| We see the Buddha as a monk, it is hard to imagine | | | | As king, he believed that Thai monastic life needed to |
| him as a politician, but politics has been a deeply rooted | | | | be reformed, purged of superstitious practices and |
| theme in Buddhist life. These are figures that represent | | | | return to the pristine model of the early canonical |
| the intersection between traditional Buddhist and | | | | scriptures, the scriptures that we call the Pali Canon. |
| political values: | | | | This is an important aspect of contemporary Buddhism |
| - King Ashoka: The Protector of the Dharma | | | | you would encounter throughout South East Asia, and |
| When King Ashoka assumed the throne in the year | | | | in fact, throughout the world. There is a modernizing |
| 269 BCE as Emperor of the Maurya dynasty in India, | | | | impulse, an impulse to strip away what people think of |
| he already dominated a large portion of land. There | | | | as being superstitious practices. Thailand continues to |
| was a particular kingdom that resisted domination, the | | | | be an example, even today, of the close alliance |
| Kingdom of Kalinga. He waged a very bloody and | | | | between king and Sangha in the extension and |
| cruel military campaign to bring the Kalinga people | | | | protection of Buddhist values. |
| under his domination. The brutality of this campaign | | | | - Aung San Suu Kyi: A Buddhist Hero |
| apparently provoked Ashoka to convert to Buddhism. | | | | Aung San Suu Kyi was born in 1945, as the daughter |
| After his conversion, Ashoka accepted the Buddha's | | | | of Burma's national hero: General Aung San. Aung San |
| Dharma with its implicit idea of no violence. Ashoka | | | | Suu Kyi was educated in Rangoon, Delhi and Oxford. |
| declared himself a protector of the Dharma, he sent | | | | She settled down to raise a family in Oxford. He |
| missionaries out to spread the Buddhist teaching in India | | | | married an Englishman, had two sons and was living a |
| and elsewhere in South East Asia. | | | | rather comfortable life as an academic in England. She |
| There was formed a peculiar relationship between the | | | | went back to visit her mother in 1988, just during that |
| king and the religious leaders in India. The king protects | | | | time the military government in Burma had declared |
| and promotes the Dharma. In return, the king is | | | | the possibility of an election. |
| recognized and legitimated by the religious authorities. | | | | She was drawn into the movement for democratic |
| There is a ritual way monks can designate this guy as | | | | reform. Eventually, she became the symbol of that |
| somebody whom people should respect and trust. This | | | | movement. Despite being placed under house arrest, |
| is an important two-way relationship. The king supports | | | | her movement won a colossal election victory in May |
| the monks, the monks support the king. This makes it | | | | 1990. The military government dismissed the results of |
| possible for the king to develop a sense of trust and | | | | the election and imprisoned its leaders. Aung San Suu |
| loyalty among his people. | | | | Kyi has been held under house arrest since 1990 in |
| - Mongkut: Monk and King | | | | Rangoon but he has continued to speak out in favor |
| King Mongkut reigned Thailand from 1851 to 1868. He | | | | of the democratic movement. |
| served as a monk for over twenty-five years before | | | | In 1991, she was given the Nobel Peace Price for what |
| he ascended to the throne. He was a person deeply | | | | the Nobel Committee called her "unflagging efforts for |
| influenced by monastic practices, something that is not | | | | democracy, human rights and ethnic reconciliation by |
| common in a king. | | | | peaceful means". |