Buddhism and violence refers to acts of violence and aggression committed by Buddhists
with religious, political, or socio-cultural motivations, as well as
self-inflicted violence by ascetics or for religious purposes. Buddhism is generally seen as among the religious traditions least associated with violence. However, in the history of Buddhism, there have been acts of violence directed, promoted, or inspired by Buddhists. As far as Buddha's teachings and scriptures are concerned, Buddhism forbids violence for resolving conflicts.
Teachings, interpretations, and practices
Even if thieves carve you limb from limb with a double-handed saw, if you make your mind hostile you are not following my teaching. — Kakacūpama Sutta, Majjhima-Nikāya 28 at MN i 128-29
Buddhism encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to Gautama Buddha. Ahimsa, a term meaning 'not to injure', is a primary virtue in Buddhism.
Nirvana is the earliest and most common term used to describe the goal of the Buddhist path and the ultimate eradication of dukkha—nature of life that innately includes "suffering", "pain" or "unsatisfactoriness".
Violent actions and thoughts, actions which harm and debase others and
thoughts which contemplate the same, stand in the way of spiritual
growth and the self-conquest which leads to the goal of existence and
they are normally deemed unskilled (akusala) and cannot lead to the goal
of Nirvana. Buddha condemned killing or harming living beings and
encouraged reflection or mindfulness (satipatthana)
as right action (or conduct), therefore "the rightness or wrongness of
an action centers around whether the action itself would bring about
harm to self and/or others". In the Ambalatthika-Rahulovada Sutta, the
Buddha says to Rahula:
If you, Rahula, are desirous of doing a deed with the body, you should reflect on the deed with the body, thus: That deed which I am desirous of doing with the body is a deed of the body that might conduce to the harm of self and that might conduce to the harm of others and that might conduce to the harm of both; this deed of body is unskilled (akusala), its yield is anguish, its result is anguish.
The right action or right conduct (samyak-karmānta / sammā-kammanta) is the fourth aspect of the Noble Eightfold Path
and it said that the practitioner should train oneself to be morally
upright in one's activities, not acting in ways that would be corrupt or
bring harm to oneself or to others. In the Chinese and Pali Canon, it is explained as:
And what is right action? Abstaining from taking life, from stealing, and from illicit sex [or sexual misconduct]. This is called right action.
— Saccavibhanga Sutta
For the lay follower, the Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta elaborates:
And how is one made pure in three ways by bodily action? There is the case where a certain person, abandoning the taking of life, abstains from the taking of life. He dwells with his... knife laid down, scrupulous, merciful, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings. Abandoning the taking of what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given. He does not take, in the manner of a thief, things in a village or a wilderness that belong to others and have not been given by them.
Sarambha can be translated as "accompanied by violence". As
the mind filled with lobha, dosa and moha (lust, hatred and delusion) is
led to actions which are akusala. Indulging in violence is a form of
self-harming.
The rejection of violence in society is recognized in Buddhism as a
prerequisite for the spiritual progress of society's members, because
violence brings pain to beings with similar feelings to oneself. The
Buddha is quoted in the Dhammapada
as saying, "All are afraid of the stick, all hold their lives dear.
Putting oneself in another's place, one should not beat or kill others". Metta (loving kindness), the development of mindstates of limitless good-will for all beings, and karuna, compassion
that arises when you see someone suffering of the human being, are
attitudes said to be excellent or sublime because they are the right or
ideal way of conduct towards living beings (sattesu samma patipatti). The Sutta Nipata says "'As I am, so are these. As are these, so am I.' Drawing the parallel to yourself, neither kill nor get others to kill."
In Buddhism, to take refuge in the Dharma—one of the Three Jewels—one should not harm other sentient beings. The Nirvana Sutra states, "By taking refuge in the precious Dharma, One's minds should be free from hurting or harming others". One of the Five Precepts of Buddhist ethics or śīla states, "I undertake the training rule to abstain from killing."
The Buddha reportedly stated, "Victory breeds hatred. The defeated live
in pain. Happily the peaceful live giving up victory and defeat." These elements are used to indicate Buddhism is pacifistic and all violence done by Buddhists, even monks, is likely due to economic or political reasons.
The teaching of right speech (samyag-vāc / sammā-vācā)
in the Noble Eightfold Path, condemn all speech that is in any way
harmful (malicious and harsh speech) and divisive, encouraging to speak
in thoughtful and helpful ways. The Pali Canon explained:
And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, and from idle chatter: This is called right speech.
