Sulak Sivaraksa is Thailand’s most prominent Buddhist social critic and one of the founders of the international Engaged Buddhism movement. For over five decades, he has articulated a Buddhist approach to social, economic, and environmental issues that directly challenges both Western materialism and traditional Buddhism’s perceived detachment from worldly concerns.
Sivaraksa’s work demonstrates how Buddhist principles of interdependence, non-violence, and mindful consumption offer profound alternatives to industrial capitalism’s destructive relationship with nature. His concept of “Buddhist economics,” developed alongside E.F. Schumacher, proposes development models based on sufficiency, sustainability, and spiritual well-being rather than endless growth.
Through organizations like the International Network of Engaged Buddhists, Sivaraksa has connected Buddhist environmental activism across Asia, supporting grassroots movements defending forests, rivers, and rural communities against industrial development. His approach embodies deep ecology’s recognition that environmental and social justice are inseparable.
Sivaraksa’s critique of “development” echoes deep ecology’s rejection of anthropocentrism. He argues that Western-style development treats both humans and nature as resources to be exploited, destroying traditional communities that lived in sustainable relationship with their environments for centuries.
Despite facing multiple charges of lèse-majesté and periods of exile, Sivaraksa has remained committed to what he calls “loyal dissent” - speaking truth to power while maintaining compassion for all beings. His integration of contemplative practice with political action exemplifies the spiritual activism that characterizes contemporary deep ecological movements.
As both a meditation teacher and a social revolutionary, Sivaraksa demonstrates how inner transformation and outer change are inseparable. His work bridges Eastern wisdom and global environmental activism, offering Asian perspectives essential to deep ecology’s worldwide development.
Key Concepts
- Engaged Buddhism: Buddhism actively engaged with social and environmental issues
- Buddhist Economics: Development based on sufficiency rather than endless growth
- Loyal Dissent: Compassionate resistance to unjust systems
- Structural Violence: How economic systems create suffering for people and nature
- Mindful Consumption: Buddhist principles applied to ecological living
Essential Works
- “Buddhist Economics: A Middle Way for the Market Place” (1994)
- “Global Healing: Essays and Interviews on Structural Violence, Social Development and Spiritual Transformation” (1999)
- “Conflict, Culture, Change: Engaged Buddhism in a Globalizing World” (1999)
Quotes from Sulak Sivaraksa
Further Reading
Biographical Sources
- Wikipedia: Sulak Sivaraksa - Life and activism
- Sivaraksa, Sulak. The Wisdom of Sustainability: Buddhist Economics for the 21st Century (Souvenir Press, 2009) - ISBN 978-0-285-63836-4
Key Books
- Seeds of Peace: A Buddhist Vision for Renewing Society (Parallax Press, 1992) - ISBN 978-0-938077-64-8
- Global Healing: Essays and Interviews on Structural Violence, Social Development and Spiritual Transformation (Thai Inter-Religious Commission for Development, 1999) - ISBN 978-974-89414-2-7
- Conflict, Culture, Change: Engaged Buddhism in a Globalizing World (Wisdom Publications, 2005) - ISBN 978-0-86171-439-2
- The Wisdom of Sustainability (Koa Books, 2009) - ISBN 978-0-9822943-0-8
Articles and Papers
- Numerous essays in Seeds of Peace journal and engaged Buddhism publications
- Queen, Christopher S. and Sallie B. King, eds. Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia (SUNY Press, 1996) - includes chapter on Sivaraksa
Related Resources
- International Network of Engaged Buddhists - Organization co-founded by Sivaraksa
- Spirit in Education Movement - Educational initiatives
- Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation archives