Buddhism and Democracy 2 – The Function of Government

佛教的核心思想,就是这七句话

  • 第一句话,一切现象皆是因缘所生。
  • 第二句话:一切皆是因果。
  • 第三句话:苦、集、灭、度,人生的四条真理。
  • 第四句话:修行的方法是八正道。
  • 第五句话:中道才是大道。
  • 第六句话:四大、五蕴、万法皆空。
  • 第七句话:依照三法印,不迷失方向。

所以我们 俱须诸恶莫作。众善奉行,修福积德改命运。 相反如果违背真理 胡作非为,恣意妄行,违逆天地,果报现前就晚了。 三世因果,诸余罪中,杀业最重。 王赫文章:两组数据揭示中共迫害法轮功之惨烈,法轮功学员遭迫害人数之多,与迫害者遭恶报之众,从不同的方面揭示着中共这场“群体灭绝”运动的规模之大、程度之深、范围之广。文章更进一步揭露了 “疫情三年,中共也没放松对法轮功的迫害,某些方面甚至有所强化。例如,器官移植继续扩张,中共宣称2023年要成为世界第一器官移植大国。官方资料显示,中国脑死亡后器官捐献比例由2013年仅占10.7%,上升至2021年的62.3%。荒唐的是,迄今中国没有脑死亡立法,不能实施脑死亡判定,中共大肆宣传的脑死亡器官捐献移植实质上属于国家犯罪。2006年曝光的活摘法轮功学员器官这一“星球上从未有过的罪恶”,也在其中。“

恶有恶报,因果不虚。 文章报道了迫害法轮功的恶人遭报部分数据。仅2022年为例,至少555名参与迫害法轮功的中共人员遭厄运。从遭厄运的方式来看,这一年因贪腐而被查处的有409人,占总数的73%;其次,死亡人数达99人,占17.8%。前者如前黑龙江省公安厅厅长王大伟、前海南省政法委秘书长刘诚,后者如湖南省前政法委书记黄关春,等等。

中共迫害法轮功已持续整整24年。这场21世纪的最大规模人权迫害,人神共愤。 石铭:近期中共对迫害法轮功仍然特别严重! 前中共政治局常委、中纪委书记尉健行的撰稿人王友群博士特别指出:蔡奇须正视的一个重大问题。文章指出,作为中央书记处第一书记,蔡奇实际负责中央书记处的日常运作,提交给中共政治局和政治局常委会讨论的所有重大问题,都要经过蔡奇。。。。本文谈到的重大问题,既是中国内政外交所有问题中最核心的问题,也与习近平一家老小的性命安全有直接关系。这个重大问题就是,由江泽民发动、已持续24年、给全中国人民和全世界人民带来巨大危害的迫害法轮功问题。

法轮功创始人李洪志大师曾发表《为什么要救度众生》,阐述了法轮功作为特定信仰体系的思想总结。读者麦克·吉尔德马彻评论:“这门功法看起来与西方精神教义紧密相连。这比大多数有组织的宗教更接近真理,应该提供给人评估,供他们自己选择。” 署名爱琳的罗马天主教徒回馈:“法轮功信仰体系是我们今天非常需要的。这种鼓励全世界的人尊重生命,在生活中遵循尊严、道德价值和爱全人类的信仰体系是美好的。” 其他读者也纷纷认为,“人类迫切需要一个信仰体系来指导他们的生活。如果所有人都能自由地实践一种信仰体系,帮助他们成为有爱心、关爱人类的人,那么,我们的世界会变得更加美好。”

作为一个佛教徒,我虽然对法轮功不了解,也不认同有一个创世主的观点,但是中国政府对法轮功的血腥镇压也让我感到愤慨。 中国政府希望维护社会的正常运转,指定有利于国家与社会的政策,推动社会的进步。但是对宗教和其他种族的信仰的不尊重和绝对的排斥,骚扰,绑架,和迫害,直至出卖人体器官,都是触目惊心,令人发指的罪行。 政府必须尽快加以纠正,对法轮功受害者予以补偿。 也奉劝迫害参与者悬崖勒马、将功折罪,为自己和家人选择未来,而不是在恐惧中等待恶报上门。

Noted historian, Indologist, A. L. Basham wrote the book The Wonder That Was India: Survey of the Culture of the Indian Sub-Continent Before the Coming of the Muslims. Arthur Llewellyn Basham’s father was a British journalist who served in the Indian Army during WWI. His son became a scholar of Indian history and religion, teaching at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and mentoring R. S. Sharma and Romila Thapar. Published in 1954, Basham avoided much of the esoteric density of contemporary European indologists such as Zimmer and Kramrisch. As others have noted, this is essentially an undergraduate level textbook. Basham’s literary inclination allows it at times to transcend the usual tedium implied. The reader is first taken through a quick chronology of the Indus Valley civilization, Aryan/Vedic period, advent of Buddhism, Greek invasion, Mauryan and Gupta empires, and the Chalukya and Chola dynasties. The larger remainder of the book is arranged thematically into the political, social, religious, technological and artistic spheres.

