What is the Buddhist approach to crime and punishment?
Date: 25 November 2011 Time: 8:30 pm to 10.00 pm Venue: Reclining Buddha Shrine Hall Sri Lankaramaya Buddhist Temple Singapore
Yo daṇḍena adaṇḍesu, Appaduṭṭhesu dussati, Dasannamaññataraṃ ṭhānaṃ, Khippameva nigacchati. He who does harm with weapons to those who are harmless and those that should not be harmed will soon come to any of these ten evil consequences. Dhammapada Verse 137
Synopsis
'Less crime Does not mean No crime’.
Crime-free society is an ideal that we all wish for. A peaceful society is loved by all, Other than criminals. Perfect peace in society is Utopia. Unless and until the root causes of crimes in the human mind are uprooted, Everyone has the potential to become a criminal. Are you free from criminal tendencies? Buddha said: ‘All tremble at punishment All frightened of death Comparing others with oneself One should neither kill nor have cause to kill’.
Can we eliminate crimes through punishment? What is the Buddhist attitude towards capital punishment? Can law and order alone establish peace? What are the root causes of crime? How can we create a crime-free society?
Na kahāpaṇavassena, Titti kāmesu vijjati. Appassādā dukhā kāmā, Iti viññāya paṇḍito. No contentment is attained in one’s desire, even with a shower of gold coins. The wise man knows that desires are of little delight and (most) grievous. Dhammapada Verse 186
Wise are those who listen to the Dhamma. Why are they wise? Dhamma leads to wisdom, which in turn leads to perfect understanding. The Dhamma is good in the beginning, good in the middle and good in the end. Noble are those people who follow the Dhamma. Why are they noble? The Dhamma leads us to be noble, compassionate and enlightened human beings. It is because of defilements that we become immoral and unwholesome. Happy are those who practise the Dhamma, the path for perfect happiness. Nibbāṇaṃ Paramaṃ Sukhaṃ 25 - Enlightenment is the perfect happiness to be achieved through eradication of defilements.
So, friends, the time and condition have come for all of us to share the Dhamma. From the beginning of human civilization, there have been many crimes committed as well as punishment imposed on criminals. Religion, politics, economy, culture and society are interdependent and interrelated. Today, we are going to talk about crime and punishment from the Buddhist’s point of view. What is the Buddhist approach to crime and punishment? It is important for all of us to understand how crime is defined in the commonplace and Buddhist context. The commonplace definition of crime is any act that is prohibited and is punishable by law. These laws and their corresponding punishment for breaking them differ from country to country.
From the Buddhist standpoint, crime is an act that is ethically immoral and unwholesome that leads to unhappiness, sorrow, lamentation, pain and destruction to the society. These actions are termed in Buddhism as dark and evil actions - akusala kamma (unskilful action). Why are they known as unskilful? It is because these acts are beneath human dignity, integrity and intelligence. From a Buddhist’s point of view, we have to analyse the motive, intention and consequence of the unskilful action. It is very important to first establish the root cause of the crime. The cause of crime can be analysed from two standpoints - one from a superficial level which is the political, economic and social cause for crimes, and the other arising from the human mind - deep-rooted defilements such as greed, hatred and delusion, the fundamental causes for all crimes.
Buddhism acknowledges both superficial reasons and defilements as root causes for crime. When there is crime, there is punishment. From time immemorial, rulers imposed penalties and punishments on those responsible for various crimes. During the time of the Buddha, there were 32 types of punishments to exert physical torment on offenders. Once found guilty of crime, these people were subject to painful torture, ranging from mutilating of body parts, whipping, impairment to caning, imprisonment and execution. Till this day, caning, imprisonment, fines and the death penalty are still common punishments. Crime and punishment are interdependent, like two sides of a coin.
It is important for us to understand the purpose of punishment. Why do we have to punish criminals? Can we do away with punishment? We can look at this from three different angles. Firstly, punishment can be seen as a deterrent. When punishment is meted out, it is set as an example to deter other from committing these evil and unwholesome actions. Still, crimes are committed on a daily basis despite this deterrent.
The second way to look at punishment is as a reformative method. Punishment can reform a human being. Rehabilitation programs are a part of imprisonment in many countries but many prisons do not have the healthy environment necessary to help these people to reform. Buddhism recognizes that to reform the human being, we need an education program. Buddhism also recognizes the importance of associating with good wise company (kalyāṇamitta). Having served their punishment, they return to society, only to find that they are shunned, thus driving them back to bad company. Even when punishment has a reformative effect, it still needs more to work.
