CULTURE

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"Even King Mindon, unlike some of his predecessors, had insisted on paying for labor by his subjects, and did not require them to attend to court matters while they were busy during harvest time," explained anthropologist Gustaaf Houtman, citing Dr Than Tun’s The Royal Order of Burma. King Mindon, who belonged to Burma’s last royal dynasty, eventually abolished corvee labor altogether, following the introduction of a coinage currency and a new taxation system in 1868, according to Burmese historian Toe Hla. Political abuses are not the only issue that makes dana problematical from a modern perspective; there are also economic consequences that need to be considered. Melford Spiro, in a study of Buddhism in rural Burmese society, observed that "The typical upper Burmese village is reported to spend from 30 to 40 percent of its net disposable cash income on dana and relative activities." This may have the positive effect of encouraging hard work and thrift, but, as Trevor Ling pointed out in his Buddhism, Imperialism and War, "it is important to note that the money that becomes available at harvest time, when the farmer sells his surplus, is channeled into what are from the entrepreneurial point of view unproductive activities." "Dana monies may have a very low opportunity cost if the donors do not have the skills, knowledge and opportunities to invest them productively," concurred a Singapore-based Burmese economist, speaking on condition of anonymity. The tendency to "invest" savings in risk-free religious generosity rather than in risky capital accumulation has the effect of retarding the rate of economic growth, he argued. Taken to extremes, some might argue that charity as it has been practiced in Burma for centuries is a hindrance to economic development, since it diverts capital away from more "productive" uses. However, the Singapore-based economist concedes that the problem lies less with charity than with the general inefficiency of the Burmese economy: "In this case, it is tied up with the problem of a lack of mechanisms, modalities and motivation for efficient allocation of financial resources." Although the profit motive—the driving force behind market-based economics—seems to be at odds with the values of Buddhism, it would be a mistake to conclude that Buddhism is inimical to economic growth. The Buddha taught his lay followers that instead of squandering or hoarding wealth, a quarter of one’s income should be used for consumption, a quarter saved for an emergency, and a half used for one’s business—a very high rate of reinvestment if taken literally. The experience of other Buddhist countries also attests to the fact that Buddhism is no impediment to economic progress. "Thai people also devote a considerable percentage of their income to merit-making," observed anthropologist Christina Fink. "Yet the Thai economy grew at a rate of more than 10% a year during the late 1980s and throughout most of the 1990s." As for the political manipulation of dana, it is worth noting that on several occasions, monks conscientiously opposed to the policies of the ruling regime have turned the generals’ pious pretenses against them. The most famous instance of this occurred in late 1990, when senior monks in Mandalay called for a religious boycott (pattam nikkujjana kamma—"overturning the bowl") against the regime by rejecting alms from military officials and their families and refusing to perform religious services for them. The protest was eventually crushed, but it served as a potent reminder that the Sangha’s moral authority is not something that can simply be usurped by an illegitimate and fundamentally immoral regime. Contrary to the regime’s practice of directing its dana almost exclusively towards the Sangha, most learned abbots and Buddhist scholars agree that there is no doctrinal basis for such bias. In his book Ottama Purisa Dipani, the Venerable Ledi Sayadaw stated, "Alms giving done for the benefits arising therefrom after selecting the status of the donees and the way to accrue most merit is not a noble meritorious deed." Citing Ledi Sayadaw’s teaching, U Aung Shwe, one Burma’s most influential Buddhist scholars, wrote as follows: "Giving alms not only to the Three Gems (the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha) but also to the poor is the noblest deed of alms giving." Efforts to assist the poor by providing such necessities as food, medicine, and education, initiated by well-respected abbots like Thamanya Sayadaw, as well as by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and other, smaller volunteer groups, reflect a clear understanding of the spirit of dana as it is taught in the Buddhist scriptures. However, Burmese people seldom make such "secular" donations, in large part because the requisite institutions of civil society are almost entirely absent.