(RNS) — Many Buddhists today trace their social justice activism to the work of BR Ambedkar, the Indian caste abolitionist who once led a mass conversion of Dalits, or lower caste, to Buddhism. (RNS) ...

I met Minal at a retreat center in rural England in March 2023, and we became fast friends. We were there to attend a Buddhist course, with six other women from different parts of the world. Over the ...

Explore the origins of the caste system, rooted in political and economic factors rather than purity, pollution, or race.

Claiming Hindu nationalist admiration for Ambedkar is problematic, however, said Harish Suchdeve, a retired banker and Buddhist convert who is now active in the conversion movement. Distinct from ...

NEW DELHI — “We are Hindus no more, and inferior to nobody,” declared Ramkumar, a low-caste Indian from the northern Indian state of Utter Pradesh. Ramkumar, a bureaucrat in the state government, ...

Buddhism and Buddhism alone can save the World.” Dr. B.R.Ambedkar a great scholar, Lawyer and freedom fighter along with hundreds of thousands of Mahar’s an untouchable caste, converted to Buddhism ...

MUMBAI, India (AP) -- About 2,000 low-caste Hindu Indians bowed before orange-robed monks and recited prayers as they converted to Buddhism in a mass ceremony Sunday that they said would bring them ...

YAVATMAL, India (Reuters) - Taking off his shoes and joining his palms together in prayer, young engineer Ravi Turkane stands under a sizzling sun waiting to be reborn as a Buddhist. Sign up here.

Vikki Velasquez is a researcher and writer who has managed, coordinated, and directed various community and nonprofit organizations. She has conducted in-depth research on social and economic issues ...

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their ...

Why do people defend social systems that oppress them? Why do the marginalized sometimes work to uphold structures and arrangements that limit their potential? These questions are not just ...