Marxism and Buddhism: A dialogue for social work

ABSTRACT

The Dalai Lama’s claim to be a Marxist deserves consideration, if not scrutiny, through a review of core Buddhist tenets and basic Marxist concepts. To that end, this paper seeks to achieve three aims: first, to confirm if one can reasonably agree that the Dalai Lama is a Marxist; second, to explore whether a vision of social justice can emerge from a dialog between Marxist politics and Buddhist spirituality; and third, to discuss some implications for social work practice toward social change.

KEYWORDS:

• Spirituality
• religion
• Buddhism
• Marxism
• social justice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.