Pragmatic approach to Buddhist ethics and economics

The Role of Morality in Economics
Author: Buddhadasa Hewavitharana
Emeritus Professor of Economics
Published by Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies,
University of Peradeniya, 2006

Review: David Kalupahana
Emeritus Professor of Philosophy
University of Hawaii, Honolulu

ECONOMICS: This is a short but excellent essay by Professor Hewavitharana, who spent most of his life teaching and researching in the area of economics. The economics he taught and researched was primarily the science developed for centuries in the Western world.

It is only a person with such training that can take an inside critical look at the subject. Very often people from non-Western traditions, who would undertake a study of a subject that is primarily the product of the Western system of thinking, tend to accept blindly most of the ideas propounded in that tradition.

They are even prone to consider those ideas as being sacred, since they are supposed to reflect the so-called scientific approach. One good example I can quote in this connection is one of my own teachers, the late Professor K. N. Jayatilleke.

After receiving a first-class degree in Indo-Aryan from the University of Ceylon, which included the study of Sinhala, Pali and Sanskrit, Prof. Jayatilleke joined the Cambridge University to follow a course in philosophy leading to another first degree called Tripos in Moral Science.

This was the time when he was admitted to the classes conducted by the famous Ludwig Wittgenstein. Jayatilleke was so impressed by the ideas expressed by Wittgenstein that he concluded his own treatise on Buddhism, the Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge, with a quotation, which was also the conclusion of Wittgenstein’s own work, A Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.

Jayatilleke’s indebtedness to Western philosophy was so great that he insisted on the need to specialize in Western philosophy and logic in order to understand the doctrines of the Buddha.

As someone who disagreed with the ideas expressed by Jayatilleke, I am happy to be in the company of Professor Hewavitharana, my former colleague and friend, who has divested himself completely from every idea expressed by the Western economists and who has emphasized the significance of the Buddha’s moral philosophy as a better foundation for economic reflections.

It is commendable that he has been provided with an opportunity to do precisely this by the recently formed Peradeniya University-based Society for the Integration of Science and Human Values (SISHVa) whose objective is to investigate into ways and means of bridging the undesirable gulf between the sciences and human values.

In this context the present volume which attempts to investigate the conditioning of economic activities according to Buddhist moral teachings rightfully deserves the place it has earned as the very first publication of this Society as SISHVa Publications No. I.

Do good

Professor Hewavitharana hits the nail right on its head when he observes that the Buddhist ethical principle is “do good to oneself without harming others and do good to others as well” (p.7).

Even though the Buddha is well-known for his vehement denial of a metaphysical self (atma) in a human person, which was looked upon as being permanent and eternal, he never denied the psychophysical personality (namarupa) that constituted an empirical self (atta), which is both impermanent and dependently arisen. Thus he was able to lay out the foundation of his philosophy that combined morals and economics with the statement:

“One should not neglect one’s own welfare through excessive altruism. Having understood one’s own welfare, one ought to pursue the genuine welfare.”

(Atta-d-attham paratthena

bahuna pi na hapaye

atta-d-attham abhinnaya

sadatthapasuto siya).

(Dhammapada 166).

The term attha, which I have translated as “welfare,” can also be found used in the specific sense of “economic welfare,” especially when coupled with the term dhamma, implying “morality.”

Thus we have the conception of a universal monarch (cakka-vatti), proposed by the Buddha, who admonishes his subjects regarding economic and moral welfare (attha-dhamma-sahitam pure giram erayam bahujanam nidamsayi) (Digha-nikaya, PTS ed. 3. 155).

No one can deny that this was the tank and dagaba culture, enthusiastically followed by the ancient kings of Sri Lanka, which made this one of the most prosperous countries in the ancient world, and which has been ridiculed by some of our modern-day sociologists and anthropologists, is based entirely on the Buddha’s message regarding economics and morals.

Excessive altruism

Furthermore, when the Buddha stated that one should not neglect one’s own welfare for the sake of excessive altruism, he was not recommending that one should be selfish. On the contrary, one needs to pursue the genuine welfare (sadattha), which includes one’s own welfare and the welfare of others.

At the same time, unlike the Western economists who either emphasized the welfare of the majority to the neglect of the minority, as in democracy and its progeny, capitalism, or to the welfare of society to the neglect of the individual, as in communism, the Buddha was a pragmatist, not planning to save the entire humankind.

His words to the first sixty disciples, after they attained enlightenment and freedom, echo this pragmatism as well as his compassion for all human beings.

“Monks, go on tours for the sake of the welfare of the majority (bahujanahitaya), for the sake of the happiness of the majority (bahujanasukhaya), through compassion for the world (lokanukampaya), for the good, the welfare, and happiness of gods and humans (atthaya hitaya sukhaya devamanussanam)” (Vinaya Pitaka, PTS ed. 1. 21).

