“Karma” is an example of a classic term that is being reinterpreted. When Wratten refers in his essay to the “national karma” of South Africa, most readers probably intuit what he means, even though we would have to search the sutras a long time before finding a locus classicus for such an expression. Another term being put to new uses is “right livelihood” (Pali, samma kammanta), as Claude Whitmyer shows:

Whether right livelihood is actually possible, given the complexities of life in the modern world, is a question that many people ask. It seems clear, upon close examination, that most of the work we do today fails in one way or another to meet all of the criteria, especially the social criteria of responsibility for the long-term consequences of our work.(43)

Robert Aitken's philological sensitivity is evident in his reexamination of the classic Buddhist concepts of karuna, metta, and mudita, usually translated as compassion, loving-kindness, and sympathetic joy. Aitken reflects:

Whether or not karuna is as intimate in sentiment as “compassion,” and however enriching the English term “compassion” can be for our practice, the fact remains that both “compassion” and karuna are limited to the realm of sadness. To be as inclusive as the northern European words, we must combine the first two abodes, metta and karuna, with the third abode, mudita. Usually translated “sympathetic joy,” mudita is the delight one feels when someone else finds liberation on the path. Perhaps karuna and mudita could be hyphenated to coin an encompassing term.(44)

A number of Western words are beginning to play the role of technical terms. Often they lack precise Buddhist equivalents. An example is “universal responsibility,” an expression embraced by the Dalai Lama; although there are comparable notions in Buddhism, the phrase has a distinctly Western ring. In the context of engaged Buddhism its meaning is still being clarified, as the Dalai Lama himself observes:

Universal responsibility is the best foundation for our personal happiness, and for world peace, the equitable use of our natural resources, and, through a concern for future generations, the proper care for the environment. My own ideas about this are still evolving.(45)

“Activism,” an important word/concept with many Western roots but few Asian ones, is another example. Joanna Macy's reflections, as cited by Susan Moon, are illustrative:

‘Activism’ is a term I use with some discomfort, because it implies that it's different from ordinary life. If you rush to pull your kid from under the wheels of a truck, are you being an activist? I don't like the moral self-consciousness of the word, or the moral self-righteousness. Is it activism to open your eyes and learn to see?

Neologisms constitute a third group of key terms. “Engaged Buddhism” is itself a new expression (since the 1960s). Some Buddhist environmental activists call themselves “ecosattvas,” as Stephanie Kaza reports. When Thich Nhat Hanh coined the influential “interbeing,” he intentionally distinguished it from a cognate term, interpenetration:

When we realize our nature of interbeing, we will stop blaming and killing, because we know that we inter-are. Interpenetration is an important teaching, but it still suggests that things outside of one another penetrate into each other. Interbeing is a step forward. We are already inside, so we don't have to enter.(46)

Further coinages are bound to arise. In his introduction, Christopher Queen advances the idea of a “fourth yana” to characterize modern Buddhism's turn toward engagement. Its predecessors are Mahayana, Hinayana, and Vajrayana; yana literally means vehicle. If the notion of a fourth yana proves useful, it will need a name. How about Terrayana? As a prefix, the Latin word for Earth would suggest that engaged Buddhism is an encompassing, earthy spirituality rather than an otherworldly quest for private salvation. Buddhist environmentalism is already an important stream of contemporary Buddhism, and the striking photos of our blue planet in space remind us that Earth is indeed our common vehicle. Etymologically, Terrayana combines East and West, as global Buddhism now does; rhythmically, Terrayana maintains the syllable count of its predecessors.

A Test Case: The Monk Nichiren

To illustrate some of the methodological challenges of engaged Buddhist studies, let us consider the Japanese monk Nichiren (1222–1282), who has been cited as an exemplar of engaged Buddhism. Nichiren founded the Nichiren sect, and he is the spiritual ancestor of two engaged Buddhist groups that are active internationally, Soka Gakkai and Nipponzan Myohoji. Several essays in this book refer to his life and teachings.

Was Nichiren an engaged Buddhist? Briefly, here are the arguments for the affirmative. Nichiren called for sweeping spiritual and social reform, boldly defying religious and governmental authorities. He was part of a larger movement to popularize Buddhism: “It welcomed all men and women, rejected the exclusivity of the monastic life away from the world, and questioned the relevance…of formal religious rules and regulations.” (47) Nichiren had a vision of a universal Buddhism, and he saw himself as a bodhisattva.