In Search Of “Few Good Men”

By Vishnu Gupta –MARCH 31, 2019

W. Vishnu Gupta

Time has come to look for “few good men” devoid of venal and vile traits to lead us and free us from the clutches of oligarchs leading crony capitalism and crony socialism in our country. Contrary to the popular reports in the public domain every politician in the parliament of Sri Lanka is vile and venal. There may be a few MPs without venal traits, yet they have compromised the national interests and sullied the principles of democracy on many occasions in order to protect vested interests of the corrupt political parties or political friends. There isn’t a single exception. Therefore it is imperative to the voters that they search for few good men to represent them in the parliament and a virtuous, honest, intelligent visionary as the executive president. None of the names circulating in the media as the possible candidates fit into the noble classification of “Few Good Men”.

Judging by the deeds (Kharma) of these leading guys in the past and not from their words, it is doubtful that any of them will belong to a “Good Men” club even in their next births. Then, the natural question is do we want to participate in a negative kharma in promoting these alleged well documented sinners of our nation. The answer must be a resounding “NO”.

Stealing from Begging Bowl

It is interesting to note that these aspirants of next presidency did not know that their venal traits and the enormous appetite for stealing from the Public Purse. Stealing from “Public Purse” or “Treasury” is equivalent to that of stealing from the Begging Bowl of Lord Buddha. Yes, Sri Lankan politicians have stooped so low to steal from the begging bowl of Lord Buddha committing unpardonable sins. The Hindu, Christian and Islamic doctrines also may not see the final verdict on stealing from treasury (public purse) differently. Crony Capitalism and Crony Socialism have sheltered them from justice in this life but there is no escape for them in the next birth. Hence the voters of Sri Lanka should not be forced to choose from a pack of sinners. The Sri Lankan voters must understand their actions. It must be explained according to tenets of Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. It is a great sin to aid and abet the sinners of cardinal crimes committed against many generations of our innocent children. Ignorance is not an excuse or an escape valve.

Finding a group of “Few Good Men” should not be a difficult task for the voters of a country where literacy rate is 92% and many of them are brought up by parents adhering to religious convictions. Let’s look at criteria to identify the “Good Men” with acceptable traits specified by different religions in the country.

How to appraise a Good Man

Measure for Buddhists

For the Buddhists it must be pretty obvious, a good virtuous and intelligent man will observe “Pancha Seela or the Five Precepts in his daily life:

Five Precepts:

A good Buddhist man or woman must undertake to observe the following rules:

1. To abstain from taking life – “taking life” means to murder anything that lives. It refers to the striking and killing of living beings.

2)  To abstain from taking what is not given -“To take what is not given” means the appropriation of what is not given. It refers to the removing of someone else’s property, to the stealing of it, to theft. “What is not given” means that which belongs to someone else.

3) To abstain from sensuous misconduct – “Sensuous misconduct” – here “sensuous” means “sexual” and “misconduct” is extremely blameworthy bad behavior. “Sensuous misconduct” is the will to transgress against those whom one should not go into, and the carrying out of this intention by unlawful physical action

4)  To abstain from false speech – “False speech” is the will to deceive others by words or deeds. One can also explain: “False” means something which is not real, not true. “Speech” is the intimation that that is real or true. “False speech” is then the volition which leads to the deliberate intimation to someone else that something is so when it is not so.

5)  To abstain from intoxicants as tending to cloud the mind – Refrain from taking intoxicants that cloud the mind and cause heedlessness. This means drugs and alcohol (but not prescription medication). This precept is a traditional way of detoxifying our bodies and minds.

Moreover a good Buddhist follows noble teachings (Dharma) of Lord Buddha. And take refuge in the Triple Gem; the Buddha, the fully enlightened one the Dharma, the teachings expounded by the Buddha the Sangha, the monastic order of Buddhism that practice the Dharma.

A good man does not have to visit the temple of the sacred tooth relic in Kandy every week or every month. Or visit a Buddhist temple every day. If this “Good Man” aspires to be a political leader or a ruler of the nation he should know “Dasa Raaja Dharma” or the “Ten Royal Virtues”; know it well, understand the meanings, extensions and the interpretation consistent with the contemporary environment completely.

The ‘Ten Royal Virtues’

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