The lecture presents interesting teachings regarding the duties of governments to create conditions for people’s welfare and happiness.

Report by Muditā

On Saturday 18 October, Lecture 9 of the on-going BPS402 – Higher Certificate in Buddhist Studies was held at Nalanda Centre, Sri Serdang.  Bro. Ananda Fong delivered the lecture on ‘Buddhist Polity & Economics’.  Bro. Ananda Fong discussed several suttas which mentioned the cycles of expansion and contraction of the World, the duties of a monarch/government, and the conditions leading to a nation’s welfare.

Under the ‘Economics’ section, Bro. Ānanda quoted the ‘Vyagghapajja Sutta’ (AN 8.54) which gave details on the conditions of worldly progress in this life, and the happiness in the life to come for householders.  Other suttas such as the ‘Anana Sutta’ and ‘Sīgālovada Sutta’ were also discussed.

The tutorial session saw lively discussions on various topics covered in the previous lectures.

After a tea-break, the class resumed with a tutorial session.  Students took the opportunity to seek clarification on topics they did not understand, and hence gained a deeper appreciation of the suttas explained by the lecturer.  Bro. Ananda’s general advice to students is to learn Dhamma when ‘all is well’, and not only when troubles or problems arise, which by then may be too late.