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8     KPI Congress 15 th



                  the	constitutional	monarch	of	Thailand,	who	is	considered	today	by	most	Thai
                  Buddhists	at	large	as	a	Dhammarãja	of	this	modern	age.

                       	 Over	several	decades,	King	Adulyadej	has	legitimated	his	symbolic	leadership
                  as	the	head	of	the	state	of	Thailand,	in	the	most	preeminent	Theravãda	Buddhist
                  nation	in	Southeast	Asia.	His	moral	authority	as	an	exemplary	and	preeminent
                  Buddhist	king	has	inspired	many.	Through	the	use	of	Buddhist	concepts	and
                  implementation	of	Buddhism	inspired	ideals	of	social	well-being	and	good	governance
                  and	with	such	concrete	social-welfare	plans	such	as	the	‘sufficiency	economy’
                  (Deegalle	2008:	104-110),	he	is	still	in	public	eye.	He	defined	‘sufficiency	economy’
                  as	a	“philosophy	that	stresses	the	middle	path	as	the	overriding	principle	of
                  appropriate	conduct.”	He	further	elaborated	‘sufficiency’	as	“moderation	and	due
                  consideration	to	all	modes	of	conduct”	(Deegalle	2008:	106).	In	his	last	phase	of	the
                  reign,	he	still	continues	to	project	an	image	of	a	just	and	righteous	ruler	as	envisaged
                  in	the	Buddhist	literature.	His	persona	makes	him	particularly	revered	in	Thailand.


                  	(v)	A	Twenty-first	Century	Sri	Lankan	Buddhist	Articulation	of	an

                       Aspiration	for	a	Dharmarajya


                       In	electing	candidates	for	the	Sri	Lankan	parliament	at	the	general	election	held
                  in	April	2004,	the	Jãtika	Hela	Urumaya	(‘National	Sinhala	Heritage	Party,’	JHU)
                  at	that	time	exclusively	consisted	of	Buddhist	monks	only	fielded	over	200	candidates
                  by	declaring	a	desire	to	establish	a	Dharmarãjya	(Just	Rule)	in	Sri	Lanka	(Deegalle
                  2006).	As	explained	in	detail	below	with	an	examination	of	the	JHU	political
                  manifesto,	this	radical	and	activist	Buddhist	move	can	be	viewed	perhaps	as	a
                  modern	instance	to	emulate	Emperor	A oka’s	model	of	good	governance	in
                  contemporary	Sri	Lanka.	The	JHU	introduced	fashionable	religious	terms	with
                  overwhelming	Buddhist	connotations	as	its	political	rhetoric	to	attract	voters.	One
                  visible	and	important	term	was	the	pratipatti	pUjãva,	which	can	be	translated	as	‘an
                  offering	of	principles.’	This	was	the	term	used	to	identify	the	JHU	political	manifesto.

                       The	Sinhala	term	pUjãva	is	strictly	speaking	liturgical	in	its	connotations	and
                  exclusively	used	in	religious	contexts	rather	than	in	the	political	platform.	The	JHU,
         International panel discussion   establishing	a	dharmarãjya	in	Sri	Lanka.
                  however,	employed	it	self-consciously	in	the	highly	charged	expression	pratipattipUjãva
                  in	order	to	introduce	its	political	manifesto	in	religious	terms	connoting	its	ambition	of



                       Among	the	Sri	Lankan	political	parties,	the	election	manifesto	of	the	Jãtika	Hela
                  Urumaya	was	rather	unique.	The	JHU	introduced	it	to	the	Sri	Lankan	public	by
                  invoking	religious	sentiment.	As	election	results	demonstrated	its	religious	content	was
                  appealing	to	urban	voters.	Unlike	other	political	parties,	the	JHU	offered	its	political
                  manifesto,	designed	as	twelve	principles	(pratipatti	pUjãva)	to	the	Tooth	Relic	of	the
                  Gotama	Buddha	in	Kandy.
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