ABOUT THE BOOK

This book is about the politics and Buddhism, whose core aspiration was succinctly put in the title “Elucidating the Sustainable Political Economy of Buddhist Nations.” This book elucidates the sustainable political economy framework for Buddhist nations, which is developed in a way also pertinent to the discussion of the political economy in general in other nations. A political economy framework for Buddhism has never been written, not even by Shakyamuni Buddha nor Je Tsongkhapa. This is because there is a deep conceptual issue which may be stated as the Buddhism and politics perceived as water and oil, that is, non-mixable components. Notwithstanding the great challenges, this book provides the first rigorous theory on the sustainable political economy for Buddhist nations.

This book reviews the history of Buddhist canons from which the theory of political governance by Dharma Kings or the rule of religion emerged in Tibet. It also reviews the history of the tensions and conflicts between the emperor and the Buddha, which was prominent in India and China. In the empirical analysis, this book focuses on the Dharma King governance in Tibet before the mid-20th century and the Maitreya revolutionaries in China who dreamed frequently of seizing ultimate political power. It explains how the western political economic revolutions in the American revolution, French revolution, and Russian revolution arrived in Asia as the Chinese communist revolution and ended up at the door of Tibet. This book describes how the theocratic rule of Tibet by Buddhist monks or the Dalai Lama’s religious and political rule failed the Tibetan society tragically, persecuted Tibetan people through serfdom, and gave away Tibetan sovereignty. 

The elucidation of the sustainable political economy framework for Buddhist nations, provided in Chapter 7, is thoroughly based on the most recent political science as well as the history of Buddhist thoughts. The latter is provided with a thorough review of the Buddhist canons: Pali, Tibetan, and Chinese canons. The former is provided with the exposition of the twelve responsibility areas of the modern government. In the final chapter, this sustainable political economy framework is applied to or interpreted for the stages of the path to enlightenment (Lamrim in Tibetan) of individual Buddhist practitioners.

Why is this needed at this point in time? History tells us that Buddhists have sometimes ventured to taking ultimate political power, often devastating the concerned Buddhist communities regardless of whether they were successful or unsuccessful. Further, there is widespread confusion among today’s Buddhists about politics, governance, democracy, and economics, clouding their judgments about the history as well as what the future holds. This book clarifies these two aspects. A successful completion of this will greatly contribute to people’s understanding of the political economy in Buddhist nations across Asia and to curious political scientists.  

The review of the histories of Buddhist nations reveals that a Buddhist politics and governance framework is exceedingly important for the common people thereof. This book demonstrates this point and establishes the aforementioned theoretical framework in the background of Tibet and China’s political histories. Having said that, an intellectual framework for such a political economy is even more urgently needed for the Buddhist philosophers and yogis. As this book will reveal, it is not about Buddhism only. It offers a novel interpretation of the principles of governance, politics, economy, and democracy from the perfection of wisdom expounded by Je Lama.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1    

Setting Out on a Journey for a Sustainable Political Economy for Buddhism                        

CHAPTER 2

Buddhism and Politics: The Historical Emergence of the Dharma King Politics 

CHAPTER 3

A Conundrum of Emperor versus Buddha in Historical China, India, and Tibet                

CHAPTER 4 

A Politics of Delusion in Tibet: Buddhism as the Governing Philosophy                          

CHAPTER 5

A Politics of Delusion in China: Maitreya Revolution                                                       

CHAPTER 6

A March of Political Economic Revolutions from the US, France, Russia, to China, Which Arrived at Tibet’s Door                                                                                 

CHAPTER 7 

Elucidating the Sustainable Political Economy Framework of Buddhist Nations                                 

CHAPTER 8

The Lamrim Elucidation of the Sustainable Political Economy of Buddhist Nations   

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Professor S. Niggol Seo [also known as Gaden Je] is a natural resource economist who specializes in the study of global warming and globally shared goods. He received a Ph.D. degree in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics from Yale University in May 2006. He founded Lamajel Ling on the winter solstice of 2022. On December 1, 2023, Prof. S. Niggol Seo revealed that, in his own words, "I am Lama Tsongkhapa reborn after six hundred years of utter peace."