Professor Hewavitharana makes an excellent effort to cull out the basic teachings of the Buddha as they are relevant, especially to his ideas about economics. (As I understand, on pages 11-14, the editors have unwittingly mixed up the summarized “left side” and “right side” coloumn-wise depiction of a balanced development intended by the author, resulting in some confusion in the presentation).

Professor Hewavitharana first outlines the basic features of what he calls the moral and spiritual processes. Then aligns them with the economic processes. After that he focuses on the cultivation of the four positive virtues of friendliness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity, the four ways of the higher life (brahmavihara) recommended by the Buddha.

The outlines of these processes and principles are then followed by the detailed analyses that bring out the genuine character of the Buddha’s moral teachings and their relevance to organizing one’s own personal life and social behavior for the betterment of oneself and the society.

Pragmatic approach

The pragmatic approach of Buddhist ethics in conducting the day-to-day economic life has been explained by Professor Hewavitharana as no one has done ever before. Even simple issues like the harmful effects of tobacco, issues that have come to the forefront during the last few decades in the Western world, attract the attention of the author.

We are indebted to him for the large number of issues that he examines in a short essay like the present one.

It has the potential of being the basis of a full-fledged treatise on Buddhist economics, and the reviewer wishes that Professor Hewavitharana, who has a thorough understanding of modern economics and is a genuine servant of the Enlightened One (buddhadasa), will undertake such a task for the benefit of everyone interested in a tradition that is unsurpassed (anuttara) in the world.

One way of improving this well thought out essay is by emphasizing the central conception in Buddhism, namely, “dependent arising” (paticcasamuppada).

Indeed, Professor Hewavitharana’s arguments will be strengthened if he were to utilize this doctrine to indicate the mutual dependence of the individual and society well as the natural phenomena that the individual and society utilize in making life more comfortable and successful.

One technical problem that can be overcome in a future publication is the elimination of the absolutely unnecessary bold prints combined with the underscoring of section headings.

These could be replaced by simple italics. Finally the references to the Pali texts, whether they are to those of the editions of the Pali Text Society of London, or to any other edition easily available to the Sinhala reader, should be very specific. Without the page numbers, the reader is left in the lurch when the references are to, for example, D I, D II, or D III.

Glimpses of village life through folk tales

Sri Lankan Folk Tales for Suren and Amrit
Author: Nanda P. Wanasundera
Illustrated by Panchali Ellepole
Vishva Lekha Publication
Price: Rs. 300

Review: Vijita Fernando

FOLKLORE: The perennial role of grandmothers as story tellers is becoming a serious chore these days. Story tellers - be they grandparents or parents - are taking their task more seriously than ever before.

Nor are their young listeners satisfied with sleeping beauty or the exploits of Saradiel any more. And when they beg for more it often becomes an impossible task to dig deep into ageing minds and come up with stories that hold and sustain their interest. Delving into indigenous folklore is therefore to dig into an almost never ending source of rich material to satisfy both narrator and listener.

This is what Nanda Wanasundera - teacher, librarian, newspaper columnist and creative writer - has done to assuage the appetites of two growing grandchildren, Suren and Amrit. There is an added interest in her search as the two boys live abroad and are somewhat divorced from their own culture and traditions.

In this context, the exploits of Gamarala and his unbelievable efforts to get to heaven, especially to children living in this technologically advanced age gets added interest. Andare is the perennial joker, when he manufactures ruses to eat the sugar in the palace grounds or his methods of appeasing his enormous appetite.

There are many others, the sharp shooting Vedda, the treacherous princess, the forest spirit versus the chena cultivator, to draw interest from.

What is significant in this collection is that it goes beyond providing interest. There is an element of providing information through the stories, though this is never obvious or patent.

The traditional knowledge and beliefs of Sri Lanka which were originally passed through generations orally include folk tales, fables, legends, myths, poems and songs. These differ somewhat in presentation. Folk tales being fictional tales while myths are tales of heroes and gods and fables are more surrealistic tales conveying a lesson.

Adventures

As folk tales deal with human beings and their adventures, replete with anecdotes and plenty of honour, as well as customs and beliefs, they provide light-hearted entertainment to children.

What the author has found from this welter of information is that folk tales were related to children by grandmothers, usually. Some of the stories in this collection, she says, were stories her mother related to her. And she takes delight in passing them to her own grandchildren with the hope that they will start with these few and go on to read more and glean information about their country.

They will certainly find typical village characters who are alien not only to children living abroad but also to the city bred ones. There are the village elders whose lives combined several roles, those of teacher, astrologer, counsellor, jury and judge!

The farmers and their lives are difficult to imagine in the rites and rituals they observed in hoeing, ploughing, reaping and threshing to get at the precious grain. Animals have their role too, especially the elephant and they feature in more than one tale in this book.

