BUDDHISM

A Level Religious Studies

War, Ahimsa, Animals and Vegetarianism

Religion and Society 6.1 

Introduction

In the modern world religion can finds ways to adapt or resist contemprary attitudes and practices. For Buddhist ethics the idea of Ahimsa or non-violence is a key teaching that needs both interpretation and application if Buddhism is to make sence to people today.

Buddhists face a range of ethical issues that the doctrine of non-violence or ahimsa can be applied to. In this course we confine these to looking first at  vegetarianism, right livelihood and involvement in the armed forces

Buddhists disagree within Eastern countries and bewteen tradtional lineages and western expressions of Buddhism about how Buddhism sahould be applied ethically to vegitarianism, right livelyhood and war.  Just what the Buddha said and did as an ethical exempar is a matter of disput with a range of view points represented in Buddhism.   What theravada sources such as the Pali Canon and Mahayana source of the Lotus Sutra say and how they are to be interperpreted is challenging for Buddhists.  In this unit we will consider the contradictary ideas of the 14th Dalai Lama on vegitariaisnm and Bartholomeusz account of Buddhisms history in diffferent trations of just war and more limited contemprary idea of Buddhist Pacifisim.

Topic         

Content

Key Knowledge

Unit 5.1

The interpretation and application of ahimsa for a Buddhist in the modern world (4)

·         a) The First Precept

·         to refrain from harming a living thing,

·         the interpretation of ahimsa by Buddhists with specific examples of how this may be lived, such as -

·         vegetarianism,

·         right livelihood and involvement in the armed forces.

·         The role of other beliefs and considerations in the living of ahimsa.

·         Differences in application and importance within different traditions, and in the example of the Buddha.

·         Excerpts of the Pali Canon and the Lotus Sutra on

·         the ideas of the 14th Dalai Lama and T Bartholomeusz..

·         the ideas 14th Dalai Lama on vegetarianism, right livelihood and involvement in the armed forces.

·         the ideas T Bartholomeusz on Buddhist involvement in the armed forces.

You need to understand the issues raised the challenge of the interpretation and application of ahimsa for a Buddhist in the modern world (4), including:

·         Can a Buddhist participate in war, eat meat and work in the full range of contemporary professions?

·         Is just war theory a legitimate expression of Buddhism given its rejection by western forms of Buddhism and acceptance by more historic traditions in the contemporary world?

·         Is vegetarianism a necessary expression of Buddhism given its rejection acceptance by western forms of Buddhism and the ambivalent approaches taken by more historic traditions in the contemporary world?

·         whether or not there is such a thing as an illegitimate Buddhist livelihood and whether Buddhists who join the armed fordes are in danger or hell realms and the animal womb? 

·         whether or not the Dalai Lama has said anything coherence on vegetarianism and other issues?

·         What significant things T Bartholomeusz and other relevant scholars have said about on Buddhist involvement in the armed forces.

Key Words

Ahimsa – the idea of non-violence, the practice of trying to minimise harm to living things.

Ten precepts   – The five precepts plus extras followed by the monastic community.  

Uposatha days – Days of renewed commitment to the Dharma, often occurring on the days of the full moon and new moon.

Buddhist Ethics- The Basics

The Eightfold Path contains the basis for all Buddhist ethical teachings, in right intention, right speech, right action and right livelihood. From these, Buddhists also derive the five precepts. However, these are underpinned by the law of karma which states that actions done with wholesome and skilful intention (kusala) lead to happiness and well-being, while actions done with unwholesome and unskilful intention (akusala) lead to suffering for yourself and others. This is considered a law of nature as it applies to human volitional action. The law of karma also shows that we have to live with the consequences of our actions (karmaphala), which shape our experience of each future moment and any future lives. Our states of mind generate our internal world, for good or ill, and sometimes they influence the kind of things that happen to us and the world we live in. For some, this suggests that we have free will to choose how we act but these

freedoms are shaped by the consequences of previous actions.

The Eightfold Path

The Eightfold path is the fourth of the Four Noble Truths. It is divided into three

parts: wisdom, meditation and ethics. The ethics section includes:

v  right speech: avoiding false speech, slanderous speech, harsh speech and idle chatter; using positive, truthful, kind, helpful and harmonious speech + right action: avoiding taking any life, taking what is not given and sexual misconduct

v  right livelihood: for a lay Buddhist, wealth should be gained by legal means, peacefully, without coercion, honestly, not by trickery or deceit and in ways which do not harm others.

