[Buddha-l] Sangha model for running a country? Possible?

[jkirk]

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=40,3095,0,0,1,0
A Buddhist democracy
By Samten Wangchuk, Kuensel Online, August 28, 2006

Timphu, Bhutan -- As Bhutan prepares to embrace parliamentary democracy in 
2008, it should be cautious about drawing models from western democracy, 
says a Buddhist scholar from Thailand.

Mr. Ajarn Sulak Sivaraksa, who is a teacher, an activist and a renowned Thai 
Buddhist scholar, said that he was afraid that Bhutan would use western 
democracy as a model, a mistake most Asian countries like Burma, Sri Lanka 
including his own country, Thailand made.
The elections, he emphasised, was one of the very negative sides from the 
west. Bhutan should instead adopt the Buddhist model of democracy.
The old "sangha model", he said, which is the oldest Buddhist democracy 
upholds positive actions, transforms bad habits, purifies negativity, 
increases virtuous acts and encourages equality and fraternity for all.
Simplicity, modesty and harmony, he said were the key elements in the 
Buddhist concept. He said that the sangha model was used to run Bhutan some 
100 years ago and could still be referred to pull out positive aspects so 
Bhutan could itself become a model for rest of the world.
"With the western democracy you cannot stop corruption," he said. "That is 
evident in the British and American elections which are filled with it."
The advent of western modernisation in Thailand started a century ago before 
it came to Bhutan, and he said that his country adopted western democracy at 
the expense of Buddhism.
"That's where we went wrong as our elites embraced modernisation at the cost 
of our own tradition and culture," Mr. Sulak Sivaraksa told Kuensel. "Now 
our invaluable tradition and culture lives only in the form of dance and 
music and not as a way of life."
Bhutan, he said, was in a very unique situation in that it remained isolated 
while all its neighbouring countries went through the evils of western 
modernisation, which gave the country the advantage to learn about both the 
positive and negative aspects of modernisation and adopt what was good and 
relevant.
"The country's policy of allowing few selected tourists is a good example of 
that," said Mr. Sulak Sivaraksa, adding that while the country focussed on 
learning certain things from the tourists, it in turn taught them a great 
deal about values, tradition, culture and preservation of nature.
"Tourism destroys every country like mine," he said. "Our local people saw 
them as wonderful modern people with great spending capacity. They then 
started aping the tourists and embraced their ways of life."