A BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE ON THE DEATH PENALTY
OF COMPASSION AND CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
By DAMIEN P. HORIGAN
The American Journal of Jurisprudence
Volume 41(1996)
P.271-288
P.271
I. INTRODUCTION
There is a global trend against capital
punishment. Most nations in the developed world and
an increasing number of nations in the developing
world have officially abolished the death
penalty.(1) Similarly, there is an abolitionist
movement in the realm of international law.(2)
However, matters are quite different in the United
States(3) where the United States Supreme Court in
Gregg v. Georgia(4) permitted the resumption of
executions by the states after the hiatus brought
about by Furman v. Georgia.(5)
If public opinion polls are to be believed, the
general concept of capital punishment remains
popular in the United States today. Politicians are
well aware of this. In the spring of 1995 New York
rejoined the ranks of states with the death penalty.
A majority of states have laws providing for the
death penalty even though the number of actual
executions remains relatively low when compared to
the population of inmates on death rows across the
nation.(6)
In recent years the Supreme Court has repe-
atedly come out in favor of the death penalty.
For instance, the mentally retarded may be
executed.(7) Likewise, minors may be executed.(8)
Such decisions go
-----------------
1. Charles Humana, World Human Rights (1992).
2. William A. Schabas, The Abolition of the
Death Penalty in International Law (1993).
3. An informative overview of capital punishment
in America can be found in Amnesty International,
United States of America: The Death Penalty (1987).
4. 428 U.S. 153, 96 S. Ct. 2909, 49 L. Ed. 2d
859 (1976).
5. 408 U.S. 238, 92 S. Ct. 2726, 33 L. Ed. 2d
346 (1972).
6. Tom Morganthau et al, "Condemned to Life,"
Newsweek, Aug. 7, 1995, p. 18; David A. Kaplan,
"Anger and Ambivalence," Newsweek, Aug. 7, 1995, p.
24; Rebecca Westerfield, "The Death Penalty:
Impending Challenges, " 22 Human Rights (Winter
1995), p. 40; Michael Ross, "A View from Death Row,"
22 Human Rights (Summer 1995), p. 20.
7. Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S. 302, 109 S. Ct.
2934, 106 L. Ed. 2d 256 (1989). See also, Emily
Fabrycki Reed, The Penry Penalty: Capital Punishment
and Offenders with Mental Retardation (1993).
8. Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815, 108 S.
Ct. 2687, 101 L. Ed. 2d 702 (1988). See also,
Suzanne D. Strater, "The Juvenile Death Penalty: In
the Best Interests of the Child?" 22 Human Rights
(Spring 1995), p. 10.
P.272
against what appears to be the general evolution of
international law.(9)
Yet perhaps the most dramatic and disturbing
example of the Supreme Court's recent support of the
death penalty is Herrera v. Collins(10) where the
existence of evidence supporting the petitioner's
claim of actual innocence was not proper grounds for
federal habeas corpus relief. In other words, in
Herrera, the Supreme Court was willing to allow a
person who was possibly not guilty to be executed
despite documented claims of actual innocence and
related federal constitutional arguments based on
the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and
unusual punishment and the Fifth and Fourteenth
Amendments' guarantee of due process of law.
The implications of Herrera(11) are especially
tragic when one realizes that a surprisingly large
number of Americans have been wrongly convicted of
capital crimes. Some of these individuals have also
been executed.(12) In the United Kingdom, the
execution of a man who later turned out to possibly
be not guilty served as an impetus toward doing away
with capital punishment for murder in that
country.(13) In any event, as is the case with
capital punishment in the United States generally,
race and class (14) play a role in determining who
is more likely to be executed in spite of innocence.
Regardless of how the current Supreme Court may
interpret the Constitution, as Mr. Justice William
Brennan once pointed out: "At
------------
9. The Abolition of the Death Penalty in
International Law.
10. 506 U.S. 390, 113 S. Ct. 853, 122 L. Ed. 2d
203 (1993)
11. As Mr. Justice Harry Blackmun put it so
well: "The execution of a person who can show that
he is innocent comes perilously close to simple
murder." Herrera, 506 U.S. 390, --; 113 S. Ct. 853,
884; 122 L. Ed. 2d 203, 246 (Blackmun, J.,
dissenting).
12. Michael L. Radlet et al, In Spite of
Innocence: Erroneous Convictions in Capital Cases
(1992). See also, American Civil Liberties Union,
Innocence and the Death Penalty (ACLU Capital
Punishment Project Fact Sheet, June 1995).
13. R. v. Evans, [1950] 1 All ER 610, 66 TLR (Pt
1) 629, 34 Cr App Rep 72, [1950] WN 111. See also,
James B. Christoph, Capital Punishment and British
Politics: The British Movement to Abolish the Death
Penalty 1947-1957 (1962). Ironically, one of the
prosecutors in Evans was a well-known English
Buddhist writer and lay leader named Christmas
Humphreys (1901-1983). Humphreys would go on to
become a particularly liberal judge at the Central
Criminal Court i.e., "the Old Bailey." Christmas
Humprheys' father was the noted jurist Sir Travers
Humphreys (1867-1956) . See generally, Christmas
Humphreys, Both Sides of the Circle: The
Autobiography of Christmas Numphreys (1978)
Christmas Humphreys, "The Duties and
Responsibilities of Prosecuting Counsel, Grim. L.R.
(1955), p. 739.
14. See, e.g., Adalberto Aguirre, Jr. and David
V. Baker, Race, Racism and the Death Penalty in the
United States (1991); Michael Ross, "Is the Death
Penalty Racist?" 21 Human Rights (Summer 1994), p.
32.
P.273
bottom, the battle [over the death penalty] has been
waged on moral grounds."(15) Taking this statement
from Brennan as a cue, it is useful to look at
religious perspectives on the death penalty.
It should perhaps come as no surprise that
within the United States, Jewish and Christian
religious bodies have not spoken with one voice on
capital punishment.(16) In the broad Judeo-Christian
tradition, biblical passages have been quoted by
retentionists and abolitionists alike in support of
their respective positions.(17) While it might be
one thing for certain Jews(18) to quote the Hebrew
Bible in support of capital punishment, it is
striking that so many Christians support capital
punishment. After all, Jesus (4 BC?-29 AD?) remains
the world's most famous executed criminal defendant.
