Creating Heaven on Earth:

Lessons for Buddhist Leaders

by Benny Liow

A Buddhist leader, be it a lay person or a monastic, is someone who can guide others along the spiritual path as a mentor, teacher, as well as a friend. To understand the concept of a good Buddhist leader, let us examine the word Lama. The original meaning of the Tibetan term lama refers to a highly advanced spiritual teacher. Such persons are fully capable of guiding disciples along the entire Buddhist path, all the way to enlightenment. The word lama comprises the two syllables of la and ma. La means the Lama has the power to tame his wild behaviour and negative emotions so that he becomes stable and firm like a mountain. With this positive energy, he can dedicate his life to benefit others and to affect the most beneficial change in others out of compassion through his kind heart of bodhicitta. The La constitutes the “method” aspect of his leadership qualities. The Ma, as mother, refers to the wisdom embodied in the Prajnaparamita Sutras which he fully understands. So a lama has a mastery of the Buddhist scriptures, a combination of the “method” and “wisdom” aspect to guide sentient beings along the path to enlightenment. When Buddhist leaders imbibe the qualities of La by developing strong ethical discipline (Five Precepts and Five Ennoblers) and combine it with Ma of strong knowledge of the Dharma (pariyatti), they have the capacity to be profound and create a positive impact on others.

What can we learn from the word Lama in the context of leadership in a modern Buddhist community? The best example is to look at His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He represents Buddhist leadership in both the spiritual and secular sense. Besides being a highly regarded spiritual leader for the world’s Buddhists, he is also the temporal leader of the Tibetan people. As a leader, he is able to influence others to a Buddhist perspective based on his beliefs, values, ethics, character, and knowledge in solving problems. These are qualities that make His Holiness the Dalai Lama such a great leader to millions of people around the world. In the ultimate sense, His Holiness does not waver on his core belief – a non-violent and compassionate approach to solving problems. These are values that our Buddhist leaders should also possess.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche of the Shambhala tradition in the United States said that a good Buddhist leader should possess four basic qualities as the basis of a Dharma-based value system: wisdom, equanimity, contentment, and delight in helping others. He described these four qualities as balancing heaven (wisdom and equanimity) and earth (contentment and delight in helping others).

Wisdom and Equanimity

In order to develop wisdom and equanimity, one has to be benevolent, true, and genuine – aspects related to “heaven”. Benevolence is rooted in patience, which results in gentleness or absence of aggression. Benevolence is infused with being true. We are true to ourselves in moving forward on the path of virtue. We will not be deterred. This is conviction grounded in confidence. Being benevolent and true to the view of basic goodness gives us natural diplomacy. Having worked diligently with our own mind, we’re familiar with the reality of anger, jealousy and ignorance, as well as those of generosity and joy. We can see where people are coming from and what their tactics are and we know what game they are playing.

With benevolence as our base, the spirit of being true will strengthen us. It is a process of constantly sharpening our wisdom on the whetstone of experience. So our connection with heaven gives us the strength to make decisions without feeling doubt, though at times we have to make decisions that others do not like. Being benevolent and true is how we arrive at being genuine. We all recognize the truth when we see it. With a mind elevated by wisdom and anchored in a noble heart, we know we are doing the right thing because whether we are a leader or not, we know it is the right thing to do. For instance, the leader knows that power that depends on manipulation of circumstances is not genuine power. Power that depends on bombarding others with our ambition or terrorizing them into submission does not last because it requires constant maintenance.

Contentment and Delight in Helping Others

The leader’s effectiveness depends on his power to make decisions and influence others. But he must balance his power with three qualities: fearlessness, artfulness, and rejoicing. These three connect us to earth. True power is grounded in fearlessness, a natural expression of our confidence, knowledge, and understanding of the Buddha Dharma. We are fearless because we are beyond doubt about our basic goodness. But this fearlessness has a gentle quality, rooted in unwavering compassion for others.

The next aspect of power is artfulness. Leading others is an art. Consideration of others is the root of being artful. This is consideration based on trying to be genuine, not on fear of stepping on people’s toes. In the practice of artfulness, we are considering how best to help others, not how best to avoid hurting their feelings. Of course, we must be sensitive to how others are feeling. Peter the Great once dressed as a commoner in order to listen to the needs of the people with open ears. Similarly, the more confidence we have in our wisdom and compassion, the more artful we will be listening to others and knowing how to help them.

We should also rejoice in the virtuous efforts of others, even if their work is not obvious to anyone else. When people do good work, we offer appreciation, praise, affection, or a gift. As leaders, we must never be envious or jealous of what other leaders are doing to promote the Dharma. Our encouragement brings delight; it infuses their work with meaning. When people are feeling discouraged, we foster inspiration. Sometimes we can encourage people by helping them see their priorities more clearly, with the motivation of leading them to a more positive state of mind.

The late Ajahn Buddhadasa of Thailand explained that a true leader must have two core values: being “peaceful” and “useful.” Being “peaceful” means doing nothing to hurt, harm, exploit, abuse, or oppress anyone, including oneself. Such peacefulness requires a heart-mind free of selfishness and egoism. Being “useful” means helping in the struggle for genuine liberation from suffering, no matter on what level or in what area of life. So accepting suffering is not the only teaching of the Buddha, but finding a solution to this suffering is really what the Buddha taught.

Ajahn Buddhadasa also explained that the source of authority for a Buddhist leader is not the number of votes he received but his moral authority. He once said that if 500 bandits and one monk were to make a decision to rob a bank by voting, the monk’s vote will definitely be outnumbered. The group in question will go robbing 'lawfully' although it is an immoral act! On the contrary, a leader finds his legitimacy in moral authority, not political authority, economic authority, nor authority by birth. This principle leads to a consensus in decision-making. The righteous minority must be able to reverse the wrong decision of the majority. Such principles are exhibited in the formation and administration of the Sangha, the Buddha’s monastic community.

Venerable Master Hsing Yun, founder of Fo Guang Shan, strongly believes that Buddhist leaders should create the right environment for others to live in peace and harmony. He said there is no need to seek enlightenment after we are dead for we can realize our true nature right here and now, within this precious human birth and in this world. When we actualize altruism, joyfulness, and universality, we are transforming the world we live in. When we give faith, hope, joy, and service to others, we are helping all beings, as well as ourselves. In this way, we are creating heaven on earth! And to transform our world, we must be actively engaged in it.

This spirit of universality can be cultivated via mindfulness practice. In his book Calming the Fearful Mind, Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh invited politicians, especially Americans, to find peace of mind through mindful breathing. He said politicians should work sincerely for the benefit of people, instead of for their own party and self-interests. Though this may sound naïve, it is the only way for peace in this world. Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh believes in the Buddha nature of the politicians and that, with mindfulness practice, they too will touch their Buddha nature and then place the people’s well-being as their highest priority.

In the Pāli texts, there is Cakkavatti-vatta, a set of responsibilities for those who wish to be a universal leader. The teaching starts with the supremacy of law of nature or dharma that the leader has to follow. Then it talks about one’s duty towards family, ministries, native citizens, countries under their protection, scholars and religious people, not forgetting nature and animals. The great leader must guard his people from immorality and wrongdoing. Fair wealth distribution and prevention of poverty is the next responsibility. Seeking spiritual advice and practising accordingly is the last suggestion, which will help the leader to keep his lust and greed under control. Though the original teachings are for the ancient kings, they still hold true for our nations today. So if Buddhist leaders were to follow the examples of these great masters as well as the teachings in the ancient texts, we can indeed transform our world, creating heaven on earth for the happiness of all beings.