Navayana

Common card · No. 224650

Navayāna (Devanagari: नवयान, IAST: Navayāna, meaning "New Vehicle"), otherwise known as Navayāna Buddhism, Neo-Buddhism, and Ambedkarite Buddhism, refers to a school of engaged Buddhism founded and developed by the Indian jurist, social reformer, and scholar B. R. Ambedkar. Its members describe the school as the "application of Buddhist principles for the welfare of the many." Ambedkar was an Indian lawyer, politician, and scholar of Buddhism, and the Drafting Chairman of the Constitution of India. He was born into an "untouchable" family during the colonial era of India, studied abroad, and became a Dalit leader. In 1935, he announced his intent to convert from Hinduism to a different religion, an endeavor which led him to study all the major religions of the world in depth—namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, and Islam—for nearly 21 years. Ambedkar soon created a new school of Buddhism, posthumously named Ambedkarite Buddhism. Ambedkar held a conference on 13 October 1956...

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