Joanna Cook & Jonathan Mair (University of Cambridge) Introduction: Buddhist Ethics and Detachment Jeremy Goody (Lokamitra/The Jambudvipa Trust/The Nagarjuna Institute) “I have derived my social philosophy from the teachings of the Buddha”: The Place of Detachment and Engagement in Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s Efforts to Bring About a Society Free of Untouchability and Caste in India. Gustaaf Houtman (Royal Anthropological Institute/University of London, SOAS) Vipassana: A Reflection on Detachment in the Context of Van Gennep’s Theory of Rites de Passage in the Unpartitioned House Ven. Chueh Ru Shih (Deputy Chief Abbess of Fo Guang Shan Temple in Europe & UK, Abbess of IBPS UK) and Peter Johnson (London Buddha's Light International Association) The Carefree Life Discussant: Steven Collins (The University of…

In June 2010, members of the Buddhist Ethics Network contributed a session to an ESRC-funded conference on Detachment (see the Detachment Collaboratory for more information). The session was convened by Joanna Cook and Jonathan Mair and featured fascinating papers given by Jeremy Goody (the Venerable Lokamitra), Gustaaf Houtman, and by Venerable Chueh Ru Shih with Peter Johnson. The whole session was rounded off with a comment on each of the papers given by discussant Steven Collins.