Buddhism at war

"Buddhist Warfare" is not a scandal-mongering gutter press publication. It's an incredibly serious and frankly boring scholarly tome. I stopped reading it after a while, and only skimmed the remaining articles (most of them). I suppose I was somewhat disappointed. But sure, if you think Buddhism is a strictly peaceful religion - a common misconception - you might be surprised by the contents of this work.

Since most states wage war, all state religions can and will be used to justify war, including wars of conquest. In the same way, state religions will be used to bolster the authority of elite groups in society and their often oppressive and exploitative practices. Since Buddhism has often been a state religion, it would be strange if it had been exempt from these practices. The converse is also true: armed uprisings against vested elites have sometimes been religiously justified in Buddhist terms, presumably because most of the participants regarded themselves as Buddhist.

"Buddhist Warfare" contains eight articles about Buddhist violence in various Asiatic nations, from ancient Tibet and India to modern Japan, Thailand and Sri Lanka. The article on Tibet may shock admirers of the Dalai Lama, since it explains how the Fifth Dalai Lama and the Geluk sect took power in Tibet with the aid of a Mongolian army headed by Gushri Khan. Apparently, the khan routed the Buddhist and non-Buddhist competitors of the Geluk-pas, thereby making the Dalai Lama the effective ruler of Tibet. This was during the 17th century. (Tibetan Buddhism is split in a number of groups, called "sects" by scholars. Geluk or Geluk-pa is the sect headed by the Dalai Lama. To confuse matters further, the Geluk-pas also exist in Mongolia and Kalmykia, far outside Tibet.) Even uglier are the exploits of the Geluk-pas in Mongolia, apparently a veritable hell on earth before the overthrow of the ancien regime in 1921. The rulers of Mongolia waged a war of extermination against local shamanic cults and attempted to promote "virtue" through a draconic legislation. This is interesting, since Buddhism in many other settings have co-existed with pre-Buddhist religions. Perhaps the theocratic regime favoured by the Geluk is part of the explanation?

The combination of Zen Buddhism and warfare in imperial Japan is perhaps less surprising. I think many people know that there's a connection between martial arts and Eastern wisdom. Or "wisdom", since in this case we are dealing with the utterly fanaticized warrior Sugimoto, to whom Zen's extinguishing of self was connected to slavish worship of the emperor. Lesser known examples of Buddhist warfare mentioned in the book include Chinese Buddhists who supported China against the U.S. during the Korean War, and Buddhist monks in southern Thailand who participate in armed clashes with local Muslim irredentists.

Surprisingly, the book says very little about the connection between Buddhism, Singhalese nationalism and Western-imported racism in Sri Lanka. The civil war in Sri Lanka is the most obvious example of "Buddhist" warfare in the modern world. Yet, the article on Lanka mostly analyzes interviews with Buddhist monks who preach to Lankan soldiers, explaining how these monks deal with (or fail to deal with) the discrepancy between non-violence and war. Interesting, to be sure, but why so little background? Apparently, the bizarre JVP recruited Buddhist monks, but this too is mentioned only in passing. Somehow, it seems as if the editors of this volume left out the smoking gun evidence!

"Buddhist Warfare" also contains a general overview by the French scholar Paul Demiéville, in which Messianic Buddhist rebellions against the powers-that-be are mentioned. Even Buddhism has its Messiah figure, known as Maitreya.

Unfortunately, I don't think the general reader will find this book interesting or illuminating. It's too scholarly for the wider audience. Advanced students of comparative religion might also be disappointed, however. There's too much "span" and too little "depth" in this book. Or maybe I've just outgrown publish-or-perish academic anthologies?

In the end, I nevertheless give it three stars. I feel non-violent tonight...