Buddhist Wisdom Applied to Social Matters
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi
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An Editorial Note:
The following text expresses the
social wisdom of ancient Asia. It is
useful for all countries, Eastern and
Western. It does not apply to
kings and
statesmen only. It teaches decisive lessons
to every leader, social, philosophical or
religious. It is especially important for the
theosophical movement in the 21st century.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, the Buddhist
Social leader in Burma, received the Nobel
Peace Prize for 1991. Her lifelong struggle for
freedom has been heroic: she teaches by words
and by example. “The Duties of
the Kings” is part
of her book “Freedom From Fear
and Other
Writings”, Penguin Books, 338 pp., 1991, pp.169-173.
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“While a private
individual may
be bound only by
the formal vows that
he makes, those
who govern should be wholly
bound by the truth
in thought, word and deed.”
(Aung San Suu Kyi)
The Buddhist view of world history tells that when society fell from its
original state of purity into moral and social chaos a king was elected to
restore peace and justice. The ruler was known by the three titles: Mahasammata, “because he is named ruler
by the unanimous consent of the people”; Khattiya,
“because he has dominion over agricultural land”; and Raja, “because he wins the people to affection through observance
of the dhamma (virtue, justice, the
law)”.
The agreement by which their
first monarch undertakes to rule righteously in return for a portion of the
rice crop represents the Buddhist version of government by social contract. The
Mahasammata follows the general
pattern of Indic kingship in South-east Asia. This has been criticized as
antithetical to the idea of the modern state because it promotes a personalized
form of monarchy lacking the continuity inherent in the western abstraction of
the king as possessed of both a body politic and a body natural. However,
because the Mahasammata was chosen by
popular consent and required to govern in accordance with just laws, the
concept of government elective and sub
lege is not alien to traditional Burmese thought.
The Buddhist view of kingship
does not invest the ruler with the divine right to govern the realm as he
pleases. He is expected to observe the Ten Duties of Kings, the Seven
Safeguards against Decline, the Four Assistances to the People, and to be
guided by numerous other codes of conduct such as the Twelve Practices of
Rulers, the Six Attributes of Leaders, the Eight Virtues of Kings and the Four
Ways to Overcome Peril. There is logic to a tradition which includes the king
among the five enemies or perils and which subscribes to many sets of moral
instructions for the edification of those in positions of authority. The people
of Burma have had much experience of despotic rule and possess a great
awareness of the unhappy gap that can exist between the theory and practice of
government.
The Ten Duties of Kings are
widely known and generally accepted as a yardstick which could be applied just
as well to modern government as to the first monarch of the world. The duties
are: liberality, morality, self-sacrifice, integrity, kindness, austerity, non-anger,
non-violence, forbearance and non-opposition (to the will of the people).
1) The first
duty of liberality (dana), which demands that a ruler should
contribute generously towards the welfare of the people, makes the tacit
assumption that a government should have the competence to provide adequately
for its citizens. In the context of modern politics, one of the prime duties of
a responsible administration would be to ensure the economic security of the
state.
2) Morality (sila) in traditional Buddhist terms is based on the
observance of the five precepts, which entails refraining from destruction of
life, theft, adultery, falsehood and indulgence in intoxicants. The ruler must
bear a high moral character to win the respect and trust of the people, to
ensure their happiness and prosperity and to provide a proper example. When the
king does not observe the dhamma,
state functionaries become corrupt, and when state functionaries are corrupt
the people are caused much suffering. It is further believed that an
unrighteous king brings down calamity on the land. The root of a nation’s
misfortunes has to be sought in the moral failings of the government.
3) The third duty, paricagga, is sometimes translated as generosity and sometimes
as self-sacrifice. The former would constitute a duplication of the first duty,
dana, so self-sacrifice as the
ultimate generosity which gives up all for the sake of the people would appear
the more satisfactory interpretation. The concept of selfless public service is
sometimes illustrated by the story of the hermit Sumedha who took the vow of
Buddhahood. In so doing, he who could have realized the supreme liberation of nirvana in a single lifetime committed
himself to countless incarnations that he might help other beings free
themselves from suffering. Equally popular is the story of the monkey king who
sacrificed his life to save his subjects, including one who had always wished
him harm and who was the eventual cause of his death. The good ruler sublimates
his needs as an individual to the service of the nation.
