BSP to launch campaign against
casteism
Special Correspondent
Bahujan Samaj Party will launch a nationwide campaign on June 19 to caution the
people against what it calls the tactics employed by the Opposition parties,
especially the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, to undermine its
influence.
It will start in Uttar Pradesh, where public meetings will be held in all
district headquarters.
The decision was taken at a meeting of BSP office-bearers, coordinators,
MPs, MLAs and Ministers held here on Saturday. With Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister and party chief Mayawati in the chair, the meeting reviewed the BSP’s
performance in the Lok Sabha elections.
A note issued on the campaign points to the “joint role” played by the
Congress, the BJP and their allies — with their “casteist mentality” — in
preventing Ms. Mayawati from becoming the Prime Minister after the Lok Sabha
elections.
It also claims that the Congress and the BJP prevented the formation of a
BSP-led alternative government during the July 22, 2008 trust vote sought by
the UPA government after it lost the support of the Left parties over the
India-U.S. nuclear deal.
Vowing to end casteism, it says public meetings and cadre camps would be
organised all over the country for creating awareness of casteism.
A book in Hindi and English (penned by Ms. Mayawati) will also be released
LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has written a letter
to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh requesting him to increase Below
Poverty Line quota for her State.
Drawing the PM’s attention towards her previous letter sent to him
last October on increasing the BPL quota for the State, Mayawati said
that the issue of increasing the BPL quota had been pending since long
with the Central Government.
Mayawati, in her latest letter, has sought relief for a large number of poor families.
She has stated that surveys in Uttar Pradesh indicated that there
was a substantial variation between ground realities and numbers
assigned to the State by the Central Government.
The number of poor people was significantly higher in reality, and
there was an urgent need to include them in BPL list, Maywati stressed
in her letter.
Mayawati has said that the 2002 survey had provided for an
additional BPL quota of 10 per cent as a Transient Poor category.
However, the State could not get the benefit of this additional quota
of 10.6 lakh families, which could have partly mitigated the needs of
the State’s poor.
Mayawati has requested the Prime Minister to direct the new expert
committee set up by the Union Government to develop criteria and a
process of identifying poverty, to look into this critical issue, which
is likely to impact millions of urban migrants. (ANI)
Buddhist Teachings: Acquisition of Wealth and Maintaining
an Unperturbed Socio-spiritual Life
Bhikkhu
Nyanabodhi
nyanabodhi@gmail.com
It has been often incriminated that
Buddhism is more concerned about spirituality more than its concern about
worldly matters. Against this criticism, over the recent centuries scholars
have contributed greatly unearthing the social dimensions of Buddha’s teachings.
In this article, we shall look into some economic principles of the
Buddhadhamma by drawing some references from the Pāli canon.
The teaching of Gotama Buddha
as we know is centred upon the four noble truths (cattāri ariyasaccāni),
of which the first is dukkha (suffering or unsatisfactoriness). In
spite of the high spiritual application of the concept in other texts, in the
Dhammapada verse 203, Gotama Buddha addresses the issue of Suffering
in two fundamental aspects:
1. Hunger (jigacchā) – the primary source of human
suffering which needs to be coped with every day, and
2. Conditioned things (saṃkhāra) - the primary source suffering
to be realized as it is (yathābhūtaṃ) and overcome by the wise.
From this aforementioned primary
issues of suffering, we see Buddhism stresses liberation (vimutti)
from both these two aspect of anguish or vexation in the same urgent spirit.
Elsewhere we learn from the Buddha who says ‘all living beings are
dependent upon food’ – (sabbe sattā āharaṭṭhiṭikā) which generated his idea of the Middle
Path in the pursuit of a more conducive spiritual life.
In fact, the spiritual life of Gotama
Buddha itself had awakened him to the importance of leading a life of
moderation – the Middle Path. We see that ascetic Siddhattha’s attainment
of perfect Enlightenment (sammā sambodhi) was possible only after he
was disillusioned with the idea of ‘austere practices’ and resorted to ‘middle
way’. Thus, this noble discovery of the Middle Path of the Blessed One
motivated him to avert the extremity of self-indulgence (kāmesukhallikānuyogo)
and self-mortification (attakilamatānuyogo). The Middle path is to
maintain the moderation in attainment of both worldly and spiritual success.