Be that as it may, very little has been written
regarding Buddhist views on capital punishment. The
author intends to help remedy this deficiency. What
follows, therefore, is a Buddhist perspective on the
death penalty based upon Buddhist thought and
history. This article should be seen as being just
that. In other words, what is about to be presented
is merely one possible perspective, albeit one that
has considerable support in the corpus of Buddhist
literature and the experience of Buddhism as a
living religion existing in various cultures over
the past two and a half millennia.
II. BUDDHIST TEACHINGS
Buddhism(19) is a rich tradition with an
extensive corpus of religious(20) literature.(21)
This literature has been referred to by the author
in
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15. Furman, 408 U.S. 238, 296; 92 S. Ct. 2726,
2755; 33 L. Ed. 2d 346, 382 (Brennan, J.,
concurring).
16. Nevertheless, many mainstream Jewish and
Christian denominations in the United States have
gone on record as opposing the death penalty.
Michael Kronen-wetter, Capital Punishment: A
Reference Handbook (Contemporary World Issues,
1993), pp. 59-61, 70.
17. Ibid., pp. 150-155.
18. Incidentally, in 1954 Israel itself
abolished capital punishment except for the
punishment of Nazi war crimes. World Human Rights
Guide, p. 158.
19. The author will consider Buddhism as a
whole. It is the author's opinion that Theravada,
Mahayana, and Vajrayana--the three major forms of
Buddhism in existence today--all share a significant
common ground. There is an unfortunate tendency on
the part of some scholars to overemphasize the
differences among the three forms. For brief
definitions of Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana,
refer to Ingrid Fischer-Schreiber et al, The
Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion
(Stephan Schuhmacher et al, trans. 1994) , pp.
215-16, 369, 398-99.
20. The author defines Buddhism as a "religion"
even though Buddhism lacks a notion of "God" along
the lines of what is found in theistic religions
like Judaism,
P.274
developing a systematic Buddhist perspective on the
death penalty.(22) The nature and purpose of the
texts(23)vary, but the major themes of the texts point
toward a definite stance which is clearly within the
spirit of the Buddhist outlook on the human
condition.
A. Panca-sila
A logical starting point from which to begin
considering a Buddhist perspective on the death
penalty would be Buddhism's most basic set of
training rules for personal spiritual development
known as the panca-sila(24) or five precepts.(25)
These basic rules of good conduct are for all
Buddhists, lay or ordained.(26)
---------
Christianity, and Islam. This is similar to how
Buddhism is viewed in American law. See, e.g., Welsh
v. U.S., 398 U.S. 333, 357, 90 S. Ct. 1792, 1805, 26
L. Ed. 2d 308, 328 (1970) (Harlan, J., concurring);
U.S. v. Seeger, 380 U.S. 163, 174, 85 S. Ct. 850,
858, 13 L. Ed. 2d 733, 742 (1965); Torcaso v.
Watkins, 367 U.S. 488, 495, 81 S. Ct. 1680, 1684, 6
L. Ed. 2d 982, 987 (1961). See also, Cruz v. Beto,
405 U.S. 319, 92 S. Ct. 1079, 31 L. Ed. 2d 263
(1972) (per curiam).
21. The author has examined mostly English
translations of canonical works from various
versions of the Buddhist Canon (Sanskrit: Tripitaka;
Pali: Tipitaka). Given the immense size of the Canon
as well as the fact that only certain portions of
the Canon are currently available in either English
or other European languages, the present survey
should be treated as being indicative rather than
exhaustive. For more information on the nature of
the Buddhist Canon, see generally Maha Sthavira
Sangharakshita (Venerable), The Eternal Legacy: An
Introduction to the Canonical Literature of Buddhism
(1985) ; Kogen Mizuno, Buddhist Sutras: Origin,
Development, Transmission (Morio Takanashi et al,
trans. 1982) ; White Lotus Co., Guide to the
Tipitaka: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BUDDHIST CANON
(Martin Perenchio et al, eds. 1993); Bukkyo Dendo
Kyokai, An Introduction to the Buddhist Canon: 139
Buddhist Scriptures (Shoyu Hanayama, ed. and R.W.
Giebel, trans. 1986) [In English & Japanese].
22. It is worth noting that despite the vastness
of Buddhist literature, canonical as well as
non-canonical, ultimately the Buddhist experience of
life lies beyond anything written. Buddhist insight
transcends language itself. As Bodhidharma
(470?-543?), a famous South Indian Buddhist monk who
was active in China, once wrote:
"The ultimate Truth is beyond words. Doctrines
are words. They're not the Way. The Way is
wordless." Bodhidharma, The Zen Teaching of
Bodhidharma (Red Pine trans., 1989), p. 31.
23. The texts discussed in this article will be
referred to in an order that does not strictly
consider the possible dates of composition.
Likewise, the texts represent different sects and
schools of Buddhism.
24. Most key Buddhist terms referred to in this
paper will include transliterations of the Sanskrit
versions.
25. For a general discussion of the five
precepts see, (Bhikkhu) Bodhi, Going for Refuge:
Taking the Precepts (The Wheel Publication Nos.
282-284, 1981). See also, Nandasenda Ratnapala,
Crime and Punishment in the Buddhist Tradition
(1993), pp. 72-73.
For some thoughts on the tension between capital
punishment and the five precepts,
P.275
The very first, and arguably most important,
precept is the training rule of abstaining from
taking life. The four other training rules are:
abstaining from taking what is not given; abstaining
from sexual misconduct; abstaining from false
speech; and abstaining from intoxicants.
Abstaining from the destruction of life
encourages the development of compassion
(karuna) (27) for all beings. Moreover, Buddhism
teaches that all sentient beings (sattva)(28) are
fundamentally good. All sentient beings possess what
is known as Buddha-nature (buddhata).(29) Having
Buddha-nature means that all sentient beings can
eventually realize enlightenment/awakening
(bodhi) (30) and thereby become Buddhas i.e.,
Awakened Ones.(31) Hence, Buddhism is
universalistic. Everyone has great spiritual
potential waiting to be unleashed no matter how
depraved they might look.
All life is to be treasured. It matters not how
lowly such life may seem. Treasuring the lives of
those who, in many cases, have not valued lives of
others is an act of spiritual courage. This notion
---------
see Andrew Huxley, Sanction in the Theravada
Buddhist Kingdoms of S.E. Asia (1992), pp. 335, 366.
26. Ordained Buddhists viz., monks and nuns,
traditionally have additional sets of training
rules. Edward Conze, Buddhism: Its Essence and
Development (1959) (1951), p. 54. Such rules also
provided Buddhist monastic orders with the authority
for disciplining monks and nuns. See generally,
Crime and Punishment in the Buddhist Tradition; M.B.