The third way to look at punishment is to see it as tit-for-tat. Most of us have been conditioned to think a criminal should be punished and it is alright to punish the criminal. It is alright to execute them or give them mental and physical punishments. It is as though punishment annuls crime. Basically, this is motivated by a desire to take revenge, vengeance that is motivated by hatred, ill-will and jealousy in the human mind. Buddhism accepts punishment as long as it has a deterrent and reformative effect, but not the destructive aspect motivated by human emotions like hatred and desire to take revenge.
At this juncture, it is important for us to question: Can law alone diminish crime? Is the law the only means of doing this? If law alone can diminish crime, then what is the point of having religion? What is the use of religion? Why does man need a religion? Of course, governments can use law and punishment to control crime to an extent but cannot diminish the number of crimes committed in society. This is where religion comes in. A religion should teach human beings to live peacefully, in harmony and as noble individuals. It is only human beings who have the ability to understand religion. This is because the human mind has tremendous power, ability and skill that can be developed into harmful or beneficial ways. The purpose of having a religion is to train the mind in a beneficial way.
However, some religions encourage destruction instead of peace, while some keep their adherent as prisoners rather than enlightening them. They delude them by asserting that their religion is supreme as a basis to destroy other religions. Instead of encouraging wisdom, compassion, peace, harmony and unity, they encourage turmoil, disillusion, cruelty and confusion. These religions cannot contribute to human society to create peace or diminish crimes from the human world. A good religion will always seek to promote peace and harmony. That should be the purpose of a good religion. As long as religion fulfils such an altruistic objective, one should follow it.
If a religion creates disharmony, destruction and suffering among fellow brothers and sisters, one should evaluate if this religion is in fact harmful to all. In Buddhism, we recognize that no one is free from criminal tendencies. Each of us has the potential for crime. On the same note, all of us also have the potential to become a Buddha, a perfectly enlightened human being, a noble individual. Human beings have the potential to either become a criminal or an enlightened human being. Because of this, we see the potential seed of Buddhahood in all beings, even in the mind of a criminal. With this understanding, Buddhism encourages compassion. Compassion should also be radiated towards criminals because they are mentally and spiritually ill. According to the theory of kamma, they will suffer incalculable time in this cycle of suffering existence based on what they have done. Therefore Karuṇā and Paññā, being Great Compassion and Right Understanding and, are the Buddhist approaches towards crime and punishment.
There was once a horse trainer named Kesi. When Kesi met the Buddha, Buddha asked, “Kesi, I have heard that you are an excellent horse trainer. Can you tell me how you train horses?” Then Kesi said, “Venerable sir, I train horses in a mild, gentle way. At times, I also train horses in a very rough way, beating and punishing them. Sometimes I train them using both methods – gentle and harsh way. But there are still some horses that cannot be trained at all.” The Buddha asked, “What do you do with horses that cannot be trained?” Kesi answered, “Well, I kill them as there is no point keeping them because they are beyond training.”
Then, Kesi said, “Venerable Sir, I have heard that you are an incomparable leader when it comes to training humans. Anuttaro Purisa Damma-Sārathi – Incomparable Trainer of the human kind. You can tame human beings well and there is no one comparable to you. Can you tell me how do you train human beings?” The Buddha said, “I train human beings exactly the same way you train the horses. I train human beings in a gentle way, I teach them the Dhamma and what is good. Those who take my advice and with training, managed to destroy their criminal tendencies become noble individuals in the society. I also adopt the harsh way. I am very firm and when I see evil, immoral and unwholesome criminal tendencies among the human beings, I will rebuke and instruct them harshly, give them numerous precepts to follow to destroy their criminal tendencies and for them to become noble individuals. I also use both gentle and harsh ways. But there are still some human beings that are beyond training.”
Kesi asked, “What do you do with these human beings?” Buddha said, “I reject them because they cannot be trained.” It is very important for us when it comes to crime and punishment, as Buddhism uses punishment with the intent of reform or rehabilitation. Beyond that, Buddhism does not resort to physical punishment or torture because it is useless. Buddhism does not believe that physical punishment motivated by unwholesome thoughts in the mind can enlighten these human beings, even if it has some deterrent effect. There is a sutta in the Majjhima Nikāya Abhayarajakumara Sutta26 that illustrates the Buddhist emphasis on great compassion. Venerable Devadatta committed many crimes (evil, immoral and unwholesome acts), so Buddha said, “Devadatta will be born in hell because of his own criminal activities.” Prince Abhaya heard this and asked the Buddha, “Venerable Sir, is it appropriate for a compassionate teacher like you to say that Devadatta will be born in hell if your speech is motivated by compassion?”
