Editorial Staffs - Buddhist eLibrary

Buddhist Approach 

to Economic Crisis 

UNDV Conference 

The International Buddhist Conference 

on the United Nations Day of Vesak Celebrations 

4 - 6 May 2552/2009 

Thailand

Editorial Board 

Advisors 

The Most Ven. Prof. Dr. Phra Dharmakosajarn (Thailand) 

Ven. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phra Srikhamphirayan (Thailand) 

Ven. Dr. Phra Wisutthiphattharathada (Thailand) 

Ven. Asst. Prof. Dr. Phra Suthidhammanuwat (Thailand) 

Editorial Staffs 

Ven. Dr. Khammai Dhammasami (Britain) 

Ven. Dr. Phramaha Hunsa Dhammahaso (Thailand) 

Ven. Dr. Phramaha Somboon Wutthikaro (Thailand) 

Mr. Dion Oliver Peoples (Thailand)

Preface 

Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (MCU) has been privileged to 

witness and play a crucial role in developing and hosting successful UNDV 

celebrations from the beginning in 2004/2547 to 2007/2550. The UNDV celebrations 

were held in Ha Noi, Vietnam last year; for this year, 2009/2552, the UNDV has 

returned. As always, we are all very grateful to the Royal Thai Government for its 

constant support, and thank the Thai Supreme Sangha Council for its blessings, 

guidance and support. We are indebted, also, to the United Nations for recognizing 

the thrice-sacred Buddhist holy day. 

It has been 2552 years since the death of our Great Teacher, and we have 

gathered here from across the globe, from many nations, to again pay tribute to his 

birth, enlightenment, and death – occurring on the same day in different years. 

For the celebrations this year, the International Association of Buddhist 

Universities (IABU), created during the UNDV in 2007/2550 by the participating 

Buddhist higher institutions, plays an important role. The IABU Secretariat now, 

plays a major role in our celebrations, particularly in the academic programme of the 

conference. 

As part of the UNDV Conference theme Buddhist Approach to Global Crisis 

I am pleased that three Conference Volumes are published for the convenience of all 

participants, with the financial grant from my university, in time for the conduct of 

the panels and workshops. The various sub-themes of the panels are: Buddhist 

Approach to Economic Crisis; Buddhist Approach to Environmental Crisis; Buddhist 

Approach to Political Conflict and Peace Development; and additionally included are 

the invitational workshops pertaining to the IABU Administration; the Buddhist 

Common Text Project, and Buddhist E-Resources and Network. In this volume are 

articles on one of Buddhist Approach to Economic Crisis. 

This publication could not have been possible without the persistence, hard 

work, and dedication of MCU’s scholars and staff. I wish to thank all members of 

the International Council for the United Nations Day of Vesak and the Executive 

Council of the International Association of Buddhist Universities, and the Editorial 

Committee for their devotion. I am also grateful to our many donors, sponsors and 

volunteers. 

The Most Ven. Prof. Dr. Phra Dharmakosajarn 

Chairman, ICUNDV & IABU 

Rector, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University

Introduction 

First, as a man and the editor, I am humbled to be nominated to assist the 6 th 

Annual United Nations Day of Vesak Celebrations as the main editor for the 

conference publication on Buddhist Approach to Global Crisis. I must thank all of 

the Venerable and respected professors who have entrusted this endeavor to me. I 

wish that my enthusiasm and engagement into these articles will be warmly received 

first from the author, secondly towards the delegates and observers to the conference, 

and thirdly my aspirations aim to please the many readers of this publication. 

I admit that this text may contain several remaining grammatical mistakes, 

largely this is the responsibility of the author, but since many of our contributors are 

non-native English speakers, there might be a few problems remaining due to the 

short amount of time between issuing the call for papers [mid-January 2009], to the 

article deadline date [27 March 2009] to publication date [17 April 2009] - I had thus 

approximately three weeks to improve every article before presentation to the 

international Buddhist world, by 5 May 2009. I’ve mentioned nothing about other 

behind-the-scenes efforts and nearly 1500 e-mails that made this text possible. 

Some fifteen articles were rejected for being non-thematic, redundant in 

nature (other articles covered similar material), were problematic or were just too 

poorly written to be included into our program and panels – this demonstrates that we 

tried to give the Buddhist world the best possible presentation of viewpoints, 

subjected to our collective committee’s discretion. As the main editor, I was the 

focal-point of communication between the committee and the scholars – often on the 

receiving end of several complaints and a few compliments. The UNDV 2009 

Editorial Committee would like to remind these scholars of simple tasks, beneficial 

also for future occasions, that if: scholars could run the automated spelling and 

grammar check-functions on their computers, select the fonts recommended in the 

call for papers; have someone at their home-university re-read their work for errors – 

and basically turn in more professionally-approved products, our work at the office 

would be a lot easier, and less frustrating. Instead, we worked hours into the next 

day’s morning for several weeks, missing holidays - on editing articles that should 

have been ‘publishable’ when submitted. 

I have given much of my life to Buddhism, sacrificing my family, and 

professional aspirations of earning my PhD in Buddhism; and because I have worked 

on these papers that are truly the responsibility of the individual author, most of 

which have higher qualifications from my own – I hope at least the Buddhist devas 

are pleased. Therefore, if there was any misrepresentation in any articles or through 

organizing these panels, may I be forgiven, for humbly working for you? I have tried 

my best, in a short amount of time.

Those familiar with our annual United Nations Day of Vesak Conference 

know that over the past few years, we have had more time to prepare, perhaps a few 

months, to arrange articles and engage in thorough editing. This was not the case for 

this year’s conference, the fourth that I have been involved in. I must take full 

responsibility. Ultimately though, what largely matters most, is that the various 

Buddhist leaders and scholars have pondered diligently to present to the United 

Nations, their individual visions towards solving global crisis through various 

manifestations; we therefore hope leaders can consider our proposals. Often in 

international settings, the ability to communicate matters means more than the 

grammatical intricacies. If someone said: “Help!” this can be enough, and through 

our observations we could learn exactly what would be needed or how to assist 

someone with the appropriate remedy. Some people seem to expect or demand our 

assistance. Help and advice can cut across many barriers, yet I have strove to present 

the best possible work, by all of our delegates – across national, sectarian and even 

gender biases. Buddhism is for all, and all here are certainly for Buddhism. Below 

is, brief summaries of our accepted and collected voices:

Buddhist Approach to Economic Crisis 

According to ancient Indian history, the development of Buddhism was due 

to the growing force of the merchant class that sought to gain control over an 

agricultural society. Such social changes enraged the militaristic elite resulting in 

new kingdom leadership and the enlargement or constriction of empires. Following 

the collapse of the modern, capitalistic-economic system, the world and marketstakeholders 

are looking for remedies to retain their preeminent positions. Buddhism 

might have other answers towards solving economic crisis, projecting their approach 

to this conflict that has reached every socio-economic category, across humanity. 

The papers presented in this section of the conference cover ancient theories and the 

modern adaptations. 

Angie Monksfield writes in her, “Buddhist Approach to the Economic 

Crisis”, that: people should follow proper disciplinary codes based on their social 

status. For Buddhist monastics, this entails following the Vinaya. Even before crisis 

appears, people need exemplary examples to follow, and these are becoming rarer, 

when people are not following their prescribed Dhammas. 

Bhikkhu Nandisena writes in his, “The Current Economic Crisis: Diagnosis 

and Possible Solutions According to Buddhism”, that: because human needs are 

unlimited, this illustrates the suggestion from the Buddha to reduce or eliminate 

cravings or greed. Modern economics is respected because of the scientific method, 

and Buddhism is respected because of its analysis of reality. Explicitly, economics 

separates humanity from resources, whereas Buddhism binds the subject and object 

as being interdependent. His solutions: there should be regulations to prevent greed 

from arising; and the universality of Buddhist teachings need to be taken to the 

globalized and interdependent world. His lesson concludes by urging the 

implementation of Buddhist conditions into governments that would suppress 

institutional greed. 

D. Gopalakrishna, Ven. Buddha Prakash, and M. Venkataswamy 

collaborate to write in, “A New Model of Buddhist Economics for Peace and 

Prosperity- Conceptual Framework”, that: since the communist and capitalistic 

system has failed, a Buddhist solution becomes ideal – through examples in some 

case studies from Japan, Thailand, Bhutan, and a dated study from Myanmar. They 

propose a two-fold program that meets the materialistic ‘wealth’ goals and reaches 

the spiritual attainments that Buddhists strive to balance. 

Dipti Mahanta writes in, “Boonkamkhaoyai: An Exemplary Model of 

Buddhist Economy”, that: the offerings by peasants of unhusked rice supports 

Buddhist projects and propagates Isan cultural initiatives. The author claims

participation in the merit-making is a true, but superstitious, exercise in Buddhist 

Economics – and can be emulated by any culture. Peasants give the rice and 

monetary-gifts to the monks, who are entrusted that these gifts will assist society, 

rather than the monks themselves. Finally, other festive occasions are charted. 

Dr. Shengkai writes in, “The Construction and Promotion of Buddhist 

Sufficient Economy”, that: proper constructions and the promotion of sufficiency 

economics should be promoted, as a social responsibility. He follows some social 

theories, and emerges to suggest: that more contributions and thoughts can be made 

in the future after Buddhist economics is actually or fully employed. 

Frans Goetghebeur writes in his, “Rather More then Less: From Addiction 

to Sobriety, from Suffering to Freedom”, that: a reanalysis of capitalism is necessary 

from the top to the bottom of its structure. He calls for new ways of thinking, new 

ways of cooperation and new priorities. Society at the lower level needs to be more 

self-responsible. 

Gallelle Sumanasiri writes in his, “Application of Fourfold Happiness in 

Buddhism to Economic Pursuits”, that: we must mindfully manage our production 

and consumption. He mentions religious-thinkers have contributed much to 

humanity’s philosophy, and suggests that any economic plan should be aimed 

towards global happiness. 

Heri Catur Meruvipassana writes in, “Entrepreneurship: Buddhist 

Approach to the Economic Crisis”, that: the goal of Buddhism is to eradicate 

suffering, and thus by relationship, poverty – from the mental attitude of dependency 

towards independency. The paper advocates for the establishment of greater 

entrepreneurs for leading the world. 

Levente Szabados writes in his, “Buddhism and the Economics of Mind”, 

that: there is a global consciousness developing related to crisis. At the individual 

level, he suggests the twelve links of dependent origination as an important element 

in the cognitive process. He suggests analyzing stock market prices as a trend to 

determine crisis consciousness – or utilizing market psychology. 

Manik Ratna Shakya writes in his, “Buddhist Views on Economic Issues”, 

that: overcoming laziness is the way of poverty alleviation. Governments should do 

more to ensure employment for everyone, provide loans to those in need; and his 

emphasis on right livelihood is suggestive of proper employment according to 

Buddhist Principles. 

Most Venerable Ashin Nyanissara writes in his, “An Appeal to the World’s 

Religious Leaders”, that religious leaders must respond to the crises facing humanity. 

Disseminating or propagating the Dhamma is paramount towards eliminating

growing violence and chaotic circumstances. Leaders and the Dhamma must be 

adaptable to circumstances. His concluding appeal is very good advice. 

Naimbala Dhammadassi writes in his, “The Modern Economic Crisis – A 

Buddhist Perspective”, that: the world has had a few great revolutions. The 

agricultural societies were driven off of their land and industries were created; 

European imperialism became the prominent economic system that brought along 

with it, Abrahamic religious traditions. Now we face a great moral, economic and 

environmental crisis – along with the alienation derived from unrealistic 

relationships. 

Phramaha Somphong Santacitto, writes extensively in his, “Dhammacakka 

as the Commencement of Proper Economy: Buddhist Perspective” – about a basic, 

but interesting history of the wheel as a symbol of economic progress. Furthermore, 

he illustrates the wheel of Dhamma, Dhammacakka as a progressive symbol of 

Buddhism. 

Soontaraporn Techapalokul writes in her, “Happiness: A Deeper Meaning 

for Economic Development”, that: neoclassical economists state that happiness is the 

aim of economically-minded humans, but there are some with higher ideals. 

Comprehending the Four Noble Truths are elements towards a new wholesome 

economic consciousness. 

Supriya Rai writes in her, “Modern Economics and Buddhism: Issues of 

Compatibility”, that: although ‘Small is Beautiful’ was an important work, there are 

other models that are emulatable, under proper circumstances - but she demonstrates 

the difficulties in exercising a Buddhist-type of economy. Her final advice is lively 

university debates to assist in the actualization of exercising Buddhist principles. 

Thích Tâm Đức writes in his, “A Buddhist Economic Perspective in the 

Present-Day Global Economic Downturn”, that: economic issues are a social or 

moral responsibility of humanity. He calls for a progressive revolution of values, 

protective of the ecological system and emphasizes that mediation eliminates 

delusions. 

Ven. Dr. Mahinda Deegalle questions, repeatedly, in his “A Buddhist Guide 

in Tackling the Challenges of Economic Crisis”: how have extreme lifestyles and 

disciplined spending contributed to the crisis situation; and to what extent does 

Buddhism interplay into the scenario. He mentions that the Buddha was not an 

economist, but perhaps was someone keen to strike balances and rationality inside the 

lives of householders. State and citizen modesty and moderation are certainly key 

components. 

Ven. Piphitsutatorn Sirindharo writes in his, “The Sacca Saving-Group: 

Buddhist Movement in Responding to Community Financial Crisis”, that: a monk by

the name of Phra Subin Panito devised a Buddhist financial-savings model based 

from the listed Dhammas in his article. 

Wilis Rengganiasih Endah Ekowati urges in her, “Victims and Being 

Victimized: Women and Consumerism”, to unravel the structural violence and 

exploitation of women. Women, she claims, are the societal-element most affected 

by consumerism. This leads to demands on their husbands/lovers who in turn may 

engage in criminal activity to satisfy their female. Many females work in foreign 

nations working to send remittances to their families left behind. Again: women are 

still being marginalized in the 26 th century of the Buddhist Era – but mentions that 

the exploitation now is done through consumerism and blame. She does mention that 

the exploitation and institutional deficiencies are both intended and unintended which 

highlights social-structural imperfections, despite Buddhist nondualistic teachings.

Conclusion 

It is the hopes of our Buddhist traditions that the knowledge gained from 

previous United Nations Day of Vesak Celebrations is built upon firm foundations. 

The 2005 UNDV Celebrations discussed: Buddhist Organization; Buddhist 

Education; Propagation of Buddhism; Protecting Buddhism; and Buddhism and 

Social Welfare. 

The 2006 UNDV Celebrations discussed: Perspectives on Buddhist Strategy 

for World Peace and Sustainable Development; World Peace; Buddhist Education; 

Dissemination of Buddhism; Protection of Buddhist Culture; Sustainable 

Development; and Buddhist Collaboration. 

The 2007 UNDV Celebrations discussed: Buddhism and Good Governance; 

Dissemination of Buddhism through Modern Technology; Preservation and 

Promotion of Buddhist Arts; Buddhist Meditation and Human Development, The 

University Symposium; and Buddhist Electronic Library. 

The 2008 UNDV Celebrations discussed: Buddhist Contribution to building 

a Just, Democratic and Civil Society; War, Conflict and Healing: A Buddhist 

Perspective; Buddhist Contribution to Social Justice; Engaged Buddhism and 

Development; Care for Our Environment: Buddhist Response to Climate Change; 

Family Problems and the Buddhist Response; Symposium on Buddhist Education: 

Continuity and Progress; and the Symposium on Buddhism in the Digital Age. 

This year’s 2552/2009 UNDV Celebrations discuss Buddhist Approach to 

Global Crisis; Buddhist Approach to Economic Crisis, Buddhist Approach to 

Environmental Crisis; Buddhist Approach to Political Conflict and Peaceful 

Development; International Association of Buddhist Universities Workshop Seminar 

on Administrative Collaborations; Workshop on the Common Buddhist Text Project; 

and the Workshop on Electronic Resources and Networks. 

There seems to be many thematic continuities, which could represent the 

aspirations or directions in which international Buddhists feel important to negotiate. 

Hopes and aspirations are felt from everyone, and these articles selected by the 

editorial committee, we felt were the most relevant to our themes, backed by the 

knowledge of previous celebrations. Certainly, we all have room to grow, under 

these and other topics which have gathered attention and we also strive to move 

forward into new realms. Please take the time to read and consider these provocative 

contributions to global Buddhism.

Preface 

Introduction 

Conclusion 

Table of Content 

The World’s Crises and the Response to the Crises by 

Buddhist Economics 

Professor Dr. Apichai Puntasen, 

Experiences of the Ministry of Education in the Application 

of the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy and Ethics in 

the Creation of Social Stability 

Dr.Preeyanuch Jariyavidyanont, the Inspector- General 

A Buddhist Guide in Tackling the Challenges of 

Economic Crises 

Ven. Dr. Mahinda Deegalle 

Rather More than Less: From Addiction to 

Sobriety, From Suffering to Freedom 

Frans Goetghebeur 

The Sacca Saving-Group: Buddhist Movement in 

Responding to Community Financial Crisis 

Ven. Piphitsutatorn Sirindharo 

Entrepreneurship: Buddhist Approach to 

the Economic Crisis 

Heri Catur Meruvipassana 

Boonkumkhaoyai: An Exemplary Model of 

Buddhist Economy 

Asst. Prof. Dr. Dipti Mahanta 

Dhammacakka as the Commencement of Proper 

Economy: Buddhist Perspective 

Phramaha Somphong Santacitto, PhD Candidate 

1 

28 

38 

49 

62 

74 

83 

95

The Current Economic Crisis:Diagnosis and Possible 

Solutions according to Buddhism 

Bhikkhu Nandisena 

A Buddhist Economic Perspective of 

the Present-Day Global Economic Downturn 

Ven. Dr. Thích Tâm Đức 

Buddhist Views on Economic Issues 

Manik Ratna Shakya 

Application of Fourfold Happiness in Buddhism to 

Economic Pursuits 

Ven. Prof. Gallelle Sumanasiri Thero 

Victims and Being Victimized: 

Women and Consumerism (A Buddhist Analysis) 

Wilis Rengganiasih Endah Ekowati 

The Modern Economic Crisis - A Buddhist Perspective 

Ven. Dr. Naimbala Dhammadassi 

Buddhist Approach to the Economic Crisis 

Angie Monksfield 

Happiness: A Deeper Meaning for Economic Development 

Soontaraporn Techapalokul 

A New Model of Buddhist Economics for 

Peace and Prosperity - Conceptual Framework 

Dr. D. Gopalakrishna, Faculty, 

An Appeal to the World’s Religious Leaders 

Most Venerable Ashin Nyanissara 

Breathing and SmilingIn 

the Huricane of the Global Financial 

Ven. Thich Nhat Tu, D.Phil., 

Modern Economics and Buddhism: Issues of Compatibility 

Dr Supriya Rai 

118 

124 

131 

144 

154 

168 

176 

180 

188 

197 

200 

206

The Construction and Promotion of 

Buddhist Sufficient Economy 

Dr. Shengkai 

Buddhism and the Economics of Mind 

Levente Szabados 

214 

227

The World’s Crises and the Response to the Crises by Buddhist Economics 1 

Prelude: 

Professor Dr. Apichai Puntasen, 

Director, Rural and Social Management Institute 

Human-beings are now facing threats, leading to the extinction of human 

species, never happening before in the history of humanity as the threat originates 

from human actions alone. This threat comes from the so called problem of climate 

change or more correctly known as global warming. At the same time it can also be 

predicted that the world financial crises facing almost every nation, globally and 

severely at the moment, will take place more often within a shorter time span. The 

cause of the two major crises come from one common origin, namely, a human 

greed. As greed originates within a human mind, humanity collectively can solve this 

problem. The tool to deal with this problem effectively is through the clear 

understanding of Buddha Dhamma or the teaching of Buddha and Buddhist 

Economics, the subject derived from the teaching of Buddha blending into the subject 

of Economics developed from the West. The clear understanding of Buddha 

Dhamma and Buddhist Economics together with regular practices that lead human 

lives in the direction suggested by Buddhist Economics will lead humanity to be out 

of the said two major crises of global warming in a longer term and the world 

financial one of the immediate nature as well as a long lasting future. 

Introduction of Money as a Medium of Exchange: 

The possible global crisis caused by global warming and the current financial 

crisis globally has their common root cause, namely, human greed. Although the 

technical aspect of the existing financial crisis globally can be explained in more 

complex details, its root cause can be identified clearly. The problem of everything 

starts from the introduction of money as a medium of exchange. However, money as 

a medium of exchange is not as bad in itself. It helped to facilitate exchanges that 

were rather inconveniently taking place under the barter system. As money serves as 

a common denominator that satisfies most parties involved, it can reduce one major 

obstacle in the barter system known as double coincidences of want. Those who 

agree to barter must have the mutual desire of the thing offered by the other. A 

person who has rice must want to have a chicken and a person who has a chicken 

1 Professor Dr. Apichai Puntasen, Director, Rural and Social Management Institute (RASMI), Thailand 

Rural Reconstruction Movement Foundation (TRRM) under Royal Patronage. 30 April 2009. 

1

| Buddhist Approach to Economic Crisis 

must also want to have some rice, otherwise an exchange between the two will never 

take place. There is also a problem of a unit of exchange, in case a product cannot be 

divided into a smaller unit in a practical way. For example the rice owner only has 

one bushel of rice to exchange for a piece of cattle meat while the whole cattle is 

worth 100 bushels of rice - the owner of the cattle does not want to kill the cattle to 

give only a small portion of his cattle to the rice owner. As money is a common 

denominator, it can also serve as a unit of account to tell how much rice should be 

bartered for certain portion of the cattle. In case the owner of that cattle wants to 

exchange his cattle for 100 bushels of rice or many other things, to those who have a 

bushel of rice and want to have a piece of cattle-meat - he may decide to kill his 

cattle and exchange its meat for money and then use his money to buy rice and other 

things at his own convenient time. As money serves as a medium of exchange and a 

standard unit of account, it can facilitate exchange by making the process much 

easier. This marks the beginning of the era of traders whose main function is to 

exchange his goods for money and in turn using his money to buy goods from the 

others for sale. He makes his living by selling his goods dearer than what he has 

bought them. This way trade is stimulated to a greater degree, much more than from 

the time of the pure barter system. 

Unfortunately there was one set back to the development of a human mind, 

to a lesser degree from the time of a barter system. During this time the sense of 

sharing and caring were more generally prevalent than during the time of the 

exchange-system, through money. People bartered things without much considering 

of their monetary value of things. Most of the time, things were given to those who 

were in need without much consideration of value to the owners as long as the 

owners had their surpluses. It was part of the spirit of sharing as well as caring. Soon 

as money serves as a medium of exchange and a unit of account, wealth can be 

generated and accumulated through the accumulation of money. The spirit of sharing 

and caring in a human mind diminishes as surpluses can turn into money for 

accumulation, rather than giving away goods to neighbors. As greed starts creeping 

into a human mind, personal or family’s security has a priority over the person’s love 

given to neighbors. 

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) did not advocate for money to perform the function 

of medium of exchange. He explained that money as a medium of exchange tended to 

result in ‘exchange’ value, the value to a commodity assigned to it by people’s 

desirability which was different from its ‘use’ value, because of its usefulness to 

people. These useful things were necessities needed for survival and the higher 

values for the flourishing of life known as “the good life”. The good life is a moral 

life of virtue through which human-beings attain “happiness”. The economic 

dimension involved was the role in supplying “wealth” through the production 

process in order to meet basic needs as well as to attain “happiness” or the “good 

2

Buddhist Approach to Economic Crisis | 

life”. On the other hand, exchange value is determined in the market and originated 

from the market demand driven by “desirability”. Such drive or desirability does not 

necessarily lead to good lives. It should be observed here, that the teaching of 

Aristotle was not much different from that of Buddha. Unfortunately, it was forgotten 

in the West as human minds became increasingly controlled by greed. 

Money as a Store of Value: 

As most other things natural, money of the early civilizations could be 

degenerated or depreciated in value as some popular commodities are used as the 

common denominator or money. In order to satisfy human greed for accumulation of 

wealth, money was made to resume the additional function of the store of value. This 

function was more or less fulfilled after humans discovered that silver and gold were 

metals of relative scarcity, compared with bronze and iron in the bronze and iron ages 

respectively. Gold, especially, has its glittering shine that attracts human eyes. 

Because of their durability and scarcity, silver and gold values can be preserved or 

increased in later periods. Because of the said qualities, silver and gold were 

popularly used as money for a very long time. During the Buddha’s time, silver and 

gold were already used as money in India and China, as well as in Europe during the 

time of Greek’s civilization. It remain popular until 19 th century, and it was gradually 

replaced by fiat money soon as gold and silver became relatively scarce commodities 

- at the time the concept and form of the nation states were firmly rooted on earthly 

principles since its origin in the 15 th century. Paper money has been issued with the 

additional function of being legal-tender by governments of each nation state. 

Soon, money function as a store of value. Human greed for accumulation 

was completely fulfilled. As money can satisfy human desire through using money to 

buy anything that the owner of money wants to have, it serves as the genie from 

Aladdin’s lamp. This nature of money stimulates human greed to accumulate even 

more money as wealth, personal and family security. The spirit of sharing and caring 

- nurture, the most important part of humanity, has been vaporizing gradually. 

Instead of helping neighbors in times of need, accumulating money will satisfies 

personal greed as well as increases future personal security. It can be concluded that 

soon as money functions as a store of value - human greed was further stimulated. 

3


Money as Capital: 

Money also serves as a store of value and medium of exchange. It can be 

used to buy anything, as its value will not depreciate. Traders in the old days 

discovered quickly that by buying cheaper than selling their products for profits, in 

the end, he would accumulate much more money than before - money could generate 

more money. In this way, money serves as a capital or a tool to make more money, 

especially through “investment”. This function of money helps stimulate human 

greed even further. In the old days, when barter was the predominant means for 

exchange, a rice farmer who produced more than enough rice to feed his family, had 

the tendency to give away his rice to his relatives or neighbors who had insufficient 

supply of rice for themselves - with the hope that at any time of his own difficulty, he 

would be reciprocated in the same way. With money as a capital, instead of giving 

the surplus to his relatives and friends, the rice farmer would sell his surplus for 

money and use the money to buy additional piece of land and produced more rice in 

order to sell more rice for more money. Such action is the result of increasing human 

greed facilitated by money as a capital. Soon as money has become a capital, human 

greed has been stimulated even more. 

The Creation of Money: 

During the time that silver and gold served as money, whoever had silver and 

gold had money. Those who produced silver and gold created more money. 

Naturally traders or merchants were the ones who had more money than remaining 

parties in any country. The King of any country might have absolute power but could 

have relatively less money than merchants – we see this in Buddhist texts. During 

those days, if the King must wage war, requiring a lot of money, he had to consider 

borrowing money from the merchants. As the King had absolute power, apart from 

collecting tax, he could gain more from trade monopolies or collaboration in trade 

with merchants. The creation of a banking system that receives silver and gold as 

deposits and issue credits to both depositors and borrowers – was also beneficial. The 

banking system created more money from circulation than the amount of silver and 

gold in the entire previous system. In this way, amounts of money can be created - 

more than the amount of silver and gold metal available at any particular period of 

time. 

As the economy of each country had become increasingly monetized, there 

was the increasing need to use more money in each country than the amount of silver 

and gold available. The government of each country created a national bank to keep 

basically gold, and issued bank notes - backed up by the existing gold deposits. 

Government can create more money by borrowing from national banks using its 

4


letter-requested for borrowing as collateral. In this way, both the government and the 

banking system can create much more money than the actual amount of gold-bullion 

reserved at the national bank. In this way money can be created much easier than 

before. 

Money as a Figure: 

As the use of money keeps increasing at exponential rates, the amount of 

gold reserved in the national banks is always in limited quantity at any given time. It 

is not flexible enough for the increasing demand for money, used for transactions. 

For this reason, each county one by one, left the gold standard as a back up for its 

own currency. Each national government backed by each country’s Gross Domestic 

Product (GDP) was then used as collateral for each national bank to issue money - 

national currency was no longer backed by gold. It has been backed instead by 

foreign exchanges of some major economies. The reserve is no longer kept in the 

form of bank notes from various countries but figures in various accounts that are 

called foreign-exchange reserves. They actually imply the amount of investments of 

a certain government, in various forms of securities, abroad. 

At this time, those creating money are not only confined to the national 

government and the banking system, but all of those who involved in all forms of 

stock and security markets - their derivatives and many other forms of speculations 

are directed into future markets. Everyone who is involved in such market has the 

ability to create or to reduce the amount of money available at any certain period of 

time. At this stage, the money is completely divorced from reality or real production. 

Its creation or reduction has been subject to mass, or better known as: herdpsychology. 

If herd-psychology anticipates the bullish market or bullish situation, 

stock prices will increase and the total amount of money available in term of a figure 

will also increase. If the herd-psychology anticipates the bearish situation, the stock 

price will decrease and the total amount of money available in terms of a figure will 

decrease. Of course, under such situations, many more players can create or reduce 

the amount of money - the ones with more money (larger amount of figures), and 

more information will have the advantage. The small players, most of the time, end 

up being losers. 

Money as a Commodity: 

At the time money was created as a medium of exchange - a relatively 

preferred and durable commodity chosen to be the medium of exchange. After it was 

changed into silver and gold, it was also a commodity but it was not meant to be 

traded itself. However, as money became paper money and gradually turns to be a 

figure reflecting the performance of the national economy that issues the money, its 

5


value can be changed subjected to the economic performance of such specific county. 

When being compared with all other national currencies, its value can fluctuate by 

the relative performances of the remaining economies. In order to use money as a 

capital to make a financial gain or to try to maintain the purchasing values from 

holding of existing currencies, money of all currencies are also treated as a 

commodity that can also be subjected to trade and speculation. Such trade or 

speculation may be in line with the performance of the specific economy. It can also 

deviate from reality. In the process, it can harm the involved economy further if the 

economy involved is a small one. This was the case of Thailand at the time of the 

economic crisis in 1997. Therefore money as a commodity that can be used for 

speculation can be harmful to a weak economy while the strong hedging groups can 

make handsome gains. 

Money as the Figure in a Cyber Space: 

As money has only been reduced to a figure, with the revolution of 

information and computer technology (ICT) that information can move around the 

world at the speed of light, this situation implies that money can move around the 

globe at the speed of light as well. The implication of such rapid move of money is 

that as soon as any hedging group finds the opportunity to make money anywhere, 

money will immediately move into such place. This situation usually takes place 

when any specific economy is showing the sign of well performance. The money that 

flows in, is aiming to share the benefits from such economy without much of its 

original effort. As the performance of that specific economy is close to the peak, in 

the opinion of the speculators, most money will flow out causing a sudden set back of 

that economy. Such behavior of the speculator is known as financial-tsunami. It 

comes in to take advantage of the well-performing economy and it moves out as that 

economy is anticipated to reach the peak. Its main incentive is to make as much 

money as possible in the shortest period of time. It has no consideration for whether 

the involved economy will suffer from its action - it is a purely selfish motivation or 

with a modified term of self-interest behavior explained by the mainstream 

economist. 

Possible Financial Crisis within a Much Shorter Time Span: 

With the creation of money that has been transformed into a mere figure in 

cyber space, capable to moving everywhere in the world at the speed of light, at the 

same time money can also be created through hedging and speculating without much 

relevance to real economic sectors (actual production); clearly, the world financial 

sector is under a volatile situation. No one knows for sure how large is the financial 

6


sector in comparison with the real economic sector, globally. This is because money 

can be created independently from the performance of the real economic sector. In 

theory, the value of the total amount of money cannot be more than the existing 

global assets and all the existing products from the existing production processes. 

Unfortunately, at the moment, there has been some estimation that the value of the 

financial sector is more than 500 times of the existing real products (excluding the 

existing assets). Under this situation, everyone who holds on to the figure called 

money must be at loss from the nature of its inflation. For those who wish to keep the 

value of their money intact or even to increase its value, they have no other choice, 

except to hedge or speculate on something that will result in the increase in its value, 

in the future. In the recent past, it was used to speculate in sub-prime assets under the 

name of investment - in the United States of America. It has been used to speculate 

on the future price of oil and gold, respectively in the global markets. Such 

speculation remains relatively less harmful so long as herd-psychology does not 

react. Soon as such speculation is spurred by herd-psychology, namely, everyone 

speculating in the same direction - the one who gets in later will tend to be hurt more 

and send the signal for a bigger crisis. If the crisis cannot be stopped in time, at its 

place of origin, it will contagiously spread as a global economic disease. 

This is why it can be predicted with high degree of accuracy - the future 

financial crisis will come at a much shorter time span each time as the result of the 

interaction of various natures of money that have evolved continuously to correspond 

with increasing human greed. The financial crisis also serves as a useful warning to 

increasing economic problems caused by human greed. If such warnings do not 

receive adequate attention, naturally the warning will be much louder as the time 

progresses. Human beings have become slaves of their own creation, known as: 

money - simply because money is the reflection of human inner greed and money has 

evolved to spur that greed further. 

Another Crisis that will lead to the End of Humanity: 

A financial crisis, globally, only serves as a powerful warning to humanity 

not to be too greedy in accumulating figures that represent money beyond existing 

assets and products from the existing production processes. However, there is another 

severe crisis that can lead to the end of humanity also caused by the continuation of 

human greed and wrong economic theories. This crisis is known as global warning. It 

has its root cause from the quartet known as money-capitalism-industrialismconsumerism. 

The origination of money and its consequences have already been 

discussed in length. The remaining triad of capitalism-industrialism-consumerism 

should be further discussed in brief. 

7


The triad first established roots during the time of mercantilism in the Middle 

Ages, and grew into a strong tree during the industrial revolution, coming into full 

bloom as consumerism during the age of high mass consumption in the decades after 

World War II. In the period of the last 50 years, the triad has led the world to a point 

very close to human catastrophe through rapid depletion of natural resources and 

destruction of an environment suitable for human life. The problem of climate change 

or global warming is only one among many problems created by consumerism. 

How has the human race been brought to the edge of this steep cliff without 

sufficient warning? In fact the warning was sounded in 1962 in Rachel Carson’s 

well-known book: Silent Spring. As the first warning, it did not receive adequate 

attention - the voices of warning have become much louder as time has gone by. 

Unfortunately many have turned a deaf ear to these warnings and have continued 

their businesses of consumption as usual. Such ignorance is not without good reason. 

One of the supporting ideologies in mainstream economics known in disguise as 

“consumption theory” says that the more a person can afford to consume, so long as 

his utility from such consumption is still positive, the more that person will increase 

his utility even though the rate of increase of his utility is decreasing. Simply stated, 

the more you consume, the more you will enjoy even though your per-unit enjoyment 

will decrease with each unit of additional consumption; in other words: more is 

better. This theory is also supplemented by the belief that the act of following selfinterest 

is “rational behavior”. The sum is that greed is acceptable or even good 

human behavior. In reality, while greed by an individual may not be very harmful for 

society, the aggregate greed or societal greed can be fatal for all. 

One reason that the restraint of greed has not been encouraged in mainstream 

economics is because the concept of consumption-efficiency cannot be dealt with in a 

meaningful way, by economists. Strangely, while mainstream economics can to a 

certain degree, deal effectively with production-efficiency - it says almost nothing at 

all of the similar optimization of consumption. On one hand, mainstream economics 

keeps preaching on production-efficiency in order that input resources can be used 

optimally; while on the other hand, it ignores the concept of consumption-efficiency. 

It is hard to justify the optimal use of resources in the production process when 

wasteful use of resources in the consumption process is ignored. The wasteful use of 

resources through consumption is the major cause responsible for leading human 

beings to near catastrophe in spite of the loud warnings. This is the reason why we 

should contemplate, as well as try to understand and try to reformulate the concept of 

consumption efficiency. 

8


Consumption Efficiency Can Only be Explained Meaningfully by Buddhist 

Economics: 

The term Buddhist Economics first appeared in 1973 in Schumacher’s 

famous book, “Small is Beautiful”. In his book, the concept of “right livelihood” 

drawn from the teachings of the Buddha was employed as his main theme to develop 

his counter arguments against mainstream economics and to articulate Middle Way 

towards total accounting and accountability. His initiative has become an 

inspirational alternative to economics ever since. 

Buddhist Economics is the fusion of two words, “Buddhist” and 

“Economics”. It is generally defined as the subject explaining “economic activities 

(production, distribution, and consumption) with the aim for individuals to achieve 

maximum utility under the condition of resource constraint and for the society to 

reach maximum welfare under the same condition. Similarly, one can define Buddhist 

Economics as the subject that is derived from the lessons of the Buddha’s discoveries 

on his path to enlightenment to explain economic activities with the aim for both 

individuals and society to achieve peace and tranquility under resource constraint”. 

(Puntasen, 2005: p.4) 

The difference between Buddhist Economics and mainstream economics 

reflect different paradigms of human nature. Under the scientific materialism 

paradigm, mainstream economics observes that each human being normally follows 

his/her self-interest. Therefore, following self-interest of any individual is a 

“rational” behavior. Also, according to Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), the ultimate 

goal of human life is to avoid pain and to seek maximum “pleasure”. 

“Pleasure” in this case has been translated into economics as “utility”. Under 

this scientific materialism paradigm, the typical way for a human beings to gain more 

“pleasure” or “utility” is “to have” more material possessions. The term “to have” is 

very important. Humanistic economics, an alternative to mainstream economics, 

recognizes the faith in humankind and the belief in morality that grounds human 

values (Prayukvong, 2006). Utility can be improved not only “to have”, but also “to 

be” and “to be related with” without emphasizing “to have” as the only way for 

utility generation. Unfortunately, a humanist economist is still hooked to concept of 

“self” the same way as the mainstream economist. 

Economics also adopts the Darwinian Theory of “the survival of the fittest” 

to imply that competition leads to progress. Hence, the core values of mainstream 

economics (more popularly known as “capitalism”) are “self-interest” and 

“competition”. Because of such development of thought, mainstream economics 

defines pursuing of self-interest as a rational behavior - as it contributes to more 

generation of utility. 

9


These core values fit very well with the concept of capitalism that explains 

capital as the mode of production. The only way to increase “utility” and “welfare” is 

to increase production in order to accumulate more capital. Capital can be 

accumulated from profit through more production given the necessary and sufficient 

condition that all products are sold out for profit. At the same time, to make sure that 

all products are sold out in time to insure maximum profit, consumption must be 

stimulated continuously through “consumerism”. As a result, capitalism, 

industrialism, and consumerism come in one package. The main purpose is for more 

capital to be generated through increased production and consumption. In this way, 

individuals achieve maximum utility under budget constraints and the society 

achieves maximum welfare. 

In a system of capitalism with industrialism and consumerism, one can 

visualize growth without end. Nevertheless, the increase or economic growth is 

limited by the amount of non-renewable resources and the carrying capacity of the 

globe for waste from production and consumption. In reality pushing for more 

production all the time will turn to be an unsustainable downward-spiral resulting in 

more waste generation and resource depletion causing environmental degradation and 

eventually: human self-destruction. 

As such, because of the nature of mainstream economics, consumptionefficiency 

becomes the key for the survival of humanity in a foreseeable future – yet, 

this cannot be discussed in a meaningful way. Only Buddhist Economics can deal 

with this key concept in a meaningful way; it can actually save this world from the 

end of humanity and solve the immediate problems of the world financial crisis in 

much more meaningful ways. 

Understanding Consumption as Production: 

Although mainstream economics prefers to differentiate a consumer from a 

producer, one can still use the framework of mainstream economics to analyze 

consumption from a different angle. Actually the process of consumption can also be 

viewed as a production process. Goods and services ready to be consumed can be 

considered as inputs to a production process. The outputs of this process are pleasure 

or utility and waste. From this angle, the consumer also prefers to have the least 

amount of inputs while achieving maximum pleasure. In this way, consumption can 

be viewed as another production process. Instead of being goods and/or services plus 

waste, outputs from this production process are pleasure and waste. In this way, one 

can apply production theory to consumption as well. More importantly, with this new 

way of looking at consumption, one can clearly discuss the concept of efficiency of 

consumption. It implies that one ought to produce maximum pleasure with the 

10


lowest production cost. Mainstream economics rushes to the market system result in 

overlooking this important aspect of consumption that could lead to a more profound 

implication. For clearer understanding, the consumption process can be shown in the 

simple diagram below: 

Goods and 

services 

(as inputs) 

Production process to 

produce pleasure 

If the above diagram is explained in a Buddhist way, the output should be 

defined as the maintenance of a healthy body and a healthy mind, instead of 

“pleasure” or utility. Such output is a necessary condition for the further development 

of the mind in order to achieve sukha 2 which is the desirable outcome from this 

process. In order to achieve such an outcome the ability to develop the mind is a 

necessary condition. The development must be achieved through the process of 

sikkhattaya. 3 Given the above explanation, there is no difference at all between the 

production and consumption processes. 

Looking further at mainstream economics (with its unrealistic set of 

assumptions) and Buddhist Economics, we see that in both cases we are looking at a 

concept of desire where satisfaction of the desire is measured by “pleasure”. 

According to Buddha Dhamma, taṇhā (specifically unskillful desire) can never be 

fulfilled; it can only be satisfied temporarily. Unfortunately, the attempt to fulfill the 

desire will generate an expectation for higher and higher levels of consumption. The 

mind always looks for what it imagines is better. With no better alternative, it may 

be temporarily content with what it has experienced but as soon as a new opportunity 

arises, the desire will escalate to a higher level. Mainstream economics has a 

different understanding. It only explains that as soon as the desire is backed up by 

purchasing power or credit that can be anticipated to be paid back in the future 

(demand) and is met by the supply it will be satisfied resulting in the pleasure of that 

consumer. 

The difference between the two thoughts of Buddhist and mainstream 

economics is that Buddhist Economics is based on a dynamic analysis of any event 

known as paticcasamuppāda. 4 Every result has its original causes and other related 

factors. The result at this moment will turn to into a cause of a future result. In a 

2 

(the quality of mind that is opposite to that of dukkha which means uneasiness, conflict, contradiction, 

alienation or suffering) 

3 

known as the three-fold training leading to having a purified or clean mind, and a clear mind 

4 

The law of causation 

11 

Pleasure 

Waste


Buddhist analysis, the time dimension of past, present and future must also be 

considered. Generally, the analysis in mainstream economics is a static one. It can be 

clearly seen that static analysis often does not reflect the real world because time has 

been frozen. As such analysis does not reflect the real world; it is not capable of 

understanding everything in its own nature. A theory that is not based on reality can 

be considered as a wrong or incorrect theory. This problem is a major short coming 

of mainstream economics. 

Sukha and Dukkha as the same thing in different degrees: 

A much deeper root of the difference between mainstream economics and 

Buddhist Economics than the difference in the use of static and dynamic analysis can 

be seen by looking at the meaning of the words sukha and dukkha. In Buddhist 

Economics, sukha can be explained in terms of dukkha. The difference between the 

two is only in degree. More dukkha implies less sukha and vice versa. Mainstream 

economics considers pleasure, (which most of the time is referred to as utility) to be 

the same as “happiness”. Unfortunately, happiness in English is not the same as 

sukha, which is an entirely different concept. The word “happiness” is closer to 

hedonism than sukha. 

In Buddhist Economics, hedonism is the same as kamasukha, or pleasure 

from acquisition. It is also known as samissukha. It is a kind of sukha that can 

eventually lead to dukkha, as it can generate a desire spiral. As soon as the desire is 

originated, the inner heat is generated while the desire has not yet been fulfilled. 

Therefore, satisfaction from the fulfillment of the desire is in fact the “food” for 

dukkha in the next round. If the production process is used as an analogy in this case, 

hedonism is the input in the process that produces dukkha. Therefore pleasure from 

acquisition cannot be considered as sukha as it leads to further dukkha in the next 

round. Anything that can lead to dukkha, cannot be considered as the state of sukha. 

As a result, in Buddhist Economics pleasure from acquisition should be correctly 

called dukkha. This difference between the understanding of pleasure in mainstream 

economics and sukha in Buddhist Economics is the main point of departure between 

the two. 

Such problems can be demonstrated with the attempt to solve the problem of 

poverty through the process of economic development with the hope that the growing 

economy will be accompanied by increasing income. As income for everyone 

increases, the ones who receive more income will have “more happiness”. This 

belief in the ability to achieve pleasure from acquisition in mainstream economics 

ultimately results in the rapid disappearance of resources and degradation of the 

environment. 

12


Unfortunately, such anticipation has never been a case. In reality, all 

societies have an uneven distribution of political and economic power. Those who 

have more politico-economic power will receive more for consumption than others. 

Those who try to find sukha from consumption will never find it. Those who have 

fewer resources for consumption usually imagine that the ones who have more will 

have more sukha. As a result, those with less naturally demand a larger share of the 

resources. In the end the whole nation never finds sukha, even though the economic 

status of everyone and the gross national income has, in fact, increased. However, 

some people may end up in a better economic situation in relative terms. This effort 

though can never actually solve the real problem of poverty. This result comes from 

having a wrong theory to begin with. David Loy (1999: 46) used the analogy of 

grasping the snake by the wrong end. Loy suggested that the nature of this problem 

should not be identified as the problem of poverty but rather the problem of dukkha. 

Solving the problem of dukkha is much different than solving the problem of poverty. 

The problem of dukkha can actually be solved regardless of different politicoeconomic 

status. 

For a clearer understanding of this concept of sukha, it is necessary to review 

the meaning of sukha in Buddha Dhamma. Sukha consists of samissukha and 

niramissukha. Samissukha is the same as kamasukha. Niramissukha includes 

jhānasukha or sukha from meditation and nibbānasukha or sukha from complete 

emancipation. The goal of Buddha Dhamma or even Buddhist Economics is to 

encourage everyone to reach the stage of nibbānasukha. However, in reality it is 

almost unrealistic to hope for everyone to reach nibbānasukha when each one has 

different level of pañña or the ability to understand everything in its own nature. 

Under the conditions of severe limitation of natural resources and environment, the 

level of niramissukha is acceptable. It is sukha from non-acquisition. There are 

various forms of sukha from loving-kindness (metta), from compassion for others 

(karunā), from relieving dukkha of the others, from sympathetic joy (mudita) in 

seeing others happy. They all are the kinds of sukha from practicing the first three 

principles of brahmavihara or the four noble sentiments that most people can easily 

understand. Having sukha from such practice will at the same time reduce the desire 

for kamasukha. 

13


Diagram 1: Definition of Sukha in Buddhist Economics. 

Samissukha 

(Kamasukha) 

Pleasure from acquisition 

Efficiency of Consumption: 

Sukha 

Jhānasukha 

Pleasure from meditation 

Niramamissukha 

Pleasure from non - 

acquisition 

Without worrying about pleasure or sukha from acquisition, it can be easily 

understood that efficiency of consumption is similar to that of production, as a 

consumption process can be analyzed in the same way as a production process. 

Consumption and production can be viewed as the same economic process. As soon 

as the efficiency of production is understood, efficiency of consumption can also be 

easily understood in the same way. The fact that mainstream economics cannot 

explain efficiency of consumption as clearly as that of production is because the goal 

of consumption has already been set to maximize pleasure or utility rather than 

optimize consumption efficiency. It should be clear by now that such a goal is still in 

the realm of dukkha. 

A further question to be raised is how to consume without having anything to 

do with pleasure. At this point Buddhist Economics can provide the answer by 

looking at the meanings of the two words, “needs” and “wants”. It can be traced back 

to the explanation of Abraham Maslow where needs are classified into three levels, 

physiological needs, social needs and moral needs. In Buddha Dhamma, there is only 

one form or one level of needs; that is physiological needs. The other levels in 

Maslow’s hierarchy are not needed. They all can be accounted for through the 

understanding of pañña. 

The word pañña has no equivalent word in English. The closest meaning is 

wisdom, but wisdom is not the same as pañña. Since about the 17 th century, moral 

knowledge has always been taken into consideration with all other knowledge in 

14 

Nibbānasukha 

Pleasure from emancipation


Western culture. Although the concept of samādhi or concentration has not often 

been mentioned, the word meditation in Western civilization can be used as a proxy 

for it. Therefore, before 17 th century the concepts of knowledge or wisdom, 

morality and meditation together with total submission to God, were comparable to 

the concept of sikkhattaya. Without sikkhattaya there would be no pañña. Without 

pañña, social needs and moral needs arise for human beings, especially in a society 

where “self” is still the main focus. Maslow’s understanding has been gained 

through observation of human behavior without appropriate tools to analyze the 

mind. Under these circumstances, there is no way to explain how a human mind can 

be developed to the point that a person does not actually have social needs and moral 

needs. The understanding of sikkhattaya will lead to the understanding of the process 

of the mind’s development is raised by developing pañña, sila and samādhi that will 

eventually lead to more accumulation of pañña that will achieve the higher levels of 

Maslow’s needs discussed earlier. 

To summarize, according to Buddha Dhamma, consumption is needed to 

relieve the pain from physiological needs and is to be distinguished from the 

consumption for desires and wants (kammasukha). If a person has sufficient pañña 

to understand that kamasukha is in fact dukkha, they will understand that 

consumption for kamasukha is not really needed. Consumption, informed by needs, 

can be considered the most efficient as it is the only consumption needed and 

minimizes resource consumption. 

The ultimate goal of most human beings is to be completely free from 

dukkha or to reach the stage of nibbāna. The most direct way to nibbāna is through 

the middle way or majhima patipada. This is the way that does not involve either of 

the two extremes (sensual happiness and self-mortification). Insufficient access to 

any of the four basic needs, namely, food, appropriate clothing, a living place and 

medicine is a cause of pain or suffering. Such pain must be relieved by consumption 

or the assurance that all those basic needs will be available when needed. In this way, 

that insecurity will be eliminated. When the sikkhattaya can be practiced without any 

feeling of insecurity, the pathway is cleared to develop the mind to a higher level. In 

this way then, samādhi can serve as a base for the generation of pañña. Consumption 

to satisfy desire or craving is not conducive to this mind development. It only relieves 

craving temporarily, but stimulates craving to a higher level in the next round. It also 

promotes excessive utilization of limited natural resources. Thus, it is not a way to 

bring about true sukha. Such consumption is clearly inefficient. At the same time 

consumption that is inadequate to maintain a healthy body and a healthy mind cannot 

be considered as efficient consumption either since it does not optimize the output of 

sukha. 

15


Therefore, efficient consumption is consumption according to the principle 

of middle path or majhima patipada. This consumption cannot be analyzed by 

mainstream economics. That is because there is no analytical tool available. Without 

such a tool, one can be misled, resulting in a wrong or incorrect theory. The end 

result will be human catastrophe that becomes increasingly evident as time goes by. 

It should be observed that a certain level of pañña is a necessary condition to being 

able to consume by the principle of the middle path. As a result, pañña is a crucial 

factor for the most efficient consumption: that is, the least utilization of resources 

given the goal of being free from dukkha. The mainstream economic term that is 

closest to the concept of efficient consumption is cost effectiveness. It shares a 

meaning similar to efficiency of production but looks from a different angle. 

In conclusion even though a producer and a consumer can be different 

persons, the most efficient way that both processes can take place at the same time is 

that both processes must be controlled by pañña. Since both processes depend on 

each other, the two processes cannot be completely separated. 

Apart from the reasons explaining why mainstream economics cannot 

adequately discuss efficiency of consumption while Buddhist Economics can, the real 

cause of the problem lies around the concept of self interest explained by mainstream 

economics. 

Common and Different Explanation of Self-Interest: 

Mainstream economics defines self-interest as rational behavior for a human 

being. Mainstream economics can be described as a discipline based on self-created 

assumptions in a self-created world. It may have some truth but not the whole truth. 

The realistic part can be in common with Buddhist Economics but the assumptive 

parts naturally have nothing in common. All can be explained by the following 

diagram. 

16


Diagram 2: The Difference in Degree Among Self-interest, Desire and Greed. 

Necessity for 

having the four 

basic factors 

Scientific Realm Non-Scientific Realm 

Self-interest 

Utility 

Positive economics 

Common area between 

Buddhist Economics 

and autistic economics 

Desire 

Survival of life 

Mainstream economics has its roots in material-based science. Anything 

related to matter and energy can be classified as the scientific realm. Things related to 

the human mind are considered as the non-scientific realm. This classification is 

based on physics that has been applied to economics, a subject that tries to be part of 

the “hard sciences”. This scientific realm is classified as positive economics. The 

rest is called normative economics. Normative economics is based more on value 

judgments, rather than solid scientific evidence. Things such as desire and greed are 

actually different than self-interest. This fact is well understood by positive 

economists. Unfortunately, the two terms are very difficult to differentiate from selfinterest 

using existing measurement tools. To simplify the analysis in a positive way, 

desire and greed are treated as value judgments and should be classified within the 

realm of normative economics. 

Self-interest is not always a bad thing. It is necessary for the survival of all 

living things. Thus, it has its place within positive economics. Such necessity can be 

measured by the need for the four basic factors for sustaining life. If any living thing 

has no self-interest to survive, it can no longer maintain its own species. For 

example, in the case of human beings, without a sense of self-interest, there would be 

no human beings left on earth. All of the knowledge useful to human-beings will 

17 

Normative economics 

(Value judgment) 

Greed


become useless. Hence, self-interest is both a necessary and a sufficient condition for 

valuing human knowledge. However, Buddhist Economics proposes an additional 

condition based on being free from suffering (dukkha): any action of self-interest 

must not cause any burden on oneself or anyone else. 

On the other hand, without adequate supplies of the four basic factors for the 

sustainability of life, there will be physiological suffering. The only way out of such 

suffering is for the needs to be satisfied. This form of suffering can also be called 

poverty. If a person is disturbed or anxious about survival, their mind can never be 

developed. It can be seen clearly that there is a common agreement on this sphere of 

self-interest by both mainstream economics and Buddhist Economics. 

The economics that is currently taught everywhere only pays attention to a 

material-based science without any attempt at further development based on mindbased 

science; it has decided to ignore the part that it considers inaccurate or nonmeasurable. 

Hence, the concepts of desire and greed are ignored, and the only 

relevant concept remaining in economics is self-interest (diagram 2). All activities 

related to desire and greed as well as needs as are treated as self-interest. By ignoring 

reality, economics deliberately distorts fact. The subject is no longer able to reflect 

reality. Because of this fact, mainstream economics should instead be correctly called 

autistic economics. 

18

Diagram 3: The Making of Autistic Economics 


In order to make economics into a material-based science, the scientific realm is 

extended. 

In mainstream economics the definition of self interest (needs) is 

expanded to include desire and greed. 

The inability to recognize and acknowledge such different concepts as need, 

wants/desires, and greed and then lumping all of them into the concept of self-interest 

and describing the motivations of this “self-interest” as rational is, in fact, an 

irrational practice. If everyone were greedy, the world would not be a happy place for 

human beings to live. Greed should rather be considered as an irrational behavior and 

should not be explained as a rational undertaking. 

The differences in the understanding of human-motivation results in the clear 

distinction between autistic economics and Buddhist Economics. The inability to 

validly measure desire and greed hardly justifies their inclusion into a category (selfinterest) 

that implies necessities for basic survival. This is not rational and not the 

correct way to represent human behavior. 

It can be demonstrated in Diagram 3 how the inclusion of desire and greed 

changes the acceptable view of consumption. In the real world most things exist in 

continuum. Each one has it own core that can be clearly observed to be distinctively 

different from the others, the same way as throwing a stone into still water in the 

pond. The stone will break the water at the point of contact and create a noticeable 

wave moving outward in all directions. The waves diminish and eventually 

19


disappear. (In reality however, the mainstream economics stand of maximizing 

consumption implies that the wave never ends.) As a result, it is very difficult to 

clearly define the limit of each concept with clarity. However, material based 

sciences want to define everything with clear, specific and precise definitions. It 

cannot adequately deal with things that exist in a continuum. This kind of thought 

results in denying the reality of the world. 

However, if we are really talking about self-interest as only self-interest that 

is physiological survival, efficiency of consumption can actually be clearly identified. 

The amount of consumption required to eliminate the human suffering caused by 

poverty (defined as lack of the four essentials required for survival) can be calculated 

by measuring or estimating the survival requirements for food, clothes, shelter and 

medicine for persons based on age, gender, climate and that person’s health status. 

Consumption at that amount should be considered as efficient consumption. Sukha in 

a human being does not come from consumption beyond the point of efficiency but 

from pañña, the ability to understand everything in its own nature, as explained in 

great length in Buddha Dhamma. The encouragement of consumption beyond the 

point of consumption efficiency is a clear difference between Buddhist Economics 

and the mainstream economics also known as autistic economics. Self-interest in 

Buddhist Economics has a clear cut-off point (needs), while mainstream economics 

also includes wants and desires. 

20


Diagram 4: A Clear Demonstration of the Power of Buddhist Economics’ 

Explanation of Consumption Efficiency 

Efficiency of 

In reality, everything exists in a 

Self D i G d 

Combined Production and Consumption for Sustainable Development and 

Increased Wellness: 

After looking at these production and consumption concepts of Buddhist 

Economics, one can link all of them together. This linkage will demonstrate the 

conditions for sustainable development as well as improvement of wellness in 

society. It should now be evident that wellness or sukha does not come from 

consumption. Consumption only serves as a process to provide for the basic 

necessities and the elimination of the pain due to their absence. Without this level of 

consumption (sufficiency), there would be a negative impact on the further 

development of samādhi and pañña. Consumption beyond sufficiency will stimulate 

tanhā (craving or more desire). Apart from being the cause for dukkha or suffering, 

excessive consumption will also lead to the wasteful use of resources, or inefficient 

consumption. 

21 

Devastating Consumption


The real wellness or sukha of a human being results from the development of 

pañña through sikkhattaya. It is not a linear development but more like a virtuous 

spiral that will not return to the origin spot but will uplift the mind and pañña to new 

levels. 

A Cross Sectional 

Diagram of Sikkhattaya 

It can begin from the lowest level of pañña. At this level, it is not necessary 

for pañña to be able to understand everything in its own nature. It may begin from 

samaditthi (having right view or understanding). For example, a person may begin 

with having a faith that good conduct within the framework of sila will result in good 

living or wellness. Having practiced sila, the result will be a more stable mind with 

fewer disturbances by kilesa. The mind can be more concentrated or have more 

samādhi. As the mind becomes more focused, it will have the power to learn or to 

understand things much easier. One of the most useful things to be understood by the 

mind on the part of pañña is aniccata or impermanence. This understanding will lead 

to the understanding of dukkha, conflict or contradiction from within or outside. 

Dukkha also results from holding fast to something that is impermanent by its very 

nature. Dukkha is a conflict or contradiction from not understanding the true nature 

of things and trying to enforce permanence, which is an impossible task. With a 

clearer understanding, one will accept anatta, the situation of void or nothingness, 

and not try to act against the nature of things. This way living will become consistent 

with nature. Conflict or contradiction against nature will decrease. The less conflict, 

the more wellness there will be as well as more stability in the mind. Sila also 

becomes a normal condition. The more one lives according to sila, the more the mind 

will work at its normal pace, will be stable and be better able to concentrate so as to 

better understand things in their own nature. Such training of the mind will lead to 

less dukkha and less dukkha implies more sukkha or wellness. Under this method of 

training, eventually one will live the purified life of the purified sila. The mind will 

22 

A Vertical Vision 

of Sikkhattaya


be completely stable, calm and full of concentration or the achievement of samādhi. 

At this stage, pañña will always illuminate a much clearer understanding of things. 

This is the stage of having a purified mind, a calm mind and an illuminated mind at 

the same time. It is the mind that attains the state of nibbāna. It can be clearly seen 

that sukha or wellness can be developed from sikkhattaya and this is not directly 

related to consumption. Consumption only serves as a necessary condition that 

enables us to live in the way of majhima patipada or the middle path. The true 

wellness or sukha can only result from the development of pañña through the 

rigorous training of sikkhattaya. 