Village life

As the author says the aim of this collection is not only to retell folk tales but “capture and transfer to the reader, particularly to the expatriate and the city child, a glimpse of the village life as it was lived and so describe in fair detail typical matters such as chena cultivation and other fast disappearing folk activities.”

Panchali Ellepola’s black and white line drawings are refreshingly attractive and they are her very own, not copies of better known artists and illustrators. These certainly add interest to the tales, especially when they are read to very young ones whose eyes usually stray from the written word to the illustrations.

The book on the whole is elegantly produced with a special thought to readers - large print!

The author has achieved her aim in this delightful, beautifully illustrated, expertly selected collection of folk tales which I am sure will-delight Suren and Amrit and children everywhere.

A word in your ear

A Different Way of Life
Author: Kiron Shenoy
Publishers: Veekay International Publishers, Sri Lanka

Review: Mallika Wanigasundara

WISDOM: Kiron Shenoy’s small handy book of aphorisms, maxims, practical hints and general wisdom are not only basically useful for day to day living, but are fundamantal truths as well.

Some of what he says could be inborn in our thinking, but not quite formulated in this way, and in any case these wise saws, radical thoughts and definite reminders relate gently and with ease into our day to day lives, our environment, our homes workplaces and vocations and our interactions in society.

The fact is that what Shenoy has to say is simplicity itself, witty at times, attractive to the reader, all too true, pure common sense at other times, which people have missed and you ask yourself: why did I not think of this earlier? Shenoy says that he has made these observations during the last fifty years of his working life. It is a book in the genre of how to influence people.

He says that his main aim is to help in the self-development of people through motivation or aspirations. The book is very readable, not a bit dull and Shenoy does not preach. You come up against reality and his attitude to it, which he tackles with a sense of humour, a no-nonsense approach and a lively mind.

Have a look at what the book contains. His advice on Life is that one should LIVE not exist and quite definitely it would help a great deal if age is treated as a mental state. What ever the mental age, you could be a radical or a rebel, but Shenoy tells us don’t die for an idea or a thought. This could be a very useful idea in this country.

He admonishes you to save for your tomorrow and how you should make, behave and treat your friends. Shenoy is a great believer in living for today, enjoying yourself to the full. But there are ethics to be followed and values which you must uphold. In short crisp sentences which are not preachy he tells you how you can live your life better, make yourself and those around you happier. The recipes are simple and some of them we already know.

He thinks that some questions can be solved between the two of you: you and the big boss. I would ask: In the home or in the office? He advises you to shun the negative critic and give losers a miss.There are of course plenty of people who criticize and very few who appreciate. He emphasizes the importance of punctuality and optimism within reason would do anybody good.

Shenoy recognizes scroungers and others who enjoy themselves with other people’s money. One may like to enjoy oneself but it would be wiser to confine oneself to one credit card. It’s good to remind readers about one of his nuggets of wisdom - never expect gratitude. He does not object to a good cry and fun is a good thing but there are ways of having it.

He has had a lot of experience in companies and his insights into organizations and their bosses is worth taking notice of. He tells you how to nurture love and affection draw a balance between work home and leisure; the importance of keeping busy and understanding happiness and sadness and so he goes on.

And last but not least - a childlike person is lovable, but a childish one is ridiculous. Kiron Shenoy is a management professional, motivator, analyst, speaker and team-player. He has worked in India, a great deal in Sri Lanka and lives in this country.

Useful aid to learn Tamil

Concise Tamil-Sinhala Dictionary
Complied by Professor W. S. Karunatillake
Publisher: S. Godage & Brothers, Price: Rs. 1250

Review: Dr. Wimal Wickramasinghe

LEXICOGRAPY: Professor Emeritus W. S. Karunatillake should be congratulated for having compiled this concise Tamil-Sinhala Dictionary that would be helpful to both Sinhalese and Tamils in their quest for understanding each other’s language and the social and cultural knowledge through the use of the language.

To put it more specifically, this dictionary is more useful to Sinhalese who have a knack to learn or use Tamil for any purpose. Despite fierce fighting that is going on the East with the Government having a clear edge, the importance of learning Tamil by Sinhalese and vice versa is not diminished at all.

With a view to popularising the idea that ‘the teaching of Sinhala and Tamil may be one important way of fostering and perpetuating national unity,’ Professor Karunatillake along with Professor James W. Gair and Professor S. Suseendiarajah, earlier published a text in English for spoken Sri Lanka Tamil, the title of which is An Introduction to Spoken Tamil (1978), together within introduction to the writing system (the script) that is used for all Tamil material in the text.

In the compilation of this Concise Tamil-Sinhala Dictionary, the author has made use of may texts and papers. Among them for special mentioning is Tamil Lexicon, a dictionary published by the University of Madras. There are many conventional Tamil-English, Tamil-Tamil, English-Tamil, Tamil-Sinhala, Sinhala-Tamil, Tamil-Hindi, Hindi-Tamil dictionaries from which the author has benefited.