Voyce, "The Legal Authority of the Buddha over the
Buddhist Order of Monks," 1 J.Of L. & Religion
(1983), p. 307; M.B. Voyce, "The Communal Discipline
of the Buddhist Order of Monks: The 'Sanction' of
the Vinaya Pitaka," 29 Am. J. Juris. (1984), p. 123.
Such monastic law should be distinguished from the
influence of Buddhism on more secular Asian legal
thought. One place where Buddhism continues to have
some influence on the national legal system is
Thailand. Frank E. Reynolds, "Dhamma in Dispute: The
Interaction of Religion and Law in Thailand," 28 Law
& Soc'y. R. (1994), p. 433.
27. The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and
Religion, pp. 176-77; John Grimes, A Concise
Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms
Defined in English (1989), pp. 172-73.
28. Yuho Yokoi, The Japanese-English Zen
Buddhist Dictionary (1991), pp. 705, 807; Arthur
Anthony Macdonell, A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary:
With Transliteration, Accentuation, and Etymological
Analysis Throughout (1965) (1924), p. 330. Purists
may note that sattva is a neuter noun. Hence, the
plural in the nominative case should be sattvani.
29. Whether this also applies to non-sentient
beings is a matter of some rather scholastic debate.
The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion,
p. 49. Such debate shall remain outside the scope of
the present paper.
30. Ibid., p. 37.
31. A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary: With
Transliteration, Accentuation, and Etymological
Analysis Throughout, p. 196.
P.276
supports nonviolence/non-harming (ahimsa)(32) which
leads to the advocation of such wholesome causes as
world peace(33) and vegetarianism.(34) Taking a
strong stance against the death penalty is a logical
outgrowth of any religion or philosophy based upon
nonviolence.(35)
Another aspect of ahimsa is the notion of
karma, (36) "action" or "deed." At the risk of
over-simplification, there is good as well as bad
karma. We are influenced by karma from the past and
we create new karma in acts of free will as we live
our lives. Killing is simply bad karma.
The author will now turn to additional textual
support for a Buddhist position against all forms
and cases of capital punishment
B. THE DHAMMAPADA
One of the most important religious texts for
Buddhism is a poetic collection of aphorisms known
as the Dhammapada or Dharmapada.(37)
-------------
32. Ahimsa is also a central concept in Hinduism
and even more so in Jainism. The Encyclopedia of
Eastern Philosophy and Religion, p. 5; A Concise
Dictionary of Indian Philosophy, p. 17. In this
century, ahimsa was a guiding principle for Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) and later for Martin
Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968). See, Dennis Dalton,
Mahatma Gandhi: Nonviolent Power in Action (1993).
33. See, e.g., Inner Peace, World Peace: Essays
on Buddhism and Nonviolence (Kenneth Kraft, ed.
1992) ; Buddhism and Nonviolent Global
Problem-Solving: Ulan Bator Explorations (Glenn D.
Paige and Sarah Gilliatt, eds. 1991).
34. Only a minority of Buddhists are actually
vegetarian. Nevertheless, vegetarianism does find
strong support among the monks and nuns of China,
Korea, and Vietnam. See Philip Kapleau, To Cherish
All Life: A Buddhist Case for Becoming Vegetarian
(1982).
35. Admittedly, there have been some attempts
during the long history of Buddhism to provide
Buddhist justifications for killing human beings
especially in times of war. See, e.g., Paul
Demieville, "Le Bouddhisme et la Guerre, " 11
Bibliotheque de l'Institut des Hautes Etudes
Chinoises (1957) , p. 347; Capt. Lawrence P.
Rockwood, "Apology of a Buddhist Soldier, " 5
Tricycle: The Buddhist Review (Spring 1996), p. 71.
Ritual suicide has also found a place, albeit a
small one, in Buddhism. A recent immolation case
reminiscent of the 1960s took place in Vietnam.
"Notes on Church-State Affairs--Vietnam," 36 J. of
Church and State (1994), pp. 222-23. Likewise,
abortion is tolerated in an interesting way by some
Buddhists. William LaFleur, "The Cult of Jizo:
Abortion Practices in Japan and What They can Teach
the West," 4 Tricycle: The Buddhist Review (Summer
1995), p. 40.
Naturally, on one level, there is a difference
between killing the guilty and killing the innocent.
Yet, even a person who commits the most heinous acts
remains a human being.
36. It is arguably more accurate to say karman
which is the nominative case of this neuter Sanskrit
noun. See A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary: With
Transliteration, Accentuation, and Etymological
Analysis Throughout, p. 64. However, "karma, "
without the final "n" has already become an English
word listed in many dictionaries. Here it will be
treated as such.
37. There are quite a few translations of the
Dhammapada into English. The
P.277
This work is preserved in Pali(38) and in other
ancient languages.(39) The title means roughly "Path
of Dhamma" (Sanskrit: Dharma) . The term
dharma/dhamma can be translated in any number of
ways depending upon the context. "Law, "
"righteousness," "merit," "quality," "cause," and
"religious teachings" are among some of the
approximate meanings of this key concept in Indian
thought.(40)
The initial verses of Chapter 10 of the
Dhammapada speak of killing: "Everyone fears
punishment; everyone fears death, just as you do.
Therefore do not kill or cause to kill. Everyone
fears punishment; everyone loves life, as you do.
Therefore do not kill or cause to kill."(41)
In Chapter 26, the final chapter of the
Dhammapada, we find a related passage: "Him I call a
brahmin(42) who has put aside weapons
---------------
author has relied mostly upon The Dhammapada (Eknath
Easwaran, trans. 1985). Other translations consulted
include: The Dhammapada (John Boss Carter and
Mahinda Palihawadana, trans. 1987); Juan Mascaro,
The Dhammapada: The Path of Perfection (1973);
(Venerable Sri) Achaya Buddharakkhita, Dhammapada: A
Practical Guide to Right Living (1959).
38. Pali is an ancient Indian language closely
related to Sanskrit. A body of religious texts
handed down in Pali forms the scriptural basis for
Theravada Buddhism, the main school of Buddhism
found today in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos and
Cambodia. Theravada Buddhism also has lesser
presence in other parts of Asia. See generally,
Buddhism: Its Essence and Development. As for some
technical concerns about working with texts in the
Pali Canon, see K.R. Norman, "Pali Philology and the
Study of Buddhism," in The Buddhist Forum: Seminar
Papers 1987-1988 (Tadeusz Skorupski, ed. 1990), p.
