From: ssg9328@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Samart Srijumnong)
Subject: Dhammic Socialism (8)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 06:40:07 GMT
Keywords: Buddhism


Here is a continued part of the article "Buddhadasa Bhikkhu's Dhammic 
Socialism: Lessons for Thai Democracy," by Tavivat Puntarigvivat, presented 
at the conference of "60 Years of Suan Mokkh and The Quest for Thai Democracy" 
at the Buddhadhamma Meditation Center in Chicago on May 29-91, 1992.


******* begins

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	6. Dhammic Socialism and the Role of Leadership
	~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	For a country to be happy, it must have a just government. A just
government, according to Buddhadasa's Dhammic Socialism, could be realized
by having moral rulers who care for the welfare of people rather than them-
selves. The Buddha's teachings of the "Ten Duties of the King" (dasa-raja-
dhamma), as given in the Jataka text, are as follows:

	1. Dana (liberality, generosity, charity). The ruler should not
	   have craving and attachment to wealth and property, but should
	   give it away for the welfare of the people.

	2. Sila (a high moral character). He should never destroy life, cheat,
	   steal, and exploit others, comit adultery, utter falsehood, and
	   take intoxicating drinks. That is, he must at least observe the
	   Five Precepts of the layman.

	3. Pariccaga (sacrificing everything for the good of the people). 
	   He must be prepared to give up all personal comfort, name and
	   fame, and even his life, in the interest of people.

	4. Ajjava (honesty and integrity). He must be free from fear or favour
	   in discharge of his duties, must be sincere in his intentions, and
	   must not deceive the public.

	5. Maddava (kindness and gentleness). He must possess a genial 
	   temperament.

	6. Tapa (austerity in habits). He must lead a simple life, and should
	   not indulge in a life of luxury. He must have self-control.

	7. Akkadha (freedom from hatred, ill-will, enmity). He should bear no
	   grudge against anybody.

	8. Avihimsa (non-violence), which means not only that he should harm
	   nobody, but also that he should try to promote peace by avoiding
	   and preventing war, and everything which involves violence and
	   destruction of life.

	9. Khanti (patience, forbearance, tolerance, understanding). He must 
	   be able to bear hardships, difficulties and insults without 
	   losing his temper.

       10. Avirodha (non-opposition, non-obstruction), that it to say that he
	   should not oppose the will of the people, should not obstruct any
	   measures that are conducive to the welfare of the people. In other
	   words, he should ruld in harmony with his people. (Walpola Rahula,
	   WAHT THE BUDDHA TAUGHT, p. 84-85)

	From the Buddhist perspective, a just and righteous government is the 
government which is comprised of righteous persons who ethically and profes-
sionally traing themselves well, abstain from luxurious life, do not crave
wealth and profit for themselves, and represent the interest of the people,
builds a just and righteous political, economic and social structure so that
nobody, including the government itself, can directly or indirectly oppress
other members of the society. A just and righteous government has the duty 
to fairly distribute income among the people. Buddhadasa proposes that the
ideal leader of a Dhammic Socialist country is raja or dhammaraja, the
Buddhist leader with the Ten Royal Virtues.

	According to the Pali scriptures it became necessary to extend natural
	socialism to the political foundations of the community when oppression
	in the community became intolerable. People saw fit to invest a 
	particularly capable, just leader with their trust and power. This
	leader or raja would govern in such a way that no one could oppress
	anyone else and the community would thus enjoy contentment (Thai:
	po-cai). Indeed, the word raja actually means contentment of the 
	entire community...

	The ideal ruler fulfills all of the Ten Royal Precepts or Virtues as
	set down in the Pali scriptures. Western political theory does not
	mention anything like the Ten Royal Virues...

	If a monarch rules with tyranny, of course such governments should 
	be done away with. If, however, the monarch fulfills the Ten Royal
	Virues, then his rule will embody the principles of socialism and
	bring about contentment in society. Under such rule there would be
	no capitalist oppressors or division of labor according to wealth
	and power; there would be no underclass of angry laborers rensentful
	at being oppressed and at not having power to accumulate wealth for
	themselves. A truly socialistic government would embody the charac-
	teristics of dhamma. (Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, A DICTATORIAL DHAMMIC 
	SOCIALISM, p. 89-90)

	As Buddhadasa understands it, the term "dictatorship" has two meanings.
As a political ideology such as military dictatorship, it is certainly un-
desirable. But as a means leading to a desirable goal, it can be useful because
it simply means to handle things expeditiously. Buddhadasa's notion of 
"dictatorial" means to obtain a desirable--especially peace and justice
in the society--came at the time social turmoil during the 1973-1976 period
of political unrest in Thailand. During that period of time, it seemed that
democracy could not really solve the problems facing Thai people who
were ideologically divided into extreme rightists and leftists. To be able
to bring peace and justice to Thai society, Buddhadasa saw a "dictotorial"
means used by one who had dhamman and wisdom (dhammaraja) to end the hatred
and turmoil and to lead the society to the desirable goal of Dhammic Socialism.
Buddhadasa explained his position of using "dictatorial" means to obtain 
peace and justice of Dhammic Socialism thus:

	Let us examine a very controversial notion "dictatorial democracy"
	(prajadhipatai-phadetjakara). We tend to shy away from the word, 
	dictatorship," because we are so infatuated with liberalism 
	(saesri-niyoma)...

	To sum up, there are various forms of democracy such as liberal 
democracy and socialist society. The ideal form is dhammic socialist democracy
in which "dictatorial" means are used to expedite solutions to social problems.
We must not be misled by the usual associations of the word, "dictatorial."
Dictatorship in the sense of tyranny has no place in dhammic socialism. If
dictatorial methods are consistent with tyranny, they will help expedite moral
solutions to social problems, and should be used to the fullest extent. Our
own country is currently in great turmoil, and we seem to have no clear
vision of where we are headed. If we were more "dictatorial" in dhammic way, 
we would be able to solves our problems quickly. (ibid, p.82-83)


Dhammic Socialism: Lessons for Thai Democracy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
................

To be continued.