Having gained a clear understanding of these related components in Buddhist 

Economics (production, consumption and wellness or sukha), Diagram 5 can be used 

to see the way that one can achieve the conditions for sustainable development and 

the improvement of wellness through the development of mind. 

Diagram 5: Consumption and Production Theories of Buddhist 

Economics. The system of production and consumption providing the conditions 

for sustainable development and promotion of a peaceful life. 

When net goods and services produced are more than enough to maintain the 

existing system of production, sustainable development and the reduction of 

conflict of contradiction yielding a more peaceful body and mind is the result. 

Excess production can be used to reduce the pain and suffering of those who 

need it. With the help of technology, production efficiency can be improved. 

23


The above diagram demonstrates the interaction of production and 

consumption in Buddhist Economics that can eventually lead to a peaceful life or 

nibbāna and sustainable development on the production side. Pañña is the mode of 

production in the sense that it controls all input factors ranging from human resources 

to man-made resources and natural resources. All these resources can be further 

divided into brain and muscle power for human resources, and energy and other 

natural resources for natural resources. Man-made resources are the product of 

human intelligence and energy and other resources that can be either renewable or 

non-renewable. Pañña will in turn control human intelligence in a way that manmade 

resources are produced only in a creative and positive way and natural 

resources should be used I such a way that non-renewable resources are used 

minimally. All these are aimed at producing products most needed for production 

needed to sustain lives with minimum amount of harmful waste. Production in this 

way is considered to be the most efficient production in Buddhist Economics. 

It can be seen from this diagram that the consumption process, the first part 

yields net products to be used in consumption through the assumption that part of the 

products can be used to clean up waste from the production process. The second part 

is waste resulting from the consumption process itself. Consumption in Buddhist 

Economics is not to gain “satisfaction” as explained by mainstream economics but 

rather for the maintenance of the physical needs of human beings as well as the 

physical production process to continue on it own course. The goal of the whole 

production process is actually to produce wellness that eventually leads to the state of 

nibbāna. The main emphasis in this diagram is a circular flow of goods and services 

for the maintenance of the whole production process. The nature of this flow will 

indicate whether the system is sustainable or not. 

In the diagram, pañña serves as the main control mechanism of both 

production and consumption. What ought to be emphasized in this diagram is that no 

matter how pañña has been used in both production and consumption processes, 

unsustainable development could still be one of the possible outcomes. This can 

result from inadequate resources due to their deterioration to the point where they are 

insufficient to maintain the full functioning of the system. It might also take place in 

a very difficult environment that cannot actually support a human life. It could also 

be caused by the fact that the technological development of the community is not at a 

sufficiently high level, for example, in some difficult areas on the earth or on the 

moon. In these cases the survival of human beings must depend on external sectors 

that still have surpluses to support the non-viable system for a certain period of time 

while waiting for the improvement in technology. In these cases self-reliance might 

come later on. 

24


The second case demonstrates base-line sustainability. In this case goods and 

services available are just sufficient to maintain the system to continue at the existing 

level. It is the likely case where the existing resources and the level of technology 

(resulting from human intellectual ability) if human intelligence is used well under 

the control of pañña. It is the most likely case because at the moment the resources 

have already been used beyond their natural renewal rate. The sustainable scenario is 

possible when pañña is the mode of production. The global awareness of 

unsustainability is the factor that will stimulate human pañña to take control for the 

common survival of all beings. However, in reality, if resources can be improved 

through continual development of technology the third case will be the most likely 

one where the net product exceeds the needs required for maintenance of the system. 

The surplus can be used to support those who are still in pain or dukkha caused by 

having inadequate resources to maintain their basic needs (those who are still poor in 

the true sense). The wellness of this group can be improved from the existing surplus. 

If the surplus is still excessive, it can be used to improve the existing environment 

and eco-system as well. The efficiency of production factors can also be improved 

from the said surplus. 

The real wellness of human beings only depends on sikkhattaya, which is a 

separate process but directly related to pañña. Pañña also controls production and 

consumption processes in this diagram as already discussed. Please observe the twoway 

arrow-head between sikkhattaya and pañña. It demonstrates the dynamism 

between the two concepts. The two represent the possibility to solve the current 

crises that is causing great damage of resources and the environment on earth by both 

the production and consumption processes. Without any attempt at improving the 

existing situation, the whole system can easily move in the direction of selfdestruction. 

The only way out of this undesirable situation is to develop “global 

pañña” in this system as rapidly as possible. 

Having analyzed production and consumption under the framework of 

Buddhist Economics, it can be clearly seen that peace and tranquility can actually be 

achieved with sustainable development. The rest is how to apply such a framework to 

the real world. Action toward such an idea seems to be formidable. Nevertheless, the 

light already appears at the end of the tunnel. The most important task is to develop 

sikkhattaya into an actual operating tool that will result in much more improvement 

of pañña. At the same time transformation from capitalism to pañña-ism must be 

accomplished as soon as possible. 

25


Epilogue: 

It can be seen quite clearly that without Buddhist Economics, consumption 

efficiency cannot be discussed in the much more meaningful way because 

consumption is considered as the only way to increase utility. Fortunately, in 

Buddhist Economics it can be seen quite clearly that consumption only servers as 

means to attain the higher goal of sukha. Sukha does not derive from consumption, 

after consumption have already reached or passed the point of consumption 

efficiency. With such understanding consumption can be kept at the level of 

necessary minimum. At the level of necessary minimum of consumption, there will 

be more surpluses available for all lives that have insufficient for their biological or 

physiological needs. This way, the world will be in peace with minimum use of 

world resources. 

On the other hand, greed does not lead to sukha it will lead more to dukkha 

as greed only generate anxiety for having more for apparently no good reasons. With 

consumption efficiency, accumulation of money and wealth more than a level of 

personal and a family’s security is not needed. The role of money will be left to its 

own natural roles without much interaction from human greed. Caring and sharing or 

compassion, the good nature of human mind will be restored. Financial crisis 

globally can be largely avoided at least it can be contained at the outer boundary of 

the country that adheres to Buddha Dhamma and Buddhist Economics. 

However, in order to avoid the end of humanity before its own natural 

course, global effort in changing from the triad of capitalism-industrialismconsumerism 

is necessary. The worst of the triad is consumerism. Future survival of 

humanity depends very much on our ability to change our behavior and attitude from 

consumerism to consumption efficiency, collectively and globally. This part remains 

to be a big challenge for humanity. 

26

References 


Carson, R.L. (1962): Silent Spring. Colborn, Zed Books in association with PAN 

UK, London, 2003. 

Loy, David R. (1999): Buddhism and Poverty. Kyoto, Journal, 14, 46. 

Maslow, Abraham. (1970): Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper and Row. 

Prayukvong, Wanna (2006): Buddhist Economics and Thai Sufficiency Economy 

Model: Beyond Schumacher’s Initiative. 

Puntasen, Apichai. (2008): Buddhist Economics: Evolution, Theories and Its 

Application to Various Economic Subjects. A translated version of selected 

chapters from his book in Thai (3rd Edition), Bangkok, Amarin Press, 2004, 

published by Centre for Buddhist Studies. Chulalongkorn University. 

Schumacher, E.F. 1973. Small is beautiful, economics as if people mattered. New 

York: Harper & Row Publishers. 

27

Experiences of the Ministry of Education in the Application of the Philosophy of 

Sufficiency Economy and Ethics in the Creation of Social Stability 

Dr.Preeyanuch Jariyavidyanont, the Inspector- General 

The world today is passing through rapid change and the root cause lay in the 

economic crisis that has changed social phenomenon and the way of life .Many 

problems are obviously seen at the nations and also the global community such as 

violence across borders, the upsurge of terrorist attack, violation of human rights, 

global conflict-reaching the war, etc. 

I do appreciate a website written by an American gentleman which presented 

his idea on the economic crisis that “it could sum up the cause of our current 

economic crisis in one word as Greed by giving an example of the mortgage lenders 

were happy to lend money to people who could not afford their mortgages with 

higher interest rates and make more money on sub-prime loans. If the borrowers 

default, they simply sized the house and put it back on the market. …..when too 

many borrowers could not afford to make their payments, it causes the lenders to 

suffer. 

The beginning with failures in economy caused by misapplication of risk 

controls for bad debts, collateralization of debt insurance and fraud, large financial 

institution in the United States and Europe faced a credit crisis and a slowdown in 

economy activity. The impact rapidly developed and spread into a global shock 

resulting in a number of European bank failures and declines in various stock 

indexes, and large reduction in the market value of equities and commodities.( The 

Business Journals ,2008) 

Social conflict every where: 

The Associated Press Report in March 2009 stressed the mention of Mr. 

Dennis Blair the Director of National Intelligence that the economic weakness could 

lead to social and political instability in many developing nations such as, 

Ireland, Iceland, France, the U.K. and Greece have experienced street protests, 

when economic downturns and peoples against the fiscal stimulus due to budgetary 

or financial constrains. 

28


In January 2009,hundreds of thousands protested in France against President 

Sarkozy’s economy projects. Prompted by the financial crisis in Latvia, the 

opposition and trade unions organized a rally against the cabinet of premier Ivars 

Godmanis. And turned into a riot. In late February many Greeks took part in a 

massive general strike because of the economic situation and they shut down school, 

airports and many other services in Greece. Asian countries have also seen various 

degree in protest. Rallied in Moscow to protest the Russian government s economic 

plans .Protests have also occurred in China as demand from the west for exports have 

been dramatically reduced and unemployment has increased…..the global financial 

crisis presents a serious threat to international stability. 

My country, the Bank of Thailand cut short- term interest rates by a half of a 

percentage point, though it is ongoing efforts to jumpstart the economy, but the 

customers lost benefit when the deposited rates or the savings deposits is low. More 

serious is that the closing down of businesses and enterprises and bankrupts among 

big businesses has created the high rate of unemployment day by day. Many peoples 

have rigid cash on hand. They are now suffering. 

Economic put some pressures and severe atmospheres that make people face 

the difficulty .Such as the poor people have to pay more engagement in economy, 

seeking job and fighting for survival. Many workers leaved their children with 

relatives without any good care. Survival is also highly needed among peoples of all 

groups. Life is miserable and how can anyone live on a miserable atmosphere. 

It could say that economic crisis today make the real root cause of problems 

and conflict in family, social groups, nation and international countries. 

Economic crisis has changed the people’s thoughts on the way to live: 

Obviously, the economic crisis causes of the change habits of people such as 

lost of confidence of trust, selfishness, more self-concerned, greedy mind, hatred, 

conflict of interest, lack of morality, low public consciousness, etc. There are likely 

to be tensions and personality clashes in family, community and particular social 

groups. 

How to make people gain happiness: 

When the Buddhists get suffer, they will go to temples asking for blessing. 

They believe that a person’s present situation was the result of past acts, thoughts, 

and feelings in this life and previous ones. The effects of a person’s action carry on 

beyond the present life into future lives Therefore, meritorious acts in the present life 

29


will result in rewards in future lives. It could say that the result of one’s actions lead 

to positions interims of wealth and best ethical actions. 

The Buddhist Organizations and the Temples cold take this opportunity to play 

a crucial role in helping them to overcome the economic crisis through the teaching 

and practicing Dhamma. 

Gain of happiness needs to get rid of the suffering: 

The Four Noble Truths summarized that the cause of suffering is craving 

(attachment) There is a way out of this suffering that called the Eight Path which 

consisted of three types of activities as, moral conduct: mental discipline and 

wisdom. 

People needs to gain happiness during the phenomenon of economic crisis 

which means to feeling good, enjoying life and feeling it is wonderful.( Richard 

Lanyard 2003, in Professor Dr. Apichai Puntasen ‘paper on issue “why Buddhist 

economics is needed as a new paradigm for a better understanding of happiness ) 

Buddhist approach to economic crisis could focus upon three areas: 

accumulating wealth through hard work, diligence and setting certain restrains on 

one’s own consumption: sharing wealth honesty acquired with family friends and the 

sangha 

( Gregory k. Ornatowski, continuity and Change in the Economic Ethics of 

Buddhism Evidence from the history of Buddhism in India,China and Japan.) 

Abdul- Nadir Ba Jamal ,Prime Minister of the Republic of Yemen gave an 

interesting speech at the International Symposium on Dialogue among Cultures and 

Civilizations Sana’a, Yemen 10-11 February 2004, “the world today is passing 

through and determination, rapid change and swift successions of events, the most 

obvious being those that have resulted from the prejudices which seek to cancel out 

others, to impose their nihilistic brand of ideas and to prevent human civilization and 

cultural values from becoming the building-blocks of internal national unity, of 

peaceful social coexistence and of a safe and stable future that safeguards common 

ground and peace for all of mankind. 

He commented that the Europeon, American, Arab and Islamic presence at this 

international forum reflects a desire to show that they are united in one destiny, to 

bond multiple human experiences, of love and conciliation, from the exchange of 

material and moral benefits, and from the enhancement and to manifest our keenness 

for fruitful cooperation among our peoples and national institutions in all fields. To 

30


his idea, it points out that the religions and politics could create peace through 

dialogue. 

This suggests to the Buddhist Organizations to learn how to use a strategy of 

dialogue to find out an efficiency approach to economic crisis. At international level 

the Buddhism could play widen role through the global countries and also performing 

international network with other leader religious organizations and political leaders to 

organize a plate form for an international dialogue among civilization to seek world 

peace. 

Buddhism is an inspirable thought therefore it could create and interaction and 

merge of civilizations for intellectuals and advocates of a harmonious human 

approach. Buddhism can create a platform for dialogues among peoples across the 

regions. 

How to help people: 

I believe that under the economic crisis atmosphere, the peoples throughout the 

world will face the difficulty to live, some have lost the wisdom of reason. 

I also believe that the Buddha doctrine could enrich human experiences and 

promote an awareness and help people to prepare their mind by having a self 

confidence, being able to avoid strained and calm their nerves and feeling in security. 

Buddhist Approach to Economic Crisis : 

P.A. Payutto in his book “the Pali Canon:What a Buddhist Must know” 

commented that religion involves practice, a way of living ,or useful application in 

real life. Buddhism teaches a way of life which ultimately leads to the goal of final 

deliverance from suffering, can be seen as the resultant virtue, progress or growth, 

constitutes one’s life in the ability to get rid of greed, hatred and delusion and one has 

to train oneself in morality, concentration and wisdom” 

His comment reflects the function of Buddhism as the teaching provider or the 

transformer of knowledge and ethics. Therefore, the approach to economic crisis can 

be in many ways as at national level, teaching Dhamma could develop through media 

program for the public, teaching and training Dhamma and Meditation for a 

particular group by camping, school network program on Ethics Education for 

students, Buddhism non-formal education program for adults and outside school 

people. The theme of teaching may focus on how to live within the phenomenon of 

economic crisis, seminar and platform for Buddhists to share knowledge and 

31


exchange experiences of how to approach economic crisis, camping on Dhamma and 

Economic solution, etc. 

Buddhism could play a crucial role and join the responsibility in finding 

approaches to economic crisis by making a global human understanding by ways to 

overcome obstacles on implement concrete actions. The “Mid-Path” may be one of 

the approaches to be implemented under the crises. It sets of values, attitudes, modes 

of behavior and ways of life that reject violence and prevent conflicts. 

The Buddha’s great contribution to human being, his teaching “a harmonious 

world begin in the mind” helping all living being to break through delusion and 

cohesive awakening to rid suffering and attain happiness, to free from suffering by 

understanding the true nature of phenomena, 

The number of Buddhists in the world approximately about 500 millions that 

get affect from the crisis. They should be helped to be free from suffering through the 

practice of the Mid-Path that they have already learned from the Buddha’s teaching 

but they need to have more spiritual practice than usual. 

Buddhist Approach to Education in Thailand: 

In Thailand, the 15-year National Education Plan (1997-2011) emphasizes on 

the integration of Buddhism’s teaching in all aspects of the quality of life, including 

comprehensive and balance human development and the forging of a society of 

morality, wisdom and learning. One of strategic goals regards as human development 

with a focus on knowledge, happiness, health, a loving family, a pleasant 

environment, a peaceful and caring society. 

The Thai National Education Standards emphasizes the important of physical 

and mental health, knowledge and skills sufficient for leading a meaningful life and 

social development, self adjustment, social skill, righteousness, public-mindedness 

and consciousness of graduate students. This has proved that Buddhism has inspired 

in all stages of educational plan and policy. 

Buddhism has inspired the education administration of Thailand by including 

the Buddha’s disciplines in all stages of administration through the integration of the 

mainstream of the educational plan and administrative regulations and disciplines. 

To help the nation in economic development and to prepare people ready to 

live with self confidence under the fierce of economic crisis, the Ministry of 

Education has decided to put a compulsory practice of all educational level through 

the important projects called “the Promotion of Sufficiency Economy and the Ethics 

lead knowledge”. The projects are mainly concerned the implementation of the 

32


Buddha’s teaching and the implication of the philosophy of Sufficiency Economy 

that leading the students to learn how to make a balance of living within the 

atmosphere and circumstance of economic crisis. 

For the Ethics lead Knowledge, it sets of the student’s standards as to have 

desirable characteristics as diligence, economizer, faithfulness, disciplines, 

politeness, cleanness, solidarity and hospitality. 

It should mention that, education in Thailand has made an effort to be at an 

international standard and to develop education in adhere with the global movement 

and visions. And in terms of making education for peace and for economic gain by 

means to strengthen the student’s capacities and to empower of the education 

management, Thailand, as one of the Unesco’s Member states has adopted the key 

ideas on the organization of education for peace and ethics which “the Unesco 

convinced that education policies have to contribute to the development of 

understanding, solidarity and tolerance among individuals and among ethics, social, 

cultural and religious groups and sovereign nations. Education must be based on 

principles and methods that contribute to the development of personality of pupils, 

students and adults. Thailand has agreed to such ideas and using the Buddhism’s 

doctrine as an instrument to reach the visions. 

The Notion of Sufficiency Economy of H.M. the King of Thailand Leads to 

Achieve Human Progress and Economic Stability 

The following presentation will focus in particular issue on Sufficiency 

Economy and Ethics which is implemented by schools and institutions under 

administration of the Ministry of Education aiming at building a capability of 

students in skill works in order to help family in earning ,also to develop human 

resource readiness for economic and social development and stability. 

Sufficiency Economy is a philosophy that stresses the middle path as an 

overriding principle for appropriate conducted by the populace at all levels. This 

applies to conduct starting form the level of the families, communities, the nation in 

development and administration so as to modernize in line with the forces of 

globalization. 

Sufficiency means moderation, reasonableness and the need of self-immunity 

mechanism for sufficient protection from impact arising from internal and external 

changes. To achieve this, an application of knowledge with due consideration and 

prudence is essential. 

33


“Economic development must be done step by step. It should begin with the 

strengthening of our economic foundation, by assuring that the majority of our 

population has enough to live on. Once reasonable progress has been achieved, we 

should then embrace on the next step, by pursuing more advanced levels of economic 

development. Here, if one focuses only rapid economic expansion without making 

sure that each plan is appropriate for our people and the condition of our country, it 

will inevitably result in various imbalances and eventually end up as failure or crisis 

as found in other countries”.(His royal speech in 1974) 

The philosophy of Sufficiency Economy encouraged by H.M. the King of 

Thailand, which is based on the main teaching of the Buddha on Middle Path. It 

represents a guideline and a framework of economic thoughts and puts a 

comprehensive integration into the actual plan. Emphasis is also for the development 

of individuals as the center of human progress. The notion of Sufficiency Economy is 

to achieve sustainable development and well-being for each and every human being, 

especially for the people of the Kingdom of Thailand. By the application of above 

theory, the people will be capable to build well-balanced life style as well as to 

develop in the areas of economy, politics, environment, and education. The ultimate 

goal is to promote people to behave themselves and to gain self- happiness by 

practicing the doctrines of the Middle Path and finally, reaching the serene society. 

Sufficiency Economy: Direction of the Ninth-Tenth National Economic and 

Social Development Plan to Overcome Economic Crisis: 

The National Economic and Social Development Plan (2002-2011) adhered to 

the Royal philosophy of Sufficiency Economy, which H.M. the King of Thailand 

had graciously bestowed It is accepted that the Sufficiency Economy is based on the 

Buddhism philosophy which make the combination of economic practice and Ethics 

to achieve the development of Thai people. In relation to this, the Ministry of 

Education which is as one of responsible organizations has to do the implication of 

the National Plan to be in concrete practices Therefore, it could say that the National 

Educational Plan has inspired by the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy. The 

Ministry of Education has assigned and made the compulsory for the schools and 

institutions to formulate an actual project and put the plan to implement activities by 

conforming the Philosophy’s guidelines. Some achievement of project in schooling 

could be drawn to illustrate how worth and values of the Buddhism and the 

Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy in timing up of economic crisis. 

34


Experiences of the application of the Sufficiency Economy and Ethics: 

In 2009, the Ministry of Education carried out some researches to find out the 

achievement in the implementation of the Sufficiency Economy and Ethics Project 

which was conducted in 2008. The results were found as the following examples: 

Pasanusorn School at Thonburi province, launched the Student Savings 

Project aiming at practicing the students to spend money with care. For many times 

the Ethic Camp were conducted with close cooperation and assistance from temples 

by sending monks to act as resource persons and trainers on Dhamma issues. 

This school also keeps encourage the students, parents, teachers, employees 

and neighbors to take examination on Buddhist-Dhamma Suksa by believing that 

people will keep calm and gain happiness when their mind are pure and silence. 

Tantrarak school at Cholburi province, applied the concept of Sufficiency 

Economy aiming at improving a self-immunity of student from /against economic 

crisis by being able to live in the security atmosphere with mutual trust and respect 

among them . Strategic approach was to launch a School of Buddhist Way Project 

focusing on the transfer of knowledge and ethics. The students had to learn how to 

behave and be a reasonable and acceptable person. They had to practice in the 

context of good culture and dignity of being a Thai citizen. The Buddha- Dhamma 

(tri-sigga) is integrated into overall subject taught. 

Khonkaen Vitayakom School integrated the concept of the Sufficiency 

Economy into main subjects taught. It organized the project called “Bank of 

Goodness”. It also acted as a focal point and Center for Sufficiency Economy 

Development. 

Thairahtha Vidthaya School 99 at Bangbon district, Bangkok, launched 

agricultural program conforming the concept of the Sufficiency Economy as plant of 

flowers and fertilizers. The students had to learn how to earn and to learn how to be a 

reasonable consumer. 

Gudgwang Prachasarn School at Konkaen province, launched various 

activities as animal raising, school credit union, School of Buddhist Way, 

handicrafts, etc. 

The total of 890 schools and institutions have been conducting the Sufficiency 

Economy projects and Ethics since 2008. The Ministry of Education concluded the 

results and outcomes in 2009 as the students have changed behaviors with high 

quality standard, showing good heart and disciplines and sharing responsibility in 

household work as well as in schooling, taking good care for others and having good 

health and happiness. 

35


At administrative level, the administrators expressed high interest and provided 

a continual support in formulating a policy and plan, meanwhile, they acted as a 

model of self reservation and ethical performance with staff and stakeholders in a 

good manner. 

Result in term of living: 

1. the students could control the way of living, by keeping themselves in 

good discipline in term of expenditure, consumption and utilization of 

leisure time. 

2. the students could be able to have self-control by managing to overcome 

the external force/influence such as the inspiration from western external 

materials. 

From observations, the students have become devotees. They improved a 

conscious minded, sincerity, honesty, generous and kind hearted, spirituality, trust 

and patience. 

Conclusion: 

We, Buddhists believe that the Buddhism could play a crucial role in finding 

out some effective solutions to overcome economic and other crisis in worldwide. 

Buddhism is able to teach people to live with modesty, to improve the mind to refrain 

from unlimited desire, competition and struggle to get economic power. 

The noble teachings of the Buddha and the Philosophy of Sufficiency 

Economy of H.M. the King of Thailand are best approaches to help people to learn 

how to live with happiness within the phenomenon of global economic crisis. 

Finally, we wish to request and appeal the leaders in all sectors of the global to 

negotiate among them and to carry out the religious dialogue in order to create a 

concreted result by making people to learn how to live with sufficient economy and 

to build a social and political harmony among different nations and cultures in the 

world. 

36

Remark: 


How to yielding concrete results full commitment of and resolute action by 

all Buddhists organization concerned. 

How the Buddhists could practice the Middle –Path to achieve a selfreliant. 

How the monks could act as effective teachers as well as Psychologists and 

consultants 

37

Introduction 

A Buddhist Guide in Tackling the Challenges of Economic Crises 

38 

Ven. Dr. Mahinda Deegalle 

Bath Spa University United Kingdom 

‘Credit crunch’ 1 and ‘economic recession’ 2 are quite familiar words in 

today’s media across the world. This crisis language sends shock waves to 

politicians, economists, businessmen and the public. The current problem, known as 

credit crunch, began with problems in the repayment of mortgages in the United 

States, which created issues concerning lending practices around the world in July 

2007. 3 The house prices in the UK sharply fell and Northern Rock Bank ran into 

financial troubles in September 2007 4 and was eventually nationalised in February 

2008. The impact of credit crunch on the UK economy has been severe and it has 

marked a 28% drop in wealth held in housing and equities; it has erased £1.9 trillion 

of UK household wealth since July 2007. 5 In the context of this financial crisis, 

consumers noted a price squeeze since commodity prices rose rapidly in 2007 and 

2008 due to increasing demand from China and India and, as a result: petrol, food 

and other basic ‘necessities’ became more expensive. Inflation forced central banks 

to cut interest rates to ease the effects of the credit crunch. The collapse of Bear 

Stearns in January 2008 further increased fears and the financial crisis proper began 

with the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. 6 It followed a UK bailout 

of banks including the proposal to merge Lloyds and HBOS in October 2008. 7 The 

UK bank rate was slashed from 4.5% to 0.5 between October 2008 and March 2009, 

the lowest rate since the British Central Bank was formed in 1694. 

In this global crisis, without any discrimination, Asian and European 

economies have already confronted severe set backs in the face of growing economic 

recession. The international bodies such as the International Labour Organization of 

the UN predicts severe set backs in world economic growth in 2009, most economies 

1 

Credit crunch means an economic condition where there is a short supply of cash (credits) to be loaned 

to businesses and consumers. 

2 

A general slowdown of economic activities over a period of time is identified as economic recession. 

3 

http://www.accountancyage.com/accountancyage/news/2238606/credit-crunch-costs-britons (accessed 

on 25 March 2009). 

4 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6996136.stm (accessed on 25 March 2009). 

5 

http://www.accountancyage.com/accountancyage/news/2238606/credit-crunch-costs-britons (accessed 

on 25 March 2009). The credit crunch costs £40,000 for each British adult. 

6 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/sep/15/lehmanbrothers.marketturmoil (accessed on 25 

March 2009). 

7 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7621151.stm (accessed on 25 March 2009).


having less than 1% growth. The Global Employment Trends report of International 

Labour Organization observes: 

The global financial crisis has triggered a serious slowdown in world 

economic growth including recession in the largest industrialized countries. 

Enterprises have stopped hiring and many are laying off workers in 

considerable numbers.…In 2008, an estimated 6.0 per cent of the world’s 

workers were not working but looking for a job, up from 5.7 per cent in 

2007.…In many developing countries well over half of the workforce is 

employed in conditions that fall short of decent work, and breaking out of 

such situations is at the core of the global development challenge set out in 

the Millennium Declaration and its poverty-reducing goals. This report 

utilizes working poor and those in vulnerable employment (i.e. unpaid 

contributing family workers and own-account workers), which are workers 

most likely to be characterized by low and insecure employment, low 

earnings and productivity to help better understand labour market trends in 

developing economies. By the end of 2008 working poverty, vulnerable 

employment and unemployment were beginning to rise as the effects of the 

slowdown spread. If the recession deepens in 2009, as many forecasters 

expect, the global jobs crisis will worsen sharply. Furthermore, we can 

expect that for many of those who manage to keep a job, earnings and other 

conditions of employment will deteriorate. 8 

The implication of current financial and economic crises on the personal 

level is that world wide 51 million people would be unemployed compared to 2007. 9 

The immediate problem for most economies in this situation is that the millions 

already in extreme poverty will increase. There emerges a serious humanitarian issue 

of people undergoing utmost pain and suffering under unbearable poverty. 

Some serious questions that we can raise with regard to the economic crises 

are the following: To what extent, have extreme materialist lifestyles contributed to 

the present economic crises? To what extent, a disciplined consumerism can 

contribute and enhance our ability to tackle the drawbacks of the economic crises? 

What lifestyles does Buddhism encourage to overcome economic crisis while 

responding to consumerism and materialism? How should we rethink of existing 

economic strategies in light of the challenges of economic recession? Should we 

adopt and implement more sustainable economic policies as a remedy to current 

crises? To what extent, can spirituality aid us in overcoming the negative impact of 

economic recession and tackle successfully the worldwide economic crisis? What 

remedies and strategies can one find in the Buddhist teachings to rectify the current 

8 Global Employment Trends January 2009 (Geneva: International Labour Organisation, 2009), p. 7. 

9 Global Employment Trends January 2009 (Geneva: International Labour Organisation, 2009), p. 19. 

39


economic crises? How can we analyse Buddhist economic principles to draw 

inspiration from them to face the challenges of the economic crises? What are the 

Buddhist visions of economics and economic affairs? How can we use Buddhist 

teachings to identify specific defects and root causes of the current economic crisis? 

My central concern is how we can respond to the current global financial 

crisis from a perspective drawn from the teachings of Buddhism and inspired by 

Buddhist frameworks that are in use in Buddhist societies. How can we make 

Buddhism meaningful in difficult circumstances such as the economic recession? To 

what extent, can we draw inspiration from Buddhist teachings and practices? How 

can we persuade Buddhist societies that we can apply some of the Buddhist teachings 

in minimizing suffering caused by economic crises? 

This paper aims to find resources within Buddhist teachings and practices in 

tackling the challenges of economic crisis that the entire world is facing today. First it 

will identify the key Buddhist teachings of virtues such as simplicity, efficiency, 

frugality that will help a person to minimize the negative impact of economic 

recession. Second, it will identify the complexity of the economic problem at hand 

that requires a careful understanding and analysis of the economic conditions and 

business practices that led to the recession and the relative significance of religious 

teachings in it in aiding to resolve the problem indirectly by adopting a purely 

spiritual orientation. Third it will explore the potential of Buddhist teachings and 

practices in handling difficult economic situations with mindfulness and positive 

attitudes to work, lifestyle and towards a re-evaluation of one’s expenses and 

outgoings in order to develop healthy and sustainable life style. 

Buddhism on the Modern Economic Recession 

Like any other religious group, Buddhists are also very quick to highlight 

that Buddhism is relevant and capable of handling economic crisis that we face 

today. To be effective, any Buddhist perspective on modern economic recession has 

to be grounded on a realistic analysis of ground reality in the globalised world today. 

None of the economies in the modern world today are anymore independent 

from each other; they cannot operate independently from each other but instead are 

forced heavily to rely upon each other for a variety of transactions. For example, the 

reliance of various economies for oil makes them dependent on each other. This 

volatile nature of present economic affairs in the global scale means that the current 

globalised aspect of modern economy can be hardly envisioned or found in the 

Buddha’s days, which was primarily based on agriculture. The modern economic 

affairs have moved from agriculture based economies to a complex system of largescale 

economic activities that geographical or national boundaries cannot be clearly 

40


laid out. The economic process itself has become complex over the centuries with the 

use of technology and fresh introduction of controlling as well as freeing devices 

when such measures are required. Buddhist teachings on economic affairs, in this 

context, become only seeds of useful thoughts in addressing some critical questions 

related to basic issues of personal and collective lifestyles and organising meaningful 

measures for effective use of personal expenses. Highly theoretical and idealized 

versions of Buddhist interpretations of economics derived from strict readings of 

textual passages in the Buddhist canons as found in many traditional Buddhist 

traditions today will not go too far in handling the present economic crisis effectively 

since the current economic problem itself lies in a broader context of business 

relationships, management practices and economic policies of governments and of 

banking industry. It must be frankly stated that the present economic challenge 

requires quite sophisticated skills and talents in handling the crisis. 

Making meaning of Buddhism for economic stability and Healthy lifestyles 

It would be useful to identify economic themes and business affairs discussed 

in the Buddhist teachings and practices. What kind of recommendations can we 

derive from Buddhism for the social welfare state and its governance? How such a 

state must attend to the issues of economic development, economic crisis 

management, and extending the welfare programmes of the state and nongovernmental 

organisations? Can we delineate a distinct Buddhist perspective and 

angle on these issues? 

There is no doubt that both Buddhist texts and practices support the fact that 

Buddhist values and lifestyles stand for simplicity. We can understand this emphasis, 

for example, by reflecting upon monastic practices in all Buddhist countries. When 

Theravāda monks and nuns consume food they have to contemplate that their meals 

are just for survival and aids to enhance their daily religious practices. The second of 

the five reflections, for example, states: 

Carefully, with proper care, I use my food, not for sport, not for manly 

vigour, not for ornamentation nor for adornment, but only for the purpose of 

standing and sustenance of this body, to take non-delight in hurting, to help 

me to live the holy life.” 10 

This emphasis on simplicity can be clearly seen in Theravāda and Zen 

monastic practices related to meals. In the Korean Zen practice, the meal chanting is 

elaborate and its purpose is clear in religious terms: 

10 

Lionel Lokuliyana, The Great Book Protections (Singapore: Singapore Buddhist Meditation Centre, 

n.d), p. 9. 

41


Calculating how much effort [went into producing this food], we 

contemplate on where this [food] came from. 

We reflect on whether our own virtue is worthy of this offering. 

Our main task is to guard the mind and leave behind faults, such as 

craving, and so forth. 

We correctly consider that the salutary medicine [of food] will save 

our bodies from withering away. 

We should receive this food in order to complete the task of enlightenment. 11 

Though these are monastic values in today’s Buddhist monasticism, at one 

time (not long ago before the globalisation), when Buddhism was the dominant ethos 

of Buddhist civilisations, they may have shaped and guided the central aspects of 

Buddhist lifestyle for efficient use of economic resources available for their use. 

The contemporary situation in Buddhist societies is quite the opposite of 

what is expected from the Buddhist traditions. Nowadays, Buddhists in all major 

Buddhist countries such as Sri Lanka, Thailand, Korea and Japan, for example, are 

heavily engaged in enhancing the collective capitalist values including extremist 

materialism, consumerism and fast-food culture. Neither Buddhists nor their societies 

in which they operate in nowadays cannot be blamed from an absolutist point of view 

today that they have departed from the Buddhist teachings and values cultivated by 

their respective traditions. But indeed there is a challenge for the Buddhist today: on 

the one hand to adhere to traditional values espoused by the tradition and adapt and 

move with the rest of the world while responding to challenges that come on their 

way. 

In the face of economic crises, the real challenge for us, who are gathered 

here today and those who live Buddhist societies, is how we can make Buddhism and 

its teachings meaningful for a generation that is caught up in the credit crunch and 

financial crises where all economies whether Buddhist or not, are equally affected 

and the collective economic karma of one’s own making or that of making of others, 

perceived whether national or international or corporate, enhances human suffering 

across the globe without any discrimination or limiting to certain geographical or 

national boundaries. 

11 

Robert E. Buswell, Jr. The Zen Monastic Experience (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992), p. 

234. 

42


Values in Coping with Economic Crises: Buddhist Responses 

In native Buddhist languages, there are many indigenous terms that 

Buddhists have used in the past and are continuously using today to refer to crisis 

situations. The late Professor Gunapala Malalasekera had attempted to translate the 

English term ‘crisis’ into Sinhala language using three Sinhala expressions: (i) 

arbudaya (crisis), (ii) ugrāvasthāva (grave condition), and (iii) itā avadānam tattvaya 

(extremely dangerous condition). 12 One of the Pāli terms that refers to the results of 

‘crisis’ situation is āpadā (literally, misfortune, distress, calamity). 13 There are also 

other explanations of crisis situations. 

Though not envisioned in global terms such as the current financial 

recession, the historical Buddha had occasionally reflected upon the lifestyle of the 

householder and instructed how a householder must respond if he (or she) encounters 

a crisis in one’s financial means. The Buddha’s attention had been on the aspect of 

proper management of financial resources. If a householder lacks the experience of 

controlling and managing one’s financial means in terms of making proper expenses 

and as a result mismanages financial resources that person experiences serious 

financial crises. 

In a discussion of Buddhist responses to economic recession, the most 

relevant are the Buddha’s teachings to householders rather than to the monks. As a 

group, the lay persons are identified as ‘those who enjoy the pleasures of the sense’ 

(gihī kāma bhogino). They lead household lives by raising families and fulfilling 

family and community obligations to those around them. 

The Buddha’s teaching did not directly focussed on lay people’s lives and 

did not plan to regulate their lifestyles in the form of giving them a strict of conduct 

or a collection of laws. The moral teachings that the Buddha gave to the lay people 

enabled them to lead a content and healthy lifestyle. 

For understanding the Buddha’s teachings to lay people, there are several 

Buddhist discourses in the Pāli canon; they briefly refer to lay ethics of the 

householder. Among them, the Sigālovāda Sutta, which is identified by its 

commentary as gihi vinaya (the householder’s discipline), stands out as an important 

early Buddhist reflection that help us consider and discuss the Buddha’s views on the 

management of financial resources. 

While the success of this world and next world is an important part of the 

Buddha’s worldview, material welfare was an important foundation for cultivating 

12 G.P. Malalasekera, English Sinhalese Dictionary (Colombo, M.D. Gunasena, 1978), p. 214. 

13 A.P. Buddhadatta Mahāthera, Concise Pali English Dictionary (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1994), p. 

42; M. Cone, A Dictionary of Pāli (Oxford: The Pali Text Society, 2001), p. 308. 

43


the spiritual wellbeing. They are closely connected in layperson’s life. The moral 

guidance that the Buddha gave was intended to strike a balance of the two trends. 

As a manual of ethical guidelines for the householder, the Sigālovāda Sutta 14 

illustrates some of the ways that a householder can ensure one’s material and spiritual 

happiness while enjoying family life. These guidelines will be useful in developing a 

guide for a modern Buddhist to deal with the financial crises. 

Some of the guidelines that the Buddha proposed to the householder Sigāla 

to ensure financial stability are quite fascinating. These appear to be preliminary 

guidelines to ensure financial stability in the face of difficult situations and achieve 

happiness in life while consuming material and spiritual benefits. The Buddha 

advises: 

14 D.III.180ff. 

Young householder, when the disciple of the noble ones has given up 

four defilements of action, does no bad deed from four causes, does not 

pursue six ways of losing his belongings—when he avoids these fourteen bad 

ways, it is then that he covers the six directions. He is set to be victorious in 

both worlds: he gains the success of both this world and the next world… 

What are the six ways of losing one’s belongings that he does not 

pursue? Young householder, being devoted to the recklessness of strong 

drink and spirits is a way of losing one’s belongings; wandering in the 

streets at unseemly hours is a way of losing one’s belongings; frequenting 

fairs is a way of losing one’s belongings; being devoted to the recklessness of 

gambling is a way of losing one’s belongings; being devoted to bad friends is 

a way of losing one’s belongings; being habitually idle is a way of losing 

one’s belongings. 

Young householder, there are these six dangers in being devoted to 

the recklessness of strong drink and spirits: the diminishing of any wealth, 

increased quarrelling, a whole range of illnesses, ill repute, exposing 

oneself, and weakening of the intellect as the sixth.…there are six dangers in 

wandering in the streets at unseemly hours: one is defenceless and without 

protection, one’s wife and children are defenceless and without protection, 

one’s property is defenceless and without protection, one is suspected of 

being up to no good, false accusations are made against one, one encounters 

all sorts of misfortunes.…there are these six dangers in being devoted to the 

recklessness of gambling: if one wins one engenders hatred, if one loses one 

bemoans the things lost, one’s wealth diminishes, one’s word has no 

authority in an assembly, one is despised by one’s friends and companions, 

one is not considered a desirable marriage partner, since the gambling man 

44


does not have the means to support a wife.…there are these six dangers in 

being devoted to bad friends: one has friends and associates who are 

gamblers, drinkers, drunks, cheats, liars, and ruffians.…there are six 

dangers in being habitually idle: one thinks, “It’s too cold” and does no 

work…And with all one’s tasks still undone, one does not get what one does 

not have, and what one has dwindles away.… 

These six directions should be seen as follows: the east should be 

seen as one’s mother and father, the south as one’s teachers, the west as 

one’s wife and children, the north as one’s friends and companions, the 

direction below as servants and workers, the direction above as ascetics and 

brahmans. 15 

This sutta can be considered as a very preliminary guideline for managing 

wealth by avoiding waste; it shows that the Buddha considered the importance of 

wealth for one’s success in lay life and its potential for opening avenues for further 

progress. Like the Sigālovāda Sutta, other Pāli canonical texts such as the 

Vyagghapajja Sutta 16 extol the virtues of hard work, honesty, austerity and shows 

importance of savings and have become very popular among Theravāda Buddhists. 

The Buddha never claimed to be an economic theorist. Nevertheless, he was 

very much concerned with economic security of the householder. He valued the 

economic security of the householder (atthi-sukha). 

In relation to economic crisis and Buddhist responses to it, Buddhism has an 

important contribution to make in terms of its analysis and evaluation of economic 

processes. Broadly speaking, the teachings of the Buddha provide some useful 

guidelines to conduct our lives. One of the key such instruction is the adoption of a 

balanced perspective. As human beings since we can rationalize and respond 

effectively to adverse situations once we develop a balanced perspective to identify 

the problems and adopt a proper analysis of the conditions in order to implement 

successful ways and means in overcoming difficult situations. Crisis situations are 

often effectively managed and resolved with reflective thinking and proper adoption 

of strategies in resolving crises. 

A proper attitude to life is extremely significant in responding to crises 

effectively and overcoming them. This requires a proper understanding of the ‘true 

nature’ of things around us. Throughout his life, the Buddha has reminded us and 

taught us as his central teaching that everything within us and around us is subject to 

change. Constant change whether momentary or a transient phenomenon that occurs 

15 

Rupert Gethin, Sayings of the Buddha: A Selection of Suttas from the Pali Nikāyas (Oxford: Oxford 

University Press, 2008), p. 130-32. 

16 

A.IV.281ff. 

45


over a long period of time is a natural order of all impermanent things. 17 This 

includes also the economy, business practices and management styles of our private 

lives as well as that of larger corporations. Since everything is subject to change, our 

relative situations in a given economy or context is also going to change. Since 

everything is in a state of constant flux, the only thing that we can be sure of is the 

constant change occurring in everything within us and around us. This realistic 

approach to things in the world requires us to cultivate proper attitudes towards the 

world and affairs of the world in order to overcome crises. One of the attitudes that 

Buddhist teachings attempt to cultivate in all Buddhist traditions is to educate us to 

cultivate certain life skills. For example, since ups and downs in life are quite 

common, as successful persons we must learn to accept whatever that comes our 

way. 

In a volatile economy, when there is an economic recession, it is more likely 

that many jobs will be cut due to down-sizing and many workers will be laid off. 

Loosing jobs can be a great shock for us and we may face unfortunate economic 

disasters. Once we understand the workings of global economy in times of economic 

recession, it can be no surprise to us that in a world where every affairs whether 

economic or not are transient in nature, there is less that we can do to fix it in a 

shorter term. 

We need significant changes in our attitudes and lifestyles. From a pragmatic 

Buddhist perspective, what is more important and required from us for living well 

and happy is to learn ways and means of cultivating attitudes of steadfastness and 

sharpen one’s ability to face boldly the turbulence and ups and downs in life with 

even-mindedness. The difficulties that we encounter in our lives often present new 

and challenging opportunities for our development, growth and learning. There may 

be new opportunities for us to develop potentialities. 

Beyond facing the challenges of the changing economic conditions, a crisis 

situation can be used as a teaching session to ourselves. A crisis can offer an 

opportunity to reflect upon our lives and things that we do for our living. The acute 

demands of the day will push us to think twice and take a step back, reassess our 

priorities in life and work, questions our values related to wealth and material 

consumption, and reevaluate the significance of cultivating a value system that can 

sustain us in difficult situations. 

Economic recession gives us an opportunity to make an honest assessment of 

our basic needs. We can rethink of our budget. One’s daily and monthly spending 

must be determined by one’s necessities. Some expenses that we bear casually in 

17 Mahinda Deegalle, “The Central Buddhist Doctrine of Anicca: A Unifying Category in Understanding 

Buddhist Traditions in Sri Lanka and Japan,” Symposium on Buddhist Studies, (ed.) K. Rahula (London: 

Thames Meditation Society, 2003), 182-193. 

46


healthy economic situations, which are partially or fully encouraged by fashion, 

persuasion and advertisement, must be thought out twice before making purchases. If 

cash is deployed on extravagances, that should be limited to a minimum. An 

economic recession is a time that we can adopt hard resolutions on where money 

should go in; we cannot just let wealth disappear in vain. 

Avoiding extravagant spending is a key to overcome negative effects of 

economic recession. We can also be hard on the amount of waste in our everyday 

lives. If we reflect on how much we waste, we can restrain our expenses and can 

remain within reasonable limits of expenses. Tightening the economic belt may 

actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise. What better time can we have to cut 

down on unnecessary entertainment, drinking, smoking and other extra comforts? 

When a challenge such as the economic recession viewed from a right 

perspective, we all can develop proper understanding of the problem; it develops 

within us an insight to tackle it effectively without being frustrated. As religious 

communities, if we act wisely and efficiently to handle the economic crisis, though 

the economic crisis is real and in the process of unfolding with severe repercussions, 

we may find ways to tackle them with a healthy mind. 

Today’s financial crisis is a result of complex factors such as unhealthy 

lending practices, mismanagement of financial services, and unhealthy lifestyles. In 

guiding Buddhists to face the adverse effects of the financial crises, Buddhism would 

identify a range of causes and Buddhist response to them will propose a multiple 

approach; a global problem like this cannot be resolved by one approach alone. It 

needs and demands diverse and multiple approaches and solutions. 

Conclusions: 

In responding to economic crises, the strength of Buddhism lies in the 

cultivation of attitudes. The best Buddhist response to economic crises is in the 

development and education of people in cultivating positive attitudes and conducts 

that can handle such crises. 

In tackling the financial crises, Buddhism may require certain minimum 

virtues from our daily life in order to make us successful. One of the most important 

virtues is living within one’s means and leading a content life. It is important to be 

responsible for one’s actions and avoid over consumption and wishful life. One 

should not make one’s life burdensome by taking loans that one cannot afford to pay 

back. There must be also modesty in one’s lifestyle; we must refuse blaming others 

for over-consumption but guide them towards a content life. Since the financial crisis 

is a global one, its solution largely depends on global initiatives. One state or one 

47


person cannot do the dramatic change. Economic giants believe that neither one 

country nor one economy can resolve the problem. It needs a global coalition. The 

crisis has global issues at hand so that it needs global response. States must work 

together with other states in order to respond to it and solve it. There is also a human 

dimension to the crisis and that human factor must be taken into account. The 

problem of trust in business matters plays the key factor here and religions can help 

in cultivating truthful attitudes to business and management practices. 

48

I. All or nothing? 

Rather More than Less: From Addiction to 

Sobriety, From Suffering to Freedom 

Frans Goetghebeur 

President of the European Buddhist Union 

2500 years ago the Buddha made it quite clear that suffering is everywhere 

and this is still true today. Even amongst the rich: in the space of one year the 

number of millionaires has been reduced by a third. In 2008 a billion dollars went up 

in smoke and these people have lost 23 % of their financial reserves. No small 

amount! And that’s before we consider the losses of the hundreds of thousands of 

small savers. 

“I would rather have much than too little.” “I never have enough.” 

Two contemporary thoughts that have a destructive effect on our minds and 

on our relationships – not to mention the negative effect they have on our planet. 

There is a saying which translates as: wanting two when you already have one opens 

the door to the devil. This misunderstanding, this form of “avidya” or ignorance, this 

misbehavior is what we are referring to when we speak of the causes of the economic 

crises in Buddhist terms. 

The end of the old world order: 

A serious dent in the self-satisfied armor of western civilization then: the 

collapse of her economic and financial structure which have proved to be extremely 

unreliable. The principles of globalization with its free markets and open borders 

have been dealt a crippling blow. 

We have seen crises such as the tulip bulb hysteria of the 17 th century, the 

stock market crash of 1929 and the dot.com crises of the year 2000, but unlike in the 

previous crises, this present crisis has raged around globe with the destructive power 

of a storm – striking everything in its path. In Buddhism we call this “existing in 

dependence”/interdependence. The stride of globalization means that not only do 

Japan and China have the US in their power but also that precisely because of 

economic dimensions of the crises, everyone has been affected. 

So here we are: some speak of a fatal evolution from saving- to debt 

capitalism, others speak of the end of casino-capitalism. The question is whether we 

49


can ever come to a correct form of capitalism: the French president Sarkozy who 

headed a congress in Paris called “New world, new capitalism” seems to think we 

can. If that is so we will have to re-think everything: from top to bottom -- and we 

will have to work on a new world order in earnest. This call echoes in from every 

segment of our civilization. 

Away with liberalism! 

People are quick to seek someone to blame and will, therefore, always find a 

scapegoat. Nowadays everyone is very keen to pin the blame on liberalism. 

Collectivists and proponents of state controlled systems believe that liberalism 

caused this crisis. Ecologists blame liberalism for global warming. And conservatives 

even blame liberalism for the decline in moral standards. There might be an element 

of truth in all of those positions but it still leaves a lot still to be said. 

Emptiness and interdependence are Buddhist concepts which prevent people 

from falling into such confrontational opposing camps or conflictual reasoning. Such 

positions are always sterile and unhelpful because everyone can find reasons to 

believe that he or she has the right end of the stick. Emptiness and interdependence 

remind us that nothing occurs or exists in and of itself (nor could one thing alone be 

responsible for anything else), and that everything should be seen as a conjunction of 

many factors and influences. Remembering this helps us to see the situation more 

clearly and makes it possible to describe the situation more accurately. 

For as long as can be remembered, confrontation and conflict, accusation and 

punishments have always led to little else than more trouble. These are repetitive 

arguments, behavioral ruts, and long-outmoded paradigms which do little to improve 

the situation. Einstein rightly stated that the thought processes which caused the 

problem cannot be used to solve it. 

The past and the present 

Westerners have short memories: the post-war reconstruction was barely 

over before people began to believe that you can sell anything regardless of how 

worthless it might be -- as if there were no limits, as if there were no link between 

cause and effect. Ten years ago, Alan Greenspan sounded the alarm about the 

irresponsible lack of realism amongst the business leaders and speculators and in 

particular he warned against the irrational enthusiasm of business gurus. The virtual 

profits were always many times greater than the actual core business. Enormous risks 

were being taken and mountains of debt were being created. These would eventually 

50


needlessly endanger the small man’s employment, savings and pension. And now we 

are faced with exactly those problems. 

Karma teaches us that the causes can be recognized in the nature of the 

results: insane causes produce insane results. 

Plan of action 

Specialists are investigating the origin of the crisis. Actuaries are taking 

initiatives to lessen its impact. Banks, it is said, must be saved. Others call for a new 

boost to the economic sector. Or the north-south divide must be addressed. Or 

stringent controls of the world trade organization’s tax system is what’s needed, to 

support ethical investment and fiscal credit, to bring ethical competition in the 

market, the control of social, ecological and ethical labeling, to replace the dollar 

with a truly international reserve currency, etcetera, etcetera. 1 

The question remains however as to whether all these analyses and proposals 

are just cosmetic measures. Or as we Belgians say: “putting a band-aid on a wooden 

leg.” Do we still lack a firm statement about the true causes of the problem? Who is 

to say? And how does Buddhism see the situation. Or what did Senator John McCain 

mean when he talked of “the greed of Wall street”? 

II. The actual situation 

Diagnosis 

Everyone agrees that the following factors which are rooted in the logic and 

culture of capitalism itself played a role: 

- The continuous growth in production and consumption. 

- Many damaging results have ensued from this idea: the profit principle, 

the creation of growth markets, the manipulation and misleading of 

consumers by an unscrupulous marketing and advertising industry, 

1 One of the most interesting reactions to the crises has been the measures outlined by Jacques Attali. 

The leading French economist working with a team of 43 experts and 100 professionals was asked to 

elaborate 300 key decisions to change France. After meeting with many politicians, they drew up a set 

of steps and instructions for urgent and fundamental reform. The outlined plan focussed on general and 

social mobility, efficient government, better public management, curtailing unemployment, more 

housing, less poverty, more small- and medium-sized businesses, the reduction of public debt, 

facilitating access to the internet, modernisation of the economy (especially in terms of regulating 

competition and distribution), cooperation with unions, payment for jobseekers, the “espoir banlieux” 

plan for cleaning up the suburbs, etc. quite a list indeed. Not long ago such a plan would have led to 

sarcasm, now it’s understood to be bitter necessity. 

51


environmental damage through the exploitation of nature, the 

degradation of truly human factors whereby the welfare of future 

generations is not taken into account. Greed is the first poison mentioned 

by the Buddha. 

- Instability and imbalance on many levels are structural and systemic in a 

capitalist economy. They are inherent to the system. The creation of 

monopolies based on the “the winner-take-all” market system, the 

separation of capital, assets and labor cause social inequalities. 

(Virtually all of those listed in the “Forbes 400” wealthiest people in 

America derive their primary income from the ownership of capital and 

other forms of income-earning property, not from wages and salaries.) 

Insane competition can lead to aversion, in all its forms: the second 

poison. 

- The invisible hand of the Growth Imperative and Environmental Damage 

are systemic as a widespread instinctive conviction in the existence of an 

Order of Things. Everything will be alright used to be the refrain. This 

led to the perversion of the whole system because it was assumed that 

there would be no moral control and no international oversight. And 

within this lapse the only rule was to generate a measurable rate of return 

for investors, “buy low, sell high”. This became the driving force, the 

fundamental tendency, the method of thought and action. The pathogens 

endemic to the system grew into economic theories which informed and 

infected the investors, speculators and politicians’ decision-making and 

thereby spread the illness even further. This, too, is how the vicious 

circle of samsara is described. The well-known neurobiologist Francesco 

Varela called such closed systems (self-seeding?) self-sustaining 

structures. To escape this requires a great deal of mindfulness and 

transcendental wisdom to see things as they are and for what they mean 

on the ultimate level - Ignorance being the third poison. 

The Buddha spoke of three pathological behavioral patterns: excessive 

attachment, aversion and ignorance. It is the hypnotic nature of the resultant 

disturbing emotions and the fundamental ignorance of the true nature of the situation 

we find ourselves in which keep us circling in samsara. 

There is a whole series of polarities and divisions which have completely lost 

their relevance and which need to be overcome if we wish to create a dynamic which 

will lead us to liberation: us and them: reason and emotion, strong state intervention 

or protective measures for companies and countries, etc. The perversion in these 

choices lies in the concept of “either-or”. 

52


One of them is the false dilemma “state or private”, if at least we expect a 

definitive answer. We see it happening before our very eyes – it is not just the 

unprofitable companies which go under. The most vociferous companies get the 

greatest state support: a two-fold duplicity whereby supply and demand, productivity 

and profitability no longer matter, instead it is influence which counts. This is one of 

the reasons that Europe has had such a scandalous agricultural policy for so long. Not 

innovation but profit-seeking is rewarded – that which is in the interests of the 

government. It may be clear that it is no longer possible to distinguish between state 

intervention and a liberal economy: liberal governments adopt protectionist measures 

and states buy banks. Everything is changing. The struggle should not be between 

state control or privatization, between humanism and market fundamentalism. An 

excess and an insufficiency in both policies would be disastrous. The same is true for 

all such word-pairings. 

A dualistic vision of reality is not only incomplete but it is also incorrect. 2 

Liberation has something to do with ending all dualistic clinging. 

The Middle Way 

Buddhism is called the philosophy of the middle way. This is not just 

because of Nagarjuna but because the fundamental dialectic of the Buddha’s 

educational project: the non-normative ethics so finely described in the Pali cannon 

and explained in the rich Abhidhamma tradition of Theravada Buddhism; because of 

its liberating insights thanks to the concepts of interdependence and emptiness in the 

Sanskrit literature of Mahayana Buddhism. 

It always takes two – never just one. Action and insight should always go 

together on every level – the two wings that make it possible for birds to fly. 

Compassion and wisdom, intimately intertwined, lead to pertinent actions and 

progress on the road to authentic liberation. 

2 Children become criminals and adults become childish. One can be a devout enlightener or an 

enlightened believer (Marc Heirman). The same is true for left- or right wing ideology: the left has 

become conservative, and the right forward-thinking. The left has focussed on income for too long has 

been outran by an evolving, multi-cultural social reality. (13% of the world’s population is white). The 

identity crises which left-wing parties are going through has in some countries led to a debate as to 

whether it wouldn’t be better to simply do away with the socialist parties. The right is gaining ground. 

The present critique of cultural relativism is being crudely reworded by leading right-wingers and 

stamped as fascism: the forward-thinking left now say, “if you offend God you get a literary prize, if you 

criticise the prophet you get a court case”. Previously that would have met with criticism from all 

progressive elements of society. All “yes or no “positions lead to war. Everyone acts in the name of 

justice – even terrorists. In the words of the philosopher Pascal, “Everyone is trying to be happy, even 

the one who hangs himself.” 

53


This dialectic ensures that we don’t get caught up in one aspect, one concept, 

one opinion, a one-way street, one absolute solution or a linear form of thinking, for 

such approaches only produce opponents, or even enemies. 

All forms of absolutism are disempowered by the acute wisdom of the 

Buddha. Buddhism is in this sense rust-proof, sclerosis-proof and fixation-proof. 

Wars are not only the result of language errors, as the American linguist Korzybski 

once said. Conflicts arise wherever cramped ultra-conservative stubbornness is 

found, wherever flexibility of mind or the suppleness to evolve with the everchanging 

reality is lacking. Change management in the business world, system theory 

in science and the transformative dynamism that arises from meditation are not so far 

removed from each other: after all it’s all about developing an accurate vision of 

reality, and the wisdom and flexibility to know when something needs to be done and 

what would be the best way to go about doing it – because you know exactly how the 

cybernetics fit together. 

III. The answer to the economic crisis: 

What is the Buddhist answer to the economic crisis? After all, this is the 

problem that we are all investigating. It shows clearly that alongside all the 

intelligent, well-intentioned and wise people who have already offered their Buddhist 

opinions alone could not provide an answer, it can however offer some support to 

prevent too much time-loss. We could also put it in this way: Buddhism is supporting 

some tendencies that might contribute to an evolution towards a way to deal with the 

actual situation. Instead of: 

- the maintenance of dissatisfaction by a system based on the constant 

creation of new needs; 

- obsession with the growth co-efficient (i.e. profit) – people are even 

using the term “negative profit” instead of calling a spade a spade. In the 

USA there are more cars than driver’s licenses; 

- maintaining the three collective egos as David Loy calls the three 

fundamental vices: the constant stimulation of the drive to accumulate of 

possessions (the storage and ware-housing industry in the US has a 

budget of 20 billion); the militarization of many domains in society 

through the principle of competition; the disinformation which has 

happened as a result of the excess of information; 

54


…we need new instruments, new ways of thinking, new ways of cooperation and 

new priorities. And we must make use of insights from all domains and traditions. In 

addition the rise of Buddhism is perhaps fortuitous in as much as it does not play into 

the hands of the power-holders and magnates. There is more and more talk of 

Mindful-Economics. Key businesses, financial institutions, government agencies and 

labor unions in the local community could all be organized along these values. 

