Sulak Sivaraksa
| Sulak Sivaraksa | |
|---|---|
Sulak Sivaraksa
|
|
| Born | March 27, 1933 |
| Nationality | Thailand |
| Occupation | NGO director |
| Known for | Social activism |
Sulak Sivaraksa (Thai: สุลักษณ์ ศิวรักษ์; rtgs: Sulak Siwarak; pronounced [sùlák sìwárák]; born March 27, 1932 in Siam) is the founder and director of the Thai NGO “Sathirakoses-Nagapradeepa Foundation”, named after two authorities on Thai culture, Sathirakoses (Phya Anuman Rajadhon) and Nagapradeepa (Phra Saraprasoet). Besides being the initiator of a number of social, humanitarian, ecological and spiritual movements and organizations in Thailand, such as the College SEM (Spirit in Education Movement).
Sulak Sivaraksa is known in the West as one of the fathers of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB), 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, he became known to a wider public in Europe and the USA. Sulak was chair of the Asian Cultural Forum on Development and has been a visiting professor at UC Berkeley, the University of Hawaii and Cornell.
The grandson of a Chinese immigrant, whose surname was Lim, Sulak Sivaraksa was educated in Bangkok and at the University of Wales, Lampeter, where he is now an honorary fellow in Buddhism. Upon his return home, he became the editor of Social Science Review magazine. Many considered it the leading Thai intellectual journal of its time. By 1968 the Social Science Review had become “the intellectual voice of the nation." Also in 1968, Sulak founded the Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation (SNF), which publishes “the intellectual successor” to Social Science Review and acts as an umbrella organization for a group of NGOs. Soon after his return to Thailand, he directed his energies towards the development of sustainable models for a rapidly changing economic and social environment. The military coup of 1976 forced him into exile for two years. At this time he toured Canada, the US and Europe to lecture to academic audiences. Because of the tragedy of the coup, Sulak’s commitment to peace was strengthened. Since then he has been championing nonviolence in war torn and repressed countries like Sri Lanka. His devotion to peace and nonviolence is demonstrated by his leadership and membership in international peace organization like Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Peace Brigade International, and Gandhi Peace Foundation. After he returned to Thailand, Sulak was prompted to establish the Thai Inter-religious Commission for Development (TICD), and soon thereafter Sulak was appointed chairperson of the Asian Cultural Forum on Development (ACFOD) and the editor of its newsletter, Asia Action. In 1982, Sulak established the Thai Development Support Committee as a way to coordinate other nongovernmental organizations in order to better tackle large problems that they could not tackle alone.
...
Wikipedia