31; K.R. Norman, "The Pall Language and Scriptures,"
in The Buddhist Heritage (Tadeusz Skorupski, ed.
1989), p. 29.
For a study of the influence of Fali literature
on the legal history of much of Southeast Asia, see
Andrew Huxley, "Sanction in the Theravada Buddhist
Kingdoms of S.E. Asia," Recueils de la Societe Jean
Bodin (1992), p. 335.
39. Various versions of the Dhammapada have been
preserved in Pali, Gandhari, Sanskrit, Classical
Chinese, and Classical Tibetan. From such versions
modern translations into a considerable number of
contemporary Asian and Western languages have been
made. Kogen Mizuno, "Dharmapadas of Various Buddhist
Schools, " in A.K. Narain, Studies in Pali and
Buddhism: A Memorial Volume in Honor of Bhikkhu
Jagdish Kashyap (1979), p. 255.
40. A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy:
Sanskrit Terms Defined in English, pp. 113-14.
41. The Dhammapada, p. 111.
42. Here the term brahmin is being used in a
Buddhist sense as opposed to the standard Hindu
understanding of the term. Thus, in the Dhammapada a
brahmin is one who has awakened spiritually. In
mainstream Hinduism, however, a brahmin is merely a
member of the priestly caste. Ibid., p. 188.
Incidentally, "brahmin" is actually an English
word derived from the Sanskrit brahmana which is, in
turn, derived from the Vedic brahman. This point was
kindly explained to me in some detail on November
22, 1995, by Dr. Waiter Harding Maurer, Professor of
Sanskrit, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
P.278
and renounced violence toward all creatures. He
neither kills nor helps others to kill."(43)
C. Janasandha-Jataka
This jataka(44) is a story(45) Said to be told
by the Buddha to the King of Kosala.(46) It tells
the tale of a certain Prince Janasandha, the son of
King Brahmadatta of Benares:
Now when [Prince Janasandha] came of age, and
had returned from Takkasila, where he had been
educated in all accomplishments, the king gave
a general pardon to all prisoners, and gave
him the viceroyalty. Afterwards when his
father died, he became king, and then he
caused to be built six almonries.... There day
by day he used to distribute six hundred
pieces of money and stirred up all India with
his almsgiving: the prison doors he opened for
good and all, the places of execution he
destroyed....(47)
Abolition of the death penalty is a regular
theme in Buddhism, as we shall see below.
D. Rajaparikatha-ratnamala
The Rajaparikatha-ratnamala or "The Precious
Garland of Advice for the King"(48) is a treatise
attributed to the famous South Indian Buddhist
philosopher Nagarjuna (2nd or 3rd century AD).(49)
In this work on Buddhist statecraft, Nagarjuna gives
King Udayi of the Satavahana Dynasty advice on a
variety of matters.(50) Here is how Nagarjuna
handles capital punishment:
------------
43. The Dhammapada, p. 197.
44. The jataka are reputed to be the stories of
the former lives of the historical Buddha i.e.,
Gautama Siddhartha (563?-483? BC). Quasi-canonical
in nature, the jataka are essentially folk tales
that serve as a vehicle for popularizing Buddhism.
See The Eternal Legacy: An Introduction to the
Canonical Literature of Buddhism, pp. 55-66.
45. The Jataka or Stories of the Buddha's Former
Births, Vol. 4, Bk. 12 (E.B. Cowell, ed.; W.H.D.
Rouse, trans. 1957) pp. 109-11.
46. Kosala was a kingdom in central India with
its capital in Savatthi, being modern day Saheth
Maheth. S. Dhammika, Middle Land, Middle Way: A
Pilgrim's Guide to the Buddha's India (1992), pp.
163-78.
47. The Jataka or Stories of the Buddha's Former
Births, pp. 109-10.
48. Nagarjuna and Kaysang Gyatso [Dalai Lama
VII], The Precious Garland and The Song of the Four
Mindfulnesses (Jeffrey Hopkins et al, trans., 1975).
49. The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and
Religion, pp. 237-38.
50. For an interpretation of the text and some
background on King Udayi, see Robert A.F. Thurman,
"Nagarjuna's Guidelines for Buddhist Social Action,"
in The Path of Compassion: Writings on Socially
Engaged Buddhism (Fred Eppsteiner, ed. 1988); Robert
A.F. Thurman, "Social and Cultural Rights in
Buddhism," in
P279
O King, through compassion you should always
Generate an attitude of help
Even for all those embodied beings
Who have committed appalling sins.
Especially generate compassion
For those murderers, whose sins are horrible;
Those of fallen nature are receptacles
Of compassion from those whose nature is great....
Once you have analysed the angry
Murderers and recognised them well,
You should banish them without
Killing or tormenting them.(51)
Banishment or exile has been employed as a form
of sanction in various pre-modern Asian legal
systems.(52) Indeed, banishment has also been employed
at times in the West.(53) Although banishment obviously
entails psychological and physical hardships, it is
certainly to be preferred to death. Moreover, it can
protect the convicted defendant from the possible
wrath of friends or family of the victim.
E. Avatamsaka-sutra
Another, albeit rather unusual, treatment of
capital punishment comes from the lengthy(54) and
highly symbolic Avatamsaka-suutra(55) which is also
known as the Buddhavatamsaka-sutra. This sutra or
--------------
Human Rights and the World's Religions (Leroy S.
Rouner, ed. 1988), p. 148. A brief overview of the
Satavahana Dynasty can be found in Rama Shankar
Tripathi, History of Ancient India (1942), pp.
191-201; Etienne Lamotte, History of Indian
Buddhism: From the Origins to the Saka Era (Sara
Webb-Boin and Jean Dantinne, trans. 1988), pp.
474-81.
51. The Precious Garland and the Song of the
Four Mindfulnessess, pp. 66-67.
52. See, e.g., Brian E. McKnight, The Quality of
Mercy: Amnesties and Traditional Chinese Justice
(1981).
53. To name but two historical examples of exile
as a form of punishment, what are now the U.S. state
of Georgia and parts of Australia were both used by
the British Empire as penal colonies. 5 The New
Encyclopaedia Britannica: Micropaedia (15th ed.
1989), p. 201; Europa Publications, The Far East and
Australasia (1995), p. 78. A contemporary attempt at
using this sanction is described in Peratrovich v.
State, 903 P.2d 1071 (Alaska Ct. App. 1995).
