Engaging in Society? Re-conceptualizing the Contemporary Milieu of the Sangha in its Buddhist Homeland


			(back to list) Engaging in Society? Re-conceptualizing the Contemporary Milieu of the Sangha in its Buddhist Homeland Shou-Jen-Kuo ABSTRACT Sangha as a social system in Asian Buddhist Land never conceptually excludes itself from the encompassing socio-cultural environment. Since the Buddha’s age monastic community has been well-defined with identified religious programs and structures that clearly differentiate it from the other non-religious systems in political, economic, education, or other spheres in society. Most importantly this institutional differentiation of the Sangha is always recognized by other social institutions, and, historically, it uses various meaningful mechanisms to communicate with the others to constitute the grand social structure. Social engagement, therefore, is not the emergent action from the aspect of Sangha toward its living milieu of modern world, but a cultural heritage that has been maintained over two millenniums. One has to consider the Buddhist contribution to building a modern society in a social system context. The Sangha as the social form of Buddhism exists only by reproducing the social relationship with other institutional systems. However, giving the contemporary milieu conditioned by the emerging development of the modern and western civilization, question that arises in this regard concerns the degree of Sangha’s institutional domain to assume the operation of the other institutional spheres. The conclusion of this paper intends to offer sociological insights to constitute the theoretical framework of perceiving Sangha system within its contemporary homeland environment, which has been complicated with the other parallel social systems in order for corresponding emerging secular spheres that have been differentiated by the force of modernization. BIOGRAPHY SHOU-JEN KUO 3395 Budleigh Drive, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745 USA sjkuo2005@yahoo.com EDUCATION California State University, Los Angeles – Los Angeles, California, USA Graduate School in Sociology – (Master of Arts expected in September, 2008) Thesis: “Coming to the West: The Structural Change of a Buddhist Missionary Organization in the United States – A Case Study of Hsi Lai Temple, Hacienda Heights, California” (in preparation) Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey – New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) – June 1989 Tunghai University – Taichung, Taiwan Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, major in Public Administration – June 1983 PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AICP, American Institute of Certified Planner ASA, American Sociological Association AKD, Alpha Kappa Delta – Iota Chapter of California, USA MAJOR EXPERIENCE Buddha’s Light International Association – Hacienda Heights, California, USA Executive Secretary – January 2001 – present Achievement: the organization received NGO in Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC of the United Nations (2003); and NGO associated relationship with DPI of the United Nations (2003). LANGUAGE Proficiency in Chinese-Mandarin.