The fact that poverty is woeful (dāliddiyaṃbhikkhave
dukkhaṃ lokasmiṃ) accentuates the importance of wealth in the life of a worldly person.
Therefore, the Buddha advocates rightful means in acquiring wealth. By
‘material wealth’ (dhana), Buddhism recognises the four fundamental
needs (catu paccaya): food (āhāra), cloths (vattha),
shelter (geha) and medicine (bhesajja) before one undertakes
the education (spiritual training) for the attainment of noble wealth (ariyadhana).
Of the four, food is distinguished as the foremost as ‘this body survives
depended upon food, without food it cannot survive’ – (ayaṃ
kāyo āharaṭṭhitiko āhāraṃ
paṭicca tiṭṭhati anāharo na tiṭṭhati).
Yet, it is a pathetic sight that
around the world millions of people are very poor . Many have died due to
hunger. Owing to the severity of hunger, some were compelled
even to feed on the flesh of other humans.
The Buddha evidently mentioned in the
Cakkavattisīhanāda Sutta of Dīgha-Nikāya that owing to the
imbalanced distribution of wealth, there arises poverty which in turn leads to
immorality and crimes such as thefts, falsehood, violences, hatred and cruelty
and so forth. The sutta emphasizes the state responsibility to judge
the divergent individual capacities of his citizens and distribute resources
accordingly. Thus, those with agricultural talents should be provided with
seeds and fields; those talented in business with capital; and those who can serve
in various government sectors with such opportunities. In this way, people
being busy with their duties will not develop harmful tendencies.
Besides relying on the economic
support from King, Gotama Buddha also educated his lay devotees on the righteous
means to gain wealth. The Exalted One elucidated how the righteous life
first leads to rebirth in this terrestrial world and eventually will lead
to a happy life in the next world (Dhammacāri sukhaṃ
seti asmiṃ loke paraṃ hi ca).
In the
Dīghajānu Sutta, when the Buddha was asked by householder Dīghajānu about the
way to get happiness in this life and the life after, the Exalted Master
expounded four factors conducive to attaining happiness in this life thus:
1. Diligent acquisition(uṭṭhānasampada)
2. Careful conservation(ārakkhasampada)
3. Having virtuous friends(kalyānamittatā)and
4. Living within your means(Samājīvikatā)
Buddhism
always emphasizes right livelihood striving righteously (dhammena)
and diligently (appamādena) to be successful in material, social, or
even spiritual gains. It is mentioned in the scriptures that like a bee
accumulating honey or an ant building its anthill, a person must exercise his
energy and effort to accumulate his wealth. There is a saying in Sanskrit
stressing the effort of a man in both earning wealth and practicing a religious
life. It says that in earning wealth and in education, one must not think of
decay or death. But in his everyday life, he should think that the death is
extremely near to him (ajarāmaravat prajño/vidyamarthaṃ
ca sādhayet/gŗhita iva kesesu/mŗtyunā dharmamācaret).
The way to earn wealth is precisely
explicated in the Aṅguttara Nikāya thus : “for a good person
wealth is or should be earned not by violent means, but by energetic striving,
amassed by strength of arm, won by sweat, and received with the righteous means”
– (Bhogā honti asāhasena uṭṭhānavīriyādhigatehi bhogehi
bāhābalaparicitehi sedāvakkhittehi dhammikehi dhammaladdhehi). The golden rule governing right
livelihood or Buddhist economics is thus : to do jobs that harm neither oneself
nor another person or other beings (morally or even materially). Thus, five
kinds of businesses are declared by Gotama Buddha as not righteous:
1. The trade of weapons (sattha vānijja)
2. The trade of poison (visa vānijja)
3. The trade of alcohol and dangerous drugs (majja vānijja)
4. The trade of flesh and (maṃsa vānijja)
5. The trade of people (satta vānijja).
This reminds
us of the social obligations that must be cogitated by manufacturers and tradespersons;
not only by seeking self centric ends but by truly serving the society.
