Buddhadharma and Public Policy

by Trina Gueck

All is empty of inherent meaning. Therefore, all concepts and constructions of mind and society can be manipulated in the present to suit our actual needs. A Buddha may cease to exist in a current form and may no longer be birthed in suffering. However, their teachings of the Buddhas continue on long after the current incarnation is dead. Laws of cause and effect don't cease just because we no longer are aware of them, just as the world doesn't go away when we close our eyes, dream, or choose to ignore it. It saddens me to see so many otherwise capable people have difficulty embracing cold truths over comforting lies. It's even worse to see them spend more time and effort to keep the lies and mistakes in exchange for greater individual and collective suffering in their present.

The only limit is in the effects generated by such mental and social constructions. Pro-social and compassionate constructs that are based in quality evidence of present conditions and future effects last longer and have a greater impact than anti-social, malevolent constructs that are not based in quality or accurate evidence. Always adapt and, when choosing between a mental model of the world and the real effects the model has on the world and yourself, go with the world and the evidence. Sacrifice the apparently inferior ideal or model for your own well-being, if not the world's.

This is what I think the Buddha essentially meant by "expedient means" when teaching The Lotus Sutra. There are no set in stone instructions for living life and social organization.

The reason this post is included in a public policy blog is because this limited flexibility of models and constructs is essential for making better public policies. By being too rigid in one's preconceived notions and preferences for society and oneself, one loses the ability to make effective public policies in many different times, places, and circumstances. What's true today will not be true tomorrow, just as what is unknown today may be known tomorrow. Conditions in society, the environment, the economy, and our knowledge base will change over time, as will our perceptions and preferences. We must permit flexibility in our modeling to ensure continuous and consistent success in policymaking.

However, we must also be aware of the limitations that conditions, and cause and effect have on ourselves and our world. We cannot ignore the power of  pro-sociability and compassion for the long and short term benefit of our society in exchange for some very short-term expediency to get an immediate (and perhaps questionable) goal completed. As the Dalai Lama teaches, it's sometimes an amazing stroke of luck if we don't get what we immediately want. It won't change the short term pain and frustration we'll likely experience from it. But it may save all of our lives, including our own, if things don't go the way we immediately want.