Abstract

This paper is discussing one of the oldest religions in the world, which has
a lot of followers especially in the South East Asia, Buddhism. It started in
India and had several contests with the local religions like Hinduism and
Islam, and later on it managed to expand to all over the world, although
there are various forms of Buddhism depending on the place, however it
carries the same way or values in conducting ones behavior in living.
This paper will begin with the core teachings of Buddhism, which focusing
on its values. The discussion then continued with the values in politics, as
the Buddha has taught his followers, which mainly derived from the core
teachings of the main values for Buddhists to practice in order to achieve
absolute freedom.
The discussion then further discuss the extent of toleration in Buddhism
towards other religion, since Buddhism itself existed within a place that
has other established religions, and the section will seek to know the
views of Buddhism towards other religions and the way on how to deal
with them. Benefiting from the points that talks about the toleration, the
discussion will continue to the matters of violence committed by Sangha
community in Burma towards the minority Muslim there, known as the
Rohingya, in terms of reason and the reality.
There will be also a section discussing the comparative views between
Buddhism and Islam in terms of theology, practices and others, at the end
of the discussion, and then followed by the conclusion of the discussion in
the whole paper.

Social and moral conduct

It is known that the Buddhist approach to politics is the moralization and
the responsible use of public power. According to (Sri Rahula, 1959) the
Buddha did not take life out of the context of its social and economic
background; he looks at it as a whole, in all its social, economic and
political aspects.
It can be understood from the above sentence that the core of its
teaching, even if we are focusing on the political matters, cannot be
separated with the individual moral values and social conducts. That is
why who think that Buddhism is interested only in lofty ideals, high moral
and philosophical thought, and that it ignores the social and economic
welfare of people, are wrong.
The Buddha was interested in the happiness of men. To him happiness
was not possible without leading a pure life based on moral and spiritual
principles. But he knew that leading such a life was hard in unfavourable
material and social conditions.
There is a story where a man named Digajanu once visited the Buddha
and said, Venerable Sir, we are ordinary lay men, leading the family life
with wife and children. Would be Blessed One teach us some doctrines
which will be conducive to our happiness in this world and hereafter?
Then the Buddha tells him that there are four things which are conductive
to a mans happiness in this world, as explained by (Davids, 1968, p. 72)
which are,
1. He should be skilled, efficient, earnest, and energetic in whatever
profession he is engaged, and he should know it well (utthana sampada)

2. He should protect his income, which has thus earned righteously, with
the sweat of his brow, which this idea is actually refers to protecting
wealth from the thieves (arakkha sampada)
3. He should have good friends who are faithful learned, virtuous, liberal
and intelligent, who will help him along the right path away from the evil
(kalyana mitta)
4. He should spend reasonably, in proportion to his income, neither too
much nor too little. Meaning that he should live within his means
(samajivitaka)
Then the Buddha expounds the four virtues conducive to a laymans
happiness hereafter, which are,
1. Saddha Have faith and confidence in moral, spiritual and intellectual
values
2. Sila Abstain from destroying and harming life, from stealing and
cheating, from adultery, from falsehood and from intoxicating drinks
3. Caga Practice charity, generosity, without attachment and craving for
his wealth
4. Panna Develop wisdom which leads to the complete destruction of
suffering, to the realization of Nirvana
From that story, one can know relate on how the basis of Buddhas
teaching, concerning on moral values that leads to a huge perspective of
political life. These are basically the core values that Buddha has taught
and later on his followers narrates it and it have been expanding
throughout all over the world as explained by (Bupad, 1987, p. 155).
There are many cases where the Buddha talks about the specific matter in
ones daily life. However the above guidance has the core of all the
explanation that has been given by Buddha. Apart from that, the specific
issues are actually the cause of the separation of the two main sects of

Buddhism, which are Theravada and Mahayana, therefore it will not be

included in this section.

Buddhism and its general views on politics

The base of Buddhas teaching in term of politics is not directed merely to
the creation of new political institutions and stabilizing political
arrangements. As Buddhism itself tend to focus more on the moral
conducts and values in living the life of people, it seeks to look after the
problems of society by reforming the individuals constituting that society,
in addition to suggesting several general principles through which the
society can be guided towards better humanism, improved welfare of its
members and more fair and just sharing of the resources.
The teaching of Buddhism nowadays is divided into two main sects, which
are the traditional and literal Theravada, and the reformed, or the
teachings that have been reformed in order to cater the contemporary
issues, called as Mahayana, also known as the Northern Buddhism.
Although they are difference in term of understanding their sacred text
however they are basically sharing the same views in politics.