The ethics section of the Eightfold Path is underpinned by the idea of right intention (from the wisdom section of the Eightfold Path). This is the resolution to live with non-violence and loving kindness or metta (and for monks and nuns, renunciation of worldly life). It is the intention behind acts that generates karmic consequences and therefore the intention is an important factor behind right speech, action and livelihood.

The five precepts

The five precepts are the basic five ethical guidelines all Buddhists are expected to keep and they reflect the teachings of the ethics section from the Eightfold Path. For some, however, they are aspirations rather than commandments. The five precepts are:

1.  To avoid taking the life of beings - to practise loving kindness

2.  To avoid taking things not given - to practise generosity

3.  To avoid sexual misconduct - to practise contentment

4.  To refrain from false speech - to speak truthfully

5.  To abstain from substances which cause intoxication and, heedlessness to practise mindful awareness.

The ten precepts

In addition to the five precepts, some Buddhists and all novice monks and nuns also follow an additional five, making the ten precepts (dasa sila). These are:

6.  To refrain from taking substantial food after midday (from noon to dawn)

7.  To refrain from dancing, singing and music

8.  To refrain from use of garlands, perfumes and personal adornment like jewellery

9.  To refrain from use of luxurious beds and seats

10.              To refrain from accepting and holding money, gold or silver To

Lay Buddhists may follow eight or all ten precepts on certain special days or festivals such as Wesak (the Buddha's birthday day) or uposatha days (holy days on the full and new moon each month).

Six perfections

A Mahayana Buddhist may focus on developing the six perfections in order to follow the Bodhisattva ideal to enlightenment (see page 40). Therefore, these are the key virtues that need to be developed, the first two of which are ethical.

1.  Dana: generosity

2.  Sila: virtue, morality

3.  Ksanti: patience, tolerance

4.  Virya: energy, effort

5.  Dhyana: one-pointed concentration

6.  Prajna: wisdom

All of these concepts can also be found in the Eightfold Path. However, Mahayana Buddhists, such as the eighth-century scholar Santideva, have drawn out these ones as being of specific importance. They are followed by the lay community as well as the monastic community and Bodhisattvas.

Ahimsa

One of the key ethical concepts in Buddhism is ahimsa. Ahimsa is often translated as harmlessness and means not harming any living being: human, plant or animal. This is the most basic and fundamental ethical concept, but its origins lie outside of Buddhism and it was adopted by the Buddha. It is applicable to both the lay and monastic communities, although this is more strictly followed in the monastic community. Ahimsa is part of the five precepts, the first of which is to abstain from killing. It is also part of the ethics section in the Eightfold Path.

Breaking ethical rules

The different ethical precepts are not commandments, meaning that they are not considered to come from a creator divinity. Breaking these rules does not incur a religious punishment for the lay community, although confession of ethical breaches of precepts is done so that one can make good any harm done and gain better self-understanding. Monks can be expelled from monasteries for serious breaches. The law of karma means that our experience internally (feeling miserable or joyful) and some of the things that happen to us (the world we live in) are entirely shaped by the skilfulness and wisdom with which we speak, act and think. Many Buddhists follow moral rules therefore in order to ensure a positive rebirth.

Questions

1 Explain the idea of karma and the five precepts in your own words.

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2 How does karma affect moral behaviour?

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3 Are the six perfections really different from the five precepts?

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Applied ethics: Buddhism and war and peace.

Non-violence (ahimsa) is at the heart of Buddhist thinking and behaviour. The first of the five precepts is, 'Avoid killing, or harming any living thing.' Buddhism is essentially a peaceful tradition. Nothing in Buddhist scripture gives any support to the use of violence as a way to resolve conflict. In the Pali Canon the Buddha taught the need to love your enemy no matter how

cruelly they treat you:

 '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.'

Figures like the Dalai Lama (who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989)

demonstrate Buddhism's commitment to peace both in word and deed:

'Hatred will not cease by hatred, but by love alone. This is the ancient law.'

Thich Nhat Hanh was asked, 'If someone were to wipe out all Buddhists

and you were the last one left, would you not try to kill the person who

was trying to kill you and save Buddhism?' Thich Nhat Hanh answered, 'It

would be better to let him kill me. In killing, I would be betraying and

abandoning the very teachings I would be seeking to preserve.'

