Reclaiming the Buddha’s vision as a foundation for spiritual and political revolution
Excerpt:
This manifesto argues that Buddhism, rightly understood, provides a transcendent and compassionate foundation for radical social transformation. It exposes how the Buddha’s teachings challenge capitalism, private property, caste, and class, and affirms a revolutionary politics rooted in wisdom and compassion rather than materialism or violence.
I. The Dharma Is for All, Not the Few
The Buddha admitted women, outcasts, servants, and even criminals into the Sangha. He flatly rejected Brahmanical caste ideology:
“Not by birth is one a Brahman, but by conduct.” — Dhammapada 393
This was a rejection of religious elitism and spiritual monopoly. The Sangha was the world’s first explicitly anti-caste spiritual community—an early model of radical inclusivity.
Dharmic Socialism affirms spiritual equality as the basis of political and social equality.
II. Capitalism Is a Cult of Craving
The Buddha diagnosed craving (taṇhā), greed (lobha), and delusion (moha) as the root causes of suffering. Capitalism institutionalizes these very poisons.
“The craving of a person who lives for sensual pleasure grows like a creeping vine.” — Dhammapada 334
The Buddha warned against unjust business, profit without ethics, and the corrupting influence of wealth. Business governed by self-interest produces not harmony, but harm.
Dharmic Socialism sees capitalism not just as flawed, but as antithetical to awakening.
III. Property Is a Collective Delusion
In the Agganna Sutta (DN 27), the Buddha recounts how human beings began to claim land and say “This is mine,” initiating the descent into theft, punishment, kingship, and inequality. Property emerges from craving, not reason or nature.
In the Kutadanta Sutta (DN 5), he states that unrest and violence cannot be solved through punishment, but through just economic redistribution—offering land, employment, and security.
Ownership is not freedom; it is the origin of domination.
The monastic code (Vinaya) goes further: monastics are forbidden from owning land, money, or engaging in trade. The Sangha is a direct critique of property as a social principle.
Dharmic Socialism upholds non-ownership as a spiritual and political ideal.
IV. Karma Is Not Conservatism
Karma does not mean “you deserve your suffering.” It means that actions have consequences, and change is possible. The Buddha taught that karma is fluid, not fixed. Liberation is real because transformation is real.
“You are the heir of your karma, the owner of your karma.” — AN 10.216
Karma is a doctrine of agency, not fatalism. Structural oppression exists—but it can be challenged through conscious, ethical action. The point is not to blame individuals but to empower them.
Dharmic Socialism sees karma as a call to responsible transformation, not submission.
V. The Buddha Was Political
Though never a king, the Buddha intervened in politics:
- He taught rulers how to govern justly (Cakkavatti Sutta).
- He criticized war and expansionism.
- He affirmed seven conditions of political stability in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta, including frequent assemblies, consensus, and legal equality.
The Buddha was not apolitical. He was supra-political—a teacher of just rule and ethical governance.
Dharmic Socialism embraces politics as a vehicle for compassion in action.
VI. True Liberation Is Collective
Awakening is not a solitary pursuit. The Buddha emphasized kalyāṇamittatā—spiritual friendship—as “the whole of the holy life.” The bodhisattva ideal shows that the highest path is one of service, not escape.
No one is free until all are free.
Dharmic Socialism recognizes awakening as both personal and communal.
VII. Toward a Mindful Revolution
Where Marxism begins in matter, the Dharma begins in mind. But both recognize that systems of exploitation produce suffering and must be transformed. A just society requires more than redistribution—it requires awakening.
A socialist future grounded in clarity, compassion, and conscious action—not dogma, resentment, or greed.
This is not utopia. It is possible. But it must begin with the view that liberation—of self and society—are one and the same.
Final Word: The Tathāgata’s Revolution
Buddhism is not passive. It is revolutionary. The Dharma dismantles the illusions of caste, greed, property, and self. It replaces them with compassion, insight, and action.
A future in which:
- Work is dignified, not exploited
- Property is shared, not hoarded
- Governance is ethical, not authoritarian
- Spirituality is universal, not elite
- Liberation is the guiding star of social change
This is Dharmic Socialism. This is the middle path—not between extremes of pleasure and pain, but between spiritual nihilism and materialist dogma.
☸ Call to Action
If you believe in awakening without oppression, in socialism without hatred, in revolution with compassion—
Share this manifesto. Teach it. Build it. Live it.
May all beings be free.
May all structures of greed, hatred, and delusion dissolve.
May the Dharma shine as both path and policy.
Dharmata 