LAW AND BUDDHISM
Comparative jurisprudence divides legal systems into families or types based on cultural and historical origins. Buddhist law is the most recent entrant into the category of religious legal systems, a category that includes Islamic law, biblical law, Hindu law, and Talmudic law. The development of Buddhist law as a disciplinary subject has been slow because of the lack of a single unifying religious language or script and Buddhism's wide cultural dispersal throughout Asia. Scholars have also presumed that Buddhism did not have an obvious relationship to secular legal systems because of its distinction between lay and monastic populations and its tolerant, as opposed to mutually exclusive, approach to local religions and politics. More recent studies, however, have demonstrated that the influence of Buddhism on law and political systems has been profound
There are at least four ways in which Buddhism interacts with law. First, Buddhism itself incorporates a monastic law code, the vinay, and special disciplinary procedures for the monastic population. This code has been analyzed extensively and functions as a template for secular rules. Second, some regions have created Buddhist states following the example of Asoka, an early Buddhist political leader. Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Thailand are current examples. Third, Buddhism has been a significant social force in shaping the cultural attitudes toward law and the legal system in many Asian countries that are not Buddhist states.
The time period and the local context from which Buddhism was exported to the country, as well as the local context into which it has been adopted, are all important factors. Fourth, when the local population reasons through the lens of Buddhism, the legal system can be significantly affected. The form of reasoning and the backdrop of the Vinay rules, as well as the foundational principles of Buddhism, such as karma (action), Anita (impermanence), causation, factorial reasoning, and right action, can all strongly affect a legal system.
The origins of internal Buddhist monastic law are clear. After his enlightenment, Śāyamuni Buddha began to collect a group of disciples who followed his teachings. As part of the process of institutional definition, he made hundreds of casuistic determinations about the proper behavior, clothing, and speech of individuals, and he shaped the collective rituals of the sa Ngha.
The Suttavihanga section of the vinaya describes these early legal decisions. There are no similar legal decisions for the laity. In the vinay, the most serious offenses for a monk killing, stealing, having glamour, or misrepresenting one's meditative powers result in expulsion from the order. Nuns have an additional.
The PrĀtimok Ṣa, a list of over two hundred precepts for monks, and over three hundred for nuns, is recited twice a month by the members of every sang ha to remind them of the guidelines for their society. The procedures and rules of the internal legal systems of monasteries and nunneries are based on the vinay, with a formal meeting of the full saṅgha serving the authoritative decision-making body.
Legal positivists argue that a religious entity is not a state authority and that ostracism from a group is not a true legal sanction, so the vinaya system cannot be considered a legal system. But this analysis is based on the misconception that law operates only in nation-state command systems and that the authority function in Buddhism is fulfilled by a divinity rather than the Buddha's designated successor, the sa ngha.
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