Additionally, the Buddhist Peace Fellowship was set up in 1978 to work

towards nuclear disarmament and global peace. They also work to help

individuals who are suffering under government oppression, especially in

countries like Myanmar, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Tibet.

However, some followers of Buddhism have not always lived up to its

principles - there are numerous examples of some Buddhists engaging in

violence and even war. Buddhist historians and modern Buddhist scholars

such as Peter Harvey have recorded times when Buddhists have been actively involved in war. For example, in the 14th century, Buddhist fighters led the uprising that evicted the Mongols from China. In Japan, Buddhist monks trained Samurai warriors in meditation that made them better fighters. In the 20th century, Japanese Zen masters supported Japan's wars of aggression.

The BBC reported that in Sri Lanka, the 20th-century civil war between the

mostly Buddhist Sinhalese majority and the Hindu Tamil minority has cost

more than 50,000 lives. Buddhist monks also appear to be behind the violence against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Buddhist violence in Sri Lanka and Myanmar

According to the BBC, the Tamils are a minority ethnic group living in Sri Lanka who had the majority of land and power at the end of British colonial rule. The Sri Lankan (Sinhalese) majority took action to take back land and power which led to a bloody civil war, that ended in 2009 with the deaths of perhaps as many as 50,000 Tamils, mostly civilians.

In Myanmar, the Rohingya are a minority ethnic group accused of being illegal immigrants (despite a long history of living in Western Myanmar) and denied basic human rights. In 2016, fuelled by ultra-right-wing Buddhist Nationalists, and in response to Rohingya terror attacks, they were attacked by the army, with one million fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh.

Questions

1. Explain in your own words Buddhist attitudes towards war.?

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2. Do Buddhists always follow these attitudes? Why? Why not?

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3. Finish the following- A Buddhist would never use violence because. . .

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3.     Finish the following- A Buddhist might think violence is acceptable if…

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4.     Consider the following- finish the statement…

“Buddhists might not use violence themselves but might be in favour of others using it when. . . “

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Applied ethics: Buddhism and animals.

Most people were not concerned with global environmental change at the time of the Buddha, so he did not give teachings specifically on this subject. He did rule that monks and nuns should not disrupt the established habitat of any other creature, nor kill other living creatures, especially as people could be reborn as animals. This is why many Buddhists are vegetarian. Buddhists recognise that just like humans, animals cringe from pain and seek conditions for their fulfilment. Thus Buddhists seek to minimise harm to animal life. (Technically humans are animals but in Buddhism they are separated because there is the human realm and the animal realm in the six

realms.)

The Buddha did teach that because human life is a very rare and fortunate rebirth, humans are seen to be a higher level of existence than plants and animals. However, this does not mean that humans can exploit plants and animals.

v  Human life is entirely reliant on plants and animals.

v  Killing animals is seen to be wrong, although the more developed the animal, the worse the karmic consequences. For example, killing an elephant is far worse than killing a fly. (The larger the animal, the greater its intelligence and therefore its ability to feel pain.)

However, it is the Buddha's teachings on dependent origination that have been most influential. In Mahayana Buddhism, the idea of sunyata (emptiness), or more accurately the inter-relatedness of everything, has been taken to mean that:

v  nothing can exist or continue to exist without the existence of everything else

v  harming one part of this whole is the same as harming all of it.

Therefore, if people learn to live simply and in harmony with the world, the whole of the environment will benefit. This is a characteristic of Zen Buddhism whereby, in Japan, followers attempt to live very much in harmony with nature. This can be most clearly seen in the poems of Dogen and Basho. However, some Japanese practices, such as whaling, seem to contradict this.

This view of animal life also extends into the use of animals for medical research. Although there is nothing in the Pali Canon about this, modern Buddhist scholars such as Damien Keown and Zen monk Saido Kennaway do suggest that animal research may be acceptable if the harm to animals is minimal and the outcome makes a significant step towards ending suffering.

They suggest that this is an appropriate use of upaya or skilful but that alternatives to the use of animals in experimentation should be used where possible. The international call for action to address the environmental crisis has also come from the Dalai Lama who said:

'We are the generation with the awareness of a great danger. We are the ones with the responsibility and the ability to take steps of concrete action, before it is too late.'

Questions

1 Explain in your own words how a Buddhist might treat animals.

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2 Explain in your own words how a Buddhist might treat the environment?