Buddhist economics, argues that sukha (well-being, felicity) is the result of the 

emergence of pañña - wisdom. 

Minimizing suffering, simplifying desires, non-violence, genuine care, and 

generosity are the key words of a Buddhist economics which is rational, ethical, and 

ecological and can lead to happiness, peace and durability. 

A strong trend towards greater sustainability and sobriety 

There is a strong movement under way to increase sustainability, for more 

simplicity and sobriety. “Monachos” is a Greek word that means “he who lets go of 

the surplus and only concentrates on the essential” More and more people realize the 

importance of such a choice. Years ago already, E.F. Schumacher wrote about the 

wisdom that can be found in moderation. In his essay, “Small is beautiful” the 

Buddhist vision about economy and happiness was revealed for the first time. These 

days people really realize that the more one possesses, the less value one attaches to 

all of it; and the less one possesses, the easier it is to discover the true value of what 

you have. 

One can ask the question if the words “sustainable” or “ecologically justified 

entrepreneurship, business ethics …” are accompanied by a sincere concern from the 

managers and company owners for a responsible lifestyle and business relationships. 

Or whether is it limited to just window dressing, just another attempt to continue 

selling, even if one uses a new vocabulary to win the consumers’ trust? Or is it 

indeed possible to come to another society, as the world has been told since Seattle 

and as Buddha suggested 25 centuries ago? 

Spirituality as societal criticism 

Since the age of the historical Buddha, Buddhism has expounded means to 

end suffering by recognizing its causes and avoiding them. Representatives of a more 

engaged form of Buddhist practices from the East as well as in the West include with 

this a sharp analysis for the contemporary society. 

55


This actually happens in all great religious and philosophical traditions: these 

traditions and not so much the political world are actually the real origin of the most 

dynamic and renewing initiatives and transparent evaluations of our societies. On the 

social platforms organized in the margins of the official summits of the 

representatives of the richest countries in Davos, it was said that: “Spiritual sources 

are necessary to prevent the exhaustion of natural sources.” So people are not waiting 

for supernatural rescuers. People are taking responsibility in their own hands and 

those are usually people with some spiritual background -- which already says a lot 

about the status of spirituality in our society. 

Voluntary simplicity movement 

In the eighties of the last century, a movement was born in Quebec and the 

US in the context of this criticism on society, which calls itself the “Voluntary 

Simplicity Movement”. This is not a “bo-bo-lifestyle” movement (bo-bo means 

bohemian bourgeois). But it is rather a radical movement that wants to replace “ever 

more” with “it is enough”. These people understand that economic goods alone don’t 

lead to happiness but “relational goods” are necessary as well. An ever growing 

group of citizens in the richer Western countries are seeking ethical justified 

consumption, responsible financing, and more social responsibility in companies. 

These are no longer empty phrases. They are only waiting for the support of efficient 

political actions. If: 

- each day Europe grants 2 euro per cow, which is more then 75% of all 

Africans have to live on per day; 

- torture is still applied in 150 countries; 

- in Kenya 1/3 of a family income is spend on bribes; 

- in Russia every year 12.000 women die from domestic violence; 

- every year on earth more people die from suicide than from armed 

conflict; 

- 6% of the population of the so called civilized countries are depressed; 

…then we can postulate the idea that there is something wrong with us. The need for 

a more authentic lifestyle, more solidarity and emotional balance, for deep human 

values is evident everywhere. “Moins de biens, plus de liens”, say the militants (less 

goods, more connections). And Mahatma Gandhi puts it this way: “Live simply to 

allow others simply to live.” According to them outer simplicity leads more easily to 

a real inner wealth. 

56

Austerity 


Striving for austerity may seem somewhat strange. A consciously chosen low 

material consumption and a sober lifestyle could seem like exactly the opposite of the 

ever increasing shareholders value, ever increasing job productivity, more income, 

more consumption, more production. More non-material values can give life more 

depth and inspiration. 

The Hungarian philosopher Laszlo Zsolnai puts the emphasis on the 

connection between economy and Buddhism in general: the one decreases material 

discomforts, and the other existential. But the capitalistic system consists of some 

blind mechanisms that are strongly perverted, that much has been exposed by the 

recent financial and economical crisis. In the fifties some Buddhist institutes shared 

some wise words about this poisoned gift from the West. But these words were 

neglected and people chose to go for the fata morgana (mirage/illusion) that 

appeared on the horizon. And of course today some belong to the Asian Tigers. But 

the losses on the human, social and spiritual level are incalculable. The morbid 

society which we have got ourselves into (violence, distrust, suicide, depression) 

generates many civilization disorders (depression, obesities, medication addiction, 

and so on) instead of a heavenly place on earth. 

Insights on happiness, wellness and income 

By now we have come to the understanding that prosperity does not equal 

happiness. The economist Richard Easterlin has observed that there exists no 

meaningful correlation between income and happiness. A whole library has been 

written referring to scientific research in that respect. Happiness is, principally, as 

measurable as blood pressure. Apparently meditation stimulates the eudaemonist 

sense of happiness, the immune system, the heartbeat, balances blood sugar level and 

can influence life expectancy and the recovery time after illness. Layard, a leading 

academic economist, who is also a policy adviser to the UK government states that 

Buddhist mindfulness meditation, together with cognitive therapy and ‘positive 

psychology’, promote mental well-being. In the Netherlands the unions have just 

recently proposed meditation as a working condition. 

The experience of happiness is limited. There is no measure of a meaningful 

life. Does this require a culture of solidarity and an atmosphere of trust? It is a 

fundamentally courageous attitude of generosity as Clinton or Gates have modeled 

recently? Was mother Theresa happy? Buddha? Shakespeare? Jeanne d’Arc? All 

right, life is not just all about happiness, according to the philosopher and 

neurobiologist Owen Flanagan, living a meaningful life is. Nirvana is described in 

57


the Buddhist sutras as the “highest happiness”, the culmination of a life in which the 

person fulfils his/her true potential. 

When Peter Singer said in the New York Times that he spent a quarter of his 

salary on charity, and somebody replied that one does not become happy by doing 

that. He answered: “No, but one does become a better person.” 

The responsibility of the individual to collective action 

Individual awareness is the basis from which to later intervene correctly in 

the collective. Each individual who no longer accepts the obsessive belief in the 

apology of continuous growth, over-consumption, competition, who resists the 

anonymity of the metropolis, each individual that seeks a new approach to money, to 

transportation, to medicine, to nutrition, to holidays, is changing something in 

society. Revolution starts with a generous thought, a reversal with an inner 

transformation. Generous thoughts as there are: 

- a worldwide health insurance for all people where rich countries 

contribute a little more than the poor countries; 

- a United Nations of the wise elders from each country instead of 

politicians; 

- thinking in terms of a large human family to which we belong instead of 

nations and states etc... 

They are generous because they emphasize on relationship between the self 

and the other, the individual and humanity, but also between the human being and 

nature. These kinds of relationships are greatly emphasized in Buddhism also. This 

one can deduced from the beautiful quote: “Each time an enlightened being acts, the 

water of the rivers becomes more clear and the plants grow greener.” In all areas of 

our society the values of interrelationship and interdependency are becoming tangible 

now. 3 

3 This makes, for instance, the difference between managers and leaders. “Managers do things right. 

Leaders do the right things.” (Charles Handy). “A manager focuses on systems, a leader focuses on 

people. A manager asks how, a leader asks why.” (Peter Drucker) 

58

Conclusion 


There is definitely a trend developing in which inner reality is taken more 

into consideration. That is mainly what Buddha was talking about, the 

mechanism of the mind as a driving force for everything that exists and that 

will come to be. 

There are several parallel terms in ecology, science (system theory and 

quantum physics), Buddhism and economics. Organic (autopoietic) solidarity 

networks are autonomous, dynamic, are temporary partnerships with a high 

capacity for change and the permanent ability to face the challenge of all 

unforeseen circumstances. The world is here presented as a complex of 

fluctuating realities, continuous change processes. 

These days no one escapes confrontation with the task of facing the true 

nature of the (economical or samsaric?) system that we participate in. The 

right perception requires some kind of simplicity (“beginner’s mind” as they 

called it in the Zen-tradition). In Buddhism they call this “removing the veils 

of karma, of disturbing emotions, of fundamental tendencies and of the 

knowable (the cognitive veils)”. 

There is also a tendency to shift the focus from need to satisfaction. 4 In 

Buddhism we speak in terms of fundamental humanness, about the 

inexhaustible strength of the proper spirit and about the possibility that is 

accessible for everyone to restore a natural health. Amongst other approaches 

healing from a sickness could happen through gaining insight in the troubling 

unrealistic expectations and illusions that we maintain within ourselves. 

Happy people are kind, pleasant and creative. 

Humankind is gradually evolving from mimetic desire 5 to relational or social 

intelligence. Eight million volunteers helped Obama gain his power. 8809 

organizations have pointed in this direction in more then 2000 workshops 

with a hundred thousand participants at the recent World Social Forum of the 

28 th of March that took place on the margins of the World Economic Forum 

4 People not longer choose to accept the negative human-vision that is being enforced here in the West: 

as if men (according to socio-biologists) would the result of blind evolutionary movements, an 

accidental crystallisation in the disorganised movement of the genes. A kind of melting pot that is under 

pressure and that regularly needs to discharge some steam in culturally agreeable performances 

(according to Freud). To Nietzsche a human is a sick animal that is never evidently adjusted and 

therefore doomed to creativity. It is no wonder that humankind is depressed after all these statement and 

walks the earth with hunched shoulders and in a heavy mood. The fact that we have arrived in a moral 

fallow land is certainly the result of these fresh ideological sounding statements. 

5 ‘Mimetic desire’: we constantly compare our position with that of others. We want as much as the 

others or more then the others or different then the others. This way we organise our own dissatisfaction. 

We desire something not because we need it, but because others have it. 

59


of Davos. 6 In Buddhist circles they talk about “mindful-economy” that is 

based on value-based principles: social justice, equity and democracy, 

ecological sustainability and stability. Economy in general needs to make the 

choice: “it can be made to maximize profits for its shareholders, or it can be 

made to serve the needs of the community. A Mindful Economy is 

Intrinsically Democratic, Equitable and Just. A Mindful Economy is Based 

on Respect for All Life and Natural Processes. A mindful-economy is 

committed to a proper stewardship of the planet.” (…) “Unlike the boom 

and bust instabilities of capitalism, a mindful-economy rests on a secure 

foundation that is firmly embedded in the local community. It is independent 

from the Wall Street speculators and other predatory practices that cause the 

financial system to swing up and down with instability. The company is 

driven by the motive to serve the community, integrates ownership and work 

and does not pursue growth for growth’s sake.” 

The economy therefore becomes an important vector or symptom of a change 

process. The words of Gandhi “Let us be the change we want to see in the world.” 

are therefore still applicable and approximate very closely that which the Buddha has 

taught. The importance of each individual contribution that people are currently 

discovering is probably the best news that we can report in our days. History will 

show if this growing insight, that currently has reached a critical mass of 30% in 

Western population, has enough power to reverse the tide. 

There is plenty of evidence that Buddhism provides more than a substantial 

contribution to this and in my opinion that does not need to be repeated here. It is 

simply a matter of avoiding polarization and making good use of the opportunity to 

silently fertilize the subliminal layers of society by an authentic study and practice of 

the Dhamma of the Buddha. It will help to stay calm in the middle of the storm and 

generous in every action through body, speech and mind. 

May the clear and wise advices of the Enlightened One continue to radiate! 

May they inspire all those who are constructing the world we will offer to 

our children and grandchildren! 

May the realization of non-self guide our progress in the Dhamma! 

May we be able to free ourselves from all clinging to negative or erroneous 

views (and mostly those we are not conscious about) in order to create the best 

chances for ourselves and for all sentient beings to realize the ultimate state of 

Enlightenment! 

6 For the result of this alternative forum : see www.choike.org/qcrisis 

60

Bibliography 


Bouckaert Luk & Zsolnai Laszlo, Spirituality as a Public Good, Garant Publishers & 

the authors, 2007 

Carrette Jeremy and King Richard, Selling spirituality, Routledge, 2005 

Cloninger C. Robert, Feeling Good, Oxford University Press, 2004 

Csikszentmihalyi Mihaly, Good business. Leadership, flow and the making of 

meaning, Viking Press, 2003 

De Bouvier Emeline, Moins de biens, plus de liens, Couleur livres, 2008 

Easterlin Richard, Does money buy happiness?, -, 1973 

Field Lloyd, Business and the Buddha, Wisdom Publications, 2007 

Goetghebeur Frans, Les mille visages du bouddhisme, Editions Racine, 2008 

Kessel Brent, It's not about the money, HarperOne, 2008 

Layard Richard, Happiness, Allen Lane, 2005 

Liem Giok In, Interdependent Economy, iUniverse, 2005 

Loy David, Money Sex War Karma, Wisdom Publications, 2008 

Moreau Gérard, Dictature de la croissance, Ginkgo éditeur, 2005 

Napoleoni Loretta, Rogue Economics - Capitalism's New Reality, Seven Stories 

Press, 2008 

Noels Geert, Econoshock, Houtekiet, 2008 

Payutto P.A., Buddhist Economics 

Schumacher E.F., Small is beautiful, Blond & Briggs, 1973 

Senge P., Scharmer C., Jaworski J., Flowers B., Presence, Sdu Uitgevers bv, 2006 

Zsolnai Laszlo and Johannessen Knut, Business within Limits, Peter Lang, 2006 

61

Introduction: 

The Sacca Saving-Group: Buddhist Movement in 

Responding to Community Financial Crisis 

62 

Ven. Piphitsutatorn Sirindharo 

Vice Rector, MCU, Chiang Mai Campus, 

Wat Suandok, Chiang Mai, Thailand 

In 1978, Mr. Chob Yodkaew, a public school teacher of Nam Khao School, 

Songkhla province started to form Saving Group along with 7 other projects. The 

members of this saving group included teachers and students. All members had 

saving money and teachers could have loan with less of interest which can solve their 

problems. More importantly, teachers as well as students had got good welfare and 

capital money after graduation. 1 This idea of formation of saving group was learned 

by Phra Subin Panīto who wandered the southern regions of Thailand. Phra Subin, 

then, started to form the same saving group at Wat Kor Khuang, Trat province. In the 

following year, he moved to Wat Phai Lorm, his present temple, and formed another 

saving group in this temple called “Sacca Saving-Group”. The savings-group of Mr. 

Chob and expanded Sacca Saving-Group of Phra Subin, later on, became model of 

Buddhist movement in responding to financial crisis in community level in Thailand. 

In 1997, there was financial crisis that gripped much of Asia and raised fears 

of a worldwide economic meltdown (financial contagion). “The crisis started in 

Thailand with the financial collapse of the Thai baht caused by the decision of the 

Thai government to float the baht, cutting its peg to the USD, after exhaustive efforts 

to support it in the face of a severe financial overextension that was in part real estate 

driven. At the time, Thailand had acquired a burden of foreign debt that made the 

country effectively bankrupt even before the collapse of its currency. As the crisis 

spread, most of Southeast Asia and Japan saw slumping currencies, devalued stock 

markets and other asset prices, and a precipitous rise in private debt.” 2 “Thailand's 

booming economy came to a halt amid massive layoffs in finance, real estate, and 

construction that resulted in huge numbers of workers returning to their villages in 

the countryside and 600'000 foreign workers being sent back to their home 

countries.” 3 With this experience of economic crisis leads many scholars to review 

1 

http:// / 72.14.235.132search?q=cache:pOd- 

LVVI9VcJ:www.thaiwisdom.org/p_pum/move/move_news/move_pum. 2htm 

2 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Asian_Financial_Crisis 

3 

Ibid.


the lesson learnt of Sacca Saving-Group and find that Sacca Saving-Group would be 

the best way out of community financial crisis. 

Formation of Sacca Saving-Group: 

Finding Buddhist ways to solve the crisis especially in community level 

where people still have strong believe in Buddhism, the first process is to analyze the 

crisis, its causes and, finally, the way out. It is found that, in community, people are 

poor; educated people are not available; there remain only ages, children, uneducated 

and delinquents. Community is hard to be developed due to lack of capital, 

knowledge, management skill and unity. Community members have to depend on the 

capital, especially finance, provided by private investors which seek high rate of 

interest. Many pieces of land and houses in the community were confiscated. Many 

of them become homeless and leave to live in slum areas in big cities which lead to 

other problems such as drugs. When there was unity among community members, the 

idea for the formation of Sacca Saving-Group occurred. 

“I went for alms-round every morning; found that many families are in 

trouble, having less to eat, but still eager to offer food to me. Some families, I 

learned, borrow for 20% interest for necessary expenses. I, then, think that if people 

cannot live their lives, how the monks can live. This event motivates me to find the 

way to help them to live good life, without worry and with dignity to be self- 

dependent.” 4 Phra Subin Panīto said. To form and develop Sacca Saving-Group, 

there are three steps 5 : 

1. Arrangement of focus group of community members during religious 

ceremony in the temple in order to form good citizen group “small 

group” who live in the same community. The process of saving and 

borrowing was set up together with learning by doing process. 

2. Expanding the member, revision of regulation and financial 

management which is the process of development of the group. 

3. Expanding the network and building up relation with nearby Sacca 

Saving-Group in the form of sub-district or provincial network. 

There are three basic factors to ensure the success and sustainability of the 

group i.e. (1) morality (2) quality and (3) efficiency - in “Way of Doing: Sacca 

Saving-Group for development of morality in complete life circle by way of Phra 

4 

http://www.oknation.net/blog/print.php?id=192217 

5 

สัจจะสะสมทรัพย :สะสมทุนสังคม ,พระสุบิน ปณีโต .พิมพโดยสถาบันชุมชนทองถิ่นพัฒนา 

กรกฎาคม 

63 

, 2541 หนังสือชุดประชาสังคมลําดับที่ 

10


Subin Panīto” (วิถีแหงทํา: กลุมสัจจะสะสมทรัพยเพื่อพัฒนาคุณธรรมครบวงจรชีวิตตามแนวทางพระสุบิน 

ปณีโต), 

details of those three factors are concisely explained as follows 6 : 

1. Morality: Phra Subin use Dhamma to lead. He, to prevent cultivation of greed and 

selfishness, integrates Dhamma in the activities called “Dhamma leads Money”. 

Main principle is to have honesty in all process such as: 

1) Before forming the group, he will advise the member to use Buddhist 

economics as way of management - to save small amount of 

remaining money to help oneself and others. 

2) In working process, it is to use honesty to both oneself and the others, 

in front and behind. 

3) Saving-group is not only finance agency, but a social platform that 

fills spiritual value of community members. Apart, there are many 

other moralities to be applied such as morality for leadership; good 

leader must sacrifice, not to be immoral, teach the members on having 

sympathy to the neighbours. 

2. Quality: Phra Subin always advise community member on the problem cause by 

social structure and community problems before forming Sacca Saving-Group so that 

the members fully understand the problem instead of leading by money by; 

1) Starting form little to many: the group is, therefore, not shortly grown 

which is hard to direct and create greed. The group will not take more 

important on money value. The group will not hurry to create greed, 

instead cultivate attitude of helping one another. 

2) Having clear regulations by prescribing the rules on the basis of 

understanding community situation and control by Dhamma. 

3) Having account that fit to the group, easy, understandable and 

transparent. There is control system; finance officer and accountant is 

not the same person. 

4) Having clear welfares system that promotes basic welfare for the 

members. The members are supported from birth up to death. The 

Sacca Saving-Group will provide 50% profit to be various kinds of 

welfare. After certain period (10 years), members are not to save but 

deposit annually profit and still receive various kinds of welfare 

regularly that supports oneself at retired state leading to secured life 

and filling gap in the society. 

6 

http://www.chumchonthai.or.th/member/booksdetail.asp?b_id=6 สุวัฒน คงแปน ,วิถีแหงทํา: กลุมสัจจะสะสมทรัพยเพื่อ 

พัฒนาคุณธรรมครบวงจรชีวิตตามแนวทางพระสุบิน ปณีโต ,บริษัทรวมทรรศนจํากัด ,กรุงเทพฯ 

64


5) Having good managing system by setting up different committees 

clearly. 

6) Taking more important to those who are creative in doing good thing 

and sacrifice, for example, categorizing member into 4 classes. 

7) Having networking system by having Buddhist monk who wins trust 

of people to lead the activities of the group. 

3. Efficiency: Phra Subin advises various methods or good stratagems for effective 

management i.e. 

1) Today deposit will be lending immediately that leads to save time and 

taxi fare to deposit to the bank. 

2) Fixing only one day as working day, and only 3 - 5 hours as working 

hour which is convenient for both members and committee. 

3) Emphasizing on using temple to be office of the Sacca Saving-Group. 

Apart from making people closed to the temple and Dhamma, it is 

safe due to not spending money to build new office building. 

4) Members deposit and pay the debt regularly by using honesty to 

control. 

5) Having discharging the debts system by saving money of the group. 

This is to prevent money leaking from the community leading to 

feeling encouraged and protected by the members. 

6) Rapidly and continually increasing of new members. It is because the 

group works on the basis of real context such as:- 

a. Beginning with persuading relatives to do and be success case 

for the others. 

b. Using Buddhist holy days to increase more understanding. 

c. Talking with community leaders. 

d. Expanding to other public holidays such as “national mother 

day”. 

7) Having no or less NPL. It is because members understand supporting 

system and management system including 3 levels of social sanction 

i.e. 

a. Bringing mutual understanding on helping one another by 

using Buddha Dhammato lead the group. 

65


b. Using rules and regulations of the group regarding paying 

debts strictly such as if former debtor has not paid a dept, the 

member who wishes to lend has to pay on behalf. and 

c. Using social punishment. 

8) Having linked financial activity with other problems in 

community systematically, concretely and clearly such as; 

a. Setting up wholesale systems in order to prevent taking 

advantage of by the middleman. Sacca saving-group’s 

members can, therefore, purchase goods in cheap price. In 

addition, the group has put profit into welfare fund. 

b. Producing biological fermentation in order to reduce the 

production cost of the villagers make people understand the 

problems arising from structural problems up family problem. 

Lesson Learnt of Sacca Saving Group Movement: 

Carrying out Sacca Saving-group, 6 lessons have been found i.e. 

1) Binding 3 philosophical paradigm together i.e. religion, community 

and family. 

2) To meet with the community, Phra Subin tried to focus on making 

community to consider the importance of self-dependence and 

honesty, self responsibility which also results in a socially responsible 

in the end. At the same time, he also emphasizes on the value of 

generosity, participatory of all members of community that leads to 

solidarity in order to create a livable community. Moreover, it is also 

to cultivate relationships within the family with showing that 

everyone in the family has competency, ability to help each other, 

children can help the parents, and the oldster can help family. It is 

because everyone in the family has the right to be a group’s member, 

to save money. This saving money will be the family base to be lent 

at short period. It is just like parents borrow money of their own 

children. All this happened from the practical activities together of the 

Sacca Saving-Group. 

3) Specifying essential targeted community i.e. 

a. Wat 

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b. Merit making group which assumes that the good people in 

the community 

c. Expansion of monk network 

4) Phra Subin targets at key major groups within the community to help 

in the next phase easily and quickly. It is because these groups have 

the potential to expand their work, if they have knowledge, 

understanding, realization of the importance of the activities, and selflaunching. 

Targeted group that Phra Subin uses like a beams to force 

open in order to expand activity quickly. 

5) Learning by immediately doing i.e. forming the group and, then, save 

and lend on the same day. 

6) First day each group is established, after Phra Subin has lectured and 

invited people to participate in group activities of Sacca Saving- 

Group, Phra Subin will recommend that people start out with the 

money at least Baht 10 per month to save the villagers accept trial 

together. Letting members to seriously working i.e. savings and 

lending immediately at the time of forming the group, makes people 

realized the benefits of participation in this activity clearly - 

connecting merit, mind and money-savings with honesty, and 

democratic group rules. 

Phra Subin points out to members of the group when people in the 

community to save money together and help people are in needed to borrow. It is to 

help them to have a chance. It is one important way of making merit and helping one 

another. There are three priority cases to get loan; the first is the sick, the second is 

one who receives the burden of high interest loans, and the third is for education. The 

remaining saving money will then go to the general members. This is the way of 

training to members of a charity to fellow community, support each other. 

1) Adjusting and creating "a new way thinking" with giving the benefits 

to individual in order to ensure a strong group, training sacrifice, and 

control members’ behavior 

2) At the anniversary of saving, group will share the profit from loan 

interest into two equal parts. One part is dividends back to the 

members, while another part is used as a welfare fund for members. 

In the preliminary, welfare fund has been used mostly in the medical 

care. There are some groups that have enough welfare funds, began to 

use welfare fund to develop their community. 

3) Setting 5 year for 4 classes system, then, stop registered new member. 

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4) Another important principle is membership opens only to 4 

generations and then stopped for a period may be 3 or 4 years, 

depending on the group, and then gradually open membership again. 

This system helps people in the community to realize the value of the 

group and apply before closing. Members or applicants in the first 

year have the right to receive medical treatment at the full set. While 

2nd, 3rd, and 4th year members will receive half of each class to a 

previous class. This makes members of the later years receive very 

little benefit. Stop recruiting welfare fund will make this expansion 

grow and sufficient to help members. At the same time, members of 

later years will be up grated into the higher class gradually. 

Occurrence of this Sacca Saving-Group is an example of using financial 

management systems as instrumental in the human resource development and 

strength of the community. It is resulting in 3 levels as follows: 

1) Family level: it is helping in reduction of selfishness and 

commitment of individual consumption. It is leading to a virtuous 

austerity, management of family welfare funds and development of the 

commitments within family and relatives. 

2) Community level: it has created a very friendly and dependable. The 

occurrence of the community welfare fund is a mechanism in the 

allocation of public profit (group) to the members in the form of: 

a. Medical care and treatment 

b. Support cost of cremation 

c. Scholarships for children 

d. Community development 

e. Environmental rehabilitation etc. 

Processes that occur to help in fastening members firmly linkage, create 

checking process and adjusting the friendly behavior among members. It also helps in 

creating a support system and relies on generosity through fund management and 

democratic rule that members participate in a public forum. 

3) Community level and relationships with external agencies: in the 

future, there should result in a network, saving-group or saving-group 

clubs by having the mutual fund of saving-group in order to be: 

a. Learning network or a "People University" 

b. Management unit of the network 

c. A joint venture of the network 

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d. A business investment or investment in community business 

e. The negotiations are to exploit or protect from the outside 

f. Civil society network in the future. 

Sacca Saving-Group in Solving the Financial Crisis of Community: 

Once turning back to see the development of initiation of the idea of Phra 

Subin Panīto till it grows and comes to the concrete, the success that occurs in the 

present day can be summarized as the goals, guidelines and result of the success as 

follows: 

Goals: Phra Subin has set up the goals of Sacca Saving-Group interestingly. 

Planning and economic policy maker should take as an example as follows: 

1) Solving poverty and debt that will extend to other social. Phra Subin 

knows that the development dependence on government is not 

possible. People must have their own savings, economization and 

honesty to ensure the success. 

2) To support community member to depend on oneself in all aspects; 

such as capital and management as evidenced by preaching always 

reinforced the community says "Attāhi attano nātho (You yourself are 

your helper)". 

3) Solving the problem of braking away and quarreling of people in the 

community, turning back into harmony and unanimity, and bringing 

back of spirit of the community. This mission occurs when Phra 

Subin wondered to the south. 

4) Building up bargaining power in order to protect community from 

taking advantage by businessman or capitalist; by way of using the 

power of community in community business management. 

5) Building and returning pride and dignity to the community. Rural 

people can stand shoulder to shoulder with middle class, government 

officer and businessman with full dignity. 

6) Returning merit, loving kindness and practice in accordance with the 

Buddha Dhamma to the community. 

Guidelines: Phra Subin has used his approach from the following local 

wisdom: 

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1) Using religious principle focused on merit, charity and contentment 

as essential principle of the guidelines to run Sacca Saving, not to fall 

into greed (Lobha), by integrating the said Dhamma(s) in all activities 

of fund management. 

2) Development of saving activity to result the mutual benefit of the 

community in order to motivate the community members to cooperate 

rather than competing. 

3) Using paradigm of "community participation awareness" to replace 

individualism by setting up welfare administrative and management 

system, fixing target group and using the community mechanism to 

control in order to create participatory awareness of the community. 

4) Using based transparency management system, by having auditable 

accounting system, including having board as well as consultants, 

such as Phra Subin who are transparent. 

5) Having flexible management, consistent with economic and social 

conditions of the community such as lending, small amount saving, 

welfare distribution management to fill the needs of the members. 

6) Having prestige of Phra Subin who is a Buddhist monk and wins the 

trust of the members, including committee members of welfare fund 

who are selected on the basis of moral principles and prestige. 

7) Using public place of the community i.e.: Wat (Buddhist temple) 

where the villagers have the opportunity to continually interact. 

Managing at private home of the member or other public place will 

not bring sense of belonging appropriately like managing in the 

temple. 

8) Creating conditions for people to regularly meet and share their 

suffering and happiness, such as to come to the temple and deposit 

every month. 

9) Short time management system such as rapid service management 

within a single day, no need for a cooperative stock like other 

cooperative store. 

10) Having full participation of all members in management, in selection 

of committee members, in decision making, in regulation setting, in 

evaluating, up to in the benefits accrued. 

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Results: In addition to the quantitative results of the Sacca Saving-Group in 

106 villages or approximately 60 percent of the province, the variety of qualitative 

results of self dependence is: 

1) Poverty, debt including other social problems such as theft started to 

ease, resulting from the savings of the people, the welfare system to 

help the community in health care, education and paying debt. 

Economization and saving practice make poverty crisis in many 

communities start to abate. 

2) Loving kindness, understanding and unanimity of have come back to 

the community. It is because people have the opportunity to meet, 

share suffering and happiness. The community appears to replace 

quarreling, individualism. 

3) People gain disciplined, honest and do not cheat resulting from 

management system that requires honesty to reach community mutual 

gain, and also rely on the community checking mechanism. 

4) People do not feel lonely at difficult period. At risk, there is family; 

community and saving money support to sustain certain warmth. 

5) Changing behavior of the members such as giving welfare to patient 

in the hospital, in case of smoking, a welfare payment would be fined. 

6) Communities have the power to negotiate with traders or businessmen 

from outside. It is because mutual management will prevent taking 

advantage of like in the past. 

7) Community is having more pride. It can be seen through creative 

thought of planning several other activities on community business, 

unlike before. 

Considering the goals, guidelines and results above, it is very clear that Sacca 

Saving-Group becomes the way out, especially in times of economic or financial 

crisis in the country where people experience unres – needing to find a trust for 

escaping death in the middle of the ocean waves of several crash disasters. 

Responding to this crisis, government and economists try just grab foreign 

capital to the entrepreneur to breath with the hope that old structure will be parasite 

and always destroy the rural base continue. When crisis leads to opportunity, Sacca 

Saving-Group becomes mechanism to restore rural base economic, destroy old 

structure to collapse down, and construct a new structure of a solid foundation with 

appropriate local wisdom Raised with the wisdom of the people, revive the spirit 

sharing and giving, build awareness of a community that never end, integrate the 

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Buddha dhamma of self-dependence and contentment back to the country. Actually, 

these conditions are indeed joint conditions that can occur at every society whether 

city or rural and country. 

“Teaching of the Buddha focuses on self-dependence. However, the main 

teaching of ‘Attāhi attano natho’ has yet to be achieved. But if everyone in this world 

is not depend on others, instead, turns to self-dependence, remind oneself, society 

will be peaceful. Now, people are not... to depend on oneself, but depend on others 

and pedal themselves a pass. They, therefore, cannot move to self-dependence 

certainly according to Buddha dhamma. …." 

Conclusion: 

Saving group has been formed in around 1978 by Mr. Chob Yodkaew, a 

public school teacher of Nam Khao School, Songkhla province. Teachers and 

students had got good welfare and capital money after graduation. Phra Subin Panito 

took this idea and then started saving group called “Sacca Saving-Group” at Trat 

province. This sacca saving-group, later on, becomes the way out of community 

financial crisis. 

There are three steps to form and develop sacca saving-group i.e.: (1) 

arrangement of focus group of community members, and setting up of the process of 

saving and borrowing with learning by doing process; (2) expanding the member, 

revision of regulations and financial management as the process of development; (3) 

expanding and building up relation with several networks. 

There are three basic factors to ensure the success and sustainability of the 

sacca saving-group i.e. (1) morality (Dhamma leads money); (2) quality (beginning 

with small; having clear regulation; appropriate account system; clear and clean 

welfare system; effective management system; promoting good members and 

networking system (3) efficiency (several methods or good stratagems for effective 

management). 

Carrying out sacca saving-group, six lessons have been found i.e.: (1) 

binding three philosophical paradigm together i.e. religion, community and family; 

(2) specifying essential targeted communities (3) learning by immediate doing (4) 

connecting merit, mind and money savings with honesty, (5) adjusting and creating 

"a new way thinking" and (6) setting five years for four classes system, then, stop 

new member enrolment. 

Occurrence of this sacca saving-group is an example of using financial 

management systems as instrument in the human resource development and strength 

of the community which results in three levels i.e. (1) family level: helping in 

72


reduction of selfishness and commitment of individual consumption and development 

of the commitments within family and relatives. (2) community level: creating a very 

friendly and dependable. The community welfare fund is a mechanism in the 

allocation of public profit (group) to the members. (3) network level: having the 

mutual fund of saving-group. 

The success that results can be summarized as the goals such as support 

community member to depend on oneself in all aspects; guidelines such as using 

religious principle focused on merit, charity and contentment as essential principle; 

and results such as poverty, debt including other social problems such as theft started 

to ease, resulting from savings, welfare system that helps the community. Sacca 

saving-group, therefore, become an example of Buddhist movement in responding to 

community economic or financial crisis. 

The principles of Sacca Saving-Group may, therefore, be the lesson learnt by 

other communities to consider as way to solve their community financial crisis. This 

Sacca Saving-group may also be model of solving financial crisis of the world today. 

73

Introduction: 

Entrepreneurship: Buddhist Approach to the Economic Crisis 

Heri Catur Meruvipassana 

Kertarajasa Buddhist College, Batu, Indonesia 

As long as the history of mankind, problems of poverty seem to never end. 

Poverty shows the inability of peoples to fulfill their minimal needs of daily life. It is 

faced by large part of population in the world and is considered to be a main pursuer 

of development in developing countries. 

Economic crisis is identical with poverty. Before the economic crisis in 1997, 

Indonesia actually had successfully been able to reduce poverty population from 54.2 

millions (40.1%) in 1976 into 22.6 millions (11.4%) in 1996. However, economic 

crisis in 1997 caused number and percentage of poverty population increased again. 

This was not unrelated with incapability of peoples to obtain employment. Many 

peoples became poor and were sustained to be poor, because their life was dependent 

on the employment given by someone. They were not capable to create an 

employment by themselves. 

Poverty is a term of suffering. The goal of Buddhism is to eradicate 

suffering. Therefore, Buddhists have to relieve themselves and the community from 

poverty. Poverty should be eradicated by changing mental attitude of people from 

dependency into independency; from employment seeker into employment creator. 

Independency is a mental attitude of entrepreneur. To be independent, someone 

should be communicative, active, creative, and innovative. In Buddhism (Anguttara 

Nikaya V), there are five powers (panca bala) for improving capability of 

independency, namely conviction (saddha), enthusiasm (viriya), consciousness (sati), 

concentration (samadhi) and wisdom (panna). 

Someone could become an entrepreneur by having and practicing mental 

attitude of independency. It is an entrepreneurship capability. Entrepreneurship 

makes people rich, mentally and financially. Rich entrepreneur could help to 

eradicate poverty and to cure economic crisis. 

Poverty: 

Because of the economic crisis, world’s poverty is increased. Economic 

crisis is identical with poverty. Peoples become poor or constantly poor, because they 

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could not bring into line with the environment. To be able to emerge from poverty’s 

murk, someone does not only need to harmonize with the environment but also needs 

leverage. We have to think more advanced and higher. The environment which we 

bring into line should be higher than the previous environment. If we live in poor 

environment, we will continuously poor. If we live in rich environment, we will be 

able to concord with the environment. Opportunity of poor people to be rich is lower 

than opportunity of rich people to be richer. 

Poverty is a term of suffering. Therefore, Buddhists have to relieve them 

selves and the community from poverty. The goal of Buddhism is to eradicate 

suffering. Buddhism encourages people to be generous. “Dadeyya putiso danam”. 

There are eight noble requirements of giving donation, namely: sucim deti, paritam 

deti, kalena deti, kappiyam deti, vicceya deti, abhinam deti, dadam cittam pacadeti, 

and datna attamano hati. For poor people, it is difficult to be able to donate 

accordingly. Therefore, poverty should be eliminated. Economic crisis should be 

surpassed. 

Independency: 

Poverty could be eliminated by changing mental attitude of people from 

dependency into independency. To be independent, someone should be 

communicative, active, creative, and innovative. Someone should be effective. 

Highly effective people usually has seven habits, namely: (1) proactive, (2) begin 

with the end in mind, (3) put first thing first, (4) think win-win solution, (5) seek first 

to understand, then to be understand, (6) synergize, and (7) sharpen the saw (Covey, 

2004). Independency is a character of entrepreneur, most success peoples are 

entrepreneurs. They are highly effective peoples. 

Capability of humans is accumulation of their efforts in facing threats of life. 

The capability would be developed by totality of mentality and activity performance 

of the human (Pannavaro, 1991). Therefore, to be success peoples need to be 

renewed their mentality into mentality which is responsive, communicative, active, 

creative, and innovative. In Buddhism (Anguttara Nikaya V), there are fire mental 

attitudes which should be developed for increasing capability of people, namely: (1) 

conviction (saddha), (2) enthusiasm (viriya), (3) consciousness (sati), (4) 

concentration (samadhi), and (5) wisdom (panna). 

Every human being needs a conviction (Saddha), which will motivate his/her 

activities. Someone has a power of survival to reach his/her dream because of 

conviction to what he/she does. 

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Enthusiasm (viriya) is an important factor for a success. Enthusiasm and 

capability are two factors which difficult to be split. In most cases, many peoples do 

not want to do something are not caused by they area not capable, but mostly are 

caused by non enthusiasm to do the work. Many peoples feel that life is not useful for 

them and they are not useful for others. Actually, it is not caused by they do not have 

cleverness, but because they do not want to make effort to do something. Working 

with full enthusiasm, together with persistence, and an unyielding attitude towards 

facing challenges is a continuing process – building a valuable mental attitude for 

every one. 

Consciousness (Sati) is the most valuable of human property - to observe our 

activity accurately every time, will bear fruitful knowledge. Indeed, by observing the 

phenomena of life, timely, we will find new valuable things. Significant findings in 

spiritual and scientific world do not emerged suddenly, but need consciousness to 

observe with unyielding persistence. With consciousness, everyone will be able to 

protect his/her self from deterioration. 

Concentration (Samadhi) will create calm for someone. Failure, 

disappointment, and mental stress frequently blocks personal capabilities. Meditation 

will strengthen someone’s mentality. Concentration will make someone calm and 

tough to face everything. 

Wisdom (Panna) is to understand life as it is. To understand that life is not 

everlasting, changeable continuously, not satisfying, and not following our desire. 

Changes and failures should be accepted as natural events in the life. However, 

changes, unsatisfying, and the fact that every thing is not voluntarily following our 

will, requires us to struggle unyieldingly, continuously, seriously, and in conformity 

with Dhamma law. 

Freedom: 

Independency offers someone a freedom. Everyone embrace a freedom in 

his/her life. With the freedom, someone is free to direct his/her way of life. Robert 

Kiyosaki (2003), the author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad” introduces a term “financial 

freedom”. With freedom financially, we will be free from bustle and chasing of 

satisfying needs with what so called … money. Financial freedom means we are 

freed from activity of looking for money, instead the money work for us. 

Unfortunately, to be financially free is not easy. To be an entrepreneur could be a 

way to direct us to the financial freedom. However, caused by lack of understanding, 

many peoples feel that to be an entrepreneur is difficult. 

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More than only as source of inspiration, entrepreneur is a path towards 

financial freedom. Entrepreneur power is a tremendous energy to seek financial 

freedom and caused the owner could fly high in his life. Enthusiasm of 

entrepreneurship which has deeply rooted in Valentino Dinsi (2005), a business 

motivator on the field of entrepreneurship, has constructed his entrepreneur 

mentality, starting his career as door to door salesman of a private company. He has 

experienced moving his employment from one company to others. He has experience 

also as the youngest manager of a national aircraft company and as a vice-president 

and director of a well known company. However, due to his will to be more 

beneficial for community, he started to become an entrepreneur which brought him to 

be a consultant of numerous great companies. 

Entrepreneurship: 

Most success people are entrepreneur. They are highly effective people. They 

are who communicative, active, creative, innovative, and responsive. They are those 

who have development conviction (saddha), enthusiasm (viriya), consciousness 

(sati), concentration (samadhi), and wisdom (panna) for their daily life. To be success 

in community life, peoples should have capability of entrepreneurship, besides 

religiosity and intellectuality. 

Entrepreneurship Down 

Population of the world reached 6 billions peoples in 1999, and will be 8 

billions in 2020. How could the governments prepare employment for this huge 

number of populations? To watch increasing number of mergers, acquisition, and 

restructuring of private companies, which has caused many employees to be no 

longer employed, it seems that the employment should be created by individual of the 

people him/her self. To survive, people should become entrepreneurs. 

Entrepreneurship guides and trains us to be getting use to give and help other 

peoples. Whereas, to be an employee, we are getting use to think about our selves. 

Therefore, with entrepreneurs, problems of national and international could be 

minimized. 

Entrepreneurship could be one solution for surpassing global economic 

crisis. Rich people who have entrepreneurship mentality could help to eradicate 

poverty and economic crisis. Prosperity of a country could be reached, if the country 

has entrepreneur of at least 2% of its populations (Ciputra, Jawa Pos 17 Mar 2009). 

In 1993 USA has entrepreneur of 2.14% of its population. In 2001, Singapore with 

4.24 millions people has entrepreneur as many as 2.1% of the population and 

77


continually increased up to 7.2% in 2005. Developing countries such as Indonesia, 

which was severely shaking due to the 1997 economic crisis – entrepreneurs are only 

0.18% of the population. Without acceleration programs, Indonesia will need more 

than 25 years to be prosperous. 

Since the year 1000, trends in power movement tend to belong into the 

entrepreneur category. In 1000, power was in the hands of spiritual leaders who had 

capability to read and write. In 1440, the invention of the printing machine served 

dissemination of knowledge could spread more effectively. Power moved from 

spiritual leaders to politicians. In 1555, politicians have more strong power. For 

establishing their power, bureaucracy was developed. In 1970, invention of 

microchip has facilitated spreading of information to larger groups of people easily. 

The power was scraped from political group into economical groups. In 1995, power 

of economy was very strong, so that money bureaucratic leaders were dropped due to 

economic problems. In 2020, balances of power will step by step move from 

bureaucracy into entrepreneurship groups. (Dinsi, 2005). Entrepreneurship is rising. 

Courage 

Courage is the fundamental capital for being an entrepreneur. Courage to 

dream, courage to try, courage to fail, and courage to be different are among courage 

which are needed to be developed for someone to be able to become an entrepreneur. 

Dream will create positive power in someone’s mind, so that he/she will be able to 

improve capability of work and quality of life. Success of Bill Gates is caused by his 

dream that personal computer should be available in house of each people. Success of 

Michael Dell is caused by his dream to sale computer by direct marketing. Success of 

Jeff Bozos is caused by his dream to create trading through internet. 

Courage to try is and important point in entrepreneurship. Many peoples 

have a talent but they fail to reach a success, because they have never tried to do 

something. Actually, most peoples are not failed to do something, but they stop to try 

to do something. An entrepreneur always challenges to try something, so that he/she 

reaches victory and success. 

Failure is only a deleted success. Failure is a negative experience which 

could be utilized to find new powers to reach the success on other times. There are 

four motives of failure. First, we evaluate our capability is too low. Second, any of 

our movement is influenced by mythos in the community. Third, we are melancholic 

to judge our selves to be born with bad destiny. Forth, we do not understand law of 

cause and effect. 

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Every one is different. So that, no reason to be afraid of differences. We have 

to emerge our talent from our body and let it shine brightly, even though it is 

different with other peoples. We should not focus on our shortage, but we have to 

focus on talent and advantage that we have. 

Creativity: 

An entrepreneur should has courage to perform differently. Entrepreneurship 

is a unique world. An entrepreneur is claimed to be always creative any time. With 

the creativity, an entrepreneur will be proven to have independent enlightenment that 

right to be admired and followed. 

Key of success for winning competition of various business in creativity. 

Management of creativity is not to discharge something which has already been 

available, but to construct new thing to be developed into the existed business. A 

company such as Intel always destroys its old products and then changes with new 

products as result of creative thinking. Unilever always performs new products. Its 

old products are destroyed by new products which are more innovative. An 

entrepreneur is someone who likes various challenges and utilizes opportunity to 

think creatively for answering that challenge. 

Curing the Global Economic Crisis: 

Entrepreneurship is a Buddhist approach to solve the problems of global 

economic crisis. It practices teaching if independency, freedom, conviction, 

enthusiasm, consciousness, concentration, wisdom, and law of cause and effect. 

Entrepreneurship creates employment. It has been proven that 

entrepreneurship supports development of a country significantly. The more number 

of entrepreneur in a country, the more develop the country is. Therefore, to help to 

surpass the economic crisis of the world, number of entrepreneur, especially in 

developing countries, should be increased. Training and facilitating peoples in 

developing countries to be an entrepreneur should be prioritized. Buddhist 

universities / colleges should take a role as a training center for entrepreneurship 

development. 

Objectives of the Buddhist Entrepreneurship Development Training Center 

are as follows: 

1. To change mental attitude of trainee from developing countries, who 

mostly are peasantryship, into entrepreneurship. 

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2. To create trainer of entrepreneurship with Buddhist approach. 

3. To create new entrepreneurs who are obedient to Buddhist ethics and 

intellectuality. 

4. To serve a learning media for practicing research, management, business, 

and ethics of Buddhist economics. 

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Asst. Prof. Dr. Dipti Mahanta 

Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, 

Khonkaen Campus 

In Northeast Thailand, or Isan, there are twelve distinct ceremonies known as 

Prapheni Heet Sip song 1 that mark the entire lunar calendar. Each of these 

ceremonies is an occasion for merit-making, observance of the precepts, and 

cultivation of morality (sīla), meditation (samādhi) and wisdom (pańńā). Based 

strictly on Buddhist principles, each ceremony in the entire corpus of Prapheni Heet 

Sip song points towards a gradual progress along the spiritual path, and has since 

time immemorial formed the warp and woof of the traditional Isan way of life. 

Although Isan is generally regarded as the poorest and the most backward region in 

the country, a close look at how the northeasterners have entwined their lives with the 

twelve-month tradition reveals the richness of the Buddhist ethics, religious and 

cultural heritage that has remained intact to the present day. Boonkumkhaoyai 

(previously known as “Boonkhunlarn”), literally translated into English as “meritmaking 

by offering the giant paddy heap”, is a ceremony that marks the second 

lunar month and falls approximately in the month of January. It is an ancient 

1 A list of these ceremonies is provided at the end of the article. 

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traditional ceremony that is held at the end of the harvest season in order to create 

harmony and mutual co-existence among all people in the village. The historical 

origin of the ceremony can be traced back to the inspiration drawn by Isan people 

from the story of the previous lives of both Kondañña, the first disciple of the 

Buddha to attain arahantship and Subhadda Paribbāchaka, a lay devotee who was the 

last person to be enlightened just before the passing away of the Buddha. 2 

In pre-modern Isan society, after the harvest season the accumulated grains 

of rice used to be gathered in front of the Buddhist monastery or at the village 

community hall and villagers after having participated in the Bai-si-su-khwan 3 and 

making symbolic offering of the harvested grains to the Buddhist monks took them 

back home in order to have much good fortune all throughout the year. In course of 

time, the practice of donating a part of the harvest for various social welfare projects 

came into origin. And today, Boonkumkhaoyai is organized on a large scale at 

different places and people from distant villages and provinces can come and join 

together in forming the giant paddy heap by donating unhusked rice for the purpose 

of supporting and promoting various projects related to the propagation of Buddhism 

and Isan culture. A reflection on the underlying ethical principles of 

Boonkumkhaoyai will help us to understand the original Buddhist way of life, which 

when viewed from the economic perspective is one of moderation, contentment, 

generosity and right livelihood. Boonkumkhaoyai is a typical example of how agrobased 

rural Isan community practices the Buddhist way of life in a genuine way and 

an analysis of it will show us the Buddhist approach to a balanced living, the 

supporting principles of which can pave the way for solving any economic crisis no 

matter where, when and how it originates. 

Right Livelihood as endorsed in the concept of Boonkumkhaoyai: 

As is well-known, Right Livelihood (sammā ājīva) is an essential component 

of the Ethical Conduct (Sīla) that forms the foundational base of the Noble Eightfold 

Path (Ariya-Atthangika-Magga). Right Livelihood implies abstinence from making 

one’s living through a profession that is harmful to oneself and others, such as 

manufacturing of and trading in arms, ammunition, all lethal weapons, intoxicating 

drinks and poisons, human trafficking, butchery, cheating, etc. It is expected that a 

true Buddhist live by a profession which is honorable, blameless and innocuous. 

Right Livelihood along with Right Speech (sammā vācā) and Right Action (sammā 

kammanta) form the foundation of ethical conduct that aims at promoting both 

2 Chob Desuankhok, “From Boonkhunkao or Boonkhunlarn to Boonkumkhaoyai” in Kawpaikabboon, 

special issue Jan-Mar (Khonkaen: Mahachulalongkornrājavidyālaya University, 2009), pp. 18-19. For 

the story, see Buddhist Legends Part I, trans. Eugene Watson Burlingame, (PTS, 1995), pp. 204-205. 

3 It is the ceremonial tying of consecrated white thread around the wrist. 

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individual and communal happiness, peace and harmony. No higher spiritual 

attainments can be possible without the practice of this basic ethical conduct. 4 

The originators of Boonkumkhaoyai were humble folks who tilled the soil. 

Their descendents and bearers of the lineage and rich heritage of the land who have 

successfully carried on the tradition till the present era are farmers too. Since the 

ceremony originated in rural Isan where the majority of the population engages in 

farming as the chief means of livelihood, it can be assumed that Right Livelihood is 

endorsed in the very concept of Boonkumkhaoyai. Topographically, Northeast 

Thailand is a dry and arid region with scant resources, but the farmers are an 

industrious lot who till the soil and generally reap harvest twice annually. They 

mostly grow glutinous rice, the staple food of the region. And in Boonkumkhaoyai 

they generously give away a section of the produce that they have reaped with much 

toil and labor. Every grain of rice that they accumulate and donate for public welfare 

projects comes from effort, endeavor and perseverance. Those urban folks who 

flaunt their wealth while offering large sums of cash donations to monasteries 

without taking into consideration the significance of Right Livelihood might have to 

shy away in front of the Isan farmers’ humble but righteous donation of paddy on the 

occasion of Boonkumkhaoyai that can easily help raise an amount of not less than a 

million baht on each occasion for any public as well as monastic welfare project. 

Generosity or the practice of Dāna: 

Closely related to right livelihood is the Isan farmers’ inherent zeal to 

practice generosity at a communal level for the welfare of the entire community and 

society at large. In the good old days when the advances in science and technology 

did not touch upon the life of Isan farmers, every step in the process of paddy 

cultivation – sowing, reaping and threshing – used to be done manually with mutual 

assistance and co-operation. Families offered help to each other and the harvested 

grains were accumulated in a cleared ground for threshing jointly and at the end a 

section of the grain was generously donated for welfare of the entire village 

community as an acknowledgement of the fact of mutual co-existence and 

interdependence. The cash earned after selling the donated paddy could be used for 

construction of roads, public places, monks’ dwelling places (kuti), community health 

services, etc. Today, most farmers use tractors, threshing machines etc and each 

family has become quite independent. Yet, the original concept of Boonkumkhaoyai 

has not lost its pristine values and therefore, there is annual arrangement of this 

ceremony at different places in each of the nineteen provinces all over the Northeast. 

Mahachulalongkornrājavidyālaya University, Khonkaen Campus has already 

4 Walpole Rahula, What the Buddha Taught (Bangkok: Haw Trai Foundation, 1990), p. 47. 

85


arranged the ceremony for two consecutive years. This year it was arranged in 

conjunction with the Boonphravesa Ceremony and more than three thousand peasant 

households from different provinces (Khonkaen, Roi-et, Kalasin, Chayaphum, 

Mahasarakham, Nakhon Ratchasima, Udonthani, Loei and Buriram) donated 

unmilled glutinous and plain variety of rice for the establishment of three different 

funds – i) “Kongthun-Sasanathayaat” meaning “fund for kiths-and-kins-inreligion/religious 

heirs”. The purpose of this fund is to help and support the 

ecclesiastical and secular education of those monks and novices who lack selffinancial 

support. ii) Fund for the propagation of Buddhism aimed at “Taking 

Dhamma to People”. The objective of this fund is to provide financial support to 

MCU-Khonkaen Campus’s radio station FM 101.75 MHz. iii) Fund for development 

of monks in Ecclesiastical Region 9. It is hoped that like every grain of rice that 

grew under the nurturing care of nature and the hand that sowed the seed, the mindful 

use of the cash earned from the giant paddy heap will bring true prosperity to society 

by setting the wheel of goodness and virtue in motion. 

Moderation: 

In rural Isan society, generosity and moderation work in tandem, otherwise 

Boonkumkhaoyai would have become a defunct tradition by now. Today’s 

consumerist culture is characterized by the trend of material indulgence more than 

moderation and so genuine acts of charity and generosity are hard to find. Most 

urban affluent families make donations preferably on a public platform for gaining 

applause and tax relaxation, quite unlike their counterparts in rural Isan society where 

people engage in charitable acts for the sake of goodness in the act itself, without any 

ulterior motive behind the act. Participants in Boonkumkhaoyai, although rural and 

rustic in appearance, can afford to be always generous because of their moderate 

lifestyle. They zealously take part in the traditional ceremony not for any personal 

benefit, but out of deep rooted faith in a holistic approach to life and the inherent 

goodness in the tradition. Amidst affluent urban population this kind of exemplary 

model may not be always obvious since easy affordability of all conveniences tend to 

make life centered upon spending and indulgence more than involvement in genuine 

acts of generosity. Even though an Isan farmer’s per capita income may be 

comparatively less than an urban white collar official or businessman, his family can 

practice generosity on a daily basis (offering alms food to monks), monthly basis 

(taking part in each monthly ceremony of Prapheni Heet Sip song), and annually 

(making large donations of paddy as in Boonkumkhaoyai) due to the practice of 

moderation and generosity. Having limited needs and being moderate in spending, a 

typical Isan peasant couple has not yet become a slave of the consumerist culture that 

has gripped the urban community. 

86

Contentment: 


Moderation cannot be practiced if there is no contentment. Contentment to 

an appreciable degree is noticeable in the lifestyle and life’s philosophy of a 

traditional Isan farmer’s family. It is a fact that people who are content have fewer 

wants than those who are discontent. According to Buddhism, contentment implies 

the absence of artificial wants, i.e., the desire for sense pleasures. Compared to 

materialistic urban folks who blindly adhere unnecessary importance to a western 

styled consumerist way of behaving and thinking, Isan peasantry still has a good 

foundation: most people are content, not prone to extravagance, are relatively less 

obsessed with consumption, know the means to sufficiency economy and normally 

use things in a sparing manner. From the Buddhist perspective, involvement with 

sense-pleasure is regarded as indulgence; honing a form of desire that is not natural 

but artificial. Any artificial desire (tanhā) triggers endless greed, selfishness, 

ostentation and superficial flaunting of wealth and personal possessions leading to 

deterioration in people’s moral standard and ethical conduct; therefore, whenever the 

temptation of fulfilling such desires grow strong, individuals become greedy, selfish, 

possessive, pretentious, jealous and ultimately ignorant of the true value of the Noble 

Eight-fold Path. When the tendency to fulfill artificial desires becomes the rule of 

the day, corruption, crimes, political upheaval, dog eat dog kind of competitiveness 

become rampant in society. Under such circumstances, true quality of life (chanda) 

that involves a balanced approach to life and encompasses right effort, diligence, 

industriousness, impartiality, honesty, truthfulness, moral courage and uprightness 

gets neglected. Therefore, the cultivation of contentment is indispensable for the 

maintenance of optimum moral growth and ethical standards in any society. 

Cultivation of true contentment leads to a clean separation of the two contradictory 

tendencies namely, desires for true quality of life and temptations to fulfill artificial 

desires, and prepares the ground for the establishment of the former. As the scholarmonk, 

PA Payutto puts it, “Contentment understood correctly means cutting off the 

artificial desire for sense-pleasure but actively encouraging and supporting the desire 

for quality of life. In Buddhism, contentment is always paired with effort. The 

purpose of contentment is seen to be to save the time and energy lost in ministering 

to selfish desires, and using it to create and nurture true well-being” 5 . 

Boonkumkhaoyai is a glorious example of how the spirit of contentment can guide 

collective action leading to both individual and social prosperity and true well-being. 

5 P.A. Payutto, Buddhist Economics (Bangkok: The National Identity Board, 1994), p. 33. 

87


Control of greed: 

The binding effect of generosity, moderation and contentment leads to the 

control of greed. Greed, which is inherent in human nature when given a free sway, 

escalates at a rapid scale bringing harm to individual and entire society through the 

obfuscation of all human spiritual faculties. The domino effect of avaricious actions 

of politicians and media tycoons in the present political scenario of Thailand clearly 

points to the pernicious influence of uncontrolled greed on society. In order to help 

flourish a healthy society free of crime and corruption, there is an exigent need to 

cultivate the practice of subduing, controlling and finally annihilating unfettered 

greed through the threefold practice of generosity, moderation and contentment. 

Today’s consumerist culture, however, tends to capitalize on this inherently negative 

element in human nature. Contrary to this, is the tradition-bound rural Isan society 

that is restraint in approach and cherishes the culture-of-giving which is so clearly 

reflected in the traditional ceremony of Boonkumkhaoyai. What Buddhadasa defined 

as “Dhammic Socialism” is very much at work here. According to this philosophermonk, 

Dhammic Socialism (dhammika sangha-niyama) has three basic principles: 

the principle of the good of the whole, the principle of restraint and generosity, and 

the principle of respect and loving-kindness 6 . Dhammic Socialism, which is said to 

characterize the original moral (sīla-dhamma) condition of individuals and society, is 

a hallmark of Boonkumkhaoyai. 

Loving-kindness: 

The participants in Boonkumkhaoyai have loving-kindness deeply rooted in 

their hearts; otherwise, they would have been niggardly and reluctant to share the 

fruits of toil and labor. The desire to share implies sacrifice, which in turn originates 

from an innate feeling of loving kindness and compassion towards others. Mettā or 

loving-kindness is one of the four divine qualities 7 that Buddhism upholds. It is 

believed that the Buddha himself practiced loving-kindness and its corollary, charity, 

to the highest possible level during his penultimate birth as the bodhisattva, before 

being finally born as the Buddha. Human life would not only be spiritually dull and 

drab, but also all too brutal, if there is absolute lack of loving-kindness and 

compassion. These are great virtues, the cultivation of which helps to keep vices like 

greed and selfishness at bay. Such unwholesome mental states as egocentricity, 

egotism and megalomania that are so rampant in today’s consumerist culture can find 

6 

Buddhadasa, Dhammic Socialism, (Bangkok: Thai Inter-religious Commission for Development, 

1993), pp. 33-34. 