Michael Jerryson, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Ohio's Youngstown State University and co-editor of the book Buddhist Warfare,
said that "Buddhism differs in that the act of killing is less the
focus than the 'intention' behind the killing" and "The first thing to
remember is that people have a penchant for violence, it just so happens
that every religion has people in it."
Gananath Obeyesekere, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at Princeton University,
said that "in the Buddhist doctrinal tradition... there is little
evidence of intolerance, no justification for violence, no conception
even of 'just wars' or 'holy wars.' ... one can make an assertion that
Buddhist doctrine is impossible to reconcile logically with an ideology
of violence and intolerance"
There is however in Buddhism a long tradition of self-inflicted violence and death, as a form of asceticism or protest,
as exemplified by the use of fires and burns to show determinations
among Chinese monks or by the self-immolations of monks such as Thích Quảng Đức during the Vietnam war.
Regional examples
Southeast Asia
Thailand
In Southeast Asia, Thailand
has had several prominent virulent Buddhist monastic calls for
violence. In the 1970s, nationalist Buddhist monks like Phra Kittiwuttho
argued that killing Communists did not violate any of the Buddhist
precepts. The militant side of Thai Buddhism
became prominent again in 2004 when a Malay Muslim insurgency renewed
in Thailand's deep south. At first Buddhist monks ignored the conflict
as they viewed it as political and not religious but eventually they
adopted an "identity-formation", as practical realities require
deviations from religious ideals.
Myanmar
In recent years the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the military regime of Burma
from 1988 to 2011, had strongly encouraged the conversion of ethnic
minorities, often by force, as part of its campaign of assimilation. The
regime promoted a vision of Burmese Buddhist nationalism as a cultural
and a political ideology to legitimise its contested rule, trying to
bring a religious syncretism between Buddhism and its totalitarian ideology.
The Saffron Revolution,
a series of economic and political protests and demonstrations that
took place during 2007, were led by students, political activists,
including women, and Buddhist monks and took the form of a campaign of nonviolent resistance, sometimes also called civil resistance.
In response to the protests dozens of protesters were arrested or
detained. Starting in September 2007 the protests were led by thousands
of Buddhist monks, and those protests were allowed to proceed until a
renewed government crackdown in late September 2007. At least 184 protesters were shot and killed and many were tortured. Under the SPDC, the Burmese army engaged in military offensives against ethnic minority populations, committing acts that violated international humanitarian law.
Myanmar had become a stronghold of Buddhist aggression and such acts are spurred by hardline nationalistic monks. The oldest militant organisation active in the region is Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), headed by a Buddhist monk U Thuzana, since 1992. In the recent years the monks, and the terrorist acts, are associated with the nationalist 969 Movement particularly in Myanmar and neighboring nations. The violence reached prominence in June 2012 when more than 200 people were killed and around 100,000 were displaced. As of 2012, the "969" movement by monks (the prominent among whom is Wirathu) had helped create anti-Islamic nationalist movements in the region, and have urged Myanmar Buddhists to boycott Muslim services and trades, resulting in persecution of Muslims in Burma by Buddhist-led mobs. However, not all of the culprits were Buddhists and the motives were as much economic as religious. On 20 June 2013, Wirathu was mentioned on the cover story of Time magazine as "The Face of Buddhist Terror". According to the Human Rights Watch report, the Burmese government and local authorities played a key role in the forcible displacement of more than 125,000 Rohingya people
and other Muslims in the region. The report further specifies the
coordinated attacks of October 2012 that were carried out in different
cities by Burmese officials, community leaders and Buddhist monks to
terrorize and forcibly relocate the population. The violence of Meiktila, Lashio (2013) and Mandalay (2014) are the latest Buddhist violence in Burma.
Michael Jerryson, author of several books heavily critical of
Buddhism's traditional peaceful perceptions, stated that, "The Burmese
Buddhist monks may not have initiated the violence but they rode the
wave and began to incite more. While the ideals of Buddhist canonical
texts promote peace and pacifism, discrepancies between reality and
precepts easily flourish in times of social, political and economic
insecurity, such as Myanmar's current transition to democracy."
However several Buddhist leaders including Thích Nhất Hạnh, Bhikkhu Bodhi, Shodo Harada and the Dalai Lama
among others condemned the violence against Muslims in Myanmar and
called for peace, supporting the practice of the fundamental Buddhist
principles of non-harming, mutual respect and compassion. The Dalai Lama
said "Buddha always teaches us about forgiveness, tolerance,
compassion. If from one corner of your mind, some emotion makes you want
to hit, or want to kill, then please remember Buddha's faith. We are
followers of Buddha." He said that "All problems must be solved through
dialogue, through talk. The use of violence is outdated, and never
solves problems."