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3 Theravada Buddhists see the human realm as the most important realm. Does this mean that they put human needs above the needs of all other animals, plants and ecosystems? Why? Why not?

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Ahimsa: Buddhist Traditions and Vegetarianism

Buddhist vegetarianism is the belief that following a vegetarian diet is implied in the Buddha's teaching. In Buddhism, however, the views on vegetarianism vary between different schools of thought.

Theravada and Vegetarianism

The Buddha in the Anguttara Nikaya 3.38 Sukhamala Sutta, describes his family being wealthy enough to provide non-vegetarian meals even to his servants. After becoming enlightened, he accepted any kind of food offered with respect as alms, including meat, but there is no reference of him eating meat during his seven years as an ascetic.

In the modern era, the passage cited below has been interpreted as allowing the consumption of meat if it is not specifically slaughtered for the recipient:

… meat should not be eaten under three circumstances: when it is seen or heard or suspected (that a living being has been purposely slaughtered for the eater); these, Jivaka, are the three circumstances in which meat should not be eaten, Jivaka! I declare there are three circumstances in which meat can be eaten: when it is not seen or heard or suspected (that a living being has been purposely slaughtered for the eater); Jivaka, I say these are the three circumstances in which meat can be eaten. —Jivaka Sutta, MN 55 , unpublished translation by Sister Uppalavanna

Also in the Jivaka Sutta, Buddha instructs a monk or nun to accept, without any discrimination, whatever food is offered in receiving alms offered with good will, including meat, whereas the Buddha declares the meat trade to be wrong livelihood in the Vanijja Sutta, AN 5:177

Monks, a lay follower should not engage in five types of business. Which five? Business in weapons, business in human beings, business in meat, business in intoxicants, and business in poison. These are the five types of business that a lay follower should not engage in.

But this is not, strictly speaking, a dietary rule. The Buddha, on one particular occasion, specifically refused suggestions by Devadatta to institute vegetarianism in the Sangha.

In the Amagandha Sutta in the Sutta Nipata, a vegetarian Brahmin confronts Kassapa Buddha (a previous Buddha before Gautama Buddha) in regard to the evil of eating meat. The Buddha countered the argument by listing acts which cause real moral defilement and then at the end of the verse, he emphasized that the consumption of meat is not equivalent to those acts. ("... this is the stench giving defilement, not the consumption of meat").

"[t]aking life, beating, wounding, binding, stealing, lying, deceiving, worthless knowledge, adultery; this is stench. Not the eating of meat." (Amagandha Sutta).

There were monastic guidelines prohibiting consumption of 10 types of meat: that of humans, elephants, horses, dogs, snakes, lions, tigers, leopards, bears and hyenas. This is because these animals can be provoked by the smell of the flesh of their own kind, or because eating of such flesh would generate a bad reputation for the Sangha.

Paul Breiter, a student of Ajahn Chah, states that some bhikkhus in Thailand choose to be vegetarian and that Ajahn Sumedho encouraged supporters to prepare vegetarian food for the temple. In the Pali Canon, Buddha once explicitly refused the suggestion by Devadatta to institute vegetarianism in the monks' Vinaya. Moreover the Buddha died from eating Pork!

Mahayana and Vegetarianism

According to the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, a Mahayana sutra purporting to give Gautama Buddha's final teachings, the Buddha insisted that his followers should not eat any kind of meat or fish, even those not included in the 10 types, and that even vegetarian food that has been touched by meat should be washed before being eaten. Also, it is not permissible for the monk or nun just to pick out the non-meat portions of a diet and leave the rest: the whole meal must be rejected.

The Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra quotes a dialogue between Gautama Buddha and Manjushri on meat eating:

Mañjuśrī asked, “Do Buddhas not eat meat because of the tathāgata-garbha ?” The Blessed One replied, “Mañjuśrī, that is so. There are no beings who have not been one’s mother, who have not been one’s sister through generations of wandering in beginningless and endless saṃsāra. Even one who is a dog has been one’s father, for the world of living beings is like a dancer. Therefore, one’s own flesh and the flesh of another are a single flesh, so Buddhas do not eat meat. “Moreover, Mañjuśrī, the dhātu of all beings is the dharmadhātu, so Buddhas do not eat meat because they would be eating the flesh of one single dhātu.”

