The use of intoxicants is against the fifth precept, and given that the lack of a clear mind is one of the most fundamental problems with human flourishing according to Buddhism, it would not seem sensible to add to delusion and ignorance (and possibly cause more greed, desire and hatred) by drinking or taking drugs. Many Buddhists, not only monastics, completely renounce alcohol and other drugs. However, some argue that the problem is using alcohol/drugs to excess rather than at all. It sometimes depends on local culture, for example, drinking beer is traditional in Tibet and Mongolia. Nothing was said by the Buddha about smoking tobacco, so some Buddhists have smoked, but in the light of recent knowledge of its harmfulness, many would no longer see it as acceptable.

Human rights

All sentient beings are capable of reaching nirvana or Buddhahood so deserve respect and compassion, but human life is precious as the best placed for spiritual progress. Thus all human beings should be treated well. Tibetan Buddhists often point out that in the endless round of rebirths, all beings have at one time been your mother, so should be viewed as such.

Equality

In one sense all beings are equal, and should be viewed with evenmindedness. However, as some have progressed further on the path towards nirvana or Buddhahood, in another sense they are not. A Buddha is superior to the average human who is superior to a slug. The historical Buddha accepted people from all classes and castes into his sangha as spiritually equal, but ‘Hindu’ renouncers also renounce class and caste as spiritually irrelevant, and that is not the same as campaigning for the abolition of class and caste distinctions in worldly life. Thus Buddhists can accept both socially conservative and progressive or socialist societies, advising obedience to superiors, and protesting against unfairness.

Gender

It is anachronistic to expect ancient texts and traditions not to be sexist by contemporary standards. A survey of Buddhist texts and history reveals much that is patriarchal and oppressive. The historical Buddha was reluctant to ordain women, and only agreed after adding extra rules (some commentators have blamed later monastic editors for this); in most Buddhist societies nuns either have lower status than monks or do not exist; texts tend to stereotype women as weak and temptresses; rebirth as a female is considered less fortunate (it usually was); there are no female Buddhas; and women have suffered inequality in practice in Buddhist societies. On the other hand, there is material for Buddhist feminists to build on, such as the fact that women were ordained and many did gain enlightenment, there are female bodhisattvas, and a few important women can be discovered in both history and texts. Recent developments have included the (controversial) re-establishment of ordination for women in Theravada, and the formation of Sakyadita, the International Association of Buddhist Women. Gender is not an essential part of spiritual identity, as all beings have been/may be both male and female or other in previous and future rebirths, however this downplaying of the current physical body can lead to ignoring the particular experience of women in the here-and-now and thus to sexist attitudes and behaviour.
In ancient Buddhist texts, four genders are recognised, not just male and female. It is not quite clear how to translate the terms used, but one may be intersex, and the other possibly refers to a form of male prostitute or someone like the contemporary hijra. These two groups were not allowed to join the monastic sangha. Attitudes to anyone other than heterosexual cis-gendered male have been varied in both theory and practice in Buddhist history, often negative but with some more positive and thus important to the contemporary LGBTQI+ community (see issues of sexual conduct above). Kwan Yin bodhisattva, who transitioned from male to female in the course of Buddhist history, is an important figure not only for women in general but also for transgender people, but s/he (they?) can also symbolise more generally the fluidity and spiritual irrelevance of either gender or sex.

Racism

The Buddha accepted people of all backgrounds into the sangha, and teachings of no-self, emptiness and rebirth mean that ‘race’ is a human construct that does not define one spiritually. As a tradition that started in India and spread mostly eastwards, one would not expect to find the need to consider anti-Asian racism in Buddhism. However, Western constructions of ‘Buddh-ism’ may contain elements of colonial and racist attitudes, and there are sometimes indigenous prejudices about skin colour, or particular minority ethnic groups in Buddhist-majority countries. There are increasing numbers of Buddhists of African descent, mostly in Western countries, some of whom point out that ‘no-self’, and the downplaying of the physical body in Buddhist teaching, can lead to ‘colourblind’ attitudes that ignore the different actual experience that being black means, especially in Buddhist groups in the West dominated by wealthy, white practitioners, where ‘race’ is compounded intersectionally with class, leading to unconscious or institutional racism and classism.

Wealth and poverty

Generosity is a fundamental Buddhist virtue, and the Buddha set an example of helping the poor and hungry, and advised rulers to enable everyone to earn a fair living to avoid both poverty and crime. He had wealthy and royal friends and did not criticise wealth per se, but can be interpreted as implying that a more equal distribution would be better.

Work

Advice for laypeople includes the importance of working hard and obeying employers, but also responsibilities from employers for treating employees fairly. ‘Right livelihood’ is one of the factors in the eightfold path, so it is important to choose a job that helps rather than harms. Paid employment is not the only option if you are spending time in a worthwhile way, notably monastics do not usually earn money (and monastic rules technically do not allow even handling it) but rely on the lay community to support them.