Maung Zarni, a Burmese democracy advocate, human rights campaigner, and a research fellow at the London School of Economics who has written on the violence in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, states that there is no room for fundamentalism in Buddhism. "No Buddhist can be nationalistic,"
said Zarni, "There is no country for Buddhists. I mean, no such thing
as ‘me,’ ‘my’ community, ‘my’ country, ‘my’ race or even ‘my’ faith."
South Asia
India
Ashokavadana states that there was a mass killing of Jains for disrespecting the Buddha by King Ashoka in which around 18,000 followers of Jainism were killed. However this incident is controversial. According to K.T.S. Sarao and Benimadhab Barua, stories of persecutions of rival sects by Ashoka appear to be a clear fabrication arising out of sectarian propaganda.
Sri Lanka
Buddhism in Sri Lanka has a unique history and has played an important role in the shaping of Sinhalese
nationalist identity. Consequently, politicized Buddhism has
contributed to ethnic tension in the island between the majority
Sinhalese Buddhist population and other minorities, especially the Tamils.
Mytho-historical roots
The mytho-historical accounts in the Sinhalese Buddhist national chronicle Mahavamsa
('Great Chronicle'), a non-canonical text written in the sixth century
CE by Buddhist monks to glorify Buddhism in Sri Lanka, have been
influential in the creation of Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism and militant Buddhism. The Mahavamsa states that Lord Buddha
made three visits to Sri Lanka in which he rids the island of forces
inimical to Buddhism and instructs deities to protect the ancestors of
the Sinhalese (Prince Vijaya and his followers from North India) to enable the establishment and flourishing of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.
This myth has led to the widely held Sinhalese Buddhist belief that the
country is Sihadipa (island of the Sinhalese) and Dhammadipa (the
island ennobled to preserve and propagate Buddhism). In other words, Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists maintain that they are the Buddha's chosen people, and that the island of Sri Lanka is the Buddhist promised land. The Mahavamsa also describes an account of the Buddhist warrior king Dutthagamani, his army, and 500 Buddhist monks battling and defeating the Tamil king Elara, who had come from South India and usurped power in Anuradhapura (the island's capital at the time). When Duthagamani laments over the thousands he has killed, the eight arhats
(Buddha's enlightened disciples) who come to console him reply that no
real sin has been committed by him because he has only killed Tamil
unbelievers who are no better than beasts, then go on to say: "thou wilt
bring glory to the doctrine of the Buddha in manifold ways; therefore
cast away care from the heart, O ruler of men".
The Dutthagamani's campaign against king Elara was not to defeat
injustice, as the Mahavamsa describes Elara as a good ruler, but to
restore Buddhism through a united Sri Lanka under a Buddhist monarch,
even by the use of violence.
The Mahavamsa story about Buddha's visit to Sri Lanka where he
(referred to as the "Conqueror") subdues forces inimical to Buddhism,
the Yakkhas
(depicted as the non-human inhabitants of the island), by striking
"terror to their hearts" and driving them from their homeland, so that
his doctrine should eventually "shine in glory", has been described as
providing the warrant for the use of violence for the sake of Buddhism
and as an account that is in keeping with the general message of the
author that the political unity of Sri Lanka under Buddhism requires the
removal of uncooperative groups.
According to Neil DeVotta (an Associate Professor of Political
Science), the mytho-history described in the Mahavamsa "justifies
dehumanizing non-Sinhalese, if doing so is necessary to preserve,
protect, and propagate the dhamma (Buddhist doctrine). Furthermore, it legitimizes a just war doctrine, provided that war is waged to protect Buddhism. Together with the Vijaya myth,
it introduces the bases for the Sinhalese Buddhist belief that Lord
Buddha designated the island of Sri Lanka as a repository for Theravada Buddhism.
It claims the Sinhalese were the first humans to inhabit the island (as
those who predated the Sinhalese were subhuman) and are thus the true
"sons of the soil". Additionally, it institutes the belief that the
island's kings were beholden to protect and foster Buddhism. All of
these legacies have had ramifications for the trajectory of political
Buddhism and Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism."
Rise of modern Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalism
With
the rise of modern Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as a reaction to the changes
brought under the British colonialism,
the old religious mytho-history of the Mahavamsa (especially the
emphasis on the Sinhalese and Tamil ethnicities of Duthagamani and
Elara, respectively)
was revitalized and consequently would prove to be detrimental to the
intergroup harmony in the island. As Heather Selma Gregg writes:
"Modern-day Sinhalese nationalism, rooted in local myths of being a
religiously chosen people and of special progeny, demonstrates that even
a religion perceived as inherently peaceful can help fuel violence and
hatred in its name."