In term of ideal political systems, according to the teaching of Buddhism,

no matter what kind of political system that is adapted into the
government, the people will never able to escape themselves from
experiencing the lack of real and ultimate satisfaction in the world. They
will definitely experience the three barriers of the ultimate satisfaction
which are dukkha or the feeling of unsatisfaction, anicca or impermanence
and finally, anatta or the sense of egolessness.
Although good political system can help in taking care of the basic human
rights, the practice of checks and balances in management, having a
stable society and other ideal values, however in Buddhism, no one can
find any political system that will guarantee the men to be completely
free. Therefore in Buddhism, it is men who have to work in freeing
themselves from the chains of ignorant and craving.
Actually the understanding of the word politics from the Buddhism
perspective is different from the western weltanschauung. Therefore in
discussing about politics from the western framework, Buddhism does not
really those discussions. Although Buddhism does not really talks about
politics in term of power, however it does discuss the values which
politically relevant nowadays.
Among the values that Buddhism teach to its followers are,
1. Classification of human according to their moral conduct.
2. Spirit of cooperation and active participation in society.
3. Following the Dhamma and Vinaya, which are the rules of law that
became the main guide for moral conducts to be followed by Buddhists.
5. Encourage the spirit of consultation. If there is an issue, the monk will
raise it up and having a session of consultation among themselves, just
like the concept of democracy that is practiced nowadays.

These are the basic and general values that taught by Buddha and later
on it was compiled by its followers, which will be discussed in more details
regarding the political sentences in their holy scriptures.

Parts of the Buddhism scriptures that talks about state and

values in politics
As has been mentioned previously, Buddha did not talk much about the
political concept the same way the Westerners did. However the teaching
of Buddhism does include discussions about the ideas of the state. In
Aggann Suttanta, there are discussions about Buddhas ideas of the state.
It begin with the evolution of human beings, the world from the dim past,
the origin of private property, the concept of family, the need for sociopolitical institution and the important features of economy in primitive
society.
In Anngann Suttanta, there is also a discussion about the principle of
justice. According to the book, justice should not be based on the causes
of behavior or prejudice. There are four particular causes of prejudice
according to the teachings of Buddhism which are,
1. Prejudice caused by love and desire
2. Prejudice caused by hatred or animosity
3. Prejudice caused by delusion or stupidity, and
4. Prejudice caused by fear

Apart from that, in Maha Paduma Jataka, there is a discussion about the
concept of investigation or trial before the sentence take place. It

condemned the act of executing without any trial beforehand. It stated

there,
No king should punish an offence and hear no pleas at all, not
thoroughly shifting it himself in all points, great and small. The warrior
chief who punishes a fault before he tries is like a man born blind, who
eats his food all bones and flies. Who punishes the guiltless, and let go the
guilty, knows no more than one blind upon rugged high way goes. He who
all this examines well, in things both great and small, and so administers,
decide to be the head of all.
The analogy that is used in that sentence clearly condemn the act of blind
punishing, which considered as very disgusting, unfair and ugly,
manifested in the representation of the bones and flies, which considered
very bad and completely has to be avoided.
Apart from that, in Anguttara Mikaya, Buddha talked about the importance
and prerequisite of a good government. He said,
When a ruler of a country is just and good, the ministers become just and
good, when the ministers are just and good, the higher officials become
just and good, when the higher officials are just and good, the rank and
file become just and good. When the rank and file become just and good,
the will people become just and good.
In Cakkavati Sihananda Sutta, the Buddha talks about the issue of poverty.
The effect of poverty is that it will cause immorality and crime.
Government and the king may try to suppress crime through punishment,
but it is futile to eradicate crimes through force. So eliminating poverty is
the preferred way in eradicating crime and immorality.
In relation to the issue of poverty, in Kutadanta Sutta, the Buddha talks
about the importance of the economic development in reducing the crime
rate, instead of implementing the use of force. Basically this point is
almost the same with the previous sayings.

Interestingly, apart from all the sayings about the system in

administration together with its values, there are also some points,
regarding the rules for good government, known as Desa Raja Dharma,
which exists in Jataka. The rules are as follows,
1. Be liberal and avoid selfishness
2. Maintain a high moral character
3. Be prepared to sacrifice ones own pleasure for the well beings of the
subject
4. Be honest and maintain absolute integrity
5. Lead a simple life for the subject to emulate
7. Be free from hatred of any kind
8. Exercise non violence
9. Practice patience
10. Respect public opinion to promote peace and harmony

In conclusion there are discussions about political and moral values

although it is different with the westerners views. It is more towards the
core, or the inner development of human being rather than the structural
form of system.