According to Buddhism, cheating is an unskilful action that should be
abandoned. It has been often misapprehended that succeeding in business without
cheating is impossible. But one should also think that he himself does not like
to be cheated. There is a muscular saying of George Washington; ‘Honesty is the
best policy’ which is one of the five basic ethical principles (pañcasīla)
of Buddhism and which should attentively be applied in the business matters.
Buddhism also highlights the
careful observation and protection of wealth acquired by the individual with
his hard work. It recommends that a person should take a good care of his
wealth, not allowing it to be eroded away by unjust taxation, theft, natural
disaster or undeserving successors. Furthermore, when saving up one’s wealth,
one should not allow such doing to bring oneself into conflict with those
around him. The reason why Buddhism advises one to protect one’s wealth
is that in case of emergency such as repairing the consequences of fire,
flood, excess taxation, and so forth, he can make use of his wealth and
overcome the difficulties in life. Of course the best way to conserve one’s
wealth is by way of acquiring transcendental wealth or merit. In such a
form, it is beyond the touch of any evil force. Furthermore, it will be
appreciated with the passing of the years, thus saving in the form of transcendental
wealth is really the most skilful way of conserving one’s wealth.
Along with the economic activities or
even day to day life, an individual should also keep companionship with
virtuous friends having faith (saddhā), self-discipline (sīla),
self-sacrifice (cāga) and wisdom (paññā). The Buddha teaches
that worldly wealth may be exhausted in a moment, but the value of training
other people to be virtuous never knows an end. In many of the sutta-s
such as Maṅgala sutta, Sigālovāda sutta etc., the Buddha gave a detailed account
on how the behaviour of a friend should actually be. And he also advises
us to associate with the wise and virtuous friends and to avoid
associating with the unskilful and bad ones (asevanā ca bālānaṃ
panditānaṃ ca sevanā).
And finally, we are advised to
live within our means (samajīvikatā). One should live a life not being
a luxury-seeker and also not being too spendthrift either. There is a very
simple yet extremely significant statement which in a nutshell contains the
essential features of the Buddhist economics. The statement runs thus: – an
individual should divide his wealth in four portions, of these the first
portion will be used for his own expense, a half of the total wealth i.e. the
second and the third portions should be used in reinvestments. And the
best approach to the investment as mentioned in Buddhism is – development of
skills, training experience, fulfilling the basic needs of others and so on.
And with regard to the hospitality there is a mention of five bali-s
(offerings or treatments) namely;treating relatives[ñāti bali],
guests[atithi bali], the government[rāja bali], departed
relatives[peta bali], and samanas and brāhmanas [devatā
bali]. And the last portion should be kept for the future needs such as –
floods, calamities and drought and so on.
Thus, while one is practicing the
above mentioned four qualities, one develops four more spiritual qualities
namely saddhā (faith), sīla (morality or virtue), cāga
(generosity), and paññā (wisdom). Having these qualities developed,
one then obtains four kinds of happiness namely:
1. One becomes happy thinking that he acquires
his wealth in a righteous way (atthi sukha)
2. He becomes happy in using the wealth earned
in the blameless way (bhoga sukha)
3. He becomes happy being able to say ‘I
have no debts’ which is the bliss of debtlessness (anaṇa sukha), and
4. Finally, he enjoys the bliss of
blamelessness (anavajja
sukha).
The Buddha praised the fourth type of
happiness because this person does not do any unskilful action either through
his body or speech or mind. And hence he is freed from harming others in any
way; therefore he leads a blameless life.
The economic theory in Buddhism is
rather a holistic one. Buddhism begins primarily talking with individual
economy and then it goes on to social economy and then to state economy. With
the development of wealth, an individual is expected to be developed in the
dharma. He does everything for the benefit and wellbeing of the both oneself and
others as the Buddhist saying goes; “May all livings be well and happy” – (sabbe
sattā bhavantu sukhitattā). An individual trained in such a way is
related to the family; a family to a group, a group to a state or a nation; and
a state to other states. In such a state even the animals, birds, fish as well
as trees and plants are protected. Thus happiness prevails in such a country.