Buddhist revivalism took place among the Sinhalese to counter Christian missionary influence. The British commissioned the Sinhala translation of the Mahavamsa (which was originally written in Pali), thereby making it accessible to the wider Sinhalese population.
During this time the first riot in modern Sri Lankan history broke out
in 1883, between Buddhists and Catholics, highlighting the "growing
religious divide between the two communities".
The central figure in the formation of modern Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism was the Buddhist revivalist Anagarika Dharmapala (1864–1933), who has been described as "the father of modern Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism".
Dharmapala was hostile to all things un-Sinhalese and non-Buddhist. He
insisted that the Sinhalese were racially pure and superior Aryans while the Dravidian Tamils were inferior.
He popularized the impression that Tamils and Sinhalese had been deadly
enemies in Sri Lanka for nearly 2,000 years by quoting the Mahavamsa
passages that depicted Tamils as pagan invaders. He characterized the Tamils as "fiercely antagonistic to Buddhism". He also expressed intolerance toward the island's Muslim minorities and other religions in general.
Dharmapala also fostered Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism in the spirit
of the King Dutthagamani who "rescued Buddhism and our nationalism from
oblivion" and stated explicitly that the Island belongs to the Sinhalese
Buddhists. Dharmapala has been blamed for laying the groundwork for subsequent Sinhalese Buddhists nationalists to create an ethnocentric state and for hostility to be directed against minorities unwilling to accept such a state.
Politicized Buddhism, the formation of ethnocracy and the civil war
Upon independence Sinhalese Buddhist elites instituted discriminatory policies based on the Buddhist ethno-nationalist
ideology of the Mahavamsa that privileges Sinhalese Buddhist hegemony
in the island as Buddha's chosen people for whom the island is a
promised land and justifies subjugation of minorities.
Sinhalese Buddhist officials saw that decreasing Tamil influence was a
necessary part of fostering Buddhist cultural renaissance.
The Dutthagamani myth was also used to institute Sinhalese Buddhist
domination with some politicians even identifying with such a
mytho-historic hero and activist monks looked to Dutthagamani as an
example to imitate. This principal hero of Mahavamsa became widely
regarded as exemplary by the 20th century Sinhalese Buddhist
nationalists because of his defense of Buddhism and the unification of
Sri Lanka that journalists started talking about "the Mahavamsa
mentality".
D. S. Senanayake,
who would become Sri Lanka's first prime minister in 1947, reaffirmed
in 1939 the common Mahavamsa-based assumption of the Sinhalese Buddhist
responsibility for the island's destiny by proclaiming that the
Sinhalese Buddhists "are one blood and one nation. We are a chosen
people. Buddha said that his religion would last for 5,500 [sic] years.
That means that we, as the custodians of that religion, shall last as
long."
Buddhists monks became increasingly involved in post-independence
politics, promoting Sinhalese Buddhist interests, at the expense of
minorities. Walpola Rahula,
Sri Lanka's foremost Buddhist monk scholar and one of the leading
proponents of Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism, played a major role in
advocating for the involvement of monks in politics, using Buddhist king
Dutthagamani's relationship with the sangha to bolster his position.
Rahula also argued for a just war doctrine to protect Buddhism by using the example of wars waged by Dutthagamani to restore Buddhism.
Rahula maintained that "the entire Sinhalese race was united under the
banner of the young Gamini [Dutthagamani]. This was the beginning of
nationalism among the Sinhalese. It was a new race with healthy young
blood, organized under the new order of Buddhism. A kind of
religionationalism, which almost amounted to fanaticism, roused the
whole Sinhalese people. A non-Buddhist was not regarded as a human
being. Evidently all Sinhalese without exception were Buddhists."
In reflecting on Rahula's works, anthropologist H.L. Seneviratne writes
that, "it suits Rahula to be an advocate of a Buddhism that glorifies
social intercourse with lay society ... the receipt of salaries and
other forms of material remuneration; ethnic exclusivism and Sinhala
Buddhist hegemony; militancy in politics; and violence, war and the
spilling of blood in the name of 'preserving the religion'".
In 1956, the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC) released a
report titled, "The Betrayal of Buddhism", inquiring into the status of
Buddhism in the island. The report argued that Buddhism had been
weakened by external threats such as the Tamil invaders mentioned in the
Mahavamsa and later Western colonial powers.