An alternative to banishment would be probation.
It has been argued that this was a common type of
sanction in maintaining monastic discipline among
Buddhist monks and nuns. Crime and Punishment in the
Buddhist Tradition, pp.76-77.
54. To put things into proper perspective, the
Avatamsaka-sutra by itself is about as long as the
whole Hebrew Bible. See generally, The Eternal
Legacy: An Introduction to the Canonical Literature
of Buddhism, pp. 221-35.
55. This sutra became the basis for an entire
East Asian sect of Buddhism best known today by its
Japanese name, Kegon. Shinsho Hanayama, A History of
Japanese Buddhism (Kosho Yamamoto, trans. 1960), pp.
27-30.
P.280
scripture tells the saga of a bodhisattva(56) named
Sudhana-sresthidaraka,(57) or simply Sudhana. Sudhana
is on a pilgrimage to visit various spiritual
teachers whom he is told to seek out for guidance.
One of the teachers is a king named Anala.(58)
King Anala lives in an indescribably beautiful
palace in a far off, magical land; yet, he does have
a crime problem. To keep the populace in line, he
conjures up frightful images of prisoners on which
he passes judgement and then has brutally executed
or otherwise severely tortured.
In reality, the King does not harm anyone
because the prisoners as well as the penal officers
are all just illusions. As the King explains to the
seeker, these magical projections are meant to be
acts of compassion to get actual people to give up
evil.
Obviously, this passage is symbolic and should,
therefore, not be taken literally. It does, however,
point to the centrality of compassion in Buddhist
legal and social thought. Admittedly, the passage
could be literally construed to support capital
punishment along with deterrence as a goal of penal
policy,(59) but, again, the notion of compassion is
more important here. In addition, the context must
be remembered viz., this is an especially mystical
text.
F. Muga-Pakkha-Jataka
This jataka, said to be told by the Buddha to
his monks, illustrates that punishment can affect
those who impose it as well as those being directly
punished.(60) The Muga-Pakkha-Jataka(61) makes this
point
--------------
56. A bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism is
someone who has realized Enlightenment, but who vows
to stay in this world to help others to realize
Enlightenment. The Encyclopedia of Eastern
Philosophy and Religion, pp. 39-40; A Concise
Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms
Defined in English, p. 99.
57. The Japanese-English Zen Buddhist
Dictionary, p. 847.
58. The author's account is based on The Flower
Ornament Scripture, The Text: A Translation of the
Gandavyuha, the Final Book of the Avatamsaka Sutra
(Thomas Clearly, trans. 1987) , pp. 118-21; Li
Tongxuan, Entry into the Realm of Reality, The
Guide: A Commentary on the Gandavyuha, The Final
Book of the Avatamsaka Sutra (1989), pp. 45-46.
59. Today deterrence is recognized as a
legitimate consideration in the disposition of
convicted defendants. See, e.g., Haw. Rev. Stat.
Ann. $ 706-606(2)(b) (Michie 1994).
60. For example, this is one way of approaching
Justice Blackmun's views on the death penalty in his
rather personal dissent in Callins v. Collins, --
U.S. --, 114 S. Ct. 1127, 127 L. Ed. 2d 435, 62
U.S.L.W. 3546 (1994). See also, William J. Brennan,
Jr., "Foreword: Neither Victims nor Executioners,"
Notre Dame J.L. Ethics & Pub. Pol'y. (1994), p. 1.
It is noteworthy that Justice Blackmun has been
described as being compassionate. Harold H. Koh, "A
Tribute to Justice Blackmun,"
P.281
graphically. The story revolves around the young
prince and only child of King Kasiraja named
Temiya-kumaro, or simply Temiya.
Temiya is an extremely sensitive child. One day
when he is only a month old he is playing with his
father, the King. The King is then called upon to
judge four robbers. The King sentences the first to
be whipped a thousand times, the second to be
imprisoned in chains, the third to be killed by a
spear, and the fourth to be impaled. Overcome by the
karmic consequences of his father's actions and
fearing what would become of him if he did the same
after succeeding to the throne, Temiya refuses to
speak or otherwise act like a normal child for the
next sixteen years.
Finally, Temiya solves his dilemma by becoming a
recluse(62) and converting the royal household and
many others. This story parallels the life story of
the historical Buddha who grew up in a palace, but
renounced the world in order to seek spiritual
truth.
G. Angulimala-sutta(63)
The final text under examination is a famous
sutra dealing with the power of rehabilitation.(64)
The text is known as the Angulimala-sutta or the
"Discourse with Angulimala."(65) It is a part of the
------------
Harv. L. Rev. (1994), pp. 20, 21-22. For a decidedly
different view, see Mumia Abu-Jamal, Live from Death
Row (1995), pp. 112-15.
61. The Jataka or Stories of the Buddha's Former
Births, Vol. 6, Bk. 22, pp.1-19
For a look at the influence of this jataka
on certain traditional legal texts in Southeast
Asia, see "Sanction in the Theravada Buddhist
Kingdoms of S.E. Asia," p. 345.
62. As an interesting aside, there was a
Temiya-like character in early twentieth-century
Korea. A Korean, who was working as a judge for the
Japanese colonial regime in Korea (1910-1945), had
to hand down a death sentence. He was so disturbed
by what he had done that he simply disappeared by
heading for the countryside, where he lived for a
while as a peddler before becoming a Buddhist monk.
Eventually, the ex-judge became a Zen master with
the Buddhist name of Hyobong (1888-1966). Robert E.
Buswell, Jr., The Zen Monastic Experience: Buddhist
Practice in Contemporary Korea (1992), pp. 91-92; Mu
Soeng (Sunum), Thousand Peaks: Korean Zen, Tradition
and Teachers (1991), pp. 197-98. Hyobong's writings
and life are more fully covered in Hyobong, Hyobong
Orok [The Analects of Hyobong] (1975) [In Korean].
63. The word sutta in the title is the Pali
equivalent of the Sanskrit sutra. The Encyclopedia
of Eastern Philosophy and Religion, pp. 342-43.
64. Rehabilitation is not a popular idea
politically at the moment. See Mark Curriden, "Hard
Time," 81 A.B.A. J. (July 1995), p. 72.
65. The translation which the author has used is
2 The Collection of the Middle Length Sayings
(Majjhima-Nikaya) (Isaline B. Horner, trans. 1957),
pp. 284-92. See also, Hellmuth Hecker, Angulimala: A
Murder's Road to Sainthood (The Wheel Publication
No. 312, 1984).
