Academic Report
Report on the Seventh International Conference on Humanistic Buddhism
Humanistic Buddhism and Sus- tainable Economic Development
January 16-20, 2006
By Jue Wei
Assistant to the President University of the West
The Seventh International Conference on Humanistic Buddhism , organized by the International Academy of Buddhism of the University of the West, was held in January 16-20, 2006. This Conference is a meeting of minds in the west on a subject that is close to the heart of founder Venerable Master Hsing Yun, the promoter of a reli- gion that knows no boundaries. Each year, the Conference selects a theme that shows that Humanistic Buddhism is for the here and now; the seventh theme was "Humanis- tic Buddhism and Sustainable Economic Development."
This year, the Conference had a total of
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27 paper presentations. In the inauguration address, Venerable Hui Chi, abbot of Hsi Lai Temple, referred to the Buddha who had praised those who discussed treatises. Ven- erable Abbot believed that this annual con- ference would provide an excellent oppor- tunity for scholars to raise academic stan- dards and encourage the practice of the Bodhisattva path, as they discussed the bal- ance of supply and demand in the area of Economics. Venerable Abbot believed that the papers would show deep influence of Humanistic Buddhism on societal issues.
The presentations could be divided into several categories, including papers with direct relationship with Humanistic Bud- dhism and economics, papers that discussed both Buddhism and economics, papers that dealt with both the roles of modern and his- torical Buddhism in economics, and papers s t u d y i n g t h e s u b j e c t f r o m d i v e r s e backgrounds. The variety of papers and innovativeness of topics show the all-en- compassing nature of Humanistic Buddhism.
In the interest of space, this report will only summarize some papers in the Conference.
Among the papers presented, two dealt directly with Humanistic Buddhism and economics. Dr. Wang Zhong-yao's paper on
"Humanistic Buddhism and Economic Progress - Economic Growth in 20th and 21st Century in the Yangzi River Delta in China"
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presented the economic development and social diseases that had taken place in the Yangzi River delta since the Song dynasty.
As Humanistic Buddhism could be the in- dispensable cultural foundation for modern economic development through the purifi- cation of oneself and benefit society, the prosperous could benefit from the teachings of Humanistic Buddhism. The author con- cluded that Humanistic Buddhism and the development of society and economy complemented, promoted and advanced each other.
In "Buddhism and Economic Progress - Case Study of Taiwan," Venerable Dr. Yung Dong traced economic forces from the sutras to modern Fo Guang Shan. The sutras showed the presence of economic interests, such as loans, trading, earning interest, wealth, money, borrowing, gold, managing, liabilities, debt and credit, from ancient times. Chinese monastic Buddhism differed from its Indian origins by becoming more economically active and independent. In recent times, Master Taixu promoted the integration of monastery economics and Chan. In Taiwan, Venerable Master Hsing Yun piloted a new model of monastery management, with both traditional and mod- ern fund-raising activities. The scope cov- ers restaurants, traveling, culture and edu- cation other than spiritual practice skillfully.
Menawhile these issues help layperson creat
and maintain relevant business such as mo- nastic shoe-making, monastic robe making, vegetarian food production and retailing, v e g e t a r i a n r e s t a u r a n t , a r c h i t e c t u r a l construction, builder, Buddha image mak- ing and Buddhist cultural objects(incense, beads...)etc. Thus, the Fo Guang Shan com- munity has applied a variety of approaches in economics development in order to help the lay bodhisattva fully engage in the world, but in a non-attached way.
A number of interesting papers presented alternative views of looking at Buddhist contribution to economic progress. For example, Dr. Colin Ash's "Happiness and Economic Progress: A Buddhist Perspec- tive" used the Buddhist dependent origina- tion cycle to diagnose how cognitive errors caused us to make foolish choices. Recent statistics from Layard 2003 showed that GDP per head increase in USA has not re- sulted in increase in happiness. This could be due to diminishing marginal return be- tween happiness and income per head due to rivalry. Surveys has indicated that the factors affecting happiness are family relationships, financial situation, work, com- munity and friends, health, personal free- dom and personal values. Such happiness could be brought about by discouraging self- defeating work, limiting advertising, spend- ing more on mental health, strengthening trusting relationships and mind-training.
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Economic maximization seemed to be not as good as "just-enough." Morality could help to simplify choices. Finally, nirvana was about well-being of the individual as pursuit of sensual happiness ceases.
In another paper, Dr. Colin Ash asked about "Economics of Sangha: Are Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis Good for Business?" The common beliefs of monastics being eco- nomic parasites and the sangha having a negative impact on economic growth were questioned. Dr. Ash argued that monastics teaching moderation in consumption would lead to higher savings, and teaching trust would lower costs of doing business. As social efficiency increased, that would lead to economic success. Also, Dr. Ash pointed out that good monks could lead to economic progress because the nobler the sangha, the higher the field of merit and the more ef- fective the act of dana. This validated the rule that generosity could lead to prosperity.
Dr. Ananda W.P. Guruge wrote a com- prehensive paper on "Buddhist Economics - Myth and Reality." This was a study on 40
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years of Buddhist economics development worldwide. It started with Schumacher's famous book, "Small Is Beautiful," with Dr.
Guruge presenting that slogans should not be used to limit human potential. Dr. Guruge then traced the success of the Bhutan gov- ernment in measuring financial success with Gross National Happiness (GNH). Since then, GNH had replaced "Small is Beautiful.
" The latest was Thailand's experiment on Sufficiency Economics. In conclusion, Dr.
Guruge highlighted that an exclusive sys- tem of economics was unimplementable.