It also demanded the state to restore and foster Buddhism and to give
preferential treatment to Buddhist schools. The same year, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
capitalized on the ACBC report and its recommendations as the
foundation for his election campaign, using it as the 'blueprint for a
broad spectrum of policy', which included introducing Sinhala as the
sole official language of the state. With the help of significant number
of Buddhist monks and various Sinhalese Buddhist organizations,
Bandaranaike became prime minister after winning the 1956 elections.
Bandaranaike had also campaigned on the basis of Sinhalese Buddhist
nationalism, drawing influences from the writings of Dharmapala and the
Mahavamsa, arguing that it was the duty of the government to preserve
the Sinhalese Buddhist nature of the island's destiny. Once in power,
Bandaranaike implemented the 1956 Sinhala Only Act,
which would make Sinhala the country's official language and hence all
official state transactions would be conducted in Sinhala. This put
non-Sinhala speakers at a disadvantage for employment and educational
opportunities. As a result, Tamils protested the policy by staging
sit-ins, which in turn prompted counterdemonstrations by Buddhist monks,
later degenerating into anti-Tamil riots
in which more than one hundred people were injured and Tamil businesses
were looted. Riots then spread throughout the country killing hundreds
of people. Bandaranaike tried to mitigate tensions over the language
policy by proposing a compromise with the Tamil leaders, resulting in a 1957 pact
that would allow the use of Tamil as an administrative language along
with Sinhala and greater political autonomy for Tamils. Buddhist monks
and other Sinhalese nationalists opposed this pact by staging mass
demonstrations and hunger strikes.
In an editorial in the same year, a monk asks Bandaranaike to read
Mahavamsa and to heed its lessons: "[Dutthagamani] conquered by the
sword and united the land [Sri Lanka] without dividing it among our
enemies [i.e. the Tamils] and established Sinhala and Buddhism as the
state language and religion." In the late 1950s, it had become common
for politicians and monks to exploit the Mahavamsa narrative of
Dutthagamani to oppose any concession to the Tamil minorities.
With Buddhist monks playing a major role in exerting pressure to
abrogate the pact, Bandaranaike acceded to their demands in April 9,
1958 by tearing up "a copy of the pact in front of the assembled monks
who clapped in joy". Soon after the pact was abrogated, another series
of anti-Tamil riots spread throughout the country, which left hundreds dead and thousands displaced.
Preceding the 1958 riots, rhetoric of monks contributed to the
perception of Tamils being the enemies of the country and of Buddhism.
Both Buddhist monks and laity laid the foundation for the justifiable
use of force against Tamils in response to their demand for greater
autonomy by arguing that the whole of Sri Lanka was a promised land of
the Sinhalese Buddhists and it was the role of the monks to defend a
united Sri Lanka. Tamils were also portrayed as threatening interlopers,
compared to the Mahavamsa account of the usurper Tamil king Elara.
Monks and politicians invoked the story of the Buddhist warrior king
Dutthagamani to urge the Sinhalese to fight against Tamils and their
claims to the island, thereby providing justification for violence
against Tamils. As Tessa J. Bartholomeusz explains: "Tamil claims to a
homeland were met with an ideology, linked to a Buddhist story, that
legitimated war with just cause: the protection of Sri Lanka for the
Sinhala-Buddhist people."
In order to appease Tamils amidst the ethnic tension, Bandaranaike
modified the Sinhala Only Act to allow Tamil to be used in education and
government in Tamil areas and as a result a, Buddhist monk named Talduwe Somarama
assassinated him on September 26, 1959. The monk claimed he carried out
the assassination "for the greater good of his country, race and
religion". It has also been suggested that the monk was guided in part by reading of the Mahavamsa.
Successive governments after Bandaranaike implemented similar
Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist agenda, at the expense of minorities. In
1972, the government rewrote its constitution and gave Buddhism "the
foremost place [in the Republic of Sri Lanka]" and making it "the duty
of the state to protect and foster Buddhism". With another pact in 1965
that sought to establish greater regional autonomy
for Tamils being abrogated (some members of the Buddhist clergy were at
the forefront in opposing the pact) and the implementation of discriminatory quota system in 1974 that severely restricted Tamil entrance to universities, Tamil youth became radicalized, calling for an independent homeland to be established in the Tamil-dominated northeastern region of the island. In 1977, anti-Tamil riots spread throughout the country, killing hundreds of Tamils and leaving thousands homeless.
