วารสารราชบัณฑิตยสภาปี-43-ฉบับ-1

วารสารราชบัณฑิตยสภา ปีที่ ๔๓ ฉบับที่ ๑ ม.ค.-เม.ย. ๖๑ ๗๑ modern concepts, as inherent in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights such as civil rights, democracy, election, asylum, asylum-seekers etc. These Western concepts are considered part and parcel of intellectual legacy of the Modern Age. From the Buddhist perspective, the level of good inherent in the essence of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights is perceived as equivalent to that of sila or the level of not harming others or, if using a modern legal terms, not violating the rights and liberty of others. This level of good is not comparable to SammaPaññ ā or the Buddhist upper echelons of good/virtue, as reflected in Majjhimapatipada or the Buddhist Middle Path as well as in Trisikkha or the Buddhist Threefold Training. With this limitations in view, integration of three Buddhist doctrines into the essence of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights is proposed here in order to create a new ethical model that creatively combines the two worldviews. In this light, the research is designed to start with an overall exploration of comparative analyses given by prominent scholars on the topic of “human rights and Buddhism”to see if any of Buddhist doctrines can be viewed tantamount to the Buddhist version of human rights. According to the explanations given by Thailand’s three leading Buddhist monks on the relevance of the Western concept of human rights, the concept of human rights is quite well structured but still devoid of the upper echelons of good/virtue, especially those as equivalent to the Buddhist notion of Samma Paññ ā . The modern concept of human rights is viewed as a rights-based ethical system while Buddhist teachings are considered as a duties-based ethical one. To create a Buddhist version of human rights that reflects a Buddhist worldview, an attempt to integrate these two different ethical systems is needed. When compared with other Buddhist doctrines, Majjhimapatipada or the Buddhist Middle Path, however, is found to echo Trisikkha or the Buddhist Threefold Learnings covering all the three levels of good/virtue that every Buddhist should strive to achieve. In other words, the essence of the Buddhist Middle Path is ethically deep and ontologically wide enough to account for living a decent Buddhist life. In this philosophical enterprise, the Middle Path, together with the Six Directions and Karma, has been proposed for integration into the modern concept of human rights based on the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The proposed model of integration is thought to form a logical basis for what can be cited as “the Buddhist version of human rights” that is applicable for any Buddhist society. Keywords : Human Rights, the Middle Path, Threefold Training, integration