Buddhist Law

Buddhist law is a multifaceted term that may be used in reference to a number of areas, including (a) the Buddha's doctrine (Dharma), (b) monastic codes of behavior and discipline (vinaya), and (c) legalistic characteristics in societies that have been influenced by Buddhist concepts of jurisprudence. Therefore, when discussing Buddhist law, a distinction can be made between purely legalistic forms and nonlegalistic forms. Although convenient, the dichotomy between legalistic and non-legalistic understandings of law in Buddhism is highly artificial. Such a distinction presupposes an [Page 164]understanding of law and a legal culture predominantly of Western orientation, where legalistic matters are rigidly defined and are distinct from nonlegalistic matters.

The Sanskrit term dharma, for example, is often translated as “law.” However, such a connotation does not necessarily refer to a type of legal system. In Buddhism, Dharma may refer to the natural universal and moral law that must be followed and deeply understood if an individual is to attain enlightenment. Thus, in this context, law has a cosmic soteriological connotation instead of a legal connotation.

Other foundational Buddhist doctrines—such as the principle of action and causal effect (karma), compassion (karunā), and interdependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda)—are also constitutive of Buddhist legal reasoning and tightly intertwined with legal systems and institutions. In the 13th century, Pagan (present-day Bagan) King Klacwa's edict on theft promulgated in 1249 illustrated a clear correlation between legal punishment and karmic retribution. Additionally, the 14th Dalai Lama, speaking at the University at Buffalo Law School in 2006, remarked that law exists for the protection of the people and the reason for such protection arises from compassion. Thus, the Dalai Lama suggests that the foundations and workings of legal law should be intertwined and guided by Buddhist understandings of compassion.

The vinaya illustrates another type of Buddhist law. More specifically, the vinaya characterizes a type of Buddhist ecclesiastical law since the proscriptions contained in the vinaya aid in maintaining the order of the Buddhist monastic institution. The vinaya contains regulations governing a staggering array of aspects relating to monastic life, including regulations on acceptable eating times; what kind of robes can be worn; what kind of bowls, seats, beddings, and lodgings are acceptable; how to study properly; and how to properly interact with monks, nuns, and the laity. Not only does the vinaya contain regulatory guidelines, but it also details the consequences of transgressions. The most fundamental are the four cases for expulsion from the monastic order (nuns have an additional four): sexual intercourse, theft, killing another human being, and making fraudulent claims regarding one's superhuman attainments.

However, the guidelines in the vinaya are not always restricted within the parameters of the monastic community since their influence often spills over into secular settings. In the early development of Sri Lanka's judicial administration, monks were often recruited to work in the royal courts because of the experience they possessed in their own ecclesiastical system of governance. Even today, Sri Lankan monks are sought after as advisors to politicians and military officials.

The compilation of the vinaya, according to tradition, came about shortly after the death of the Buddha (ca. fifth century BCE), when 500 enlightened monks gathered to take part in a communal recitation of the Buddha's Dharma in the city of Rājagrha. The Dharma was divided into two sections: (1) the discourses of the Buddha (sutras) and (2) the vinaya (some Buddhist traditions cite three sections). The former was recited by the monk Ānanda, and the latter was recited by the monk Upāli. Many Buddhist narratives attest to the high regard placed on vinaya during this first gathering. In the Sangītyavamsa, a Pāli text written in Thailand in 1789 by Vimaladhamma, the assembled monks are asked which should be recited first, the sutras or the vinaya. The monks quickly reply that the vinaya should be recited first since it is the life of the Buddha's teachings (sasana) and the sāsana exist only when the vinaya exists.

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