Armies of the Enlightened

It was similar sentiment that drove last year's campaign by a number of other Buddhist factions to have Buddhism enshrined as the state religion. These org-anizations claim such a move is necessary to preserve Thailand's character and prevent the encroachment of foreign mores. "The Thai people just copy Western culture," says university professor and Buddhist activist Dhirawit Pinyonatthagarn. "Our values are under threat." But the change would have enraged the country's 5 million Muslims. Though it ultimately failed after Thailand's revered royal family intervened, groups like the Buddhism Network of Thailand (an umbrella organization) and the Buddhism Protection Center easily mustered tens of thousands of protesters to push for the change. Experts say the issue is almost certain to flare up again.

Meanwhile, in the country's south—where a Muslim insurgency has been raging for four years—many Thai Buddhists have taken matters into their own hands, forming paramilitary "self-defense groups" with the government's help. These groups are nominally nonsectarian, but they contain few if any Muslim members, and they often use Buddhist temples as training grounds. Many of the 7,000 volunteers drill using sticks instead of guns, but one expert (who didn't want to be identified to avoid compromising sources) says that the Thai government purchased a large number of shotguns from Russia last summer to arm them.

Not all of Asia's newly activist Buddhists have forgotten the Enlightened One's teachings about pacifism. A striking example is the Engaged Buddhism movement, which was founded in the 1960s by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese monk who became an activist during the Vietnam War and was ultimately exiled to France by his country's communist rulers. He's since returned to his homeland twice, in 2005 and 2007; on both occasions his countrymen received him like a conquering hero. The movement, which emphasizes nonviolence and social action, has persistently lobbied for religious tolerance throughout the region—most strikingly in Sri Lanka, where members of the local Sarvodaya Shramadana organization hold regular, nonsectarian antiwar demonstrations. The group has also helped 15,000 communities build roads, find clean water and run preschools, says Sallie King, a religion and philosophy professor at James Madison University.

Engaged Buddhism has spawned a particularly powerful movement in Taiwan, where Tzu Chi and similar groups have bloomed in recent decades. Spurred by a larger Buddhist renaissance in Taiwan, Tzu Chi now claims 10 million followers worldwide. Founded by a Buddhist nun in 1966, Tzu Chi tries to steer clear of politics—yet it doesn't hide its light under a bushel, and has used its TV station and publications to promote a more altruistic vision of Taiwanese life. Today, Tzu Chi is considered one of the most effective aid agencies in the region. Its relief workers—known as "blue angels" for their distinctive uniforms—helped tsunami victims in Sri Lanka and Indonesia in 2004 and did aid work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Tzu Chi's apolitical bent has allowed the group to expand its activities onto the Chinese mainland—with Beijing's blessing. The group has built schools, nursing homes and entire villages in poor inland areas like Guizhou province. Yet given the growing politicization of Buddhism elsewhere, there's no guarantee that China will continue to tolerate Tzu Chi's activities.

Especially since Buddhists are becoming more overtly political—even in Taiwan. Shih Chao-hwei, a 50-year-old religious-studies professor at Hsuan Chuang University, founded a group called the Life Conservation Association in 1993; it has since helped to pass a law protecting animal rights, and campaigns against abortion and against a move to establish casinos on the island. "We support issues, [not] specific politicians or parties," she says. Increasingly, it seems, more and more Buddhists believe their Teacher wants them to speak out, to organize, even to fight for their rights. As their numbers grow, there may come a day when even the mighty Chinese government can no longer keep them down.

With Sudip Mazumdar in New Delhi, Jonathan Adams in Taipei and Wang Zhenru in BeijingWith in New Delhi, in Taipei and in Beijing

© 2008