A handbook, insurance policy and litmus test for Maithripala Sirisena

"The Dasa Raja Dharma:  handbook, insurance policy and litmus test".  This is the title of an article I wrote for the Daily News which was published exactly 6 years ago (February 9, 2010).  The advice was for the then newly re-electly president, Mahinda Rajapaksa. History shows that he opted for a different kind of advice.  Now we have Maithripala Sirisena.  His first twelve months have been dodgy (and I am being kind here). He still has time.   So I re-offer these notes.  

Elections are about claims and counter-claims.  They are about posturing and ridiculing of posture.  Some of it was so crude that they failed as communication devices; they did not win any votes and may have even turned off a few loyalists. Some of it was classy and even if they didn’t engineer defection nevertheless generated some laughs.  I am thinking of the cartooned spoof of Saheli Gamage’s song ‘Maharajaneni’, praising President Mahinda Rajapaksa for comprehensively eliminating the terrorist threat posed by Prabhakaran and the LTTE.

The visuals could have been crafted better, but the lyrics, voice and music were perfect for the task.  It got me thinking about the matter of ‘kingship’, royalty, the popularity of the song, the fact that the sentiments did not mesh well with the notion of participatory democracy (we are after all not a monarchy officially) etc. 

Mahinda Rajapaksa, when he referred to the famous observation/directive of Arahat Mahinda (to King Devanampiyatissa), claiming that he was not owner but mere custodian of the land and the people, and a temporary one at that, probably didn’t envisage that he would be hailed as king less than 4 years later.   It all began when an old Tamil woman who had escaped from the clutches of the LTTE referred to Rajapaksa as ‘Raju’ (rajuta kiyanna).  A few days later, Prabakaran was no more and the LTTE, contrary to all prediction and dream, was wiped out. Then came the posters, the cut-outs and Saheli’s song.  The President went along with it for a while, but when things started going overboard, he put his foot down. 

People like to be kings.  Some believe they are kings, often because they misread the meaning of ‘raja yogas’.  The fact remains that king-aspiration does not necessarily deliver crown and wearing crown does not necessarily confer royalty.  Mahinda may not have wanted to be king, but he was hailed as one and in a sense that conferring was re-endorsed on January 26, 2010.  He is not a man who has lost his humility and I am sure he would not be averse to admitting that even if he were king, he is far from the perfect monarch.  At some level he must recognize his mortality and imperfections, for this is the man who told us in 2005 not to sing hosannas for him but instead point out error and suggest remedy.

I was thinking about kings and royalty, citizens and subjects, governance and rule and it didn’t take long for me to realize that the definitive text book was written, so to speak, over 2500 years ago by Siddhartha Gauthama: The Dasa Raja Dharma, the ten-point framework for rulers.  Each tenet is a book, if one wants to expand on the basic principle, a doctoral dissertation in fact and a single article running into 1000 words or less cannot do justice to this amazing handbook for the ruler. 

This is it, the ‘nutshell version of good governance’  [Scroll down for elaboration of each of these]:

1. Dana -- liberality, generosity, charity.  

2. Sila -- a high and moral character.

3. Pariccaga -- sacrificing everything for the good of the people.  

4. Ajjava -- honesty and integrity.   

5. Maddava -- kindness and gentleness.   

6. Tapa -- austerity of habits.   

7.  Akkodha -- freedom from envy, ill-will, enmity.   

8.  Avihimsa -- non-violence. 

9. Khanti -- patience, forbearance, tolerance, understanding.   

10. Avirodha -- non-opposition, non-obstruction.

All leaders, not just kings and presidents, would do well to reflect on the above 10 principles and to extrapolate and apply them as appropriate.  It is essentially a checklist when testing/predicting ‘goodness of fit’ of any proposal or policy.  It is therefore an insurance policy. 

It must be remembered also that the Dasa Raja Dharma is not just for rulers, but for the ruled as well, for we can assess the worth of any piece of legislation, any act, any proposal, any programme against these criteria and once this is done we will be more confident in applauding or blackballing.  

It is hard, no doubt, but then again who said ruling was going to be easy?  We don’t expect our rulers to be Arahats but we certainly expect them not to be brigands or rasthiyaadukaarayas.  The Dasa Raja Dharma is a mirror.  Each of us, leaders and the led, can look at this mirror and check the distance between self-image and reality.  We can hold it against each and every politician, those in power and those who aspire to political office and the three dimensional man/woman inside the two-dimensional version that smiles at us from city wall will no doubt jump out in all his/her primary colours of being. 

