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The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Vol. 30 No. 2 Apr.-Jun. 2005 518 Welfare Philosophy in Buddhism does not pay attention to his/her actions, he/she will be in the cycle of birth and death again and again. The Buddha views the cessation of birth as the cause of the cessation of suffering. 7 The other fundamental concept is the Law of Karma, as pointed out by Warren 8 , and Suniti Chatterji 9 , Karma refers to volitional action of which there are two types: good (kusala) and bad (akusala). Good karma produces merit (punna or bun) for which there is favorable of pleasurable retribution while bad karma produces demerit (apunna) for which there is unfavorable or unpleasant retribution. III. Welfare Philosophy and Buddhism (1) Philanthropic Giving and Buddhism Based on the whole concept of the Four Noble Truths and the Law of Karma, Buddhism explains why people are born in different social status. Everyone has equal opportunity to achieve higher status if they perform good actions. Given that A has higher social status than B, A can accumulate merit ( bun or baramee ) and performs philanthropic actions. Philanthropic giving can be viewed as meritorious action as exemplified in the Four Nobel States of Mind - kindness (metta), compassion (karuna), sympathetic (muttita) and equanimity (uppekka). To ensure that the Four Nobel States of Mind have been transmitted to the younger generations, most Buddhists usually are taught to follow these principles during their childhood. (2) Buddhism and the concept of equality Regarding the concept of equality, there are two main critiques raised by Western and the Asian women’s groups. The critiques are about the poverty and the status of women in Buddhist societies. Many Western scholars question whether or not the Buddhist concept of equality keeps the poor feeling satisfied with their social status and later became passive in improving their social status in their present lives. The other critique is given by groups of women scholars in Asia. In Buddhism, only men can ordain as monks whereas women cannot. For example, in the traditional Thai families, the son will ordain before or right after he gets married. It is believed that his mother, his father, and other relatives including his wives (if any), and sons/daughters will receive merit (bun) from him. This implies the idea that a person who ordains receives more merit than the one who does not. Does it mean that women cannot perform the action that she will receive high merit ? There have been the responses to the critiques. For example, Padmasiri de Silva 10 , in his article, “The Concept of Equality in the Theravada Buddhist Tradition,” discusses the ongoing debate on Buddhism’s concept of equality and human rights. He contends that the Buddhist way of looking at things is different from Western way. One should examine the concept of equality by looking at the reciprocal relationship of people in various social positions. De Silva refers to two sources of Buddhist texts: Sigalovada Sutta, and Ma- dhura Sutta. Sigalovada Sutta intro- duces a framework of human needs and freedom and emphasizes the role of the individual for the purpose of attaining liberation (nirvana). People are different and behind the differences is the ability to make merit and social advantage. In Sigalovada Sutta, the concept of equality is also expressed in the notion of reciprocity, where certain desirable goals are to be attained through the notion of duties and obligations. Man as husband, father, and master, then woman as wife and mother of the house perform 7 Henry C. Warren, Buddhism in Translations, (Cambridge : Harvard University Press, 1953), pp. 214-252. 8 Ibid., pp. 226-228. 9 Suniti K. Chatterji, çBuddha and Humanity,é in The Journal of Siam Society, (Vol. XLVlll, 1960), pp. 88-90. 10 Padmasiri de Silva, çThe Concept of Equality in the Theravada Buddhist Tradition,é in Equality and the Religious Traditions of Asia, London: Frances Pinter, pp. 74-97.