A leading monk claimed that one of the reasons for the anti-Tamil riots
of 1977 was the Tamil demonization of the Sinhalese Buddhist epic hero
Dutthagamani, which resulted in a justified retaliation. Another anti-Tamil riot erupted in 1981 in Jaffna,
where Sinhalese police and paramilitaries destroyed statues of Tamil
cultural and religious figures; looted and torched a Hindu temple and
Tamil-owned shops and homes; killed four Tamils; and torched the Jaffna Public Library which was of great cultural significance to Tamils. In response to the militant separatist Tamil group LTTE killing 13 Sinhalese soldiers, the largest anti-Tamil pogrom
occurred in 1983, leaving between 2,000 and 3,000 of Tamils killed and
forcing from 70,000 to 100,000 Tamils into refugee camps, eventually
propelling the country into a civil war between the LTTE and the predominately Sinhalese Buddhist Sri Lankan government. In the 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom, Buddhist monks lead rioters in some instance. Cyril Mathew, a Senior Minister in President Jayawardene's
Cabinet and a Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist who in the year preceding
the pogrom reaffirmed the special relationship between Buddhism and
Sinhalese and the Buddhist nature of the country, was also responsible
for the pogrom.
In the months following the anti-Tamil pogrom, authorizations for
violence against Tamils began to appear in the press, with Tamils being
depicted as interlopers on Dhammadipa. The Mahavamsa narrative of
Dutthagamani and Elara was also invoked to justify violence against
Tamils. The aftermath of the pogrom spawned debates over the rights to
the island with the "sons of the soil" ideology being called into
prominence. A government agent declared that Sri Lanka's manifest
destiny "was to uphold the pristine doctrine of Theravada Buddhism".
This implied that Sinhalese Buddhists had a sacred claim to Sri Lanka,
while the Tamils did not, a claim which might call for violence. The
Sinhalese Buddhists, including the Sri Lankan government, resisted the
Tamil claim to a separate homeland of their own as the Sinhalese
Buddhists maintained that the entire country belonged to them. Another government agent linked the then Prime Minister Jayewardene's attempts to thwart the emergence of a Tamil homeland
to Dutthagamani's victory over Elara and went on to say, "[w]e will
never allow the country to be divided," thereby justifying violence
against Tamils.
In the context of increasing Tamil militant struggle for
separatism, militant Buddhist monks founded the Mavbima Surakime
Vyaparaya (MSV) or "Movement for the Protection of the Motherland" in
1986 which sought to work with political parties "to maintain
territorial unity of Sri Lanka and Sinhalese Buddhist sovereignty over
the island". The MSV used the Mahavamsa to justify its goals, which
included the usage of force to fight against the Tamil threat and defend
the Buddhist state. In 1987, along with the MSV, the JVP (a militant Sinhalese nationalist group which included monks) took up arms to protest the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord
which sought to establish peace in Sri Lanka by requiring the Sri
Lankan government to make a number of concessions to Tamil demands,
including devolution of power to Tamil provinces. The JVP, with the support of the Sangha, launched a campaign of violent insurrection against the government to oppose the accord as the Sinhalese nationalists believed it would compromise the sovereignty of Sri Lanka.
From the beginning of the civil war in 1983 to the end of it in 2009, Buddhist monks were involved in politics and opposed negotiations, ceasefire agreements, or any devolution of power to Tamil minorities, and most supported military solution to the conflict.
This has led to Asanga Tilakaratne, head of the Department of Buddhist
Philosophy in the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies in
Colombo, to remark that "the Sinhala Buddhist nationalists are ...
opposed to any attempt to solve the ethnic problem by peaceful means;
and they call for a 'holy war' against Tamils". It has been argued that the absence of opportunities for power sharing
among the different ethnic groups in the island "has been one of the
primary factors behind the intensification of the conflict".
Numerous Buddhist religious leaders and Buddhist organizations since
the country's independence have played a role in mobilizing against the
devolution of power to the Tamils. Leading Buddhist monks opposed
devolution of power that would grant regional autonomy to Tamils on the
basis of Mahavamsa worldview that the entire country is a Buddhist
promised land which belongs to the Sinhalese Buddhist people, along with
the fear that devolution would eventually lead to separate country.
The two major contemporary political parties to advocate for Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism are The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU)
or "National Heritage Party", the latter of which is composed solely of
Buddhist monks. According to A. R. M. Imtiyaz, these groups share
common goals: "to uphold Buddhism and establish a link between the state
and religion, and to advocate a violent solution to the Tamil question
and oppose all form of devolution to the minorities, particularly the
Tamils". The JHU, in shunning non-violent solutions to the ethnic
conflict, urged young Sinhalese Buddhists to sign up for the army, with
as many as 30,000 Sinhalese young men doing just that. One JHU leader even declared that NGOs
and certain government servants were traitors and they should be set on
fire and burnt due to their opposition to a military solution to the
civil war. The international community encouraged a federal structure
for Sri Lanka as a peaceful solution to the civil war but any form of
Tamil self-determination, even the more limited measure of autonomy, was
strongly opposed by hard-line Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist groups
such as the JVP and JHU, who pushed for the military solution.