We could do all this, but it is more important that Mahinda Rajapaksa does it.  He is after all The Ruler, the all-powerful Executive President, a man who came before us with a manifesto and returned home with mandate.  He will be challenged at every turn. There will be countless opportunities to slip.  At every step along the way from here to the ‘there’ that he envisages, Mahinda Rajapaksa will have some people on his side, but if he wants to have more people with him, then the more efficient way of getting about it would be to choose as his constant companion the Dasa Raja Dharma, for it was authored for him by one of the most insightful political scientists the world has ever known and one of the most compassionate too: Siddhartha Gauthama. 

If I was Mahinda Rajapaksa and had to choose between an army of advisors and this brief note of 10 simple and simply profound points, I would not pick the former.  Mahinda Rajapaksa is a practical man.  He can choose to be wise(r) during his second term as President.

Good Governance I: Liberality, Generosity and Charity

Dana: the virtue of giving

Good Governance II: the primacy of virtue

Sila: the moral component of the Dasa Raja Dharma]

Good Governance III: Self Sacrifice

Pariccaga: the third element of the Dasa Raja Dharma

Good Governance IV: honesty and integrity

Ajjava: the discourse on honesty and integrity in governance 

Good Governance V: Gentleness and Kindness

Majjava: the kinder, gentler elements of governance

Good Governance VI: Austerity and Restriant

Tapa: the virtues of austerity and restraint 

Good Governance VII: Eschewing of Enmity

Akkodha: the need to eschew enmity

Good Governance VIII: Non-violence

Avihimsa: incorporating non-violence into good governance

Good Governance IX: Forbearance

Khanti: the virtue of patience and tolerance

Good Governance X: non-opposition and non-enmity

Avirodha: a must-cultivate for the effective and benevolent ruler

Malinda Seneviratne is a freelance writer who can be reached at malindasenevi@gmail.com

 

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Good Governance II: the primacy of virtue

The ‘Sila’ component of the Dasa Raja Dharma

In the Anguththara Nikaya, i.e the numerical discourses of the Buddha, the section containing ‘fives’ includes an elaboration on ‘the five great gifts’ which are ‘not open to suspicion and are un-faulted by knowledgeable contemplatives and priests.  They are the abstinence from taking life, from taking what is not given, from illicit sex, from uttering falsehood and the use of intoxicants. This is what is referred to as the ‘Panca Sila’ (the five virtues), where practicing Buddhists voluntarily determine to locate themselves within the disciplinary boundaries pertaining to the relevant abstinences.

 This is basic ‘sila’, there being of course more challenging or stringent (if you will) determinations of self-discipline (e.g. ata sil or the Eight Precepts, dasa sil or Ten Precepts and the 227 rules of the Bikkhu Patimokkha that a fully ordained bikkhu is required to abide by).  Sila is the cornerstone upon which the entire Noble Eightfold Path is built and its practice is defined by the middle three factors, Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood. 

Sila is clearly a Buddhist concept that makes for much discussion, elaboration and application.  In this instance, my task is to explore connections between sila and governance, with reference of course to the Dasa Raja Dharma or the ten pillars of good governance. 

For the smooth functioning of society and the enthronement of justice, prosperity and peace, the ruler or the government is required (among other things) to embody in the minimum a discipline with respect to the five precepts.  When a person or persons holding high public office conducts himself/themselves in private and public life in such a manner then it becomes easier to combat bribery and corruption, violence and indiscipline, inefficiencies and wastage.

The good king would not only be a seelavantha or an adherent to the disciplines associated with sila but set up and/or strengthen institution and norm/value that help foster these virtues.  Let’s take the five precepts and explore.

Let’s begin with the act of taking life, of facilitating life-taking and in the embedded ‘negative’ of causing injury.  The Buddha does not distinguish between the life of a human being and that of any other creature.  In our society meat-consumption as well as animal-slaughter is not prohibited either by law or by religious edict.  Buddhists are not ‘ordered’ not to eat meat, for example.  It is left as a ‘choice’.  The norms associated with religious freedoms can include sanction of meat-eating and even animal-sacrifice (for religious purposes).  It is an issue that needs to be debated but which people are scared to in view of treading on rights-toes.  Should not be this way in a democratic society where the principle of debate and discussion and the triumph of the rational over emotion should be what is respectively underlined and sought.  At the core however is the matter of deliberate choice, a decision to abstain at the most important ‘personal’ level.  This amounts to affirming the principle of example-power. 