On the one hand, Buddhist traditions can be seen as environmentally friendly. The precept against harming living beings, the simple life of monastics living with little consumption of resources, many of the rules for monastics such as recycling robes and not polluting rivers, the implications of rebirth (you will suffer the consequences of the many ways in which humans are destroying the planet yourself, not just your great-grandchildren), the Mahayana idea of Buddha-nature in all things are all resources for creating an ecologically-minded Buddhism. Today, there are many practical environmental projects inspired by Buddhism such as the memorable activity in Thailand of ordaining trees as monastics in order to prevent them being cut down. An internet search, including projects listed by the Alliance of Religions and Conservation http://www.arcworld.org, can reveal many examples of ‘Green Dharma’ in practice.

However, like contemporary feminism or gay rights, environmentalism as we know it today, was not an ‘issue’ at the time of the Buddha or for much of Buddhist history. Humans just did not make such a negative impact 2,500 years ago. There are aspects of Buddhist teaching that suggest that environmental action is not the most important thing on which to be working. The physical world is impermanent and will decay anyway, and in one sense, in some Buddhist thought, not even real. Samsara altogether, including rebirth as human or animal in the material world, is something to be liberated from, so for example the precept against harming is not really about saving the planet, but for your own spiritual development. Nevertheless, the fundamental Buddhist quest for the reduction of suffering for all would seem to support environmental action.

Buddhists who prioritise practical action to reduce suffering, whether in environmental, peace, social justice, relieving poverty, equality, and human rights have been given the label ‘Engaged’ or ‘Socially Engaged’ Buddhists, to counter the stereotype of the solitary meditator concerned with only their own spiritual quest. The historical Buddha approved of taking action, as in the parable of the person shot with the arrow, but meditation and wisdom are also in their own way taking action, alongside practical ethics.

If looking for examples of living a good life according to Buddhist traditions, these could include the historical Buddha himself, some of his notable disciples, or King (or Emperor) Ashoka who conquered a large part of present day India and beyond a couple of centuries after the historical Buddha, then renounced violence (both war and hunting) and supported Buddhism. His ‘rock edicts’, 32 of which have been found by archaeologists, gave the population guidelines for living morally responsible lives, and he engaged in useful social projects such as medical services for both people and animals, constructing wells and reservoirs, building places for travellers to stay, and prisoner welfare services. He also supported teachers of other religions, built stupas to house Buddhist relics, and sent out missionaries to spread Buddhist teachings to other lands, most successfully in sending his own ordained son and daughter to Sri Lanka, which has had a continuous Buddhist history ever since. Each Buddhist country and group has its own heroes throughout history and today. Well known exemplary Buddhists today might include the current Dalai Lama, or the Vietnamese Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. Though women tend to be less well known, there are exemplary women throughout Buddhist history, starting with his aunt Mahaprajapati Gotami who argued for women’s ordination, and the 73 nuns whose work is included in the Pali Canon. Many earlier RE textbooks have included the Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi who received the Noble Peace prize in 1991 for her long, non-violent struggle, but she has recently been criticised for defending the actions of the military in Myanmar against the Rohingya people.

A strong case can be made that making sense of life’s experiences is the central concern of the Buddhist tradition. The historical Buddha taught the Kalama people that they should not accept teachings as true until they had tested them out in their own experience – does it actually work in making you a better person? (see under Buddhism and Science). The teaching of the historical Buddha sprang from his own experience – his privileged life which did not bring him happiness, his reflections on suffering, his study and practice of meditation and asceticism and his experience of Enlightenment. The category of ‘experience’ covers both everyday experience, for example how irresponsible behaviour leads to suffering and less common experiences such as some profound states reached in meditation, remembering past lives, unusual psychic powers, and finally the experience of nirvana or Buddhahood. It is the latter that are usually called ‘religious’ experiences, but this perhaps makes too sharp a distinction between what is ‘religious’ and what is not. Experience that leads to insight or spiritual feelings such as devotion can include the events of daily life, meditation, or taking part in ceremonies and rituals, all of which are available to the many and not just the few. Even ‘religious’ experiences that seem to suggest levels of reality beyond the everyday do happen to more people than we hear about, whether Buddhist, ‘religious’ or not.

Meditation, or cultivation of the mind, is very important in Buddhism, as a mind that is deluded and unable to see clearly or think straight is a major part of the human problem. Three elements of the eightfold path are concerned with meditation – right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Right effort is the conscious working on one’s own good and bad mental habits. Right mindfulness refers to the cultivation of awareness, of the body, feelings, mind and mental states, the attempt to calm down the usual distracting chatter and lack of concentration that goes on in our heads. A starting point might be mindfulness of breathing, concentrating just on the breath going in and out and letting other thoughts and emotions fade away. Mindfulness, often detached from its origins in Buddhism, has become a fashionable method of addressing mental health issues such as anxiety. Right concentration refers to deeper states of meditation, known in Theravada as samatha or calm and vipassana or insight which can achieve higher states of consciousness like those reached by the Buddha during his enlightenment experience, such as completely clear, pure consciousness. There is also meditation which focuses on developing the four types of love (friendliness, compassion, sympathetic joy and evenmindedness) for oneself and all others.