These groups in their hard-line support for a military solution to the
conflict, without any regard for the plight of innocent Tamil civilians,
have opposed negotiated settlement, ceasefire agreement, demanded that
the Norwegians be removed as peace facilitators, demanded the war to be
prosecuted more forcefully and exerted influence in the Rajapaksa government (which they helped to elect), resulting in the brutal military defeat of the LTTE with heavy civilian casualties.
The nationalist monks' support of the government's military offense
against the LTTE gave "religious legitimacy to the state's claim of
protecting the island for the Sinhalese Buddhist majority." President Rajapaksa, in his war against the LTTE, has been compared to the Buddhist king Dutthagamani by the Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists.
Violence against religious minorities
Other
minority groups have also come under attack by Sinhalese Buddhist
nationalists. Fear of country's Buddhist hegemony being challenged by
Christian proselytism has driven Buddhist monks and organizations to
demonize Christian organizations with one popular monk comparing
missionary activity to terrorism; as a result, Sinhalese Buddhist
nationalists, including the JVP and JHU, who oppose attempts to convert
Buddhists to another religion, support or conduct anti-Christian violence.
The number of attacks against Christian churches rose from 14 in 2000
to over 100 in 2003. Dozens of these acts were confirmed by U.S.
diplomatic observers.
This anti-Christian violence was led by extremist Buddhist clergy and
has included acts of "beatings, arson, acts of sacrilege, death threats,
violent disruption of worship, stoning, abuse, unlawful restraint, and
even interference with funerals". It has been noted that the strongest
anti-West sentiments accompany the anti-Christian violence since the
Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists identify Christianity with the West which they think is conspiring to undermine Buddhism. It
has been noted that the strongest anti-West sentiments accompany the
anti-Christian violence since the Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists
identify Christianity with the West which they think is conspiring to undermine Buddhism.
In the postwar Sri Lanka, ethnic and religious minorities continue face threat from Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism.
There have been continued sporadic attacks on Christian churches by
Buddhist extremists who allege Christians of conducting unethical or
forced conversion. The Pew Research Center has listed Sri Lanka among the countries with very high religious hostilities in 2012 due to the violence committed by Buddhist monks against Muslim and Christian places of worship.These
acts included attacking a mosque and forcefully taking over a
Seventh-day advent church and converting it into a Buddhist temple.
Extremist Buddhist leaders justify their attacks on the places of
worship of minorities by arguing that Sri Lanka is the promised land of
the Sinhalese Buddhists to safeguard Buddhism. The recently formed Buddhist extremist group, the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), or Buddhist Power Force, founded by Buddhist monks in 2012, has been accused of inciting the anti-Muslim riots that killed 4 Muslims and injured 80 in 2014.
The leader of the BBS, in linking the government's military victory
over the LTTE to the ancient Buddhist king conquest of Tamil king Elara,
said that Tamils have been taught a lesson twice and warned other
minorities of the same fate if they tried to challenge Sinhalese
Buddhist culture. The BBS has been compared to the Taliban, accused of spreading extremism and communal hatred against Muslims and has been described as an "ethno-religious fascist movement". Buddhist monks have also protested against UN Human Rights Council resolution that called for an inquiry into humanitarian abuses and possible war crimes during the civil war. The BBS has received criticism and oppostition from other Buddhist clergy and politicians. Mangala Samaraweera, a Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhist politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs
since 2015, has accused the BBS of being "a representation of ‘Taliban’
terrorism’" and of spreading extremism and communal hatred against
Muslims. Samaraweera has also alleged that the BBS is secretly funded by the Ministry of Defence. Anunayake Bellanwila Wimalaratana, deputy incumbent of Bellanwila Rajamaha Viharaya
and President of the Bellanwila Community Development Foundation, has
stated that "The views of the Bodu Bala Sena are not the views of the
entire Sangha community" and that "We don’t use our fists to solve problems, we use our brains".
Wataraka Vijitha Thero, a buddhist monk who condemns violence against
Muslims and heavily criticized the BBS and the government, has been
attacked and tortured for his stances.