The list of references does not end there. The author has had references from many other sources, among them were Tamil Nigantus, classical Tamil literature texts, modern Tamil literature and classical texts, daily Tamil newspapers, magazines, media publications, Tamil language texts, examination papers, various advertisements, and Tamil, English, Sinhala and Hindi texts that deal with Tamil grammar.

The Concise Dictionary consists of only the Text (in Tamil alphabetical order), preceded by a very informative Introduction by the author, whereas the earlier edition had three sections: Text, Appendix and Annexes.

When the author came across some new words after compilation of the earlier text, he has inserted them in the Appendix. He listed 2,460 base verbs in the Appendix giving there declensional forms such as root forms, participles, present, past and future tenses, and verbal names.

Instead, in the new edition, he includes pronunciation of Tamil words in line with the practice in Jaffna and pronunciation of words is given within brackets. It is also in accordance with the pronunciation system, as given in J. W. Gair, S. Suseendirarajah and W. S. Karunatillake, Introduction to Spoken Tamil (1978).

Translation of this book into Sinhala was done by Rev. Dr. Kadurugamuwe Nagitha of the University of Kelaniya (1999). Verb roots are indicated by a hyphen following them and another hyphen before suffices.

There is a comprehensive description of pronunciation of various sounds. Thereafter, having classified the Tamil alphabet into various types of vowels and consonants, the author lists all the Tamil letters and text letters.

The Dictionary will be an asset to all Sinhalese who wish to learn or use Tamil for any purpose. But it is only a Tamil-Sinhala dictionary, a book that gives only a list of Tamil words in alphabetical order (about 35,000), their pronunciations in Sinhala within brackets and the meanings in Sinhala.

It is a good reference book for Sinhalese to know the meanings and pronunciation of some words at a particular point of time. But this does not help them learn the Tamil language and use it as either a spoken or a written language.

To a Sinhalese, Tamil is a difficult language to learn; its grammatical forms, including declensions, are complex; pronunciation styles are sometimes awkward. The letter ‘p’ denotes both ‘p’ and ‘b’ sounds, ‘t’ both ‘t’ and ‘d’ sounds.

For a native Tamil, he knows what it is, depending upon the circumstances, and this is called ‘innate ability’, according to internationally acknowledged linguist Professor Noam Chomsky.

But it is not the case for a Sinhalese (or a foreigner). He has to be told by somebody or has to learn them with pain. It is like the English pronunciation; the learner of the English language has to be told by someone how to pronounce ‘but’, ‘cut’, ‘put’, etc.

The concise Tamil-Sinhala Dictionary is also useful for translators - from Tamil to Sinhala and from Sinhala to Tamil. Nowhere ever one could find the Sinhala meanings for Tamil words, including how Tamil words are pronounced.

Bookshelf:

Lester by Lester

AUTOBIOGRAPHY: Lester by Lester, the monumental autobiography of Lester James Peries will be launched on Saturday April 21 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. The book is published by Vijitha Yapa Publications as a limited edition. Each book, which is a collector’s item, is numbered and autographed by Lester James Peries.

Lester by Lester is a celebration of half a century of locally and internationally acclaimed creative excellence. It chronicles in his own words the creativity of a lifetime of the Doyen of Sri Lankan Cinema, Dr. Lester James Peries.

Its twenty chapters are devoted to each of his twenty films, from Rekawa (The Line of Destiny. 1956) to Ammawarune (Elegy for a Mother. 2006), showcasing and chronicling half a century of film making.

He began with Rekawa (The Line of Destiny), his first feature film, a “commercial failure in Ceylon” as he says, which yet made it to the Mecca of world cinema - France’s Cannes Film Festival - the following year. Since the launch of Rekawa 50 years ago, volumes have been written about Lester over the years by others, both locally and internationally.

This is the very first time Lester has chosen to write about himself and his half a century film making career, in a single volume. The book takes its readers through the trials and tribulations to a variety of anecdotes and memorable moments in the making of his twenty films.

It takes on an even greater significance and importance given the fact that Lester James Peries has now officially ‘retired’ from film making and will direct no more films.

Lester James Peries is what Satyajit Ray is to India and Akira Kurosawa is to Japan. Rightly called the ‘Father of Modern Sinhala Cinema’, he paved the way for a whole new generation of avant-garde film directors, who similarly broke away from the stereotyped formula films and experimented with new forms and genres to critical acclaim.

Now revered as one of the Asian greats, Lester James Peries has won continuous international acclaim in several parts of the world.

Kumar de Silva, who recorded the interviews with Lester over five years and edited this book, is a Colombo-based Public Relations and Media Consultant whose fascination with the films of Lester James Peries goes back to his teenage years in the mid 1970s.