The most essential insight that Buddhism offers is that all our individual suffering arises from three and only three sources, known in Buddhism as the three poisons: greed, ill-will, and delusion. In The Great Awakening, scholar and Zen teacher David Loy examines how these three poisons, embodied in society's institutions, lie at the root of all social maladies as well. The teachings of Buddhism present a way that the individual can counteract these to alleviate personal suffering, and in the The Great Awakening Loy boldly examines how these teachings can be applied to institutions and even whole cultures for the alleviation of suffering on a collective level. This book will help both Buddhists and non-Buddhists to realize the social importance of Buddhist teachings, while providing a theoretical framework for socially engaged members of society to apply their spiritual principles to collective social issues. The Great Awakening shows how Buddhism can help our postmodern world develop liberative possibilities otherwise obscured by the anti-religious bias of so much contemporary social theory.

The Great Awakening (A Buddhist Social Theory)

Literature & Fiction

David R. Loy

Essays & Correspondence

Wisdom Pub.

Natural disasters follow an eternal cycle of creation and destruction, and sentient life has learned how to rebuild after mother nature runs its course. Nuclear disasters, being man made , follow no such cycle, extending into a distant future that imprisons life and prevents it from restoring itself. Lotus in the Nuclear Sea begins with the stories of the people of Fukushima and their unending struggles amidst the neglect of the Japanese authorities. The volume then documents the slowly increasing engagement of Japanese Buddhists to confront the crisis. The final section offers deeper reflections and analysis on the problem of nuclear energy by Buddhists from both Japan and other countries. This is the first publication of such an extended analysis of nuclear energy by Buddhists, including essays by pioneer Joanna Macy, environmentalist David Loy, Asian Buddhist development leaders Harsha Navaratne and Pra Paisan Visalo as well as Japanese Buddhist activists Rev. Tetsuen Nakajima and Rev. Taitsu Kono, Chief Priest of the Myoshin-ji Rinzai Zen sect. From touching the suffering of the people of Fukushima to delving deeply into the problems of nuclear energy to quenching (nirvana) the greed-anger-delusion of nuclear energy through building lifestyles and cultures of sufficiency (samtusti), Lotus in the Nuclear Sea takes us on a journey through the Four Noble Truths of nuclear energy.

Lotus in the Nuclear Sea: Fukushima and the Promise of Buddhism in the Nuclear Age

Jonathan S Watts (Editor)

Joanna Macy

International Buddhist Exchange Center (IBEC)

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Books by David R. Loy