- published: 05 Oct 2015
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Buddhist modernism (also referred to as Protestant Buddhism, Modern Buddhism and modernist Buddhism) consists of the "forms of Buddhism that have emerged out of an engagement with the dominant cultural and intellectual forces of modernity." While there can be no complete, essential definition of what constitutes a Buddhist Modernist tradition, most scholars agree that the influence of Protestant and Enlightenment values has largely defined some of its more conspicuous attributes. David McMahan cites "western monotheism; rationalism and scientific naturalism; and Romantic expressivism" as influences.
Examples of such movements and traditions of thought may include Humanistic Buddhism, Secular Buddhism, and Engaged Buddhism, linkages between Buddhism and Gnosticism, the Japanese-initiated Nichiren Buddhism and Soka Gakkai, the New Kadampa Tradition and the missionary activity of Tibetan Buddhist masters in the West (leading the quickly growing Buddhist movement in France), the Vipassana Movement, the Triratna Buddhist Community, Dharma Drum Mountain, Fo Guang Shan, Buddha's Light International Association, Tzu Chi, and Juniper Foundation.
Adi Da Samraj, born Franklin Albert Jones (November 3, 1939 – November 27, 2008), was an American spiritual teacher, writer and artist. He was the founder of a new religious movement known as Adidam. He changed his name numerous times throughout his life; these names included Bubba Free John, Da Free John, Da Love-Ananda, Da Kalki, Da Avadhoota and Da Avabhasa, among others. From 1991 until his death, he was known as Adi Da Love-Ananda Samraj or Adi Da.
Adi Da initially became known in the spiritual counterculture of the 1970s for his books and public talks, and for the activities of his religious community. His philosophy was essentially similar to many eastern religions which see spiritual enlightenment as the ultimate priority of human life. Distinguishing his from other religious traditions, Adi Da declared that he was a uniquely historic avatar (incarnation of a god or divinity in human form). As such, Adi Da stated that henceforth devotional worship of him would be the sole means of spiritual enlightenment for anyone else.
Karl Marx (/mɑːrks/;German pronunciation: [ˈkaɐ̯l ˈmaɐ̯ks]; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist and revolutionary socialist. Born in Prussia (now Rhineland-Palatinate), he later became stateless and spent much of his life in London. Marx's work in economics laid the basis for much of the current understanding of labour and its relation to capital, and subsequent economic thought. He published numerous books during his lifetime, the most notable being The Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1867–1894).
Born into a wealthy middle-class family in Trier in the Prussian Rhineland, Marx studied at the universities of Bonn and Berlin where he became interested in the philosophical ideas of the Young Hegelians. After his studies he wrote for the Rheinische Zeitung, a radical newspaper in Cologne, and began to work out the theory of the materialist conception of history. He moved to Paris in 1843, where he began writing for other radical newspapers and met Friedrich Engels, who would become his lifelong friend and collaborator. In 1849 he was exiled and moved to London together with his wife and children, where he continued writing and formulating his theories about social and economic activity. He also campaigned for socialism and became a significant figure in the International Workingmen's Association.