Buddhist Utopia

Comparing and Contrasting More’s Utopia with a Buddhist Utopia Nothing could be further apart than the society depicted by Thomas More and an ideal Buddhist society. That may be what is first conveyed to people when they consider these two vastly different societies in a comparative manner. The first indicator of these extreme differences is that the Buddhist utopia is very much a mental one, while More’s utopia is more so a place where things are just in their perfected state. That being said, they also have a lot in common, such as the socialist approach to their respective societies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to inform the reader of the similarities and differences between More’s Utopia and a Buddhist utopia.
The first thing that needs to be addressed is the way these two societies think. A good way to illustrate this difference is to understand how they problem solve. The utopians address issues by gathering an abundance of information towards their problem while a Buddhist would try to remove the things in life that bring him or her sorrow. To the utopians this tact of gaining knowledge is their way of combating many of the complex problems in this world. This can be seen when More describes a trait of average utopians as to want to study in their free time (More 54). In opposition, the Buddhists try to remove the things that cause evil in this world through many hours of meditation and internal questioning. This can be seen as if the Buddhists are removing themselves from a negative situation by taking away the emotions such as passion that causes them to feel depressed as is instructed in the eightfold path (Davis 757). If the utopians could see the livelihood of a Buddhist society that has reached enlightenment they would view it as repressed by their standards. This is because utopians promote the expression of emotion and feelings, while Buddhists try to remove themselves from desire and ego. Lastly, a Buddhist society is made up of individuals, whereas the utopians think about situations in terms of how can it benefit utopia. This is illustrated by a quote from the Buddha on his death bed saying, “So, Ananda, you must be your own lamps, be your own refuges. Take refuge in nothing outside yourselves.” (Davis 772). This lays the foundation that a Buddhism utopia would ultimately be filled with individuals who are mainly concerned with their own enlightenment rather than focusing on the betterment of society like the utopians tend to believe. That all being said, both the citizens in Utopia and a Buddhist society would live in a socialist society.
This is because each of them lacks a desire for many worldly possessions. This is known by the way every utopian has roughly the same house and possessions as each other (More 71). They also lack a monetary system which is only typically able to function in socialist societies. A Buddhist on the other hand, would simply lack any will for worldly possession. We know this by looking at one of the four noble truths,”Pain and suffering is caused by attachments and desires” (Davis 757). They would put in work to keep the society afloat, but would strive for the bare minimum in terms of items. In this way, they are very similar in their lack of worldly
possessions. In terms of religious freedom, these two societies start to step apart from one another. In order to have a Buddhist utopia, everyone in that society must follow Buddhism. This would mean little to no religious freedom for the members of that society as it is detrimental to functioning correctly in it. Meanwhile, the utopians offer an abundance of religious freedom and only ever truly discriminate against those who are an atheist (More 82). They do this because they understand the importance of letting people choose what they want to believe in. This is a huge advantage as it leads to a happier populace that is presented with more freedom of choice than a Buddhist society would see. These two societies have to differ in religious freedom due to the key fact that a Buddhist utopia is largely based on the Buddhism religion, while the utopians live in a society that is not based solely on religion. In summary, these two utopias share both similarities and differences.
Some things that work in one society may not go over well in the other, such as the way these societies think and their religious tolerance. That being said, it is important to note the common ground in both More’s depicted utopia and a Buddhist utopia. An understanding of many of the things that are common throughout all utopic societies may be the bedrock of forming a utopia in our own world. This is because if something works in a multitude of these depicted societies there is a higher chance that these concepts will work in real life. That is why it is important to look critically into these two utopic societies as their ideals may form the basis of what not to do and what we should do when going forward in creating new
societies.