Certain Mahayana sutras do present the Buddha as very vigorously and unreservedly denouncing the eating of meat, mainly on the grounds that such an act is linked to the spreading of fear amongst sentient beings (who can allegedly sense the odour of death that lingers about the meat-eater and who consequently fear for their own lives) and violates the bodhisattva's fundamental cultivation of compassion. Moreover, according to the Buddha in the Angulimaliya Sutra, since all beings share the same "Dhatu" (spiritual Principle or Essence) and are intimately related to one another, killing and eating other sentient creatures is tantamount to a form of self-killing and cannibalism.

The sutras which inveigh against meat-eating include the Nirvana Sutra, the Shurangama Sutra, the Brahmajala Sutra, the Angulimaliya Sutra, the Mahamegha Sutra, and the Lankavatara Sutra, as well as the Buddha's comments on the negative karmic effects of meat consumption in the Karma Sutra.

In the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, which presents itself as the final elucidatory and definitive Mahayana teachings of the Buddha on the very eve of his death, the Buddha states that "the eating of meat extinguishes the seed of Great Kindness", adding that all and every kind of meat and fish consumption (even of animals found already dead) is prohibited by him. He specifically rejects the idea that monks who go out begging and receive meat from a donor should eat it:

". . . it should be rejected . . . I say that even meat, fish, game, dried hooves and scraps of meat left over by others constitutes an infraction . . . I teach the harm arising from meat-eating."

The Buddha also predicts in this sutra that later monks will "hold spurious writings to be the authentic Dharma" and will concoct their own sutras and falsely claim that the Buddha allows the eating of meat, whereas he says he does not. A long passage in the Lankavatara Sutra shows the Buddha speaking out very forcefully against meat consumption and unequivocally in favor of vegetarianism, since the eating of the flesh of fellow sentient beings is said by him to be incompatible with the compassion that a Bodhisattva should strive to cultivate. This passage has been seen as questionable. In a translation by D. T. Suzuki, a note is made that this section:

“This chapter on meat-eating is another later addition to the text, which was probably done earlier than the Rāvaṇa chapter....It is quite likely that meat-eating was practised more or less among the earlier Buddhists, which was made a subject of severe criticism by their opponents. The Buddhists at the time of the Laṅkāvatāra did not like it, hence this addition in which an apologetic tone is noticeable.”

In several other Mahayana scriptures, too (e.g., the Mahayana Jatakas), the Buddha is seen clearly to indicate that meat-eating is undesirable and karmically unwholesome.  Some suggest that the rise of monasteries in Mahayana tradition to be a contributing factor in the emphasis on vegetarianism. In the monastery, food was prepared specifically for monks. In this context, large quantities of meat would have been specifically prepared (killed) for monks. Henceforth, when monks from the Indian geographical sphere of influence migrated to China from the year 65 CE on, they met followers who provided them with money instead of food. From those days onwards Chinese monastics, and others who came to inhabit northern countries, cultivated their own vegetable plots and bought food in the market. This remains the dominant practice in China, Vietnam and part of Korean Mahayanan temples.

Mahayana lay Buddhists often eat vegetarian diets on the vegetarian dates (齋期). There are different arrangement of the dates, from several days to three months in each year, in some traditions, the celebration of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara's birthday, enlightenment and leaving home days hold the highest importance to be vegetarian.

Vajrayana View (Dali Lama)

Some Vajrayana practitioners both drink alcohol and eat meat.  Many traditions of the Ganachakra which is a type of Panchamakara puja prescribed the offering and ingestion of meat and alcohol, although this practice is now often only a symbolic one, with no actual meat or alcohol ingested. One of the most important tertöns of Tibet, Jigme Lingpa, wrote of his great compassion for animals:

Of all his merit-making, Jigme Lingpa was most proud of his feelings of compassion for animals; he says that this is the best part of his entire life story. He writes of his sorrow when he witnessed the butchering of animals by humans. He often bought and set free animals about to be slaughtered (a common Buddhist act). He ‘changed the perception’ of others, when he once caused his followers to save a female yak from being butchered, and he continually urged his disciples to forswear the killing of animals.

In The Life of Shabkar, the Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin, Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol wrote:

Above all, you must constantly train your mind to be loving, compassionate, and filled with Bodhicitta. You must give up eating meat, for it is very wrong to eat the flesh of our parent sentient beings.

