{"id":43241,"date":"2015-04-18T14:04:21","date_gmt":"2015-04-18T21:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=43241"},"modified":"2015-04-18T14:04:21","modified_gmt":"2015-04-18T21:04:21","slug":"a-compassionate-constitution-for-sri-lanka-based-on-dasa-rajadhamma-some-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2015\/04\/18\/a-compassionate-constitution-for-sri-lanka-based-on-dasa-rajadhamma-some-comments\/","title":{"rendered":"A Compassionate Constitution for Sri Lanka based on Dasa Rajadhamma – some comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Mario Perera, Kadawata<\/em><\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The core recommendations of Mr.Weeraratne were already laid down by King Devanam Piyatissa who stated that this land belongs to all living creatures, be they birds, fish, or the jungle denizens. This statement is furthermore carved out in rock. The king also stated that he was the TRUSTEE of the land. He did not beat his breast crying out MAGEY, MAGEY, MAGEY. The trustee of a property is NOT its owner. The owners are all the living sentient beings that inhabit that land. The land is entrusted to the Trustee to read, spell out and accomplish the wishes of the owners. Our present rulers have drifted far away from that ancient wisdom, a wisdom which surely is not somebody else\u2019s grandfathers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The foundation and the soul of this country is its Buddhist heritage. It is not a museum piece but a reality interwoven with the history and destiny of the country. The problem I confront has certainly nothing to do with the enshrining in the constitution of the protection of the Buddha Sasana, its preservation and fostering.\u00a0 It has to do rather with the Dasa Raja dharma. What is it precisely? This question must be answered before it is judged as deemed fit in governance. How is it different from the core of Buddhist teaching? If it is the same, then it is redundant: if redundant then superfluous.<\/p>\n

The Lord Buddha\u2019s teaching is an all encompassing philosophy, moral and religious. It is all encompassing in that it leaves out nothing with regard to the way, the truth and the life of man both as an individual and with regard to his social commitments. Then what lacuna can the Dasa Raja Dharma fill? Further the article states that the Dasa Raja Dharma is also enshrined in the Indian constitution. The religion of India is Hinduism. Now this same Dasa Raja dharma is proposed also as the base for the Sri Lanka constitution in spite of Sri Lanka being Buddhist. If it is equally applicable to a Hindu as well as to a Buddhist country, then it contains nothing specific for us.<\/p>\n

It would certainly be an aberration to, to turn (our) back on the wisdom of our ancestors on questions of governance and instead turn to the wisdom of somebody else\u2019s grandfathers wholesale for new directions.\u201d This statement however raises inevitable questions. The wisdom of our ancestors on questions of governance are as valid today as they then were. The problem then is not that wisdom but its application especially given the continuous radical changes in progress in our society affecting both its moral and physical environment?<\/p>\n

Yet again ancient wisdom in spite of its modern relevance would be ineffective if the legal systems have undergone radical changes with time. Anyone who has studied law in this country would know the very little place accorded to our ancient legal systems. They have long disappeared leaving only skeletons in the cupboards. All that a law student is taught is indeed the wisdom of somebody else\u2019s grandfathers\u201d, and the machinery to implement that particular wisdom. The machinery adapted to that ancient legal system was geared to give full weight to that ancient wisdom. In contrast today\u2019s legal systems, while paying lip service to that ancient wisdom is overburdened with other considerations that undermine the ancient wisdom. If this country is to give full weight to that ancient wisdom them the present legal system has to be overhauled completely and a new one put in its place. Not only that, but also the physical, social and moral environment would have to be overhauled and replaced as well. Not only can new wine not be put in old wine skins but old wine too would not be compatible with new wine skins.<\/p>\n

