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32 KPI Congress 15 th

Some may see this link between past and present as tenuous, and as involving
too much of a conceptual leap, pointing out, for instance, that the UN Declaration
uses the vocabulary of rights while Ashoka’s edicts are framed for the most part in
terms of duties. I have discussed this and similar objections elsewhere, and believe
7
that satisfactory responses can be found. Rather than pursue the matter here,
however, I will simply note that many contemporary Buddhist leaders, such as the
Dalai Lama and Aung San Suu Kyi, do not hesitate to make use of the Western
vocabulary of human rights in support of their views on political or social issues,
which suggests there is no fundamental inconsistency between the modern Western
notion of human rights and traditional Buddhist teachings.

Assuming we can make a connection at the level of political values, a further
problem presents itself, namely the disparity between the power of kings such as
8
Ashoka, who ruled virtually as hereditary dictators, and the much more limited
authority of democratically elected politicians who today exercise power only through
a popular mandate. Today few absolute monarchies remain, and the leaders of most
of today’s nations, whether presidents or prime ministers, have much less freedom
than the kings of old. They require a parliamentary majority to enact legislation, and
are subject to the checks and balances exerted by the structure of modern political
constitutions. Typically in elected democracies, authority is divided among three
branches of government: the executive, the judiciary, and the legislature. Even the
most powerful president has limited room for manoeuvre and limited time to execute
his policies. Ashoka ruled for almost forty years, whereas the maximum term of office
for the president of the USA is eight years, should he be lucky enough to be re-
elected.

Barack
Obama
as
Dhammaraja

Having made reference to the office of the American President, then, let us
proceed to consider how far the present incumbent fulfils the role of Dhammaraja. An
initial objection may be made here, namely that since Barack Obama is not a
Buddhist, and therefore not a follower of the Dhamma, by definition he cannot be a
International panel discussion Ethics
2 (1995): 3–27. See also Keown, D., C. Prebish, and W. Husted. Buddhism
and
Human
Dhammaraja. However, for reasons given earlier, I think this takes too narrow a view
of the meaning of ‘Dhamma’, and we are seeking to identify fundamental moral values

For example in Keown, D. “Are There ‘Human Rights’ in Buddhism?”
Journal
of
Buddhist
7
Rights.
London: Curzon Press, 1997.
Buddhadasa speaks approvingly of Ashoka as a Buddhist dictator when he writes ‘King Asoka

8
was a Buddhist who preserved the ideals of a Buddhist despotic socialism,’ and calls nostalgically for a
return to the era of the 13th century Thai king Ramkhamhaeng (quoted in Tavivat Puntarigvivat
‘Buddhadasa Bhikkhu and Dhammic Socialism’, The
Chulalonkorn
Journal
of
Buddhist
Studies
2,2,
2003:204. Trans Bruce Evans, internet document available at http://www.stc.arts.chula.ac.th/CJBS/
Buddhadasa%20Bhikkhu.pdf consulted 13 August 2013). As Louis Gabaude has pointed out, however,
th
the combination of dictatorship, Dhamma and socialism is highly problematic (Puntarigvivat 2003:205).