Page 119 - Applied Buddhism

obvious but in essence, they are also members of civil society. Thus, Appendix
when they engage in political affairs, they should bear in mind the Martin Niemöller:
interests of both Buddhists and non-Buddhists. At the same time, First the Nazis came…
Buddhist organisations should, by their actions, affirm and uphold First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out —
freedom of speech and freedom of religion, as well as other values because I was not a communist;
of a pluralism (words of Prof. Liu Yu Guang) common in civil Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out —
society.
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out —
Conclusion
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out —
In today’s context, Buddhist organisations must become an because I was not a Jew;
integral part of the nation and participate positively in both its Then they came for me —
economic and political affairs. However, in order to ensure that and there was no one left to speak out for me.
they do not deviate from their core spiritual values and principles,
leading to self-disintegration, they should be guided by a code of
ethics.
(Paper presented at the 5th International Buddhist Research Seminar organised
by Buddhist Research Institute, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University,
This article listed four rules formulated by Thich Nhat Hanh
and five rules proposed by Dr. You Xiang Zhou. In addition, I Bangkok, on 21st May 2013)
proposed three additional rules in this paper. It is hoped that this will
be helpful in formulating a Code of Ethics for political engagement
of Buddhist organisations that is acceptable to all Buddhists. This
Code basically affirms the need for political engagement while
reducing the risks of deviation from core principles, misuse of
resources, and causing internal disintegration.

I have proposed the three rules with the hope that Buddhist
organisations can realise that they are civil groups within a civil
society, and hence must exercise their rights as members of a civil
society. It is also hoped that Buddhist organisations can come to
realise that they have the rights and duties to champion certain
issues of public interest.

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