7 

The four divine or heavenly qualities or sublime states of mind known as Brahmavihāra that Buddhism 

emphasizes are mettā (loving-kindness), karunā (compassion), muditā (empathy or sympathetic joy) and 

upekkhā (equanimity). For a clear exposition of this, see P.A. Payutto, Buddhadhamma, (Albany: State 

University of New York Press, 1995), pp. 236-238. 

88


suitable cure through the practice of both loving-kindness and compassion. When 

mindfully practiced to the highest level, these virtues, which are rightly called 

heavenly abidings, can purify one’s body and mind leading to complete annihilation 

of all sorts of clinging and attachment. Only then the path of true renunciation can be 

treaded upon. These virtues can give rise to other supremely admirable qualities such 

as: generosity, charity, selflessness, self-sacrifice, honesty, endurance, patience, 

forbearance, moral courage and determination. A major chunk of the Isan populace, 

still very much inspired by the richness of the traditional Buddhist way of life and 

thinking is guided by these qualities to a great degree. Therefore, despite material 

paucity in life the village folks engage in different types of generous acts of which 

Boonkumkhaoyai is a distinct example. No matter how poverty-stricken Isan people 

might be, they do not give lip service to religious ideals, but are real practitioners of 

loving-kindness at least at the level of dānamaya or meritorious action of giving. 

Merit-making: 

Merit making is part and parcel of Thai Buddhist way of life in general and 

traditional Isan lifestyle epitomizes it fully. One can make merit, especially of the 

dānamaya 8 type or meritorious action consisting in giving, in diverse ways such as – 

by offering alms food, yellow robes and other requisites to monks, by making cashdonations 

for the construction of monks’ dwelling places (kuti) and temples, by 

financially supporting the ecclesiastical education of monks and novices, by bearing 

the cost of publication of dhamma books, by contributing to a funeral ceremony and 

last but not the least by giving one’s time and labor for various activities in a 

monastery. It is very interesting to observe how Thai people have traditionally 

entwined their lives with the culture of merit-making. To the two attributive 

nomenclatures that already exist, “Thailand is the land of smile and the land of 

yellow-robe”, one can easily accord yet a third name that reveals the underlying 

principle behind the smile and the robe – “Thailand is the land of merit-making.” 

Although merit-making in some urban settings 9 has been adversely affected by the 

rapid modernization, consumerist culture and capitalistic mode of growth that took 

place in the last few decades, Isan people, on the other hand, have successfully 

preserved the culture of merit-making by still adhering to its pristine values and 

8 Dānamaya is only one out of ten bases of meritorious action. For a detail of all ten bases see 

Dictionary of Buddhism by P.A. Payutto, (Bangkok: Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University 

Press, 2000), pp. 109-111. 

9 One instance that immediately comes to mind is Wat Dhammakāya that has fetishes the cult of 

accumulation of merit to an unprecedented degree while wilfully misconstruing the teachings of the 

Buddha, especially the concept of non-substantiality (anattā). This temple has become a ‘haven’ for a 

section of ultramodern and affluent Thais who would prefer to go for an illusionary crystal ball 

meditation technique rather than make a sincere effort to understand and practice Buddhadhamma in the 

true sense. 

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practicing it within the folds of the twelve-month tradition or Prapheni Heet Sip 

song. Therefore, merit-making still exists as a spontaneously thriving tradition and 

has not yet turned out to be a fetish and a means to ‘bartering’ of merit. On every 

occasion of Boonkumkhaoyai ceremony, village folks are seen to circumambulate the 

giant paddy heap three consecutive times holding money-tree (tonphapa) 10 , yellowrobes 

and other offerings in their hands, before offering them to individual monks. 

On each such occasion, lay devotees rejoice in merit-making as they are aware that 

by doing so they are supporting the monastic order and are joining hands in the 

propagation of Buddhism. Their joint collaborative action is effective in keeping the 

age-old tradition of their forefathers alive. In the long run, the continuity of such 

collective effort will make the flame of dhamma glow with ever more incandescence 

rendering Buddhism a living tradition. 

Egalitarian participation: 

Like most Isan ceremonies, Boonkumkhaoyai is a gender neutral ceremony 

in which men and women take part equally. The hosts of the ceremony, who donate 

sacks of unhusked paddy to form the giant paddy heap, are humble village folks. 

Interestingly, sometimes the female hosts outnumber the male hosts. Dressed in 

attractive hand-woven silk attires, men and women take part equally in the joyous 

merit-making occasion. Each village community or group has its own colorful 

parade with the men beating traditional Isan drums and cymbals and women folks 

dancing to the rhythm holding money-trees, yellow-robes, pillows, and lotuses in 

their hands as offerings to the monks. The parades circumambulate the giant paddy 

heap three consecutive times in a symbolic supplication to the Triple Gem – The 

Buddha, The Dhamma and The Sangha – before gracefully placing the offerings in 

front of individual monks and receiving benisons. 

Belief in Kamma: 

Isan people, like all Buddhists throughout the world, have strong faith in the 

Law of Kamma. The words of the Buddha “…people sow their seeds determine their 

fruits: those who do good, receive good; those who do evil, receive evil” 11 are deeply 

implanted in the hearts of rural Isan people who try to accumulate merit for spiritual 

progress and a good birth in the next life. Although they might not understand the 

Dependent Origination and the Law of Kamma in intricate details, the general belief 

that one is destined to receive the results of one’s action whether good or evil, aspires 

10 

a makeshift toy tree made of straw with many branches into which devotees needle in bamboo pins 

stuck with currency notes 

11 

Samyuttanikāya I. 227 

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them to strive for positive action (kusala kamma) by such methods as merit-making. 

They are aware of the dominant pattern of moral validation in Buddhism that takes 

into account the intention (cetana) of the doer, the nature of the act, and the 

consequences that flow from it. Their intention to take part in a traditional ceremony 

like Boonkumkhaoyai suggests a positive mentality, the actual act of donating paddy 

reflects a meritorious action, and the consequence that will result can be expected to 

be positive. All participants in Boonkumkhaoyai believe that taking part in the 

occasion is a good action that increases the potentiality of accumulation of merits and 

will bring them good fortunes in the present life and ultimately prepare them for a 

good birth in the future. For the reason of assuring good fortunes in the present life, 

the host participants in Boonkumkhaoyai desire to collect a handful of grains 

(khaomongkhol) from the donated sack of rice to carry back home. They believe that 

after the offering is made and monks have chanted and blessed the giant paddy heap, 

each grain of rice becomes consecrated and auspicious. So they carry home a 

handful of it to be preserved and mixed with other rice that will be sowed in the next 

season with the expectation of reaping a good harvest that would enable them to 

continue the meritorious act of donating paddy anew the following year. The action 

of carrying back home a handful of consecrated grains has both concrete and 

symbolic meanings. At one level it shows the northeasterners’ strong faith in an 

auspicious object, and at another level it symbolically represents the flow of kamma. 

Just as a handful of consecrated paddy mingled with other grains is expected to 

produce a good harvest, good deeds when repeated will reduce and replace all evil 

deeds. The accruement of good deeds will not only bring good fortunes, happiness 

and assure a good birth in the next life, but will also lead to higher spiritual 

attainments. 

Moral benefits the participants in Boonkumkhaoyai reap: 

1. Mental well-being: As in any act of generosity, participation in 

Boonkumkhaoyai brings great happiness, satisfaction and solace to the 

humble donors. 

2. Observance of the precepts: Arrangement of the ceremony and 

participation in it is regarded as a spiritual undertaking that is conducive to 

ethical practice and observance of the precepts. 

3. Getting rid of defilements: The observance of the precepts and realization 

of the significance of dhamma in life pave the way for deletion of 

defilements and temptations. 

91


4. Acquiring wisdom: When the path is clear and devoid of defilements, the 

mind gets ripe for higher spiritual attainment such as right understanding and 

right thought which form the basis of wisdom. 

5. Endurance: Participation on the occasion and generous sharing of a part of 

the harvest give rise to an attitude of endurance and make people more 

tolerant of hardships in life. 

6. Forbearance: The attitude of endurance and tolerance beget patience and 

forbearance. 

7. Sincerity: Participation in Boonkumkhaoyai is a merit-making act that 

involves direct contribution towards social welfare giving rise to sincerity – 

sincerity to the act of merit-making, to the age-old tradition and to one’s own 

faith. 

8. Social bonding: Boonkumkhaoyai is a collective undertaking that unites all 

participants giving rise to social harmony and solidarity. Mutual 

interdependence and harmonious co-existence are acknowledged and put into 

practice through it. 

9. Sympathetic joy: The concept of “my/mine” gets reduced when people take 

part in Boonkumkhaoyai. The desire to donate unmilled rice to form the 

giant paddy heap comes from loving-kindness and compassion and when the 

effort is seen to directly contribute to social and religious welfare it gives rise 

to sympathetic joy. 

10. Accumulation of merit: Participation in the ceremony enhances the 

potentiality of accumulation of merits. Suppose one cannot see the result of 

such good action directly, the preceding nine benefits in themselves can be 

regarded as the direct result of the meritorious act. 

As mentioned aforesaid a reflection on Boonkumkhaoyai will enable us to 

understand the true Buddhist way of life vis-à-vis a consumerist way of living and 

behaving. Economists and finance experts today are generally supportive of a 

materialistic way of life and their theories and suppositions are grounded on a non- 

Buddhist approach simply because Buddhism is not supportive of any form of excess 

and non-ethical means. Although economists interpret any past, on-going or 

impeding economic crisis in theoretically loaded terms and terminology, looked at 

from the Buddhist perspective, it is clear that any crisis takes place whenever there is 

an imbalance in the practice of ethical conduct. The world is never rid of crises – 

economic crisis, ecological crisis, communal war and conflict – because the world is 

never empty of defilements. The paradox of the present day world situation is that 

the values we have enumerated above, as reflected in the traditional ceremony of 

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Boonkumkhaoyai from rural Isan, are deficiently lacking in society at large and 

particularly among affluent power holders and policy makers. In today’s highly 

consumerist culture, people tend to give only lip service to moral and ethical 

principles; consequently, generosity gave way to ostentation, moderation to hoarding, 

contentment to insatiability, control of greed to indulgence, loving-kindness to selfcenteredness, 

compassion to indifference, merit-making to accumulation of wealth 

and bank balance and belief in one’s action to masquerading. When all these 

negative developments gather momentum, regional or worldwide economic 

meltdown becomes inevitable. 

The Asian Crisis of 1997 originated under the tremendous pressure that built 

up due to steady escalation of various negative forces, such as: overconsumption, 

crony capitalism, debt, default, excessive real estate speculation, all of which point at 

the deterioration of moral and ethical standard. Economists, however, talked only 

about such surface phenomena as the floating of the currency, deflation, devaluation 

of the baht, recession and finally, the bursting of “The Bubble”. Underneath the 

statistical data and economic analyses lay layers of truth unrevealing which will have 

to begin with such simple questions as – Why did “The Bubble” originate at all and 

why did it ultimately burst? Will not such economic depression occur again? The 

answer is, economic crisis will repeat itself and with ever more devastating force if 

ethical problems are not taken into serious consideration and moral standards both at 

the national and international level are not maintained. The Buddhist perspective on 

any economic crisis will focus on the Right Way of Practice that incorporates right 

livelihood, practice of generosity, moderation, contentment, control of greed, lovingkindness 

and compassion, merit-making, egalitarianism, and belief in the Law of 

Kamma or volitional actions. The Buddhist approach is the Middle Way approach 

that denies two extremes – living in abject poverty and indulgence in wealth and 

materialism. Although the dominant mainstream lifestyle and way of thinking today 

tends to override this Middle Way approach, exemplary model such as 

Boonkumkhaoyai that exist on the periphery ought to be highlighted in order to 

counteract and minimize superficial and vacuous elements in today’s consumerist 

culture which is based on extremes such as overconsumption, indulgence, unfair 

competition and hoarding of wealth. 

It can be concluded that Boonkumkhaoyai is a Buddhist paradigm of 

balanced living based on holistic principles through which the great ideal of the 

Buddha’s teachings – ‘for the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of 

compassion for the many’ (bahujanahitāya bahujanasukhāya lokānukampāya) – is 

manifested in its microcosm. This is a tradition that is exemplary enough to be 

emulated in its exact form or modified version by any concerned people. Suppose it 

is difficult to implement it in exact form due to various cultural barriers, one can at 

least imbibe the core essence of the ceremony in its spirit and practice it in a way that 

93


might be possibly appropriate in one’s own cultural background manifesting the 

underlying principles of commitment to selfless giving and communal welfare. 

Thai-Isan Traditions – Prapheni Heet Sip-song: 

No 

Name of the 

Tradition 

1 Boonkhaokam 

2 

Boonkhunlarn or 

Boonkamkhaoyai 

3 Boonkhaojee 

4 Boonphraves March 

Time/Season Related Activity/Purpose 

after harvest during 

mid/late November 

end of harvest 

winter season early 

January-early 

February 

The Buddhist All 

Saints’ Day last 

week of February or 

early March 

5 Boonsongkran 13-15 April 

6 Boonbang-fai May Rocket festival 

7 

Boonchamha or 

Boonberkbaan 

8 Boonkhaophansā 

9 

Boonkhao 

Padabdin 

10 Boonkhaosak 

11 Boon Orkphansa 

12 Boon Kathin 

June Ablution 

ceremony 

late July/early 

August Asalha 

Puja 

commencement of 

the Buddhist Lent 

August ceremony 

for dead relatives 

September sharing 

of food with spirits 

October End of 

Buddhist Lent 

November Robeoffering 

ceremony 

94 

intensive practice of Dhamma – listening to 

sermons, practice of meditation, reading 

Dhamma books; it is the period of 

purification both for monks and laymen 

invitation of Buddhist monks to one’s home 

for chanting and blessing of the 

harvest/granary; making merit by offering the 

giant paddy heap 

merit-makings are performed in observance 

of the great events of the Buddha’s time; 

celebration of Magha Puja on the full moon 

day 

monks’ chanting of Vessantara Jātaka 

(Wetsandorn Chādok) – the story of 

Mahāchāt or The Great Birth 

Traditional Thai New Year celebration; meritmaking, 

construction of sand pagoda, bathing 

of the Buddha Statue, bathing Buddhist 

monks, honoring (Bangsukul) ancestors’ 

bones, fish and bird release 

merit-making, asking for rain from God, 

worship the guardian spirit (deva) 

bringing of sand, small stones and water in a 

big jar and white consecrated tread to the 

central hall of the temple to be blessed by the 

monks and which are then carried back home 

as symbols of ablution and purification; 

Buddhist monks are invited for chanting on 

two consecutive nights and on the third day 

meal is offered to the monks 

celebration of Asalha Puja to commemorate 

the Buddha’s deliverance of the First Sermon 

to the faithful disciples; celebration of the 

advent of the three-months’ long Buddhist 

Lent 

merit-making, decoration of the earth with 

rice, sweets, areca palm and betel leaves as 

offerings to deceased relatives 

merit-making in the honor of spirits and one’s 

own ancestors 

ritual offering of alms food to monks 

(Takbatra-Devo) to mark the end of the 

Buddhist Lent 

presentation of yellow robes and other 

necessary items to monks

Introduction: 

Dhammacakka as the Commencement of Proper Economy: 

Buddhist Perspective 

Phramaha Somphong Santacitto, PhD Candidate 

Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University 

This paper aims at examining and exploring the early idea of economics and 

its developments in Buddhist approach. Cakka has a wide range of meanings and 

their roles have made great symbolic contributions to various concepts: 

economically, politically and religiously (certainly in Buddhism). Cakka as gear 

Politics 

Economics 

wheel driving the proper economy and proper politics: 

I would like to express special thanks to P.A. Payutto, the eminent scholar of 

Buddhism of Thailand in the present-day for his proposing this idea for the revolution 

of economics and politics in Buddhist principle and way by view of cakka valuable to 

economic sustainability and politic stability. 

As we know, the more the world advances and progresses materially: 

scientifically, technologically, economically, and politically, the most people are 

unhappy about their lessening quality of spiritual life. Be possessed of with better 

education, they live and survive at midst of advanced sciences and technology, better 

free-market economics and up-to-date politic system. But it turns out that the world 

still encounters the global crisis whether it is environmental, economic, political and 

social. How do people integrate the idea of Dhamma into material, physical and 

social development – or even, especially, economics? Some hold that Buddhism has 

no relationship with the worldly concerns, as accused by Weber. This idea can no 

longer be stated as being valid by modern Buddhist and non-Buddhist scholars. Many 

95 

Cakka


teachings of the Buddhism indicating the issue of economics, society, and politics 

also propose the resolution available and approachable to sustainability. 

The Buddhist teachings never overlooked human happiness in the worldly 

life (here and now). That’s why in this paper, the idea of economics commenced 

simultaneously the first discourse (Dhammacakkappavattanasutta). Even Dhamma 

has the vital importance to life and society and why the Buddha brought the Cakka 

for his first sermon as the debut and launching his founding symbolism of his 

principle. That means Cakka has the impact on the lifestyle and society as a whole. 

Dhammacakka as highlight of this paper is worthy answering why the Buddha started 

with the Dhamma representing Buddhism and Cakka representing how both 

Dhammacakka and worldly concerns (economics, politics, and society) are 

interrelated and interconnected. This paper only focuses on economics aspect 

according to Buddhist approach. 

Outline: 

This paper first presents the definition and classification of the cakka making 

contribution to the economic activity and presents the idea of Buddhism pertaining to 

economic aspect through the idea of Cakka as gear wheel rolling in motion for the 

progress and prosperity of world civilization. 

The second session is to understand development of cakka to different human 

ages. We know, in economical circle wherever wheel (Cakka) roll or move forward it 

would be a better place for economy as well as for the political purpose. The chariot 

wheel moves anywhere, with power. 

Here this paper offers an understanding of Dhammacakka with its purpose of 

not only the religious and spiritual matters but also worldly concerns. In the 

reductionist world, the difference between secular and religious is obvious. 

Personally, I would not say that it is not only a matter of religious way but also to 

basic needs which are economics and politics. Even economics (right livelihood) is 

for the individual life whilst politics for the social life. As right livelihood, right 

action, and right speech are relevant to contemporary economic context. All factors 

relate these contemporary economic activities to the sustainable and strengthening 

ones. The Dhammacakkappavattanasutta, first discourse uttered by the Buddha 

should be the first one amongst all suttas, related to worldly dimensions and concerns 

whether it be economic, social, and politic. It is also revolutionary for the human 

civilization that refers to good economics and politics associated with Dhamma. 

Finally, Cakka and Dhammacakka contribution of cakka to world and Thai 

economics will be discussed. 

96

Buddhistt 

Approach to 

Economic Crisis | 

The wheels shown here aare 

relatively sophisticated in comparison 

to the 

earliest models. In thhe 

case of a ffixed 

axle, thee 

wheel is helld 

in place beeside 

the 

chassis by a small pegg 

and revolvess 

independent oof 

the axle. (TThis 

model difffers 

from 

anotherr 

standard desiign, 

the movinng 

axle, in wwhich 

the axle is firmly fixeed 

to the 

wheel aand 

the two ccomponents 

reevolve 

as a unnit.) 

Early forrms 

of roller bbearings, 

devices that help wheeels 

to turn more 

smoothly, wwere 

developedd 

around 100 bbc. 

Thhe 

invention oof 

the wheel 

97

| Buddhist Approach too 

Economic Crisis 

Dhaarmacakka 

is ccalled 

the "Whheel 

of Dharmaa" 

and found iin 

the eight-spooked 

form. It is reepresented 

as oone 

of symbollism 

of Buddhism 

Thee 

wheel is alsoo 

the prominennt 

figure on thee 

flag of India. . The wheel inn 

this 

case represents 

law (Dhaamma). 

It alsoo 

appears in tthe 

flag of thhe 

Romani peoople, 

hinting to thheir 

nomadic hhistory 

and theeir 

Indian origiins. 

Cakka Defi finition: 

Whheel 

shape in ori 

rotating on 

machines. I 

1 (Pali: Caakka 

or Sanskrrit: 

Cakra) is literally a circcular 

device roound 

iginal sense, the 

wheel of chart, 

wheel off 

chariot, car tthat 

are capablle 

of 

its axis, facillitating 

movemment 

or transpportation 

or peerforming 

laboor 

in 

In its simplestt 

form, the whheel 

was a soolid 

wooden ddisk 

mounted on a 

1 

Wikipedia, thhe 

free encyclope 

Etymologicallly, 

The English w 

extended formm 

of the root *k 

κυκλος kuklos 

Lithuanian, su 

extended o-gra 

w edia.htm 

word wheel comess 

from the Proto-IIndo-European 

*kk 

eel- 

meaning "to reevolve, 

move arouund". 

This is also 

s, the Sanskrit chhakra, 

and Persiaan 

charkh, all meeaning 

"circle" or 

ukti means "to rootate". 

The Latin word rota is fromm 

the Proto-Indo 

ade form of the rooot 

*ret- meaningg 

"to roll, revolve" " 

w ek w lo-, which wwas 

an 

o the root of the GGreek 

r "wheel", and allso 

in 

o-European *rotāā-, 

the 

98


round axle, to which it was secured by wooden pins. Eventually sections were carved 

out of the disk to reduce the weight and radial spokes were devised about 2000 BC. 

Cakka is object with its circle that is circular shape with static state. Another 

characteristic is that it is movable, it moves with circulation. Ring circulates and is 

movable shape. So, cakka with 2 meanings: circular shape and movable such as the 

steering wheel. So in later sense, this is wheel. The revolving wheel has symbolized 

human civilization so far. Originally, cakka is normal circle such as the physical 

eyes, (akkhimanḍhala) because it can revolve and roll meaning cakka (akkhicakka). 

This is the small cakka. Bigger and larger is cakkarāsī then cakkhavala called cakka. 

Even in Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana) Kālacakka has been popularly practiced 

temporally and spiritually. Cakka has a vital role in Buddhist teachings not only for 

the Buddha Dhamma but also for the temporal matters. 

In Pali Canon (Tipitaka) there are some suttas called cakka sutta, with its 

contents called cakkadhamma. 2 This sutta also guarantees the wealth and plenty of 

happiness if one follows it. 3 This Dhamma is figuratively comparable to the four 

wheels that carry a vehicle to its destination. 4 

2 Cakka Sutta.- On the four wheels that lead to prosperity: dwelling in fit places, association with the 

good, perfect self adjustment (attasammāpanidhi) and merit done aforetime. A.ii.32 f.; D.iii.276; cf. 

Mangala Sutta. Cakka Sutta. A king who knows the good (attha) Dhamma, the measure (matta), the 

season (kāla), and the nature of his assemblies (parisā) wields dominion that cannot be wrested from 

him. A Buddha's dominion is also the same. A.iii.147. 

1. Āvāsa – Sappāya : suitable abode 

2. Puggala – Sappaya : suitable person 

3. Āhara – Sappaya : suitable food 

4. Dhamma – Sappaya : suitable doctrine. 

Cakka Vagga.- The fourth chapter of the Catukka Nipāta of the Anguttara Nikāya. A.ii.32-44 Cakka: 

'wheel', is one of the seven 'precious possessions' (ratana) of a righteous World Emperor (cakkavatti: 'He 

who owns the Wheel,' cf. D. 26), and symbolizes conquering progress and expanding sovereignty. From 

that derives the figurative expression dhamma-cakkam pavatteti, 'he sets rolling the Wheel of the Law' 

and the name of the Buddha's first sermon, Dhamma-cakkappavattana Sutta (s. Dhamma-cakka). 

Another figurative meaning of C. is 'blessing'. There are 4 such 'auspicious wheels' or 'blessings': living 

in a suitable locality, company of good people, meritorious acts done in the past, right inclinations (A. 

IV, 31). 2 "If you dwell in a civilized place, make friends with the noble ones (Ariyans), 2 rightly direct 

yourself, and have made merit in the past, there will roll 2 to you, crops, wealth, status, honor, & 

happiness." 2 http://www.budsir.org/Part2_2.htm 

3 "If you dwell in a civilized place, make friends with the noble ones (Ariyans), rightly direct yourself, 

and have made merit in the past, there will roll to you, crops, wealth, status, honor, & happiness." 

4 http://www.budsir.org/Part2_2.htm 

99



Potter’s 

wheel 

A ddepiction 

of onager-drawn carts on thee 

Sumerian "bbattle 

standard 

of 

Ur" (circa 33200 

BC) 

Caravan Waagon 

rolled byy 

wheels 

Thee 

word ‘cakkka’ 

can be pu 

meanings suuch 

as prefix Cakravāla 

Dhammacakkka, 

Kumphac 

5 ut before andd 

after noun with transforrmed 

, CCakkavattirājā, 

Cakkavutha aand 

suffix succh 

as 

cakka, bhava-ccakka, 

kālacakkka. 

5 

The lower llevels 

of the univverse, 

that is, thee 

realms of sensuuality, 

arrange thhemselves 

into vaarious 

distinct worldd 

discs (cakavala). 

At the center of a cakavala is the great world mountain, Sumeeru 

or 

Meru. 

100 

Caravaan 

moved for wworld 

civilizatioon

Cakka (wheel) 

is considereed 

one of the mmost 

importannt 

inventions inn 

human 

history; ; the wheel is more than 50000 

years old and has been crucial to meechanical 

devices and economiccal 

and politicaal 

purposes evver 

since it emeerged. 

Initiallyy, 

wheels 

were soolid 

disks, butt 

gradually evoolved 

into thee 

spoked desiggn, 

which is both 

light 

and stroong. 

Wheeled vehicles are believed to have 

appeared after the inveention 

of 

potter’ss 

wheel, and the wheeled cart soon reeplaced 

the slledge 

as a mmeans 

of 

transporrtation. 

The innvention 

of thee 

wheel was a major turningg 

point in the advance 

of humman 

civilizationn. 

The wheel led to more efficient use of animal poower 

for 

agricultture 

and other work. It becamme 

an invaluabble 

mechanicaal 

means of controlling 

the floww 

and directionn 

of power or fforce. 

The appplications 

of thhe 

cakka in moodern 

life 

and tecchnology 

are vvirtually 

infiniite 

including tthe 

water wheeel, 

the cogwhheel, 

the 

spinning 

wheel and the astrolabe or torquetumm. 

More moderrn 

descendantts 

of the 

wheel iinclude 

the prropeller, 

the jeet 

engine, thee 

flywheel (gyyroscope), 

the turbine, 

computter 

devices: CPPU, 

Floppy Disk, 

Hard Disk, 

CD, and DVDD. 

Wheels hadd 

exerted 

influencce 

over every aspect. With cakka as a toool 

for econommy 

and politiccs, 

many 

differennt 

forms of cakkka 

such as wwaterwheel, 

a ppotter’s 

wheell 

involve. Alsso 

cakka 

relates rreligious 

aspecct 

dhammacakkka, 

prayer whheel, 

wheel of f life, wheel off 

law, 24 

wheels of the sun godd’s 

chariot, esppecially 

Indiann 

religions, Budddhism 

and Hiinduism. 

Sun god’s chaariot 


Approach to 


101 

Dhammmacakka



A pair of whheels 

on a cartt 

Modernn 

Motorcycle 

Wheel with disck-braake 

Cakka - Cllassification 

and 

Function: 

Thee 

Cakka is a ddevice 

that enaables 

efficient movement of an object acrooss 

a 

surface wheere 

there is a force pressingg 

the object too 

the surface ffor 

instance, a cart 

drawn by a horse, and thee 

rollers on an aircraft flap mmechanism. 

Heence, 

in this paaper, 

three kinds of Cakka in the terms off 

purposes, functions, 

and iinfluences 

willl 

be 

proposed annd 

broken aparrt 

as follows: 

1.1 Ecoonomic 

Cakka 

1.2 Political 

Cakka 

1.3 Dhaamma 

Cakka 

Cakka for Economics: 

Whhen 

cakka arise 

it becomes the symbol of 

made throuugh 

vehicle w 

progress.’ CCakka 

become 

with differeent 

forms such 

wagon (sākkaṭa). 

one place, r 

or economi 

convey of 

world religi 

near and fa 

lofty civiliz 

the west me 

7 es, it is excitinng 

to bring about 

comfort annd 

prosperity 

f prosperity annd 

civilization. 

Because matterially 

progre 

with wheel ( cakka) rapidly, 

in Red CChina 

called ‘ 

es the communication 

and ttransportation 

vehicles for t 

h as carriages (yāna), cart ( (vayha), a chaariot 

(ratha) 

In the paast, 

commercee 

was moved fforward 

by car 

region or counttry 

to another. This cakka is purposely mo 

cs. Trade was rapidly on inncrease 

leadingg 

to culture, co 

knowledge. AAll 

knowledgee 

is transmitteed 

through tra 

ions (Hinduismm, 

Christianityy, 

Mohammedaanism 

and Bud 

ar through tradde 

as well. Whheels 

are thereefore, 

symbols 

zation. The Sillk 

Road silk mmoved 

by wheeels 

causing eco 

et the east and the east met thhe 

west. 

6 until 

ess is 

‘leap 

trade 

aand 

a 

ravan (cakka) ffrom 

oved for commmerce 

ommunicationn 

and 

ade. Even varrious 

ddhism) are sppread 

s of prosperityy 

and 

onomic progreess 

– 

6 

Ratha is not only a part of the war machine, buut 

also used for ridding 

and driving aand 

trade purposee. 

7 

It was essen ntially used for ggoods. 

The peoplee 

travelled in carravans 

especiallyy 

when the roads were 

unsafe. Some caravans were acccompanied 

by arrmed 

guards. A ccaravan 

leader waas 

an important pperson 

and the term bbecame 

symbolic of big merchants. . 

102 

Stteam-train


Cakka has had played an important role in economic activity including 

production, working, purchasing, distribution, spending or consumption. This is 

conducive to materially economic progress. Cakka helps mobilize economics in the 

every sector. Especially production, manufacturing, cakka in form of kumpakāra or 

potter’s wheel or spinning wheel. Hence, in this sense, cakka rolls on representing 

the economics. 

Cakka for Politics: 

Having been moved by economics, this symbolizes the warrior’s authorities 

until this period, warrior (King, Temporal Leader) had the warring cars or charts. In 

those periods, all wars were waged by elephants, horses, infantry, and supply cabin 

car and military hardware, the period of power extension. Cakka symbolizes the car, 

pushing the car move on. In this sense, it crushes on the land symbolizing power, 

meaning power-extending whenever it rolls on. Power brings about the name 

‘kingdom’ (Anacakka temporal dominion) for which the land of power moves, this is 

called the wheel of power. Formerly, wheel of power moves wherever, it becomes 

the land of warrior or king called power of king, warrior. As appeared in Anguttara 

Nikāya Dukanipāta it is a matter of Buddha on his discourse on a king called 

Pacetana ordered his mechanic to make a wheel (cakka) in order to wage war. This 

indicates the Cakka for political purpose. Cakka represents the power which 

symbolizes the politics. In some discourses Buddha proclaims himself as 

Dhammarājā (king of Dhamma) and Sārīputta as dhamasenāpati (minister of 

Dhamma who takes the role of a messenger of a king) Dhammaraja 

Dhammasenāpati. For instances, the Ashoka army moved anywhere. The 

Cakkavattirājā (universal monarch or literally Wheel Turning King) he is not only 

regarded as the symbol of sovereignty, but also in Buddhist sense the good model of 

good government. He symbolizes the cakka for politics. Cakka (Wheel) is one of 

seven royal treasures 8 possessed by him as “Roll onwards O! Jewel of the Wheel, and 

8 Seven Royal Treasures:- 

The Wheel, the Elephant, the Horse, the Gem, the Woman, the Treasurer and the Adviser One of the 

seven treasures of a Cakkavatti. When a Cakkavatti is born into the world, the Cakkaratana appears 

before him from the Cakkadaha, travelling through the air (J.iv.232). The Cakkaratana is the 

Cakkavatti's chief symbol of office; on its appearance before him, he sprinkles it with water and asks it 

to travel to the various quarters of the world, winning them for him. This the Cakkaratana does, carrying 

with it through the air the Cakkavatti with his fourfold army. Wherever the Cakkaratana halts, all the 

chiefs of that quarter acclaim the Cakkavatti as their overlord and declare their allegiance to him. 

Having thus traversed the four quarters of the earth, it returns to the Cakkavatti's capital, and remains 

fixed as an ornament on the open terrace in front of his inner apartments (D.ii.173f; M.iii.173ff). 

The Commentaries (E.g., DA.ii.617ff; MA.ii.942ff) contain lengthy descriptions of the Cakkaratana: it 

is shaped like a wheel, its nave is of sapphire, the centre of which shines like the orb of the moon, and 

round it is a band of silver. It has one thousand spokes, each ornamented with various decorations; its 

tire is of bright coral; within every tenth spoke is a coral staff, hollow inside, which produces the sounds 

of the fivefold musical instruments when blown upon by the wind. On the staff is a white parasol, on 

103


conquer.” Such wheel rolled onwards every direction (east, west, south, and north) in 

the same manner with his fourfold army. Where so ever the Jewel of the Wheel 

stopped, the king along with his army stopped. The local king welcomed him through 

his territory he passed and he said “Come, sir, you are welcome, sir, (all is) yours, sir 

instruct (us) sir.” The Wheel Turning King said thus, “You shall not kill the living 

beings, or steal, or act wrongly in regard to sense pleasures, or tell a lie, or take 

strong drink. You shall eat in moderation” In this case, the wheel rolled on very 

boundary of the earth and the ocean. Cakka in this sense clearly put, in comparison to 

the tours of Asoka, undertaken for the propagation of ‘Dhamma’ rather than the 

progress of an all conquering hero. These stories helped define notions of Buddhist 

kingship throughout Asia, and gave specificity to the mythic model of the wheelturning, 

dharma upholding cakravartin. From Sri Lanka to Japan, monarchs were 

inspired by the image of Ashoka as a propagator of the religion, distributor of wealth, 

sponsor of great festivals, builder of monasteries, and guarantor of peace and 

prosperity. In particular, the legend of his construction of eighty-four thousand stũpas 

motivated several Chinese and Japanese emperors to imitate it with their own 

schemes of relic and wealth distribution, which served to unify their countries and 

ritually reassert their sovereignty. 

In this sense, cakka means things crush on the land whenever it rolls it 

crushes on lands indicating the use of power, by using power meaning pressing, 

persecuting, and destroying. From the angle of wheel of car to the weapon of the 

preserver God Narai, in Hindu sense, it is called ‘Cakravuthā’. He has his own 

weapon, cakravutha of Narai has its characteristics with its saw-toothed rim. When 

he was angry with someone or at something, he would throw out to behead or 

decapitate. This clearly symbolizes power. Also punishment in the domain of peta 

(hungry ghost) uses cakka for crushing on head. Politically cakka is used as the sense 

of power, violence, punishment, sanction, penalty, and criminal. 

either side of which are festoons of flowers. When the wheel moves, it appears like three wheels moving 

one within the other. 

In Buddhist tradition, the ideal ruler was described as cakravartin (wheel turning king or universal ruler) 

and dharmarājā, or as a bodhisattva. Cakravartins have the thirty-two marks of a great man, rule in 

accordance with dharma, and preside over an age of peace. Buddhist rulers have claimed the right to 

purify the religion and to judge the teachings. In China, the emperor presided over debates between 

representatives of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism, pronouncing the winner at the end of the day. 

Various state laws provided some legal backing, such as tax exemptions, to monastic institutions. 

Conceding that the ruler has a legitimate role to play in reducing the bad karma of crime, the sangha has 

performed rituals to protect the ruler and the state. 

When a Cakkavatti dies or leaves the world, the Cakkaratana disappears from the sight of men for seven 

days; it gives warning of a Cakkavatti's impending death by slipping from its place some time before the 

event (D.iii. 59f.; MA.ii.885). When his successor has lived righteously for seven days, it reappears 

(D.iii.64). It is the most precious and the most honored thing in the world. UdA.356. 

104

Cakkas as vehhicle 

for politiics 

and movingg 

on for politiccs. 

A 

small caatapult 

with wwheels 

would have 

been usedd 

in battle 


Approach to 


So cakkka 

for the polittics 

rolls for thhe 

purpose of ppower 

only, whhether 

it is righhteous, 

just, or unjust with itss 

dependence oon 

the next thirrd 

cakka. 

105



AApart 

from thhe 

cakka for 

economyy 

and poliitics, 

cakka 

Dhammaa 

(Dhammacaakka 

revolutioonary 

to suppo 

kinds off 

cakka. That’s 

proposess 

and proclaim 

as the fi first sermon in 

content with both fo 

continuee 

with the dh 

two formerr 

cakkas are aabused 

or misuused 

for the ppurpose 

of ph 

benefits, poower, 

violence, , persecution, rrivalry 

withouut 

Dhamma. 

9 both 

for 

), is new and 

ort the two forrmer 

s why the Budddha 

ms Dhammacaakka 

n order to onlyy 

be 

ormer cakkas but 

hammacakka. The 

hysical or matterial 

Whheel 

of Law (Sanskrit, 

Dharmma 

Chakra), BBuddhist 

symbool 

representingg 

the 

Four Noblee 

Truths and thhe 

Eightfold PPath, 

the basic teachings of BBuddhism. 

Thhis 

is 

known as “ “The Turning of the Wheell 

of Law.” Thhe 

earliest icoonography, 

aroound 

second cenntury 

BC, thee 

Dhamma-caakka 

featured an anti-conicc 

symbol forr 

the 

Buddha, whhich 

was repreesented 

either oon 

or above a vacant thronee, 

flanked on either 

side by twoo 

or more gazzelles, 

signifyiing 

the Deer Park 

(Sarnath) wwhere 

the Budddha 

first preachhed, 

or on top of a 

column (Saanskrit, 

cakrasstambha), 

the column signiffying 

the axis muundi 

(another cosmic symbool), 

In later icconic 

representatiion, 

this symmbolism 

is iinscribed 

on the 

Buddha's body 

and the ssoles 

of his ffeet 

or held inn 

his 

hands. 

9 

Do not get coonfused 

between ‘Dhammacakka aand 

Cakkadhammma. 

The Former is the main theme oof 

this paper whiich 

is a first discouurse 

of all deliverred 

by the Buddhaa. 

The latter is a kkind 

of Dhamma 

category which 

presents about tthe 

wheel leadingg 

to progress and ssuccess. 

It is Dhammaccakka 

that Buddha 

rolls Dhamma aand 

cakka in motiion, 

cakka and Dhhamma 

in motionn, 

moves cakka iin 

righteous way, cakka with Dhammma 

practice. 


that Buddha 

establishing himmself 

in Dhammaa, 

setting himself iin 

Dhamma and 

having people in Dhamma rollss 

cakka in motionn. 

It is Dhammaacakka 

that Buddhha 

attaining the exxpertise 

in Dhammma 

and teaching ppeople 

to attain thhe 

expertise in Dhhamma 

rolls cakkka 

in motion. 


that Buddha 

achieving the DDhamma 

and teachhing 

people to achhieve 

the Dhammma 

rolls cakka in motion. 


that Buddha 

achieving the brraveness 

in Dhammma 

and teachingg 

people to achievving 

the braveness in Dhamma rolls cakka in motion. 


that Buddha 

Honor, pay respect, 

worship, paays 

homage to Dhhamma 

having 

Dhamma as flag, 

Dhamma as ppinnacle 

rolls cakkka 

in motion. Etc. . 

106 

Dhammmacakka:


Approach to 


Dhamma-cakkka, 

or dhammma-cakra, 

(Pali, SSanskrit) 

"The Wheel of the Dhamma," 

represennts 

the motif oof 

the many spoke-wheel 

(actually 

8) which is the distinctivee 

symbol of 

Buddhism. 

Originallyy 

it signified thhe 

Buddha's 

act of pproclaiming 

hiis 

Dhamma too 

the world. 

The moomentous 

signiificance 

of this 

event was 

portrayeed 

in canonical 

sources by comparing 

the Budddha 

to the temmporal 

leader ( (monarch or 

cakkavaattirājā) 

whho 

claims universal 

sovereiggnty 

by drivving 

the wheeels 

of his 

chariot throughout thee 

earth; in couurse 

of time thee 

dhammacakk 

Buddhist 

teachings. TThough 

Buddhhism 

derived thhe 

wheel symb 

ritual wwhere 

it signiffied 

the sun's disc, symbollizing 

cosmic 

chariot wheel, symboolizing 

royal ssovereignty 

annd 

power, Dha 

the ideaas 

of heavenlly 

and earthlyy 

power into one single co 

Buddhists 

when adoopting 

the wheel 

as symboolizing 

themse 

demonsstrate 

that the Buddha's teacchings 

have a universal, cos 

Dhammma-cakka 

is deepicted 

above entrances to BBuddhist 

temp 

throughhout 

Asia. When 

eight spokees 

are depictedd, 

or held in h 

the eighhtfold 

path (aṭṭṭhangika-maggga) 

or the eighht 

cardinal poi 

Vajarayyana 

iconograpphy, 

the wheel 

is placed onn 

a lotus pedes 

halo, which 

symbolizzes 

the essentiaal 

world of thee 

Buddhas. In 

monks use gilt bronnze 

wheels ass 

ritual impleements. 

Dhammma’ 

even the wwheel 

of powerr 

and economy 

to the ddisaster 

or turmmoil 

such as waar, 

persecution 

side of wheel of powwer 

and econommy. 

This wou 

wheels (politics andd 

economy). HHence, 

it is 

econommic, 

politic dimmensions. 

Thiss 

leads Dham 

politics. 

This Dhammmacakka 

arisees 

and is pro 

unpreceedented 

first ssermon 

called Dhammacakk 

discourse 

of wheel oof 

Dhamma inn 

motion, also 

proclaimmed 

implyingg 

that econommy 

and politi 

Dhammma. 

Therefore, Dhamma shoould 

be couple 

power. Instead, not oonly 

anācakkaa 

(dominion) t 

would rroll 

the wheell 

of Dhamma in motion and 

wheel oof 

Dhamma rrolls, 

within rreach, 

the go 

solidarity, 

and securrity 

is also thhere. 

reached 

Rsivadaana; 

Pāli, Isipaatana) 

near Beenares, 

and he 

10 ka has come too 

signify 

bol from ancieent 

Vedic 

order, and thhe 

king's 

ammacakka inntegrated 

oncept. Thereffore, 

the 

elves were strriving 

to 

smic significannce. 

The 

ples, or their ggateways 

his hands, this signifies 

ints of the commpass. 

In 

stal and encirccled 

by a 

Eastern Asia BBuddhist 

Thiss 

is called ‘ccakka 

of 

y moves perhapps, 

this would conduce 

n, injustice, vioolence, 

this is negative 

uld not end up with only twoo 

former 

dhammacakkaa 

that is refleected 

on 

ma along withh 

both econommics 

and 

oposed by thee 

Buddha throough 

his 

kappavattanasuutta. 

This suttta 

is the 

o sutta of humman 

revolutionn, 

newly 

ics would noot 

be proper, without 

ed and parallelled 

with econoomy 

and 

here is, but allso 

dhammacaakka 

this 

d extending foorwards. 

Wherrever 

the 

lden land or the land of stability, 

d Rsīpatana ( (in other textts 

called 

re he delivereed 

his first sermmon, 

the 

10 

See A.GG.H. 

Bowker, Johhn, 

The Oxford Dictionary 

of Worlld 

Religions, Neww 

York, Oxford UUniversity 

Press, 1997, 

p. 274. 

107


famous Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta, the discourse at Benares by which the wheel 

of the dharma was “Set into Motion.” In this sermon, the Buddha explained the 

middle way between the extremes of luxury and asceticism, the Four Noble Truths 

(the truth of suffering, the truth of the origin of suffering, the truth of the extinction 

of suffering, and the truth of the eightfold path leading to the extinction of suffering), 

as well as the impersonality of all beings. 

Therefore, “dhammacakka” falls under 3 meanings: first - wheel of 

Dhamma proclaimed and rolled forward by the Buddha and extended near and far by 

the four assemblies led by monks; second - symbolizes the preaching of a Buddha. 

Dharma wheel is likened to a wheel because it crushes all defilements; and third, land 

reached by the wheel of Dhamma (dhammacakka) becomes the Dhamma land. 

So Dhammacakka means wheel of Dhamma proclaimed and Dhamma 

crushing all defilements and the Dhamma land. This means Buddha proclaimed 

dhammacakka, rolled the Dhamma in motion and established dhammacakka in 

whichever land it reaches. In this above, the wheel, the chart, the chariot, the car and 

vehicle there must be a way leading to, middle way, and dhammacakka is a wheel of 

Dhamma rolled along the middle way. Having understood cakka and dhammacakka, 

this is a big issue, relates to, matters and contributes to world civilization since past to 

present. When Cakka arises, civilization moves. In today society, two are used for 

cakka:- Sāsanacakka (Religious dominion) and Anacakka (temporal dominion). From 

my point of view even we call sāsanacakka. It still represents the power or institute 

like anacakka. Both with their positive and negative side are partially different from 

Dhammacakka with its good side. 

A wheel alone can also symbolize the dhammacakka and the first sermon, 

especially if it is surrounded by two deer to indicate the context of the teaching. This 

symbol is commonly sculpted on Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna monasteries or temples, 

as well as on early iconic monuments. 

Development of Cakka and Its Contributions to Economics for World 

Civilization: 

Next, in this paper, Cakka contribution to economics and its development 

will be analyzed according to its age or order of time in order to make clear of its 

functions and benefits to world. In agricultural age, cakka (wheel) of vehicles is 

simply used for road or small business. Then in industrial age, more and more cakkas 

(wheels) were complexly used for industry and engine whether it is a gear wheel, a 

block, motor, or a wind wheel. Presently, in Digital Age, cakka has its shape and uses 

transformed into smaller shape and wider benefits and power. 

108

As we knoww, 

in those daays, 

cakka haas 

played impportant 

role inn 

human 

lifestylee 

in ancient age 

those dayss 

of the Buddhha’s 

time andd 

later time beefore 

the 

industriial 

age in Eurrope. 

Cakka ccontributions 

to human civvilization 

led to chart, 

chariot, and caravans. 

This led to wwheels, 

vehiclees. 

For, those aare 

used for commerce, 

business, 

culture, annd 

power exttension. 

Apartt 

from that, evidently, in part of 

producttion, 

a potter’ss 

wheel called kumbhakāra wwhen 

moldingg 

pottery on thhe 

device 

or tool called cakka oor 

in full kumbbhakāra 

meaniing 

cakka of potter (potter’ s wheel) 

that is a fundamentall 

technology. The wheels of 

chart and chhariot 

are believed 

the 

prolongged 

technologyy 

with its evoolutionary 

deveelopments 

in human historyy 

and its 

contribuution 

to worldd 

economics. Cakka arises or occurs inn 

order to pussh 

chart, 

chariot, wagons, andd 

vehicles forwward 

for betteer 

economics tthoroughly. 

EEconomic 

activitiees 

including prroduction, 

excchange 

or purcchase, 

marketiing, 

consumptiion 

were 

in prospperity. 

Commmunication 

andd 

transportationns 

are easy sppacious 

and acccessible 

called thhe 

dawn of thee 

civilization. TThis 

is called tthe 

agriculturaal 

age. 

Wheeledd 

carriages 


Approach to 


A wwater 

wheel 

Cakkkas 

are showwn 

as the symbool 

of agrarian age. 

In industriall 

age later, thee 

turn of next aage 

is called ‘ age of industrry’. 

Even 

this, thiis 

age concernss 

cakka that mmoves 

on and oon. 

Cakka of NNarai 

Hindu Good 

which 

is of saaw-tooth 

playss 

an importannt 

role in engine 

called the cogs of a geaar 

wheel 

symboliizes 

industry. This is so impportant 

that it revolves 

around 

its axis. Without 

this 

kind of f cakka, industtry 

would not work and moove. 

It is said tthat 

Industriall 

age has 

made coontributions 

too 

world througgh 

wheels thatt 

move both ccakka 

with smooth 

rim 

and its saw-tooth. Unntil 

present weeird 

cakka has been developed 

in various forms so 

109 

a spinning wwheel



that human could travel iin 

the space. CCar 

with high speed and airpplane 

are prodducts 

of peak of iindustrial 

age turn into teleccommunication 

from turbinee 

(turbo-propeeller) 

to turbojet eeven 

spacecraffts. 

Wheel onn 

a stream 

Locomootive 

Ship –p –propeller 

CCakkas 

with chhanged 

forms sshown 

here aree 

the symbols oof 

industrial agge 

Acccessible 

and rapid 

transporttation 

with traansformed 

cakkka 

as the peaak 

of 

industrial agge 

Froom 

the turn of iindustrial 

age to informationn 

technology (IIT) 

computer iis 

the leading key. Simply pput, 

the computter 

age, in the computer age, , the most 

important of 

components of computer iss 

CPU (centrall 

processing unnit). 

Even 

computer wwith 

only CPU is not enough just as humann 

with only braain 

cannot workk 

and car withh 

its engine in the front partss 

cannot work if no wheels. CCars 

cannot bee 

a 

useful workking 

car. And aaero 

plane withh 

engine but no 

blade and tuurbojet 

would nnot 

110 

Turboo 

Engine

work. CCakka 

which ta 

technollogical 

age, w 

cakka ccalled 

disk, har 

world oof 

cyberspace 

part of l 

tools of 

conjunc 

12 

akes us to the pprosperity 

of thhis 

age is calleed 

‘disc or dissk’. 

e are living unnder 

the advancce 

in economics 

through refo 

rd disk and Coompact 

Disc (CCD) 

Digital Video 

Disc ( DV 

2 

through the wweb 

of internett 

can be interliinked 

and repla 

lifestyle. Withh 

the advance in 

developmennt 

of the compuuter 

and intern 

f telecommuniccation, 

the ecoonomics 

makess 

progress rapiidly. 

Now it is 

cture of ages. 

11 In 

formed 

VD ), the 

ace a 

net as 

a 

11 http://e 

DVDD 


Approach to 


en.wikipedia.org/ /wiki/disc or disk Disc or disk maay 

refer to Data stoorage: 

Aluminumm 

disc, a 

magnetic recording disc ussed 

mainly for early 

radio recordinngs; 

Blu-ray Disc, , a high-density optical 

disc 

intended mainly for video storage; Compacct 

Disc, a form of optical disc used mainly for audio data; 

Disc filmm, 

a still-photograpphy 

film format; DDisk 

storage, a geeneral 

category off 

data storage mecchanisms; 

DVD, a fform 

of optical dissc 

used mainly foor 

video and otherr 

data; Enhanced VVersatile 

Disc, ann 

optical 

medium-bbased 

digital audiio/video 

format uunder 

developmennt 

(shortform EVDD); 

Floppy disk, a magnetic 

data storaage 

device using a flexible disc; Haard 

disk drive, a nnon-volatile 

magnnetic 

data storage device; 

HD DVDD, 

a high-density ooptical 

disc intendded 

mainly for viddeo 

storage; Holoographic 

Versatilee 

Disc , a 

next geneeration 

ultra-high-density 

optical ddisc 

format replaceement 

for bluray; ; Laserdisc, the firrst 

commerccial 

optical disc sttorage 

medium; MMiniDisc, 

a magneeto-optical 

disc-based 

data storage device; 

Optical ddisc, 

a polycarbonnate 

disc; RAM diisk, 

a volatile soliid 

state drive; Traanscription 

disc, a 

gramophoone 

record; Vinyll-disc, 

a record coombining 

a CD orr 

DVD and a grammophone; 

and a generic 

name for secondary storagge 

in a computer 

12 

Cybersspace, 

in computter 

jargon, the coommunity 

of netwworked 

computers 

and the culturre 

that has 

developed 

among users off 

these computers. 

The term was coined by Ameriican 

writer Williaam 

Gibson 

and first used in his 19844 

science fiction novel Neuromanncer, 

in which hee 

described cyberrspace 

as a 

place of “unthinkable commplexity.” 

The teerm 

has given risse 

to a vocabularry 

of “cybertermss,” 

such as 

cybercaféés 

(cafes that seell 

coffee and coomputer 

time), ccybermalls 

(onlinne 

shopping servvices), 

and 

cyberjunkkies 

(people addiccted 

to being online). 

111 

Hard DDisc



Personall 

Computer commponents 

Cakkkas 

with smaaller 

unit and mmore 

power annd 

wider beneffits 

are symbools 

of 

Digital Agee 

Connecting individual commputers 

to eaach 

other creaates 

networks. The 

Internet is a series of inteerconnected 

neetworks. 

Persoonal 

computerss 

and workstattions 

are connected 

to a Local AArea 

Network (LAN) by eithher 

a dial-up cconnection 

throough 

a modem aand 

standard pphone 

line or bby 

being direcctly 

wired into 

the LAN. OOther 

modes of ddata 

transmisssion 

that alloww 

for connecction 

to a netwwork 

include T-1 

connectionss 

and dedicateed 

lines. Bridgges 

and hubs link multiple networks to each 

other. Routters 

transmit data throughh 

networks annd 

determine the best pathh 

of 

transmissionn. 

112

In today society, 

everywhhere 

in the woorld 

economicc 

system is deeveloped 

materiaally 

with capitalism 

or free- market. It is aall 

about capittal 

and materiials. 

It is 

complexx 

and of multi-dimension. 

In today woorld 

society, eevidently, 

therre 

are 2 

factionss 

of world: 

the idea 

western 

econom 

wealth 

busines 

Govern 

(CV). 13 

The world off 

economics iss 

the former, ffaction 

led by greed that is bbased 

on 

a of subjugatiion 

of environnmental 

naturee. 

That’s whyy 

Al Gore conndemned 

n philosophy of the idea of looking thhe 

nature as apathy or rivval. 

For, 

mics is moved by (1) the ideea 

subjugationn 

of nature andd 

(2) happinesss 

out of 

of material. EEven 

in the ppresent 

day, mmuch 

effort iis 

made to crreate 

the 

s values for suustainable 

econnomy 

such as GGlobal 

Ethics (GE), Good CCorporate 

nance (GCG), Corporate Social 

Responsibbility 

(CSR), and Companyy 

Values 

Consequentlyy, 

the idea of BBuddhist 

Econnomics 

and Poolitics 

commennce 

with 

that of DDhammacakkaa. 

Economics and Politics arre 

preceded byy 

the goal whicch 

is call 

‘anattā’ . 

The meaning of Cakka literrally 

is for wheeel, 

superficiallly 

nothing only 

a kind 

of thinggs 

pushing thee 

body of chaart 

or chariot move forwardd 

but in the reealty 

the 

success of war is baseed 

on this wheeel, 

wherever tthis 

wheel goees 

it move withh 

powers 

and bloodshed. 

13 Integrit 


Approach to 


Caakkas 

as the syymbol 

of Infoormation 

Techhnology 

age 

Faction mmaterially 

led bby 

greed (lobhha) 

the materiallism/capitalismm. 

Faction mmaterially 

led bby 

Hatred (dossa) 

terrorism/ ffundamentalismm. 

ty, compassion, innnovation, 

synerggy, 

commitment, and teamwork-baased 

cooperation 

113


Formerly, war was a tool for power, that’s why warrior had to fight for the 

power, after grapping it, that time to revenge or do something worse or better. It is a 

kind of politics based on wars and conflict. In the economic aspect, the wheel moves 

for the commerce and business. Wherever it moves to, that would be the market town 

(nigama). How much does the world integrate the idea of Buddhist economics into 

the mainstream system? The Cakkavatti Sihananda Sutta, the Buddha said that 

immorality and crime, such as theft, falsehood, violence, hatred, cruelty, could arise 

from poverty. Kings and governments may try to suppress crime through punishment, 

but it is futile to eradicate crimes through force. In the Kuṭadanta Sutta, the Buddha 

suggested economic development instead of force to reduce crime. The government 

should use the country's resources to improve the economic conditions of the 

country. It could embark on agricultural and rural development, provide financial 

support to entrepreneurs and business, and provide adequate wages for workers to 

maintain a decent life with human dignity. In Buddhist approach, economic and 

politic securities are not an end within themselves. They continue with Dhamma 14 

(righteousness). Without Dhamma in economics or politics, individual and social life 

is not in progress spiritually and materially. Because of its material progress, it is not 

sustainable. Even the idea of economics begins with the wealth and Corporate Social 

Responsibility by new values and the idea of universal responsibility put forward by 

Dalai Lama arise. Even though new to business, human learn from the mistake and 

divisive fraction. So a researcher would propose the idea of how it is, how one should 

do it. Economic crisis is caused by the greed (Lobha) and Santuttha (never content 

with things one has) should be replaced and added by dhammacakka (the middle way 

or right livelihood). Cakka should be moved for the economics and politics, likewise, 

Dhamma is moved in motion for the happiness and benefits. 

In Thailand there are three sectors of society concerning economy:- agrarian, 

service sector and industrial sector and Information Technology (IT): 

Statistics in 2001 (2544) says the 33 Thai labor forces. It is found that in the 

year 2539 before economic crises agrarian sector consists of 33 millions, 54 % of all 

labor forces. The second is service sector 31 even government authorities and final is 

industrial sector 15 % of all. Thai Economy cannot ignore every sector. Cakka for 

economy in Thailand is moved in motion by agrarian, IT service and industrial 

sectors. Thai society was drastically inflicted by the economic crises (Tomyomkung) 

2440. But Thai was able to survive because Thai people were supported by agrarian 

sector called (safety net) rather than industrial sector and IT service (IT). In present, 

14 Dhamma is unique, for the translation or interpretation is difficult to do into another language, so it is 

often left untranslated. That causes dhammacakkrapavattanasutta (discourse on rolling the Dhamma in 

motions. Dhamma is not motionless or static. But it should be rolled for the happiness and benefit of 

human and gods. 

114


apparently, Thailand is mixed society. People runs business, Cakka has exerted an 

important role in the every sector of economic activities. 

Lastly, it seems to me that only Cakka helps improve the dimension of the 

economics and good physical cost of living, that is to say, plenty of food productions 

but more serious internal diseases (side effect), nice clothes but not for covering, 

good houses but not safe home, and medicines but less healthiness. On the other hand 

in spiritual dimension, it lacks its continuation for further spirituality or moral uplift, 

spiritual cost of living conducted by the middle way contained in Dhammacakka 

proposed and shown by Buddha. 

Conclusion: 

As cakka has been discussed, cakka contributions made to civilization has 

occurred through the human history. Cakka for the economics is moved by physical 

basic needs (food, clothes, shelter, and medications) the basic for life. Cakka for the 

politics is moved by social needs for the security, justice, stability and solidarity of 

society which is socially basic needs for life. But dhammacakka is moved and rolled 

not only for mental and spiritual needs but also for sustainable physical and social 

needs. However, the Cakka is moved by Dhamma for the mentally and spiritually 

basic needs for life such as peace, happiness, lack of dukkha which is overlooked by 

the two former cakkas. If human would like to survive, not only to conquer nature 

based on greed and hatred, or good economics based on lust (raga) or greed (lobha) 

but continues with the idea of looking every mankind and everything as brothers & 

sisters, never separate nature, society and economics for one own benefit but 

integrated into one with Dhamma for development. It is Dhammacakka and Cakka 

for economics, politics, environment that should go hand by hand for helping resolve 

the global crises. Cakka for economics should not be well and sustainable enough 

without dhammacakka. The middle way economics is that it is right livelihood that 

helps to refrain, abstain from and avoid doing harm to others, taking what is not 

given, taking sexual misconduct, telling a lie, and taking intoxicants as well as 

developing the loving kindness and compassion, paying respect to others’ rights, 

honoring counterpart, possessing dignity and honor possessing awareness. It is 

Dhammacakka that puts forth the idea of stable and sustainable economy. Good 

Economics cannot be stable and sustainable without supporting and promoting a 

quality of life. I would like to end with this statement, borrowed from the teachings 

of the Dalai Lama, we have - it has been said: 

115


More food but more famine 

More clothes but less warmth 

More tremendous houses but less home (smaller family) 

More conveniences but less time 

More products (quantity) but less quality 

More distribution but less contribution 

More GDP but less GDH 

More material development but less spiritual happiness... 

