Buddhist Socialism - Dharma and Socio-Economic Category
By Adrian Chan-Wyles PhD
Poem of the Elder Buddhist Nun Subha – the Smith’s Daughter
Thus having renounced (the world) in conviction, the true doctrine having been well-preached, it would not be fitting for me, having laid aside gold and silver, to take them back again, for I desire nothing.
Silver or gold are not (conducive) to enlightenment or peace. This is not proper for ascetics; this is not the wealth of the noble ones.
This is being greedy, and intoxication, stupefaction, increase of defilement, full of suspicions and with many troubles; there is here no permanent stability.
Many men who are infatuated with this and careless, with defiled minds, being obstructed one by another, make a quarrel.
Slaughter, bonds, calamity, loss, grief and lamentation; much misfortune is seen of those who have fallen into sensual pleasures.
O relatives, why do you, like enemies, urge on (that same) me towards sexual pleasures? You know that I have gone forth, seeing fear in sensual pleasures.
The asavas do not diminish because of gold, coined or uncoined; sensual pleasures are enemies, murderers, hostile, binding with ropes.
(KR Norman [Trans]: Elder Verses II Therigatha, Pali Text Society, (1992), Page 35)
Thus having renounced (the world) in conviction, the true doctrine having been well-preached, it would not be fitting for me, having laid aside gold and silver, to take them back again, for I desire nothing.
Silver or gold are not (conducive) to enlightenment or peace. This is not proper for ascetics; this is not the wealth of the noble ones.
This is being greedy, and intoxication, stupefaction, increase of defilement, full of suspicions and with many troubles; there is here no permanent stability.
Many men who are infatuated with this and careless, with defiled minds, being obstructed one by another, make a quarrel.
Slaughter, bonds, calamity, loss, grief and lamentation; much misfortune is seen of those who have fallen into sensual pleasures.
O relatives, why do you, like enemies, urge on (that same) me towards sexual pleasures? You know that I have gone forth, seeing fear in sensual pleasures.
The asavas do not diminish because of gold, coined or uncoined; sensual pleasures are enemies, murderers, hostile, binding with ropes.
(KR Norman [Trans]: Elder Verses II Therigatha, Pali Text Society, (1992), Page 35)
Historical materialism explains the presence of – or the lack of wealth. There is no mystery surrounding the accumulation of wealth, or the dissipation of wealth. Physical laws explain how wealth is generated, distributed, controlled and withheld within a society, and there is no need to assume that wealth is a product of some ‘unseen’ or ‘mystical’ force. Wealth is created by human labour and regulated through political and economic systems. Due to dominating class politics, the means of production are owned by a controlling segment of society, which in-turn retains the majority of profit and ensures that the politics, laws and customs of a society retain the bulk of that wealth within certain self-serving bounds. A minority of people become rich because a particular society within a given historical epoch allows this to happen. Conversely, the majority of people within a particular society during a historical epoch are kept deliberately poor, thus creating an artificial requirement for them to continuously work for the wealth owners. The ruling classes within any pre-Socialist society make use of the principles of ‘wealth’ and ‘poverty’ as control mechanism to maintain their privileges and class-dominance. As the laws governing wealth-production are human-made, they are purely material in nature and can be easily observed. Generally speaking, the economic system is ruthlessly and indifferently managed in the physical world by the bankers and the business, which operate the entire procedure from hiring workers, working conditions, rates of pay, to organising and controlling production and the conditions of production. Commerce then ‘sells’ the finished goods to the highest bidder and they are distributed throughout society (at a cost). Wastage (particularly within modern, capitalist societies) can be a major problem as various forms of environmentally ‘unsound’ packaging is dumped into the oceans or buried in land-fill, etc. Quite often the extracting of raw materials and the manufacturing process is so toxic that global warming is said to be exasperated. As profit is the priority, the ruling classes will give lip-service to redeveloping the entire process and cleaning the environment, whist continuously applying the same old strategies of wealth-production. As society is so unequal, the ruling classes also invent charities, the function of which is to give the impression that something is being done about the injustices and inequalities, when in reality very little is being done other than a slight alleviation of symptoms on the periphery.
