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Explanatory Notes

Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation in collaboration with the International Network of Engaged Buddhists want to mark the 2,600 years of the Buddha?s Enlightenment, as well as his first sermon and the establishment of the Sangha in 2525 (or 2012 in the Common Era) by Thai calculation. The small joint effort is 1) to produce Thai books for the public to study the Buddhist teaching in order to follow the noble eightfold path established by the Master. These books should help the readers in basic Buddhist teachings of the Buddha on morality (sila), meditation (samadhi), and wisdom (pa??a) from a Thai Theravada tradition. This is needed because the situation of the Buddhist establishment in Siam, perhaps like in other socalled Buddhist countries, has become chaotic and confused with superstition, feudalism, nationalism male chauvinistic and consumerism. Besides good teachers are less available. Some are good only at helping people for personal seeds of peace. Others concentrate on Buddhist approaches to social welfare. Hardly is there anyone who could lead people for social change in the age of globalization or extreme modernity, which is part and parcel of social structures which are full of violence, promoting greed and delusion.

Recommended Buddhist books for the public will not only rely on Thai authors. We hope to have foreign books on Buddhism translated into Thai so that Thais can have broader views of other yanas, if those too could help the readers to put the teaching into practice to transform greed to generosity, hatred to loving kindness and delusion to proper understanding or wisdom.

If this works, Buddhists in other countries may do likewise. To go beyond 2,600 years of Buddhism, we need to do whatever we can for the future of the sasana to be more positive and more relevant to the people in society as well as for the generations to come.

Since Sulak Sivaraksa was one of the founders of the Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation and International Network of Engaged Buddhists and devoted to Jinapa?jara G?th? in the Pali tradition, we thought this may be the beginning of a project to make the teachings of the Buddha available in Buddhist countries which share a culture similar to the Theravada tradition. Hence we asked friends of Sulak Sivaraksa to transcribe this G?th? into several local or national scripts, since Pali has no script of its own, plus translation into these languages.We are glad that within a short time we had good responses to have scripts and translations from friends in Burma (Burmese, and Shan scripts) Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka and India (Hindi, and Tibetan). We are grateful to them all.
We have not yet ventured into Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Vietnamese lanquages, as Jinapa?jara G?th? may be unknown to them.

We trust that this will be a small present to Sulak Sivaraksa?s 80th birthday on 27th March 2026 (2013). He himself has started to distribute this G?th? in Pali, Thai and English to honor his late teacher, the Venerable Phra Bhadramuni (In) of Wat Thongnopakhun on the latter?s 120th birth anniversary on 15th March 2556 (2013).

We also add Sulak?s short presentation at Kyoto, Davos and Phnompenh in the appendix, plus Thai translation.We hope this small volume will be useful to Thai and foreign friends of Sulak Sivaraksa May all beings be happy and peaceful with social justice and ecological balance.

Ladda Wiwatsurawech

Phatcharasiri Yimmuang

Somboon Chungprempree

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 A Publication of the International Buddhist Exchange Center

This Precious Life:
Buddhist Tsunami Relief and Anti-Nuclear Activism in Post 3/11 Japan

Edited by Jonathan Watts
Available March 31st!!

US$10 : to order, contact the Editor at ogigaya@gmail.com

***(all articles will be eventually available on line)

Introduction: Rev. Shojun Okano ? International Buddhist Exchange Center

Editor?s Forward

PART I: Buddhist Social Welfare: Material and Psycho-Spiritual Aid Work

• A Zen Master?s Witness of the Primeval Force of Nature (Shodo Harada Roshi) 
• My Struggle to Revive the Cultural and Natural Heritage of Soma in Fukushima (Rev. Toku-un Tanaka) 
• What Temples Can Do as Evacuation Shelters During a Disaster (Shinobu Izawa-Jimonkoryu) 
• Diary of a Buddhist Based NGO?s Aid Work: The Shanti Volunteer Association (SVA) 
• The Inter-relation between Restoration and Co-existence (Rev. Shojun Okano) 
• Psycho-Spiritual Relief Work in the Tsunami Areas: An Interview with Rev. Jin Hitoshi (Jonathan Watts) 
• Young Priests Active in Care: The Soto-shu Youth Association (Rev. Taiko Kyuma) 
• Smiles on the Faces of the Children of Fukushima (Rev. Eka Shimada)

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PART II: Buddhist Social Transformation: Confronting the Nuclear Issue and Envisioning the Future

• The Choice of Development Paradigms in Japan after the 3/11 Fukushima Nuclear Disaster (Jun Nishikawa) 
• A Priest?s Work Amidst the Nuclear Ginza: A Profile of Rev. Tetsuen Nakajima (Mai Ishikawa) 
• The Inter Faith Forum for the Review of National Nuclear Policy 
• Questioning the Nuclear Accident: The Future and Religion (Bukkyo Times) 
• Which Way to Peace? The Role of Japanese Buddhism in Anti-Nuclear Civil Protest (Jonathan Watts) 
• Explaining the Sin of Nuclear Power: Symposium at Soto Zen?s Main Temple Eiheiji Spreads the No Nuke Movement amongst the Buddhist World (Aso Izuta & Kei Sato-Tokyo Shimbun) ?> Japan Buddhist Federation Declaration on Nuclear Power 
• ?Anti-Nukes? Remains Fixed on Life: Declarations from the Religious World Come One after Another (Kyoko Isa-Asahi Shimbun) 
• A Futuristic Priest whose Time Has Arrived: Rev. Hidehito Okochi (Jonathan Watts)

Part III: Messages from International Buddhist Leaders on the Future of Japan

• Message to the Japanese People from The World Fellowship of Buddhists 
• Engaged Buddhism the Dalai Lama?s Way: Tibetan Leader Shows Exceptional Energy for Japan?s Tsunami Victims (Jonathan Watts) 
• No More Back to Business as Usual: A Socially Engaged Buddhist Approach to Making a Post 3/11 Society in Japan (Sulak Sivaraksa) 
• Thinking about Natural Disasters and Religion: In Search of an Alternative Way of Life (A. T. Ariyaratne)

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The International Buddhist Exchange Center (IBEC) was formed in 1966 by the 1st President of the Kodo Kyodan Buddhist Fellowship, Rev. Shodo Okano. Its general goals are to develop modern, international perspectives on Buddhis
m through study and research, to create opportunities for those interested in Buddhism to learn and study further through lectures and events, and to cooperate with Buddhists inside and outside Japan on various social issues.

This publication is the product of IBEC?s Engaged Buddhist Project (EBP) created in April 2006 by Kodosan?s 3rd President, Rev. Shojun Okano. The core focus of the project has been to investigate deeply the activities of Japanese Buddhists, especially from traditional denominations, on social issues and problems; that is the engaged Buddhist activities of Japanese Buddhists. The deeper emphasis of the research has been on grassroots activities focused on critical Japanese social issues, like suicide, poverty, problem youth, and since March 11th, 2011, emergency relief aid and nuclear activism.

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 Link https://jneb.jp/english/archives/853

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A Souvenir Publication on His Centenary

by

BHADANT ANAND KAUSALYAYAN

Translated by

BHIKKHU CHANDRA BODHI

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By

Youth Training Program for Social Development (YT)

Pradit Leelanimit and Savitree Pulsukkho

Translated by

Deer Park Institute (DPI)

Jiraphat Buain, Martha Asselin, Jia-Ling Loo

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