4) Integrity (ajjava) implies incorruptibility in the discharge of public
duties as well as honesty and sincerity in personal relations. There is a
Burmese saying: “With rulers, truth, with (ordinary) men, vows”. While a
private individual may be bound only by the formal vows that he makes, those
who govern should be wholly bound by the truth in thought, word and deed. Truth
is the very essence of the teachings of the Buddha, who referred to himself as
the Tathagata or “one who has come to
the truth”. The Buddhist king must therefore live and rule by truth, which is
the perfect uniformity between nomenclature and nature. To deceive or to
mislead the people in any way would be an occupational failing as well as a moral
offence. “As an arrow, intrinsically straight, without warp or distortion, when
one word is spoken, it does not err into two.”
5) Kindness (maddava) in a ruler is in a sense the courage to feel concern
for the people. It is undeniably easier to ignore the hardships of those who
are too weak to demand their rights than to respond sensitively to their needs.
To care is to accept responsibility, to dare to act in accordance with the
dictum that the ruler is the strength of the helpless. In Wizaya, a well-known nineteenth-century drama based on the Mahavamsa story of Prince Vijaya, a king
sends away into exile his own son whose wild ways have caused the people much
distress: “In the matter of love, to make no distinction between citizen and
son, to give equally of loving kindness, that is the righteousness of kings.”
6) The duty of austerity (tapa) enjoins the king to adopt simple habits, to develop
self-control and to practise spiritual discipline. The self-indulgent ruler who
enjoys an extravagant lifestyle and ignores the spiritual need for austerity
was no more acceptable at the time of the Mahasammala
then he would be in Burma today.
7, 8 and 9) The seventh, eighth and ninth duties - non-anger (akkodha), non-violence (avihamsa) and forbearance (kshanti) - could be said to be related. Because the displeasure of the powerful
could have unhappy and far-reaching consequences, kings must not allow personal
feelings of enmity and ill will to erupt into destructive anger and violence.
It is incumbent on a ruler to develop the true forbearance which moves him to
deal wisely and generously with the shortcomings and provocations of even those
whom he could crush with the impunity. Violence is totally contrary to the
teachings of Buddhism. The good ruler vanquishes ill will with loving kindness,
wickedness with virtue, parsimony with liberality, and falsehood with truth.
The Emperor Ashoka, who ruled his realm in accordance with the principles of
non-violence and compassion, is always
held up as an ideal Buddhist king. A government should not attempt to enjoin
submission through harshness and immoral force but should aim at dhamma-vijaya, a conquest by
righteousness.
10) The tenth duty of kings, non-opposition to the will of the people (avirodha), tends to be singled out as a Buddhist endorsement of democracy,
supported by well-known stories from the Jatakas.
Pawridasa, a monarch who acquired an unfortunate taste for human flesh, was
forced to leave his kingdom because he would not heed the people’s demand that
he should abandon his cannibalistic habits. A very different kind of ruler was
the Buddha’s penultimate incarnation on earth, the pious King Vessantara. But
he too was sent into exile when in the course of his strivings for the
perfection of liberality he gave away the white elephant of the state without
the consent of the people. The real duty of non-opposition is a reminder that
the legitimacy of government is founded on the consent of the people, who may
withdraw their mandate at any time if they lose confidence in the ability of
the ruler to serve their best interests.
By invoking the Ten Duties of Kings the Burmese are not
so much indulging in wishful thinking as drawing on time-honoured values to
reinforce the validity of the political reforms they consider necessary.
It is a strong argument for
democracy that governments regulated by principles of accountability, respect
for public opinion and the supremacy of just laws are more likely than an
all-powerful ruler or ruling class, uninhibited by the need to honour the will
of the people, to observe the traditional duties of Buddhist kingship.
Traditional values serve both to justify and to decipher popular expectations
of democratic government.
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On the role of the esoteric movement in the
ethical awakening of mankind during the 21st century, see the book “The Fire and Light of Theosophical Literature”, by
Carlos Cardoso Aveline.
Published in
2013 by The Aquarian Theosophist,
the volume has 255 pages and can be obtained through Amazon Books.
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