Therefore, we may logically state that ‘wealth’ is a thoroughly ‘material’ concept governed by concrete laws that operate entirely upon the physical plane. An action in the physical world (generated and supported by a motivating thought) must be performed to illicit the cause and effect of the Buddha’s Chain of Dependent Origination. The ordinary world, according to the Buddha, is motivated by ignorance, which is greed, hatred and delusion. This is the Buddha’s explanation for motivated action in the physical world. In this model all wealth is generated by ‘greed’ (i.e. ‘accumulation’), justified by ‘hatred’ (i.e. ‘distain for welfare of other beings’), and perpetuated by ‘delusion’ (which serves to justify the entire exploitative process). This model holds true in any non-Socialist society that seeks to enrich the individual over the collective. Greed, hatred and delusion literally acts to forcibly ‘pull’ all wealth and resources into the sphere of use of the individual (such as is the case within a bourgeois society), and thereby enriches and sustains a certain ‘class’ of individuals. As the Buddha states that gods and spirits do not exist in the enlightened state, and given that he fully explains the psycho-physical origin of ALL human behaviour (reminiscent of Marx and Feuerbach), wealth does not ‘magically’ arise within the physical world, as if imported from some ‘unseen’ spiritual world. Furthermore, no amount of chanting, meditating or performing rituals on the physical plane will initiate a manifestation of wealth from an unseen spiritual realm. This motivation and type of practice, according to the Buddha, are futile, pointless and a waste of time.
Chanting, meditation and ritual are useful practises if used as a means to uproot greed, hatred and delusion through the cultivation of a strict self-observation of psycho-physical traits and patterns, etc. Within authentic Buddhism, however, it is the practice of controlling the mind (i.e. ‘meditation’) which is considered the central method of self-cultivation. Listening to the Dharma is also beneficial, as was being in the Buddha’s physical presence. Chanting suttas (or ‘sutras’) became a method for Buddhist monastics to remember, recite and pass on the Buddha’s teachings – this is the origination (and purpose) of Buddhist chanting – which serves no other purpose. The Vinaya Discipline – practised by all genuine Buddhist monastics (and devout lay-people) – is comprised of hundreds of rules that regulated a celibate lifestyle within a disciplined community. This is the origin of Buddhist ritual – which serves no other purpose. Buddhist meditation, through a sustained and intense self-observation of thought, feeling and sensation is designed to uproot greed, hatred and delusion, and realise the ‘non-presence’ or ‘emptiness’ of a personal soul entity. The material world is understood to exist, but also to be ‘empty’ of permeance, be in constant change and a state of flux. The Buddha suggests that gods and spirits only appear to exist for those who believe in such entities, but that when the mind is completely ‘freed’ through enlightenment, then ALL gods and spirits are understood as non-existent and a figment of a deluded imagination. Enlightenment is achieved through self-effort, self-observation, discipline and sustained introversion. It is not granted by any outside agency.
Within Early Buddhism (and the Theravada tradition), Buddhist monastics are forbidden from engaging in labour that is motivated through the idea of receiving monetary payment. However, this does not mean that Buddhist monastics do not partake of physical labour, on the contrary, Buddhist monks and nuns are expected to perform every type of labour for the relieving of suffering in the world, but this work must be provided free of charge and not be motivated by ‘greed’. Although ‘begging’ by Buddhist monastics was outlawed thousands of years ago in China, the monastics of thousands of temples and monasteries are expected to work in the fields and cultivate crops of fruit and vegetables for consumption by the population of the temple, etc. This means that Chinese Buddhist monastics are self-reliant and through their ‘selfless’ labour are not a burden to the lay-population. Buddhist monastics, if they follow the Vinaya Discipline correctly, are forbidden from handling any form of money or engaging in any form of commerce involving the exchange of goods and service for monetary reward. For lay-people the situation is a little different, for although they follow portions of the Vinaya Discipline, the Buddha recognised the requirement for the laity to earn a living providing they applied certain aspects of Buddhist morality to their livelihood. A lay-Buddhist should not kill or cause to kill animals, should not kill or cause to kill humans, should not deal in alcohol or sell drugs (or any kind of intoxicants). The Buddha’s explanation of ‘Right Livelihood’ specifies that a good Buddhist does no harm to others – such as through trading in arms or lethal weapons – and avoids dealing in intoxicating drinks, poisons, killing animals and cheating others. A good Buddhist pursues a livelihood that is pure, blameless and honourable. A lay-person should divide his or her earnings so that a little is saved for emergencies, an appropriate amount spent on sustaining a household, as well as relevant amounts set aside for sustaining a profession and for community spending (what might be termed ‘taxation’ and ‘charity’ today).
In the Cakkavattisihanada Sutta (Digha Nikaya No: 26), the Buddha states that ‘poverty’ (daliddiya) is the cause of immorality and crime. This criminality included theft, violence, falsehood, hatred and cruelty, etc. The absolute monarchs of ancient India, instead of acknowledging the inequality and injustice that existed as the root of crime, instead inflicted harsh punishments upon the bodies of the convicted. In the Kutadanta Sutta (Digha Nikaya No: 26), the Buddha states that this is simply more criminality misrepresented as ‘justice’ (inflicted by the State upon the bodies of its subjects), which lays the foundation for further crime within society. Instead, the Buddha suggests that the economic situation of the people be improved through a radical redistribution of wealth, coupled with an equally radical reformation of society at the most fundamental level (as a means to eradicate injustice and inequality). The Buddha suggests that the State should distribute grain throughout the kingdom to every farmer and cultivator of land. The State distributes finance throughout the kingdom to assist traders, merchants and business people to establish, sustain and grow their ventures free of the kind of desperate struggle that defines grinding poverty. Finally, the Buddha explains that as the workers are the foundation of any developing society, they must be paid adequate wages and granted appropriate legal protection. In this way the Buddha seeks to eradicate fear and anxiety from any given society.