Religious tolerance from the Buddhisms point of view

In Buddhism, one has to eradicate a sense of superiority about his own
religion. This is in order to eliminate mutual suspicion, religious prejudices
and selfish motives. These are for the common good and the act of
uplifting the respective religions. In Buddhism, the word tolerance
means putting up with something one may dislike.
In Buddhism as highlighted by (Dhammananda, 1983) the followers
cannot tolerate another religion and maintain their superior attitude with
regard to their own, they have to have a deep understanding and respect
towards another views, although they may not agree with that views. In
Buddhism, mere tolerance is not enough. What is urgently needed
nowadays is that everyone has to believe what he or she wants to believe
without any hindrances from any quarter, and this is actually far beyond
mere tolerance. This involves a deep respect towards the beliefs of others.
The respect only will come when people are prepared to study others
beliefs and they make the attempt to understand why others believe what
they believe. In Buddhism, only by studying other ways of thinking and
belief, people can strengthen their own belief. Buddhism taught its
followers that the purpose of religion is to give human being a sense of
self-worth. Apart from that, it is also to recognize the right of everyone to
enjoy the happiness in both areas, which are the worldly happiness and
also the happiness in the spiritual sense.
Buddha once said that one should abandon kind of believe that the mere
observance of rites and rituals could lead one to liberation from the

problems of human existence. This is among the first sermons that he

delivered after he attained the Enlightenment. By referring to the sayings
of scholars of Buddhism, this means the Buddha was actually warning his
followers against the total reliance towards the so-called devotional
religious observances. However that does not means that he said that
such practice is bad in total. The message that he wanted to deliver is
that such religious practices must be used merely as a means to an end.
Although Buddha pointed out that there was no religious value in many of
the Indians practices during his time, but he used to advise his followers
to support the Hindus Brahmins and other monks in Hinduism, regardless
of their beliefs, since they were considered as sincere and harmless
religious people.
The Buddha advised his followers not to cause injury to these religious
people, regardless the religions that they are following. He even said that
when a person deceives a Brahmin, or monk by telling a lie, this will be
the cause of the downfall of the person. Therefore until today in the
Buddhism teaching, the Buddhists have to extend their courtesy and
respect every holy man who sincerely tries to follow his religion to the
best according to his understanding.
The Buddhas aim is to guide everyone to lead a noble life without
harming anyone, to improve human qualities in maintaining human
dignity, to spread kindness without discrimination and to avoid evil and
thus purify the mind in order to gain peace and happiness as the ultimate
goal in the teaching.
As a religion, Buddhism teaches people to live in harmony together with
everyone in the world, without any violence. There is no evidence that
shows the actions of Buddha in propagating his teachings towards all
mankind, interfere or have done any damage towards any other religions.
Buddhism does not even consider the existence of other religions as
obstacles in achieving worldly progress and peace. To him condemning
others, especially out of ignorance, indicates the uncivilized behavior and

clearly has no place in this age, especially nowadays where all the
information is easily reached. In this issue, the attitude that the Buddhists
should have taken is that they must allow others to follow the belief that
they are believe in, in peace, and to recognize the rights of others in
having the freedom of thought.
All this while, religions are blamed for the existence of war, racism,
discrimination and others. However Buddhist are looking at this issue with
different view, where they think that one has to clearly distinguish
between the religious principles taught by the founders, and the
understanding of the interpretation of these principles by some religious
leaders, which might be interpreted for their own ends.
For Buddhists, followers of any religion have to bear in mind that true
religions will never promotes any kind of violence in whatever
circumstance. Apart from that, racial discrimination cannot rise by any
means when one is practicing his own religion. Buddhist in detail, have
been divided into several different sects since the past 2000 years, and
until now they never had any sectarian violence in any parts of the world.
Buddhists are proud with the fact that their religion is the only one that
did not gone through war in spreading their belief. In Buddhism, every
person has three natures, which are the animal, the human and the
divine. While the religion helps the man to realize their divine nature,
therefore according to the teachings of Buddhism, since the very
beginning, man has moved through different stages of evolution in order
to achieve the divine one in essence. Basically they dont really into
believe issues but the practices are their concern.
With all these values, it is reflected in the teachings of Buddhism, in
talking about religious tolerance, where the Buddhist are neither forbidden
to give due respect to other religious teachers, not they are restricted to
visit places of worship of other religion and attending religious services of
others. They can give full respect to other beliefs without any shortage of
the belief of their own.

