"Ten Duties of the King" (moral, experience, moral)

[eric]

Greetings,

I'm reading Walpola Rahula's What the Buddha Taught and I just finished the part where the author went over the Buddha's teaching on the "Ten Duties of the King". I thought to myself, how very simple, yet how powerful as well. If more leaders of our world employed even some of the ten, our world would experience far less suffering. So, here they are:

1) Liberality, gererosity, charity (dana).
2) A high moral character (sila).
3) Sacrificing everything for the good of the people (pariccaga), he must be prepared to give up all personal comfort, name and fame, and even his life, in the interest of the people.
4) Honesty and integrity (ajjava).
5) Kindness and gentleness (maddava).
6) Austerity in habits (tapa).
7) Freedom from hatred, ill-will, enmity (akkodha).
8) Non-violence (avihimsa).
9) Patience, forbearance, tolerance, understanding (khanti).
10) Non-opposition, non-obstruction (avirodha). ie. He shouldn't oppose the will of the people; he should rule in harmony.

It's my fervent hope that the future will see more leaders devoted to wisdom and compassion than violence and militarism.

[Engyo]

I couldn't agree more.