30 Facts About Sulak Sivaraksa

Sulak Sivaraksa initiated a number of social, humanitarian, ecological and spiritual movements and organizations in Thailand, such as the College SEM.

Sulak Sivaraksa is known in the West as one of the fathers of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists, which was established in 1989 with leading Buddhists, including the 14th Dalai Lama, the Vietnamese monk and peace-activist Thich Nhat Hanh, and the Theravada Bhikkhu Maha Ghosananda, as its patrons.

When Sulak Sivaraksa was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1995 for "his vision, activism and spiritual commitment in the quest for a development process that is rooted in democracy, justice and cultural integrity", he became known to a wider public in Europe and the US.

The grandson of a Chinese immigrant whose surname was Lim and born into an affluent Teochew Sino-Thai family, Sulak Sivaraksa was educated at Assumption College in Bangkok and at the University of Wales, Lampeter, where he is an honorary fellow in Buddhism.

Also in 1968, Sulak Sivaraksa founded the Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation, which publishes "the intellectual successor" to Social Science Review and acts as an umbrella organization for a group of NGOs.

In 1982, Sulak Sivaraksa established the Thai Development Support Committee as a way to coordinate other nongovernmental organizations to better tackle large problems that they could not tackle alone.

The foreign contacts he made while in exile proved beneficial when Sulak Sivaraksa was arrested in 1984 for lese majeste, causing international protests which pressured the government to release him.

Sulak Sivaraksa was again charged with lese majeste in September 1991 after a talk he gave at Thammasat University about the repression of democracy in Thailand.

Sulak Sivaraksa fled the county and went into exile until he was able to convince the courts of his innocence in 1995.

Sulak Sivaraksa was awarded the Swedish Right Livelihood Award in 1995, the UNPO Award in 1998, and the Indian Millennium Gandhi Award in 2001.

Sulak Sivaraksa was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the American Friends Service Committee in 1994.

Sulak Sivaraksa was a strong critic of deposed Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Sulak Sivaraksa publicly accused Thaksin of adultery at rallies organized by the People's Alliance for Democracy.

Sulak Sivaraksa's comments were condemned by Somsri Hananantasuk, former Chairperson of Amnesty International Thailand, who said that such words could provoke violence.

Sulak Sivaraksa appears in the documentary film about the Dalai Lama entitled Dalai Lama Renaissance.

Sulak Sivaraksa is an advocate for social and political change in Thailand, as well as globally.

Sulak Sivaraksa has written several influential works that have both inspired people to work towards justice and provoked controversy from political leaders.

Sulak Sivaraksa was arrested on 6 November 2009 for lese majeste.

In 2014 Sulak Sivaraksa was again charged with defamation of the monarchy after questioning the historicity of a 16th-century royal duel on elephantback.

Sulak Sivaraksa was cleared of these charges in December 2017.

Sulak Sivaraksa established a relationship with the World Council of Churches and believed that there was much work to be done within society by Buddhists and Catholics together.

In "Buddhism with a Small 'b'" in Seeds of Peace, Sulak Sivaraksa discusses the seminal teachings of the Buddha.

Sulak Sivaraksa feels that these dimensions of religion lead to chauvinism and prejudice, so he believes humans must step away from these and focus on the basic teachings of the Buddha.

Sulak Sivaraksa explains that many Buddhists understand religion and politics "as two interrelated spheres", implying that government should adhere to the moral and ethical values that Buddhism, or any religion, has to offer.

Sulak Sivaraksa describes the three forms of violence according to the Buddha's teachings, "Every action has three doors, or three ways we create karma: through body, speech, and mind".

Sulak Sivaraksa explains that nonviolence, or ahimsa, does not mean non-action.

Sulak Sivaraksa applies these ideas to social and political situations as a response to social injustice.

Sulak Sivaraksa uses the principle of nonviolence as a call for action against social injustice, defining a strategy to bringing about long-term peace to the world: peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peace building.

Sulak Sivaraksa calls for the "value of simplicity", and connects this with the Buddhist idea of "the freedom from attachment to physical and sensual pleasure".

Sulak Sivaraksa chooses to highlight the universal and rational aspects of Buddhism and eschews ritualism and mythology in order to make Buddhism more applicable to contemporary global issues.