Sulak Sivaraksa exudes a rare blend of calm and passion for action. Carrying a tall gnarled staff, dressed in a baggy outfit, and with an everpresent cloth bag stuffed with copies of his books, he's a presence wherever he goes. He prides himself on the many labels people attach to him: intellectual, troublemaker, jailbird, engaged Buddhist, spiritual leader. He carries them all with a smile, wise words, and a barb or two.
Born in Siam (he still uses that name for Thailand), Sulak was a rebel as a teenager, finding solace as a monk, then in his studies in the United Kingdom. But he was dissatisfied with what he was taught about Buddhism. His teachers argued that religious leaders who meddled in society and politics lost their spirituality. Sulak believed that was fundamentally wrong. Practicing meditation and mindfulness without engaging with poverty "is escapism, not Buddhism." As he puts it, "To be Buddhist, you should not only adhere to the main teachings - not killing, stealing, having sexual misconducts, or lying - but you also have to distance yourself consciously from the structures of violence that frame our lives. Maybe you do not kill directly, but you kill through the social structure. You don't steal directly, but you let the bank steal."
So Sulak became one of the founders of a worldwide Engaged Buddhist network. The network's goals are revolutionary, but at its core it is about friendships. For Sulak, Buddhism's main priority is good friends. They tell you what you don't want to hear, and act as your external voice of conscience.
Sulak has a very modern notion of fighting poverty, grounded in justice as well as a Buddhist dose of loving kindness. Helping the poor is good but not enough. Buddhism demands social change. He has challenged many, including the Dalai Lama, to take a more active role in fighting the causes of suffering, and to overcome them nonviolently. And he believes that issues are tightly interconnected.
What does this mean in practice? Sulak started an education movement that includes explicit spirituality that is, he says, catching fire. Even businesses are coming along, through a Social Venture Network. "They try to be different without being goody-goody, to care about labor unions and the environment."
Sulak rejects the idea that Buddhism teaches fatalism. Burmese monks, he said, hesitated to join his movement because they feared that their bad karma would contaminate others. But Sulak convinced them that bad karma can be changed. Sulak pressed Thai temples to look after people with HIV and AIDS. He challenged dam construction that hurt fish and displaced people. He encourages the ordination of women monks. And he also propounds an ancient practice of ordaining trees, to make a point about protection of the environment. Before a group of Christians, Sulak argued that animals, plants and trees are all living beings, and we must care for all because all are interconnected.
Sulak is a stalwart of interfaith events, traveling the world with a large network of friends. Friendship for him has no barriers, whether gender, nationality, or faith.. Buddhism, he says, is to learn how to change greed into generosity, hatred into compassion and friendship, delusion into wisdom and understanding. All religions, he says, teach people to be brave, humble, and generous. People must respect other religions as their own.
It was Sulak who came to mind today as I logged on to Facebook which asked me thoughtfully, as it always does, "What's on your mind?" There's so much to choose from where faith is concerned and plenty to despair about, from senseless violence in Jos, Nigeria, to homophobia in Uganda. Sulak's smiling wisdom offers some reassurance that with networks of friends, the core values of caring and compassion, and the will to action, we will find the courage to bring about change we still hope for.
