Tag: Kalama Sutta

Buddhism

Can an Anarchist Take Refuge?

The first of the Bodhisattva vows is to liberate all sentient beings (from suffering) and it isnโ€™t a stretch to include sociopolitical liberation in that goal. It shouldnโ€™t come as a surprise, then, that Buddhist anarchism has been a small, but persistent undercurrent within Buddhism and anarchism throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. One may wonder, however, whether it is really possible to be both a Buddhist and an anarchist, although this very much depends on the definitions of โ€œBuddhistโ€ and โ€œanarchistโ€. The term โ€œanarchismโ€ suggests that an anarchist opposes or rejects (แผ€ฮฝ-) (coercive/opaque) power/authority (แผ€ฯฯ‡ฮฎ) and the institutionalization thereof...