P.282
Majjhima-nikaya, or Medium Length Discourses, of the
Fali Canon.
Here the reader meets a much-feared robber and
murderer by the name of Angulimala(66) which
literally means "Garland of Fingers." The namesake
garland was said to have been made by using the
fingers of his victims.
Understandably, the locals are all afraid of
Angulimala. Nonetheless, the Buddha, who is staying
in the area at the time, insists on heading alone
down the road where Angulimala is believed to be
hiding. Through his unique persona, the Buddha
manages to convert Angulimala and ordain him as a
monk.(67)
Meanwhile, the King, urged by the public, heads
out with large entourage to find the evil
Angulimala. He comes across the Buddha and explains
his situation. The Buddha then shows him the
reformed Angulimala living peacefully as a monk. The
King is quite taken back by all this. He is amazed
at how the Buddha was able to change Angulimala.
This points to a Buddhist notion of rehabilitation.
Naturally, rehabilitation and capital punishment are
mutually exclusive concepts.
Nevertheless, in strictly moral terms,
Angulimala still had previously created considerable
bad karma, and he would eventually die a painful,
accidental death because of this. Yet,
rehabilitation is clearly the main theme of this
text.(68)
Rehabilitation enables the convicted criminal
defendant to realize his or her mistakes and to
attempt to avoid them in the future. In Buddhist
terms, a rehabilitated offender, even a murderer,
will remember his or her Buddha-nature. For society,
reforming a wrongdoer means regaining a productive
member who can somehow contribute to the general
welfare.
III. BUDDHIST RULERS
In the history of Asia certain rulers have
eagerly embraced Buddhism. Many other rulers were
Buddhist with a somewhat lesser
------------------
66. The Sanskrit spelling of this name is
Angulimalya. William Edward Soothill and Lewis
Hodous, A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms: With
Sanskrit and English Equivalents and a Sanskrit-Pali
Index (1975) (1937), pp. 184, 302, 331, 454.
67. The tale of a latter-day Angulimala in the
United Kingdom is told in R. V. Skelton, The Times
(London) May 18, 1983, [1983] Grim. L.R. 686, No.
269/A/ 83. Mr. Skelton, who had been convicted of
larceny and burglary several times, appears to have
been equal to the task. See Michael Skelton, "An
Official Meeting with a Most Remarkable Man," 58 The
Middle Way (August 1983), pp. 99-100.
68. Although not as related to jurisprudence, a
similar story featuring Angulimala and the Buddha
set in a previous life can be found in the
Maha-Sutasoma-Jataka. For a translation, see The
Jataka or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births,
Vol. 5, Bk. 21, pp. 246-79.
P.283
degree of interest in the religion. As a result of
their religion, some Buddhist rulers did away with
the death penalty, while some did not. In the
subsections that follow, the author has selected a
few representative examples of Buddhist political
leaders who had little use for the death penalty.
A. ASOKA
In discussing famous Buddhist political leaders,
it is difficult to avoid making some reference to
the Indian Emperor Asoka (269? -232? B.C.).(69)
Asoka, also spelled Ashoka, ruled an empire that
controlled a large portion of South Asia. He
actively promoted Buddhism throughout his empire and
beyond.
Despite his fondness for the ideal of ahimsa and
his apparent dislike of capital punishment, Asoka
might (or might not) have retained the death
penalty, and thus he possibly allowed some
executions to take place. This has been a matter of
some debate.(70)
B. SOME OTHER SOUTH ASIAN RULERS
An early Chinese pilgrim to India,(71) the monk
Fa-hsien (337?-422?),(72) writes of an abolitionist
Buddhist king:
--------------
69. See, Romila Thapar, Asoka and the Decline of
the Mauryas (1961); Stephen Batchelor, The Awakening
of the West: The Encounter of Buddhism and Western
Culture (1994), pp. 3-15; Radha Kumud Mookerji,
Asoka (1962) ; Fritz Kern, Asoka: Kaiser und
Missionar (Willibald Kirfel, ed. 1956).
70. Sources holding that Asoka retained the
death penalty include Asoka and the Decline of the
Mauryas, pp. 79, 105, 176, and 202; R.G. Chaturvedi
and M.S. Chaturvedi, Theory and Law of Capital
Punishment (1989), pp. 4-5. For an alternative view,
see K.R. Norman, "Asoka and Capital Punishment:
Notes on a Portion of Asoka's Fourth Pillar Edict,
with an Appendix on the Accusative Absolute
Construction," J. of the Royal Asiatic Soc'y of
Great Britain and Ireland (1975), p. 16.
71. Much of what we know of ancient Indian
history comes from external sources notably, Chinese
and Creek writers. For whatever reason,
historiography was less highly developed in India
than writing on topics like philosophy and religion.
Of course, by relying on the works of such
non-Indians one does need to be concerned about the
varying linguistic abilities and the uncertain
extent of local cultural and political knowledge
possessed by these foreign observers.
Moreover, an idealization of India may have
occasionally influenced the writing of Chinese
Buddhists. This could mean that some Chinese
Buddhist pilgrims exaggerated the various bans on
killing. See, e.g., D. Devahuti, Harsha: A Political
Study (1983), p. 208. Harsha, or Harsa, was a North
Indian emperor (r. 606-647) who is normally thought
of as being a great Buddhist ruler much like Asoka.
Nevertheless, at least one contemporary scholar has
maintained that Harsha was really a Hindu. S.R.
Goyal, Harsha and Buddhism (1986).
In any event, in view of the fact that a number
of Chinese pilgrims, over a
P.284
The king [of Mid-India] governs without
decapitation [i.e., capital punishment
generally] or (other) corporal punishments.
Criminals are simply fined, lightly or
heavily, according to the circumstances (of
each case). Even in cases of repeated attempts
at wicked rebellion [i.e., treason],(73) they
only have their right hands cut off....
Throughout the country the people do not
kill any living creature, nor drink
intoxicating liquor, nor eat onions or
garlic.(74)
The lack of a death penalty here is noteworthy
when it is recalled that pre-modern societies often
executed people for a wide variety of offenses.(75)
Indeed, Mid-India holds up rather well even by
today's standards, let alone those of many centuries
ago.