Therefore, Buddhism appreciates such
economic activities which do not exploit others; do not increase additional
wants depriving the basic needs; do not fall within the five areas of trade and
do not use material resources without maintaining the ecological balance.
Buddhism always stresses on right livelihood . Right livelihood
means that a man should not just accumulate wealth for the sake of
enjoying life, rather taking the economic activities as a mean to achieve
the end and which is to be known as the socio-spiritual life. In respect of
this way of livelihood, a modern economist, Glen Alexandrian, says that ethical
consideration should be given a prominent place in production and distribution
of wealth. Therefore, it should be said that Buddhism does not see any fault in
the wealth itself. Its emphasis is mostly the ethical acquisition and
usage of the wealth. It recommends that in the acquisition of wealth, one
must not exercise greed, stinginess, grasping, attachment, and hoarding. In
other words, the economic activities should not be done with competition or
contest, but with co-operation and zeal. In so doing one, would then be able to
lead an unperturbed socio-spiritual life.
Most of the important early Buddhist
Economics promulgated by Gotama Buddha is incorporated in this essay. We can
learn Buddhadhamma as well as
Way
Earning and utility of economic wealth is a conditioned phenomenon.
Non-violation of Buddhist principle of Dependent Co-arising is the Principle.
The wisdom of Anattā integrates the phenomenon with the Principle harmoniously.
Live in Anattā and you are perfectly protected in any sphere of activity
including economic activities. To live in Anattā : Annihilate your
self-identity in the Totality of any collective work.
Individual and group responsibility in the elimination of poverty in a society as portrayed in Buddhist literature
“Dependant
origination” or “Causal Genesis” (paticca Samuppada) is the most
fundamental doctrine in the teachings of Gautama Buddha, the founder of
Buddhism. This doctrine is of such paramount importance in Buddhism
that it is sometimes equated with the Buddha’s teachings. In the
Mahahatthipadopama Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya (Vol 1 p. 191) it is
said: “He who understands dependant origination, understands correctly
the teachings of the Buddha and he who thus understands the teachings
of the Buddha truly understands who the Buddha was. The whole edifice
of Buddhism is built up on this fundamental doctrine. Three current
theories were refuted by this doctrine of causal genesis, namely, the
theory of divine creation (issaranimmanavada) , the theory of
pre-destination (pubbekata hetuvada) and the theory of chance
occurrence (adhiccasamuppanna vada) (S.II, p. 18-20). So, when we apply
this fundamental doctrine of Buddhism to understand the problem of
poverty in a county, how it has come to be and how to can be
eliminated, Buddhism rejects the view that poverty is due to divine
creation or that it is pre-destined or that poverty occurs without
causes or conditions. Having rejected these three views, Buddhism
maintains that, like all other phenomena, poverty, too, has come into
being depending on causes and conditions. When we say that a thing has
come into being depending on causes and conditions, the logical
conclusion one can arrive at is that, with the changing or removal of
those causes and conditions, there will take place a change or
disappearance of that thing itself.
We
see that poverty of people in a country too, is thus dependant in
origination that means that it manifests itself when causes and
conditions that give rise to poverty are present, and hence with the
changing or removal of such causes and conditions, poverty, too, will
wither away. It is not a permanent feature that persists for all time.
An important discourse in the Digha Nikaya,,the Cakkavatti Sihanada Sutta of
the “Discourse of the lion’s Roar of a Universal Monarch (D. III.
58-79) very vividly describes how an ancient people declined in all
morals and ethical behaviour, due to neglect of duty on the part of the
ruler of that country and how that same people subsequently became law
abiding, duty conscious, disciplined, happy and content when the ruler
reorganized the entire state machinery in such a way that there were
plenty of employment opportunities for intellectual economic, spiritual
and physical development of the people. This is how the argument runs:
“Due to absence of employment opportunities, poverty became rampant.
