Ethics of Buddhism

Dipak Basu () and Victoria Miroshnik
Additional contact information
Dipak Basu: Nagasaki University
Victoria Miroshnik: Reitaku University

Chapter Chapter 6 in Ethics, Morality and Business: The Development of Modern Economic Systems, Volume I, 2021, pp 153-163 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The Buddhist tradition acknowledges that life is complex and throws up many difficulties, and it does not suggest that there is a single course of action that will be right in all circumstances. Indeed, rather than speaking of actions being right or wrong, Buddhism speaks of the being skillful (kusala) or unskillful (akusala). In Triratna, our faith in the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha finds everyday practical expression in our aspiration to live by ethical precepts, to the best of our ability. In this scheme, moral behavior plays a role in both determining more desirable rebirths and, ultimately, in attaining enlightenment, or freedom from future rebirths. Morality achieves coherence through embeddedness within a cultural matrix of supporting practices, narratives, and traditions. Buddhism happily provides all three. Buddhist ethics are traditionally based on what Buddhists view as the enlightened perspective of the Buddha, or other enlightened beings such as Bodhisattvas. E. F. Schumacher in his “Buddhist economics” (Schumacher in Small is Beautiful. Harpers Collins, New York, 1973) wrote: “Buddhist economics must be very different from the economics of modern materialism, since the Buddhist sees the essence of civilization not in a multiplication of human wants but in the purification of human character.” This chapter analyzes how Buddhism can provide ethical solutions to many circumstances.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-030-71493-2_6

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783030714932

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-71493-2_6

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().