Hye Ch'o,(76) an eighth-century Korean monk,
made a pilgrimage to India similar to Fa-hsien's,
yet about three centuries later. He too describes
Buddhist kings in central India who rule without
resort to the death penalty: "The national laws of
the five regions of India prescribe no cangue,
beatings or prison. Those who are guilty are fined
in accordance with the degree of the offence
committed. There is no capital punishment."(77)
--------------
significant period of time, wrote of bans on killing
and capital punishment, it is probably safe to
conclude that there were at least a few abolitionist
kings in ancient India. Finally, there is also
evidence that there may have been several
abolitionist kings in parts of medieval Southeast
Asia. "Sanction in the Theravada Buddhist Kingdoms
of S.E. Asia," p. 346.
72. The author has relied mostly on James Legge,
trans., "A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms: Being an
Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hieh of his Travels
in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414)," in Search of
the Buddhist Books of Discipline (1965) (1886). The
author has also consulted A Record of the Buddhist
Countries (Li Yunghst, trans. 1957); The Pilgrimage
of Fa Hian [sic] Remusat et al, trans. 1848);
Travels of Fah-Hian [sic] and Sung Yun, Buddhist
Pilgrims from China to India (400 A.D. and 518 A.D.)
(Samuel Beal, trans. 1964) (1869) . See also
Si-Yu-ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World --
Translated from the Chinese of Hiuen tsian (A.D.
629) (Samuel Beal, trans. 1969) (1884).
73. Treason is often treated as the most serious
of all crimes. In the United Kingdom, for example,
treason remains a capital offense while murder is
not. A Concise Dictionary of Law, (20 ed. 1990), pp.
54-55, 420; Capital Punishment [1970] Crim. L.R. 65.
74. A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms: Being an
Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hieh of His Travels
in India and Ceylon, p. 43.
75. See, e.g., Ramaprasad Das Gupta, Crime and
Punishment in Ancient India (1930); Lawrence M.
Friedman, Crime and Punishment in American History
(1993); Richard van Dulmen, Theatre of Horror: Crime
and Punishment in Early Modern Germany (Elisabeth
Neu, trans. 1990); J.M. Beattie, Crime and the
Courts in England 1660-1800 (1986).
76. Some older Western works on Hye Ch'o have
the Chinese characters in his name transliterated
according to a Chinese pronunciation such as "Hui
Ch'ao" instead of according to the standard Korean
pronunciation of "Hye Ch'o."
77. Hye Ch'o, The Hye Ch'o Diary: Memoir of the
Pilgrimage to the Five Regions of India (Yang
Han-Sung et al, trans. and ed. 1980) pp. 40-41.
P.285
Hye Ch'o found an almost identical situation in
West India: "Here there is no cangue, beating,
prison, capital punishment, and similar
affairs."(78)
A similar situation in another ancient land is
described by the sixth-century Chinese pilgrims Sung
Yun and Hui Sheng:
[W]e entered Ouchang country (Oudyana). On the
north this country borders on the Tsung Ling
mountains; on the south it skirts India....
The king of the country religiously observes a
vegetable diet.... After mid-day he devotes
himself to the affairs of government.
Supposing a man has committed murder, they do
not suffer him to be killed, they only banish
him to the desert mountains, affording him
just food enough to keep him alive (lit. a bit
and a sup). [In doubtful legal cases] after
examination, the punishment is adjusted
according to the serious or trivial character
of attending circumstances.(79)
Earlier we met King Udayi, the person to whom
Nagarjuna addressed his treatise.
As is all too often the case with pre-modern
Indian history, there is precious little detailed
information on the nature of King Udayi's reign, but
it does appear to have been a gentle one.
Presumably, Nagarjuna's advice was not completely
ignored.(80)
C. EARLY JAPANESE EMPERORS
Pre-modern Japanese governments were often harsh
on prisoners.(81) Even today Japan retains the death
penalty.(82) Yet, there was a time when Japan did
not have the death penalty.(83) In 724 AD, Emperor
Shomu (r. 724-749), a devout Buddhist and follower
of the Kegon
--------
78. Ibid., p. 44.
79. Travels of Fah-Hian and Sung Yun, Buddhist
Pilgrims from China to India (400 A.D. and 518
A.D.), pp. 188-89.
80. "Nagarjuna's Guidelines for Buddhist Social
Action," p. 129.
81. John Carey Hall, Japanese Feudal Law
(Studies in Japanese Law and Government) (1979)
(1906).
82. Amnesty International, The Death Penalty in
Japan: Report of an International Mission to Japan,
21 February-3 March 1983 (1983), p. 2; Koichi
Kikuta, "The Death Penalty in Japan: Why Hasn't It
Been Abolished?" 1 Meiji L.J. (1994), p. 43.
83. It has been argued that a hoped-for
elimination of the death penalty in Japan is fully
consistent with the teachings of Japanese Buddhism.
John M. Peek, "Buddhism, Human Rights and the
Japanese State," 17 Hum. Rts. Q. (1995), p. 527. It
is also worth noting that when Amnesty International
visited Japan in 1983, the only major Japanese
political party that had gone on record as opposing
the death penalty was the Komieto, a generally
conservative party with strong ties to a lay
Buddhist movement named Soka Gakkai. The Death
Penalty in Japan: Report of an International Mission
to Japan, p. 17.
P.286
School who built Todai-ji, a famous temple that
still stands in Nara, forbade the use of the death
penalty. This was during the end of the Nara Period
(715-794). Likewise, there were very few executions
during the Heian Period (794-1185).(84)
D. DALAI LAMA XIII
Thubten Gyatso, Dalai Lama XIII of Tibet
(1876-1933), was the predecessor of the current
Dalai Lama i.e., Tenzin Gyatso, Dalai Lama XIV (born
1935) . The Thirteenth Dalai Lama struggled to
modernize Tibet and to maintain the country's
sovereignty against the British and later the
Chinese. He also reformed Tibet's feudal legal
system. Among the changes was the abolition of the
death penalty by about 1920. Before that time the
Dalai Lama would avoid any direct involvement in
cases of capital punishment because of his religious
role.(85)
IV. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN
OFFICIALLY BUDDHIST NATIONS
Although in pre-modern times Buddhism managed to
spread throughout virtually all of Asia,(86) most
Asian countries with large Buddhist populations
today have secular governments. Nevertheless, in
contemporary Asia there are four nations that have
Buddhism as the state religion.(87) These
nations(88) are: Bhutan, Cambodia, Sri
----------
84. Taitetsu Unno, "Personal Rights and
Contemporary Buddhism," in Human Rights and the
World's Religions (Leroy S. Rouner, ed. 1988), pp.