‘Pranaghathaya’ (destroying life) is not about animals only.  It is about killing people and in the case of governance structures that contain relevant preventive mechanisms including the instrument called ‘pain of punishment’.  Outside of the ‘inevitabilities’ pertaining to war situations (covered by other ‘rules’ that override the general contained in the Dasa Raja Dharma), capital punishment would be classed as a violation by the Buddha.  In the case of the ruler(s), we have to include political assassinations, the unwarranted use of force that could result in deaths and stringent measure to ensure that those who contravene relevant laws are pursued and brought to book.  Punishment of offender is required.  Looking the other way is not sanctioned.  Political conveniences are required to be abhorred in the matter of dispensing justice.  We are lacking, I conclude.

‘Adinnaadaana’, my friend and benefactor of sorts, Nalin Swaris says, is about a commitment not to extract by force or otherwise properties which ought to be used instead on the premise of sharing; daana referring to justice and sharing rather than charity. If the ruler sets aside for personal use that which is common property or abuses power prerogatives to secure for him/herself exclusive or privileged use of properties, he/she compromises the edicts of good governance. 

We are talking, however, not about tweaking regulations but outright theft, of passing laws or abusing existing laws courtesy loophole and interpretive prerogative to secure lands and other assets on terms (lease for examples) that the general public cannot obtain.  We are talking of proper laws and their equal application. We are talking of power-abuse; of ‘cuts’, commissions, graft etc.  We are talking of audits that rulers do not subject themselves to or dodge using position and arm-twisting ability.  Included here is white collar crime.  Bribery. Corruption.  Money laundering. The quiet ‘approval’ of certain drugs and the design and implementation of policies that favour the favoured and not the general public.  We are lacking, I believe.

Illicit sex.  That’s a tough one when it comes to issues of governance, but I believe that metaphorical application is possible.  It is about who one chooses to bed with and why.  It is about unholy pacts and partnerships, agreements stamped behind closed doors that have nothing to do with pursuing the public good.  It is about choosing one’s friends, the ‘who’ and the ‘why’ of it all.  The ruler is judged by the company he/she keeps and the manner of and choices pertaining to appointments to positions of power.  The ruler must at all times ensure that the processes of selection are above board and designed to ensure that the right person gets the right job.  The ruler has to ensure that systems prevail over whim in the matter of appointment.  The ruler must ensure that the system corrects for human error.  I look at the 17^th Amendment and say ‘flawed’.  I look at the 18^th and say ‘flaw eliminated’ but original flaw (that which the 17^th was supposed to correct) remains.  We are lacking.

Lying.  This is about promise. About manifesto and mandate.  About adhering to the dictum yatha vadi thatha chari (do what you say/recommend, say what you do, i.e. be transparent).  It is about transparency and practicing what one preaches.  It is about accountability.  It is moreover a deliberate decision not to engage in word-play and twisting, in re-interpreting mandate to justify choice or in using power given for one purpose to do that which has not been sanctioned.  It is about being beholden to the general citizenry and deferring to their preferences and indeed obtaining in one way or another what their preferences might be at different times given different contexts.  It is about dialogue and discussion, debate and disagreement. It is about being humble enough to acknowledge error.  It is about not doing the convenient thing but the correct thing.  I like to think that all these things are included in the sila pertaining to the commitment to abstaining from lying. We are lacking, sadly.

Then there is intoxication.  Again the metaphorical application is of greater use.  ‘Mathata thitha’ or a full stop to intoxications/intoxicants is laudable for reasons that could run into several articles.  Alcohol consumption and smoking are not illegal. There are restrictions to there where, when and who of drinking and smoking of course, but there are innumerable ways to bypass the relevant bylaws.  Subtle encouragement is sanctioned.  The relevant industries have powerful lobbies. Rulers need to decide not to pander to such lobbies however advantageous it could be to their respective careers.  There is absolutely no point in abstinence if the violation in different forms is encouraged by sloth in the matter of enacting relevant legislation, applying the same and launching a nation-wide campaign at all levels and in all sectors to educate the public about the dangers of substance abuse. 

Intoxication is not just about consumption of alcohol and other substances.  It is about losing one’s mind, about deliberately acting in ways that impair the employment of reason and deference to good sense and most of all the neglect of common good in the process.  Where rulers get intoxicated with power, the public gets short-changed. Where ambition and ego end up footnoting reason and suppressing the primary purposes of power (to rule justly and wisely), good governance flies out of the window.

We have constitutional articles that are made for power-intoxication.  In this context it is all the more imperative for rulers and rule-makers to be more circumspect and vigilant about the abuses they themselves might perpetrate and the tragedies that they might unleash on account of being endowed with powers that are not congruent to ability to manage given ego, ignorance and ambition.  If sobriety is the relevant medicine, the political pharmacies seem to have run out of stock. Sadly.