When poverty became rampant, some people resorted to stealing in order
to live. When stealing became wide spread, wealth owners armed
themselves with weapons to protect themselves and their wealth from
thieves. The thieves, too, had to resort to weapons when wealth owners
armed themselves with weapons. This resulted in conflict and clashes,
ending in death or physical injury to many – to thieves as well as to
wealth owners. When the thieves were caught and were produced before
courts of law they uttered falsehood and offered bribes to escape
punishment. In this way the entire society became afflicted and
disorganized, and people had to live in constant fear and doubt. When
the situation deteriorated to a very low level the ministers sat in
council and advised the king to take suitable measures to rectify the
situation. On their advice the king implemented a crash programme to
provide people with employment opportunities. Now, those people who
earlier resorted to stealing and other forms of anti-social behaviour
began to engage themselves in many socially beneficent activities that
brought them good incomes; and thus the need to resort to stealing,
falsehood and other forms of corruption did nor arise and once again
peace, prosperity and goodwill prevailed in the country”.
A similar idea is expressed in another Buddhist discourse that occurs in the Digha Nikaya called the Kutadanta Sutta or
the “Discourse to Kutadanta” (D.I p.127). There it is said that an
ancient king wanted to perform a magnificent sacrificial ceremony to
avert peril form evil spirits. When he summoned his counselors to
discuss the programme, they unitedly expressed: “Your Majesty, the
country is already in a chaotic condition. Poverty is wide spread and
many people have resorted to stealing and committing other crimes,
because they have no other way of earning a living. Due to these things
the general moral standard has reached its lowest ebb. When the
situation is such, if the king decides to perform this great
sacrificial ceremony involving great expenditure and forced labour that
means more burdens will have to be laid on the already taxed and
tormented people. If that happens more and more people will resort to
stealing and committing many other crimes and the situation will go
from bad to worst. Your Majesty might think that by rounding up the
wrong-doers and by punishing them severely or by imprisoning them, it
might be possible to restore peace and harmony in the country, but it
will not happen, because, when some thieves are given capital
punishment or imprisonment, many others will take their place to
torment the country. What your Majesty should immediately do is to
pacify the people by providing them with suitable employment
opportunities so that they can earn an income to support themselves and
their families. “The king followed the advice of the counselors and
implemented a suitable pregramme to solve the unemployment problem of
the country and before long the conditions of the country changed for
the better and peace and harmony prevailed once again in the country.
Now,
all these episodes are meant to drive into our minds that human beings
are by nature almost the same at all times, then and now, but
prevailing environmental factors make them saints or scoundrels and
therefore, responsible human beings should Endeavour to change the
social environment in such a way that human beings living in such
environments can develop their potentialities in the right direction,
for the benefit of the individual and the community.
As far as the individual is concerned, Buddhism teaches that one is one’s own master (atta hi attano natho-kohi natho parosiya) (Dhp. V. 160). That means that one is to a great degree responsible for one’s own progress or degeneration. In the Pattakamma Vagga of the Anguttara Nikaya the
Buddha says that a man with vision and initiative can enjoy a fourfold
happiness throughout life. They are: happiness derived when one sees
that one has enough wealth and monetary resources (atthisukka), happiness derived when one sees that one’s wealth is properly and profitably utilized (bhogasukha), happiness derived when one knows that one is not in debt (ananasukha), and the happiness derived when one sees that one lives a blameless and useful life (anavajjasukha).