Buddhism encourages cooperation and mutual understanding amongst

various religions. The Buddha himself was said to produce clear and soberminded people, through his attitude of tolerance, have managed to
convinced many thinkers, philosophers, freethinkers, agnostics and others
to appreciate and respect Buddhism as a way of life.

Buddhism and violence Focusing on the issue of Rohingya

The conflict between Buddhists and Muslim in Burma began in 2012,
particularly when a woman in Rakhine was found raped and dead. Due to
this issue, the blame was fallen towards the Rohingyas, where it is a spark
of waves of rioting and mob violence between the Buddhists and the
Rohingyas in Burma.

The Rohingya are the ethnic minority that living in the western Burma,
known as the Rakhine state, where formerly it was known as Arakan. The
Rohingyas are Muslims in general. This ethnic were living in the Rakhine
as early as the 15th century, while some of the historical evidences shows
that the date might be earlier.
Political upheavals that happened in the late of 18th century caused the
people in the western Burma to move to what is now Bangladesh. In 1826,
Rakhine became a British territory, after the British managed to invade
Burma in 1823. The invasion policies of British have encouraged people
from Bangladesh and other parts of the Indian subcontinent to move to
Rakhine, therefore many Muslims returned to their former lands.
Burma managed to get its independent in 1946 and during that time the
Rohingyas were considered citizens and they were allowed to vote in the
election. Even at that time, there were supports among the Rohingyas to
make the Rakhine as an autonomous Muslim state. However in 1962, a
coup d'tat happened towards the elected government and as a result, a
military dictatorship took place. Burmese were suffering in general, but
the Rohingya suffered the most.
Since then, for more than 50 years the Rohingya have been facing the
oppression from the dictatorship in Burma, possibly they were being
scapegoated to take blame for the hardships that faced by the Burmese.
The Rohingya also were forced to flee in order to escape brutality
especially by the Burmese. In 1982 the Rohingya were no longer
considered as the citizen of Burma, after the government passed a new
citizenship law, making the Rohingya people to be stateless. Apart from
that the government also imposed a two-child limit towards Rohingya
couples and stopping issuing birth certificates for new-born Rohingyas.
Nowadays the Rohingya is estimated to be between 4 to 8 percent of the
whole population of Burma.
Back to the recent violence in Burma, from June 2012 to July 2013, 200
people have died and more than 150,000 people have been displaced and

most of them are Muslim. Not only in the areas that the Rohingyas resides,
but violence also has spread to other parts of Burma.
Shockingly, there were many reports mentioning that Buddhist monks are
those who are playing a central role in that violence. Particularly, Wirathu,
a 45 year old monk has been known as the Burmese Bin Laden. He even
produces DVDs and pieces in social medias that spread rumours and
bigotry against Rohongyas, which of course, against Muslims. There is a
movement led by him that links Buddhism and Burmese nationalism,
known as the 969 Movement.
Although many other Sanghas joining Wirathu in his campaign, it does not
represent all Buddhist monks, there are other members of the monastic
Sangha who have spoken against the acts of violence, even there is a
case where one of the Buddhist monastery gives shelter to the Muslims
who have lost their home in the riots.
It is said that among the factors that lead the monks to be involved in this
issue is that, during those days of military dictatorship, many parents
have sent their sons to monasteries. These boys were given shelters and
proper food. Therefore, it also may be the case where the monasteries
were filled with young men whose are more interested in politics rather
than the Dharma.
Apart from that, the government also appear to be encouraging the
monks to participate in the violence. As mentioned by Aung Zaw, "the
deadly anti-Muslim riots are no accident but the product of an effort led by
army hard-liners to thwart both the reforms and Myanmar's opening to the
world." Here we can see that the hate speeches coming from the hard
liners are among the causes that infected many of Burmas Buddhists and
lead them to violence against Muslims.
Other factor is that, the hard-liners are suspected in attempt to discredit
the political leader, Aung San Suu Kyi (Luxton, 2012). Bertil Lintner said,
The government is very worried about the support commanded by Suu
Kyi. It wants to force her into a position where she has to make a pro-

Rohingya public statement that could damage her popularity among

Burma's Buddhists, where anti-Muslim sentiment runs high. On the other
hand, if she remains silent she will disappoint those who support her firm
stand on human rights."
Those Burmese who committed the violence are seems to approve that
their action is actually conducted in the name of protecting Buddhism.
However they are too myopic to see the damage from their action to the
Buddhisms reputation worldwide.

