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The Pali canon shows a largely negative view of visual art. In ancient Indian culture, beauty is associated with sexual attraction, and has an erotic overtone. Concern with beauty conflicts with the Buddhist ideal of detachment from worldly pleasures. On the other hand Buddhists have created wonderful works of art, and monks can be painters or dancers. Pictures and performances are made as expressions of devotion, and as means of acquiring merit, and most importantly to convey a Buddhist message.

This paper examines the relationship between the monastic saṅgha and the Buddhist king as the dhammarājā in the context of good governance in the contemporary world, with a specific focus on the Cambodian perspective. Through an examination of the historical and philosophical foundations of Buddhist governance, it argues for the enduring relevance and applicability of these principles in today's diverse societies. A second line of argument explores how the saṅgha assembly, as a collective entity, contributes to the establishment of a just and harmonious society.
Keywords: Buddhist governance, Saṅgha, Dhammarājā, Dhammādhippateyya, Dhammocracy, Pāramī, Cambodia.

Over the centuries, Buddhist monks applied economic models in the operations of their monasteries to make them sustainable while also observing Buddhist principles. The large variety of economic practices observed demonstrate the creativity of monastics in acquiring the resources to support their large monasteries in a way that was viewed as compatible with Buddhist ethics embodied in the Noble Eightfold Path. Researchers have analyzed the integration of faith-based and financially related monastic needs for different countries in different eras. The Buddhist economics approach as it has been developed in the last 40-50 years aims to create an alternative worldview that challenges the main underlying assumptions of Western economics. The mainstream Western economics model is originally based on the following assumptions: rational, selfish behavior; profit-maximization; competitive markets; and instrumental use of the environment. Buddhist economics is based on a different set of assumptions: dependent origination ("pratityasamutpada"), where people are interdependent with each other and with Earth; people are aware of enlightened self-interest based on interdependence and thus are altruistic; firms care about the well-being of workers, customers, shareholders, and community; and all activities include caring for the environment. With these assumptions, the Buddhist economic model has shared prosperity in a sustainable world with minimal suffering as its goal.

This innovative collaborative work--the first to focus on Buddhist tourism--explores how Buddhists, government organizations, business corporations, and individuals in Asia participate in re-imaginings of Buddhism through tourism. Contributors from religious studies, anthropology, and art history examine sacred places and religious monuments as they have been shaped and reshaped by socioeconomic and cultural trends in the region. Following an introduction that offers the first theoretical understanding of tourism from a Buddhist studies' perspective, early chapters discuss the ways Buddhists and non-Buddhists imagine concepts and places related to the religion. Case studies highlight Buddhist peace in India, Buddhist heavens and hells in Singapore, Thai temple space, and the future Buddha Maitreya in China. Buddhist tourism's connections to the state, market, and new technologies are explored in chapters on Indian package tours for pilgrims, thematic Buddhist tourism in Cambodia, the technological innovations of Buddhist temples in China, and the promotion of pilgrimage sites in Japan. Contributors then situate the financial concerns of Chinese temples, speed dating in temples in Japan, and the diffuse and pervasive nature of Buddhism for tourism promotion in Ladakh, India. How have tourist routes, groups, sites, and practices associated with Buddhism come to be possible and what are the effects? In what ways do travelers derive meaning from Buddhist places? How do Buddhist sites fortify national, cultural, or religious identities? The comparative research in South, Southeast, and East Asia presented here draws attention to the intertwining of the sacred and the financial and how local and national sites are situated within global networks. Together these findings generate a compelling comparative investigation of Buddhist spaces, identities, and practices.

The research was conducted to find out why Buddhist ethics important for the economic system, to know the ethics according to Buddhism and the benefits of Buddhist ethics in the global era of the economic system. The data of the research was collected to identify the texts from the Scriptures of the Tipitaka/Tripitaka related to the main problem. All collected data were analyzed and dissected using the theory included structural, hermeneutic, and paticcasamuppada functionalism. The theories were used to compile the role of the Buddhist ethics in the economic system, the hope was through the role and implementation of the Buddhist ethics in the future will be a living condition for being happy and welfare. Regarding the household (micro) economic system, the Buddhist ethics were used to create a happy and prosperous household life. Thus, the householders were free from poverty with the right livelihood, to use wealth properly, and to develop spiritual virtues. Related to the government/state (macro) economy, the Buddhist ethics play an important role in creating happiness to live together in the nation and state. The Buddhist ethics in the economic system offered a middle way system between capitalism and socialism. The Buddhist ethics contributed greatly related to the development of the economic system. It was very relevant in dealing with the current situation, especially, in human character building, developing tolerance, and service culture, social independence building, building, and work ethic enhancing, building an openness spirit, motivation to do better, as an accommodative step facing of the free competition.