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

[curt]

There is a fundamentally flawed cultural misunderstanding underlying 
this whole discussion. The form of government most "natural" to 
Europeans/Westerners is totalitarianism. The whole concept of the 
"state" as it has developed in the "west" is based on highly centralized 
political and military power. Democracy is to "the west" as Shangrila is 
to Tibet - a pleasant story we tell ourselves. Nothing more.

"Western democracy" is like "American Beer" or "Italian driving lessons" 
or "German relaxation exercises". No one should take it seriously. So 
insofar as Ajarn Sulak Sivaraksa says "ignore those stupid westerners" 
he is on to something. But if he thinks that "democracy" is something 
that the West has to "offer", then I would like to get his phone number 
because I have a car I would like to sell him.

- Curt

jkirk wrote:
> 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."
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