The basic needs of human beings had to be met so that there would be no hunger, dis- crimination or exploitation. Furthermore, the Buddha himself did not think or act small.
Through "Buddhism and Economic Progress: A Sufficiency Economy for Thailand," Dr. Colin Ash gave a more de- tailed presentation on the Sufficiency Economy experiment in Thailand's agricul- ture sector. After the 1997 economic crisis, the Thai King put forward the Sufficiency Economy in the belief that there should be enough for everyone to live on, but rapid expansion would be unstable. The three components of moderation, reasonableness
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and self-immunity from shocks of internal and external changes was a holistic concept of moderation and contentment. While there were questions about this expansionary m o v e m e n t ' s s u s t a i n a b i l i t y b e y o n d agriculture, Dr. Ash hoped that this move- ment will succeed.
There were several papers that drew on t h e w i s d o m o f t h e P a l i c a n o n . T h e Sigalovada Suttanta was highly quoted as the source of teachings for the prevention of loss of wealth and property, as well as moral acts and social relations that brought about economic uplift. Dr. Neelima Sinha, in "Ethics of Wealth and Poverty: Examina- tion of Buddhist Viewpoint in Present Mil- lennium" proposed the Middle Path that pro- posed non-attachment as the means to pro- mote ethics in the acquisition of wealth.
S o c i e t i e s t h a t p l a c e d e m p h a s i s o n education, health, nutrition, irrigation, power and transport, hard work and national pride had greater social growth. Through
"Reflections of Economic Well-Being in the Pali Tipitaka," Dr. Baidyanath Labh con- tended that Buddhism was in tune with the fact that human beings required a material- istic or economic base for daily worldly life.
And society could progress when individu- als were provided adequate chances to pros- per economically. Similarly, Dr. Kottegoda Warnasuriya concluded that the Buddha was not against the laity deriving happiness from
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material success but that the wealth should be obtained through ethical means in his paper, "Buddhism and Economic Manage- ment As Depicted in the Pali Canon."
Dr. Otto Chang pointed out that beyond knowledge-based economy, the natural pro- gression would be towards the wisdom- based economy. "The Buddhist Approach to Economic Development: The Path to A Wisdom-Based Economy" demonstrated an increasing emphasis on ethics and morality in the area of business economics. In an- other paper, "Buddhism and Globalization of Business," Dr. Richard Phan attempted to integrate Buddhism with the existing scheme of economics through the Middle Way (win-win strategy) of production and the concepts of interdependence and impermanence.
Very often, economics has been blamed f o r p r o b l e m s o f t h e e n v i r o n m e n t . Suriyawewe Wimala Thero quoted the Suttas as being filled with examples where both material and spiritual progress could proceed hand-in-hand with the knowledge of proper limits of consumption in his paper,
"Human Centered Eco-friendly Economy:
A Buddhist Perspective." Taking from his studies of ecology, Dr. Richard Payne in
"Consuming Addictions: Ecology, Econom- ics and the Power of Metaphor," cautioned that explaining addiction or repetitive be-
Otto Chang
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havior through karma and volition might result in one abnegating responsibility and feeding into a cyclic pattern of repeated failures.
The range of papers presented was very diverse, including Chinese Buddhism and K o r e a n B u d d h i s m . F o r e x a m p l e , D r . Xianzhao Long presented his fifteen years' study of "Stele Records of Buddhist Mon- asteries in Ba-Shu (Sichuan province)" and Dr. Darui Long spoke on the "Management of Woodblock Engraving of Buddhist Canon in China." Venerable Dr. Chanju Mun gave a detailed presentation on "Japan's Control of Korean Buddhist Temples and Properties during its Occupation Period (1910-45)." Dr.
Irma Piovano traced the 150 years of indological studies in the International In- stitute for Advanced Asian Studies, Italy.
T h e r e w e r e a l s o p a p e r s t h a t c o v e r e d psychological, linguistic, Marxist, scientific (physics) and literary studies.
The penultimate paper presented by Dr.
Lewis Lancaster, "Buddhism and the Study of Philosophical Approaches to Economics,
" gave the audience a different viewpoint into economics. Tracing back to history, Dr.
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Lancaster showed that the symbiosis of economics and religion existed since the Silk Route and rituals were used to bring about economic progress. From a Buddhist perspective, economics was not just the pro- duction of wealth and capital but applied to the family or a group to which one had an obligation. In that light, Venerable Master Hsing Yun's offer of practical advice for life management also was crucial to economic development. At a philosophical level, Dr.
Lancaster quoted from Pierce's abductive logic to put forward a hypothesis that the driving force in successful and productive human life and economics was not greed but loving-kindness. Right choices were made immediately based on intuition, and loving-kindness was built into the brain process. The popularity of OpenSoft today showed that there were people who wanted to make software available freely because they wished to learn and develop new skills, and share knowledge and skills. Hence, Pierce cautioned that greed or any self-serv- ing motivations could not be more lasting than loving-kindness, and Dr. Lancaster contended that we should be more aware of the first feeling we have.
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C E S M E O O s c a r B o t t o During the closing ceremony, the audi-
ence witnessed the signing of a coopera- tive agreement between the University of Jammu and University of the West. For the first time, two IAB honorees were named this year, one from the west and one from the east. They were Dr. Oscar Botto of CESMEO, Italy and Dr. Li Chenggui of Nanjing University, China.
In the coming year, the theme would be
"Humanistic Buddhism and Science," and the organizers once again look forward to a diverse spectrum of contributions from around the world.
