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is competitiveness. Such an emphasis is bound to generate
conflict and resentment, splintering the social system into
a multitude of hostile factions. A society founded upon
the Dhamma recognizes that each person should aim to
promote the good of the greater unit to which he or she
belongs, and as a minimum should never seek private
fulfilment in ways that inflict harm on others. The ideal is
beautifully summed up in the  six principles of harmony
and respect taught by the Buddha to the Sangha: loving
kindness in thought, word, and deed; sharing righteous
gains; observing a common code of morality; and holding
in common liberating views.
In a Buddhist approach to social and economic de-
velopment, the primary criterion that would govern policy
formulation should be the well-being of a society s mem-
bers, and this well-being should be viewed holistically,
taking account of a wide range of factors. The economy
would be assigned to the place where it belongs, as a sub-
ordinate domain nested within the wider social system; in
turn the social system would be viewed as an integral part
of the total ecosystem, the indispensable foundation for all
life. Thus economic development would be guided along
lines that promote the health and well-being of the social
order without harming the natural systems within which
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human society is lodged. To the contrary, a Buddhist social
policy would recognize the importance of preserving the
natural environment, not simply to provide a continued
supply of resources for the human economy, but as a posi-
tive good both intrinsically and in relation to the aesthetic
enrichment and psychological wholeness of its members.
Society in turn must be recognized as an abstraction
from the individual human beings who make up the social
order. Thus, when we speak of improving the well-being
of society, this ultimately means that social policy must
seek to promote the welfare of individual people. How we
set about promoting the welfare of people is contingent
on our view of human nature. If we hold a materialistic
view of human nature, then our efforts will be directed
primarily to ensuring that their material needs are met,
and we will see no reason to give attention to other factors.
If, however, we hold a more spiritual conception of human
nature, then we will recognize that other needs beyond
material prosperity also call out for fulfilment.
The Buddha s teachings offer a wide-ranging con-
ception of the human person as a complex entity having a
diversity of needs which all must be met to ensure happi-
ness and well-being. These needs fall into a well-defined
hierarchy of importance, which we might here consider
as threefold. At the base of the hierarchy is the physical
need for the basic requisites of existence: clothing, food,
a comfortable dwelling, medical care, transportation, en-
52
ergy, tools, and so forth. At the next level are social needs:
for education, family, friendship and personal intimacy,
participation in a community, and meaningful work. At
the highest level are spiritual needs: for moral rectitude,
mental development, and wise understanding of the true
nature of life.
A social order guided by Buddhist principles would
create opportunities for all these needs to be satisfied and
would see that no one is frustrated in their aspirations to
lead a contented life. A Buddhist social order would begin
by ensuring that all members of society are able to satisfy
their material needs. But because the Buddhist teaching
views needs hierarchically, it does not encourage the nar-
row fixation on material acquisition and sensual gratifica-
tion so characteristic of contemporary culture. By point-
ing out that the crass pursuit of luxury and abundance is
a root-cause of suffering, Buddhism encourages restraint,
simplicity, and contentment. By extolling generosity as a
basic virtue and the mark of a superior person, it promotes
a wide distribution of basic necessities so that no one has
to suffer deprivation.
For Buddhism, however, material satisfaction merely
provides a starting point for the pursuit of higher goals.
Since human beings are social creatures who naturally
come together for common ends, this means that a social
order guided by Buddhist principles would consist pri-
marily of small-scale communities in which each member
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can make an effective contribution. Only small-scale social
arrangements can rescue people from the ominous abyss
of meaningless so pervasive in modern urban life. From
a Buddhist perspective, the vast polluted mega-cities and
impersonal bureaucracies characteristic of our era would
have to be considered deviations from the natural order
conducive to true human well-being. They are a travesty
of our inherent need for communal participation. The local
communities consonant with Buddhist principles would
focus on the extended family as the primary unit of social
integration. The family would be guided by Buddhist
views and values, which they will serve to transmit from
one generation to the next. The model for the entire web
of social relationships would be that provided in the mag-
nificent Sigalovada Sutta (Digha Nikaya No. 31), where the
Buddha minutely defines the reciprocal duties of parents
and children, husband and wife, employer and employee,
friend and friend, teacher and students, monks and laity.
The economy most compatible with such a mode of
social organization would be small-scale and localized,
using simple technology which does not drain natural re-
sources. In such an economy production would be aimed
principally at local consumption, so that there would be
direct face-to-face contact between producers and con-
sumers. Modalities would have to be worked out to bring
about integration of the small local economies into a
broader national and global economy, but the driving en-
54
gine of the entire system would be the promotion of well-
being both material and social, not commercial profit and
unrestrained expansion.
But even a prosperous economy and a harmonious
social order cannot satisfy the deepest need of the human
heart: the need for meaning, for an ultimate purpose
around which our lives should revolve and a path of con- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]