Buddhist Peace Fellowship

Membership $35, including a subscription to Turning Wheel. Buddhist
Alliance for Social Engagement (BASE). PO Box 4650, Berkeley CA 94704;
510/525-8596, bpf@bpf.com, www.igc.apc.org/bpf.

"Buddhism is undergoing a profound change to a 'new Mahayana' whose
delineations we don't yet see clearly. The monastery walls are down, which
means that the Buddha's teaching of infinite compassion truly has no
limits. The Buddhist Peace Fellowship and its voice, Turning Wheel, are at
the foreffont of this great movement."
--Robert Aitken,, Roshi

BPF's agenda encompasses issues including environmentalism, feminism,
disarmament, refugees, non-violence, Buddhist prisoners, and social
justice. It is one of the few American Buddhist groups to focus on
Bangladesh, Burma, and Vietnam.

BASE is BPF's program to nurture spiritually-based communities through
study, training, and dialogue. Environmental projects range from sea turtle
conservation to anti-nuclear advocacy to urban gardening. Preparatory
training teaches how not to burn out or despair, focusing on empowerment,
compassion, and wisdom in tense situations.

The Western Buddhist might be asking what is Right Livelihood? after all!
What is Right Lifestyle? What is the great endeavor that fulfills our
Bodhisattva Vows--not just in the monastery but in daily life? Turning back
to our sources, we find the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin offering answers. By her
very name, Kuan-yin "hears the sounds of the world," the sounds of
suffering, and the sounds of joy as well. She hears the announcements of
birds and children, of thunder and ocean, and is formed by them. In one of
her representations she has a thousand arms, and each hand holds an
instrument of work: a hammer, a trowel, a pen, a cooking utensil, a
vajra.... She is the archetype of Right Livelihood: one who uses the tools
of the workaday world to nurture all beings and turn the Wheel of Dharma.
--ROBERT AITKEN

A man in the U.S.S.R. goes to the river to fish. He throws his cigarette
into the water and the river explodes. True story. None of us can do
everything alone. Focus on what you come into direct contact with: what you
buy, what you eat, and what you throw away.... Give what you can in time
and money where you feel it will be most effective, without attachment to
results. Write to whomever you can, in government and industry; tell them
how you feel. Be kind. Live your life for the well being of the planet and
all the creatures on it.
--CHRISTOPHER REED

In my mind I still hear the local Sarvodaya workers:Development is not
imitating the West. Development is not high-cost industrial complexes,
chemical fertilizers, and mammoth hydro-electric dams. It is not selling
your soul for unnecessary consumer items or schemes to get rich quick.
Development is waking up--waking up to our true wealth and true potential
as persons and as a society. That is what the Buddha did under the bodhi
tree and that is what we can do--wake up.
--WORLD AS LOVER

Dharma Gaia

A Harvest of Essays In Buddhism and Ecology

Allan Hunt Badiner, Editor. 1990; 265 pp. $15, Parallax Press, PO Box 7355,
Berkeley, CA 94707.

Badiner has gathered radiant vision of the Buddah and the godness in a
dance of silent illumination; banana peels growing beautiful flowers. and
there are not-so-luminous vision of the last tree, and the legacy of
nuclear waste we will pass on to future generations. This is an
indispensable manual to carry us into the next millenium. Happy Gardening.
--Jeffrey Caspary

World as Lover, World as Self

Joanna Macy. 1991; 251 pp. $15, Parallax Press, PO Box 7355, Berkeley, CA
94707.

In an age full of despair, Joanna Macy digs deep into the roots of the
Buddah Dharma and comes up with a call to action with heart. Paticca
samuppada, or the dependent co-arising of all phenomena, is at the core of
all Buddhist teachings.

Paticca samuppada winds through this book like the countless strands of
inter-connectedness: personal stories of india in 1965 and insightful
suggestions for the future, blended with a thorough investigation of early
Buddhist sutras, give clarity and direction to anyone answering the call.
--Jeffrey Caspary

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): BOOK OF BUDDISM