Golden Peacock - Aspects of Buddhism

Buddhist perspective

The ideologies of Karl Marx and Mahatma Gandhi

Measuring with the Buddhist "ruler"

As I have grown older, I have developed a habit of analyzing and criticizing all kinds of problems, as well as the doctrines and actions of world-famous figures, from the perspective of Buddhism. In our time, the two great figures who have been famous in the world for developing systems, Karl Marx and Mahatma Gandhi's non-violence, have attracted many critics, whether they like it or not. For us, regardless of our own likes or dislikes, I would like to try to show that the purpose of these great figures is Buddhism, which is to say, "If you measure with a ruler, how much is worthy of success, and how much more cannot be achieved."

The original meaning of the word is suffering.

The main goal of Karl Marx's socialism is that everyone should have a job and no one should be unemployed, that they should not worry about their children's education, that they should not worry about illness and old age. The government should take responsibility for this. Gautama Buddha said that the original meaning of the word "pariyetana" is "dukkha", which means that work, which means earning a living, is a great suffering. In many countries, in addition to the suffering of working for a living, the struggle to find that job is also a great suffering. For many people, the suffering of finding a job is even greater than the suffering of working for a living. I have heard that there are many working poor who are unemployed and have no food or drink. In socialist countries, the government doesn't provide free food, but because the government is responsible for providing decent work, I feel much more secure about my livelihood, and I am greatly relieved from the suffering that the Buddha preached.

Worldly Nirvana

Marxists, on the other hand, often talk about socialism (and then communism) as the establishment of world peace. Karl Marx seems to have thought the same. If we have enough food and clothing, it seems that humanity can be compared to peace. Regardless of whether the word "peace" is appropriate or inappropriate in this context, the socialist countries that Karl Marx aimed for, or even if they went further and became communist countries, will not be able to truly achieve peace that can be called "world peace."

Communists and ordinary workers

To be clear, according to Karl Marx, among the socialist countries that are emerging at this time, Soviet Russia was the first country to emerge and the largest country, so let's measure it with the 'ruler' of Buddhism to see if it is peaceful enough to call it "worldly nirvana". In Russia, there are two types of people who control the country: the so-called Marxist communists and the ordinary workers. It may be said that the Marxists who rule the country are the people who represent the workers. I do not want to deny this, and I also understand that the Marxists who rule the country are not representatives of the capitalists like in other countries. In any case, Karunu is a prime minister who came from a shepherd, but he is no longer doing the work of shepherding sheep with a whip in his hand. It is not to say that we are not doing this because we are suffering. It is merely to distinguish between the so-called Marxists and the rest of the people of the country, so to speak, to make it clear that they are working. Out of the population of over two hundred million in Russia, the communists are only a small percentage (three or four million), and the rest of the people are just workers. Since the communists are the architects who built the socialist economic system, the rest of the people of the country are the only people who enjoy the benefits of that system. Please do not say that we should divide the people of the country into two categories, because there is a purpose. My purpose is to ask whether the architects (communists) who built the socialist economic system are enjoying the peace that is the world's nirvana, or not. It is simply because we want to examine separately whether ordinary workers in the country are experiencing the happiness and well-being of worldly bliss.

Marxists' impression

- Let me clarify further. If I start this introduction like this, it would be wrong if you think that I am accusing only "architects" of experiencing the bliss of worldly Nibbana. I will not be trying to flatter anyone, but will simply measure and present it with the standard of Buddhism. First , let us examine the worldview of the so-called "architects." Marxists around the world believe that Marxists, because they are accustomed to criticizing each other and themselves, can only reach the top of the party if they are truly good people with a good heart. At first, I did not deny their beliefs, but I wondered what they meant by "good people." While they were at it, the Beria affair arose in Russia. If Beria was a "traitor" according to the accusations of the Russian Communist Party, he was a top leader of the Communist Party, so he was at the top.