Buddhist Economics | 佛教經濟學
Economics itself is a subject that explores resources and efficiency. However, in modern society where liberal market economy is the mainstream, while satisfying human desires through continuous improvement of resource efficiency, it seems that it is beginning to face many of the most basic issues of economics — limited resources however endless desire.
How to satisfy unlimited inner desires through limited physical resources is beyond what traditional economics can answer. Therefore, different types of economics may be able to give us some inspiration.
First of all, it is emphasized that the discussion of religious economics is not related to faith, but a philosophical thought, that is, an educational concept that transcends reality and gets rid of troubles. As explained in Wikipedia:
The original meaning of Buddhism is the education of the Buddha, not the religion of worshiping gods and Buddhas. It is more like a philosophy than other religious teachings. This is because the original concept of Buddhism does not clearly indicate the definition of gods, and even opposes superstition. Buddha said “I believe that time should not be wasted thinking about concepts that are not helpful in the eradication of suffering” . In a nutshell, “Buddhism” means “pain comes from desire”. Buddhists are “people who believe in this law”. The “highest principle” of Buddhism is “pain does exist. How can I escape?”. The goal of Buddhism It is to overcome the suffering (duḥkha) caused by desire and ignorance. To overcome ignorance, one needs to understand impermanence (anicca) and non-self (anattā).
Buddhist economics is a spiritual and philosophical approach to the study of economics. It studies human psychology and the emotions that guide economic activity, especially concepts such as anxiety, desire, and the self-actualization principle. Its goal is to clarify what is harmful and what is beneficial within the context of human activities involving the production and consumption of goods and services, ultimately trying to bring humanity to moral maturity. The stated purpose of this ideology is to “find a middle way between a purely secular society and a static traditional society.”
If you want to know more, it is recommended to start with the relevant works of Professor Chou Pin Huang from the Department of Finance, National Central University:
Buddhist Economics: Theoretical Foundation and Structure
From the theoretical framework to the complete discussion, Professor Chou’s arrangement of Buddhist economics has been very enlightening for us.
There is a description in it that is worth thinking about:
『Traditional economics based on materialism (materialism) has narrowly turned people into consumption and production machines, and the linear economic model it has deduced (from resource extraction, production, consumption, to waste discarding) is also very different from nature’s recycling system. In contrast, Buddhist economics puts people first.
Buddhist thought has a very complete and rigorous view on human beings, from the spiritual, psychological, and even material levels; we and nature, including all humans and other living things, are interconnected and interdependent ( Reference, such as Brown (2017)), therefore the economic system from the Buddhist perspective must be a cyclical system.』
經濟學本身是一門探討資源與效益的學科，然而在自由經濟為主流的現代社會，透過不斷提升資源效率來滿足人類慾望的同時，似乎開始面臨到許多經濟學最基本的課題 — 資源有限慾望無窮。
透過有限的實體資源，該如何滿足無限的內心慾望，這本身已經超過了傳統經濟學能解答的，因此在不同類型的經濟學，或許能給我們一些啟示。
首先強調探討宗教經濟學並非與信仰有關，而是一種哲學思想，即超越現實、擺脫煩惱的教育理念。如同維基百科中的說明：
佛教的本意是佛陀的教育，而不是指拜神佛的宗教，比起其他宗教教義更像是一種哲理，這是由於原始佛教的概念中，沒有明確指出神明的定義，甚至反對迷信，佛陀認為不應該浪費時間思考對滅苦沒有幫助的概念。「佛法」一言以蔽之，即「痛苦來自慾望」，佛教徒即為「相信這條法則的人」，佛教「最高原則」是「痛苦確實存在，我該如何逃離？」，佛教的目標是克服慾望和無知造成的苦（duḥkha），需要了解無常（anicca）和無我（anattā）才能克服無知。
佛教經濟學是一種研究經濟學的精神和哲學方法。它研究人類心理和指導經濟活動的情感，特別是焦慮、願望和自我實現原則等概念。其目標是在涉及商品和服務的生產和消費的人類活動範圍內澄清什麼是有害的、什麼是有益的，最終試圖使人類在道德上成熟。此意識形態的既定目的是「在純粹的世俗社會和靜止的傳統社會之間找到一條中間道路」。
想了解更多，推薦可從國立中央大學財務金融學系 周賓凰教授在的相關著作開始 :
從理論架構到完整的論述，周教授在佛教經濟學的整理對我們來說啟蒙甚深。
其中有一段描述，很值得思考 :
『以物質主義(materialism; 唯物論) 為後設基礎的傳統經濟學既狹隘地把人變成消 費與生產機器, 其所推演出的線性經濟模式(從資源開採、生產、消費, 到廢棄物丟棄) 也與大 自然的循環返覆體系大相逕庭。相對之下, 佛教經濟學把人放在首要位置。佛教思想對於人, 從靈性、心理, 乃至物質層次, 都有很完整嚴謹的說法; 我們與大自然, 包括所有的人類與 其他生物, 都是相互連結(interconnected)、相互依存(interdependent) 的(參考, 如 Brown (2017)), 因此佛教觀點下的經濟體系必然是一個循環的體系』