116

Bibliography 


An Analytical Study of The Concept of Dhamma as Natural Law in Theravada 

Buddhism, Somphong Santacitto, Ven. P.M., MCU, 2548. 

A.G.H. Bowker, John, The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, New York, Oxford 

University Press, 1997, 

APA Style: (2009). Encyclopedia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. 

Buddhism & Ethics Symposium Volume, Academic Papers MCU. 2008/2551. 

Buddhist Economics, (P.A. Payutto) 

http//:www.wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.htm 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/disc 

http://www.budsir.org/Part2_2.htm 

Microsoft® Encarta® 2006 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2005. 

MLA Style: Encyclopedia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: 2009. 

Yashpal, Dr., A Cultural Study of Early Pali Tipitakas (2 Volumes) Vol.2, Delhi: 

Kalinga Publications 1999. 

The Document of International Research Seminar Buddhism: Truthful Knowledge 

and Quality of Life, Buddhist Research Institute, MCU. 2009. 

The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, New York, Oxford University Press, 

1997 

Thai 

พระพรหมคุณาภรณ (ป.อ.ปยุตฺโต) จักรใด ขับดันยุคไอที, กรุงเทพฯ: บริษัท พิมพสวย 2550 

พระพุทธศาสนากับจริยศาสตร, รวมบทความวิชาการทางพระพุทธศาสนา มจร. เซนจูรี่ 

2551 

117

Diagnosis: 

The Current Economic Crisis: 

Diagnosis and Possible Solutions according to Buddhism 

118 

Bhikkhu Nandisena 

Abbot of the Dhamma Vihara, Mexico. 

At the beginning of the twentieth century Lionel Robbins, a British 

economist, put forth a definition of Economics that would endure far and wide: 

“Economics is a science which studies human behavior as a relationship 

between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses”. 1 

Another way to phrase this definition is in the following way: 

“Human needs are unlimited while the resources to satisfy those needs are 

limited”. 

Perhaps the reason why this definition has endured so long and modern 

economics is based on it is due to its empiricism, its ability to accurately describe 

human nature in front of resources that are limited and have alternative uses. 

A student of Buddhism would not fail to recognize that the first part of this 

definition, that human needs are unlimited, closely resembles what the Buddha says 

about craving. The Buddha says that craving is insatiable. 2 And when the Buddha 

pinpoints craving or desire as the Second Noble Truth, the Noble Truth of the Origin 

of Suffering, one can see, without much of a stretch of imagination, the suffering 

caused by those human needs always seeking satisfaction in a world with scarce 

resources. 

It seems that the remarkable convergence between what the Buddha said and 

modern economics is due to the empiric approach; in the case of modern economics 

because of the scientific method, while in the case of the Buddha because of 

analyzing reality as it is. 3 

1 This and other interesting explanations regarding the nature of economic science can be 

found in his book An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science. 

2 “There is no river like desire” (natthi taṇhāsamā nadī—Dhammapada 251). “Not even by a 

shower of gold coins is possible to satiate the sense desires” (na kahāpaṇavassena, titti kāmesu vijjati— 

Dhammapada 186). 

3 “Yathābhūtaṃ”.


Now, when the Buddha sees the suffering caused by craving always looking 

for ways to be satisfied, economics sees this too as unlimited human needs versus 

limited resources. But while the Buddha occupies Himself in finding a way out of 

this suffering, economics occupies itself in how to satisfy this craving, or using its 

own terminology: how to allocate the limited resources to satisfy the unlimited 

human needs. One can see that the convergence between Buddhism and modern 

economics in diagnosing our human condition just ends there. Then, Buddhism goes 

one way, to offer an individual solution to the problem by eliminating craving, and 

economics branches off to find ways to distribute the limited resources. And how to 

distribute the limited resources to satisfy the unlimited human needs is the domain of 

different economic systems. The prevalent economic system nowadays is capitalism 

that allocates resources through the market, which operates through the intervention 

of the forces of supply and demand. 

The aforementioned branching off of economics seems to be a common 

feature of modern science, that in its endeavor to understand reality it needs to limit 

its focus in order to go deeper into one thing at the expense of ignoring its relations 

with other things. In this case, modern economics seems to place human needs, 

demand, and resources, supply, in two separate, independent categories, and mainly 

focus in the way to satisfy human needs. Buddhism, on the other hand, seems to 

understand that this is basically a relation between a subject and an object, a 

conditioned, an interdependent relation. 

Applying what has been said to the current economic crisis, there seems to be 

two factors. The first one is that it is related to uncontrolled, unregulated craving. The 

second has to do with the failure of most economists and experts to predict it, and, 

therefore, to have those incumbent public actors do something about it in a timely 

manner. 

The first factor points to the blind, egotistic desire which sees only for itself 

without regard to others and the effects to the environment, to the ever unsatisfied 

desire seeking gratification in new objects, and by extension to the unregulated 

caterers and creators of new needs. 

The second factor leads one to believe that there are flaws in the current 

economic models and theories. One would expect prominent economists and 

financial experts such as the US Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairman of the 

Federal Reserve, among others, who have unhindered access to the markets´ 

information and economic variables, to have done much better in their ability to 

predict and act before this crisis came to be. Unfortunately for the world the truth is 

otherwise. This failure of the brightest minds to foresee and forewarn the rest of us of 

the impending economic and financial crises is enough for some to lose faith in those 

experts and leaders who have an excessive influence in the material destinies of 

119


others. However, this failure is pointing to something deeper, as it was said, to the 

inability of modern science to see the interdependent relation between the parts— 

which it seems so adept to comprehend at the expense of the whole. 

These two factors that appear to be at the root of the current economic crisis, 

according to Buddhism are nothing else but modes of the mental factors of craving 

and ignorance. 

Solutions: 

Buddhism not only offers an accurate diagnosis but, with its Noble Eightfold 

Path, which goal is to reduce and eventually eradicate all craving, and in this way 

eliminate the problem of scarcity and dissatisfaction 4 , it also offers a solution to the 

problem from the individual standpoint. But is this solution from the individual 

standpoint relevant to an ever interdependent, globalized world? 

At first sight the answer is no. Although Buddhism seems to offer an 

individual solution to the problem, the fact remains that only the few seem to be 

aware of it, needless to say, those who know it and practice towards this end. Also 

some could argue that Buddhism has been around for a long time but its teachings 

have not had a significant influence in reducing greed and making the world a better, 

more peaceful, and a more equal place to live. Is this a deficiency of the teachings or 

of something else? 

Let us face it, just like when one is told by the doctor that the disease is such 

and such but it is terminal, incurable, an accurate diagnosis, as the one that Buddhism 

seems to offer to the current economic crisis, is nothing without a practical solution, a 

global solution that goes beyond the individual realm. Can such a solution be found 

in the Buddha’s teachings? Or should His teachings be applied only to the 

psychological and spiritual realms where its affectivity has already been proved? 

The fact that almost nobody has been able to foresee this economic crisis 

adds a worrying dimension to it. Now we are only left with one option: finding a 

remedy. And the short and medium term remedies, as they are being applied, are 

mainly in the domain of fiscal and monetary policy. I do not see, and I hope 

somebody can prove me wrong, any effective global solution coming from Buddhism 

to the current economic and financial crises in the short or medium term. Of course, 

this does not mean that we should not devote our energies and resources either 

individually or institutionally to help others in need. This may take different forms 

and should be done without delay. But even in this area of compassionate help, 

Buddhism seems ill-prepared to serve those in dire need situations. 

4 “Contentment is the greatest gain” (santuṭṭhiparamaṃ dhanaṃ—Dhammapada 204). 

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What I see is a lesson and an opportunity for Buddhism to earnestly prepare 

itself and be better able to serve this globalized world when other situations like this 

may arise. 

What is the lesson? The lesson is that greed, a state of mind, if left 

uncontrolled and unregulated, has the potentiality to destroy the world. The danger is 

in the mind 5 long before we could see the harmful results of the actions of the people. 

The institutions that we humans form, from the family to the enterprise to the 

government, are the reflection of the minds of those who form them. Although we 

may put the blame of this crisis in the failure of institutions such as the banking 

system, the truth is more complex because of the interdependence between the mind 

and the actions of the different social and economic actors. That is why it is so 

difficult to pinpoint where the problem is when we only look at concepts such as a 

lender and a borrower, a consumer and a producer, a teacher and a student. The real 

problem is never in the concept but in the ultimate realities of the mind. 

But what happens when we blame greed instead of the actors? There is nondelusion. 

And when there is non-delusion we could start to see the interdependence 

of things. Otherwise if we keep focusing in concepts we will continue missing 

understanding the true cause of the problems that plague mankind. 

And what is the opportunity? It is the opportunity for Buddhism to embrace 

the whole world with the wisdom of its teachings and its compassion. Only in this 

way, when Buddhism could embrace the whole world with its wisdom and 

compassion, we could start to see the release of the grip of greed from the mind of 

beings. 

Although Buddhism has gradually spread around the world and now 

increasingly is found almost everywhere, it has mostly remained culturally linked to 

its countries of origin. This inward-looking-and-then-outward-spreading model 

seems narrow when we take into account the universality of the Buddha’s teaching. 

We urgently need to take the universality of the Buddha’s teachings to this globalized 

world. And this universality is nowhere better embodied than in the first component 

of the Eightfold Noble Path: Right View. 6 This is so because Right View, which 

involves individual responsibility, is the firm foundation of the set of norms of 

universal ethics by which human beings would cease to harm each other and relate 

one another with respect, generosity, and loving-kindness. This is much needed so 

global greed could start to come down to normal levels. 

5 

“The world is led by the mind, by the mind it is dragged around” (cittena nīyati loko, cittena 

parikassati—S. i 36). 

6 

“Sammā-diṭṭhi”. 

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A quick survey of the world we now live shows that Right View is scarce. 

Even among Buddhists, if we ask, we may find that many do not know what Right 

View is. Actually, there is an inverse relation between Right View and greed and the 

other unwholesome mental states. The Buddha says that just as the aurora is the 

forerunner and first sign of the rising of the sun, so is Right View the forerunner and 

first sign of wholesome states. 7 

It is through the teaching of Right View that there is this opportunity. And to 

take advantage of this opportunity a concerted effort is needed. It is through 

education that this is possible. We Buddhists need to invest in the right kind of 

education so the true message of the Buddha is brought to every human being who 

wants to listen. 

When we study the history of Buddhism we learn that for the first two 

hundred years or so after the death of the Buddha, Buddhism almost remained 

confined to the places where it was found when the Buddha was alive. Then it was 

during the time of King Asoka when Buddhism started spreading outside the borders 

of his vast empire and started reaching other regions and cultures. As King Asoka 

was instrumental to the spreading of Buddhism at that time, so, I believe, it is 

education nowadays. 

This opportunity resides in education. If Buddhism is to become a relevant 

force in improving the material well being of the world, if Buddhism is to become a 

significant force in making a more equal, a more humane world, if Buddhism is to be 

prepared to meet new challenges and crises with solutions, Buddhism will need to 

invest in the right kind of education. 

The current financial, economic and environmental crises are more than that. 

They are also religious crises insofar religions, Buddhism included, have not been 

able to prevent them from happening. Those religious teachings that were supposed 

to prevail in the minds of beings and made them less greedy, less violent, etcetera 

seem to have failed. 

And now we are just left with this lesson and this opportunity. We should 

thoroughly learn this lesson once and for all, and take this opportunity to bring the 

Buddha’s teachings through the proper kind of education to the whole world. This 

education should focus in the need to bring Right View and the other universal 

teachings of the Buddha, such as the ten conditions of rulers and institutions 8 , to the 

7 “Sūriyassa bhikkhave udayato etaṃ pubbaṅgamaṃ etaṃ pubbanimittaṃ, yad idaṃ 

aruṇuggaṃ. Evam evaṃ kho bhikkhave kusalānaṃ dhammānaṃ etaṃ pubbaṅgamaṃ etaṃ 

pubbanimittaṃ, yad idaṃ sammādiṭṭhi”. See Pubbaṅgama Sutta (A. iii 449). 

8 These “dasa rājadhamma” are (1) charity (dāna), (2) virtue (sīla), (3) altruism (pariccāga), 

(4) honesty (ājjava), (5) gentleness (maddava), (6) self-control (tapa), (7) non-anger (akkodha), (8) non- 

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world. Through this kind of education Buddhism should be able to bring a different 

set of conditions to the global mind of mankind and usher a new civilization where 

greed is gradually replaced by generosity, hatred and violence by loving-kindness 

and compassion, and blind-faith, intolerance and fanaticism replaced by wisdom. 

violence (avihiṃsa), (9) patience (khanti) and (10) uprightness (avirodhana). See Jātaka-Aṭṭhakathā iii 

300. 

123

A Buddhist Economic Perspective of 

the Present-Day Global Economic Downturn 

Ven. Dr. Thích Tâm Đức 

Vice Rector, Vietnam Buddhist Research Institute 

Vietnam Buddhist University 

The present-day global economic downturn is an indispensable result from 

pragmatism: over-consumerism manifests from selfish greed; and suffering is here, 

as companion to joblessness, poverty, and discontent. Luckily, humanity still has 

ways to escape from it. 

The Buddha declared that for 45 years of his teachings he simply taught two 

things: suffering and cessation of it; and, craving and attachments to worldly 

pleasures of all kinds (taṇhā) is the cause of suffering, he added. He did suggest a 

number of methods for solving the problems of human beings, of which the principle 

of Dependent Origination (pratītyasamutpāda) is basic. According to this principle, 

all phenomena arise together in a mutually interdependent web of cause and effect. It 

covers the meanings: this exists, that exist; this arises, that arises; this does not exist, 

that does not exist; and, this ceases, that ceases. It is also from this principle that 

many Buddhist concepts, practices or solutions arise. 

Economic issues always go along with the social ones, or vice versa. 

Therefore, to achieve a stable economic development one must take into account the 

issues of social justice and social responsibility or morality in Buddhism. 

In matters related to what we now refer to as the economy, the Buddha 

offered a number of ideas which may be particularly helpful in guiding humanity 

towards the comprehensive solution of our present day problems. 

The earliest definitions of political economy of the West were simple, 

elegant statements defining it as the study of wealth. The first scientific approach to 

the subject was inaugurated by Aristotle, whose influence is still recognized today by 

the Austrian School. Adam Smith, author of the seminal work The Wealth of Nations 

and regarded by some as the “father of economics,” defines economics simply as 

“The science of wealth” or “The Science relating to the laws of production, 

distribution and exchange.” According to the Dictionary of Webster’s New World, 

economy is the management of the income, expenditures, etc. of a household, 

business, community, or government; careful management of wealth, resources, etc; 

avoidance of waste by careful planning and use; a system of producing, distribution, 

and consuming wealth. In general, the definitions of economy mean how to be able to 

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sell the goods (in the side of the producer or seller) or to be able to satisfy the needs 

(in the side of the buyer); and the economist does not think at all the moral 

consequences of the economy activities or the stage after the satisfaction of the 

needs. For example, the producer or seller of wine simply thinks how to be able to 

sell the wine as much as possible and yet he does not count the consequences of 

consumption leading to traffic accidents or family violence. 

Nowadays, Buddhism with meditation and techniques of insights into the 

human condition are well known in the West. Simultaneously, an image of Buddhism 

with austerity or escape from worldly concerns into a private, hermetic realm of bliss 

is still quite popular among people. In fact, the Buddha’s teachings cover every 

aspect of suffering life and guide us how to conduct and attain the harmony and 

happiness in a world full of insecurity. 

The sole aim of Buddhism is to benefit the emotional and spiritual welfare of 

all sentient beings, to decrease suffering and to bring a sense of inner harmony. 

However, simply reading and reciting the Dharma is not enough. Only through the 

practice of meditation and mindfulness of thought, action and speech can we truly 

achieve this sense of internal and external harmony. 

The Buddha expounded that the world is insufficient, thirsty and enslaved to 

greed (taṇhā). He retailed a story of a rich king ruling a powerful kingdom, he was 

nearly eighty years old; however, when hearing any nation having a number of gold, 

livestock, pretty women, he got excited and personally sent a punitive expedition 

against it. 1 Greed of human beings is unlimited. And, it is the cause of social 

insecurity on many realms inclusive of economy. 

As for today’s economy, human beings have attained marvelous 

achievements with an ever-increasing number of applications of science and 

technology constantly being created to meet humanity’s needs. However, these 

achievements are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they can be very helpful 

but unfortunately, they can also be detrimental. Thus, we must guard against the 

unjust, immoral, irresponsible and selfish use of the new applications. The world now 

faces severe problems such as terrorism, fuel shortages, an ever-increasing gulf 

between the rich and the poor, pollution, AIDS, immorality and the global economic 

downturn. The culprit of these severe results is none other than taṇhā of humanity. 

Buddhism also has a kind of want (chanda) different from taṇhā. Taṇhā is to satisfy 

oneself, causing the inner unstableness and social insecurity; meanwhile, chanda is 

altruistic, bringing benefits to oneself and to others while contributing to the security 

of the community. This brings harmony to the individual, society and environment. 

1 

Trung Bộ Kinh (Majjhima Nikāya), II, trans.Thích Minh Châu, Vạn Hạnh University, 1974, pp. 72 – 

73A 

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What the world needs so far is a progressive revolution of values. Our efforts 

must aim at building a new global environment which values harmony with nature 

and the protection of the world’s unique ecosystems. The Buddha was concerned 

with the environment, instructing the monks not to harm the seeds and various kinds 

of vegetation and not to accept the seeds and fresh meat. 2 We should also seek to 

transform the world from mono-polar to multi-polar, from monopoly and 

appropriation to an inclusive structure of helping, sharing and cooperating. Only 

through a transformation of mind can this purpose come to fruition. 

Buddhism can serve as the means by which we can bring about this 

transformation of mind. Buddhism is not only concerned with the ideals of morality 

and profound philosophy. It also must address practical issues of suffering such as 

the socio-economical problems of human beings. As the following story illustrates, 

Buddhism and mindfulness are not only appropriate for the intellectual and religious 

order but also for the general public. One man sought out the Buddha in order to 

learn the Dharma. The Buddha gave him a verse. However, try as he might, the man 

could not learn it by heart. Then, after discovering that the man was a blacksmith, the 

Buddha instructed him in the method of counting his breath in and out with the tune 

like his job. Not so long after that this blacksmith attained enlightenment. And, the 

Buddha did mention every trouble aspect of life including that of economy. 

The Buddha realized that it is hard to lead a pure life under poor conditions. 

“For householders in this world, poverty is suffering.” 3 “Woeful in the world is 

poverty and debt.” 4 Poverty and want, like taṇhā, contribute to crime and social 

discontent. 5 Accordingly, from the point of view of the government, it ought to see 

the needs of those who are in want and to strive to repel poverty from the country. At 

the very least, honest work should be available to all people, trade and commerce 

should be encouraged, capital should be organized and industries monitored to guard 

against dishonest or exploitive practices. By this criterion, the absence of poverty is a 

better kind of government’s success than the presence of millionaires. 

Furthermore, the Buddha had a number of practical teachings, contributing to 

the stable economic development. One time, a Brahmin named Ujjaya went to visit 

the Buddha to ask his advice on how to gain prosperity through right livelihood. The 

Buddha answered by explaining the conditions that lead to happiness in the present 

and in the future: 

2 

Trung Bộ Kinh (Majjhima Nikāya), I, trans. Thích Minh Châu, Vạn Hạnh University, 1973, p. 268 

3 

Aṅguttara Nikāya, III, 350. 

4 

Ibid., 352. 

5 

Dīgha Nikāya, III, 65, 70. 

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“Brahmin, these four conditions lead to happiness and benefit in the present. 

They are, industriousness, watchfulness, good company and balanced 

livelihood. 

“And what is the endowment of industriousness (uṭṭhāna-sampadā)? A son 

of good family supports himself through diligent effort. Be it through 

farming, commerce, raising livestock, a military career, or the arts, he is 

diligent, he applies himself, and he is skilled. He is not lazy in his work, but 

clever, interested. He knows how to manage his work, he is able and 

responsible: this is called endowment of industriousness. 

“And what is the endowment of watchfulness (rakkhana-sampadā)? A son of 

good family has wealth, the fruit of his own sweat and labor, rightly obtained 

by him. He applies himself to protecting that wealth, thinking, ‘How can I 

prevent this wealth from being confiscated by the King, stolen by thieves, 

burnt from fire, swept away from floods or appropriated by un-favored 

relatives?’ This is called the endowment of watchfulness. 

“And what is good company (kalyāṇa-mitta)? Herein, a son of good family, 

residing in a town or village, be friends, discourse on, and seek advice from, 

those householders, sons of householders, young people who are mature and 

older people who are venerable, who are possessed of faith, morality, 

generosity, and wisdom. He studies and emulates the faith of those with 

faith; he studies and emulates the morality of those with morality; he studies 

and emulates the generosity of those who are generous; he studies and 

emulates the wisdom of those who are wise. This is to have good company. 

“And what is balanced livelihood (sammā-ājīva)? A son of good family 

supports himself in moderation, neither extravagantly nor stingingly. He 

knows the causes of increase and decrease of wealth; he knows which 

undertakings will yield an income higher than the expenditure rather than the 

expenditure exceeding the income. Like a person weighing things on a scale, 

he knows the balance either way … If this young man had only a small 

income but lived extravagantly, it could be said of him that he consumed his 

wealth as if it were peanuts. If he had a large income but used it stingingly, it 

could be said of him that he will die like a pauper. But because he supports 

himself in moderation, it is said that he has balanced livelihood. 

“Brahmin, the wealth rightly gained in this way has four pathways of decline. 

They are to be given to debauchery, drink, gambling, and association with 

evil friends. It is like a large reservoir with four channels going into it and 

four channels going out opened up, and the rain does not fall in due season, 

that large reservoir can be expected only to decrease, not to increase … 

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“Brahmin, wealth so gained rightly has four pathways of prosperity. They are 

to refrain from debauchery, drink and gambling, and to associate with good 

friends, to be drawn to good people. It is like a large reservoir with four 

channels leading into it and four channels leading out. If the channels leading 

into it are opend up, and the channels leading out are closed off, and rain falls 

in due season, it can be expected that for this reservoir there will be only 

increase, not decrease … Brahmin, these four conditions are for the 

happiness and benefit of a young man in the present moment.” 6 

The Buddha then kept on describing four conditions, which lead to happiness 

and benefits in the future; in short, they are to possess the spiritual qualities of faith, 

morality, generosity and wisdom. 

In the following passage, the Buddha explains to Anāthapiṇḍika, a 

millionaire, some of the benefits that can arise from wealth: 

“Herein, householder, there are five uses to which wealth can be put. They 

are: With the wealth that has been obtained by his own diligent labor, 

acquired through the strength of his own arms and the sweat of his own 

brow, rightly acquired, rightly gained, the noble disciple supports himself 

comfortably, sufficiently, he applies himself to seeing to his own happiness 

in rightful ways. He supports his father and mother … wife and children, 

servants and workers comfortably, to a sufficiency, applying himself to their 

needs and their happiness as his proper. This is the first benefit to be obtained 

from wealth. 

“Moreover, with the wealth that has been obtained by his own diligent labor, 


brow, rightly acquired, rightly gained, the noble disciple supports his friends 

and associates comfortably, to a sufficiency, taking an interest in their 

happiness as his proper. This is the second benfit to be derived from wealth. 



brow, rightly acquired, rightly gained, the noble disciple protects his wealth 

from the dangers of confiscation by kings, theft, fire, flood, and appropriation 

by un-favored relatives. He keeps to his own security. This is the third 

benefit to be derived from wealth. 



brow, rightly acquired, rightly gained, the noble disciple makes the five kinds 

6 Aṅguttara Nikāya, IV, p. 241. 

128


of sacrifice. They are: to relatives (supporting relatives); to visitors (receiving 

guests); to ancestors (offerings made in the name of ancestors); to the king 

(for taxes and public works); and to the gods (that is, he supports religion). 

This is another benefit to be derived from wealth. 



brow, rightly acquired, rightly gained, the noble disciple makes offerings 

which are of the highest merit, which are conducive to mental well-being, 

happiness and heaven, to religious mendicants, those who live devoted to 

heedfulness, are established in patience and gentleness, are trained, calmed, 

and cooled of defilements. This is the fifth benefit to be obtained from 

wealth.” 7 

Concerning economy, the Buddha also emphasizes the expansion of 

business. “Wealth should be divided into fourfold: 1) One part to be used for 

conduct of daily life and fulfilling obligations, 2-3) Two parts to be invested 

in expanding business enterprises, and 4) One part to be put aside for a rainy 

day.” 8 However, he forbids doing any occupations harmful to human-beings, 

animals, health and human dignity, leading to social confusion; they are: 

trade in weapons; trade in human beings; trade in flesh (animals for meat); 

trade in spirits (and drugs); and trade in poison. 9 

However, in comparison with two kinds of happiness, material and spiritual, 

the Buddha emphasizes the latter is superior to the former. Once, giving teaching to 

Anāthapiṇḍika, the Buddha described four kinds of happiness for a householder, i.e., 

happiness of ownership (attha-sukha), happiness of enjoyment (bhoga-sukha), 

happiness of freedom from debt (anaṇa-sukha), and happiness of blamelessness 

(avajja-sukha). And the first three kinds of happiness are not worth a sixteenth part of 

the happiness that arises from blameless behavior. 10 He also said, “Wealth destroys 

the foolish, but not those who search for the Goal.” 11 The searcher for the Goal, 

according to Buddhism, is the person who keeps away from taṇhā. 

True happiness or the Goal is only attained by meditation, the way to 

disperse all clouds of delirius hallucinations. One time, after debating with the 

followers of a different sect, the Buddha asked them whether they believed that he or 

King Bimbisara lived a happier life. Those hermits replied that the Buddha lived 

happier than the king, because the king could not sit in meditation for one week, for 

7 

Kinh bộ tăng chi (Aṅguttara Nikāya), II, trans. Thích Minh Châu, Hồ Chí Minh, 1988, pp. 49-51. 

8 

Dīgha Nikāya, III, 188. 

9 

Aṅguttara Nikāya, III, p.207. 

10 

Aṅguttara Nikāya, II, p. 69. 

11 

Dhammapāda, 355. 

129


six days, for five days or even for one day. The Buddha, however, could sit in 

meditation for one day or even one week. 12 

To any solutions for the present-day global economic downturn, we should 

keep in mind the Buddha’s message that economic issues must be approached with 

morality, and the social welfare of all sentient beings must remain the prime focus. In 

another words, the economy must retain a humanitarian focus. With the contribution 

of Buddhism, economic growth is comprehensive and can truly benefit us all. 

12 

Trung Bộ Kinh (Majjhima Nikāya), I, trans. Thích Minh Châu, Vạn Hạnh University, 1973, pp. 94B – 

94C 

130

Introduction 

Buddhist Views on Economic Issues 

Manik Ratna Shakya 

Central Department of Buddhist Studies, Kritipur, Nepal 

After getting enlightenment, Sākyamuni Buddha preached the Dhamma for 

45 years. In the course of Dhamma preaching, Buddha had delivered several 

spiritual discourses on the path of relieving the miseries of the living beings. But it 

does not mean that his course of preaching dealt with spiritual subjects only. 

Besides spiritual practice Buddha had also delivered several other discourses about 

social, political, psychological, economical and other themes. Those discourses 

concentrated different aspect of knowledge are depicted in the Tipitaka. 

In the first turning the wheel of law, Buddha had stressed on right 

livelihood. Likewise he had given a lot of messages related to economic through 

different Suttas. The Maṅgala Sutta auspices Sutta) of Khuddaka Nikāya has 

emphasized the need of different skills of earning and techniques to increase the 

earning by proper investment. The Kutadanta and Chakravarti Sutta of Dīgha 

Nikāya throw light on the cause of poverty and a way to its eradication. The 

Parābhava Sutta, Vasala Sutta discuss about the laws related with business. 

Additionally, in Jātakas there are also several stories of economic issues. 

Furthermore, some of the Sutta’s concepts represent excellent economic strategy, 

economic law and business skill. In this way, there are plenty of Buddhist economic 

issues in the Tipitaka and it is not possible to examine all of them in detail but here 

only a few useful issues have been analyzed. 

Fundamental needs for earning: 

Every being need food for performing physical and mental activities. The 

Buddha has encouraged people to work for earning his food and serve family. 

Earning is essential for food and smooth running of life. Buddha had also given 

importance to it. It is described in Sāmanera paṇho. Buddha had expressed there- 

“Sabbe Satta āhāra pathittika” 1 - All the sentient beings are dependent on food. It 

is, therefore, well understood that the lack of food makes the being unable to do 

anything. If people are hungry they cannot perform physical as well as mental 

activities properly. In addition, in this context, Buddha has given more priority to 

1 Bhikkhu Sudarshan, Mahāparitrana,( Kathmandu; Sanunani Kansakar, 2005), p. 1. 

131


the food in Dhammapada. He said that “Jighacchā paramā rogā” 2 - Hunger is the 

greatest disease. From this incidence it becomes clear that the Buddha had given 

prime importance to food for physical, mental and the spiritual development of 

human beings. 

Earning is the essential part to get food and other means to survive when 

people have no money they can not buy food then they will be weak to perform any 

kind of activity then poverty will start gradually. In fact, Buddha has given an 

inspiration to work hard to all. His advice was to strive hard to overcome poverty. 

In order to this, one has to abandon laziness. Laziness is one of the biggest 

obstacles that stand in the way of poverty alleviation. In the Dhammapada, Buddha 

had strongly said: 

“Aladdhā yobbane dhanam 

Jiṇṇakoñcā va jhāyanti, 

Khiṇamacche va pallale” 3 

- Those people who don’t acquire wealth in youth, their life will be as the 

old herons (Kronch) in front of the dried pond. 

This verse focuses against laziness and emphasize on the point to make 

timely earnings because the young age is the excellent time for earning activities. 

This stanza was pronounced in Vārāṇasi and comes across in the context of a 

millionaire’s son, who in his young days made no effort for the earning. He was in 

contact with bad company spending his life luxuriously at his father’s property. 

For earning, people should have different types of knowledge as well as 

should possess some skills. In order to make life happy and auspice the person 

should specialize in skills and be engaged in some work. Skillful persons will 

easily success to involve in any types of economic activities. In Maṅgala Sutta, 

Buddha has emphasized to the skill for earning. He expressed that: “Bāhu 

saccañca sippañca” 4 The Pāli verse describes that different types of skills are 

necessary for earning. 

Managing is one of the crucial segments for receiving the work doing 

effectively. Only physical incentives may be insufficient for them to work 

successfully and effectively. The pleasant speech and kind behavior also is vital to 

obtain work appropriately. In Maṅgala Sutta, Buddha expressed “Subhāsitā ca yā 

2 

Dhammapada Pāli, (Igatpuri, Vipassana Research Institute), 1998, p. 39. 

3 

Ibid, p. 32 

4 

Khuddakapātha Pāli,( Igatpur; Vipassana Research Institute), 1998, p. 4. 

132

5 Ibid. 


vācā yetam maṅgala muttamam” 5 - speaking with the pleasant speech is the 

extreme blessing. 

Pleasant speech towards the worker may be way to get victory in 

receiving the work done effortlessly. Harsh words affect the heart of everybody. 

Pleasant speech creates quiet environment and relation between employees and 

employer, manager and staff, owner and worker. The eagerness to work, working 

with responsibility and durable work from the labor can be achieved by the 

pleasant speech and kind behavior. 

Government’s policy for providing job: 

In this world, people want to fulfill respectively their desire, In order to 

achieve their desire they should earn money. So, people need job to earn money. 

For this purpose, the job opportunity is also equally important. Lack of job 

opportunity increases the unemployment problem involving the unemployed to 

evil works hampering both the society and the state as well. In order to overcome 

the evil deeds, sufficient job should be created by the government for people. 

According to Buddha, providing more job opportunities to the people is 

the fundamental duty of a kingdom to manage job opportunities for the pupils 

according to their ability. It makes people happy and brings peace in the society 

helping them practice economic activities with moral. 

The Kutadanta Sutta of Dīgha Nikāya explains how the misdistribution of 

nation wealth causes interruption of social life. This Sutta clearly explains how 

necessary it is for rulers to recognize real causes plaguing the country and to adopt 

appropriate steps to eradicate them. When the country of king Mahāvijita was 

besotted and ravaged by the thieves- village and town have been destroyed and 

the country side was infected with brigands. There were economic crises in the 

country. The king was interested to offer a sacrifice to solve the problem. He 

asked Brahmins (Bodhisattva) to give suggestion to perform the auspicious Yajña 

(sacrifice worship) that would provide excellent result for him for a long time. 

Then Brahmiṇa replied the king Mahāvijita that “the people of this country are 

facing so many troubles. They are being frightful and worried by the village 

dacoit, city dacoit, and path dacoit. If the tax were highly charged on those 

dreadful people, it would bring harmful impact. You might think of eradicating 

such dacoit by virtue of punishment and suppression. But they could not be 

eliminated by punishment and suppression only. They were not afraid of death. 

Neither punishment nor suppression will resolve the problems. In order to 

133


conquer the problems the king should outline a compact constitution.” 6 Then the 

Brahmiṇa suggested the following statements when the country was in economic 

turmoil at the time. 

1. Loans should be provided to the farmers for investment in profitable 

opportunity and purchasing seed and fertilizers for farming. 

2. The finance and matters must be distributed to those businessmen 

who are eagerly interested in the field of business. 

3. Appropriate job should be given to those people who are heartily 

interested to do government service. Then those people, being 

involved in their occupations will not harm the country. It will 

increase the revenue for the nation with taxes. 7 

The King followed the Brahmin’s suggestion. These activities will 

definitely reduce the unemployment and potential problems of robbery and dacoit 

will be extinct. Peace and harmony will prevail in the country Economic condition 

will gradually stabilize and everyone will feel assured by future security. They 

will not have to fear for their lives and private property. It will make people happy 

and help them lead secure life. 

Similarly, Chakravarti Sutta of Dīgha Nikāya also has parallel messages 

concerning the arrangement of wealth to the people. In this Sutta Buddha had told 

that the lack of assets to execute business direct the people to criminal activities. 8 

Chakravarti Vrata (Vows) that should be performed by a Chakravarti king is to 

distribute assets for the entrepreneurship. One of the bounding duties of a 

Chakravarti king is to provide economic stability. The assets given to 

entrepreneurs will encourage the production and generate income making the 

country prosperous. 

In this approach the Buddha has stressed the responsibility of State to give 

job opportunity for the people. The plenty job opportunities only can make the 

people occupied in business which will play a vital role on overcoming critical 

condition of economy of state. 

6 

Digghanikāya,(part 1), (Igatpur; Vipassana Research Institute, 1998), p.120-121. 

7 

Ibid. 

8 

Dunda Bahadur Bajracharya, Digha Nikaya, (Lalitpur; Bir Purna Pustak Samgrahalaya, 1989), p.365. 

134

Right livelihood as a key of economic sustainability: 


Right livelihood refers to restraining from fivefold wrong ways of life 

such as: the trading of weapons, living beings, poison, meats and intoxicants. 9 It 

means refraining from earning livelihood by improper means. It is said that 

poverty is the cause of crime. If the economical condition is good, crime is 

lessened and there is peace and harmony in society. 

Buddha has explained the necessity of right livelihood in order to live 

happily and peacefully. In Dhammacakkapavattna Sutta, 10 Buddha has described 

the right livelihood to five ascetics in the course of preaching the four noble 

truths. In the truths, the fourth one is the path leading to cessation from suffering 

which is the actual practice to be followed for making life free from suffering. 

The path shown for cessation of suffering by Buddha are called Eight fold noble 

path. This eightfold path is also known as the middle way between two extremes. 

They are the constant addiction to self-mortification and the constant attachment 

to sensual pleasures. Buddha had pronounced to avoid the two extremes. 

Furthermore, Buddha had identified that the social problems arising in the society 

and its increment day by day is due to the development of the wrong livelihood. 

The social problem is being increased due to the business of the weapons. Easy 

availability of the weapons makes more violence and murder in the society. If 

conflict is aroused between two persons due to certain reasons they aim to harm 

each other. The frequency of physically harming each other depends upon the 

availability of weapons. If there are no weapons in their hands they might just 

fight each other with hands. But if they hold the weapons they could kill each 

other. Similarly nations should also have to face the great problem of human 

destruction by easy availability of weapons, making human life uncertain. 

Likewise increase of weapons makes the countries engage in war. One of the 

causes of two world wars could be said the production competition of huge 

amount of weapons among the nations. In this means it can be said that weapons 

are only cause of destruction of people. It only makes the society fearful as well as 

it creates economic disaster in the world. So, the business of weapon must be 

stopped to develop economic sectors. 

In the name of Business of meat or flesh, people killed innocent animals. 

Killing to someone for earning is not a light action. It only shows the unkindness 

of the people. The increment of meat business proportionately increases the 

killing activities in one hand and in other hand the exce4ss consumption of meat 

has been proved the cause of different diseases in human being. 

9 

Thera piyadassi, The Buddha’s Ancient Path(United Kingdom; rider and Company, 1964) p. 155. 

10 

Narada, The Buddha and His Teaching,(Taiwan; The corporate body of the Buddha Education 

Foudation,1998)p.78-79. 

135


The business of living beings also cannot be taken as the innocent activity 

because transaction of them generally is done for slaughtering. The transaction of 

animals also indicates the lack of love and compassion. Thus, it can be said that 

business of animal is against the human right and animal right. 

Trade of intoxicants has been an increasing problem in the present world. 

It is becoming a tool of injurious to the health and damaging prosperity as well as 

right of people. Nowadays different types of drugs and intoxicants have been 

developed. It makes the mind unconscious which breaks the further progress of 

any activities of life. It destroys society, nations and the world. The high death 

rate of young people is increasing due to its consumption. Different social evils 

also are emerging in the society by utilization of drugs. Thus, the trade of 

intoxicant should be rejected. 

In general people used the poisons for killing harmful insects. But it may 

also be a tool for suicide for handicapped people. So the business of poison may 

cause obliteration of human life. Such type of business hampers the welfare of 

society. Majority of people in the world faces different types of problems and they 

may think of suicide several times in their life. The easy accessibility of poison 

makes it easy for them to commit suicide. The poison could also be used for easily 

murdering others. Nowadays different types of slow poisons are being used to 

execute people. In this regard it can be believed that it is one of the wrong 

livelihoods. 

The five wrong livelihoods are also related with the five precepts which 

are the teachings of Buddha to human beings. Five precepts are the basic 

teachings which should be preserved by human beings in practicing the Buddha’s 

teachings. The practice of five wrong livelihoods breaks the observing of five 

precepts. The Satthavaṇijja (Business of weapons), Mamsavaṇijja (Business of 

meat), Sattavaṇijja (Business of living beings) and Visavaṇijja (Business of 

poison) makes the breaking of first precept that is abstaining from killing. 11 The 

Majjavaṇijja (Business of intoxicants) makes the people addicted to intoxicants 

which are opposite to the fifth precept of Pañca Sila (five precepts) that is 

abstaining from intoxicants. 

Role of people in economic development of country: 

The laymen’s responsibility is not that to finish only after generating the 

income from the business. After generating the income the further duties arise in 

expending it. The income in hand should be properly expended. Only by proper 

11 Ibid, 

136


expenses of income, it becomes important. The lack of proper utilization of the 

generated income would make the earning valueless. 

On the basis of the Buddha’s teaching, the earned income should make 

use not only for self. In his teachings he suggested to make good use of income by 

distributing it to different group of people related society. The income is 

generated by the society and this should also be used for helping society. It should 

also benefit to others. According to him making proper use of earning can be 

obtained by the ways: 

1. Using the income for self, family, employees, friends etc. 

2. Using the income as reserve for known and unknown contingences. 

3. Using the income for Panca Bali (five virtuous work) 12 

3.1) Jāti Bali- Offering to the relatives 

3.2) Atithi Bali- Offering to visitors 

3.3) Purbapret Bali- Offering in the name of dead relatives. 

3.4) Rāj Bali- Offering to the king 

3.5) Dev Bali- Offering to the deities 

The first two ways help social development. In addition, in Panca Bali, 

Buddha had expressed of Rāj Bali and focused to pay Rāj Bali by all. In modern 

context, It can be taken as Taxes. So, we can say that Buddha had focused on 

paying tax to the government. The major income of government is the taxes and 

when people don’t pay them government will gradually become poor. It cannot 

move notable steps in economic development of the country and this impact will 

affect all the people in this country. 

Likewise, loan and debt are one of the huge issues through economic 

point of view in this present world. Most of the countries are engaging in loans 

which are not returned on time. Many banks are closed because of loan problem. 

At present situation it is one of the fresh causes of economic crises in the world. 

Buddha had encouraged to the lay people to return loan in time. 

Concerning the returning of the loan and debt, Buddha had obviously 

declared that the loan taken should be timely returned. The intension of not 

showing honestly in returning and delaying in returning is not fair deed. In Vasala 

Sutta, Buddha had stated: 

12 

Bhikkhu Amritananda, Buddhakalin Grihasthiharu, vol. 1( Kathmandu; Anandakuti Vidyapith, 

1972),p.61-63. 

137


“Yo have iṇamādāya cujjamāno palāyati 

Nahi te iṇamatthīti tam Jaññā vasalo iti” 13 

-If a person were to take a loan and when a creditor asks him to pay it 

back, he avoids paying it back, such a person is a Vasala. 

The strategy of returning a loan in time promotes the goodwill of the 

association. It makes possible to get more loan easily in future. So, ultimately the 

timely return of loan benefits all. 

In the course of earning, the people usually may engage in bad activities 

because it may be easier for them to get earning through unwholesome activities 

than wholesome activities. People generally think that bad activities done in the 

name for earning income can be counter balanced through the wholesome 

activities as worshipping the god and performing Yajña. But Buddha did not 

accept such counter balancing of unwholesome activities by performing different 

types of worship. Leading a good life according to Buddha is to perform the 

wholesome activities and giving up the unwholesome activities in every aspect of 

life. Since the business and occupation are the basic activities that should be 

performed by each and every person to get food, shelter and clothes, the 

performance done in the name of business should not be unwholesome. 

Buddha’s view on discipline to live good life can be seen in the following 

verse of Dhammapada. 

“Sabba pāpassa akaraṇam 

Kusalassa upasampadā 

Sacitta pariyodapanam 

Yetam Buddhāna sāsanam” 14 

-“Not to do any evil to cultivate good, to purify one’s mind,- there are the 

teachings of the Buddha.” 

So in every pace of life of people should be conscious on the activities 

they are performing for earning purpose. In this regard the Buddha has given the 

teachings about the right earning. 

Essential features for traders/merchants: 

Industrial development is one of the strong parts to build up economy of 

any country. Industrial calamity affects the world economy. So, the industrial 

13 

Suttanipāta pāli, (Igatpuri , Vipassana Research Institute), 1998, p. 104. 

14 

Op.cit, f.n.2, p. 36. 

138


discipline is also needed to maintain industries and for high productivity. High 

moral development on the labor force adds the high productivity. Similarly, the 

welfare program performed for them by providing medical facilities, education 

facilities for their children makes the worker attached to the work and so that he 

performs the work willingly. 

If proper facilities are not given to them they seek jobs outside the 

organization and if the good opportunity is found outside, they certainly would 

give up the job. The rate of job rotation is known as labor turn-over inside the 

organization and generates excessive cost for an organization. 

In Singālavāda Sutta of Dīgha Nikāya, Buddha had described the six 

directions which should be venerated by the traders of owners 15 . Here the 

veneration of six directions is to fulfill the duties toward them. Among the six, 

one is Nadir (Downward) direction:- Worker. Buddha has taken the worker as one 

of the direction where the people used to stay. Likewise, Buddha has given higher 

importance to them as well as described the need of worshipping and veneration 

to the down direction by fulfilling the duties towards workers and staff. Only then 

traders can get work properly from them. The duties to be performed for them are 

as follows. 

1. Works should be given according to their ability 

2. Salary must be provided by which they can manage their family 

easily. 

3. To provide health care incase of sickness. 

4. To give delicious food 

5. To give holidays at different occasion. 

If these duties are fulfilled by the employer, then employees also will be 

fulfilled their duties towards the employer which are as follows. 

1. They rise early in the morning for working. 

2. They go to sleep late in the night. 

3. They only take what is given to them. 

4. They perform their duty well. 

5. They advocate his good name and fame. 

The fulfillment of duties by the owner towards the employee certainly 

would make the employees respective towards them. After fulfillment to 

employees, they definitely do effective works which will help play vital role on 

economical co-operation and improvement of quality of production of Industry. 

15 Op.cit, fn 8, p.484. 

139


Essential features can be analyzed from the Jātaka stories also. There are 

547 Jātakas in Buddhist Pāli literature 16 which describe the performance of 

Bodhisattva and his fulfillment of ten perfections. The Jataka had given the 

different outlined knowledge of spiritual, social, political, economic and other 

information. The economic activities provide knowledge about the economic 

policy and techniques practiced by Bodhisattva in different lives. 

In the Vaṇṇupatha Jātaka, the message conveyed is that the leader of the 

caravan should possess decision making power. Such qualities will help the leader 

to perform the trading activities safely and successfully. Bodhisattva, described as 

a merchant in this Jātaka, saved the lives of 500 traders by fetching them water in 

the desert. 17 

Business approved with evil heart generally faces a defeat. Business men 

who are greedy usually fail to gain the desired profit and have to live unhappily. 

Seri Vāṇija Jātaka gives an interesting story to throw light on it. 18 

Investment is the base of any economic activities. One who is alert in 

investment should seek the opportunity for making profit, he can earn a huge 

amount of money from little sources. Opportunity must be identified properly and 

someone could become rich even with little investment. Cula Setthi Jātaka 19 tells 

how a poor man earned money from a dead mouse and became millionaire. It 

displayed the investment and proper utilization 20 . 

Achievement in business depends upon the skill of the person chosen for 

the purpose otherwise one would have to bear a weighty loss. How an unskilled 

person can bring the business loss by his foolishness is narrated in Varuhidusaka 

Jātaka. 21 

16 

E.B. Cowell, The Jataka, Vol.1, (Delhi; Motilal Banarasidas publication Pvt. Ltd. 1999), p. 9. 

17 

Ibid, p. 12. 

18 

According to Seri Vaṇja Jātaka, potters went to a village to sell their clay pots. A family consisting of 

an old woman and the grand daughter wanted to exchange the pot with an old metal plate from the first 

trader who was greedy and wicked. They did not know that the metal plate was of gold, but the wicked 

trader knew the value of the plate. Because of his greediness he wanted it to exchange by less goods. So, 

he commented it as worthless plate and departed saying he would come later. Some time after came 

another potter who was gentle and kind. He told them that the plate was of gold and exchanged it with 

all the clay pots he was carrying and put all the money he had in their hands .Here the potter was greedy 

so he could not get opportunity of earning the profit. 

19 

Op.cit, fn 16, p. 14. 

20 

One day Cula Setthi was walking in the street . He saw a dead mouse on the street. He picked a 

mouse and sold it to the cat owner with a little money. He used the little money to make juice. He then 

fed it to the thirst grass cutter. He received good quality grass from them. Then he sold it to the owner of 

horse and got the large amount of money. In this way he used the money step by step in business then he 

became rich. 

21 

Op.cit, fn 16, p.120. 

140


It emphasizes the necessity of appointing skilled people, and train them 

for getting more gain in the business. 22 

Mahāvaṇija Jātaka 23 discusses about consequences of surplus greediness 

in the course of commerce. By nature, the businessman wants to have maximum 

profit and always seeks the sources of gain to him. But if they become greedy they 

might have to face the suffering. 24 

Conclusion: 

At current period, economic crises are arising all over the world. Through 

the study of Buddha’s view on economic issues, it can be said that misutilization 

of national wealth, lack of pleasant speech, weak relation between employers and 

employees, lack of knowledge of right livelihood are the possible causes of the 

global economic crises. In addition lack of knowledge about proper investment, 

defeat role playing by trader, merchants and bankers, increasing number of 

unskilled persons as well as unethical business may be other causes. Under such 

circumstances if the Buddha’s approach towards economic issues could be 

highlighted and Buddha’s views were applied in modern principle business. We 

could have more advantage in the financial aspect, the human resource aspect and 

marketing welfare to the people simultaneously. 

It is sure that one should not develop / change in the economy while 

neglecting Buddhist ethics. Only through rising economically under an ethical 

code, can life be wealthy and becomes pleasant-sounding. It establishes conscious 

credit in the market guaranteeing quality and mutual benefit in the organization 

and procedure of enterprise. 

22 A merchant of juice had an assistant who didn’t know anything about liquor. The later was entrusted 

with the job of selling juice to people. Once he saw a person drinking juice with mixed salt in it. He then 

thought of mixing salt in juice to increase the quality of juice. So, he mixed salt and spoilt the whole 

juice. In this way due to the engagement of unskilled person a trader had bear heavy loss. 

23 Op.cit, fn 16,vol.IV p. 221. 

24 In Mahāvanija Jataka ,once a group of businessmen with Sattha Bāha (chief)were going for business 

purpose through a desert.. The day was too hot and they felt hungry and thirsty. They searched water 

everywhere. Finally they saw a tree wet at the bottom. They thought that there might be water inside the 

root of the tree, suddenly pure water dropped from it . They drank water and took bath. Further, they 

noticed that the tree was not an ordinary one. It possessed many privileges. So they also cut down the 

branch laying the different direction. Certainly, they got various items such as foods, jewels, gems, gold, 

copper and clothes. But they could not get satisfied with what they received. They thought to cut down 

the whole of the tree to have all jewels kept inside. At that time Sattha Bāha, who was not greedy, 

requested them not to cut the root of the tree providing them different types of privileges. But they did 

not listen to his request and cut down the root of the tree. Suddenly, from there 25 wrestlers, 300 

warriors with weapons and 6000 warriors equipped with swords came out .They killed all of them 

except for Sattha Baha. 

141


Finally it can be observed that the teachings of the Buddha motivate any 

economic division ethically based. If these Buddha’s discourse can be spread in 

the world these message will successfully play vital role to arrest economic crises 

and consequent unrest and further complications of the crises. 

142

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Jātaka aṭṭhakatha, Igatapur; Vipassana Research Institute, 1998. 

Khuddakapātha Pāli, Igatapur; Vipassana Research Institute, 1998. 

Sanskrityayan, Rahul, Vinaya Pitaka , Taiwan; The Corporate Body of the Buddha 

Educational Foundation, 2000. 

Suttanipāt Pāli, Igatapur; Vipassana Research Institute, 1998. 

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Cowell,E.B, The Jātaka, Delhi; Motilal Banarasidas Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 1999. 

Jha, Hari Bansha, Buddhist Economics and the modern world, Kathmandu; 

Dharmakirti Bauddha Addhyayan Gosthi, 1979. 

Mahasthavir, Jnanapurnika, Jātakapāli, Kathmandu; JnānaJyoti Kansākar, 2001. 

Manamdhar, Tri Ratna, A study on Buddha’s approach to Business ( A thesis 

submitted to central department of Buddhist Studies) Nepal, 2006. 

Narada, The Buddha and His Teaching, Taiwan; The Corporate Body of the Buddha 

Educational Foundation, 1998. 

Piyadassi, Thera, The Buddha’s Ancient Path, United Kingdom; Rider and company, 

1964. 

Reddy, P.N. Gulshan, Principles of Business Organization and Management, New 

Delhi; Eurasia Publishing House (P) Ltd. 1981.Schumacher, E.F., Small is 

Beautiful, New Delhi; RadhaKrishans, 1978. 

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Sangrahalaya, 2000. 

143

Application of Fourfold Happiness in Buddhism to Economic Pursuits 

Ven. Prof. Gallelle Sumanasiri Thero 

Head, Dept. of Religious Studies and Comparative Philosophy 

Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka. 

Now we are living in an age that we should plan out our economic principles 

to suit for overcoming the issues at present and for making out a better future. 

Management of production and consumption are vital needs that we have to pay our 

attention most at present. In addition to bloody wars and conflicts environmental 

pollution, such as deforestation, discharge of disposal, emission of carbon dioxide 

and disappearing of non renewable natural recourses such as water, mineral, fuel are 

now the main themes of debates and discussions in various levels. Unless we find 

solution to them the future of the world would be miserable. Taking fuel as an 

example the consumption of fuel for production and transportation is one of the main 

reasons for environmental pollution. Geologists are of opinion that the natural 

resource of oil would end sooner or later. The main factor behind the increasing of 

inflation and economic drop in the world is the crisis of fuel. Fuel has become the 

determining factor of human life. Vast development of the world, thanks to scientific 

and technological inventions, for last seven centuries has made our life more easy 

and comfortable. If we would not find an alternative for fuel or find ethical solutions, 

many of the inventions of science and technology would become ruins of glory of the 

past, for the future generation. Scientists and technologists are now spare their energy 

to bring out solutions for fuel so that using of solar power and bio-gas came into 

being in some areas. This article is mainly aimed at looking into possible methods in 

reducing the threat of many areas related with economic issues through applying 

Buddhist guidelines. 

At this juncture it is very important to pay attention to scholars, scientists, 

technologists, researchers and particularly it is the duty of religionists to point out 

religious views and possible pragmatic religious solutions that can be applied at 

present for a better future. In the annals of human-beings through out the world there 

is no other organization than that of religion, which immensely contributed and 

influenced the mankind for making their life pattern for the happiness of oneself and 

for the others. Scriptural traditions pertaining to various religions contain invaluable 

thoughts and guidelines on this regard. They are not negligible at this scientific and 

technological era in the context of global village but more applicable today for 

overcoming numerous issues at present and possible in future. No space provides in 

this short article for bringing out the attention of all those scriptural traditions. The 

144


main purpose of this article is to bring to light the Buddhist scriptural teachings (as 

the Dhamma of akalika- beyond lime limit) and how they were applied in the past 

and how they can apply in the present era globally for the happiness of all. 

The view of the Buddha on the nature of human being is 'Sukhakama dukkha 

patikkula' desirous of achieving happiness and avoiding suffering. It is the intrinsic 

characteristic or universal phenomenon of human being. The effort of the Buddha in 

his pursuit of truth was also aimed at how to achieve everlasting happiness through 

defeating suffering. In His discourse the Buddha revealed the nature of the world in 

the form of Four Noble Truth and pointed out the path to overcome suffering. 

Though we unknown the origin of human being, from his inception to the present 

day, his endeavor was rotated around these two interrelated goals. In other words 

human endeavor throughout history was rotating on two main questions, that is: how 

to achieve happiness, and how to avoid suffering? 

History of mankind and his endeavors provide evidences to the fact that he 

followed various means in achieving these goals. In the goal achievement some 

turned towards external forces others towards external-internal forces. Those who 

turned to external forces thought that external forces are more powerful than 

themselves and began to worship sun, moon, rain, wind and such other objects those 

were affected on them for bringing happiness and sorrow. At the primitive stage 

nature worship was very common in many parts of the world and it is considered as 

the origin of religion. And also it is factual evidence to the role religion played for 

bringing happiness to the human being and their faith and trust on belief at the very 

primitive age. Nature objects were affected their life to such a great extent that they 

deified them. Thus gradually gods, demons and other super natural forces came into 

being. The Vedic literature, the oldest religious literary records now remain in the 

world, provides ample evidences to the process of evolution of religion and religious 

concepts from simple stage of nature worship to the most developed stage of belief in 

monotheistic god. All the religions that are in the world came to exist as a solution 

for socio-economic problems. If my understanding is not wrong solution brought out 

by theistic religions are largely divine determined. Even though I should partially 

admit that Holy Bible and Al Koran contain invaluable teachings on economic 

stability, prosperity and social order and harmony that should be achieved by human 

effort. Those religious scriptures and related religious organizations highly 

dominated the economic and social conditions of the peoples for many centuries 

especially during the medieval period and dominating at present too to a large extent. 

Modern scientific era too starts with observations, experimentations on 

objects that people were used to have faith reverentially for many centuries. In this 

article I am not going to detail them out. But I should mention that science and 

technology too devoted to bring happiness and avoiding suffering relying on external 

145


forces. Unlike religion science did not rely upon external supernatural forces but on 

tangible forces in the material world. They identified those natural forces and 

invented scientific and technological instruments and devices through making use of 

these external forces that are in the world. Thanks to the achievements of scientific 

and technological developments every aspects of life become more easy and 

comfortable not only for the people of those countries that discovered those 

inventions but others who make use of that knowledge in their daily life. Those new 

inventions made massive economic progress in the countries those who were 

responsible of producing various types of instruments and machineries to the world. 

Life style of the people have been changed everywhere in the world for last few 

centuries. Simplicity and contentment of life has been disappeared. Countries those 

were having prosperous economic condition largely depended on labor-based 

agriculture gradually came to be the countries that were supplying raw materials to 

industrial countries and vise versa became the consumers of the products of industrial 

countries. Thus the large sum of capital began to flow into industrial countries. The 

economic disparity thus produced made wide gap among the countries; namely first, 

second and third world (that is developed, developing and under developing). 

As mentioned above those new inventions have made our life easy mainly 

through materialistic prosperity. Proportionate to various advantageous and 

achievements brought about by those new inventions and discoveries many new 

problems have been arisen throughout the world. Increasing of physical and psychic 

health problems that were heard and unheard before, disappearing of non renewable 

natural resources, variety of pollutions, increasing of global warm are some of the 

issues. Most dangerously, missiles and other sophisticated weapons have been 

invented though the same knowledge of science and technology, have threatened the 

world to the extent of wiping out all the animate and inanimate objects from the 

earth. These are some of the issues that are been discussing today for bringing lasting 

solution. 

Science and technology should not be considered as the enemies of the world 

as they have tremendously contributed for the happiness and well being of the world. 

And also it could be use as a means of gaining happiness in the way that we use 

them. Science and technology does not have mind and senses but those who invent 

them have. The need of religion comes there. Either theistic or non-theistic, religion 

addresses to both external and internal forces. In other words, religion takes into 

consideration the importance of both material and spiritual development. According 

to Buddhism there is no possibility for having spiritual development without material 

development. Some wrongly interpret Buddhism as a religion which deals with supra 

mundane level of development only. Mundane development is a supportive factor for 

supra mundane spiritual development according to Buddhism. If my understanding is 

not wrong, there is no other religion in the world as Buddhism, which touches with 

146


the importance of both mundane and supra-mundane development. But mundane 

development is not the end but just a supportive factor for supra-mundane 

achievements. It is true, that the end aim of Buddhism is Nibbana - it is the state of 

non-attachment, non-hatred and non-delusion. If anyone possible to live in the world 

and engage in worldly activities without attachment, hatred and delusion what an 

ideal state would be the world 1 ? What is the harm for such an ideal person to live and 

act in the material world with detachment, compassionate and wise thoughts? 

Material development is one thing that Buddha expected. Because without having 

material support one cannot live a happy life and also cannot expects spiritual 

development form such a person. Now we are living in the materially developed 

world. So, this is the best time for one to practice Buddhism and apply Buddhist 

thoughts in economic, political and social activities. 

What we have to thinks and plan out now is how to make use of those new 

inventions for the benefit of mankind. In this regard religions have vital role to play. 

