Call of duty during a Dharmic war : a Buddhist perspective
score:2
While violence and destruction is strongly discouraged in Buddhism, it is ok for a ruler or government of a country that adheres to Buddhist principles, to establish police and armed forces to:
- protect and guard the people
- ensure peace
- ensure that justice prevails
Please see Pali sutta quotes below.
However, what about the hypothetical case of Buddhists being persecuted in non-Buddhist lands? Buddhists in this case, should not bear arms and become freedom fighters or terrorists, as that is against the first precept and also other teachings e.g. removing mental aversion.
In this case, persecuted Buddhists should either leave the country (as what the 14th Dalai Lama had done in March 1959) or pursue peaceful legal means of action (as what Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King had done) which could include petitions and letters to government officials and elected representatives, statements on media etc.
From DN 16:
"What have you heard, Ananda: do the Vajjis duly protect and guard the arahats, so that those who have not come to the realm yet might do so, and those who have already come might live there in peace?"
"I have heard, Lord, that they do."
"So long, Ananda, as this is the case, the growth of the Vajjis is to be expected, not their decline."
From DN 26:
‘But sire, what are the noble duties of a wheel-turning monarch?’
‘Well then, my dear, relying only on principle—honoring, respecting, and venerating principle, having principle as your flag, banner, and authority — provide just protection and security for your court, troops, aristocrats, vassals, brahmins and householders, people of town and country, ascetics and brahmins, beasts and birds. Do not let injustice prevail in the realm. Pay money to the penniless in the realm.
Upvote:-4
This is a good question and I pondered on this too. My conclusion is that it is not possible for invaders to concur with a Dhammic nation. Perhaps Tibet was concurred due to the drawbacks of the Mahayana religion. Perhaps in China, they persecuted the Muslims due to the drawbacks of Islam. (By the way, I am not endorsing any of these) If we follow true Buddhism, nobody can concur with us. According to my present understanding of Dhamma, nobody will be able to shake my faith. But I am not sure whether I will be able to pass that to the future generation.
More post
- 📝 What are the commonalities between Jewish and Buddhist thought?
- 📝 Can Buddhism be fundamentalist?
- 📝 What is actually Nirvana -- what are some Tripitaka sources?
- 📝 Can sankharas and craving arise without attachment?
- 📝 How do you properly practice the more abstract precepts?
- 📝 In a Buddhist perspective how do we recall memories of this life and beyond?
- 📝 Is AN 5.191 coherent with the rest of the suttas? Or is it an inserted polemical sutta?
- 📝 Does kama have a place in the life of a practitioner after losing kamacchanda?
- 📝 Happiness, rebirth, and the death of an arahant
- 📝 If there be no soul or transmigrating entity that takes rebirth, who or what bears or enjoys the consequences or fruits of karma?
- 📝 In what ways the Way removes the craving?
- 📝 Did Buddha ever deny the existence of God?
- 📝 The relation between Dhamma and reality itself
- 📝 How vipassana is useful for removing fear from myself?
- 📝 What are the benefits of solitary practice?
- 📝 What does the Pali canon say about "death"?
- 📝 Fake Dhammapadas
- 📝 What are Ekabiji?
- 📝 Is it common for Buddhists in eastern countries to be close-minded and lacking in diversity?
- 📝 What if the Buddha wasn't a prince?
- 📝 Is the title of tathagata ever literal?
- 📝 Buddhist thought on Amends
- 📝 Mahayana revealed from Naga world to 1st century CE+ - Why?
- 📝 Do we know in what posture the Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree?
- 📝 The role of being in a position of power in acquiring karma
- 📝 Objectification in Buddhism
- 📝 Source of Ajahn Chah quote
- 📝 Major differences between breath meditation and body scan meditation?
- 📝 How to wake up properly after a nights sleep?
- 📝 Health Risks of Meditation?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Call of duty during a Dharmic war : a Buddhist perspective
- 📝 What are the resources a Buddhist can use during very hard times?
- 📝 In a Buddhist perspective how do we recall memories of this life and beyond?
- 📝 What is the Buddhist Perspective on Lucid Dreaming?
- 📝 What is the Buddhist perspective on body language?
- 📝 How should one look at buddhist mythologies and cosmologies from a scientific perspective
- 📝 Buddhist perspective how humans can communicate with spirits?
- 📝 Buddhist perspective on uncertainty
- 📝 Buddhist Perspective on Value, Sentiment, Attraction?
- 📝 What is the Buddhist perspective on child abuse?
- 📝 What is the deep sound that buddhist monk make during meditation called
- 📝 What's the Buddhist perspective on permanently eradicating bedbugs? (Extinction)
- 📝 What is the Buddhist Perspective on Dreaming?
- 📝 What is the perspective of the western buddhist cannon websites?
- 📝 Looking for anti-anti-monasticism apologia from a Buddhist perspective
- 📝 If a buddhist should not kill a mouse living in their home, what justification do they have to rid themselves of a parasite such tapeworms
- 📝 Any advice on leg numbing during sitting?
- 📝 When were women first welcomed into Buddhist orders?
- 📝 How can I assess the quality of a local Buddhist group?
- 📝 Can or should a Buddhist defend themselves physically?
- 📝 Is a belief in rebirth a necessity for Buddhist practice?
- 📝 Purpose of touching tongue to roof of mouth during meditation
- 📝 Why isn't there a Buddhist Bible?
- 📝 What are the common buddhist practices to eliminate sleepiness?
- 📝 As a Buddhist with a Muslim family, community, and background... how do you integrate/cope?
- 📝 Have any Buddhist thinkers responded to the critique of the Brahma Sutras?
- 📝 Should a Buddhist feel offended by misuses of Buddha's name or image?
- 📝 How does one practice mindfulness during thinking - e.g. thinking about how to solve a problem?
- 📝 Why are Buddhist concepts so difficult?
- 📝 Why does the Buddha call himself the Tathāgata?