129, 146; Junjiro Takakusu, The Essentials of
Buddhist Philosophy (Wing-tsit Chan and Charles A.
Moore, eds. 1956), p. 112. Apparently, executions in
Japan finally resumed once the fairly peaceful Heian
Period began to give way to the great political and
social unrest of the Kamakura Period (1192-1336). A
History of Japanese Buddhism, pp. 68-70. In
particular, a series of executions are known to have
taken place in the year 1156. These executions were
the outcome of clan warfare. George Sansom, A
History of Japan to 1334 (1958), p. 256.
85. Franz Michael, Rule by Incarnation: Tibetan
Buddhism and Its Role in Society and State (1982),
pp. 70, 109. For a glimpse of the traditional
Tibetan criminal justice system, see Rebecca Redwood
French, The Golden Yoke: The Legal Cosmology of
Buddhist Tibet (1995), pp. 315-25.
86. See, e.g., Kenneth K. Inada, "A Buddhist
Response to the Nature of Human Rights," in Asian
Perspectives on Human Rights (Claude E. Welch, Jr.
and Virginia A. Leary eds., 1990), p. 91.
87. For this section the author has generally
drawn upon the following sources: Letter from
Amnesty International (London) to Damien P. Horigan
(Sept. 19, 1995) (on file with author); Barbara
Crossette, So Close to Heaven: The Vanishing
Buddhist Kingdoms of the Himalayas (1995), p. 178;
Adrian Karatnycky et al, Freedom in the World: The
Annual Survey of Political Rights & Civil Liberties
1994-1995 (1995);
P.287
Lanka,(89) and Thailand. Bhutan, which lacks a true
written constitution, follows Mahayana or, more
accurately, Vajrayana Buddhism, whereas the other
three all follow Theravada Buddhism. Of the four
nations, only Sri Lanka has a republican form of
government. The remaining three are all kingdoms
with varying degrees of popular representation. How
do modern governments that claim some official
connection with Buddhism approach the issue of
capital punishment?(90)
Currently, of the four nations, only Cambodia
has clearly eliminated the death penalty. This
recent reform has been enshrined in Article 32 of
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia
(1993).(91)
Capital punishment remains on the books in
Bhutan and Thailand alike. However, both King Jigme
Singye Wanchuk of Bhutan and King Bhumibol Alduyadej
(Rama IX) of Thailand have been following a policy
of commuting death sentences. Apparently, official
executions have not taken place in either country
for a number of years. This is a welcomed
development. Hopefully, the governments of Bhutan
and Thailand will each see fit to formally outlaw
capital punishment in the near future.(92)
----------
Constitutions of the Countries of the World (Gisbert
H. Flanz, ed. 1995); The Far East and Australasia
1995; Terence Duffy, "Toward a Culture of Human
Rights in Cambodia," 16 Hum. Rts. Q. 82 (1994);
Humana, supra note 1, passim; Edward Lawson,
Encyclopedia of Numan Rights (1991); Roger Hood, The
Death Penalty: A World-Wide Perspective, A Report to
the United Nations Committee on Crime Prevention and
Control (1990); Buddhist Trends in Southeast Asia
(Trevor Ling, ed. 1993).
88. For the purposes of this section, the Dalai
Lama's Tibetan government in exile, based in
Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India, will not be
considered a nation.
89. Sri Lanka remains officially Buddhist
despite some Western reports to the contrary. Letter
from the Embassy of the Democratic Socialist
Republic of Sri Lanka (Washington, D.C.) to Damien
P. Horigan (Oct. 30, 1995) (on file with author).
Some of the confusion in this area arises due to
what exactly is meant by the term "state religion."
Although other religions are protected
constitutionally, Buddhism is specially recognized
in the Sri Lankan Constitution. Chapter II, Section
9 of the Sri Lankan Constitution reads: "The
Republic of Sri Lanka [sic] shall give Buddhism the
foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty
of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana
[Buddhism], while assuring to all religions the
rights granted by Articles 10 and 14(1) (e) ."
Constitutions of the Countries of the World, Binder
XVIII.
90. Virtually every nation in Asia has a serious
human rights problem. Extrajudicial killings, civil
wars, torture, and censorship are tragic realities
of the region. For the purposes of this article,
however, the author will concentrate on legal
killings.
91. For an English version of this constitution,
see Constitutions of the Countries of the World,
Binder III.
92. Thailand could amend its constitution. In
Bhutan this could presumably be carried out by means
of some sort of royal decree.
P.288
Sri Lanka stands out as the most disappointing
of the four. The Sri Lankan government actually
appears to be moving toward increasing use of
executions." As it should be clear by now, such
practice is hard to justify from a Buddhist point of
view. If the Sri Lankan government takes its
Buddhism seriously, then it should, at very least,
reduce the number of executions being carried
out.(94)
V. CONCLUSION
An abolitionist stance on capital punishment
finds strong support in Buddhist thought and
history. Compassion fosters a deep respect for the
dignity of all forms of life. The lives of convicted
criminal defendants do have value.
Society should strive to rehabilitate all
prisoners to enable them to awaken to their inherent
potential for goodness and spiritual growth. Capital
punishment is anathema to rehabilitation. One
obviously cannot rehabilitate a dead inmate.
Furthermore, retribution, which would arguably be
the strongest reason for retaining the death
penalty, is not in keeping with the compassionate
spirit of Buddhism.
That Buddhism should speak out against capital
punishment is significant because Buddhism is a
world religion in its own right. Buddhism has had a
profound impact on the major civilizations of Asia.
Moreover, Buddhism enjoys a modest yet growing
presence in the United States and elsewhere outside
of Asia.(95) Finally, an American Buddhist
perspective on the death penalty can help inform the
ongoing debate surrounding capital punishment among
Americans, much as Gandhian ahimsa has positively
influenced some Christians and non-Christians in the
United States to strive for racial harmony and
social justice.
----------
93. See, e.g., "Hard Core Criminals will be
Hanged," Sri Lanka Express (Arleta, CA), July 14,
1995, p. 3. For a general history of political
violence in Sri Lanka, see Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah,
Buddhism Betrayed?: Religion, Politics, and Violence
in Sri Lanka (1992).
94. Some Sri Lankan Buddhists have gone on
record as opposing capital punishment. See Sri Lanka
Foundation, Human Rights and Religions in Sri Lanka:
A Commentary on the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (1988), p. 23.
95. See generally, The Awakening of the West:
The Encounter of Buddhism and Western Culture, p.
69.