Comparing Buddhism and Islam

In comparing these two old religions, there are perspectives that have to
be looked at, as benchmarks, or legend in understanding the similarities
and differences between these two religions. Therefore in this article,
aspects that will become the points of comparison are the concept of
theology, concept of living, or ethics in their daily life, concept of worship
and their understanding on the religious tolerance.
In term of theology, Buddha did not talk much about the Creator. Even
until now, Buddhists are still confuse about their God, many of them are
taking a stand where, they dont want to think about the Supreme Being
in Buddhism, meaning that they are simply satisfied with the way of life
that the Buddha has taught them. While some other Buddhists considered
the Buddha as the intermediaries, where they are basically pray, with
some concept of intercession, where the is taken Buddha as the connector
to the God.
While in Islam, the theological concept is very clear, even it is the first
lesson that a Muslim has to learn, before they begin learning on how to
perform acts of worship, to recite the Quran and others. The existence of
Allaah as the God as very clear, and it has a lot of proofs from the Quran,
the Hadith and the logic and sound mind. Therefore in Islam the

theological concept is the most important aspects to the extent that

without this knowledge, it might lead one to the state of blasphemy.
In term of the concept of daily living, or the ethical concept, both religions
perform almost the same ethics, which are actually the universal ethics,
where all the human beings have to adhere towards it. The six and eight
noble conduct in Buddhism, is in reality, have similarities with the
teachings of Prophet Muhammad in the Hadith. Even the ways of behaving
in both religions are also taken from the actions and sayings of the
Buddha and Prophet Muhammad.
In talking about their concept of worship, in Buddhism there is no concept
of reward and sin. The thing that is famous in Buddhism is karma, which
is when the good deeds have been done, then, the result will be the good
things in future. Same goes to the bad deeds. Apart from that, in
Buddhism there is no concept of punishment, or fear of God. Most of the
followers are focusing on achieving the ultimate freedom in life by
applying the values that have been taught by the founder. While in Islam,
there are the specific acts of worship, which some of them are obligatory
upon Muslims, and some are recommended. Apart from that specific act,
there are also general acts of worship, which are anything that does not
contradict with the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet, with the
sincere intention, is considered as worship.
In term of religious tolerance, politically, Buddhism seems to be more
flexible, while in Islam there are some limitations, in term of action.
However in term of values in living together with people that adhere to
different religions, are basically the same. Both religions are calling for the
harmonic ways of living. Therefore politically, both religions shared almost
the same adab, or manners in dealing with other religions. However in
Buddhism, the extent of the flexibility in toleration, especially in term of
permissibility in doing the acts of worship of other religion are not
acceptable in Islam. But despite of those limitations in Islam, it does not
affect the values that make the relationship goes very well.

Conclusion
Now it is clear that Buddhism, like other religions, cannot be separated
with politics. Politics is needed in spreading up the doctrines and
messages of the religion. We have seen that in Buddhism, the political
values that have been taught by the Buddha are basically about the
manners of rulers, values that the people have to adhere, and ways of
living economically and from the social aspects.
The extent of religious tolerance as the Buddha has taught his followers
are acceptable, to the level that it managed to invite those people who
are not into religion, to at least follow the way of living as Buddhist.

By referring to the religious tolerance that the Buddha has taught, it is

completely contradict with that is happening in Burma, where the religious
violence has taken place, since 2012, by referring to the crisis with the
Rohingya, where the monks plays a significant role in contributing
violence in the name of Religion.
Although the acts of violence have been done in the name of religion, it
does not justify that the Buddhists are generally violent since that crisis
only happened in Burma. It cannot be denied that throughout history
there were other cases of violence that related to the Buddhist, and been
done in the name of Buddha as explained by (Strathern, 2013). However
the main reason for all these acts violence is actually political, where the
religion has been manipulated to be the point of blame.
Despite all these acts of violence, there are monasteries that offer shelter
for those Rohingyas who have lost their home, and these Sangha are
completely disagree with the actions of some of the monks that promotes
the violence in the name of Buddha. Buddhism in Burma is now highly
politicized, and it is the role of Sanghas to clear their name from the bad
influence by initiating steps towards harmonizing the relation between the
Burmese Buddha communities and the Muslim Rohingyas.

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