Mr. Loy,
In the final chapter of your book you discuss Buddhist ideology and different types of political and economic systems. In it, you outright state that you “do not think Buddhism has the answers to these questions” (141). I agree with your logic; there is no secret formula that can get rid of all of society’s dukkha.
For that reason, I have always felt at odd with a certain trend I’ve seen in nearly every religion. A person will take a single phrase from an ancient text and apply it to modern society without thinking about the societal context surrounding the phrase. Some even go as far as to claim that a text written thousands of years before, for example, corporations existed is saying something very specific and particular about what the United States government should do about big business. Similarly, they ignore the fact that societal values and norms have changed. Often, a text that talks about the proper manner of treating one's slaves is also used to talk about the proper manner of treating current social issues.
I don’t question that the values presented in ancient texts can apply to modern society. Some values- not murdering, for example- are universal values. The questions surrounding them change slightly, but the root question is the same. “Is war okay? Is killing animals and eating them okay?” Details around the debate have changed, but the positions one can take on the issue are nearly the same: "Yes." "It depends." "No."
However, it is quite nice to read a religious book claim that their religion should not be used to support certain governmental or economic systems. I do not believe the Shakyamuni Buddha was an expert on communism, capitalism or democracy as it exists today. I feel that the exact “battle plan” for solving problems in economics or politics cannot be found in any text intended for an ancient audience. It is quite relieving to read that I am not the only one.
-Alexandria D.
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