When Prince Abhaya asked this question, he was holding his son in his hand.
Buddha, in return asked this question, “Prince Abhaya, suppose your child were to swallow something, a piece of wood or pebble, what would you do?” Then Prince Abhaya said “Well, I would take it away at once and if I can, I would tilt his head with my left hand and with my right, put my finger into his throat to pry away this piece of wood or pebble.” Then Buddha said, “In that process, the child will cry and suffer a lot and there is a possibility that you may injure the child.” Prince Abhaya said, “Even if he bled, I would still take out the wood or pebble. Why? Because I love my son. I have compassion towards my son. I want him to live longer.”
Then Buddha said, “In the same manner, Prince Abhaya, I have compassion towards living beings. Certain disciplinary actions I take, by word or action, are motivated by great compassion.” Buddhist’s approach towards crime and punishment is constructive, positive and reformative. You can see it very clearly in Angulimala Sutta on how Buddha reformed a serial killer called Angulimala. Many of you know this story. There was a man called Angulimala, who was led astray to become a fearsome and merciless robber and murderer. He killed almost one thousand human beings, collecting one finger from each victim and wore it as a garland around his neck. Hence, he was named Angulimala – Finger Garland.
Neighbouring towns were empty as people ran away. Buddha came to know about him and out of great compassion, he went to seek out Angulimala despite many attempts by his followers to discourage him from going. Still, Buddha proceeded there and managed to subdue and convince this man to renounce his evil ways and become a monk After that, Buddha headed towards the capital city of Rajagaha. By then, the once notorious criminal had become a noble monk. Along the way, they met the great King of Kosala with 500 soldiers. Buddha asked, “Great King, where are you going? Are you going to battle with your neighbouring kingdom?” He said, “No, Venerable Sir, there is a bandit, a merciless killer called Angulimala and I am going to capture and kill him.”
Then Buddha said, “Well great king, suppose the dangerous Angulimala were to become a monk who refrains from stealing, killing and all evil. What would you do?” The great King said, “In that case, Venerable Sir, I will respect and provide him with the necessities.” So Buddha said, “Well, Angulimala is the one next to you”, pointing at the monk sitting near the King. This incident is very important for our discussion on the Buddhist approach towards crime and punishment.
There are three important facts for us to consider; 1. The criminal can be reformed and rehabilitated. It is through education that you can rehabilitate a human being. The Buddhist approach is rehabilitation reform, and to take all possible actions to make them better people; 2. All reformative methods are motivated by great compassion, not out of hatred or destructive motivation. Buddhism does not recognize physical punishment or torture as a way of punishment. 3. There is no need to impose any punishment for those who are already reformed and well behaved.
These 3 points are very important when we discuss the matter on Buddhist’s approach towards crime and punishment.
There are two suttas in particular that discuss the causes of crime, namely Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta27 and Kutudanta Sutta28. These two suttas explained that social, political and economic injustices in the society can lead to crime. There was once a king who was not a good ruler. As he did little to develop his country, people became poor. With poverty, people started to steal. Initially the king gave money to those in debt but the stealing increased. The King then began to execute those guilty of stealing. In retaliation, the criminals picked up weapons to kill the officers that came to arrest them. After some time, it became common for people to kill and steal from each other, lying and engaging in all kinds of crimes.
This king then summoned all the officers and soldiers and declared that he is going to kill all the criminals in the country. The Buddha said to the King, “King, if you were to resort to only physical punishment to prevent crime, it will not work because they will simply find more ways to commit more crimes. Find out the cause of the crime. In your kingdom, there are poor and needy people and there is no way for them to survive. Help those who are interested in business to start their business. Provide necessary facilities for farmers and create infrastructure for individuals to develop the country. Develop the country to achieve economic prosperity and establish peace, law and order. Then your country will become peaceful.”