A person can experience the first kind of happiness if he has
energetically developed his potentialities form childhood to gather
knowledge, experience and various types of skills through which he is
able to earn and accumulate wealth, in a righteous manner, without
causing hardship or embarrassment or damage to others. A man who
manufactures and trades in weapons of destruction, a man who trades in
animals and flesh, a man who produces and sells harmful drugs, alcohol
and poison, a man produces pornographic literature, blue films and the
like, cannot enjoy this happiness, though he may have accumulated a
fortune from such things, because his conscience will keep on pricking
him all the time when he ponders over how he earned his wealth. The
second type of happiness is derived when one sees that one’s wealth is
property utilized. One should eat well, dress well and live in comfort
and safety. One should also provide for the needs and comforts of one’s
kith and kin treat friends and neighbors fairly and should also engage
in social welfare work. When one sees that one’s well gotten wealth is
properly utilized in this manner, one derives a happiness there from. A
person though rich, if he does not spend adequately for his own
comforts and needs, if he does not spend his wealth to make his kith
and kin comfortable and happy, if he does not treat his friends and
neighbours when the need for it arises, if he does not spend anything
for social welfare work, he cannot enjoy the second type of happiness
one derives from proper utilization of one’s wealth. The third type of
happiness is derived from non-indebtedness. Though one may earn much,
if he becomes a spend thrift and resorts to gambling, drinking and
debauchery, one’s wealth would vanish in no time and one would fall
into debt. Such a person cannot enjoy any peace of mind. He will be in
constant fear and sorrow. On the other hand, a man who earns well and
utilizes that money properly and sagaciously will never fall into debt.
Buddhism teaches how a person should plan his economics. One’s income
should be divided into four parts. One part should be used for personal
and family needs, such as food clothing and medicine, two parts should
be invested as financial investments in banks or to buy property, and
the fourth part should be set apart for emergencies. When
one plans one’s economy wisely in this manner, one will not fall into
debt, and thereby one derives happiness and peace of mind. The fourth
type of happiness is derived by one when one sees that one lives a
harmless and blame free life, a life that is positively beneficial to
oneself and many others. One who does not destroy or injure living
beings, one who does not steal, one who does not misbehave in the
senses, one who does not utter falsehood, slander, harsh speech and
gossip, one who does not resort to drugs or narcotics and the like,
only, can enjoy the fourth type of happiness.
A programme of work consisting of eight factors (Vism.
Chp. III, p.295) is recommended by Buddhism to every individual to make
his life here and now happy and content. Firstly, he has to develop
correct attitudes and views about life. He has to realise that life is
sacred to each and every living being, that beings resent suffering and
wish to live in happiness and in comfort, and that all should behave in
such a way that community life becomes pleasant and trouble-free to all
(sammaditthi-right views). Secondly, having formed such views,
one should be well disposed towards all sentient beings and harbour
thoughts of friendship and non-violence (samma sankappa – right
thoughts). Thirdly, of should use speech in such a way that while
avoiding all social conflicts arising out of wrong speech, his speech
should result in friendship, efficiency, harmony and peace in society (sammavaca – right
speech). Fourthly, all his physical actions should not only be
non-injurious to any living being, but positively useful to some being (samma kammanta – right
action). Fifthly, whatever activities he would be engaged in, by way of
earning a living, should not only be harmless to himself and to others,
but should positively be useful to himself and others (samma ajiva- right
livelihood). Sixthly, one should always be energetic and courageous to
avoid all pitfalls in life and pursue on the path to progress and
happiness, with determination (samma vayama – right effort).
Seventhly, one should always be alert and vigilant about all his
activities, what he thinks, what he speaks and what he does, so that he
is able to avoid in time whatever thing is injurious to him and others
and to pursue whatever thing is useful to him and others (samma sati – right
mindfulness) , and eighthly, one should practice meditation or mental
culture to overcome and eliminate psychological weakness in him and to
cultivate and nurture wholesome psychological tendencies (samma Samadhi – right concentration of mind).
Buddhism also speaks of four supreme psychological states (brahmavihara) (Vism.p.III)
that each individual should cultivate and develop in him for his own
happiness and welfare and the welfare of others in society. Firstly,
one’s disposition should be one of friendship and love to all sentient
beings. One should always wish for the happiness of all=one’s own self,
one’s kith and kin, friends, neighbours, country-men- in fact all
sentient beings (metta – loving kindness). This attitude should
cover the whole universe, not only human beings, but all other beings
as well. When one has in him friendship and loving kindness to all
beings, naturally one would be psychologically moved when one sees some
being in an unfortunate situation or in a pitiable condition, under
going hardship agony or sorrow. When a sympathetic person sees one in
such a situation, he will do something himself, to help the suffering
being to minimize its suffering or to completely overcome it. If it is
not within his power to do it himself, he will not keep quiet, but will
persuade others to do something to help the unfortunate being (karuna - sympathy).