I believe that sila is a key foundation stone for moving towards better governance.  There is a lot of reference these days to the panca sila, the five precepts.  It is a concept that is alluded to frequently by those in high positions of power, the President included.  There is much pleading for sila on the part of the public.  There is the white clothes and pirith nool.  There are alms-givings and seela vyapara (programmes focusing on observing the precepts).  There is a clasping of hands, and the regular ‘deferencing’ to the Maha Sangha.  There is ‘appearance’ and ‘spectacle’.  There is little substance.  Not in the governing and not in the governed and, let us not forget, not in those aspiring to replace those in power.  That too is telling. 

Where sila is practiced there is always restraint, always circumspection, self-criticism and humility.  These are qualities that are of great value when it comes to governance.  We are lacking, but need not be, I conclude.

[Originally published in the Daily Mirror, September 2010]

The following is the complete set of articles on the Dasa Raja Dharma

Good Governance I: Liberality, Generosity and Charity

Dana: the virtue of giving

Good Governance II: the primacy of virtue

Sila: the moral component of the Dasa Raja Dharma]

Good Governance III: Self Sacrifice

Pariccaga: the third element of the Dasa Raja Dharma

Good Governance IV: honesty and integrity

Ajjava: the discourse on honesty and integrity in governance 

Good Governance V: Gentleness and Kindness

Majjava: the kinder, gentler elements of governance

Good Governance VI: Austerity and Restriant

Tapa: the virtues of austerity and restraint 

Good Governance VII: Eschewing of Enmity

Akkodha: the need to eschew enmity

Good Governance VIII: Non-violence

Avihimsa: incorporating non-violence into good governance

Good Governance IX: Forbearance

Khanti: the virtue of patience and tolerance

Good Governance X: non-opposition and non-enmity

Avirodha: a must-cultivate for the effective and benevolent ruler

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Good Governance I: Liberality, Generosity and Charity

The definitive text book on Good Governance was written, so to speak, over 2500 years ago by Siddhartha Gauthama: The Dasa Raja Dharma, the ten-point framework for rulers. Each tenet is a book, if one wants to expand on the basic principle, a doctoral dissertation in fact and a single article running into 1000 words or less cannot do justice to this amazing handbook for the ruler.’

The nutshell-version would thus be the 10 tenets: Dana (liberality, generosity, charity), Sila (a high and moral character), Pariccaga (sacrificing everything for the good of the people), Ajjava (honesty and integrity), Maddava (kindness and gentleness), Tapa (austerity of habits), Akkodha (freedom from envy, ill-will, enmity), Avihimsa (non-violence), Khanti (patience, forbearance, tolerance, understanding), Avirodha (non-opposition, non-obstruction).

These are that fall into the easy to say but hard to do order of things, obviously. Or, if one wants to be cynical, one could say they are not impossible to do but are nevertheless not done because it is convenient to ignore all this. And profitable. I believe we lose nothing by exploring these concepts and assessing things as they are in terms of the ideals envisaged by this 10-point plan. Beginning with this I shall explore each of these 10 ideas in terms of where we are as a nation, the crucial challenges we face and the futures that we can reasonably imagine (subject of course to the editor’s generosity and permission).

Let’s talk ‘dana’today. The first thing that comes to mind would be ‘alms-giving’. There is the ritualistic offering to the Maha Sangha, the ‘giving’ associated with dan-sela come Vesak or Poson, the tossing of a coin to a beggar. All ‘givings’ come under ‘dana’. What is the ‘dana’ associated with governance, though?

Some might say that Mahinda Rajapaksa ‘gave’ us a terrorist-free country. Some would say he gave us back our dignity, sense of pride, our national identity. Some might say that he recovered our sovereignty and territorial integrity and thereby granted us and our children an expanded sense of freedom and extended the dimensions of our real-estate endowment. We are today living in a country where we don’t have to worry whether or not our children or loved ones would fall victim to a bomb explosion or suicide attack. We have a sense of security we didn’t have before. We can say ‘Mahinda Rajapaksa gave us all this’. Dana? No. All of the above come under‘responsibility’. It is part of a political agreement, a contract that is made of manifesto distributed before election and mandate given by electing. All this is what Mahinda Rajapaksa, as Executive President, elected, was required to do. That’s part of his job description. The fact that his predecessors could not deliver makes the fact that he did worthy of appreciation of course, but still, this is not ‘dana’. It is ‘vagakeema’. Responsibility.