The Wonder That Was India has the following passages:

The Buddha himself, though a friend of kings, seems to have had a deep affection for the old republican organization, and in a remarkable passage he is said to have warned the Vrijjis shortly before his death that their security depended on maintaining their traditions and holding regular and well-attended folk-moots.

The above passage provoked the deep thinking of another writer. Jamyang Norbu is a Tibetan political activist and writer, currently living in the United States, having previously lived for over 40 years as a Tibetan exile in India. His article, The Buddha’s Discourse on Defending Democracy , Tricycle Magazine Winter 2020, came out his musing on reading A. L. Basham’s book.

The discussion inovlves citation of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra (Pali, Mahaparinibbana Sutta大般涅槃经 》(上座部)) is a part of the Digha Nikaya, (《长部》 (佛经)), the collection of the Buddha’s long discourses, was in fact his last discourse before his passing. Mahaparinirvana Sutra gave account of the Buddha’s discussion on seven qualities that lead to a republic’s prosperity. The Buddha’s questions are thus a litmus test for the health of a nation and are worth asking again today.

We are told at the outset that King Ajatashatru of Magadha was planning to wage war on the Vrijjis and intended to annihilate them. The Vrijjis (Skt.; Pali, Vajjis) were a confederation of republican tribal states and one of the principal sixteen major nations in North India during the time of the Buddha.  King Ajatashatru of Magadha sent his minister Vessakara to meet the Buddha in Rajgir at Vulture Peak, where the Buddha often taught. Ajatashatru was a ruthless, ambitious ruler who had murdered his own father, King Bimbisara, but had, strangely enough, absolute faith in the Buddha’s wisdom and integrity. He wanted honest feedback on his military plans and instructed his minister to tell the Buddha of his intention to wage war on the Vrijjis, adding: “Whatever the Blessed One should answer you, keep it well in mind and inform me; for Tathagatas [‘ones who are thus gone’] do not speak falsely.”

  1.  Did the Vrijjis hold frequent and regular assemblies, and were these meetings well attended? In present-day terms, do we have a functioning parliament (or Congress) with regular and well-attended sessions? We might even say that the Buddha was calling here for public participation, which right now, for Americans at least, would mean to get out and vote.
  2. Did the Vrijjis assemble and disperse from these assemblies peacefully, and did they conduct affairs in concord? In contemporary political language are we reasonably “nonpartisan” in our politics? Do we allow free participation, discussion, and criticism, without suppressing opposition?
  3. Did the Vrijjis proceed in accordance with their ancient constitution and not enact new laws or abolish existing ones? I think the Buddha was asking not whether the Vrijjis never enacted new laws or never abolished existing ones, but whether they were careful about such things and did not amend their constitution frequently or capriciously.
  4. Did the Vrijjis respect and honor their elders and think it worthwhile to heed their advice? In our time we might ask whether we listen to senior statesmen, experts, scholars, historians, and—in the context of our current health crisis—even “medical experts.”
  5. Did the Vrijjis refrain from abducting women and maidens of good families and from detaining them? Clearly the Buddha was saying that women should not be abused and should be treated with respect. His condemnation of aggression against women does bear repeating in our MeToo era. In another discourse, the Sigalaka Sutta (DN 31)the Buddha tells a householder not to disparage his wife but to honor her and “give her authority…”(trans. Bhikkhu Bodhi), in other words, treat her as an equal.
  6. Did the Vrijjis show respect and veneration toward their shrines? In a modern secular nation, the equivalent of such shrines might be public institutions such as museums, libraries, universities, and scientific foundations that demonstrate our confidence in our society and the endurance of our nation.
  7. o the Vrijjis make proper provisions for the safety and welfare of arhats, so that arhats may feel welcome to the Vrijjian land? An arhat was an enlightened person, or even simply someone advanced along the path, possibly including even non-Buddhists. Jains had their own arhats. If the Buddha were speaking in our time, he would probably be saying that we should welcome scholars, scientists, and religious leaders from other countries, perhaps in the way the United States welcomed Thomas Mann an Albert Einstein before World War II.

While the Buddha’s advice for political well-being may be cogent and apt, another lesson from the Mahaparinirvana Sutra—in fact, his last words—appears to supersede it: “Bhikkhus, I exhort you: All compounded things must come to an end. Strive on, untiringly, for your own liberation.”

Another article by Riaan Kumar from IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Reflections of Buddhism on Modern Democracy – A 21st Century Perspective research into the compatibility between Democracy and Buddhism.

I think part of the charpters from above book: Buddhism and democracy pdf file.

The separation of church and state in the government structure is one of the symtoms of the modern society which separate mind and body, human and nature, disconnect our spirituality with the universe, had cause the huge conflict in human society derived from duality.