Fairness and Peace

For society to become peaceful, each unit within society has to become peaceful. To the Vajjian republic, the Buddha gave the following advise:

As long as they maintain their unity and meet regularly, they will remain invincible.
As long as they meet together in unity, rise in unity and perform their duties in unity, they will remain invincible.
As long as they do not transgress their ancient principles of good governance and their system of justice, they will remain invincible.
As long as they revere, respect, venerate, and honour their elders and pay regard to their words, they will remain invincible.
As long as they protect their women and children, they will remain invincible.
As long as they venerate the objects of worship inside and outside their republic, and maintain monetary support for them, they will remain invincible.

There were many different sects and traditions in those days as now, with their own temples and places of worship. Wisdom lies in keeping ALL people happy and satisfied. None should be subject to harassment, which would only serve to make them become enemies of the favoured. All places of worship should receive adequate protection and respect. The rulers must provide protection and support to saintly people irrespective of their faiths. A good moral person is a good moral person irrespective of his religious label.

This wise counsel of the Buddha is badly needed today to maintain peace and harmony.

The Buddha's commitment to ideal republican virtues is strong. In the Maha-parinibbana-sutta, Ajatasastru, the King of Maganda, wishes to destroy the Vajjian confederacy (the Licchavis) and sends a minister, Vassakara the Brahman, to the Buddha to ask his advice. Will his attack be a success?

Rather than answer directly, the Buddha speaks to Ananda:

"Have you heard, Ananda, that the Vajjians hold full and frequent public assemblies?"

"Lord, so I have heard," replied he.

"So long, Ananda," rejoined the Blessed One, "as the Vajjians hold these full and frequent public assemblies; so long may they be expected not to decline, but to prosper...”

The Buddha saw the virtues necessary for a righteous and prosperous community, whether secular or monastic, as being much the same. Foremost among those virtues was the holding of “full and frequent assemblies.”

In this, the Buddha spoke for justice, democracy and virtue. He promoted a democratic system of administration well before the Westminister model, in that he argued for a wide rather than narrow distribution of political rights, and government by discussion rather than by command and submission, the mechanism being the parliament of full and frequent assemblies.

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