For nearly two and half millennium, Buddhism has been the religion of most Asian 

countries. Its teachings have been tremendously influenced for the life style of the 

people politically, economically and socially. Cultural pattern of Sri Lanka, 

Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, China, Korea and Japan formulated 

mainly according to the teachings of the Buddha. Though most of these Countries, 

except Japan are belong to category third world countries according to the way of 

census, which is based on per-capita income. But per-capita income is not a proper 

criterion for measuring living standard of the people. Most worthy criterion in this 

regard is to measure how much happy are the people of a particular country. At 

present context is concerned the identities of those Asian countries mostly 

disappeared since the lifestyles of the people are tremendously changed through the 

economic and political influences of European and Western countries in the process 

of colonization and commercialization. But history of those individual countries 

depicts that they possessed satisfactory economic standard as well as material 

prosperity. Massive religious and secular buildings as well as large reservoirs in Sri 

Lanka and such evidences of other countries are the testimony for assuming the past 

glory of the economic prosperity of those countries. Though they not possessed 

numerous equipments as today they led a very satisfactory life with minimum 

possessions what they had. Life style of the past and present should not be the same 

but we can apply some valuable norms that they had in the past to the present for 

having a satisfactory life. 

The everlasting happiness of Nibbana is the final goal of both householders 

and recluses. Recluses satisfy with minimum requirements 2 for maintaining life while 

making endeavor to achieve spiritual development for getting rid of sansara whereas 

1 

A. III. P 338-339, A. I, Pp. 62, 64, 65, 69. 

2 

A. II, P. 27. 

147


householders making endeavor to achieve material prosperity 3 for leading a 

successful communal life with limited restrain, which would helpful for them, to 

achieve spiritual development. Minimum requirements for recluse are cloth, food, 

shelter and medication. In addition to these requirements householders have 

numerous other needs to fulfill for leading a good household life. Sufficient 

economic condition is necessary for both of them in relevance to the objective of 

their life unless goal-achievement is impossible. For recluses have to depend on 

householders for their subsistence and they should advice householders in return for 

them to have successful family life progressively towards material and spiritual 

development. Thus recluse indirectly participates in economic activities while 

householders directly involve in it. Buddhist monk in Eastern countries had played 

very important role as advisors to the rulers and ordinary people for leading them to 

prosperity within the frame of morality. 

Advice given to householders for economic stability are scattered in the 

discourses of the Buddha. In contrast with recluses, acquisition of wealth is the 

function of householders whereas following the path of spiritual development is 

function of recluse. The householders, according to Buddhism, have to follow the 

path that material and spiritual development go hand in hand. Such a person who 

acquired both ends are similitude to a person who has two eyed whereas others who 

develop one side of them is similitude to a one eyed and the people who neither has 

material nor spiritual development to a blind 4 . This statement conveys that the 

criterion of economic development in Buddhism is paralleled to the spiritual 

development. So that economy and ethics should go together according to Buddhism. 

Anguttara Nikaya mention of seven spiritual treasures that can be achieved by both 

recluse and householders 5 . These treasures are saddha (faithfulness), sila (discipline 

in bodily and vocal action), hiri (fear in bad), ottappa (embarrassment in bad), suta 

(knowledge in learning or hearing), caga (liberality) and panna wisdom). These are 

considered as virtues more valuable than material gains. The buddha emphatically 

mentioned that those who have these qualities are not poor and their life is not empty 

even though they have no material wealth. (yassa ete dhanam atthi, itthiya 

purissassava, adhaliddoti tam ahu, amogham tassa jivitam) 

What Buddha taught was what is beneficial for spiritual development and 

material development of the beings. In other words Buddha did not say any thing that 

is not conducive to overcome suffering. Poverty is considered as a grave suffering 6 

and stimulated for economic stability of individual because it brings four types of 

3 S. IV, P. 336 

4 A. I P. 128. 

5 A. IV, P. 6 

6 A. IV, p. 351-354 

148


happiness to individual. 7 The first is happiness of ownership (Atthi sukha). Taking 

measures to alleviation of poverty is considered as a duty of a ruler 8 . Unless those 

who do not having snatch from those who having and it paves the way for prevailing 

many vice conducts. Making provisions and encouraging public in production and 

other activities for economic development is the duty of a ruler where as it is the duty 

of individual to work energetically for making their livelihood (udtthana sampada). 

Thus the householders should accumulate wealth by energetic striving, by strength of 

arm, by sweating and by lawful, justice and righteous manner. While appreciating 

energetic striving the Buddha denounced the laziness. Laziness is denounced as a 

factor of degradation. The nature of lethargy is postponing the action in hand taking 

environmental and physical factors into consideration. Gradual economic fall down 

of such a lethargic person is compared to the decreasing moon whereas economic 

prosperity of energetic striving person is compared to the growing moon 9 . Personal 

endeavor in economic pursuit of individual is highly praised in Buddhism. Mainly 

agriculture, animal husbandry, commerce and supply of services were the means of 

livelihood at the time of the Buddha. Production was labor based. Production at the 

time was either for family consumption or largely for local consumption. Now means 

of livelihood are numerous, means of production are numerous and production is for 

global market. Instead of labor, machinery is using largely. Large production with 

low expenditure and maximum profit is the modern economic principle. There is no 

way to against with new economic principles if these principles subjected to be 

moderated as to sufficient production, low expenditure and minimum profit. 

Machinery should be used in production in a wise manner. Machinery is an 

instrument so as other instruments that had been used in the past for their productive 

activities. Some machineries those are been used now is evolution of instruments that 

had been used in the past. Whatever the machinery or instrument use in production 

they don't have mind and sensation, but those who use them have. So, in process of 

production, human must be able to use them wisely with loving sensation. Those who 

engage in production should know the limit of production to prevent over production. 

Samma dittihi (right vision) and Samma sankappa 10 (Right thought) should be the 

base of economic planning. Right vision is needed for knowing in advance the 

advantages and disadvantages of one's production. The advice given in Buddhism is 

to pondering repeatedly over the possible result of one's bodily, verbal and even 

mental action in advance of initiation of action. If one's action brings suffering to 

oneself, others, or both sides should be avoided. Vise versa action that brings 

happiness to oneself, others and or both sides should be done. The former known in 

Buddhism as akusala, which does not conduce to spiritual development where as the 

7 A. II, P. 69-70 

8 D. III, P. 61, 127 

9 A. IV, P. 281-285, D. III, P.181 

10 M. III, P. 71 

149


latter known as kusala, which does conduce for spiritual development of the doer. 11 

Right vision is prerequisite in Buddhism in selection of ways and means of 

production and selection of one's livelihood. 

Right thought should be the driving force throughout the process of 

production and means of livelihood. Right thoughts are thoughts of detachment, nonhatred 

and non-violence. In place of attachment or craving/desire one should apply 

liberal thoughts in production and in choosing means of livelihood. It would prevent 

over production, mal-production, over profits and mal-practices that are common in 

global market based economy today. In place of hatred and violent thoughts one 

should apply non-hatred non-violence thoughts. They would prevent the production 

of harmful and disastrous things. If right thought in Buddhism put into practice 

everyone and everywhere everyone would be able to live happily on this earth 

without conflict and war. Everyone will equally enjoy the life and live peacefully and 

harmoniously and will progressive towards high spirituality. Is it not that economic, 

political and social problems that are prevalent today are due to lack of right vision 

and right thought? 

The most important teaching that should be taught to economists, politicians, 

scientists, technologists and generally all human beings without geographical, 

religious or social barriers is the teaching of loving kindness which is one of the main 

practices among true Buddhist. Loving-kindness or Metta is a teaching that can be 

applied universally without the banner of religion. The thoughts of loving kindness 

should spread boundlessly. Karaniya Metta Sutta (the discourse of loving kindness), 

is a masterpiece of the relevant teaching). Those who practice Buddhism is familiar 

with this discourse, but for those who not know and unfamiliar with the discourse 

here with include the translation of the Sutta for their understanding. 

1. This is what is to be done by one who is skilful in respect of good, having 

attained the peaceful state. He should be capable, straight, and very upright, 

easy to speak to, gentle and not proud, 

2. contented and easy to support, having few duties and of a frugal way of life, 

with his sense-faculties calmed, zealous, not impudent, (and) not greedy 

(when begging) among families. 

3. And he should not do any mean thing, on account of which other wise men 

should criticize him. Let all creatures indeed be happy (and) secure; let them 

be happy-minded. 

4. Whatever living creatures there are, moving or still without exception, 

whichever are long or large, or middle-sized or short, small or great, 

11 M. III, P 206 

150


5. whichever are seen or unseen, whichever live far or near, whether they 

already exist or are going to be, let all creatures be happy-minded. 

6. One man should not humiliate another; one should not despise anyone 

anywhere. One should not wish another misery because of anger or from the 

notion of repugnance. 

7. Just as a mother would protect with her life her own son, her only son, so 

one should cultivate a unbounded mind towards all beings, 

8. and loving-kindness towards all the world. One should cultivate an 

unbounded mind, above and below and across, without obstruction, without 

enmity, without rivalry. 

9. Standing, or going, or seated, or lying down, as long as on is free from 

drowsiness, one should practice this mindfulness. This, they say, is the holy 

state here. 

10. Not subscribing to wrong views, virtuous, endowed with insight, having 

overcome greed for sensual pleasures, a creature assuredly does not come to 

lie again in a womb." 12 . 

It is my view that whatever the economic plan it should be aimed at global 

happiness and the practice Metta in this regard would be highly conducive for 

achieving said goal. 

The second happiness that householder can enjoy is the happiness of 

consumption with what he had earned (bhoga sukha). One should work hard and 

earn. Earning is not for hoarding or for preserving stinginess but firstly for ones own 

consumption and secondly for helping others (happiness of oneself and others). 

Anguttara Nikaya listed nine advantages of having wealth. 13 

1. For ones own expenditure such as food, clothing and shelter. 

2. For attending ones own parents wives, children and servants 

3. For using at the time of emergency such as illness 

4. For necessary charity works 

5. For treating relatives 

6. For treating guest and visitors 

7. For giving alms in memory of departed 

8. For meritorious act to offer merits to deities 

9. For paying taxes for the state. 

12 

The Group of Discourses (Sutta-Nipata) Vol. I, Norman, K. R. (The Pali Text Society, London, 1984) 

P. 24. 

13 

A. II, P. 65-69. 

151


What is worthy of paying attention here is that out of these nine advantages 

the first one is the only advantage of wealth which conducive for ones own benefit. 

All the other advantages are for the benefit of others. Economic stability according to 

Buddhism is not for the selfish end but altraistic end. One needs to have stable 

economic condition for living a social life so as to fulfill his duties and 

responsibilities out of loving kindness and compassion. It is questionable whether 

contemporary economic goals are directed towards altraistic end. If there is any 

notion of altruism with economic pursuit, is there any possibility to have desire for 

hoarding and acquiring things in unjust manner and producing disastrous things just 

for profitable end. No doubt, many of the conflicts of the world today derived from 

unnecessary desire for having things and selfish attitude. Altruistic attitude is one of 

the noble qualities that should be cultivated by all. Application of loving kindness 

and compassion towards others is very necessary norms of Buddhism for wiping out 

selfish ends and for bringing happiness to all. Especially economy as the main factor 

of happiness and base of spiritual development economic pursuit should be based on 

altruistic attitude. 

Moreover, more and more consumption is persuaded in the modern economy 

but in the system of Buddhist economy, moderation in consumption is encouraged. 

Advice of the Buddha is to balance the income and expenditure (samjivikata) 14 . Both 

over consumption and stinginess is discouraged. One who used to over consumption 

is compared to person who eat wood-apple (udumbarakadika) by shaking the 

branches, (by shaking a branch both ripped and not ripped fall down but only ripen 

can be eat and others to be thrown out), whereas one who do not enjoy with one's 

possession is compared to a person who die without having (adjjumarana). Frugality 

in consumption is encouraged. One should not spend more than what one earns 

unless he will have to indebted. Contentment (santutthi), desiring little (appiccata), 

simplicity of life (sallahukautti) are the qualities one should apply in consumption. 

Advices given in Singalovada Sutta 15 on production, consumption, 

investment and saving have tritemporal value. One should earn energetic striving in 

righteous manner. What one earned is advised to divide into four parts. One part out 

of four should be used for consumption where as two parts should be invested. Forth 

should be saved for using at any possible dangers in future. In this division there is 

neither place for over consumption nor for hoarding with stinginess but encouraged 

for frugality in consumption. And also he enjoys sharing with others. Investing two 

parts or half of ones income one's economic condition would grow up gradually. As 

he constantly saving one forth of income he would be able to live a happy life 

without borrowing. 

14 A. IV, P. 281-285 

15 D. III, P. 181 

152


Third happiness of householder is happiness of being debtless (anana sukha). 

It is against modern economic concept of 'borrowing and consumption', which is very 

frequent in promoting in marketing at present. Modern economic system has indebted 

people and prompted them be indebt through credit cards and many forms of 

monetary transaction devices. If one were trained to practice afore mentioned 

contentment, desiring little, and simplicity of life according to Buddhist ethical 

norms, ere there any possibility for undergoing the suffering of indebtedness?. 

Indebtedness is one of main problems everywhere in the world today. There is no 

need of borrowing if one leads a simple and contended life with what one possesses. 

According to Buddhism more one's desire more one's suffering would be. More one 

accumulates things more one's suffering would be 16 . Stinginess as well as greedy in 

consumption is condemned and encouraged to follow a middle way that is the 

moderation in consumption. Moderation in consumption on the contrarily will 

prevent over production as well as environmental issues left thereof. Is it not better to 

apply this ethical concept of moderation in consumption to overcome the modern 

economic crisis even to some extend? 

The forth happiness is the happiness of blamelessness (anavajjasuka). It is to 

devoid from blameworthy unrighteous actions. Righteousness is highly granted in 

Buddhist economic system. It is the fifth factor of Noble Eightfold Path. According 

to Buddhism one should avoid from blameworthy activities such as selling weapons, 

animals, meat, intoxicants, poison. Businesses in this type no doubt very lucrative but 

they are disastrous to human and animal kingdom and largely to the whole 

environment and nature. As mentioned above, economic activities that one selects 

should not bring harm to both oneself and others instead it should bring happiness to 

both. It is the Buddhist criterion of economic activity. According to Buddhist 

economic guidance mere profit should not be the aim but how righteous is the ways 

and means of profit should be the prerequisite factor to be thinking over. In this 

context it is worthy mention the element system which is described as the inclusion 

of six paramitas (generosity, morality, patience, zeal, mindfulness and wisdom) of 

Mahayana Buddhism into economic activity. One who adheres to virtues in business 

is termed 'entrepreneur' whose main characteristic is that one would choose an 

occupation where work is conspicuously productive and helpful to others. Such 

works are recognized as 'meditation in action, which would bring him psychic 

income'. Entrepreneur would avoid unproductive and harmful activities. Instead one 

would attempt to work for non-exploitative companies producing useful goods and 

services. One would do work in the most mindful and least destructive way. 17 

16 

M. I, P. 55. 

17 

Guruge, A. W. P. Buddhist Economics- Myth and Reality, His Lai Journal of Humanistic Buddhism, 

Vol. 7, 2006, P 82. 

153

Framing the Problem 

Victims and Being Victimized: 

Women and Consumerism (A Buddhist Analysis) 

154 

Wilis Rengganiasih Endah Ekowati 1 

When searching for a topic for this conference, my mind returned again and 

again to some women’s issues I have encountered. My research on the Indonesian 

Theravādin nuns whose upasampadā is being rejected as invalid by the Indonesian 

Sangha, 2 my conversations with female migrant workers, the mistreatment I received 

from the migrant workers’ agent at the airport, my discussion with a thila sin on my 

visit to Sagaing, the signs posted at a number of Buddhist sites in Myanmar 

prohibiting ladies from entering the “sacred areas,” the death of twenty-one old ladies 

in a crowded place waiting for a religious charity in the amount of 30.000 rupiahs 

(equal to US$ 2.5 on today’s currency), a number of mothers who committed suicide 

after killing their own children out of desperation trapped in poverty, and a friend of 

mine working as a dance teacher for young girls sent to Japan as “entertainers.” 

Though these women face different situations, each case and each woman are 

virtually interrelated to one another. Moreover, they are all women; and this is 

exactly what is important. This conference is a great opportunity to call attention to 

the lives of women amidst the global crisis we are facing. 

To my understanding, Buddhist writings which specifically concern women 

and consumerism are somewhat rare. 3 There seems to be lack of understanding—at 

least in my home country, Indonesia—of how women are indeed the poorest victims 

of, and exploited by, the ideology of capitalism, much less from a Buddhist analysis. 

As the country with the largest Muslim population, a Buddhist point of view might 

not be too significant to be heard. But for Buddhists, a Right Understanding of the 

issue is a must so that we will not fall into wrong views perpetuating the suffering of 

our sisters, mothers, and daughters. 

The problem of women and consumerism is a complex and complicated one. 

It requires a holistic approach examining the social, political, economic, cultural, 

ideological, and religious aspects creating and perpetuating the problem. On the 

1 The writer is a lecturer at the Syailendra Buddhist College in Semarang, Indonesia. With the grant from 

the Fulbright Presidential Program scholarship, she will be starting her PhD in the US in Fall 2009. 

2 Ekowati, Wilis Rengganiasih E. The Controversy of Bhikkhuni Ordination (Upasampadā) within 

Theravāda Buddhism in Indonesia. Unpublished M.A. Thesis. June, 2006. 

3 A few wonderful works applying Buddhist analysis regarding consumption are done by Stephanie 

Kaza, Rita M. Gross, David Landis Barnhill, and Sulak Sivaraksa.


problem of over-consumption alone, a number of Buddhist scholars point out that 

greed and delusion are the root causes. 4 Among the liberative methods, Kaza 5 offers 

paţiccasamuppāda or dependent origination “as a common pattern which arises over 

and over again in every moment of grasping” and the Four Noble Truths. As this 

paper will specifically look at women within a consumer society, I will also apply the 

concept of paţiccasamuppāda to explain why women become the victims and are 

being victimized by consumerism. In this case, paţiccasamuppāda is not merely 

understood as a pattern of continual and repeated craving; rather, it explains the 

interdependence of a matrix of lives creating and perpetuating the women’s situations 

trapped in the net of consumerism. My argument is that sexism exists in almost 

every society—especially in developing countries—and places women in the position 

as the poorest victims as well as being victimized in every consumer society. The 

following discussion explains how consumerism works and affects the lives of 

women, and the interdependence of all aspects that cause and perpetuate the 

victimization of women. 

Why Women and Consumerism? 

Consumerism has been spreading throughout the world. The fundamental 

belief of consumerism is that happiness can be achieved through consuming and 

possessing things. The pervasive and powerful influences of consumption or the 

Market in human life is proclaimed by David Loy 6 as replacing the position and 

function of religion. Its theology, (economics), world view (science), and value 

system (consumerism) have been incontestably successful in converting the people of 

the world. I believe that at least the universal moral ethics (that actually here is 

lacking), non-sectarian teachings (all agreeing with a single doctrine that the more 

consumption the happier), and the promised-instantaneous-goals fulfillment through 

material acquirement are apparently the strongest characters of the new religion: 

market capitalism. But is the new religion really serving the spiritual and 

psychological needs of its followers? Is its ideology – consumerism – not 

discriminating against women as conventional religions are, considering that it is so 

appealing to and favoring female adherents as the major feature of its propaganda and 

media? 

4 

See, for instance: Gross, Rita M. “Toward a Buddhist Environmental Ethic.” In Harold Coward and 

Daniel C. Maguire. Visions of A New Earth: Religious Perspectives on Population, Consumption, and 

Ecology. New York: State University of New York Press, 2000, pp. 147-160, and Kaza, Stephanie. 

“Overcoming the Grip of Consumerism.” Buddhist-Christian Studies 20 (2000). University of Hawai’i 

Press, pp. 23-42. 

5 

Kaza, Stephanie. Op. Cit., pp. 31-34. 

6 

Loy, David R. “The Religion of the Market.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion Vol. 65, 

No. 2 (Summer 1997), pp. 275-290. 

155


First of all, some scholars evaluate consumerism to be deceptive and 

misleading. Promising that by the ritual of consuming one will be gratified with 

“self-development, self-realization, and self-fulfillment,” 7 what truly is happening is 

just the opposite, or at least if one feels that his/her acts of consuming in one or 

another way fulfills his/her needs (whatever they are), this feeling is but what I 

believe to be “false consciousness.” From the Buddhist perspective, satisfying desire 

is just a wrong idea. Desire is like a bottomless abyss; no matter how much you fill it 

up with material goods, it is never full. Barnhill compares our modern culture to be 

much worse than living as hungry ghosts whose bloated stomachs never have 

enough by swallowing, but whose throat are as thin as pins, while the modern culture 

has “a gargantuan mouth and throat, and yet we still act as if our bellies are empty.” 8 

The fulfillment of psychological and spiritual needs as the main focus of 

conventional religions serve people’s needs for security, peacefulness, happiness, 

clarity, contentment, and love. With the imagery of the hungry ghost with its 

gigantic mouth and throat, the new religion generates insecurity, anxiety, greed, selfinterest, 

hatred or ill-will, and delusion. If applying the Buddha Dhamma in our daily 

lives will reduce our self-centeredness and the attachments that are born from such a 

wrong view, practicing the principles of consumerism will strengthen our ego 

attachment. As the further consequence, embracing the former wisdom we are able 

to take control of ourselves; holding the latter belief, we are enslaved and lose control 

of our own desire. To be a slave of a rich lord or a lady is at least one still having 

hope to be released by the master, but to be a slave of consumerism is to be destroyed 

in the end. 

McGregor 9 warns us that consumerism is a source of structural violence. 

Operating as the form of a structure, its enticement is so subtle and hardly recognized 

by those being trapped in it. Thus, the dangerous nature of consumerism arises 

because “those who are victims of structural violence often do not see the systemic 

ways in which their plight is choreographed by unequal and unfair distribution of 

society’s resources or by human constraint caused by economic and political 

structures.” 10 Since the victims are being imbued by false consciousness, helping to 

stop them is almost impossible, unless they can see through their wrong 

understanding and renounce it, realizing their wrong conduct and desire to end it. 

Otherwise, they will be the number-one participants in their own and others’ 

suffering, as McGregor says, “Because they do not critically challenge the market 

ideology, and what it means to live in a consumer society, they actually contribute to 

7 

McGregor, Sue. “Consumerism as a Source of Structural Violence,” p. 4. 

http://www.kon.org/hswp/archive/ consumerism.pdf. Retrieved: August 5, 2007. 

8 

Barnhill, David Landis. “Good Work: An Engaged Buddhist Response to the Dilemmas of 

Consumerism.” Buddhist-Christian Studies, Vol. 24 (2004), p. 55. 

9 

McGregor, Sue. Op. Cit. 

10 

Ibid., p. 5. 

156


their own oppression (slaves of the market and capitalism) as well as the oppression 

of others who make the goods and of the natural ecosystem.” 11 

Sulak Sivaraksa’s identification of the situation in Thailand and other 

Southeast Asian countries suffering from the occupation of the religion of 

consumerism 12 is more or less similar to the situation in Indonesia. It is a really 

critical time for Indonesians since, day by day, the growth of prostitution and other 

new forms of slavery as the result of human trafficking has been increasing and its 

area of influence is widening. Stephanie Kaza highlights the five systems players 

that cooperate in promoting profit-making in the consumer culture: the producers, 

advertisers, media, governments, and TNCs. 13 Each of these players commits its own 

evil-doing with a sophisticated strategy and various means. 

Accurately McGregor indicates consumerism as a structural violence 

pervading a society: “People affected by structural violence tend to live a life of 

oppression, exclusion, exploitation, marginalization, collective humiliation, 

stigmatization, repression, inequities, and lack of opportunities due to no fault of their 

own, per se.” And she adds that “the people most affected by structural violence are 

women, children, and elders; those from different ethnic, racial, and religious groups; 

and sexual orientation.” 14 Hence, my claim that women are the element of society 

most adversely affected by consumerism is true because in the majority, women are 

taking care of their children and parents, and this means additional burdens for 

women. 

When we turn on the radio and television or open the pages of magazines or 

newspapers, or surf on websites, there are faces and bodies of women being 

manipulated to offer different kinds of goods and services. Women’s beauty and 

sexy bodies have generally been used to attract consumer's attention in almost every 

field. In working as actresses, artists or models, women in Indonesia are generally 

well-paid though some of them, in some arenas and to some extent, are less aware of 

the male-bias in the operating system and ideology which seemingly praises their 

“femaleness” and yet much of the expressions are degrading. Or even if some of 

them are aware of unfair treatment, they willingly take part in the trade or the 

systems as they are also getting benefits. 

Yet women are the most desired targets of any goods and services. 

Advertisements and the media are powerful means for entering the lives of human 

beings nowadays; they are not only “super creatively offering” products and services 

11 

Ibid., p. 6. 

12 

Sivaraksa, Sulak. Seeds of Peace: A Buddhist Vision for Renewing Society. Berkeley: Parallax, 1992, 

p. 3. 

13 

Kaza, Stephanie. Op.Cit., pp. 28-30. 

14 

McGregor, Sue. Op. Cit. p. 5. 

157


to be hardly avoided and rejected by the consumers, but also “amazingly constructing 

and dictating” the whole idea of what a human being supposes to have or have not, 

the value of life in terms of what happiness is all about, and so on. Pollay describes 

the potency of the media in society, “The proliferation and the intrusion of various 

media into the everyday lives of the citizenry make advertising environmental in 

nature, persistently encountered, and involuntary experienced by the entire 

population.” 15 

Several times I heard that when men’s careers or businesses collapse, women 

are often accused as the cause of the failure. If men commit corruption, the 

immediate accusation is that it was usually caused by a wish to fulfill their 

women’s—either their wives or mistresses or both—desire for goods and leisure. 

Such negatives pictures about women are also presented in daily television programs, 

i.e. soup operas. Women and young girls are depicted as being consumerist, spending 

their parents’ or husbands’ or lovers’ money for shopping, clubbing, vacation and 

traveling, or doing beauty care at beauty centers, and so on. In addition to these, girls 

and women are often categorized into several characters which are routinely 

exaggerated for being too weak, passive, powerless, stupid, naïve, emotional, on the 

one hand, and spoiled, greedy, full of envy, too aggressive, irritable, and wicked, on 

the other. [Editor: why then do women make such demands?] 

Another group is those of less fortunate women: they are poor, uneducated, 

living in rural villages as peasants—and they are not the landowners—or 

unemployed, or living in urban poor and crowded areas. Some of them are 

economically dependent or independent but overly burdened with feeding their 

families, or earning money by working as housemaids, baby-sitters and other 

informal sectors, shop-keepers, cheap labor at factories, prostitutes, migrant workers, 

and more. Migrant workers are one of our best commodities. Many women and girls 

aged 14 – 40 16 are sent abroad—both legally and illegally—to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, 

Egypt, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and the state calls them 

“Pahlawan Devisa” (the Heroes—and Heroines—of Foreign Exchange). Struggling 

to survive with barely enough wages as the breadwinners is the only choice available 

to them since they see no hope to remain in their villages. Unfortunately they are 

vulnerable to any physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, starting from the time of 

recruitment, at the port or airport, in the country of destination, and on their way back 

home to Indonesia. The worst of all is that there is no strong law enforcement to 

protect women laborers’ rights and ensure their wellbeing both from the Indonesian 

15 Pollay, Richard W. “The Distorted Mirror: Reflections on the Unintended Consequences of 

Advertising.” Journal of Marketing Vol. 50 (April 1986), p. 18. 

16 Female Migrant Workers Research Team. “Migration, Remittance, and Female Migrant Workers.” 

World Bank Office Jakarta, 2006, p. 2. 

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTINDONESIA/Resources/fact_sheetmigrant_workers_en_jan06.pdf. 

Retrieved: March 17, 2009. 

158


government and the destination countries, so that cases of violence and exploitation 

ending in physical and psychological injuries including death are not unusual. The 

state, which is supposed to support and provide protection to its people, has been 

silent or reluctant to take any serious action preventing or searching for a solution. 

Even more, Indonesia has not rectified the 1990 United Nations Migrant Workers 

Convention to protect the migrant workers and their families. 

These lower class women and their families have been striving to earn 

money to establish a certain lifestyle. Some migrant workers who in the beginning 

worked to fulfill their basic subsistence then continued to earn money for more 

needs. On my interview with a mother of five children who has been working in 

Malaysia for thirteen years, she admits that she cannot set aside her wages for saving. 

She often remembers her children and then sends whatever much money she has back 

to her family. She wants to demonstrate her longing for her children with the money 

she earns to buy all the things that her children want. But she also regrets that her 

daughters are all married in their youth, even before completing their junior high 

schools. She feels that her sacrifice—for being away from her family for years—is 

not really worth it. She hopes to see her children—especially her daughters— 

successful in their school, so that they will not become migrant workers as herself. 

But no matter how much money she sends back to her family it has never been 

enough. 17 This is the impact of the mushrooming of consumerism, including trends 

in fashion and electronic devices, and the allure of a luxury lifestyle, that has reached 

remote and poor villages, so that the simple life is no longer accepted as normal life. 

Families who previously lived simply now begin to accumulate goods that they see as 

appropriate to possess in modern life. Poverty turns to greed; need turns to want; 

simple turns to luxury; and no one has been aware of the poison they have been 

drinking. 

Common people might see the phenomenon of women as victims and being 

victimized in every consumer society as but their own weaknesses and fault; if 

women are just able to control their desire for luxurious lives and goods, they will not 

have to be trapped in the world of consumerism. If families are content in living a 

simple life, they will not have to sell their daughters to become prostitutes or cheap 

laborers in big cities or overseas. Unfortunately, the situations are not as simple as 

they are seen. The economic situations, social, political, ideological, cultural, and 

religious are complicatedly mixed creating the problem. 

All women presented above share a common desire: they want to be happy, 

though of course, the degree of happiness, the means to achieve it, and the forms of 

happiness differ from one to another. The higher and middle classes are working and 

then spending their money to satisfy their desires for self-fulfillment, owning things, 

17 Suwarti (pseudonym). Personal interview, March 3, 2009. 

159


and other interests. Women from the lower class are working tirelessly even by 

risking their health and lives to survive; mothers sacrificing their precious times to be 

with their children to work overseas for feeding and making happy their children, 

girls helping their parents and siblings, paying the debt of their families, and sending 

their siblings—more often their brothers—to schools while leaving themselves less 

or uneducated. Ultimately, all of them are searching for their own happiness and the 

happiness of their loved-ones. Regrettably, the new religion of consumerism has 

misguided people with its value system by defining happiness, self-development, and 

self-fulfillment with the act of consuming. The highly sophisticated of its economic 

science has infiltrated the lives of the people very smoothly using the magic spell of 

advertising. Sivaraksa points out the more subtle yet more dangerous player intruding 

the lives of people is the work of advertising. In his own word: 

The claim that capitalism gives freedom to the people by providing choice is 

not wholly true. Advertising becomes critical. Advertising agencies 

determine in large part what is sold, and they deceive the people in ways we 

scarcely realize. This is not real freedom. Under a dictatorship, at least the 

people know that the government is deceiving them, for the propaganda is 

usually quite crude. But deception that plays on people’s greed is more 

difficult to perceive. In poor countries, wherever there is electricity, families 

feel that they must buy a television, no matter how poor they are. TV is a 

status symbol, and it plays an important part in deceiving the public. People 

will sell their land, if necessary, to buy a TV, and then they are told on that 

same TV that they need even more things to be happy. 18 

Interdependence - Buddhist Analysis on Victimization of Women by 

Consumerism: 

Consumerism has made women to be the poorest victims of its operating 

systems. They suffer badly as the values of life are measured by the accumulation of 

goods since the majority of women living in developing countries like Indonesia 

struggle to barely survive. The women who lack of education and skills staying at 

their houses and doing their domestic jobs are of no value in the operating systems of 

consumerism. They are not making money, thus, they are not potent consumers. Yet, 

they are being targeted as the commodity—i.e. cheap laborers—being manipulated in 

the mass production. Those who cannot be absorbed in the laborer sector, are 

depressed, some ending in death and suicide. 

The higher paid women working as actresses, artists and models, or high 

class prostitutes are of no exception. Market capitalism has created new fields for 

18 Sivaraksa, Sulak. Op. Cit., p. 40. 

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reaping profit by exploiting these women as its commodity. ‘Commoditization,’ 

according to Mosse is “a process in which services and goods tend to gain a 

commercial value, in response to a process of economic growth and activity which 

registers only those activities and processes that involve money, credit, and cash 

transfers.” 19 Hence, women are only treated as a commodity, both in the higher and 

lower paid jobs; in other words, women are being victimized by market capitalism. 

Women are also being victimized when they are running on the treadmill satisfying 

their insatiable desire to consume more and more as dictated by the ideology of 

consumerism. 

As a woman living in a developing country, I share the feelings of being 

treated unfairly by the government’s policy, the cruel and inhumane global economy 

and global market, the institutionalized greed and delusion of capitalism and its 

networks, the ill-will—both intended and unintended—of men or men-dominated 

institutions. I do not feel comfort receiving the privilege studying in higher 

education with a scholarship while the siblings of my students are risking their lives 

working as servants in neighboring countries without health and life insurance. I am 

urged to do anything to change the situation; raising the awareness of women and 

their families, lifting the education of girls and women of my country, approaching 

the government and religious leaders. The last element is considered to be powerful 

to work with since in Indonesia the majority of the people are still listening to the 

wisdom of religious teachings. Hence, the voice of religious leaders is hoped to be 

effective in correctly understanding the problems. 

The difficulty is that religious leaders often lack a holistic approach 

and the comprehension of ‘secular’ perspectives that are needed in understanding and 

analyzing the problems. In my case in Indonesia—at least among my Theravādin 

community—there is no concern to evaluate the complexity of institutionalized 

greed, ill-will, and delusion and the operating systems; rather, spiritual wellbeing of 

individuals are the common theme being preached. 20 As a result, they often fail to 

take into consideration the big picture and the root causes so that these same 

problems are misunderstood and unsolved. In regard to non-Buddhist perspectives, 

i.e. feminism that I borrowed to give voice to the Indonesian bhikkhunis and their 

supporters, have been suspected as a Western product and non-Buddhist. An 

engaged Buddhist, David Landis Barnhill claims that dealing with the problem, i.e. 

environmental destruction and consumerism, “Buddhism must go beyond the limits 

of its own tradition and draw on the insights of contemporary social and 

19 

Mosse, Julia Cleves. Half the World Half a Chance: An Introduction to Gender and Development. 

Oxford: Oxfam, 1993, p. 19. 

20 

Ekowati, Wilis Rengganiasih E. Are We ‘Socially Engaged’? A Preliminary Study on the Modes of 

Teachings and Practices of the Theravāda in Indonesia. Paper presented at the 2nd Bi-annual Conference 

of the Association of Theravāda Buddhist Universities 4-8 March, 2009, Sitagu International Buddhist 

Academy, Sagaing, p. 2. 

161


environmental philosophies, from anarchism to bioregionalism.” 21 Moreover, when 

risking the well-being of others, we must avoid any possible carelessness or cast 

away our ignorance in response to any issues. As Gross puts it, “For Buddhism, it 

should be a grave concern that well-intentioned individuals nevertheless participate 

in systems that cause harm.” 22 

To understand the various aspects interplay in the victimization of women by 

consumerism is to start it from its very cause. Sexism, I believe, is the underlying 

factor that bears the imbalanced power relation between men and women and 

operates in almost every part of human life: politics, social, economics, culture, 

ideology, and of course, religion. Its manifestations or implications can be varied 

and barely recognized by those who are insensitive to such an ingrained epidemic. 

Magrit Eichler states that “none of us has ever lived in a nonsexist society,” that “our 

major concepts, our way of seeing reality, our willingness to accept proof, have been 

shaped by one dimension—one sex—rather than by two.” 23 What we perceive as 

normal, right, and appropriate in regard to maleness and femaleness are usually taken 

for granted as the norms have been socialized since we were born. Overcoming the 

limitation of a one-sided vantage point is not easy at all, and this is proven with the 

still occurring sexism and gender inequalities in many societies. Even in Buddhist 

societies which extraordinarily offer the doctrine of nonduality, dualism causing 

discrimination against women has persisted throughout the ages. Sometimes, the 

nonduality and egalitarian features of the basic teachings of the Buddha have easily 

covered over the inequalities and discrimination happening at the praxis level. 

One’s identity as a member of a society is determined by different factors, 

i.e. one’s sexual identity, gender identity, class, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, 

education, age, profession, and more. Among these factors, sexual identity is closely 

related with gender identity and is often mistakenly overlapped. “Sexuality is a 

social construction of a biological drive,” and gender is “a social and cultural 

construct that differentiates women from men and defines the ways in which women 

and men interact with each other.” 24 Accordingly, the concept of gender involves 

“the widely shared expectations and norms about appropriate male and female 

behaviors, characteristics, and roles.” 25 

21 

Barnhill, David Landis. “Good Work: An Engaged Buddhist Response to the Dilemmas of 

Consumerism.” Buddhist-Christian Studies, Vol. 24 (2004), p. 56. 

22 

Gross, Rita M. and Rosemary Radford Ruether. Religious Feminism and the Future of the Plant: 

Buddhist-Christian Dialogue. New York: Continuum, 2001, p. 177. 

23 

Eichler, Margrit. Nonsexist Research Methods: A Practical Guide. New York: Routledge, 1991, pp. 2- 

3. 

24 

Gupta, Geeta Rao. “Gender, Sexuality, and HIV/AIDS: The What, the Why, and the How. Plenary 

Address XIIIth International AIDS Conference. Durban, South Africa. July 12, 2000, pp. 1-2. 

25 

Ibid. 

162


As the power relation between men and women is imbalance, it is no wonder 

that gender differences imply inequalities. But gender is only one among several 

aspects of inequality; other aspects are age, race or ethnicity, nationality, religious 

affiliation, sexual orientation, and dis/ability. 26 Gupta Rao admits that among other 

things, gender is the most determining aspect in shaping our identity: 

Our gender determines the different life experiences we will be exposed to. It 

may determine our access to education, to work, to the tools and resources 

needed for industry and craft; it may determine our health, our life 

expectancy, our freedom of movement. It will almost certainly determine 

our sexuality, our relationship, and our ability to make decisions and act 

autonomously. Our gender is perhaps the single most important factor in 

shaping who we become. 27 

If one aspect—our gender—has already had such significant impacts in our 

lives, we can imagine the tremendous implications of the combination of other 

aspects. For example, it is not the fault of mothers who killed their children and then 

committed suicide out of desperation of poverty and old ladies who died in a 

crowded place waiting for the amount of US$2.5. Their gender identity, age, class, 

education, and profession determine their lives within a society which holds certain 

value systems. In a capitalistic society, for instance, their functions as the care-givers 

and nurturers of their families and thus, also the society they live in, are not 

appreciated, or considered as having economic value. This also applies to their age, 

i.e. whether their age are categorized as productive or not, and so forth. They do not 

receive any compensation—even respect—for their hard and sincere works; both the 

state and the capitalist do not care of these women well-beings since the two powers 

are working hand in hand within certain economic value systems. It is stated by 

Mosse that: 

… Reductionist economics assumes that only paid labor produces value. On 

the one hand this leads to ignoring man’s [sic] dependence on the natural 

world, while on the other, it provides the ideology of the gender division of 

labor such that women’s work in providing sustenance is treated as having no 

economic value even while it provides the very basic survival and wellbeing 

… A gendered dichotomy is created between ‘productive’ and ‘nonproductive’ 

work on the basis of money and price as the only measure of 

economic worth and wealth. 28 

As I mentioned in the beginning of our discussion, the concept of 

paţiccasamuppāda I propose here is somewhat different from that being offered by 

26 

Badley, Hariet. Inequality. UK: Polity Press. 1996, p. 13. 

27 

Mosse, Julia Cleves. Op. Cit., p. 4. 

28 

Ibid., p. 14. 

163


Stephanie Kaza. In response to the issue of victimization of women by consumerism, 

I demonstrate paţiccasamuppāda as the interdependence of a matrix of lives. This is 

more in line with Nhat Hanh’s given meaning. In his The Making of Buddhist 

Modernism, McMahan analyzes that “...interdependence in this iteration assumes a 

significance nearly opposite to that of the early Pali account. Far from a chain of 

causes and effects binding beings to rebirth in a world of suffering, today’s 

interdependence implies a sacred matrix of mutual communality and co-participation, 

the extended body of all beings.” 29 In the light of this understanding, I do not 

rationalize the human’s never ending cravings and insatiable desires; instead, the 

victimization of women by the ideology of capitalism is the result of complex 

elements as the producers and perpetrators of the problem. 

The understanding of paţiccasamuppāda as the law of interdependence is 

truly helpful in expel our ignorance of the underlying factors of the consumerism and 

what it has done to women. Indeed, having comprehended the interrelated causes, 

that are the working systems of consumerism, sexism engendering the imbalanced 

power gender relation, social inequalities bearing from age, ethnicity, education, etc., 

we have to end and prevent the further suffering of our fellow (women) beings. As 

Buddhists, we need to thoroughly looking at the big picture and sensitively 

recognizing the gender-bias occurring in our everyday lives. Gender-bias exists in 

the global structures of male dominance and the exploitation of women, 30 and not 

only individual misogyny. Sivaraksa’s warning about the interrelation of the 

structures of patriarchal greed, hatred, and delusion with the violence in the world is 

imperative in evaluating the victimization of women. 

Final Remarks 

The women and their cases I presented in the introduction of this paper are 

sharing a common desire: all wanting happiness. The Indonesian Theravādin 

bhikkhunis, the thila sin, the migrant worker, dead old ladies and mothers with their 

children, and myself are interconnected and interdependence in one way or another. 

Their sufferings are my suffering, and my suffering is theirs, too. So, it is clear that 

there is no single cause, single victim, single solution, and single agent to blame. All 

elements of society, the rich, the poor, the government, multi-national corporations, 

the global market, religious leaders, monks, prostitutes, scholars, and others, are 

participating in the existing situation. We are interrelated or interconnected to each 

29 

McMahan, David L. The Making of Buddhist Modernism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008, 

p. 173. 

30 

Sivaraksa, Sulak. Op. Cit., p. 76. 

164


other; we are ‘interbeings.’ 31 Accepting that we are all interbeings, we will be 

starting to see and feel the suffering of others to be our own suffering, and the 

happiness of others to be our own happiness. We have to be responsible for the 

destroying of the future and the lives of women—and other sentient beings and our 

environment. By overcoming our dualism as well as individuality, we are on the path 

of liberation, and by doing so, we are helping others achieving their liberation. May 

all being be happy and liberated! 

31 

Nhat Hanh, Thich. Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life. New York: 

Bantam. 1991, pp. 95-96. 

165


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167

The Modern Economic Crisis - A Buddhist Perspective 

Ven. Dr. Naimbala Dhammadassi 

Head, Dept of Pali and Buddhist Studies 

University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka. 

Since 1750s, the world has witnessed two great revolutions changing things 

forever. Firstly, a revolution in agricultural sector drove poor laborers off the land. 

Secondly, a revolution in industry transformed cottage industries into massive 

factories with vast new towns called ‘industrial cities’. These were further fuelled by 

European Colonization paving the way to a massive and vast network of economic 

activities around the world, thus paving the way to ‘Modern Economics’. Regarding 

the modern economics two factors are obvious. Firstly it has been deeply rooted and 

nurtured by the Judaic-Christian Thought. Secondly, it has been based on ‘Natural 

Sciences’ and Mathematics. However, several Centuries later, at present, man has 

realized the ‘illusiveness’ that had been buried in that rosy outlook. A vast net-work 

of crisis situations headed by moral degradation and environmental pollution can be 

taken as classic instances. These confusions have fuelled very recently by the latest 

and the greatest event of the global economic crisis. Japan, UK, USA and Spain, the 

developed economic nations are in recession, with new job losses being announced 

on a daily basis. The International Labor Organization, too, has announced that as 

many as fifty one (51) million jobs worldwide could be losing due to this situation. 

In brief, the world economic growth is set to decline to just 0.5% this year (2009), its 

lowest rate since World War II. It is also reported that the US job loss has now 

reached its lowest rate since 1974. Here are some defects and failures of modern 

economics 

1. The greatest emphasis appears to be made on the adequacy of 

resources than that of the viability of human needs. Hence, supplying 

of resources has become a major concern. However, no diagnostic 

analysis is made on human needs – (critique of human needs rather 

than resources). 

2. Development is measured merely in terms of economic growth and 

the physical indicators of the quality of life etc. To achieve this, the 

consumption of resources at a rapid rate has been emphasized. 

However, the greatest defect of this conviction is that it has paved the 

way to utilize selfishly the scarce resources without caring for the 

future generations. For instance, the USA’s consumption of world’s 

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resources within 40 years being equal to what mankind has consumed 

during the last 4000 years. 

3. A greater importance and priority has been given to an acquisition of 

power, material comfort, gains, and wealth. As a result, certain 

nations appear to have got involved in unnecessary disputes and war 

with others due largely on economic reasons. The best example, 

according to modern critiques is the USA and Iraqi War. 

Additionally, we have to take serious consideration on the massive 

wastage of resources to such unnecessary disputes and wars – 15,000 

in number for last 5000 years of human history. 

4. Modern economics and related development strategies, to a great deal 

have disintegrated the natural environment. It has been adopted an 

extremely negative and unwholesome attitude towards the natural 

phenomena. 

5. One of the greatest challenges faced by the modern economy is that 

the majority of the human population is neglected, and hence, is in the 

lowest economic state. These inequalities in economic states have 

destined almost every poor country to become poorer while certain 

affluent nations have become richer at the expense of those in 

poverty. According to recent estimates about half the world’s 

population is living below poverty level. Malnutrition and starvation 

are menaces to 3 rd world countries, while one third are concerning for 

the viability of their life styles. 

6. The intensive competition that prevails currently has created a mental 

trend for wining at any cost, which, in turn, paves the way to an 

unprecedented moral decay. This situation has directly contributed to 

many a crime including terrorism, brutal killings, genocide attempts, 

and even massive cases related to bribery and corruption etc., all in 

all, tearing the very fabric of our social harmony. 

The Buddhist critique: 

From the perspective of Buddhism, above defects as well as current crisis 

situation in global economy are no more than a result of mal-practices adopted by 

modern man. Also, they are nothing but external manifestations of modern man’s 

deep-seated desires and innate anxieties for self-indulgence and material comfort. In 

brief, these are totally directed towards the self-indulgence (Kama Sukhallikanuyoga) 

which is seen in Buddhism as utterly vain, low (hino), rustic (gammo), vulgar 

169


(pothujjaniko), unworthy (anariyo) and associated with evil consequences 

(anatthasamhito). As it is stated, when human sensuality for both subjective and 

objective desires exceeds certain limits and proportions, disastrous repercussions may 

arise. 

The Buddhist Economic Principles: 

First and foremost, Buddhist economic principles are based on such 

important factors and concepts as psychological traits and change in attitudes, interdependent 

understanding, restrained life style, caring attitude on economic resources, 

sharing attitude on economic resources, resource recycling, and right livelihood etc. 

Psychological Traits: From the Buddhist point of view, many a problem 

related to economic arena experienced by man today is deeply rooted in the 

motivational drives of human behavior. The most general motivational forces behind 

human behavior include greed (lobha), desire or lust (tanha), delusion (moha), and 

conceive (māna) etc. Greed, it should be noted, manifests in two forms, i.e., lust for 

sensuous gratification and the motivational drive for self-preservation. As a matter of 

fact, it explains how certain imperfections, defections and vices radically cause the 

degradation of human beings and warn against their final outcome. The insatiable 

desire and the boundless greed for power, wealth, possessions, and material comfort 

are seen as the root-cause that creates many a conflict preventing people from acting 

out of wisdom and compassion towards others in the society and the natural 

surrounding. The kāma sutta of the Sutta-nipāta 1 refers to a major motivational force 

‘kāma’ denoting both subjective sensuality (kilesa kāma) and the objective sensuality 

(vatthu-kāma). The objective sensuality covers the human greed and desire for 

material things which are attractive (rajaniyam vatthu, vatthu kāma). Human action, 

largely motivated by both subjective and objective sensuality may sometimes exceed 

certain limits and proportions, can generate harmful effects on both oneself and the 

others in the society at large. When such a phenomena occurs it transforms itself into 

a crisis or dilemma situation. The best examples are the global economic crisis and 

the ecological crisis the world face today. The Kutadanta sutta and the Cakkavatti 

sihanāda sutta of the Digha nikāya, 2 refer to certain economic factors causing 

seriously to both human degradation and environmental imbalance. These factors 

include the attachment to vicious deeds (adhammarāga), inordinate and inexccessive 

greed (visamalobha), and misleading doctrines (micchādhamma). Hence, it is crystal 

clear, that most of the problems related to economics and environment etc., emanate 

primarily from human nature, himself and will last till man rectifies himself. Hence, 

Buddhist economic system suggests strongly a psychosocial transformation and a 

1 Sutta-nipata, Atthaka vagga (4-1) 

2 Digha- nikaya, . iii, 73. 

170


radical change in attitude by man, rather than mastery or dominance over natural 

environment. 

Inter-dependent understanding: Buddhism, to a large extent, centers on 

the interests of man, hence, anthropocentric. Man, on the other hand, is also seen as a 

social being, and, in particular, is seen as a part of the nature itself, made up of the 

similar physical elements and governed by both the natural and causal laws (dhamma 

niyāma) common to whole. Nevertheless, he is not the ‘sole being’ or ‘the most 

privileged being’ who has power of dominion towards either organic or inorganic. 

All beings including man is termed in Buddhist discourses as ‘Satta’, Pāna, Bhúta 

etc., referring to all possible living creatures in the world. 3 It is advised that one 

should spread infinite love and compassion to all beings just as a mother protects her 

one and only son as her own life (‘mātā yathā niyaṃ puttaṃ āyusā eka putta 

manurakkhe). 4 From the points discussed above it is evident that man cannot survive 

unless the natural resources are properly managed and survived. 

The Buddhist economic principles cannot be devoid of its principal tenet – 

‘Dependent Origination’ (paţicchasamuppāda). The uniqueness of Buddhist doctrine 

lies much on its strong emphasis with regard to man and the whole universe with its 

all animate and inanimate constituents. The whole universe, on the other hand, is a 

solely one vast network of processes in flux with a variety of diverse and 

innumerable inter-relations, inter-connections and cohesive factors. 5 For example, the 

Paţţhānappakarana deals with some of these causal factors inter-mingled and interdependent 

as 24. Hence, there is no God, nor Brahma or even any other invisible 

personality. Nevertheless, purely the dhammas or cohesive factors in flux alone do 

exist and these are activated and functioned by the collection of causal factors. The 

real factor depicted by this is that man and nature are inter-dependent. 

In brief, the principle and the most important message given in Buddhism for 

modern man who experiences the worst ever economic setback, is the cultivation of 

‘balanced mental attitude’ towards economic activities, and the nature, which 

provides him with ‘the real living breath’ for his survival and progress. This is 

largely because humanity and nature have inter-dependent complexity or coexistence. 

With regard to this point of discussion, an interesting account can be 

gleaned from the Anguttara nikāya where it is stated that when the rulers of a country 

become corrupted and filled with vicious deeds (adhammacariya), the whole 

community (populace), too, become ruthless, and all in all, this vicious circle, in turn, 

3 

See. Dharamasiri, G., Fundamentals of Buddhist Ethics, Singapore 9108, 1986,pp.174-175 

4 

Sutta- nipata, v. 149 

5 

See. Samuyatta nikaya, II. P.78; 

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will definitely make a negative impact on environmental phenomena, and, more than 

that, the health of man is ruined, thus, spelling the ruin of the human race. 6 

Restrained life-style based economy: The life-style advocated by the 

Buddha for both monastic and lay community is that of the ‘Restrained Life’. The 

remarks made in the discourse of Karaniyametta can be taken as a classic example. 

This discourse explains the characteristics to be possessed by those who seek peace 

and tranquility as the goal of life (yantam santam panitam abhisamecca). Thus it is 

stated that he or she should be contented (santussako) efficient (sakko)" honest (uju), 

polite in speech (suvaco), gentle (mudu) and modest (anatimani). In addition to that, 

most importantly, he or she should be contented and satisfied with minimum facilities 

and gains etc. Such a one who leads a simple life with limited necessities is also 

greatly admired as an ‘exemplary’ (AN. IV. 2, 220, 229). 

Caring attitude on Economic Resources: Buddhist economic teachings 

emphasize thoroughly the fact that the resources are so limited and meager, hence, 

should be utilized wisely and carefully. Having realized the value of caring, and 

protecting the biosphere and the natural phenomena the Lord Buddha advised his 

followers repeatedly to take measures towards that direction. This freshly attitude is 

obvious from the examples given below. 

The Sigalovada-sutta can be taken as a classic example. It is 

explained beautifully how the wise person should acquire wealth 

without over-exploitation of the limited resources of the nature. It is 

advised that 'In accumulating wealth man should follow the example 

of the bee, so that wealth increases gradually, like an anthill (Bhoge 

samharamanassa - bhamarassevairiyato-bhoga sannicayam yantivammiko'vupaciyati 

-DN.Ill.188). 

Eco-friendly and resource-protecting acts and deeds are encouraged, 

and even considered ‘meritorious’ (Punna). Construction of parks 

groves, fruit trees, and even forests etc., are referred to as providing 

merit for ever and ever (Sada Punnam pavaddhati). Thus it is stated: 

“For those who construct parks groves, plant fruitful trees, and forests 

build bridges and supply drinking water etc.,… By day, by night, for 

ever and ever merit grows perfectly” 7 . 

Eco-friendly rules and regulations: 

6 See. Anguttara nikaya, Catukka nipata, Pattakamma vagga. 

7 Samyutta nikaya , Aditta vaga, Vanaropa sutta (Aramaropa vanaropa ye jana setukaraka….tesam 

divaca rattoca sada punnam pavaddhati) 

172


o To refrain from cutting down plants and trees – Bhutagama 

patavyataya pacittiyam 8 . 

o To refrain from urinating, pass motioning and spitting where 

there is water – na udake ucchāraṃvā passāraṃva khelaṃva 

karissāmiti sikkhā karaniyā) 9 

o To refrain from putting any monastic structures close to where 

there is water – na harite agilano ucchāraṃvā passāraṃva 

khelamva karissāmiti sikkhā karaniyā) 10 . 

Sharing attitude on Economic Resources: Buddhism advocates further the 

principle of sharing resources as well. This is largely because resources are so scarce. 

and hence should be shared and distributed at its optimum measure. With regard to 

lay community, the sharing economic principle is well-stressed as ‘Bhoga Sukha’. 

Therefore, it is perfectly clear that Buddhism advices, not only to find happiness in 

making effort to collect wealth (atthi sukha), but also to share it with others (bhoga 

sukha). With regard to sharing policy it is emphasized to share the wealth with family 

itself, relatives, society and even religious purposes. The encouragements made 

towards charitable activities as relief masseurs to poverty, or generosity or the act of 

alms-giving (dana), too can be considered the best means of sharing resources. The 

wards such as dana samvibhagarato (delighting in giving and sharing) and 

vossaggarato willingness on the part of men and women to part with some of there 

passions. In brief, the practice of giving can be cultivated in two levels; individual 

level and the state level on which the cakkawatti sihanada sutta can be taken as the 

classic example. 

The process of resource recycling: Concerning the grave risk of the 

shortage of resources, the ‘resource recycling’ is of a paramount importance. The 

earliest statement with regard to the ‘natural resource management’ ensuring the wise 

and proper use of resources and their recycling in the history of mankind, it is 

astonishing, perhaps, can be gleaned from the Vinaya Piţaka. Thera Ananda, the 

attendant of the Buddha, once explained the King how robes (chivara) should be 

utilized up to a maximum use. “When robes are received the old ones are taken and 

coverlets, the coverlets utilized as mattress covers, the forever mattress covers used 

as dusters and old tattered dusters kneaded with clay and used to repair cracked floors 

and walls”. 11 

The untimely validity and value of this is well-attested when we make a 

serous observation on modern mal-practices maintained by the world’s most 

8 

See, Vinaya Pitaka, vol. iii p. 126 ; Dhammapada, v. 283 

9 

Pacittiya Pali, Bhikkhu Vibhanga 

10 

Ibid. 

11 

Vinaya Pitaka , Cullavagga Pali. 

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developed countries. For:- e.g. it is stated that the USA’s consumption of world’s 

resources within 40 years being equal to what mankind has consumed during the last 

4000 years. What a shame? In comparison to this, the wastage and the total 

destruction of the world resources towards unnecessary wars – 15,000 in number for 

last 5000 years of human history – are enormous and rather alarming. Many words 

are not needed to stress the natural resources management which is indispensable for 

which is sine-qua-non if our civilization is not to perish. Worthy to quote the words 

of Mahatma Gandhi, “there are enough resources for everyone’s need and not for 

everyone’s greed’. Unless this simple lesson is understood and put into practice by 

modern man of massive scientific and technological florescence, we would be failed, 

and missed the chance not only for ourselves but also the posterity. 

Right livelihood (Samma ajiva): The ultimate objective of all human 

endeavor, according to Buddhism, is spiritual goal, the attainment of Nibbana. The 

material progress, hence, is evaluated as a means to an end. Unlike the Sangha, who 

supposed to cultivate the life pattern of non-grasping and non-attachment leading to 

emancipation in this every life, the lay community has a ‘life of duality’. 

Firstly, the life of material comfort and enjoyment - family, wealth, 

professional activity, and gratification of sense pleasures etc. Thus, it is 

stated that layman should be energetic, industrious, diligent and skilful. 

On account of economic matters they are advised to acquire wealth with 

effort (utthanaviriyadhigata), the sweat of one's brow (sedavakkhitta), 

and the height of one's arms (baha-bala-paricita). Nevertheless, it is 

stressed that he should do so righteously (Dhammikena 

dhammaladdhena/samma ajiva) (AN.III.45). 

Secondly, the life of spirituality leading to emancipation and freedom 

from ‘dukkha’. 

Material development, according to Buddhism, however, is secondary or 

subservient to spiritual development or personal transformation. Buddhism holds the 

view that any attempt towards material comfort is illusory, because man, by 

instinctive nature, is a being who never become satisfied with what he has gained, 

achieved, and grasped. Therefore, Buddhism strongly believes that it is only through 

the cultivation of controlled mental attitude, that man can attain perfect peace in 

mind. For this, he has to control his needs, insatiable desires, and boundless greed 

etc. Hence, wealth should be acquired wisely, legally, honestly and harmlessly. The 

Buddhist principle of right livelihood (Samma ajiva) directed towards that end and it 

is advised man to avoid five types of trade; weapons, living beings (including animal 

trade, slavery and prostitute), butchery, poisons and intoxicants (Anguttara Nikaya, 

V. 177). 

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In the light of the preceding discussion, it is obvious that the Western 

modules of economics and related processes of development have failed remarkably 

throwing the whole world on an utter chaos and crisis. As a result, modern humans 

seem to become alienated from themselves, society, and nature at large. The message 

given in Buddhism is that it is only when man himself strives for change his attitudes 

and false impressions, the existing crisis situation will be vanished. The changing 

attitude may include self-control in the enjoyment of the senses, adaptation to 

moderate life style, awareness of the inter-dependence principle related to man and 

the nature etc. Hence, in brief, Buddhist economic philosophy recognizes 

ideological, socio-economic, and ethic-spiritual transformation of human beings as a 

remedy for many a crisis confronted by the modern world. 