Further forms of meditation are found in Mahayana Buddhism, which blend into devotional practices, such as visualisations of particular Buddhas and bodhisattvas, which may at deeper levels lead to visions or mystical experiences. There is the ‘just sitting’ meditation of Zen (which means meditation). Meditation is traditionally undertaken in a quiet place, either alone or in a group, sitting crosslegged in the ‘lotus’ position, but it can also be done sitting in a chair. Apart from such formal meditation, which monastics have more time for than laypeople, mindfulness can be applied to everyday activities, such as sweeping or washing up. For more advanced meditation, Buddhists recommend that you have a teacher, as practices are customised for individual personalities, and can be dangerous if inappropriate (such as an already depressed person meditating on death, or someone with body-image problems meditating on the disgusting aspects of the physical body).

Sometimes contrasted with the kinds of experience found in meditation is the more emotional experience found in devotional practices. In Theravada, the first tends to be more associated with monastics and the second with laypeople. However, the two may be very close, such as when meditation on an image of the Buddha is combined with making offerings. Devotion is probably a better word to use than ‘worship’ for the Indian word ‘puja’. The simplest form of devotion is to ‘take refuge’ in the Buddha, the Dharma/Dhamma or teaching, and the Sangha (the community, usually referring to the monastics), which is a way of declaring oneself a Buddhist. Watching a Buddhist make offerings (such as flowers, incense, food, water or lights) to an image or symbol looks like someone worshipping a god in other religions, but has a different meaning. In Theravada, it is showing respect for the Buddha and reminding oneself of his teaching, as he does not require offerings and cannot be asked for favours, having passed away completely into nirvana. Mahayana devotion is a little more like other religions, as the Buddhas and bodhisattvas have not disappeared but are available and can be asked for help. Yet there is still a difference – the bodhisattvas and Buddhas represent one’s own potential future state rather than wholly other beings, and the effect of devotion on the mind is important.

As well as making offerings to images, there are many other devotional practices such as bowing and prostrating. Chanting of Buddhist texts or the qualities of the Buddha can be seen as intellectual learning, or a form of meditation or a form of showing devotion. Chanting of mantras, short series of syllables or words, as found in various forms of Mahayana, may be directed at a particular Buddha, bodhisattva or even text, and can be seen as devotional and/or meditative. Relics of the historical Buddha, other important teachers, or even pieces of ancient texts are revered, stupas are circumambulated, and especially in Tibetan Buddhism, many artefacts such as prayer wheels, prayer flags, and mandalas are a constant reminder of Buddhist teaching as well as devotional practice.

Calendar events also serve to intensify Buddhist emotions and experience, and are opportunities to remember Buddhist teaching. The festival calendar varies in different Buddhist traditions and countries, and bound up with national and local cultural traditions but there is usually something celebrating the birth, enlightenment, teaching and death of the historical Buddha. In Theravada countries, Wesak on the full moon in late April/May celebrates the birth, enlightenment of the Buddha, and his first teaching is celebrated on the full moon in July. There are celebrations at the end of the monastic rains retreat in the autumn, when laypeople bring gifts to the monasteries. Sri Lanka holds a grand procession of the tooth-relic of the Buddha in Kandy in August, Thais float candles on rivers in November and recall the story of the generosity of Vessantara. In Tibet as well as Theravada countries, there is an autumn festival focused on the story of a visit by the Buddha to his departed mother reborn in one of the top heaven worlds, in China a festival in August to remember the ‘hungry ghosts’ recalling an event when one of the Buddha’s leading disciples visited his own mother in a ghost or hell rebirth and was able to set her free, and at autumn and spring equinoxes people visit family graves. Such festivals address the near-universal human concern for deceased relatives and provide an opportunity for helping them by prayers, offerings, and dedicating merit earned by ceremonial or moral actions to their (good) karmic account. In Japan, where the 19^th century adoption of the Western Gregorian calendar means it is possible to give an exact date, the birthday of the Buddha is celebrated on April 8^th (Hanamatsuri, ‘flower festival’) where images of the baby Buddha are bathed in scented tea.

Some modern and contemporary Buddhists play down the importance of pilgrimage, and it is certainly not of central importance. However, visiting place associated with the historical Buddha or other important events or people is at least as old as the Emperor Ashoka, and recommended even in the Pali Canon. Pilgrimage is meritorious, and can be a spiritually important experience, whether the self-discipline of enduring hardship, the mind-expanding opportunity of seeing new people and places, or feeling a deeper connection to the Buddhist path. Places of pilgrimage include the four sites associated with the historical Buddha in India/Nepal: Lumbini (in Nepal) – the place of the Buddha’s birth; Bodh Gaya – the place of the Buddha’s Enlightenment; Sarnath – where he delivered his first teaching; Kusinara – where he died. Other countries have their own. In Sri Lanka these include Sri Pada – a mountain trek to a footprint said to be that of the Buddha (alternatively Adam or the Hindu deity Shiva), and ancient sites associated with the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. In China and Japan there are many special temples and holy mountains, usually associated with important Buddhist teachers, such as Mounts Hiei and Koya in Japan. On Shikoku Island there is popular pilgrimage route associated with the teacher Kobo Daishi and Shingon Buddhism. In Tibet, pilgrims would travel to the home of the Dalai Lama in Lhasa.