When he sees other beings living in comfort peace and happiness, when
he sees beings who were in dire circumstances get out of such
circumstances, he will experience a feeling of happiness himself, an
altruistic happiness born at the sight of another’s happiness (mudita)
an lastly, he should be able to maintain equipoise or balance of mind
in all situations in life-in gain or loss, in fame or ill-fame, in
praise or blame and in happiness or suffering (upekkha - equipoise).
Buddhism
advocates that each individual has to strive hard to improve himself,
but it is not blind regarding the role the environment plays in the
molding of the character of an individual. Man is essentially a social
being, and many people play a wide role to feed him, care for him in
illness, and protect him from possible calamities from all directions
and gradually introduce him to the world at large. When he grows up a
little, other people come into the scene-teachers, friends and the
like-who too play active parts in molding his character. Next comes a
very important person, the wife on whom depends a man’s success and
happiness in life. The wife is followed by children, who too,
contribute an important share in the happiness of a man. Buddhism is
quite aware of these situations and hence in another important
discourse, the Sigalovada sutta (D.III.p.80ff) describes
in detail the duties and obligations of an individual to all who matter
in his life-parents, teachers, wife and children, relations, friends,
religious men, servants and subordinates.
Buddhism
does not close its eyes to the importance of the role the state has to
play in ensuring the happiness and well being of man. Discussing the
origin of state and kingship, the Buddha says in the Agganna sutta (D.III.p.93)
that the earliest king was elected from among the people themselves, to
look after the interests of all people and that the king could hold on
to that position only in so far as he was able to perform his duties
and obligations to the people on a righteous and fair manner. Buddhism
reiterates that it is the sacred duty of a king or state to ensure
human rights to every citizen, to provide facilities for intellectual,
cultural, material and physical development of every man in the
country. In this respect another Buddhist text (jVol.1, 260-99)
mentions ten qualities that should be there in a king or ruler to
ensure human rights to all citizens. The ten qualities are: a king
should be generous, he should have his senses under control, he should
be ready to make sacrifices, he should be straight forward, he should
be gentle and king, he should be able to suffer hardship for the
people, he should be from anger and resentment, he should be
compassionate to all, he should be tolerant and he should be
approachable.
In
conclusion, it should be added that poverty in all its
forms-intellectual, spiritual, material or social, can be minimized or
completely eliminated only by a well thought out and properly planned
programme of work, where in all sections of people should contribute
their share-individually or as organized groups. Form the angel of the
individual, each individual should be encouraged to develop his
potentialities to the maximum capacity so that he can contribute
something to ease poverty while looking after his own interests. He
must be trained to live a simple life, utilizing for him the minimum of
needs, so that he can make a sacrifice to help others in need. From the
point of welfare and religious organizations, they can raise funds form
suitable sources and organize welfare activities, such as running homes
for the aged homes for children and the destitute, organizing work
camps to educate people, finding employment opportunities for the
jobless and doing relief work, wherever necessary. The biggest role has
to be played by the state. The rulers should be farsighted and state
man like, efficient and honest. They must study the problems of the
country and the people, minutely and implement suitable programmes
efficiently to solve whatever problems there are in the country. The
state policies should be planned in such a way that there will be
enough employment facilities, for all people. The ultimate
responsibility of eliminating the poverty of any people rests with the
state and individuals and welfare organizations can only give a helping
hand to the state, if the state makes a sincere attempt to solve the
problem. There is one thing that religious organizations can do, to
help solve the problem of poverty, that is, they can appeal to
developed countries who waste away a lot of money to produce weapons of
war and destruction, to stop the arms race and utilize at least a part
of that money to nourish the millions of unfortunate human beings all
over the world
Dr. W.G. Weeraratne
Published: 08 Jun 2009 22:53:22 PST
The Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI),
Shimla, has released a new potato variety Kufri Frysona. This is the first ever
potato variety from India suitable for preparation of French fries. The trials
conducted on the variety have shown its suitability for cultivation in Punjab,
Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and
The variety produces long tubers having more than 20 per cent dry matter,
informed S K Pandey, director, CPRI.