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Buddhist Approach to the Economic Crisis 

Angie Monksfield 

President of Buddhist Fellowship, Singapore 

The current Global Economic Crisis is unprecedented in its scale and depth. 

The same global economy that has brought about material happiness, is now causing 

havoc in people’s lives around the world as it threatening to deprive the same people 

of the wealth they have learned to expect. 

When governments and companies were exploiting the resources of the 

world and making hollow promises of infinite material abundance that would bring 

more and more happiness, where were the voices of the Buddhist Leaders? Why was 

the great wisdom of the Dhamma muted in the halls and corridors of government 

offices, parliaments and company boardrooms? 

As Buddhist leaders, we have the responsibility to educate the world about 

the Law of Kamma and that social, economic and political policies motivated by 

greed, hatred and delusion will lead to undesirable outcomes. 

Buddhists have much to offer to enlighten the corporate executives, 

government officials and politicians about the dangers of excessive greed. Clearly, 

the Maddoff case was the epitome of how easy even for the super-rich who are 

supposedly smart people to fall for scam schemes. It was a case of blinding greed as 

the promise of high-returns on their investments by someone wealthy didn’t cross 

their minds that it could be a scam. 

It wasn’t so long ago, the flocks of Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and JP 

Morgan poured millions into dot com companies, and many of these companies could 

not generate a single dollar of revenue, let alone profit. It was herd mentality at work 

where the fools led the blind; the investment firms figured that they couldn’t be 

wrong if the other big-name firms thought these dot com companies had viable 

business proposals. It was another case of greed that blinds even those who are very 

intelligent. Clearly, intelligence is not the same as wisdom. 

The Global Economic Crisis this round is collective in nature, triggered by a 

massive sub-prime loan scheme that collapsed in the USA. Greed was pervasive 

across the globe as every listed company was under tremendous pressure from the 

shareholders to produce high returns. Under pressure to perform, companies with 

excess cash were seeking high-return investment instruments. Many lost sight of the 

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fundamental rule that high return products reflect the high level of risks associated 

with them. 

The retail investors were not spared as they had joined the bandwagon in 

investing in high return structured products with “guaranteed capital”. These products 

were promoted as “safe” investment instruments by the financial advisors, whose 

primary aim was to meet their financial institution sales targets. Some of the financial 

advisors didn’t understand the products themselves as the terms were too convoluted 

for the average person to understand. 

Experience has shown that if our motivation and decisions are due to greed, 

lust or hatred, the outcome will not be desirable. Happiness remains elusive to those 

whose pursuit for happiness is grounded on greed, lust, hatred and delusion. 

NOW is the time for lay and monastic Buddhists to speak up, educate and 

influence government officials to apply Dhamma wisdom when crafting policies or 

responding to political and social issues. 

This crisis is offering us an excellent opportunity to elevate our position in 

the world in order to expand our influence and bring about positive changes to the 

world that will be economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. 

However, to speak with credibility and authority, it is important for our 

Buddhist leaders (monastic or lay) to ensure that our own conduct is impeccable and 

our involvement in our respective organizations are based on proper governance and 

sound management principles. Further, we are not conflicted by receiving 

compensation or gifts if we are in the governance role. Conflicts of interests need to 

be dealt with and no one should be above being questioned or challenged. A healthy 

check and balance system in place would help ensure that everything is conducted 

above board. Lacking in a proper system could potentially lead to embarrassing 

outcomes as we have witnessed in Singapore. 

Just in April this year, a trial involving a prominent monk who was a CEO of 

a charity cum hospital caused great amount of embarrassment to the Buddhist 

community when he was charged for falsifying accounts, forging for the purpose of 

cheating the charity and giving false information under the Charities Act. No doubt 

this monk had raised tens of millions of dollars to build two hospitals for the sick and 

aged, however, does the end justify the means? 

Furthermore, the major newspaper reported that he was earning a sizeable 

monthly salary. Being paid a salary, small or large, is not a legal issue but a moral 

one. Two disturbing facts were unveiled: 

1. The management committee did not know how much they were 

paying the monk who was the chief executive. They could have asked 

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but they did not, as revealed by one of the members of the 

management committee who was questioned in court. This reflects a 

less than competent management committee. However, the people on 

the committee were successful CEOs and are very capable of 

questioning. However, because they were dealing with a monastic 

CEO, they just assumed that the CEO would be an honorable 

individual. The lesson learnt from this is that we have to take on our 

respective roles seriously and not let the monastic image affect our 

professional responsibility, assessment and judgment as lay- 

Buddhists. 

2. The monk CEO was paid a princely monthly salary of $16,000. 

Receiving a salary or payment, let alone a large amount, is certainly 

not in keeping with the spiritual pursuits of a renunciant, a path that is 

chosen of one’s own free will. 

The Buddha clearly laid down in the Vinaya (18 th Section of the Code of 

Discipline for monks and nuns), that Buddhist monks (bhikkhus) and nuns 

(bhikkhunis) are not allowed to accept money for themselves, nor allowed to instruct 

someone else to safe-keep it for them (e.g. keeping a personal bank account) to spend 

as they like or invest in businesses, financial instruments or properties. 

In addition, the 19 th Section of the Vinaya states that monks or nuns are not 

allowed to buy and sell things for themselves using money. 

The intent of the above rules was to set renunciants apart from the vast 

majority of people and thus become a constant reminder to all that a life based on 

materialism is not the only way to live. Through giving up money, the ability to 

manipulate the world and to satisfy one’s worldly desires diminishes. 

In the Suttas (Samyutta Nikaya volume 4), it was documented that when The 

Buddha was specifically asked whether money was permissible for the monks and 

nuns, he replied: 

'Whoever agrees to gold or money also agrees to the indulgence in sensual 

pleasures, and whoever agrees to the indulgence of sensual pleasures you may take it 

for certain that this is not the way of a recluse, that this is not the way of a Buddhist 

monk.' 

However, if an organization or individual wishes to appreciate a monk’s or 

nun’s contribution, the honorarium or donation can be given to the monastery or 

organization but not the individual. 

As some argue that times have changed and that monastics have to adapt, we 

should pose the question: “Is it not better to be an exemplary lay-Buddhist by 

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observing the 5 precepts of not harming, lying, stealing, consuming intoxicants and 

committing adultery than to be a less than exemplary monastic who is unable to 

adhere to the monastic code”. 

It is timely that we, as lay-Buddhists, take stock of how we need to support 

our monks and nuns in order to help them stay on the spiritual path while they guide 

and serve the community. It is also important that monastics must not be above being 

questioned nor being challenged whenever they deviate from the code of discipline 

they have voluntarily chosen to live by. 

Over time monastic groups have relaxed many of the Vinaya rules and like 

all things, left unchecked, the relaxation may be taken a step too far, to the point 

where there is little difference between some monastics and lay-Buddhists. 

Exemplary monastics and lay-Buddhist leaders have very important roles to 

play to help steer economies out of the crisis. Something as simple as reminding their 

congregations to observe the 5-precepts will help to create the wholesome causes for 

a better future. 

Monastics living a simple undemanding life will inspire the lay-Buddhists to 

live simply and with less. After all, happiness does not arise from how much we own 

but how contented we are with what we have. 

Lay-Buddhist leaders look towards the monastics to offer the alternative path 

that was lived and taught by The Buddha. Monastics therefore have a very important 

role to play when they wear the robes and walk the path ahead to lead the laypractitioners. 

Their impeccable conduct and mental purity will propel the followers 

towards a life that is filled with less greed, hatred, lust and delusions. 

The global economic crisis is not really material but mental in nature. As 

long as we have a shelter over our heads, we can live with less as we can eat less, buy 

less and want less if we are mentally prepared to adjust. We can help others who 

don’t have sufficient by practicing generosity and kindness. 

Buddhism’s greatest gift to the world would be its Dhamma. This gift has to be 

delivered through each one of us. We need to speak up, to be a voice that will 

reverberate around the world. We need to be engaged at all levels of the community. 

We need to be true to the Dhamma (and Vinaya if we are monastics). Most 

importantly, we need to be exemplary! 

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Introduction 

Happiness: A Deeper Meaning for Economic Development 

Soontaraporn Techapalokul 

Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University 

Bangkok, Thailand 

The pursuit of high economic growth is considered desirable in all capitalist 

countries because it generates and increases in the nation’s wealth, income, 

employment, and output – indicators of what counts as happiness or progress. It is 

not surprised that everything governments of these countries can promise depends on 

money and more things. All governments perceive that the rising income (which 

resulting from high economic growth) will enable consumers to purchase more goods 

and services, in turn, should result in enhancing each individual’s utility 1 and 

happiness. 

Hence, when the economy grows and GDP 2 swells, our national life revolves 

around cash. People are getting more and spending more. GDP has taken over the 

government policy and rule our lives as well as the economy for over 50 years. 

Although there is a massive increase in wealth of the nation, people’s life expectancy, 

and public health improvement, people do not become happier. Richer people even 

though feel happier and enjoy an unparalleled economic growth; more people suffer 

from abject poverty, unemployment, dejection, and crime. In sum, the majority of 

people have not become happier than they were. 

In recent decades, however, economic growth has been declined; income 

inequality has been rising sharply. Unemployment has surged and become a prime 

source of despair, poverty, crime, and mental illness. Suffering assaults on our 

national prosperity and then imposes severe burdens on the economy. In combating 

the economic recession, the government policy is aimed for creating more choices for 

people who feel isolated from “opportunities” of the country. 

Those “opportunities,” even if clarified as more investment, more projects, 

more jobs, more shopping, more spending, and consume more to stimulate growth of 

1 Utility has been defined by various thinkers as happiness, pleasure, or satisfaction of preferences. It is 

referred to the total satisfaction received from consuming a good or service. Economists determine it 

indirectly with consumer behaviour theories by assuming that utility increases with wealth and 

consumers will strive to maximize their utility. 

2 GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is the measure of economic activity and well-being of a country for 

international and temporal comparisons. Still, it ignores many crucial elements of general well-being, 

like environment conservation, safety, life expectance, and population literacy. 

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the economy, they can be summed up in a few words: the pursuit of happiness 

(money). This view of good life is assumed that suffering is seemingly to be removed 

by economic prosperity and political change. Thus, people with ignorance are trapped 

in an endless cycle of the pursuit of happiness no matter how the economy is boom or 

bane. 

It is for our times to set a common ground of understanding for a deeper 

meaning of happiness, with a moral language in order to bring real happiness back to 

be with the civilization of mankind. 

Economic Happiness: An Aim of Economic Man: 

Economics of today, the neoclassical economics (or marginalism), takes its 

trace from Jeremy Bentham and his theory of utilitarianism. 3 Economists believe 

that utility was measurable and comparable among people. They calculate total utility 

or social happiness (or what nowadays might be called social welfare) as the sum of 

all individual utilities and state that human aims are to pursue pleasure (wealth) and 

avoid unhappiness or pain. As a result, the whole notion of welfare economics is the 

try to maximize total utility or social welfare by maximizing total consumption. 

It may be impossible to discuss economics of happiness without referring to 

Bentham’s idea of utilitarianism, the most influential doctrine in UK for a century 

(during the 18 th – 19 th century). Utilitarianism is based on a notion of a man seeking 

for his own greatest happiness. Bentham also introduced the concept of the "natural" 

governance of mankind and its behavior under two sovereign masters called 

“pleasure and pain”. These two primary motives serve not only as explanations for 

action, but definitions of one's good: 

“Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, 

pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to 

determine what we shall do. On the one hand the standard of right and wrong, on the 

other the chain of causes and effects, are fastened to their throne. They govern us in 

all we do, in all we say, in all we think...” (Bentham 1970: 1). 

Bentham also believed that all human activity sprang from the desire to 

maximize pleasure. This is tantamount to an assertion that all human motivation can 

be reduced to the single principle of a desire to maximize one's utility. Bentham, 

along with other later proponents of utility theory, held that it was not the total utility 

of a commodity that determined its exchange value or its value, but rather its 

3 Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) is an English jurist and philosopher and the founder of utilitarianism. 

Outstanding philosophers who were his proponents: Hutcheson (1694-1746), Hume (1711-1776), 

Priestley (1733-1804) and James Mill (1773 – 1836). Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of 

an action is determined purely by its contribution to overall utility. 

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"marginal" utility or the additional utility derived from a small, marginal increase in 

the commodity. From this notion was born the neoclassical tenet of marginalism. 

Besides, pleasures and pains can be ranked according to their “value” or 

“dimension” such as intensity, duration, certainty of a pleasure or a pain. Bentham 

was concerned with maxima and minima of pleasures and pains, and they set a 

precedent for the future employment of the maximization principle in the economics 

of the consumer, the firm and the search for an optimum in welfare economics. 

In sum, happiness in Bentham’s idea is a matter of experiencing pleasure and 

lack of pain. His foundation of morals and legislation can be described scientifically 

by measuring pleasures and pains to form laws in order to create the greatest good for 

the greatest number. Hence, the right action or good policy is what would cause “the 

greatest happiness to the greatest number”. This foundation is consistent in the 

pursuit of happiness of people. However, the second qualification of this principle 

was later dropped and embraced only what was called "the greatest happiness 

principle," which often referred to as “the principle of utility”. 

However, there is one grave objection 4 to Bentham’s idea of utilitarianism. It 

voices that his utilitarianism is dehumanized because happiness is nothing more than 

a pleasure, and pleasure is pleasure. It is solely a sensual happiness. In other words, a 

human’s happiness is as good as a pig’s happiness. Human nature is in a degrading 

light because he is not capable of the higher pleasure. This causes John Stuart Mill 5 

step out to protect Bentham’s by revising and expanding his doctrine. 

Mill said, “…a beast’s pleasures do not satisfy a human being’s conceptions 

of happiness. Human beings have ‘faculties’ which were more elevated than the 

animal appetites” (Mill 1957: 11). Such higher faculties referred by Mill as the 

pleasure of intellect, of the feelings and imagination, and of the moral sentiments 

made difference in quality of pleasure. Moreover, they made humans’ pleasures more 

valuable than animals’ pleasures. In addition, Mill asserted that human beings were 

capable of the higher pleasures, and mental pleasure was superior to bodily pleasure: 

“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied, than a pig satisfied; better to be 

Socrates dissatisfied, than a fool satisfied” (Mill 1957: 14). 

Although Mill’s idea of utilitarianism was evidenced a vigorous development 

in many of the right directions, with the whole was still compromised by the 

4 In fact, there are a few more objections to the theory of utilitarianism, for instance, the principle of 

utility cannot provide means of deciding what if we could get a great deal of good, for a not very great 

number, or just a little good but for a very large number; or utility concept is dealing with the single side 

of happiness which is the “quantity”. 

5 J.S. Mill (1806-1873), a profound English economist and philosopher, is Bentham’s student and the 

eldest son of James Mill, the Scottish philosopher who was a follower and friend of Bentham. 

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paradoxes of Bentham’s original theory. Although Mill could set apart both quality 

and quantity of pleasure, he confused between these two sides of pleasure. He said: 

“It must be admitted, however, that utilitarian writers in general have placed 

the superiority of mental over bodily pleasures chiefly in the greater permanency, 

safety, uncostliness, etc., of the former - that is, in their circumstantial advantages 

rather than in their intrinsic nature” (Mill 1957: 12). 

This means that Mill admits there are differences of quality in pleasures. 

Furthermore, mental pleasures were more valuable than bodily pleasures because of 

their outside advantages (not because of their intrinsic value). If there is something 

that is accidentally in the same greater permanency, safety, uncostliness, etc., as 

compassion – a kind of a deeper sense of happiness, both might be equivalent in their 

value and also allows them both for a comparison with others. Therefore, Mill could 

not flee from his quantitative view of thought. 

Enshrined in neoclassical economics as a lifestyle, the pursuit of happiness 

by utility maximizing individuals through hard work in order to improve ones’ own 

status (rank and respect) has driven society and people in our day to realize that they 

pay a high price of unhappiness and have to suffer dissatisfaction. This is because the 

work and things do not go the way they want them to. Also, happiness has little in 

common with the view of good life. Thus, its deeper meaning than just a pleasure can 

only be appreciated with another robust theory to cover the deficiencies. 

Buddhist Happiness: A Deeper Meaning: 

Happiness, a so called utility or welfare, seems something which is best 

pursued by what the neoclassical economics has prescribed as “the good” and 

attempted to give its meaning to life. Alone among the world’s religious teaching, 

Buddhism locates dukkha, 6 a fundamental fact of life, at the heart of human 

civilization. From Buddhist point of view, higher happiness can only achieved by 

decreasing or overcoming all forms of desires (including hatred and ignorance) by 

following the Middle Way or the Noble Eight-Fold Path. These differences of the 

core philosophy and means are substantial. 

Dukkha is often translated as "suffering," although this term roughly includes 

such a wide range of Pali and corresponding English terms as the Buddha had put it 

in Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11); 

"Dukkha, as a noble truth, is this: Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, sickness 

is dukkha, death is dukkha, sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief and despair are 

6 Dukkha roughly includes such corresponding terms in Paţiccasamuppāda as birth, decay-and-death, 

sorrow, lamentation, pain or suffering, grief, and despair – see P. A. Payutto (2006: 101, 574). 

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dukkha; association with the loathed is suffering, dissociation from the loved is 

dukkha, not to get what one wants is dukkha — in short, dukkha is the five categories 

of clinging objects”. 

As such, "suffering" is too narrow a translation with “negative emotion," 

which can give the impression that the Buddhist perspective is one of pessimism. In 

fact, Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic, but realistic. Thus, dukkha 

hereafter is left untranslated, so as to encompass its full range of meaning. 

According to the Buddha, all forms of existence are of necessity subject to 

dukkha, born from craving or desire as the Blessed One stated in the same sutta: “The 

origin of dukkha, as a noble truth, is this: It is the craving that produces renewal of 

being accompanied by enjoyment and lust, and enjoying this and that; in other words, 

craving for sensual desires, craving for being, craving for non-being”. 

In relation to Abidhammattha Sangaha (Narāda 1979: 16-27, 94-100), 

craving (lobha), hatred (dosa), and delusion (moha) are three roots of ill-will. Lobha 

is desire, setting of pride, wrong view, and clinging or attachment to worldly 

pleasures of all kinds. Dosa trigger resentment, jealousy, miserliness, and anxiety. 

Moha is lack of clarity or delusion. It causes lack of conscience, lack of fear of the 

consequences, and restlessness. Moha is sometimes rendered by ignorance. 

All those "negative conditions" confuse and distort the mind and lead it into 

pursuing of such goals as sensual pleasures, possessions, honor, and power. When 

hindered, they lead to aggravation and suffering; and even when fulfilled, they can 

just turn into another source of dukkha or unhappiness, for the happiness they bring is 

always ephemeral. 

The suffering or unhappiness of people in this social world is associated with 

competition in business and work as well as the pursuit of happiness that includes 

selfishness. This results in economic injustice, widening poverty and class or racial 

gap. The Buddha, representing enlightenment in this competitive world and last-long 

warfare responds to dukkha of human beings by uprooting it from their economic 

tradition-bound worlds. 

Furthermore, the distant aim is nibbāna – the extinction of suffering and of 

its conditions. Buddhists realize that dukkha ends when craving ends, when one is 

freed from desire, and when one has jettisoned all the usual garbage: craving, 

clinging, hatred, delusion, selfishness, dissatisfaction, frustration, envy, etc. As 

addressed in the same sutta, the Buddha stated that “Cessation of suffering (Nirodha), 

as a noble truth, is this: It is remainderless fading and ceasing, giving up, 

relinquishing, letting go and rejecting, of that same craving”. 

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The first step toward this real, enduring happiness is to shrink ambition to 

own (self or ego) and realize fully the impermanence of ordinary happiness. The 

ability to control and govern worldly affairs opens up the mind gives people the 

greater happiness, and enlightenment. The highest form of happiness in Buddhist 

sense, therefore, lies in this inner freedom rather than the freedom to acquire and 

consume. 

Consequently, the Buddha laid out the path to reach the liberal state, the 

“Middle Way” between the two extremes. The Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus 

of the group five (Pañcavaggī) thus: 

"Bhikkhus, these two extremes ought not to be cultivated by one gone forth 

from the house-life. What are the two? There is devotion to indulgence of pleasure in 

the objects of sensual desire, which is inferior, low, vulgar, ignoble, and leads to no 

good; and there is devotion to self-torment, which is painful, ignoble and leads to no 

good”. 

“And what is that middle way? It is simply the noble eightfold path, that is 

to say, right view, right intention; right speech, right action, right livelihood; right 

effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. That is the middle way discovered by a 

Perfect One, which gives vision, which gives knowledge, and which leads to peace, 

to direct acquaintance, to discovery, to nibbāna” (SN 56.11). 

Accordingly, the middle way is the optimal allocation of one’s effort 

between affecting one’s desires and satisfying them by labour and income. The 

outcome is the balanced “good life”. 

However, the Buddha did not refute sensual happiness (sāmis-sukkha) or 

economic prosperity. Some of his teachings are very much alive to economic welfare 

and mundane forms of happiness such as “Four Kinds of Happiness Derived from 

Acquiring Wealth” (Ānaņyasutta: AN 2.69-70), and “The Four Conditions Lead to 

Happiness in This Life and in Future Life” (Dighajanu Sutta: AN 8.54). Although 

sensual happiness is vital for economic stability and prosperity and recognized as 

worthy goals for lay people, the Buddha praises of the highest happiness. To achieve 

it, is to realize the Four Noble Truths and go after the Noble Eight Fold Path. 

Today, a large number of people living in societies built around the endless 

satisfaction and stimulation of individual desires. The economic approach responds to 

these desires by considering the ways of satisfying them. Buddhism, however, first 

considers how to prevent the birth of desires that cannot be sufficiently satisfied, and 

suggest people to soften all desires. The mastering of one’s own desires is a main 

difference with the theory of utilitarianism and modern economic world, where 

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desires are principally imposed on people from outside their will, and often under the 

influence of society. 

Conclusion: 

To reach a happier society, the government should aim to minimize suffering 

or unhappiness rather than to maximize simply value of GDP or consumption. 

Specifically, government policy should take its clue from the Four Noble Truths. 

That is 1) understanding people suffering originated from the pursuit of happiness 

(wealth) policy, 2) suffering of a society causes by individual interest, competition, 

and selfishness, 3) people become happier only when reduce or conquer desires 

(greed), and 4) the method is to change inner attitudes of people and develop 

compassion to others in their hearts by following Buddhists’ Middle Way. 

In addition, the government should focus most on the experiences which 

enable people to value for their intrinsic worth so that they can find the positive force 

in themselves and see the positive side in others. Also, the government should lay 

down a new foundation of happiness or principle of utility for human behavior as a 

policy for promoting and teaching in schools and universities in every province. This 

will help teenagers and people of next generation to distinguish between superficial 

pleasures to a hedonistic addiction and real happiness so that they can finally adopt 

the healthier philosophy of good life as their conception of the common good. 

Vitally, it would inspire them in their every day lives to take more pleasure in the 

happiness of others. In such a way, mankind might all become less self-absorbed and 

happier. 

186

Bibliography 


Bentham, J. (1970). An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. 

Darien, Connecticut: Hafner Publishing. 

Mill, J.S. (1957). Utilitarianism. Edited by Oskar Piest. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill. 

Narāda Mahā Thera (1979). A Manual of Abhidhamma, 5 th edition, Kuala Lumpur, 

Malaysia: Buddhist Missionary Society. 

Prabrahmaguņabhorn (P. A. Payutto) (2006). BuddhaDhamma. Revised and 

extended version. 11 th edition. Bangkok: Sahadhammik Co.,Ltd. B.E. 2549. 

Payutto, P.A. (1994). Buddhist Economics: A Middle Way for the Market Place. 2 nd 

edition.Translated by Dhammavijaya and Bruce Evans. Bangkok: 

Buddhadhamma Foundation. 

Rahula, W. (2002). What the Buddha Taught. Revised Edition. With a Forward by 

Paul Demieville. Taiwan: The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational 

Foundation. 

Schmacher, E.F. (1973). Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. New 

York: Harper & Row. 

Abbreviation: 

AN = Ańguttarainkāya 

SN = Samyuttanikāya 

187

A New Model of Buddhist Economics for 

Peace and Prosperity - Conceptual Framework 

188 

Dr. D. Gopalakrishna, Faculty, 

CBSMS, Bangalore University, India. 

Ven. Buddha Prakash, 

Buddhist and Pali University, Srilanka. 

M.Venkataswamy, Assoc. Professor, 

Alliance Business School, Bangalore, India. 

Buddhist Economics stands on the principles of compassion, sharing and 

wisdom. The Noble Eightfold path is the driving force of Buddhist economics. The 

modern economic theories widens gap between the rich and poor, where as Buddhist 

economics, develops, maintains and balance the spiritual well-being and material 

well being on the principles of equity. 

The world Economic system is in deep crisis. It is in turmoil today. The 

communist Economy system collapsed in 1989 and the capitalist economy system 

collapsed in 2009, just twenty years later. When the communist economic system 

collapsed, the proponents of capitalistic economies were overjoyed and declared that 

their system is the only effective developmental model, which envisages economic 

freedom with growth. But what happened today? Millions of people, mainly in the 

developing world, suffer from poverty, malnutrition, hunger, ignorance, ill-health and 

environmental degradation. Terrorism is rampant and living has become risky 

exercise (J.W. Wickramasinge, 2002). 

The Problem 

Why these systems have failed? The important reason is that it has focused 

more on extreme materialistic development. The emphasis is on wealth 

maximization, the foundation is laid on craving for more wealth accumulation based 

on ones self interest without regard to the other fellow beings. 

The modern economists are formulating theories to satisfy the human wants 

and desires without realizing that, if one attains what one desires, greater desires, 

always emerge, and the ensuring frustration at not being able to satisfy these as well 

as the subsequent suffering and dissatisfaction – The Ego – mind which is the driving 

force behind human greed and which in turn reinforces by greed is deeply 

embedded in our consciousness.


As a result wide spread disparities in the world are increasing. The modern 

economic system has not only aggravated the poverty and mal-distribution of income 

both at regional and global levels, but it has also made the life for millions of people 

miserable, and this process is still continuing. If the structure of the world economy 

in 1984 is examined, the skewness of the global pattern of production and 

consumption can be observed; 50% of the world population has a per capita national 

product that is less then 3% of the per capita national product of the 15% of the world 

population living in the industrialized western nations. Taken as a whole, 75% of the 

total world population lives in the developing countries, and they enjoy less than 20% 

of the world total product; and 15% of the world population living in the industrial 

countries, and enjoy 70% of the global income. Infant mortality rate in developing 

countries is 7 times higher than that of developed countries (Human Development 

Report 1998). 

The Gross National Product (GNP) and per capita income are not holistic 

indicators to compare the progress and development of nations. A developmental 

philosophy should be framed in terms of achieving the overall welfare of society and 

not just economic growth. Economic development should result in enabling people to 

achieve the final spiritual goal of human life. Therefore, every country in the world 

that wishes to increase its real wealth must necessarily focus on increasing its Gross 

National Character (GNC), along with its GNP. The purpose of development is to 

create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy, and creative lives. 

This simple but powerful truth is too often forgotten in the pursuit of material and 

financial wealth (William and Debra Miller- Times of India, July, 2004). 

Buddhist Solution 

Then where is the solution? Buddhist economics seems to be the solution to 

the world economics problems, which balances both materialistic life and spiritual 

life. Buddhist Economics- is called as a middle way of economics (Payutto, 1992). It 

is a part of equilibrium: “in this way Buddhist approach involves understanding that 

economics and moral and spiritual life are neither separate nor mutually exclusive. 

On the one hand it has long supported commerce and profit-making, while on the 

other; it has always provided economics with moral compass and an ethical purpose” 

(Shinichi Inoue, 1997). 

While the materialist is mainly interested in goods, the Buddhist is mainly 

interested in liberation, but the Buddhism is the middle way and therefore in no way 

antagonistic to physical well-being. It is not the wealth that stands in the way of 

liberation, but the attachment to wealth; not the enjoyment of pleasurable things but 

189


the in craving for them. The key note of Buddhist Economics therefore is simplicity 

and non-violence (E.F.Schumacher, 1993). 

Buddha stated in a sutta that a dwichakku (two eyed person) is among 

ordinary people: this person uses first eye to acquire wealth and the second eye for 

spiritual development. 

In Dhammapada, hunger is considered as the most serious illness or burning 

fire says Buddha. It is so acute that there is no pain equal to it. Buddha dealt with 

basic needs of human beings. First, human happiness cannot be achieved either by 

spiritual uplift or material advancement alone (J W. Wickramasinge, 2002). A person 

should earn wealth through righteous means as stated in Vyaggapajja Sutta(Sanutta 

Nikiya,1). According to Buddhism the path of liberation is the noble eight fold path. 

It covers right understanding, right thoughts, right speech, right action, right 

livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. So, right livelihood 

is one of the requirements of the eighth fold path (E.F. Schumacher, 1993). 

Buddhists should accumulate wealth without violating any of the five 

precepts; refrain from killing, stealing, adultery, lying and taking intoxicants (J W. 

Wickramasinge , 2002 ). 

These Buddhist principles and thoughts are practiced in some of the Buddhist 

countries which are discussed here under as case-studies: 

Japan: 

Japan is the world economic leader. Many business leaders of Japan 

industries have incorporated Buddhist principles at their workplace. Each person in 

society, both consumer and worker, and Buddhists perceive work as a form of social 

service. Schumacher observed that, for Buddhist, work is not only the means to make 

a decent living (materialism) but it also allows the worker to develop spirituality by 

losing his self-centeredness through working with others. This perspective is 

reflected in the retirement policies of the Buddhist managers at such well-known 

companies as Kyowa Hakko Kogyo, Daiichi Kenchiku Service, Hoshino Bussan and 

Fuji Daisu. The employees at these companies; who are able and willing to work; do 

not have to adhere to retirement age recommended by the government. Unlike the 

prevalent attitude in the west, which sees work almost as a necessary evil and 

retirement as a blessing, the Buddhist approach is to view work as a form of practical 

social service that does not end at some randomly determined retirement age. 

The role of labor union: In Japan, the relations between Buddhist 

entrepreneurs and labor unions have been ambivalent at best. While labor unions 

have had a bad reputation among some in the business community because of their 

190


involvement in the labor disputes, there are a few labor leaders who have conducted 

themselves within the spirit of Buddhist principles – such leaders as: Hideo Yoshida 

of Komatsu Corporation (1914-89) of Kyowa Hakko Kogyo. 

One of the followers of Emperor Ashoka in Japan was prince Shotoku, who 

developed such social welfare policies as the building of pharmacies, orphanages and 

hospitals for the poor at the Buddhist temple of Shitenno-ji in Osaka. (Shinichi Inoue, 

2002). 

Thailand: 

Thailand is known as a country of smiles. People are generally kind, friendly 

and compassionate, and share the happiness with others. In Thailand, we can see 

signs of an emerging alternative Buddhist-based economics. Buddhist activist, Sulak 

Sivaraksa has advocated a new model of economic development that takes into 

account “inner development” as well as material development. He has been a fierce 

adversary of the western development model, when it is indiscriminately applied to 

and put into the use in the so called developing-world, for it has often resulted in the 

disruption or the breakdown of the traditional religious and community values as well 

as in the destruction of the environment, all in the name of economic progress. 

Based on Buddhist principles of non-violence and compassion, his vision is 

one of a more sustainable development in which, both human-beings and other living 

creatures can realize their economic and “inner” potential within the context of the 

society and a healthy ecosystem. Sulak Sivaraksa is currently the head of several 

NGOs in Thailand focusing on education and economic development and he 

represents a new form of “engaged Buddhism” – a Buddhism that is engaged with 

social and environmental concerns. 

Another interesting example, also from Thailand, of a Buddhist alternative to 

unrestrained economic development has been the campaign to stop the destruction of 

the forests there. One of the leading figures in the movement is the Buddhist monk 

Phra Prachak. His concern with the preservation of nature and with Buddhist values 

has led to his innovative strategy of ordaining the largest trees in the forest as 

Buddhist monks. Traditionally, a Buddhist novice is ordained by having his hair 

shaved off and donning ocher-colored robes. Phra Prachak uses this symbolic act of 

initiation to “ordain” the trees in the rain forest as “members of the religious order” 

by tying strips of ocher-colored cloth around them. The deep respect the Thai people 

have for monks has led them to reflect on the importance of these trees. This rather 

unconventional tactic has saved numerous acres of forest and inspired similar types 

of resistance to the economic machine that values trees only as a potential source of 

monetary gain (Shinichi Inoue, 2002). 

191


Bhutan: 

The term GNH-Gross National Happiness was first coined by Bhutan’s King 

Jigme Singye Wangchuck, when he ascended the throne in 1972. It signaled his 

commitment to building an economy based on the Buddhist values of right 

livelihood, compassion and sharing. 

Over the last three decades, as Bhutan slowly evolved GNH as a guiding 

principle, the country has expanded both its network of roads and its area under forest 

cover. Health and education are free and available to all Bhutanese. In order to 

protect its cultural strengths, Bhutan delayed introducing television and Internet till 

1998. It still restricts the inflow of tourists to about 7,000 annually, to avoid 

crowding its tiny towns and also to prevent the merely curious from trampling over 

its sacred places. Of course, the picture is not perfect. While people are not going 

hungry, about 25 percent of them are reported to be undernourished (Rajni Bakshi, 

Time of India). 

Myanmar: 

Buddhist countries have often stated that they wish to remain faithful to their 

heritage. The people of Myanmar see no conflict between religious values and 

economic progress. Spiritual health and material well-being are not enemies and are 

considered natural allies. The Burmese people of Myanmar have stated: “We can 

blend successfully the religious and spiritual values of our heritage with the benefits 

of modern technology...”; and “We, [Burmese], have a sacred duty to conform both 

our dreams and our acts to our faith. This we shall ever do.” (E.F. Schumacher, 

1993) 

New Buddhist Economic Model 

Further for more details on Buddhist economics – the new model developed 

by Prof. J W Wicramasinghe under the title “ People friendly economic development 

“ is suggested for peace and prosperity of mankind in the following paragraphs: 

The Basic Assumption 

The basic assumption in people friendly economic development model is the 

recognition that there are sufficient resources in the individual countries as well as 

the world as a whole, to meet all the needs of the people: physically, mentally and 

spiritually - when resources are insufficient to meet the greed (wants) of the people. 

192


If any country is handicapped in any area, the surpluses in another country can make 

good that deficiency. Hence, the conceptual framework of the model must 

concentrate only on human needs but not on human wants, as is the case in the 

western orthodoxy. 

Buddhist Economics is two-fold 

The objectives of people friendly economic development have to be two fold: 

achievement of material goals; enumerated earlier under modern development theory 

and the achievement of the final goal of spiritual advancement, Nirvanic bliss. These 

material objectives should facilitate rather than stand on the way of achievement of 

the final goal. Attempts to realize more mundane objectives, a proxy for Nirvana: 

atthi sukka, bhoga sukha, anana sukha and anavajja sukha have to be made. The 

realization of atti sukha, bhoga suka, anana sukha and anavajja sukha permits the 

achievement of those objectives. 

Wealth-Devoid of attachment 

Atthi Sukha is the satisfaction one derives from possessing wealth. Here, 

possession has to be devoid of attachment or craving towards such wealth, and 

eternal contemplation of ways of ensuring exclusive use of such wealth for one’s own 

satisfaction, believing that such wealth would permanently remain with oneself. 

Sharing Wealth 

Bhoga sukha is the satisfaction derived by enjoying and donating the wealth 

earned righteously, i.e., sharing wealth with others. This is the crux of Buddhist 

economics. Buddhism does not preach that the wealth one has earned should be 

enjoyed only for one’s own satisfaction. 

Minimizing Debt 

Anana sukha is the satisfaction one derives by not being in debt (Practical 

meaning of this sukha is not that one should not get into debt at all. It is impracticable 

in modern society. What it means is to minimize borrowings and restrict them to 

absolute needs?). In the Sagnnapahla Sutta the Buddha explained how a person 

could borrow money and develop economically and be happy. 

193


In the Sigalovalada Sutta –it is stated that one gathers wealth little by little as 

bees collect honey. Such accumulated wealth should be divided into four parts: one 

portion for day-to-pay expenses, two portions for investment, and the balance to be 

kept as a precaution against contingences. 

Morality 

The criterion used to test morality according to Buddhism is to examine 

whether one’s deeds are conducive to one’s harm, others harm, or harm to both; if it 

is so, it should not be done. The strategy suitable here is the application of the Noble 

Eightfold Path, of which what is more meaningful here are the development of 

samma kammanta (Right bodily action) and samma vaca (Right speech) which 

together determines samma ajiva or Right livelihood. 

In the Mahanidana and the Kalahavivada Suttas social suffering is analyzed 

from a spiritual point of view. Accordingly, because of craving search is performed, 

because of search something is obtained, because of obtaining something an inquiry 

is done. 

The next moral value one has to develop is generosity. In order to develop 

this value he has to live a live free from the taint of miserliness. He has to be openhanded, 

pure, delighting in self-surrender. 

In sum, the implementation of the people-friendly economic polices is the 

application of a righteous approach to economic pursuits. Righteous means that the 

act in which one engages will be beneficial to both the doer and the others concerned. 

Lack of extreme greed and attachment to wordly things and the feeling that all good 

things should come to me as others is the theme of theme of this approach 

(abhijjanna). 

Conclusion 

The present day economic system is in turmoil. The giant economic 

structures have crumbled. The communist economy and capitalist economy have 

proved ineffective at this juncture. It is because of the self-interest, degradation of 

value system. Dog-eat-Dog and profit at any cost is the principle adopted by the 

Business houses and accumulation and amassing of more wealth by few individuals 

depriving others share is the root cause of the collapse of economic system in the 

world. 

The solution is the Middle Path discoursed by the Buddha. That middle path 

would provide the necessary positive correlation between motivation and altruism. 

194


The material objective accepted by development theorists have to be modified to suit 

the Buddhist way of life in that what we should aspire to achieve is atthi sukha, 

bhoga sukha, anana sukha and anavajja sukha. The alternative system is Buddhist 

Economics, which develops, maintains and balances both materialistic and spiritual 

life on principles of compassion, sharing and equanimity. 

195


References 

D. Gopalakrsihna, Buddhism and Contemporary Management, Buddhist Cultural 

Center, Sri Lanka, 2006. 

DV G P Malalasekara, Gems of Buddhist Meditation, Buddhist Missionary Society, 

Malaysia, 1996. 

E.F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful, Vintage – Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge 

Road, London SW1V2SA-1993. 

J. W. Wickramasinge , The End of Economic science and The beginning of People- 

Friendly Economics(2002)- Buddhist Cultural Center, Sri Lanka. 

James A F Stoner., R. Edward Freeman., Daniel R. Gilbert, Jr., Management, 

Prentice Hall of India Pvt Ltd., 2000. 

K. Sri Dhammananda, Gems of Buddhist Wisdom, The corporate Body of the 

Buddhist Educational Foundation, Taiwan, 1996. 

K. Sri Dhammananda, The Dhammapada, Buddhist Missionary Society, Malaysia, 

1988. 

P.A. Payutto, A Constitution for living, Buddhist Publication Society Inc., Sri Lanka, 

2007. 

P.A. Payutto, Buddhist Economics, Buddha Dhamma Foundation Publications, 

Bangkok-1992. 

Peter F Drucker, Managing for the Future, Oxford Boston Johannesburg Melbourne, 

New Delhi, Singapore, 2000. 

S K Chakraborthy, Human Values for Managers, Wheeler Publishing, New Delhi, 

1997. 

Sai Bindu, Scientific Management-spiritual way, Jayalakshmi Publications, 1999. 

Shinichi Inoue, Putting Buddhism to work, Kodansha International Ltd, Japan,1997. 

Ven. Narada, Buddha & His Teachings, Buddhist Missionary Society, Kuala 

Lumpur, Malaysia, 1998. 

196

An Appeal to the World’s Religious Leaders 

197 

Most Venerable Ashin Nyanissara 

Sītagū International Buddhist Academy 

Sagaing Hills, Myanmar 

By using his powers of omniscience, the Buddha would observe situations 

throughout the sensuous world six-times per day. This was one of His various daily 

routines which became very significant and important, because when He saw a being 

over-come by some sensual emotion He would analyze the situation, and then teach 

them accordingly. 

If one was obsessed and dominated by thirsty-craving or lust, He’d deliver a 

teaching on the practice of Samādhi (concentration) in order to tranquilize their 

phenomenon. If the situation was more violent like murderous, or related to powercravings, 

He’d preach about the practice of Mettā (loving-kindness) to suppress their 

hatred and aversion. If situations arose between the monks, Dhamma practitioners 

or others, over contradictions dealing with Dhamma (truths) and Adhamma 

(untruths), the Buddha would provide guidance in the practice of Paññā (wisdom) 

from which all controversies could be solved. 

It shouldn’t matter which religion we follow; we as religious leaders ought to 

follow such teachings exemplified by the Buddha. We need the skills to be able to 

completely observe and analyze different situations that arise in this chaotic world we 

live in. In so doing, we religious leaders will be able to fulfill the needs of humanity; 

this is our responsibility. 

In accordance with the needs of the human community, the Dhamma must be 

distributed throughout the World. By sharing the Dhamma, those caught in the 

chaotic world of sensual delight can be lifted from their misery. In turn, we religious 

leaders will be highly regarded and appreciated, and our teachings will be seen as 

infallibly essential. The Dhamma is greatly needed in the World today for our 

continued existence. 

Today, science and technology is booming; it’s very essential in this world 

we live in. Many in the younger generations have embraced these advancements so 

much so that they believe only science and technology can perform for the welfare of 

the world. These youth are trying to escape from religion by any means possible. 

Since we have not fulfilled their needs and shared the Dhamma in a way which they 

can embrace, we have gradually been shunned and regarded as useless. Instead,


these youth highly regard modern scientists as world-benefactors. Ironically, some of 

these so-called benefactors are destroyers of the world as they are inventing weapons 

of mass destruction like the hydrogen bomb which was used in Japan during World 

War II. 

As religious leaders, we believe that all religions in the world should strive 

by their respective means to control the violence in human minds, for them to be 

polite, tame and mentally cultured. Rather than being shunned, we must strive for 

acceptance by the people of the world showing them that we are infallibly essential 

and unavoidably necessary for their lives. 

At the time of the Buddha, there was an extremely wealthy man named 

Ratthapala who became a devout Buddhist monk after listening to a Dhamma 

preaching by the Buddha. He was questioned by King Korabya as to why he had 

forsaken his wealth and belongings to become a monk, and on what kind of 

happiness he expected as a monastic. In turn, Venerable Ratthapala asked the king 

what he thought of monks and Dhamma practitioners; whom replied that such people 

had a crisis in their life either in business or personally with their family, or because 

of old age, poor health, or some other difficulty they entered the Order. In so doing, 

they could solve their problems, and look for the basic necessities of food, shelter and 

clothing by being a religious leader, even though they did not carry out effective 

activities and responsibilities for the people. 

So you see, even in the Buddha’s time, religious leaders were regarded as 

opportunists and useless. We must be careful not to be regarded in such a way, 

especially by those who are wise. Interestingly enough, Venerable Ratthapala’s 

retort was so profound that the King confessed his criticisms were wrong and 

professed to take refuge in the Triple Gem: the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha for the 

rest of his life. 

The whole world is constantly trembling; it’s unstable, explained Venerable 

Ratthapala. By entering the Order one can establish stability and serenity in their life 

by practicing the Dhamma. The world is violently burning with the flames of greed, 

hatred, delusion, jealously, desire; these can be extinguished by the Dhamma. There 

is no possible way to manipulate or escape disease, decay and death, but they can be 

eased by the practice of Dhamma. 

People around the world boldly announce their possessions, wealth and rank; 

they may only get that chance for a short-time perhaps 100 years. Once they gain 

these things they are not satisfied with them because their desire never stops. Death 

may become them before the cessation of the desire. Venerable Ratthapala explained 

that by going in the Order that the wanting which makes you a slave of desire was 

198


replaced by the Dhamma. Dhamma liberated him from the enslavement of thirstycraving. 

Across the globe today there is an economic crisis, we leaders see jobs being 

made redundant and people are faced with a variety of difficulties in order to live. 

There are three types of crisis: business, political and religious. They are not separate 

from one another; they are inter-dependent. As we observe the laity with their jobs 

being lost due to business and political crisis; we too, ought to particularly mindful 

not to become jobless in our respective religion. 

More than ever before, we Buddhist leaders need to increase our activities in 

social welfare, studying and teaching the Buddha’s Dhamma, and practicing 

meditation. We must exercise and follow the adaptation of the Dhamma just as the 

Venerable Ratthapala did, so that we can escape criticism. It is our responsibility and 

obligation to make the trembling planet stable and serene. It is important to exclude 

ourselves from groups that are trying to make this world unstable and dangerous. We 

should collectively gather to extinguish the burning flame of desire, and to exclude 

ourselves from groups who make this planet burn. We must fulfil everyone’s spiritual 

needs; by doing so, the majority of people the world over will regard we religious 

leaders as the benefactors and protectors of mankind. 

This is my appeal to you the World’s religious leaders. In this burning world, 

we should participate in global affairs and act as fire fighters, extinguishing the 

flames of defilements, sorrow and war which scorch our human planet. We should 

not demand anything but we should request everyone to change jealousy into joy, to 

replace evil with good, and to turn ignorance into knowledge and wisdom. 

199

BREATHING AND SMILING 

IN THE HURRICANE OF THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS 

IDENTIFYING THE CRISIS 

200 

Ven. Thich Nhat Tu, D.Phil., 

Many companies have recently had to stagger through trouble, or have even 

been bankrupted because of the plunging global stock markets. Everything had been 

so good, and then suddenly, many businesses were forced to close after years of 

operation. Many fell into the dilemma of being unable to move forward or backward. 

Many companies have had to be sold, unable to bear rising prices amid falling levels 

of consumption. Many shops have had to halt or transfer new inventory or hold 

clearance sales of all their merchandise under the sign “going bankrupt.” 

As a result of this severe financial crisis, many families have been overcome, 

unable to enjoy their lives as everyday life becomes a struggle, a conflict. 

Crises in society always have multiple aspects in life that bring real 

challenges. Running away from them or turning our backs to them is not a solution. If 

we ignore a crisis, it leads to indifference, and as a result of it, we solve nothing. 

There is only one way to solve the problem, which is to recognize the nature and 

roots of the crisis that we are facing. Approaching this directly will help us, step by 

step, to overcome difficulties and suffering. 

IT IS NECESSARY TO BREATHE AND SMILE 

Business people live with constant controls, stresses, and pressures of work, 

with intense competition and the threat of elimination. The practice of lessening these 

tensions through "breathing and smiling" with mindfulness will help safely bring 

relief, without negative psychological side effects. 

Meditating to reflect through the art of "breathing and smiling" takes just a 

few minutes every day and will help you feel stronger, happier, and more excited. 

Try not to let yourself feel too much pressure, and then practice “breathing and 

smiling.” Your breath will be fuller, and your smile will be less strained. 

Summoning bear-like energy, take firm steps forward into the financial crisis 

and the many challenges of our times, from unfavorable exchange rates to global 

warming. Staying focused on the breath, breathing with a smile, and sometimes


pausing our thoughts and letting the mind empty are all forms of stress therapy that 

can help us overcome the pressures of life. Anxiety, sorrow, and fretting about the 

future will not only cause us to forget the beauty of life, but also to lose the 

opportunity of happiness we could be experiencing in the present. 

BREATHING, SMILING, AND HAPPINESS 

It is a mistake to think that we should practice Buddhist meditation only 

when we are overwhelmed by life or need to relieve stress and suffering. Routinely, 

wherever and whenever we have the opportunity, we should practice breathing and 

smiling with mindfulness. Rather than lament that we did not have time to do 

something more important, we should consistently practice breathing to bring 

happiness or at least to prevent further suffering. 

Breath is not only the means of life but is also the source of life itself, 

responsible for the happiness of body and mind. When you are feeling fatigue or 

sorrow, lightly and deeply breathing will help you regain control of your emotions. 

When you are worried, deep breathing can help you manage your feelings and help 

bring balance to your life. 

First, smiling relaxes any tensions you may be experiencing. Moreover, 

smiling is an art which has a positive effect on others and brings about enjoyable 

interactions. Try imagining working among people who are without smiles the whole 

day, their faces always wincing, stressed, and uncomfortable. Maybe it would cause 

us more stress and diminish our happiness. 

People practicing breathing and smiling must express a motivated, dynamic 

attitude and act deliberately; not too fast, but not too slow. We must keep our 

awareness in the present, without worry. Breathing and smiling will not only help us 

decrease the speed of the instinctive or habitual actions that cause us to become tired 

but also help to restore the renewable energy source of life, keeping us full of 

happiness. 

Before going to sleep, in the morning, or in the evening, take time out. It 

takes as little as 5 minutes to care for yourself with relaxed breathing and smiling, 

and your soul will feel a sense of lightness, peace, and wellbeing. 

Happiness is not a lofty ideal. It is present in things that exist ordinarily and 

simply around us, with us and in us. Sometimes, due to a lack of mindfulness, we 

deny the existence of happiness, or we do not properly respect it. We must return to 

mindfulness. Then we realize happiness is present, like the air, and is never lost. Just 

as the wind was still blowing, as the pine was still rustling, spring was still flowing 

and a hundred rivers ran to the oceans, it has always been there. Our sense of whether 

201


happiness is present or not, big or small, stems completely from the way we think, 

depending up whether we take care of it or destroy it. Happiness can only be sensed 

when our mind is full of peace. If you have a peaceful mind then you will also have a 

peaceful body, which will lead you to happiness. 

The key to happiness is to act with love and to enhance our consciousness & 

intuition. Many people are concerned that love will kill the spirit of intense 

competition, in a world where the market is the battlefield. With love, however, 

enterprises do not have to work to eliminate, and at in the same time they can 

demonstrate cooperation and sharing. Businesses should promote healthy 

competition, working to improve their quality and reputation, which will lead to 

sustainable development. 

MINDFULNESS WITH EACH STEP 

The simple habits of daily life such as walking, standing, lying down, sitting, 

eating, drinking, sleeping, and talking all deserve your attention, though breathing 

and smiling, in order to live more fully. Practice jogging with mindfulness amid the 

fresh air, green grass, white clouds, enjoying the peaceful country. This will help you 

experience a taste of meditation at the most simple level, and will surprise you by its 

effectiveness. 

We should not walk as if in a kind of nightmare, where soul was traveling 

somewhere else while the body was walking. Walking without mindfulness can 

reduce energy, making the body tired. 

Practice walking with the steps of a free person, not dragging your feet or 

letting yourself be distracted by the future. Opening the mind, we are present in 

reality with every step we take, in the fullest and most meaningful way, here and 

now. 

Walking lightly, the breath’s rhythm synchronizes with the walking rhythm: 

slow, easy, and untroubled, allowing the body and mind to exist in the present. 

Similarly, practicing mindfulness when standing, lying, and sitting will help us have 

happiness in our every action. By doing this, the full value of life will be felt in its 

reality. 

MINDFULNESS IN THINKING 

Do not think that happiness is only present through physical means; we must 

eliminate the opinion that we will not be as happy as we’d like without physical 

things. Happiness exists when we do not let greed control our mind and attitudes. 

202


Ultimately, we know how to be satisfied with what we have, following the laws of 

karma and not allowing greed to control us. 

Happiness means you have possession of what you really need and have 

soundness of mind. Trying to satisfy our every desire will make us always live in 

tension. Genuine efforts and needs will be satisfied and the enjoyment that comes 

from breathing and smiling will be with us in our life. 

Do not let emotions such as stress, anger, or boredom dwell inside and 

control you. These are emotions that are destructive to us & damaging to others. True 

deep and light breathing will help you pacify such emotions. This way of caring for 

yourself is very simple, but it is valuable and effective. 

Do not let loneliness or anxiety overcome you. By stopping to focus on 

breathing and smiling, your mind will become steady and be at peace. The pattern of 

negativity will be transformed into positive thoughts. Haunting feelings of anxiety or 

fear about the future will decrease as more people recognize that the real importance 

of life is primarily in the present. 

MINDFULNESS IN ACTION 

While you are eating, do not let your mind be clouded by other projects, 

plans, money, or pain. Do not eat as fast as a rotating rice machine. Do not eat 

carelessly, making slurping sounds and chewing noises. Savor each dish as it is, 

letting your soul become immersed in its flavors. 

At the intersection, reaching a yellow light, stop slowly; at a red light, stop 

completely. Do not be impatient. Smile during the red lights, breathing comfortably. 

Do not bother to count the number of seconds left before the light turns green. Do not 

worry about traffic jams or being late…let your mind be untroubled. While you are 

waiting for green lights, lean back and breathe lightly, as if nothing were stopping 

you. Simply stop and breathe in order to relax. 

In summary, meditation is an art which can help us to re-create balance in life. The 

practice of breathing and smiling with mindfulness can help you succeed in life. 

203


Go to bed, breathe and smile 

Sleep is going to be happy 

Dreams about good things. 

A wonderful sleep is waiting. 

Wake up, breathe and smile 

At each minute, each second 

Control the mind and the breath’s beat 

Soul and breath make a circle. 

The whole day, breathe and smile, 

We live on cheerfully 

Working in the pure mind 

Peaceful in your life. 

Twenty four hours, perfect 

Asleep, awake … breathe and smile 

No more suffering 

A smile always on the face 

Everybody, breathe and smile 

Release loneliness 

Communities all breathing in rhythm 

Happiness for everybody. 

World, breathe and smile 

Space appears satisfied 

Breathe, smile with pure soul 

Peaceful everywhere. 

Twenty four hours, perfect 

Universe, breathe and smile 

The world smiles and breathes 

Happiness will come to all 

204

FEELING THE LIFE WITH EACH OF YOUR STEPS 

With each breath 

Slightly you step, 

with even rhythm, evenly paced 

With each footstep you recite the name of the Buddha 

Each time you speak the Buddha’s name, 

Breathing in and out brings you peace 

Boundless life 

But life continues after death 

Even a lifetime of 100 years is 

like a cloud in the wind 

The border between life & death is vague 

Life is fragile beside 

the great unknown abyss 

We encounter ups and downs in life 

Each breath in the name of the Buddha 

brings us inner power 

and helps us become happy 

Life goes by quickly, 

You hear the ticking of the clock, 

Already 100 years have passed 

Lift your head to the blooming flowers 

The Buddha is right in your mind, 

waving at the flow of life and death 

Your mind is still, 

meeting life’s ups and downs, 

which can be simultaneous 

If we stay mindful, 

we can attain nirvana, 

and be released from suffering and pain 


205

Modern Economics and Buddhism: Issues of Compatibility 

Dr Supriya Rai 

K.J Somaiya Centre for Buddhist Studies, Mumbai 

Modern economics is essentially a study of human behavior and the 

approaches taken to gratify desire. It is desire that makes humans undertake 

economic activity which generates surplus. They then channels this surplus into 

acquiring more material comfort and, in a related development, enhances one’s social 

position and gains power. Modern economics does not place a value judgment on this 

behavior but merely observes it and then finds ways to catalyze and facilitate it. At a 

macroeconomic level, this tendency in humans is harnessed to build models that will 

generate maximum wealth for nations; national identity is, after all, an extension of 

individual identity. 

Over time, modern economics has used complex statistical methods and 

attempted to quantify man’s activity as far as possible. Even those amongst us who 

are not trained in economics are familiar with terms such as GDP (Gross Domestic 

Product) and GDP per capita, trade surplus or deficit. Based on these numerical 

criteria, countries are ranked and this ranking leads to much discussion in the press. 

For the longest time, however, modern economics remained a rather blinkered 

science, ignoring the costs associated with the increasing spiral of demands fuelled 

by desire, and the frenetic economic activity that was necessary to gratify this 

demand – increased stress in human life leading to lifestyle diseases, crime, 

increasing disparity between the haves and the have-nots due to the inability of 

millions to participate in this exercise as they were illiterate, suffered poor health, had 

no access to credit, or were unable to afford mobility in search of better opportunity. 

In addition to these social costs, there have been enormous environmental costs 

resulting from rapid depletion of natural resources, pollution of air, rivers and water 

bodies, which has affected the lives of other species on the planet – in some 

instances, leading to threat of extinction. 

As Schumacher pointed out in his cult book, “Small is Beautiful” 1 a major 

flaw in modern economics was the equation of success with levels of consumption. 

Those societies which consume more are ranked higher and they serve as models for 

others to emulate. The methods used by modern economists percolate down to the 

level of enterprises and human lives by influencing behavior and the choices that 

people make. He also explains how modern society seems to think that universal 

1 Schumacher, E.F., Small is Beautiful: economics as if People Mattered, Harper & Row, 197, USA 

206


prosperity is possible and that it will be the solution to all issues mankind faces. 

However, what prosperity means is not clearly defined. There is no society that has 

said “this is enough”. In which case, where to peg this level of income and 

consumption is one issue. The second issue is what it means for the limited resources 

on our planet if all mankind had to become prosperous. There does seem to be a case, 

he says, to look at alternative models, where large amounts of production and 

consumption do not necessarily spell the last word in development. 

If we examine the current economic crisis worldwide we can say that, very 

simply, it can be put down to unlimited greed. All organizations in today’s world 

work towards one major objective, that of maximizing profit. Those organizations 

that anticipate market trends, build strengths in new emerging areas and constantly 

innovate are said to have the leading edge. There is a keenly fought battle in the 

marketplace for an ever larger share of the limited pie that is the amounts customers 

have to spend. Typically, modern business relies on advertising to create demand and 

a cursory look at the billboards in towns and cities will testify to the kind of pressure 

that citizens experience to consume an ever increasing variety of products. At the 

root of every ad campaign is the message that if you are not using these products you 

are “not ok”. The salesman who persuades a customer to buy something he actually 

does not need is lauded as having done a marvelous piece of work. 

The drive to produce and consume more translates into a constant push by 

corporate bosses to report higher figures. Practically, this is not always possible as 

markets get saturated. However, the need to continuously report improved 

performance over the previous years is a given and it can often fuel unethical choices 

as managers struggle to perform in an attempt to just protect their jobs. Much of this 

very pattern of behavior has resulted in the current economic crisis. Briefly, what 

happened is as follows: 

Housing loans had become a lucrative business proposition but like all 

business cycles, there came a point when it peaked and would not grow at the same 

rate as previous years. However, under pressure to still deliver the same kind of 

results as before, mortgage lenders began issuing loans to people who actually 

couldn’t afford their mortgages. Such loans were called “sub-prime” and lenders 

were able to charge them higher interest rates to cover the risks of default and make 

more money in the process. If the borrowers defaulted, their houses were seized and 

put for sale on the market. In addition, the risk of default was covered by mortgage 

insurers and the loan documents were traded as mortgage-backed securities. The 

borrower had such favorable terms as moratoriums on payments for as long as two 

years. Michael Lewis, in an article on www.portfolio.com called “The End of Wall 

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Street’s Boom” 2 writes how in Bakersfield, Calif., a Mexican strawberry picker with 

an income of $14,000 and no English was lent every penny he needed to buy a house 

for $720,000. What were the internal workings in the mind of the lending officers can 

only be hazarded with a wild guess. 

In the financial marketplace it seemed as though everything was working fine 

and the value of the houses went up constantly. The moment of truth arrived, 

however, when the sub-prime borrowers needed to start repaying the loans after all 

the moratoria etc were over. Many of them couldn’t afford the monthly installments 

and had to foreclose the mortgage, leading to their houses now being seized. With the 

increasing defaults, though, (which would have included the strawberry picker 

mentioned above, as he had really no means to repay a loan that was more than 50 

times his annual income) there were now too many houses on the market and real 

estate values began to dip sharply. The pressure to sell continued relentlessly as subprime 

loan defaults kept piling up and the entire real estate market went into a 

tailspin. 

