The Peaceful Revolution > Dr. Ambedkar and Buddhism

Dr Ambedkar, the greatest leader of the 'untouchables', has been considered the greatest non-violent revolutionary of the last century - he campaigned tirelessly for their political and human rights, and inspired in them a new spirit of determination to be free of the oppression of caste. Born in 1891 he suffered the disadvantages of 'untouchability' himself. By the 1920s, through extraordinary persistence and courage, he succeeded in becoming the first ‘untouchable’ in Western India to matriculate, completing his education in the USA and UK. Eventually he became Law Minister in the first government of independent India and played the leading role in drafting its constitution.

Although untouchability was outlawed in the constitution, this, he realised, would have little effect on social custom and practice. Much more radical measures were required. Earlier in his career he had tried to reform Hinduism, but by 1935 he had concluded that this was not possible; the only way forward was to leave the religion that made one 'untouchable', and to find a new more appropriate religion. He carefully examined the world’s major religions as well as Communism, eventually concluding that only Buddhism was fully in accordance with his most valued principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. The Buddha’s emphasis on ethics, loving kindness, altruism, rationality, and individual responsibility appealed to him. Through Buddhism Dr. Ambedkar saw the possibility of a peaceful social revolution.

• Caste and 'untouchablitity'
• Dr. Ambedkar and Buddhism
• Since the Conversion
• Sangharakshita
• Dhamma Centres
• Dhamma work
• Social Work
• The Jambudvipa Trust