in Colombia, a biodiversity farm in India and a Buddhist monastery in Thailand. She also enjoys hanging out with her family, gardening and cooking. Terry currently teaches international politics at Cape Breton University in Nova Scotia, Canada, and is co-author, with Garry Leech, of The Failure of Global Capitalism: From Cape Breton to Colombia and Beyond (2009).
Terry Gibbs started her political life as an activist and popular educator working in solidarity with various social movements in Latin America. She has since lived, worked and conducted research around the world, landing in such places as a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, a Marxist guerrilla camp in Colombia, a biodiversity farm in India and a Buddhist monastery in Thailand. She also enjoys hanging out with her family, gardening and cooking. Terry currently teaches international politics at Cape Breton University in Nova Scotia, Canada, and is co-author, with Garry Leech, of The Failure of Global Capitalism: From Cape Breton to Colombia and Beyond (2009).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Introduction 1

1 Much ado about no-thing 11

2 Compassion is a verb 31

3 Living in an alienated world 59

4 Consumer citizens in a globalized society 85

5 Bodies in the basement 113

6 Capitalism and the democratic deficit 143

7 In search of the global citizen 175

Conclusion 209

Notes 219

Bibliography 239

Index 251

About the author 262

Editorial Reviews

The Dalai Lama has long voiced a need for Buddhists to be involved in societal and political change as well as inner transformation, in line with Gibbs's hypothesis linking Buddha Dhamma and Socialism. Gibbs's work advocates moving towards a more compassionate world, and starts to explore a vision for a future without suffering.” —Sulak Sivaraksa, founder of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists

“This book could not have been published at a more appropriate time. Immersed as we are in an economy of greed, it offers a vital message of hope and compassionate action for justice and equality.” —Vandana Shiva, activist and author of Earth Democracy

From the Publisher

“The Dalai Lama has long voiced a need for Buddhists to be involved in societal and political change as well as inner transformation, in line with Gibbs’s hypothesis linking Buddha Dhamma and Socialism. Gibbs’s work advocates moving towards a more compassionate world, and starts to explore a vision for a future without suffering.”

Sulak Sivaraksa

“This book could not have been published at a more appropriate time. Immersed as we are in an economy of greed, it offers a vital message of hope and compassionate action for justice and equality.”
 

Vandana Shiva