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Impressive Summary of Lecture Series by Can Cambodia on 5 November 2011
Courtesy of www.luonsovath.blogspot.com
Op-Ed: Can Cambodia
==>Saturday, 5 November 2011 on Engaged Buddhism: The Roles of Buddhism in Human Resource Development in Cambodia: Past, Present and Future by Ven. Luon Sovath, www.luonsovath.blogspot.com
In short, Buddhism is the religion of Sekha or education. Three Sekha has been exponentially repeated by the Buddha: Sila Sekha or the education of morals, Samadhi Sekha or the education of meditation, and the Panna Sekha or the education of wisdom. These 3 Sekhas is illustrated quite interesting in the Eightfold Path such as Sila Sekha is inclusive in right speech, right action and right livelihood; Samadhi Sekha is inclusive in right effort, right concentration and right meditation; Panna Sekha is inclusive in right thought and right view.
Dhamma delivery approaches of Lord Buddha stresses on three levels: Athi Kalyani or preliminary discourse (Sila), Machhe Kalyani or secondary discourse (Samadhi), and Pariyosana Kalyani or highest discourse (Panna). These three levels of discourse is comprehensive in the Viniya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka. Or at the Sutta level, these 3 approaches are Morals/Ethics, Meditation and Wisdom.
For Cambodia, human resource development is one of the factors among natural capital, financial capital and social capital.
In the past, French tried to pressure on Khmer Buddhist Sangha to serve the protectorate’s missions. But when there were perpetual struggles from the Buddhist Sangha, French protectorates agreed to open a Buddhist Institute (BI) to provide space for Cambodian Buddhist monks to learn and create an education at a systemic structure. Suzan Karpeles was the first director of the BI. Scholars have noted that BI is the substantial place for developing nationalism and movement in late decades in liberating and protecting Cambodian nation.
Somdech Chuon Nath is the key leader in reforming Cambodian Buddhism and building productive national central nationalism. His work in translating Tipitaka into simple Khmer language is a great move in modernizing Cambodia.
At the moment, the 60,000 Buddhist monks residing in over 4000 monasteries are the important agents for human resource development in Cambodia. But the lack of giving enough aids to those agents in approaching human resource missionary. If those Buddhist monks are not properly equipped with talent and knowledge, Cambodian Buddhism would be just symbol or a tool for politicians to utilize it, and the future of human resource development in Cambodia will be irrelevant.
According to the lecture organized on November 5, 2011 (10am of Cambodia Time Zone), Ven. Luon Sovath outlined important facts of Buddhism in developing human resource in Cambodia following:
– Since the Angkorean era, Buddhism and Hinduism have played important roles in developing human resource in Cambodia. The startling structure of temples and inscriptions are the evidence of building human resource for the development of this nation.
– Buddha is the awaken one. His teaching has been used in modern day such as human rights, democracy, human freedom and equality. People desire for peace, freedom and basic rights which this desiring is fundamentally deriving from Buddha’s teachings.
Cambodia’s unrealized peace promise
SPEAKING FREELY
Cambodia’s unrealized peace promise
By Ou Virak
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing.
PHNOM PENH – Twenty years ago this week Cambodia entered a brave new dawn. The four Cambodian factions that had fought a protracted civil war since the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979 came together with signatories from 18 countries in Paris to sign the Agreement on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict, otherwise known as the Paris Peace
Agreement. It was a document that promised the Cambodian people peace, stability, democracy and human rights after decades of war and hardship.
On paper, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has followed through on some of the Paris Peace Agreement’s promise. It presided over the ultimate disintegration of the Khmer Rouge after more than three decades of war, slaughter and widespread suffering; it established the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in an attempt to provide justice to the victims of the genocidal regime; it signed various international human-rights covenants and treaties; it oversaw Cambodia’s entry into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); and it has achieved a fair degree of economic prosperity and development.
In the fields of democracy and human rights, however, its accomplishments are less clear. Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government has routinely flouted many of the covenants it has ratified; further entrenched a pervasive culture of corruption and impunity, allowed the wealth gap between the elite and vast majority of poverty-ridden Cambodians to widen alarmingly, and waged a sustained legislative and administrative campaign to control every aspect of the Cambodian people’s lives, showing scant regard for the rule of law, democratic institutions and human rights and freedoms.
Let campaign for real politics in Cambodia
Real politics focuses on real factors and current changes of a country. It doesn’t give much value to the past or the ideology of politics. Real politics is contradictory to the politics of memory but it is a base of future politics.
If we talk about real politics in Cambodia, we might concentrate on how we can encapsulate self-reliance on key national fields such as heuristic political domain, economics of sustainable development and development for all, and the independence of judiciary system which can provide trust and just for all Cambodian people. Social security or social wellness needs trusted and just judiciary system.
At the moment, as a younger Cambodian, I can see that Cambodia cannot lift up its dignity as once it proclaimed a great empire in the region if Cambodian leaders and some Cambodians are still using the past trauma, genocide and previous regimes as their tools to measure the current development. It is very impossible to say that Cambodia today and Cambodia last several decades is in the same pace. Last few decades, economists didn’t use GDP to measure growths. Last several decades, we didn’t have iphone or broad band internet to watch online TVs or all visual video clips etc.
Wisely speaking and straight to the beneficial points for Cambodia, we must focus on improvement at the present for a better future. The past is just a lesson. It is incomparable to proclaim dignity for current Cambodians by comparing its present capacity to the past.
Hence, Paris Peace Agreement is a fact that we must remind to maintain our progressive conscience. PPA is the foundation for Cambodia. Cambodia can build other important parts of this nation-house because of this foundation. It is not wise to uproot or renege this foundation. Millions of dollar have flowed into Cambodia because of this PPA. The one who has received benefit most from the PPA is the one who has rejected this important foundation. Do you think they are an “ungrateful person” or Khmer called “Akattanno” or not?