This consideration is applicable also to the traditional religion. That it is has to be enshrined, safeguarded, fostered and promoted is a categorical imperative. But as long as it remains as old wine in old wine skins it will remain ineffective in the modern context. How else can one explain the rampant and snow balling criminality and unprecedented corruption in a country such as ours that is founded, grounded with a wholesale commitment to the Buddhist doctrine, framed in by monastic orders, temples and rites and ceremonies galore. How can one explain our servile acceptance of the wisdom of somebody else\u2019s grandfathers\u201d which holds us down as a subjugated nation? All this simply means is that our traditional perennial religion is not taught and inculcated in a manner that it motivates us as a nation to vie for economic prosperity and material wealth. Our religion continues to bombard us with the message that greed and desire are to be shunned, while at the same time condoning the dispatching of our women to Arab countries to become the objects of their greed, desire and lust. These women as all know and accept, are the backbone of our economy. While preaching that tanha begets suffering, we expose the most fragile element of our society, our women, to the violent tanha of Arabs to draw in the financial benefits of the suffering imposed on them. This is disgusting hypocrisy. How can this hypocrisy have any truck with our ancient wisdom? We export our women totally against our ancient wisdom, complying with a wisdom which is somebody else\u2019s grandfathers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The constitution must do honour to our perennial religion and so it will be. But society does not honour it by abiding within its precepts? Herein lies the contradiction. We are more concerned by the formalities while the realities remain untouched. Nothing heralds any change in this situation which puts the religion enshrined in the constitution to derision as being sterile. Yet how gladly we harp on our ancient history and our incomparable religion?<\/p>\n

Now coming to the comments of Stephen B Young with reference to the Thai constitution. It is well known that the two pillars on which the Thai constitution rests are the monarchy and the military. Whatever be the clauses written into the Thai constitution, if in the normal running of the political machinery anything is suspected of undermining the Monarchy, then immediately and almost automatically the military intervenes and takes over the machinery of government. Whatever be the core moral principles inscribed into that constitution, be they Buddhist of Dasa Raja Dharma the monarchy and the military have the final say and way. The question of perpetual tutelage to the West or its permanent monopoly on truth and justice totally lose their relevance and significance when confronted with these two ineluctable pillars of Thai governance.<\/p>\n

Stephen Young recommends that \u2018A good constitution should be designed for the future as architecture, not as interior design for a particular temporary occupant\u2019. The question of a particular temporary occupant does not rise in Thailand,\u00a0 because the Thai government has an immovable permanent occupant\u2026the King zealously guarded by his guardian deities, the military.<\/p>\n

In the concluding paragraph of his inspiring article Stephen Young says: In planning their own constitutional future, Thais should take a stand on the best of their traditions and values. Sufficiency economy principles and the related principles of good public trusteeship contained in the Dasa Rajadhamma principles are valuable intellectual resources for a good constitution for Thailand.\u201d All this is nothing but sterile wistful thinking.<\/p>\n

A Compassionate Constitution<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The recognition and the claims of other living beings for compassion and appropriate consideration from human beings, and the protection of their legal rights…the advocacy on behalf of these suffering and unrepresented interests\u2026the concept of \u2018Ahimsa\u2019\u2026the Fundamental Duties\u2019 of every Citizen \u2018to protect and improve the environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures\u2019 are not only very valid but must also be considered as imperatives. This is the responsibility of the State. Yet all this, which no doubt is ancient wisdom, has to rely on a legal and constitutional system that is the wisdom of somebody else\u2019s grandfathers\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the final analysis, we are confronted with two wisdoms, the one we consider to be ancient but is fruitless and sterile, and another wisdom which he vehemently decry as the wisdom of somebody else\u2019s grandfathers\u201d which nevertheless rules the roost and with which we comply to the hilt for our economic gain while hiding our heads like ostriches.<\/p>\n

Mario Perera<\/p>\n

Kadawata<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mario Perera, Kadawata The core recommendations of Mr.Weeraratne were already laid down by King Devanam Piyatissa who stated that this land belongs to all living creatures, be they birds, fish, or the jungle denizens. This statement is furthermore carved out in rock. The king also stated that he was the TRUSTEE of the land. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mario-perera"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43241\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}