And here, we need to insert parenthesis: there is still a big gap between manifesto and mandate and until such time it is bridged, even the ‘I have delivered’ claim cannot be made. There are errors too. There’s been a lot of ‘taking’, i.e. things not promised nor mandate obtained for. That’s a negative that needs to be balanced off by correction and compensation. Every time, for example, that the law is applied indiscriminately, where friends are treated softly and detractors harshly. That’s ‘taking’. Each time there’s ‘looking the other way’when one’s pals are engaged in wrong-doing and pursuing relentlessly a political opponent for crimes forgiven in the case of a friend, each time one wrong-doer is treated lightly while another is rapped on the knuckles hard, there’s unsanctioned ‘taking’. These should be balanced off too.

‘Dana’ speaks of a different order of things. It refers to a ‘giving’ or ‘givings’ that fall out of mandate, things not promised or pledged and are not expected either. It is about employing resources available to deliver things that were not promised. ‘Resource’ here is not necessarily limited to money, cement and personnel, but ideas, innovation and the ability to decide. It is about going beyond maintaining status quo. It is about resolving problems not in the sticking-plaster manner, but in ways that prevent recurrence. It is about designing systems instead of looking to find the right person for the right job; i.e. setting up mechanisms so that the right person does get the right job.

'Dana’ is not about dishing out Presidential Pardon. It is about recognizing that the law can be deliberately applied selectively and making sure that it is not. It is about recognizing that a constitution has been enacted that is absolutely draconian in that it all but gags the citizen and make it possible for consistent and horrendous short-changing. It is about doing something about it. 

Mahinda Rajapaksa did not get into specifics when he spoke about changing the constitution. He was given a mandate to change it. He has the numbers to change it. He can easily slip to do-as-I-please mode. That would not be illegal. This is exactly why there is a ‘dana’ opportunity here. He can do what few have had the courage or indeed the compulsion to do: defer in favour of citizen. He can recognize that he has been accorded dictatorial powers by this constitution. He can choose not to use all powers at his disposal and that would be good. The true ‘giving’ would be to go further: enact amendment to deny himself such power and by doing so to ensure that a tyrant will not be able to abuse these powers at a later date. That’s giving, in my book.

The Dasa Raja Dharma ‘giving’ is not about being giving kisses, pats on the back, hugs, throwing parties, distributing school books and so on. It is about recognizing errors that have caused unnecessary power to accumulate in the office one occupies and doing something to rectify the same. It is about recognizing that ‘do-as-I-please’ IS possible but deciding not to make use of the option.

There are alms that the needy require, yes. These are not necessarily limited to food, clothing and shelter. The President has to look after the welfare of needy citizens and he has to understand that some of these ‘needs’ are not of the material kind; that they include enhanced ability to participate in decision making processes, security from being shoved around by arrogant politicians, the pleasure of living in a society where the law is applied equally to all citizens etc. It also includes a decision not to give into craving and attachment to anything including political office.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is not known to be ungenerous. He’s not seen as a stingy person. However, he needs to distinguish between dana and vagakeema, between giving and being honourable about delivering on promise.

There’s dana then and there’s dana. President Mahinda Rajapaksa hasn’t given much by way of dana, not in terms of the Dasa Raja Dharma anyway. He won’t be faulted for this of course, for people tend to compare and contrast. That’s not enough to be remembered as a great ruler, though.

Let’s see some real dana Mr. President.

[an earlier version was published in the Daily Mirror, in August 2010 under the title 'The Dana Clause of the Dasa Raja Dharma']

The following is the complete set of articles on the Dasa Raja Dharma

Good Governance I: Liberality, Generosity and Charity

Dana: the virtue of giving

Good Governance II: the primacy of virtue

Sila: the moral component of the Dasa Raja Dharma]

Good Governance III: Self Sacrifice

Pariccaga: the third element of the Dasa Raja Dharma

Good Governance IV: honesty and integrity

Ajjava: the discourse on honesty and integrity in governance 

Good Governance V: Gentleness and Kindness

Majjava: the kinder, gentler elements of governance

Good Governance VI: Austerity and Restriant

Tapa: the virtues of austerity and restraint 

Good Governance VII: Eschewing of Enmity

Akkodha: the need to eschew enmity

Good Governance VIII: Non-violence

Avihimsa: incorporating non-violence into good governance

Good Governance IX: Forbearance

Khanti: the virtue of patience and tolerance

Good Governance X: non-opposition and non-enmity

Avirodha: a must-cultivate for the effective and benevolent ruler

Read more