This development led to a crisis at the banks. Further, mortgage-backed 

securities, which were the debt instruments which had been traded, became more 

risky and worthless causing investment firms like Lehman Brothers to 

suffer. Moreover, insurers like AIG who insured these bad mortgages also got in 

trouble. These were financial institutions of great standing, with offices worldwide. 

Their bankruptcy meant job losses and the impact of this was felt on the stock 

markets in the US, with a cascading effect worldwide. Today, we are looking at a 

crisis that may turn out to be more severe than the Great Depression. 

If we have to examine these events from the Buddhist perspective, the 

immediate impression would be that the teachings are in no way compatible with 

modern economic practices. The incompatibility becomes manifest at the basic level, 

when we consider that the driving engine for economic activity is desire and greed; 

the objective is to produce more and consume more. This is in direct conflict with the 

Buddhist perspective where taṇhā is a defilement that needs to be eradicated from the 

root. 

Yet, this can only be a superficial impression. Man needs to engage in 

economic activity, and has had to do so for millennia, if he has to survive as he does 

not have the ability to produce all the things that he needs. He must till his land and 

tend to his animals, weave fabric, or train to be a soldier or an artisan and must 

engage in some occupation in a “profitable” manner as only then does he have 

surplus with which he can get all the other things that are necessary for leading life. 

2 Conde Nast Portfolio.com, December 2008 issue, http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/nationalnews/portfolio/2008/11/11/The-End-of-Wall-Streets-Boom?page=2#page=2 

208


In the process, he consumes goods - consumption is, therefore, quite essential to life 

itself. 

In the Vyagghapajja Sutta 3 we find that the Buddha gives extremely practical 

advice to the merchant so that he may be happy in this life. He counsels him to 

exercise initiative in cultivating his skills so that he is able to carry out his tasks well. 

The Buddha also asks him to be vigilant and guard his hard earned wealth so that it is 

not seized by kings, thieves or harmful heirs. In addition, he actively seeks the 

companionship of virtuous friends, kalyānamitta, and he lives a balanced life – 

neither beyond his means nor as a penny pincher. Later in the Sutta when the Buddha 

gives advice for happiness that endures beyond this lifetime for a layperson, he 

mentions four qualities: faith in the Tathagata, leading a virtuous life, generosity and 

the ability to discern the arising and fading away of phenomena. It is obvious that the 

Buddha speaks of practicing a spiritual life for enduring happiness but he does not 

deny the layperson’s need to a livelihood and to the protection of his resources. 

It would seem, therefore, that there is room within the Buddhist framework 

for man to lead an economically productive life and amass wealth by legitimate 

means. An important distinction is made, however, between consumption as defined 

by economics and that which is perfectly acceptable in a Buddhist perspective. This 

distinction has been highlighted by Ven. Payutto in his “Buddhist Economics: A 

Middle Way for the Marketplace”. He distinguishes two kinds of desire – chanda and 

taṇhā. While the former relates to desire for a product that is essential for man’s wellbeing, 

taṇhā is that desire which is driven by vanity and pertains to gratification of 

the senses. And it is at this level that Buddhism is truly at odds with modern 

economics, because modern economics makes no such distinction. A society in 

pursuit of unbridled, taṇhā-driven consumption is lauded as a successful society. In 

such societies there are vast choices available in all items of consumption and 

happiness is construed as belonging to those who have access to luxury cars, all 

varieties of food, clothes, liquor, and holidays in exotic locations etc. This approach 

strips the consumer of any social responsibility. He is only concerned with 

consuming and enjoying the goods; he bears no responsibility for how and where it 

was made, by whom and under what conditions. It is only because of activist groups 

that large companies like Nike, for example, were forced to review the conditions in 

which some of their suppliers were working. It is the environmentally active groups 

that forced governments to legislate emissions from cars, created awareness of the 

harmful effects of pesticides and fertilizers, of the unhealthy patterns of eating 

created by processed food etc. 

From the Buddhist perspective, therefore, we would certainly call for more 

moderation in production and consumption; production in tune with human needs and 

3 A iv 281 

209


not the current model which on the one hand seeks to gratify desires, which are 

limitless, and on the other hand, perpetuates itself by promotion and advertising 

which fuel further desire. It is important to point out here that Buddhism does not 

look upon poverty as a virtue. In the Dhammapada we have the story of the Buddha 

waiting for a peasant to join the group of Brahmins who have gathered to hear him 

teach. It is actually he who the Buddha wants to teach, as he is ripe for deeper insight. 

The peasant is held up looking for a lost ox and when he finally turns up he is tired 

and hungry. The Buddha first makes him eat alms food which had been surplus that 

day and then begins his teaching with “Hunger is the greatest illness” 4 . 

In fact, in the Cakkavatti-Sihanāda Sutta we are told of a lineage of kings 

who are great compassionate rulers, ruling in accordance with the Dhamma. Each 

one ensures he teaches his son how to do so. One son fails, however, on one count – 

he does not give to the needy. As a result, poverty increases and so does theft. When 

a thief is brought before him, the king discovers he stole as he was poor. So he gives 

him gifts of goods with which to support himself and his family and do right things 

like donate to the ascetics and the Brahmins. This inspires other poor people to steal 

– and the king decides to make an example of the next thief that is caught and 

beheads him. This leads to the poor taking up arms so that they now not just rob, they 

kill as then there would be no witnesses. This Sutta has a very important lesson for 

modern governments. Across the world, we know that it has been the repression and 

deprivation of one section of society vis-à-vis another that has led to conflicts. 

Buddhism has looked upon generosity, dana, as a very high virtue. This is 

best reflected in the case of Anathapindika, who spares no effort to support the 

Sangha. Emperor Asoka built roads, shelters, and wells for the benefit of his citizens. 

The emphasis was therefore on using the surplus that one had generated for the 

common good. It was also important to know how this income had been generated as 

“Right Livelihood” is an important aspect of Sila, morality, in Noble Eightfold Path. 

In the modern context, this can be extended to cover many more activities than were 

envisaged in the texts. And many Buddhists do exercise vigilance, for example when 

investing in companies. If the companies are engaged in trading in arms or tobacco 

and other harmful products, if they use animal products etc., then mindful-investors 

could be staying away even though the stock may be lucrative. They would invest in 

companies that are sensitive to the environment and responsive to the needs of the 

communities in which they operate. 

Thich Nhat Hanh has addressed social and environmental responsibility in an 

article titled “Looking Deeply at the Nutriments” in the collection of essays called 

4 Narada Thera, tr. The Dhammapada, 203, John Murray, London, 1954. 

210


“Mindfulness in the Marketplace: Compassionate Responses to Consumerism”. 5 He 

speaks of how meat consumption leads to increasing lost of forest cover as large 

areas are cleared for farms, how water (2500 gallons per pound of meat vs. 25 gallons 

for a pound of wheat) is consumed at alarming rates and the pollution of water bodies 

by large amounts of excrement from these farms. Thus, even for those who may not 

subscribe to the idea of a vegetarian diet on grounds of compassion for all living 

beings, the sheer ecological costs of such habits should convince them to refrain. 

Thich Nhat Hanh counsels that we must learn to “look deeply” at all our practices 

and see how our behavior affects our environment. 

One outcome of looking deeply is the realization of the interdependent nature 

of all phenomena. On the ecological front, the efforts of Mr. Al Gore in creating 

awareness on global warming have been exemplary. There have also been numerous 

organizations, the pioneering one being Greenpeace, which persistently opposes the 

business-practices that have harmed our environment. On the issue of modern 

economic practices, however, the picture is very complex. To bring to bear the 

Buddhist perspective, no matter how sensible, rational and onward leading it may be, 

is a challenge. This is because western society in particular has built complex edifices 

in terms of institutions and instruments of fiscal and financial regulation that are all 

geared towards the very model which has brought about the current crisis. In effect, it 

would mean a virtual dismantling of present systems and putting something quite 

contrarian in place, which would be nothing short of a revolution! It is hard to 

imagine wealthy nations even considering models that seek to curtail the incredible 

number of products on sale in their markets and that work within a framework where 

consumers and producers say ‘this is enough”. Yet, Mr. Muhammad Yunus, the 

Nobel Laureate banker from Bangladesh, has spoken in an interview on the web that 

this crisis actually does present an opportunity to dismantle present systems and put 

new ones in place, as we have repeatedly been brought to our knees by failures of 

present market systems. Practically speaking, however, this does some easier said 

than done, as it requires enormous levels of a kind of political commitment which 

most governments would shy away from. 

So should we then just conclude that from the Buddhist perspective there are 

many things wrong in the manner in which we go about our economic activity but 

there can be no solution? That all we can do is to offer our informed and considered 

opinion in an academic forum? It is my humble view that there is a window of 

opportunity we have. Schumacher’s book had been path-breaking work in the 

seventies, leading to a lot of public debate. Yet, we seem to have forgotten some of 

5 

Alan Hunt Badiner, ed. Mindfulness in the Marketplace: Compassionate Responses to Consumerism, 

Parallax Press, 2002. 

211


the critical issues he spoke about. He has a chapter on Buddhist Economics 6 where he 

makes the distinction between modern economics and Buddhist economics as 

follows: 

“(The modern economist) is used to measuring the “standard of living” by 

the amount of annual consumption, assuming all the time that a man who consumes 

more is “better off” than a man who consumes less. A Buddhist economist would 

consider this approach excessively irrational: since consumption is merely a means to 

human well-being, the aim should be to obtain the maximum of well-being with the 

minimum of consumption.” 7 

Going back to the Buddha’s teachings, we realize that society changes when 

the individual changes. In this case, we need to examine our own lives and see how 

we can consume less and consume mindfully. Each one of us serves as an example 

within our communities and we can catalyze small changes in the societies we live in. 

It is not just a case of economics that we would be addressing – it is a question of 

ethical life on this planet. How can we justify the spiraling demands fuelled by 

modern corporations as they pursue ever higher profit? How many of the products 

that we are persuaded to buy do we really need? In a world that is now very closely 

linked by information technology, we all have the means to inform ourselves about 

products and services that we consume. We can no longer hide behind lack of 

information and ignorance. As we make ethical and skilful choices, we will influence 

our communities in doing likewise. 

Taking it forward, the current crisis and its causes must be presented in 

universities for debate amongst the young. It is no secret that it is really they who 

have the spirit and the zest to take such challenges head on. Most of us are at an age 

where we are content to attend very intelligent seminars and conferences and publish 

papers. It is the youngsters who will be buffeted around in today’s economic crisis. 

They have been led to believe that the lifestyle of the rich and the famous is what 

they must aspire to. They are trained to become executives in those very corporations 

that we discussed earlier, where success and upward mobility is possible only for 

those who persistently report improving performance, no matter what the market 

conditions. The youth must be engaged in debate on the sustainability of this model 

and sensitized to the hidden costs of the stressful lifestyles involved. By using 

principles of Buddhist philosophy, they can be made aware of the horrors of the 

present crisis – the worldwide repercussions, the loss of jobs and security, the fear 

and loss of self-esteem faced by hundreds of thousands who have been handed the 

proverbial pink-slip. 

6 

Schumacher, E.F., Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, Harper & Row, 197, USA. Pp 

53-62 

7 

Ibid. p. 57. 

212


The third possibility is presented by concerned Buddhist groups partnering 

with like-minded NGOs who operate at the grass-root level on issues such as 

equitable development and preservation of the environment. Many of them may not 

have any Buddhist leanings but if their objectives conform to Buddhist principles, 

there is no reason why collaboration should not be possible. We need to co-operate 

and build communities that live ethically, in tune with the environment, with a 

conscious effort at encouraging less consumption. By our own living examples, we 

can create awareness that human well-being and happiness is a function of the mind 

and is not contingent upon possessions or upon inordinate levels consumption. 

213

Introduction: 

The Construction and Promotion of Buddhist Sufficient Economy 

214 

Dr. Shengkai 

Lecturer, Department of Philosophy 

Nanjing University 

Facing any financial crisis, the whole world constantly reflects. In this paper, 

the construction and promotion of “Buddhist sufficient economy” is proposed to cope 

with today’s world popular greed economy. Based on the original Buddhism and 

Chinese Buddhist Dhyana, occupation is not only emphasized as a means of 

livelihood, but also a “personal obligation” and “social responsibility”, as well as 

even religious significance in Buddhist cultivation path. So the Buddhist occupational 

ethics embody the necessity, profit and ultimate meaning. In sufficient economy, 

thrift, content, generosity and a specific distribution of wealth reflect Buddhist 

wisdom and particular religious significance on the wealth problem. 

From Greed Economy to Sufficient Economy- Restructuring of Buddhist 

Economic Ethic: 

Facing the financial crisis, the whole world is in reflection. America, in the 

summery of Obama’s inauguration speech, said: “This comes from some people’s 

greed and irresponsibility.” Therefore, the financial crisis, after all, is a problem of 

economic ethic in worldwide business circles, and an inevitable result of human’s 

greed, anger and ignorance. 

The economic ethical problem is a “modern” problem, and a contradiction 

movement exists between “religion” and “economy”, two major forces constituting 

human history and civilization. The modern basis of economic ethic is human and a 

rational value pursuit by human behavior. 1 “Market economy”, as a creative fruit of 

human economic behavior, must be built and operated on an inherent moral value 

basis, or, it must be supported by morality. 

American religious socialist Peter Berger in his book, The Sacred Canopy- 

Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion, suggests religion is always the most 

popular and most effective rationalization tool in history, by reason that “religion has 

so effectively testified rational reality because it links the unstable real structure of 

1 Fan Hao, The Value Ecology of Ethical Spirit, Chinese Social Science Press 2001 Version 1, p235.


experience society with ultimate reality. The root of weak reality in social world is 

sacred reality, and the later in definition exceeds the contingency of human 

significance and human activity.” 2 Therefore, religion plays its special role in 

demonstration of moral rationality in market economy. It is illustrated by Max 

Weber’s explanation on the relationship between protestant ethic and capitalist 

development. 

Meanwhile, Germany economic ethicist Koslowski in his book, Prinzipien 

der Ethisch, proposed an interesting idea: “Ethics are adjustments and remedies to 

market malfunctions, and religions are adjustments and remedies to ethical 

malfunctions. In case of economic malfunction, ethics appear, in case of ethical 

malfunction, religions appear.” 3 We seem to be able to find correlations among 

economy-ethics-religion, which offers nice comments for our study and promoting 

Buddhist economic ethic. 

For a long time, Chinese intellectuals have regarded highly the Buddhist idea 

of transcendence, but lack concern to Buddhist “downward penetration level”, so that 

they misconceive Buddhism as an “unworldly” religion. Especially in Buddha’s time, 

the Buddha thought deeply when touched by life conditions, with his lofty moral 

realm and profound wisdom, to solve all confusions of sentient beings in worldly and 

monastic life. Therefore, in modern times, “human Buddhism” and “mundane 

Buddhism” should be expressed as “return to original”, and the Buddhist 

“engagement” spirit should be promoted with great effort. However, the 

popularization of Buddhism is always progressed in two paths, the “upward” 

renouncement tradition and “downward” engagement spirit, both necessary to 

Buddhism. 

Meanwhile, we must note the Buddhist ethical hierarchy, i.e., Buddhists at 

different levels should adhere to different precepts. From ancient times to the present, 

the Sangha disciplines are the focus of attention, yet the laity’s precepts are little 

care. From the development of Buddhism, the Sangha and the laity have been playing 

respectively different roles, which are irreplaceable to each other. Moreover, the 

Buddha’s requirement to the laity means a “downward” engagement spirit. In 

Mahayana, such spirit has gradually been elevating and becoming a bodhisattva spirit 

of “engagement is renouncement”. 

Therefore, Buddhist economic ethic should focus on the social public 

economic life, i.e., to reflect the application of Buddhist wisdom and morality in 

2 

[US] Peter Berger, The Sacred Canopy- Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion, translated by 

Gao Shining, Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1991, Version 1, p41. 

3 

Peter Koslowski, Prinzipien der Ethischen konomie, translated by Sun Yu, Chinese Social Science 

Press, 1997 Version 1, p.33. 

215


economic realm based on the laity’s precepts. The monastic economy has its own 

particularities which should be discussed additionally. 

II The occupational ethic in Buddhist sufficient economy: 

Weber once praised highly the protestant ethic, believing the notion of 

"vocation" edifies a "labor spirit". Weber said: “More important, in a worldly 

occupation, one has to do utmost, unremitting and in an orderly manner in work, thus 

a religion idea as the highest means of asceticism, and as the most reliable and 

remarkable evidence of cherishing life and sincere faith, definitely has been exerting 

immense leverage to the expansion of the life attitude so-called capitalist spirit. 4 Thus 

“vocation” conception provides reasonable explanation to profitable behaviors in 

economic activities, and cultivates the Protestant’s professional dedication spirit of 

honesty and trust, cautiousness and conscientiousness, and loyal to duty. It 

concurrently combines worldly activities with God’s grace, endowing worldly life 

with religious sacred meaning. 

In market economy, the family or quasi-family ethical entity model in 

Chinese traditional society has lost its supreme and general meaning, while 

vocational ethic has composed the important basis of modern social ethics. Human is 

the principal of production as well as economy. In economic activities, profit 

impulsion is the basic impulsion of human. How to cope with such profit impulse 

directly depends on people’s ethical value judgment on economic impulse. Such 

ethical value judgment involves three rational factors, the legitimacy, necessity and 

rationality of profit. The legitimacy of profit enables human economic impulse to 

gain moral approval in order to liberate morally human economic impulse and make 

possible the principal’s energy release. The necessity of profit from another meaning 

digs up economic impulsion, only if occupational activities and profit become a 

necessity of human life may the principal have the enthusiasm engaged in economic 

activity. 

Germany ethicist Friedrich Paulsen, in A System of Ethics, pointed out 

vocation also has its “purpose necessity”, strongly against rich and poor jobless. 

Paulsen said: “Nature creates human not only for enjoyment, but also for work and 

gain…Hardships and happiness are always related, which is an old natural law, 

without the former we can’t gain the latter. 5 

4 [German] Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, translated by Yu Xiao, Chen 

Weigang, The Joint Publishing Company, Ltd. 1996 Version 2, p.135. 

5 [German] Friedrich Paulsen, A System of Ethics, translated by He Huaihong, Liao Shenbai, Chinese 

Social Science Press, 1988, Version 1, p. 456. 

216


Therefore, we think Buddhist occupational ethic should have a threefold 

meaning: necessity, profit and ultimate meaning. Firstly, occupation itself has 

inherent meaning, whoever fabulously rich or poorly off, occupation is necessity of 

“self realization”, rather than care for the consequences of occupation; secondly, 

occupation has a profit meaning, regarding the consequences of occupation, of 

course, it involves legitimacy, necessity and rationality; next, as to Buddhist, 

occupation has a religious ultimate meaning. Therefore, E.F. Schumacher said: 

“From the viewpoint of Buddhism, occupation plays at least three functions: an 

opportunity to exert and develop abilities; to conquer one’s egoism through work 

with others; and to provide goods and services to people in order to survive.” 6 This 

quite accords with the threefold meaning as we said. 

Buddhism calls the proper occupational ethic as “right livelihood”, which is 

classified into the truth of the path to the cessation of suffering, “the eightfold path”. 

Paulsen pointed out occupation has a “purpose necessity”, thinking the reason for 

work is not merely for self, but also the whole society, with a “social responsibility”. 

It is because people who refuse to work someway live by other’s sacrifice. Therefore, 

in Buddhism, the necessity of occupation lies in its meaning of “self realization” and 

its function “to benefit all beings”. Meanwhile, “to benefit all beings” should not be 

an external pressure but a “natural” responsibility and obligation. Since “all beings” 

include not only other beings but also myself. Bodhisattvas benefit all beings not 

only as personal obligation but also as “social responsibility”. Therefore occupation 

has significance of its inherent meaning. 

Meanwhile, the occupational affectivity is “profit”, yet traditional 

misunderstandings arise from the Buddhist objections. In Buddhist economic ethics, 

“profit” should have its necessity, legitimacy and rationality. The necessity of profit 

lies in acquiring wealth and breaking out of poverty. In Pali Canon’s Dighanikayo 

Cakkavattisuttam (D.26.), it is said poverty is the source of all unjustness and sins. 

Bhikkhus, the poor are not offered by money and valuables so the poor 

increase, the poor increase so thefts increase, thefts increase so weapons 

increase, weapons increase so murders increase, murders increase so lies 

increase, and lies increase so sentient beings have shorter life and worse 

looks. 7 

6 E.F. Schumacher, Buddhist Economics, [USA] Herman E. Daly, Kenneth N. Townsend edited, 

Valuing the Earth, translated by Ma Jie, Commercial Press, 2001, Version 1, p.199. 

7 Chinese Translation of the Pali Tipitaka- Dignikaya- III, Taiwan Yuanheng Miaolin Press, 1995, 

Version 1, p. 64-65. The same part refers to Madhyama-agama, No.15, Cakkavatti, Dazheng Buddhist 

Scriptures, Vol 1, p.522 below. 

217


Thefts, lies, violence, hatred and cruelty all arise out of poverty. 

We have to improve economics in order to eliminate poverty, so in 

Dighanikayo 

Kutadantasuttam (D.5.), the Buddha said: 

King! Give seeds and food to the people diligent in agriculture and animal 

husbandry; give money to the people diligent in business; give food and 

salary to the people diligent in official duty. These people are devoted to 

occupations and never harm the king’s land, so the king will accumulate 

large amounts of money and valuables. The peaceful land is far from 

disasters, all is happy, holding a child cheerfully. People live peacefully 

and doors needn’t be locked. 8 

In this sutra, the Buddha pointed out in order to improve a nation’s social and 

economic conditions, farmers and merchants should be given necessary grace to 

manage well agriculture and business, and laborers should be paid proper salary. 

Thus, they have enough living expenses, when economy is secured, crimes will 

reduce, and peace and harmony will come. 

Meanwhile, “profit” should have “legitimacy” and a moral approval. 

Actually, the Buddha has recognized all happiness in economies and reasonable 

consumptions. In the Anguttaranikaya II& IV, 2, Pattakammasuttam, the Buddha 

said: 

Elderly! Such four kinds of happiness will be experienced by the laity, 

given the opportunity. What’re the four kinds of happiness? Namely: 

possession happiness, enjoyment happiness, no-debt happiness and 

innocent-happiness. Elderly! What’s possession happiness! Elderly, all 

worlds of good men who acquire wealth legally by diligence, effort, 

sweat, arm strength and virtue, think I have legal wealth…acquired 

legally, thinking this, taste joy and happiness. Elderly! This is called 

possession happiness. 9 

The Buddha told Anathapindika the laity should enjoy four kinds of 

happiness, the first is possession happiness, namely, happiness of assured economy, 

one possesses enough wealth by effort and needn’t engage in an illegal occupation; 

the second is enjoyment happiness, happiness of spending cautiously the legal 

8 Chinese Translation of the Pali Tipitaka- Dignikaya- I, p.150. The same part refers to Dirgha-agama 

No. 15 Kutadantasuttam: “Give clothes and food to the closed, give money and valuables to the 

merchants, give cattle and seeds to the farmer. Everyone makes a living respectively and doesn’t invade 

or annoy each other. They bring up children and grandchildren and enjoy a happy life together.” 

Dazheng Buddhist Scriptures, Vol.1, p.98 below. 

9 Chinese Translation of the Pali Tipitaka- Dignikaya-II &IV, p.116-117. 

218


wealth; the third is no-debt happiness, pleasant thoughts, thinking: “I have no debt to 

anyone”; the fourth is innocent-happiness, one has pleasant thoughts such as: “I am 

happy because I’m innocent of any negligent act of body, speech and mind.” 

Although the Buddha recognized the necessity and legitimacy of profit, he 

also stressed the rationality of profit. So-called “rationality” should stress on rational 

way of making profit which is harmless to personal life and social life of all beings. 

Profit should bring real happiness to individual and society, and promote unity and 

proper people relations. Improper livelihood brings misfortune, disharmony and 

trouble to the whole society. Surely, here a problem of standard of “rationality” 

involves. It is because Buddhist ethic has its own particularities, emphasizing the 

Buddhist occupation must not violate national laws, and be not against any spirit or 

precept of Buddhism. In Dhammapadam, it is said: Neither for one’s own, nor 

another’s sake, should one desire a son, or wealth, or state, nor wish one’s own 

success by means unjust: with virtue and wisdom righteous one would be.” 10 Because 

some occupations are not prohibited by national laws, but they are improper 

according to the Buddha’s dharma, that is, to make a living by killing, stealing, 

adultery, lying and taking intoxicants. It doesn’t mean Buddhism is narrow minded, 

but the Buddha really understand, sympathize and care for human tender heart, 

hoping Buddhists not to decline their moral standard due to occupation. 

Therefore Buddhism has strict definition on Buddhist occupations, in The 

Buddhist View of Wealth, Master Yinshun listed some illegal occupations: 

slaughtering, fishing and hunting, employed killer and killing tool maker that are 

related to killing; thief, brigand, or bawdy-house runner, pornographic picture and 

philter seller, or cheater, liar, and alcoholic beverage producer or bar-owner that 

relates to stealing, adultery, lying and taking intoxicants. 11 

Therefore occupation not only is an economic relation but also creates a 

certain ethical relationship. E.F. Schumacher said: “The Materialist is mainly 

interested in goods, while the Buddhist Economist is mainly interest in human 

liberation. But Buddhism is moderate, never object to material abundance. Wealth 

itself doesn’t mean liberation, but the attachment to wealth means liberation; human 

liberation doesn’t mean enjoying nihilism, but a course in pursuit of realization.” 12 

Buddhism emphasizes such an occupation plays a role in realizing human reality and 

ideality. Therefore Buddhism is quiet against to human “materialization” or 

“mechanization”, but stresses on human quality, dignity and liberty. In Digha-agama, 

10 

Dhammapadam, Panditavaggo, translated by Ye Jun, The Buddhist Association of China, 1984, 

Version 2, p.19. 

11 

Yinshun, Buddha in the Human World, The Wonderful-cloud Collection Second Part II, Taibei 

Zhengwen Press, 1989, Version12, p.252. 

12 

E.F. Schumacher, Buddhist Economics, [USA] Herman E. Daly, Kenneth N. Townsend edited, 

Valuing the Earth, p. 201-202. 

219


No.11, Singalovada, the handling methods for superior-subordinate relationship in 

work is specified: 

The Master should teach servant boys five things, what’re the five? The first 

is to serve according to ability, the second to have meals at any time, the third to 

serve at any time, the fourth to take medicine in sickness, the fifth to have a holiday. 

Singalovada! It is called to teach servant boys five things. The servant boys shall 

serve the Master of five things. What’re the five? The first is to get up early, the 

second to serve carefully, the third not to take anything not given, the fourth to serve 

in an orderly manner, the fifth to compliment the Master’s name. 13 

The Boss should arrange an employee tasks according to his ability, give him 

a proper salary, provide medical care, and give a prize at all times. The employee 

should be diligent, honest and obedient, not mislead the boss, particularly, be loyal to 

job. 

A lay Buddhist should make a living and raise his wives and children by 

proper means and legal behavior, which is a moral obligation of observing the five 

precepts. Really, true happiness comes from quiet and peaceful life. But obviously 

E.F. Schumacher thought without a certain material and economic guarantee, moral 

and spiritual progress could not be achieved. In Dhammapada, it is said: “Hunger is 

the greatest disease, the greatest dukkha-conditioned things, knowing this as it really 

is- Nibbāna is the bliss supreme.” 14 Although the Buddha didn’t explain how 

important the material progress is, he stressed material is the basis for human 

spiritual progress. 

Meanwhile, right livelihood with adherence to the five precepts plays a 

religious ultimate meaning. In Buddhist precepts, strictly upholding of five precepts 

is the root of all precepts, and a basis of all kinds of no-outflow merits and virtues 

and sacred attainments. In The Sutra on Upasaka Precepts, it is said: “Precepts are 

the root of all good dharma, anyone who accomplished these precepts would attain 

Sotāpattiphala, even Anagamin.” 15 In The Great Treatise on the Perfection of 

Wisdom, it is said “people who uphold the precepts are often respected and supported 

by common people, happy and regretless, never lack food and clothing, after death, 

they’ll ascend to the celestial, and attain the Buddha’s path in the future. People who 

uphold precepts will get everything, but who break the precepts will lose everything.” 

16 

13 

Dirgha-agama No.11, Dazheng Buddhist Scriptures, Vol 1 p.72 above. 

14 

Dhammapada, Sukhavagga, translated by Ye Jun, p.44. 

15 

The Sutra on Upasaka Precepts, Vol III, Dazheng Buddhist Scriptures, Vol 24 p. 1049 above. 

16 

The Treat Treatise on the Perfection of Wisdom Vol XIII, Dazheng Buddhist Scriptures, Vol 25 

p.154 above. 

220


Especially, Chinese dhyana sect “inner transcending path”, links the life 

of this world with liberation beyond this world, e.g., in the Dunhuang-versioned 

Platform Sutra, it is said: 

All good and wise friends, you can practice at home, rather than in a 

temple. Stay in a temple and never practice is like the westerner with bad 

heart. Stay at home and practice is like the easterner practicing goodness, 

practicing purity of mind is the pure land…Dharma arises mundane 

originally, involving mundane and supramundane, so never get away from 

mundane to seek supramundane. 17 

Although practice is supramundane, it never departs from secular society. 

The dhyana patriarchs elevated the life of this world to the religious ultimate 

meaning: without experience of this world, one will never go to the other shore. 

Especially, Baizhang Huaihai proposed a slogan of “a day no work, a day no eating”, 

taking daily work as practicing means in which Buddhist practice is completely 

melted and embodied in daily life and labor. 18 Mr. Yu Yingshi thought it made no 

difference to the western protestant grandmasters because Protestant also believes do 

one’s duty inner worldly is the only way to transcend this world in the end. However, 

the spirit of inner-worldly asceticism is more positive than Calvin’s idea of 

“vocation”. 

Therefore, the “occupational ethic” of right livelihood enables one to 

strengthen self economic and social status through hard work, for fear to become a 

burden of self and other people. Its significance is not only as means of livelihood, 

with “personal obligation” and “social responsibility”, but more religious meaning of 

Buddhist practice. Therefore, Buddhist occupational ethic embodies necessity, profit 

and ultimate meaning of occupation. 

III. Consumer ethic of Buddhist sufficient economy: 

“Consumption pulls the market”, “high consumption promotes high growth” 

are common “slogans” in modern social and economic realms. However, when “high 

consumption” have been creating a lot of social and ethical problems as well as 

causing unsustainable momentum of economic development, the importance of such 

consuming ethic becomes prominent. Consumption itself doesn’t compose the 

content of ethic, and only consumer attitude and consumption pattern become the 

target of ethical appraisal. Since ancient times, people have roughly three kinds of 

17 Yang Cengwen proofread and wrote, Dunhuang New-versioned Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, 

Shanghai Classics Press, 1993 Version 1, p.42-44. 

18 About the background and inner spirit of this change, please refer to my paper, Chinese Buddhism, On 

Chinese Buddhist Change of Attitude to Production, The Voice of Dharma, 2000 Issue 8. 

221


ethical appraisal to the consumer behavior ethic: lavishness, frugality and 

miserliness. 19 

Although Weber argued protestant secular asceticism would affect the 

Puritan’s moderate and rational allocation of wealth, however as Daniel Bell tried to 

reveal, along with capitalist development, “religious impulse” has been gradually 

dissipating, and its constraint to “economic impulse” has been gradually weakening, 

concurrently, “economic impulse” has been gradually losing rationality due to lack of 

support by moral force. Therefore, “rational consumption” needs a certain moral 

restraint, and “moderation” is always the most important dharma of consumer ethic 

spirit. 

The final goal of Buddhism seeks spiritual liberation, and material is merely 

precondition to satisfy human survival, not the final goal, so Buddhist believers are 

prohibited in pursuit of material enjoyment. All life on earth, their bodily faculties 

touch the external world, causing various feelings, they have desires for pursuit and 

possession of favorite, and it is “greed”. Actually, lavishness and miserliness both are 

different manifestations of greed, as the lavisher expand their desires for pursuit, 

while the miser expand their desires for possession. 

According to Paulsen, “in these two kinds of badness, miser is more ugly, 

while lavisher more dangerous.” 20 He thought miserliness is a sign of humble nature 

that stifles human soul, dispels all noble inclinations or interest; finally, one may feel 

jealous and niggardly to all nice things of self and others. Lavishers always regard 

themselves as liberal and they are admired by those people benefit from their 

lavishness. Paulsen also thought” though miserliness is humble, the consequences of 

which are not completely harmful. On the other hand, the consequences of lavishness 

are totally destructive to the individual and social life. The first consequence of 

lavishness is a loss of means obtaining necessities of life, and later obliged to adopt 

strict thrift in an unfavorable condition.” 21 

In Singalovada, The Buddha mentioned six behaviors causing loss of wealth: 

to indulge in alcohol, gambling, profligacy, and performance and music, to make bad 

friends, to be lazy and negligent. 22 Buddhist consumer ethics have universality and 

individuality, Buddhism not only resists miserliness and lavishness, but also 

advocates thrift, content, generosity, more provides specific methods for Buddhist 

handling of wealth. 

In Buddhism, wealth comes from good karma by generosity, so it must be 

cherished, namely, “thrift”. Thrift involves not only money, but also cherishing time, 

19 

Fan Hao, The Value Ecology of Ethical Spirit, p.288页。 

20 

[德 ] 弗里德里希 · 包尔生《伦理学体系》,何怀宏、廖申白译,第 460 页。 

21 

[German] Friedrich Paulsen, A System of Ethics, translated by He Huaihong, Liao Shenbai, p.461. 

22 

Dirgha-agama, No. XI, Dazheng Buddhist Scriptures, Vol.1, p. 70 mid & below. 

222


never abuse of feeling, and restraining material desires, all leads to possession of 

wealth. In Singalovada, it is said: “wealth is accumulated from little, like honey 

gathered among flowers, treasures are increased day by day, yet never lost.” 23 In 

order to accumulate huge wealth, one has to cultivate a habit of saving daily, capable 

of accumulating any income little by little, like bees diligently gathering honey 

among flowers, conserving in dribs and drabs. 

Meanwhile, Buddhism proposed “enough as good as a feast” to restrain 

people’s greed to consumption. In The Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, 

it is said: 

In order to break away from sufferings, one should observe content. The 

dharma of content is a basis of richness, happiness and peace. One who is 

content feels happy and peaceful even sleeping on the ground. One who is 

discontent will never feel satisfied even in heaven. One who is discontent is 

rich but feels poor; one who is content is poor but feels rich. One who is 

discontent is always dragged by five desires, a pity in the eye of the content. 

Thus, namely: contentment. 24 

Content means never feel short of any acquisition or regret, never regret is 

the root of keeping the path. Secular sins and life disasters arise from an insatiate 

mind. According to Buddhism, the greatest happiness of life does not lie in how 

much we acquire, but how we cherish the things we do have. “Content is No. 1 

fortune”. People who are content and grateful are the richest in the world. 

Buddhism not only resists miserliness but also advocates “generosity”. 

Generosity arises from compassion and benevolence to others, as well as a social 

responsibility and duty. In Ekottara-agama No. 27 Evil Gathering Chapter, it is said: 

Again, there are five acts of generosity leading to great blessings. What are 

the five? The first is to create a park, the second a grove, the third a bridge, 

the fourth a vessel, and the fifth a dwelling for those who pass by in the 

future. That is the five to give monks great blessings. Then World Honored 

One chanted a hymn: People build gardens and temples to offer quiet and 

cool, build bridges for people across rivers, and build good dwellings. They 

are blessed day and night, and they’ll attain morality and concentration 

achievements and surely be reborn celestial. 25 

23 

Dirgha-agama, No. XI, Dazheng Buddhist Scriptures, Vol.1, p. 72 mid. 

24 

The Sutra of the Buddha’s Bequeathed Teaching. Dazheng Buddhist Scriptures Vol. 12, p.1111 

below. 

25 

Ekottara-agama, No.27, Dazheng Buddhist Scriptures, Vol.2, p.699 above. 

223


“Generosity” such consumption is a public welfare support and care for 

others, which may include to “individual donation” and “non profit individual 

investment” 26 , such as create parks, groves, bridges and roads. 

However generosity should represent benevolence and wisdom, with 

principle of “never worry yourself and others”; meanwhile, pay attention to the 

receiver. Paulsen called care for other’s happiness as “love of friend and neighbor”, 

and pointed out the rule: “this rule is right provided that you never neglect your 

personal problem, or violate the special duty arising from the special relation between 

you and other individual and collective, finally, or weaken the other’s independent 

means.” 27 In Mahayana-naya-sat- paramita-sutra, it is said: people may lose instead 

of benefit from supplying the wicked, like people who feed a savage beast are surely 

injured.” 28 As to the wicked that do evil, we of course should not give up but employ 

an expedient method to redeem them, otherwise, blindly abuse of compassion will 

end in harming yourself and others, and the disaster may exacerbate and even spread 

to the whole society. 

Master Yinshun proposed two wealth consuming principles: the first is 

moderate, neither extravagant nor stingy, the second is to consider both saving and 

expense. 29 So-called to consider both saving and expense means to pay attention to 

proper allocation of legal income and consider all aspects. The Buddha has 

instructions in several sutras. In Samyukta-agama, it is said: 

Beginning to study skills and crafts for the convenience of gathering 

property, you should divide your property into four portions: one for self use, 

two for business, and one for saving against unexpected needs. 30 

In Samyukta-agama, legal wealth acquired by effort should be divided into 

four portions: the first is used for basic necessities of clothing, food, shelter and 

transportation; the second and third are saved for business and further investment, the 

fourth is for saving against unexpected needs. In Parinirvana-sutra, wealth beyond 

basic necessities of life is divided in four portions: 

A wise man that raises a family in a reverent and thrift manner should supply 

four kinds of people and make them happy. The first is to supply his parents, 

wives and children, the second visitors, guests and servants, the third 

relatives and friends, the fourth the king, celestial beings, gods, monks, and 

ascetics. It is so-called with transcendental knowledge of life capable of 

26 

Prof. Li Yining compared individual donation with non profit individual investment, Economic 

Ethical Problems, The Joint Publishing Company, 1995 Version 1, p.186-187. 

27 

[German] Friedrich Paulsen, A System of Ethics, translated by He Huaihong, Liao Shenbai, p.556. 

28 

Mahayana-naya-sat-paramita-sutra, Vol.9, Dazheng Buddhist Scriptures, Vol.8, p. 908 above. 

29 

Yinshun, Buddha in the Human World, The Wonderful-cloud Collection Second Part, Chapter II, 

p.258. 

30 

Samyukta-agama No.48, Dazheng Buddhist Scriptures, Vol.2, p.353 above. 

224


enjoying a good healthy life and raising a family, being competent and goodlooking, 

rich and good famed, surely he’ll ascend celestial after death. 31 

Likewise, in The Mind-observing Sutra in Mahayana Jataka, the fourth 

portion of wealth is divided as: the first portion of treasure is used to bear interests 

and foster the family and business; the second portion for daily necessities; the third 

portion giving to the solitary to cultivate blessings, and the fourth portion to help clan 

relatives, guests and passengers. 32 

From the above mentioned classic wealth treatment, we can see the Buddha’s 

treasuring of consumer ethic, which reflects wholesomeness and rationality of 

Buddhist consumer ethic. It mainly involves: 1 st , management, namely, reinvestment 

of income, thus, wealth can grow accumulatively; 2 nd , expense, namely, frequent 

living expenses, such as clothing, food, shelter and transportation, children’s 

education, support parents, guests and visitors; 3 rd , saving, mainly for unexpected 

needs such as medical insurance, and endowment insurance; 4 th , blessings, repay the 

society to increase good karma, such as public welfare- culture, compassion relief, 

and Buddhists are also obliged to supply the triple gems. 

From thrift, content, generosity and specific method of wealth allocation of 

“sufficient economy”, we can see universality and individuality between Buddhist 

consumer ethic and secular consumer ethic, which reflects Buddhist wisdom in 

wealth and particular religious meaning. 

IV. Conclusion: 

Although the Buddhist supramundane tradition in history was endowed more 

rationalization and secularization under the influence of the dhyana sect’s 

“engagement” and the “mundane Buddhism” during the period of the Republic of 

China, in face of the world economic development, globalization and modernization 

sweeping worldwide, what a “religious force” should modern Buddhism provide to 

economic development? Conversely, what a role should Buddhism play in the course 

of economic globalization? 

This financial crisis provides an opportunity for our constructing and promoting 

“Buddhist sufficient economy”. We absorb wisdom of Buddhist economic ethic from 

all Buddhist periods of history, which mainly come from original Buddhist scriptures, 

to restructure Buddhist occupational ethic and consumer ethic. Wish beginning with 

31 

Parinirvana-sutra, Part I, Dazheng Buddhist Scriptures, Vol.1, p. 183 above. 

32 

The Mind-observing Sutra in Mahayana Jataka Vol.4, Dazheng Buddhist Scriptures, Vol.3, p. 310 

above. 

225


Buddhist sufficient economy, more contributions and thoughts of Buddhist economic 

ethic will be made. 

226

Buddhism and the Economics of Mind 

227 

Levente Szabados 

In the last approximately 18 months – mainly since the accumulation of 

deep pressures resulting in the so called “subprime mortgage” crisis back in 2007 

– it is commonplace to talk about global recession and the crisis of economies, 

which according to more and more experts in the field shows a much deeper 

movement and maybe lead to the reorganization of global relations. Whether this 

is the case, and we face fundamental changes (such as the introduction of a new 

global reserve currency recently proposed by China 33 ), or it is just a kind of 

temporal disorder, and the current financial system will continue to function is a 

complex and multi layered question. What is more important while thinking about 

the structure of the current situation is the fact that a definite and ever growing 

“crisis consciousness” is present. 34 

As scholars rooted in Buddhist tradition we are challenged to focus our 

attention to this kind of “consciousness”, and to think over the implications which 

follow from the view of “minds in crisis”. 

The Basis of Examination: 

In spite of the fact that there are multiple approaches economists can take 

in analyzing recession, or even to point out its existence – such as the rule 

according to which the US economy is in recession if the growth of GDP is 

negative in two consecutive quarters – for our purposes the appropriate point of 

departure will be the price action of stock and foreign exchange markets in 

general, and especially the interpretation of these movements in frames of 

economic theories. Let us first shortly survey the basics of price formation on 

these open markets. 

As we all know, the formation of prices of individual stocks, currencies, 

derivatives or any kind of financial instruments is based on the realized 

transactions between individual parties – buyers and sellers – whether they be 

individual small investors, institutions, national banks or other kind of entities. 

The individual decisions of these entities to buy or sell certain instruments is the 

33 For more details see the report of the Financial Times at 

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7851925a-17a211de-8c9d-0000779fd2ac.html 

34 It would be a quite challenging study to survey the change in the frequency of words like 

“meltdown”, “crisis” and so on in the mass media to point out the arising of “crisis consciousness”.


basis of price formation, and thus it has been the subject of multiple intensive 

studies of economists. This led to the formation of diverse views about price 

formation and the behavior of markets in general. 

The View of “Efficient Markets”: 

One of the most influential views about market price action is the so 

called model of “efficient markets” elaborated in an increasingly complex form by 

the work of Eugene Fama. 35 

This theory – whilst distinguishing three different modes or “layers” of 

efficiency – is based on the assumption that all (or increasingly more and more) 

information concerning the different stocks or assets are available for the 

investors, so that they can base their decisions on pieces of information which are 

“external” to the markets. (Beside the fact that transaction costs are also 

decreasing.) Thus the movement of markets is – from an inner perspective - a 

“random walk” of prices only determined by the so called fundamental factors. 

This view assumes that investors are: 

1. Individual, what in this context means that they only take into account 

the maximalization of their own profits and so act as absolutely 

separated entities “communicating” only via news and prices. 

2. Objective in their decision, which is to say they evaluate the quickly, 

“efficiently” distributed fundamental data according to the same 

economic principles, so they will arrive at the same conclusions. 

These foundations lead to the conclusion that price action is unpredictable 

from previous price data – since every information is “priced in” in an effective 

and uniform manner, and the external factors – like corporate news or political 

events – are only random constraints for the prices. 

The further models based on the efficient market hypothesis – like the so 

called Capital Assets Pricing Model (CAPM) 36 or its “counterpart” the Fama- 

French three factor model strongly emphasizes individual, objective decisions and 

consequently a kind of randomness and short term unpredictability with long term 

equilibrium in view. 

35 See Eugene Fama: Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Theory and Empirical Work, 

Journal of Finance, May 1970 and other works. 

36 About the development of the modell see “The Treynor Capital Asset Pricing Model” by Craig 

W. French Journal of Investment Management, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 60-72, 2003 

228

Behavioral finance: 


In spite of the dominance of “efficient market thinking” from the 60's 

onwards there has been growing evidence that the models based on Fama's work 

are not complete, since more and more data has been gathered to show effects 

which are significant, but are only treatable in the above mentioned frames as 

anomalies. 37 

On this basis more and more economic research has been conducted to 

analyze the decision making processes of investors. Thus models like “prospect 

theory” and a whole new fields of research has been developed, which deal with 

the problem of how the psychological factors of investors exercise a strong role in 

their decisions about taking up market positions. 

With the growing importance of research in the field of behavioral finance 

it became more and more evident that the view of investors as fully rational 

“computing machines”, who determine their actions on the basis of strict and 

objective principles is at least “suspicious”, and even in the longer term 

psychological factors are significant. The tendency of investors to “overvalue” or 

“undervalue” assets is strong enough to cause significant differences in the returns 

of portfolios. 38 Thus this model attacks one of the pillars of the efficient market 

view, since it shows how the objective decision making procedure is influenced 

by psychology. Strangely enough, this kind of “subjectivist” turn reinforces the 

question – which was buried under the influence of efficient market thinking – 

that future price action can be to some extent predictable if there is a way to give 

an account of the psychological factors influencing decision making. 

Individualism: 

At this point it is important to draw attention to the fact that both 

approaches still have some common presumptions, which happen to be strongly 

dependent on the basic assumptions of economics and western culture in general. 

If we examine the above described theories from a wider angle, we will realize 

that the basic notion of an independent individual, the prototype of “homo 

37 The details of the arguments against efficient market hypothesis and the history of it’s 

development I've used the work of György Komáromi ”A hatékony piacok elméletének elméleti és 

gyakorlati relevanciája” in Közgazdasági Szemle XLIX., May 2002, but see also Bloomfield, Robert 

(2008). "behavioral finance." The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. 

38 De Bondt, W. F. M.–Thaler, R. [1985]: Does the Stock Market Overreact? Journal of Finance, 

40(3) 793–805. pp 

229


oeconomicus” remains unchanged in the background of them, acting as a kind of 

unreflected foundation. 39 

The view of “economic man” (a kind of “prototype”) looks at the 

participants of economy – in this case the investors – as totally individual entities 

with closed, well distinguishable boundaries, as “boxes” who act on their own 

behalf for their own goals, to maximize their own profits. They are only capable 

of taking their own advantage as the highest goal, and furthermore they are, in a 

way separate, discrete units. 

In this description it is not very difficult to realize that this image of 

human nature is not just the view of economics, but it is deeply based on the tacit 

theoretical foundation pervading our whole western culture: the strict 

boundedness and solid individuality of persons. 

If we try to analyze this tacit foundation, suddenly the notions and 

intellectual achievements of Buddhist tradition come into play. 

Buddhism and economics: 

As we know quite well, the scholarly works approaching the problems of 

modern economies and societies from a Buddhist standpoint are strongly growing 

in numbers and significance. Much fruitful effort has been spent to introduce the 

possibilities the Buddhist tradition can open up in viewing economic activity. 

(Just take for example the influential writings of E. F. Schumacher 40 , or Lászlo 

Zsolnai 41 .) 

One of the main points these approaches make in constructing Buddhist 

economics is to draw attention to an alternative approach which could be taken in 

thinking about economic behavior, and thus how a change in attitudes and 

practices could be initiated to achieve the goals of sustainable development, and a 

more humanistic way of life. 

Though the merits of this kind of work are extremely deep, we now take a 

slightly different, more indirect approach, in which we would like to use the 

conceptual framework supplied by the Buddhist tradition to think over basic 

assumptions of economics when it examines financial markets in their “natural” 

39 About the characteristics of the “economic man” see John B. Cobb Jr. - Herman Daly: For the 

common good, Beacon Press, Boston, 1989 pp 85-97. 

40 E. F. Schumacher: Buddhist economics in Asia: A Handbook, Anthony Blond Ltd., London, 

1966, or other works collected in Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, Harper 

Perennial, London, 1989 

41 Laszlo Zsolnai et al. (ed.): Business within limits: Deep ecology and Buddhist economics, 

Peter Lang Publishing, Bern, 2005 

230


form (that means descriptively). We will do this not to directly influence the 

ethics of the discipline, but to point out possibilities inside the frames of its own 

research program and draw attention to some interesting questions. 

Problem of the “individual”: 

As far as we have seen, the pillars of the current market models stand 

firmly on the ground of the view of a well definable individual entity, or to 

(hopefully validly) theorize: on an individual “soul” in a certain meaning. 

The economic human – and the human of modern liberal democracies in 

general – is someone who has a well defined and protected autonomy of being a 

distinct individual, and thus for being the lord of his/her own decisions. 

The considerations of behavioral finance – which are in strong correlation 

with the advancement of psychology – are somewhat undermining this later 

characteristic, but only partially. If we take into account the notions of Buddhist 

thinking, the problem gets more depth. 

On the one hand, we can consider the critical or negating aspects based on 

the core teachings of Buddha Sakyamuni. The most basic foundation of Buddhism 

is the doctrine of no-self (anattā), which is a radical critique – on an empirical 

basis – of our common notion of self as a discrete, solid and substantial entity. 

The deep analysis of the Buddha aims to destroy our fixation to think of ourselves 

as a non-composed, eternal and distinct entity. The Buddha analyzes the processes 

of experience in terms of five aggregates (for example in the Phena Sutta 42 ) or six 

sensory fields (as in. the Saḷāyatanavibhaṅga Sutta 43 ), and shows that no 

fundamental unity can be shown in what we consider as a self, since it is only a 

temporal collection of aggregates, or – what is more relevant to our considerations 

– of momentary factors of mental experience. This kind of presentation lays 

strong emphasis on the question of WHAT it is really that causes the arising of 

moments of mental experience. Is it really the case that an individual inner unity 

leads us to draw conclusions or make decisions? 

But when there is no such solid self as a basis for decision making, what 

does this mean to us? What is then the source for these activities? On the next, 

more constructive level Buddhist thought leads us – in the form of codependent 

origination (paticcasamuppāda) – to some new insights. The teachings elaborate 

42 SN 22.95 

43 MN. 137. 

231


in detail how certain states – as birth aging and death – are built up from causes 

and conditions, and how the cessation of these causes can lead to liberation. 

If we consider the implications further, we find that beside the possibility 

to interpret the twelve nidānas of codependent origination as the framework in 

which the cycle of human suffering is portrayed as three consecutive lives (where 

ignorance and volitional action constitute a prior existence, and birth decay-agingdeath 

form a future life) there is the possibility to see all actual mental states as 

resulting from this kind of chain of conditioning. 

We can broaden our perspective even more, and consider the teaching of 

“codependent origination” as a wider concept, showing us that like the “net of 

Indra”, all phenomena are constituted as “reflections” of innumerable other 

phenomena. That is to say, they constitute a vast network of codependent units, in 

which the parts and subnetworks exhibit emergent properties causing the effect 

we falsely attribute to “selves”. 44 

This also sheds a different light on mental processes in general. If we take 

– as the researcher of cognitive sciences Francisco Várela in his groundbreaking 

work “Embodied mind” 45 did – our own mental constitution as a result of a 

network of codependent factors we will be easily inclined to allow some kind of 

loosening of the strict boundaries of self and allow for more open views. 

As a final step, let us consider the possibility that the different units 

(individuals) can exercise some influence on each other. That is to say, the 

process of their constitution, the generation of their current states actively 

involves other individuals. Their own view is partly the view of all others. 

This line of thinking can also be traced – albeit in a quite peculiar form – 

inside the Buddhist tradition. Let us take for example the work of Dharmakīrti: 

Saṃtānāntara-siddhi 46 , in which the author – while his argument is focused on a 

somewhat different topic – elaborates a view, in which the influences of minds on 

each other are mutually causing important properties of their experience, thus a 

kind of collective cognition takes place. 

Bearing such views in mind let us return to our main topic: the formation 

of open market prices by the investors and participants. 

44 It is well worth noting that this view of phenomena as networks with emergent properties can 

be well brought in to paralellism with the metaphysics of A. N. Whitehead (take for example the notion 

of “prehension”) as well as his criticism of the byproducts of scientific methods, the so called 

“misplaced concreteness” what can be well demonstrated with the above mentioned notion of homo 

oeconomicus as absolute individual. 

45 Várela-Thompson-Rosch: “The embodied mind – Cognitive science and human experience”, 

MIT Press, Cambridge, 1993 

46 English translation in: Thomas E. Woods: Mind only, Motilala Banarsidass Publishers Private 

Limited, Delhi, 1994 

232

Price action and cognition: 


So what is the relevance of the above summarized concepts of Buddhism 

in considering the investment decisions of market participants, and what is the 

possible benefit of applying these notions to the economic field? 

To the first question the answer should be that these considerations can 

possibly broaden the field of behavioral finance, since they remove a tacit 

conceptual barrier, namely our tendency to analyze investor decisions as 

individual acts and open the field for the notion of stock market movements as 

acts of collective cognition. 

At first glance this proposal may sound quite strange, since we are all 

used to thinking of market participants as individuals acting from self interest, and 

not as a complex network of interconnected “nodes”, who as a whole constitute an 

enormous net of collective co-dependence. 

It is not just so that our individual psychology can influence our 

decisions. No. It is quite well possible that our collective attitudes exercise a 

significant influence on our mere perception of facts, and thus, when we act 

according to our perceptions, we become part of a feedback mechanism that 

generates “trends”, strong tendencies in price movements. If we also take account 

of the considerations surrounding feedback mechanisms, especially the notion of 

so called “deviance amplification” of “second cybernetics” 47 we can get a picture 

about the possibilities of such feedback. (In accordance with the principles of 

“second cybernetics” deviance amplifying processes, distributed networks, for 

example, can produce effects quite out of proportion with the original causes. This 

means that they can “magnify” the effects to whole new scales.) The question 

remains whether the application of such a model in economics is possible? 

Wave theory: 

At this point it is well worth noting that such model does exist, albeit it 

has only a quite marginal position in economic thinking. This is maybe because it 

requires loosening our image of discrete acting entities and objective decisions, 

which can be a great challenge. 

In light of the above elaborated scheme, the work of Ralph Nelson Elliott 

definitely deserves to be mentioned. The researcher who back in the 30-ies 

47 See for example the work of Magoroh Maruyama: The second cybernetics –Deviation 

amplifying mutual causal processes, American Scientist 1963 5:2, pp. 164--179. 

233


collected and analyzed massive amounts of market data found some recurring 

schemes in the graphical presentation of prices which – according to his 

conclusions – formed a kind of rhythm or pattern that could be traced in different 

kinds of equities and assets, and thus made it possible to generalize a scheme for 

market movements. This is called the Elliot Wave theory. 

Though it was based on a broad empirical analysis, the findings of Elliott 

lacked a well founded theoretical background. The strong notion of market 

participants as discrete rational entities prevented the formation of such 

grounding, and thus his wave theory had little influence on the mainstream of 

economic thought. 

Later Robert Prechter, who picked up the work of Elliott and tried to 

anchor his findings in a more solid ground, advocated that the trend waves of 

Elliott should constitute a kind of pattern that is the consequence (and realized 

form) of collective social action. With a different expression he even called it 

“social mood”. 48 

To be able to make such a bold step, we have to consider the point 

emphasized before: that our basic world view and education strengthens our 

tendency to think in isolated and autonomous units. Thus we strongly feel that any 

kind of connection between the entities – whether they be of any kind – needs to 

be proved with strong arguments. To formulate it more clearly: we feel that 

separateness is the “default state” of existence, and connection is something 

requiring addition. Thus we are hard pressed to find – mostly resulting from our 

own predispositions – connections strong enough for us to be acceptable. 49 But if 

we consider research done in the field of so called ‘weak links’ by the researchers 

Péter Csermely and Albert-László Barabási, we will find some examples that can 

move us towards a more open stance with regard to the interconnectedness of 

phenomena. 50 

If we accept this kind of generalization, we will consider prices as 

patterns of collective actions, the mutual influence of the participants of markets 

on each other. Further on we can also try to think of the network of participants as 

48 For the details see Robert R. Prechter:The Elliott wave principle, and the new science of 

socionomics 

, New Classics Library, Gainsville, 1999 

49 About the comparison of causal theories and the basic disposition of “separated view” see also 

the work of Joanna Macy: The Dharma of natural systems – Mutual causality in Buddhism and general 

systems theory, SUNY Press, New York, 1991 

50 For more details see the works: Albert-László Barabási: Linked – the new science of 

networks, Basic Books, New York, 2002, and Péter Csermely: Weak Links: Stabilizers of Complex 

Systems from Proteins to Social Networks, Springer, Boston, 2006 

234


a nexus, which can be viewed as something giving rise to emergent patterns 51 (and 

not merely as an aggregation of simple components). Accepting this opens up a 

quite different view and with it, some new possibilities. 

Practical applications: 

But apart from a mere intellectual experiment or a new viewpoint, what 

kind of practical benefit can it bring us to change our stance towards the models 

of price actions? 

The first and most obvious advantage in the gradual buildup of such a 

model could be the inclusion of the results of Elliott's work, which – according to 

Prechter 52 - may open up the possibility of a more detailed analysis and prediction 

of prices based on the patterns of social actions. 

In second place – also based on Prechter's work – we would consider the 

possibility to use stock market prices (as exact, readily available and voluminous 

data samples based on a vast interconnected activity) to analyze the trends of 

society in large, or to put it more clearly: to realize, how “crisis consciousness” 

and the actual actions correlate. 

This is also the point where the Buddhist tradition can again play an 

important role. Let us consider the possibility that market trends are based on the 

collective actions of participants, which further on depend upon the “social mood” 

(that is to say on the amplified basic impulses with which the participants 

influence each-other and generate the trend). We will find that our own notions 

about randomness of prices or about the strong isolation and independence of 

individuals can hinder us in realizing the situation. It is in this case obvious that 

the teachings and practices of Buddhism can provide some aid, since the tradition 

of open-ended reflection 53 , which is based on the acceptance of interconnected 

plurality, is one of the most rigorous methodical approaches capable of correcting 

the distortions hindering insight. 

With this the notion of the importance of “market psychology” gains a 

new importance, and a new topic of research: on the one hand the question of 

psychological influences on price action can acquire a collective dimension. They 

51 Just as the “enactive cognitive model” of Várela looks at the network of simple neural 

components as a structure from which complexity can arise as an emergent property. 

52 

See his above mentioned work. 

53 

Term borrowed from Várela to denote the “mindfullness-awareness” (satipatthāna-vipassanā) 

tradition. 

235


could no longer be treated as functions of individuals, adding considerations about 

emergent patterns and group dynamics to the picture. On the other hand the 

perspectives of inner reflection can also be brought into play, adding a new 

dimension (with the terms of Várela “first person methodology”) to economics as 

well. Hopefully this kind of development can lead to beneficial changes in the 

topics of economical ethics emphasized by Buddhist economic studies. 

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237

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