Buddhist opposition to Sinhala Buddhist nationalism
Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism is opposed to Sarvodaya, although they share many of the same influences like Dharmapāla's
teachings for example, by having a focus upon Sinhalese culture and
ethnicity sanctioning the use of violence in defence of dhamma, while
Sarvodaya has emphasized the application of Buddhist values in order to
transform society and campaigning for peace.
These Buddhist nationalists have been opposed by the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, a self-governance movement led by the Buddhist Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne and based in Buddhist ideals, who condemn the use of violence and the denial of Human rights to Tamils and other non-Buddhists.
Ariyaratne calls for non-violent action and he has been actively
working for peace in Sri Lanka for many decades, and has stated that the
only way to peace is through "the dispelling of the view of 'I and
mine' or the shedding of 'self' and the realization of the true
doctrines of the interconnection between all animal species and the
unity of all humanity,"
thus advocating social action in Buddhist terms. He stated in one of
his lectures, "When we work towards the welfare of all the means we use
have to be based on Truth, Non-violence and Selflessness in conformity
with Awakening of All".
What Ariyaratne advocates is losing the self in the service of others
and attempting to bring others to awakening. Ariyaratne has stated, "I
cannot awaken myself unless I help awaken others".
East Asia
Japan
Kasumigaseki Station in Japan, one of the many stations affected during the attack by the Aum Shinrikyo cult.
The beginning of "Buddhist violence" in Japan relates to a long history of feuds among Buddhists. The sōhei or "warrior monks" appeared during the Heian period, although the seeming contradiction in being a Buddhist "warrior monk" caused controversy even at the time. More directly linked is that the Ikkō-shū movement was considered an inspiration to Buddhists in the Ikkō-ikki
rebellion. In Osaka they defended their temple with the slogan "The
mercy of Buddha should be recompensed even by pounding flesh to pieces.
One's obligation to the Teacher should be recompensed even by smashing
bones to bits!"
During World War II,
Japanese Buddhist literature from that time, as part of its support of
the Japanese war effort, stated "In order to establish eternal peace in
East Asia, arousing the great benevolence and compassion of Buddhism, we
are sometimes accepting and sometimes forceful. We now have no choice
but to exercise the benevolent forcefulness of 'killing one in order
that many may live' (issatsu tashō). This is something which Mahayana Buddhism approves of only with the greatest of seriousness..." Almost all Japanese Buddhists temples strongly supported Japan's militarization. These were heavily criticized by the Chinese Buddhists
of the era, who disputed the validity of the statements made by those
Japanese Buddhist supporters of the war. In response the Japanese
Pan-Buddhist Society (Myowa Kai) rejected the criticism and stated that
"We now have no choice but to exercise the benevolent forcefulness of
'killing one in order that many may live' (issatsu tashō)" and that the
war was absolutely necessary to implement the dharma in Asia. The society re-examined more than 70 texts written by Nichiren and re-edited his writings, making changes in 208 places, cutting all the statements that disagreed with the state Shinto. In contrast, a few Japanese Buddhists such as Ichikawa Haku and Seno’o Girō opposed this and were targeted. During the 1940s, "leaders of the Honmon Hokkeshu and Soka Kyoiku Gakkai
were imprisoned for their defiance of wartime government religious
policy, which mandated display of reverence for the state Shinto".
Brian Daizen Victoria, a Buddhist priest in the Sōtō Zen sect, documented in his book Zen at War how Buddhist institutions justified Japanese militarism in official publications and cooperated with the Imperial Japanese Army in the Russo-Japanese War and World War II. In response to the book, several sects issued an apology for their wartime support of the government.
In more modern times instances of Buddhist-inspired terrorism or
militarism have occurred in Japan, such as the assassinations of the League of Blood Incident led by Nissho Inoue, a Nichirenist or fascist-nationalist who preached a self-styled Nichiren Buddhism.
Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese new religion and doomsday cult that was the cause of the Tokyo subway sarin attack that killed thirteen people and injured more than a thousand, drew upon a syncretic view of idiosyncratic interpretations of elements of early Indian Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism, taking Shiva as the main image of worship, Christian millennialist ideas from the Book of Revelation, Yoga and the writings of Nostradamus. Its founder, Chizuo Matsumoto, claimed that he sought to restore "original Buddhism" and declared himself "Christ", Japan's only fully enlightened master and identified with the "Lamb of God". His purported mission was to take upon himself the sins
of the world, and he claimed he could transfer to his followers
spiritual power and ultimately take away their sins and bad deeds.
While many discount Aum Shinrikyo's Buddhist characteristics and
affiliation to Buddhism, scholars often refer to it as an offshoot of
Japanese Buddhism, and this was how the movement generally defined and saw itself.