As for the happiness of a lay-person, the Buddha defines and explains four methods. 1) A person should be skilled, efficient, earnest, and energetic in whatever profession he or she is engaged, and he should know it well (utthana-sampada). 2) A person should protect their income (from theft) earned honestly from the sweat of their brow (arakkha-sampada). 3) A person should cultivate good friendships with learned and compassionate people (kalyana-mitta), who are broad-minded, understanding, accepting and careful in their behaviour, and who do not transgress onto evil paths or influence others to do so, and 4) A person should spend carefully inaccordance with their income, neither too much nor too little. Wealth should not be hoarded, and neither should spending be extravagant. This is the Buddhist definition of living within one’s means (smajivikata). Indeed, the Buddha understood the economics of his day, and this is a point misunderstood in the modern world. Although the Buddha advocated a psychological and physical training as a means to become ‘detached’ from identification with thought and action, he understood the material basis of labour, payment and social and cultural structures of support for the workers (which can be equated with Unions and working associations, etc). He even understood the banking system. The Jetavana monastery (situated in Savatthi) was founded for the Buddha’s community by one of his most devout disciples – Anathapindika – who was a very wealthy banker. The Buddha described happiness for the lay-community to Anathapindika in the following manner. A) Economic security attained through honest and righteous labour (atthi-sukha). B) Spreading happiness by spending liberally upon themselves, their families and friends, as well as spending on community projects as a means of generating meritous deeds (bhoga-sukha). C) To be free from debt (anana-sukha), and D) living a faultless life through maintaining purity in word, deed and thought (anavajja-sukha).
Although the Buddha understood the socio-economic realities for the ordinary people, he nevertheless also advocated the abandoning of a ‘false’ consciousness (operating through greed, hatred and delusion), and that this transformation of the mind into an ‘enlightened’ state (of non-greed, non-hatred and non-delusion) is achieved by engaging in meditation and behaviour modification. The clear implication is that unless life is stable (and just) it cannot be used to develop the mind and discipline the body (as this requires a certain cultivated leisure). What is obvious is that simply ‘willing’ change is ineffective because the agency of ALL change is human labour (and not wishful thinking). All positive change requires direction of mind and control of the emotions and bodily actions. This can be labour orientated toward self-development, or labour that engages in the productive activities of the world. Wealth (in pre-Socialist societies) is generated by the masses but controlled by a privileged few – not because they are blessed by this or that god – but because they exercise a ruthless practical control of facets of the society they inhabit. Poor people chanting for wealth in such an asymmetric society will not change anything, but whilst they are engaged in this pointless exercise, they are effectively remaining outside of any effective (collective) political activity that could evolve their society into a more egalitarian distribution of wealth and resources. The Buddha explained that specific effects are generated by particular causes, or that precise types of labour lead to definite effects in the environment. Cults such as the Nichiren (lay) school in Japan teaches that ordinary people (whilst chanting the name of the Lotus Sutra in Japanese transliteration) can wish for the fulfilment of any greed-orientated desire they see fit to imagine. Typical of the ‘inversion’ of bourgeois thinking, this type of corrupt Buddhism focuses its recruitment from the already wealthy and famous. Whilst already possessing untold wealth (at the expense of the ordinary people), these people give-up nothing and have no idea that everything they represent contradicts the Buddha’s genuine teaching. The Nichiren (lay) school encourages ‘greed’ whereas the Buddha clearly taught ‘non-greed’. Nichiren Buddhism is designed to assist already rich people feel ‘good’ about their wealth and is thoroughly capitalist to its core. This is why the US Government is currently financing the so-called ‘International Buddhist Society’ headquartered in the US and Administered by wealthy Asian-Americans. Its purpose is to bring down Socialist Vietnam and Communist China through the use of Christian-type charity work (designed to undermine Socialist collective planning). This is considered ‘counter-Revolutionary’ in China, and I suspect a similar situation exists in Vietnam. The IBS (and Nichiren Buddhism) represent both imperialism and capitalism and must be exposed and eradicated as a threat to the authentic Dharma and the International Socialist Revolution!
©opyright: Adrian Chan-Wyles (ShiDaDao) 2018.