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The Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF) is a nonsectarian international network of engaged Buddhists participating in various forms of nonviolent social activism and environmentalism with chapters all over the world.^[1] The non-profit BPF is an affiliate of the international Fellowship of Reconciliation^[2] working toward global disarmament and peace, helping individuals suffering under governmental tyranny^[3] in places such as Burma, Bangladesh, Tibet and Vietnam.^[4] Currently headquartered in Berkeley, California, the BPF was incorporated in 1978 in Hawaii by Robert Baker Aitken, his wife Anne Hopkins Aitken, Nelson Foster and others. Shortly after other notable individuals climbed aboard, including Gary Snyder, Alfred Bloom, Joanna Macy and Jack Kornfield.^[5] Generally speaking, the BPF has a tendency to approach social issues from a left-wing perspective and, while the fellowship is nonsectarian, the majority of its members are practitioners of Zen Buddhism.^[6]

The BPF statement of purpose is:
1 To make clear public witness to Buddhist practice and interdependence as a way of peace and protection for all beings;
2 to raise peace, environmental, feminist, and social justice concerns among North American Buddhists;
3 to bring Buddhist perspective of non-duality to contemporary social action and environmental movements;
4 to encourage the practice of nonviolence based on the rich resources of traditional Buddhist and Western spiritual teachings; and
5 to offer avenues for dialogue and exchange among the diverse North American and world Sanghas.

—Spuler, Michele (2003). Developments in Australian Buddhism: Facets of the Diamond, 79-80.

1 History
2 See also
3 Notes
4 References

[edit] History

The Buddhist Peace Fellowship is a grassroots movement established in 1978 by Robert Baker Aitken and Anne Hopkins Aitken, along with Nelson Foster and others, on the front porch of their Maui Zendo in Hawaii. Sitting around a table, the assembled group discussed nuclear weapons and militarism within the United States in the years following the Vietnam War, finding that these issues must be addressed with compassion from a Buddhist perspective in order to bring about peace.^[2] Original members were centered primarily in Hawaii or the San Francisco Bay Area, and by 1979 the group was comprised of roughly fifty members. To stay connected, the group formulated a newsletter spearheader by Nelson Foster which evolved into Turning Wheel—the quarterly magazine published by the BPF.^[7] Today it trades ads with others Buddhist magazines in an effort to mutually generate more subscriptions.^[8] By the late 1980s the association had hundreds of members, and the headquarters had moved to office space in Berkeley, California. During this time much of their work was geared toward human rights efforts in area of the world such as Cambodia, Vietnam and Bangladesh, working particularly hard at freeing Buddhist prisoners of the Unified Buddhist Church in Vietnam. This period in BPF history also was marked by the hiring of a coordinator and the development of national chapters.^[7]

The Buddhist Peace Fellowship appeals to Westerners who have embraced Buddhism and who also believe that their chosen path must address the pressing issues of the day. More a religious movement than a political one, the BPF is fueled by a an expressed need to modify or extend traditional spiritual practice.

—Kraft, Kenneth (1992). Inner Peace, World Peace: Essays on Buddhism and Nonviolence, 23-24.

[edit] Prison Project

[edit] Buddhist Alliance for Social Engagement

[edit] Buddhist AIDS Project

The Buddhist AIDS Project (BAP), based in San Francisco, California, is a non-profit affiliate of the BPF run entirely by volunteers, serving individuals with HIV/AIDS, those who are HIV positive, their families, and their caregivers.^[9]

http://www.buddhistaidsproject.org

[edit] See also

Buddhists Concerned for Animals
Catholic Peace Fellowship
Engaged Buddhism
Jewish Peace Fellowship
Muslim Peace Fellowship
International Network of Engaged Buddhists

[edit] Notes

^ Clarke, Peter Bernard (2000). Japanese New Religions: In Global Perspective, 100.
^ ^a ^b Queen, Christopher (2000). Engaged Buddhism in the West, 67-69.
^ Fleming, Marrianne; Worden, David (2004). Thinking about God and Morality, 114.
^ Wright, Christopher (2003). God and Morality, 148.
^ Prebish, Charles S.; Keown, Damien (2005). Buddhism the Ebook: An Online Introduction, 311-312.
^ Wilson, Jeff; Townsend, Jeff (2000). The Buddhist Guide to New York, 230.
^ ^a ^b Prebish, Charles S. (1999). Luminous Passage: The Practice and Study of Buddhism in America, 108-109.
^ Woodward, Cheryl; Hwang, Lucia (2007). Every Nonprofit's Guide to Publishing, 303.
^ Irwin, Alexander C.; Irwin, Alec; Millen, Joyce; Fallows, Dorothy (2003). Global AIDS: Myths and Facts : Tools for Fighting the AIDS Pandemic, 200.