The breeder seeds will be produced after it is notified either by the state
or central variety release committee. However, its quality seed as well as
disease-free in-vitro planting material will be available to farmers from next
year.
According to Pandey, it was a good sign that potato production was
increasing with the advent of several new high-yielding varieties like Kufri
Pushkar for the entire Indo-Gangetic belt, Kufri Sadabahar for Uttar Pradesh,
Kufri Surya for warmer areas like Karnataka and
Looking at the estimated demand
of nearly 50 million tonne (mt) of potato by 2020, for a population of 1.3
billion, these varieties would help meet the requirement, he said.
Pandey said that the potato processing sector had slowly emerged as a very
large industry with more than 35-40 processing units located in
various parts of the country. They were engaged in value-added products like
potato powder, chips and French fries.
It is estimated that by 2010-11, nearly 10 per cent of the total
potato produced in the country will be consumed by the processing industry,
which at present is merely 4.5 per cent. This will provide good returns to the
farmers on one hand and will also absorb excess supplies during a glut.
The way of home life Ethics
A person should show
respect for his or her relatives in five ways:
1) by giving charity,
2) by saying kind words,
3) by benefiting others,
4) by sharing things, and
5) by not taking advantage of others.
Relative
should show respect for one of their in five ways:
1)
by guiding the wild and unrestrained,
2)
by protecting those who lose wealth
because of their unrestrained ways,
3)
by protecting the fearful,
4)
by not admonishing each other in public,
and
5)
by praising each other.
An employer should show respect for his or her employee in five ways:
1 by
applying oneself where able,
2 by
supplying food and drink appropriately,
3 by
working as the occasion demands,
4 by
giving medical treatment when ill, and
5 by
allowing for rest.
An employee should show respect for his or her employer in five ways:
1)
by rising early,
2)
by doing a thorough job,
3)
by not taking what is not given,
4)
by doing their work correctly and
effectively, and
5)
by supporting and praising one’s
employer appropriately.
LUCKNOW - Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has written a letter
to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh requesting him to increase Below
Poverty Line quota for her State.
Drawing the PM’s attention towards her previous letter sent to him
last October on increasing the BPL quota for the State, Mayawati said
that the issue of increasing the BPL quota had been pending since long
with the Central Government.
Mayawati, in her latest letter, has sought relief for a large number of poor families.
She has stated that surveys in Uttar Pradesh indicated that there
was a substantial variation between ground realities and numbers
assigned to the State by the Central Government.
The number of poor people was significantly higher in reality, and
there was an urgent need to include them in BPL list, Maywati stressed
in her letter.
Mayawati has said that the 2002 survey had provided for an
additional BPL quota of 10 per cent as a Transient Poor category.
However, the State could not get the benefit of this additional quota
of 10.6 lakh families, which could have partly mitigated the needs of
the State’s poor.
Mayawati has requested the Prime Minister to direct the new expert
committee set up by the Union Government to develop criteria and a
process of identifying poverty, to look into this critical issue, which
is likely to impact millions of urban migrants. (ANI)
Maruti set for a change
The ageing F-series engine may be upgraded to the new
emission standard
Although maruti has stated that it will discontinue the 800 in 11
cities by 2010, when tougher Bharat Stage IV norms kick in, it is likely that
the ageing F-series engine that power the 80, Omni, Alto and Wagan R will be
upgraded to the new emission standard.
One replacement option for the
F-series engines in the all-new and significantly cleaner K-series into 800,
Alto snd Wagan R is proving to be a nightmare for Maruti engineers.
An easier option is to increase the
‘after treatment’ with catalysts on the F-series engines to make them cleaner.
But this isn’t as easy as it sounds as it involves the fine calibration of the
engine to balance out loss of power and efficiency from the increased back
pressure of a bigger catalyst.
Maruti has already begun work to
meet the April 2010 deadline for its stage IV engines with the Ritz being their
first Stage IV-compliant engined car.