The King followed the Buddha’s instructions and the country gained prosperity while the crime rate began to decline. Here, it is again very important for us to note that Buddhism always encourage us to address root causes of the crime, not just at the superficial level. Through punishment, we cannot diminish crimes in the society. We have monastic code of ethics for monks and nuns (Pāṭimokkha rules). 227 precepts for monks and 311 precepts for nuns. Other than the four major precepts, the rest are reformative. The punishments made out to the monks and nuns have nothing to do with physical torture. It is something to do with our monastic training. For example, if a monk does something that is evil, wicked and immoral, all the monks have to be called in for an assembly. In the assembly, this monk will be evaluated, scrutinized and criticized before given the necessary advice on how to move on. This is one way.
In certain cases, a monk who committed a wrong may be supervised by a spiritually senior monk or teacher. In certain instances, there will be a social boycott and no one will talk to this monk unless he reforms himself and is rehabilitated. In some cases, a monk can be expelled from the area or temple for a period of time until he is rehabilitated. In other instances, reconciliation is the order of the day for those who did something wrong and offended a lay person. If the monk is found to be at fault, then the community of monks will ask him to seek forgiveness from the person he offended. These are some of the punishments for monks and nuns of the Sangha community. They are focused on helping monks and nuns reform so as to prevent them from committing the same mistake again.
What is the Buddhist attitude towards capital punishment? It is very clear that Buddhism does not encourage capital punishment.
In fact, the first of the five Precepts is to refrain from destroying life. All Buddhists should refrain from destroying life. Buddha said, “All living beings tremble at punishment and fear death. Having compared yourself to other living beings, refrain from killing and do not have cause to kill. Lead a peaceful life.” While punishment can be used as deterrent and reformative method, the maximum penalty from the Buddhist standpoint is imprisonment and banishment but not capital punishment. How do we create a crime-free, peaceful and noble human society? The majority of human beings love living in peace. Unfortunately, unless and until criminal tendencies of the human mind are uprooted, there will never be perfect peace. Greed, hatred and delusion are the latent tendencies of all crimes. Buddhism is the path of peace.
Buddha suggested a three-fold training program to create a peaceful society. What is this training? That is morality, mental culture and wisdom. In morality, Buddhism encourages each and every individual to uphold righteous principles in life. These are known as precepts. We observe precepts with right understanding and compassion. If we observe the five precepts with right understanding and compassion, we become someone who contributes to peace, harmony and happiness of the society. Right understanding is the knowledge of breaking these precepts by doing evil, immoral and wicked things. In doing evil, immoral and wicked things, one produces dark energy and creates havoc in society, and in time to come, one will be born into suffering.
Understanding this, we refrain from evil and unwholesome actions to develop the compassion to see that like us, everyone likes to live peacefully. Out of compassion and right understanding, we observe precepts. Those who break the precepts are given the chance and encouraged to reform. Those who break the precepts repeatedly are punished through rehabilitation or isolation programs but not to the extent of destruction of life as it violates the principle of non-violence and great compassion. When we observe and follow the precepts, we prevent negative tendencies in our speech and physical actions and are encouraged to cultivate our mind. Mettā, Karuṇā, Muditā and Upekkhā – Loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy and equanimity.
In Mettā, we are encouraged to cultivate love towards all living beings, as many causes of crime are due to hatred. Loving-kindness will help to diminish hate and weaken it. In Karuṇā, we cultivate compassion so the latent tendencies of cruelty will weaken. In Muditā, we cultivate appreciative joy so as to weaken the latent tendencies of jealousy. In Upekkhā, we cultivate equanimity so we will have a balanced and healthy mind. Great compassion, love, appreciative joy and a perfectly balanced mind will then lay the ground for the second stage of mental culture.
Here you will learn to weaken criminal tendencies arising from greed, hatred and delusion. Gradually, one is intrinsically motivated to fully eradicate the delusion and latent negative tendencies. At this point, wisdom is cultivated through insight meditation (or Vipassanā meditation as it is commonly called) techniques. Cultivate wisdom to eradicate the root causes of all the crimes - greed, hatred and delusion to become a noble individual and compassionate human being.
This is the purpose of Buddha’s teachings.
Sabbe saṅkhārā aniccā'ti Yadā paññāya passati, Atha nibbindati dukkhe, Esa maggo visuddhiyā. When one sees with wisdom that all component things are transient, he overcomes misery. That is the path to purity Dhammapada Verse 277
Selected Dhamma Talks in 2011 by Venerable K. Rathanasara Sri Lankaramaya Buddhist Temple 30C, St. Michael Road Singapore 328002