At a superficial level, Buddhism is inevitably seen as the most peaceful religion out of the major ones practiced in the modern era. While this sentiment does hold some truth, there remains a great amount of nuance in the study of Buddhist values and their relation to war and the prevalence these values lend itself to create warlike events.
To begin, we must establish the the values and origins of the religion (or practice) of Buddhism. Having its origins in Hinduism, there are undoubtedly similarities between the two. Buddhism was founded in 6th century B.C.E. by Siddhartha Gautama (also known as the Buddha) after he had, according to historical records, engaged in rigorous mental and physical activity, which included extremely long periods …show more content…
These two concepts are some of the central ideas that create the doctrine of Buddhism -- yet, there are more factors …show more content…
For example, In southeast Asia in the 1970s, Buddhist monks called for the killing of communists, arguing that it did not violate any of the Buddhist precepts. Examples similar to this exemplifies the theme of radical interpretation of religious doctrine. The separatism that arises in the Buddhist religion stems from sectarian differences, such as when the Ashokavadana claims that there was a mass-killing of Jains for disrespecting buddha by King Ashoka -- resulting in the killing of 18,000 followers of Jainism. Yet, this is instance is disputed, since there are recurring stories of other sects claiming that this is simply a product of sectarian propaganda. This is representative of the larger issue at hand regarding peace and the buddhist doctrine; as with all religions, there lies numerous disagreements on the method of practice (or in the case of buddhism, referred to as vinaya) and who should be considered worthy of recognition for proper practice of the religion. These disagreements spur conflict, and create a violent environment that would otherwise be
To begin, we must establish the the values and origins of the religion (or practice) of Buddhism. Having its origins in Hinduism, there are undoubtedly similarities between the two. Buddhism was founded in 6th century B.C.E. by Siddhartha Gautama (also known as the Buddha) after he had, according to historical records, engaged in rigorous mental and physical activity, which included extremely long periods …show more content…
These two concepts are some of the central ideas that create the doctrine of Buddhism -- yet, there are more factors …show more content…
For example, In southeast Asia in the 1970s, Buddhist monks called for the killing of communists, arguing that it did not violate any of the Buddhist precepts. Examples similar to this exemplifies the theme of radical interpretation of religious doctrine. The separatism that arises in the Buddhist religion stems from sectarian differences, such as when the Ashokavadana claims that there was a mass-killing of Jains for disrespecting buddha by King Ashoka -- resulting in the killing of 18,000 followers of Jainism. Yet, this is instance is disputed, since there are recurring stories of other sects claiming that this is simply a product of sectarian propaganda. This is representative of the larger issue at hand regarding peace and the buddhist doctrine; as with all religions, there lies numerous disagreements on the method of practice (or in the case of buddhism, referred to as vinaya) and who should be considered worthy of recognition for proper practice of the religion. These disagreements spur conflict, and create a violent environment that would otherwise be