This paper critically examines the transformation, adaptation, and reinterpretation of Buddhist ethical frameworks within the socio-cultural, economic, and political matrices of the twenty-first century. As Buddhism increasingly transcends its traditional Asian topographies to enter globalized spaces, it undergoes a complex process of "glocalization," wherein its foundational universal principles are dynamically recontextualized to interface with local realities. This study interrogates the structural tensions between universalist ethical claims and contextual ethical pluralism across contemporary Buddhist traditions. By critically engaging with modern reinterpretations of core canonical paradigms—specifically compassion (karuṇā), wisdom (prajñā), and interdependent co-arising (pratītyasamutpāda)—this paper evaluates the radical socio-political shifts manifested in Engaged Buddhism, Humanistic Buddhism, and Navayana Buddhism.
Furthermore, the paper provides a critique of "McMindfulness," analyzing it as a commodified, depoliticized, and individualistic appropriation of Buddhist praxis tailored to serve neoliberal capitalist frameworks. Integrating critical feminist interventions and ecological paradigms (Ecodharma), this study illuminates how contemporary Buddhist ethics responds systematically to systemic gender inequality and global environmental degradation. Employing a qualitative, interdisciplinary methodology rooted in textual hermeneutics, critical theory, and comparative philosophy, this paper constructs a coherent, socially engaged meta-ethical framework. It argues that contemporary Buddhist ethics, by synthesizing internal psychological transformation with external structural action, offers a vital paradigm for global discourses on justice, environmental sustainability, and collective human flourishing.