The 14th Dalai Lama and other esteemed lamas invite their audiences to adopt vegetarianism when they can. When asked in recent years what he thinks of vegetarianism, the 14th Dalai Lama has said:

"It is wonderful. We must absolutely promote vegetarianism."

The Dalai Lama tried becoming a vegetarian and promoted vegetarianism. In 1999, it was published that the Dalai Lama would only be vegetarian every other day and partakes of meat regularly. When he is in Dharamsala, he is vegetarian, but not necessarily when he is outside Dharamsala. Paul McCartney has taken him to task for this and wrote to him to urge him to return to strict vegetarianism, but "[The Dalai Lama] replied [to me] saying that his doctors had told him he needed [meat], so I wrote back saying they were wrong."

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche became vegetarian in 2008. Arjia Rinpoche became vegetarian in 1999. On 3 January 2007, one of the two 17th Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorje, strongly urged vegetarianism upon his students, saying that generally, in his view, it was very important in the Mahayana not to eat meat and that even in Vajrayana students should not eat meat:

There are many great masters and very great realized beings in India and there have been many great realized beings in Tibet also, but they are not saying, "I'm realized, therefore I can do anything; I can eat meat and drink alcohol." It's nothing like that. It should not be like that.

According to the Kagyupa school, we have to see what the great masters of the past, the past lamas of Kagyupas, did and said about eating meat. The Drikung Shakpa [sp?] Rinpoche, master of Drikungpa, said like this,

 "My students, whomever are eating or using meat and calling it tsokhor or tsok, then these people are completely deserting me and going against the dharma."

I can't explain each of these things, but he said that anybody that is using meat and saying it is something good, this is completely against the dharma and against me and they completely have nothing to do with dharma. He said it very, very strongly.

Questions

1 Explain in your own words what the Pali cannon says about ‘eating our friends’?

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2 Explain in your own words in Theravada when meat can and cannot be eaten?

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3 Explain in your own words what the general Mahayana Buddhists attitude to vegetarianism. Does this mean that they put human needs above the needs of all other animals, plants and ecosystems? Why? Why not?

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4 Explain in your own words what Dalai Lamas attitude to vegetarianism and the principle of UPAYA is. Does this mean that he puts human needs above the needs of all other animals, plants and ecosystems? Why? Why not?

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Ahimsa: Buddhist Traditions and Right Livelihood

LIVELIHOOD, RIGHT

Right livelihood (sammà àjãva) is the fifth step on the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path. Livelihood is the work we do in order to live. To be `right' in the full sense of the word, a livelihood would -

(1) have to provide one with at least one's basic needs,

(2) it would have to be in accordance with ethical principles and

(3) it would have to make a useful and indeed a beneficial contribution to society.

LIVELIHOOD, WRONG

The Buddha mentioned as examples of wrong livelihood, dealing in weapons, human beings (slavery, people smuggling, certain types of prostitution and living off the income generated by it), trade in flesh, manufacturing and selling alcohol and poisons (A.III,208). Today this list could be increased considerably.

THE BUDDHA AND WORK

While Jainism considered farming to be reprehensible because so many tiny animals were killed during plowing, the Buddha called it a noble (ukkaññatà) means of livelihood because it provided people with sustenance (Vin.IV,6). The Buddha said that to be `learned and skilled in one's craft' (bàhusacca¤ ca sippa¤ ca) is a great blessing (Sn.261). He described a wholesome and honest income as being `earned by hard work, by strength of arm and sweat of brow, honestly and lawfully' (A.II,67).

For example, whether living off the interest of investments would be a right or wrong livelihood would depend on what one's money was invested in. We would normally think of being a doctor, a nurse or a teacher as being right livelihoods but again, it would depend just how these professions were practised. So right livelihood is not just what type of work we do, but also how we do our work. 

Theravada and Right Livelihood

Right Livelihood applies morality specifically to the question of how one earns one’s living. This is an aspect of action, but a particularly important one. We have to put a lot of energy into our work, and the type of work we choose has a big effect both on us and on the world. Buddhism does not allow a big distinction between a job that we are “forced” to do and leisure time that we have control over, but rather stresses our responsibility for the work we choose to do and the economic processes we choose to support through that means.

Right Livelihood is, first, a way to earn a living without compromising the 5 Precepts. It is a way of making a living that does no harm to others. In tthe Buddha said,

“A lay follower should not engage in five types of business. Which five? Business in weapons, business in human beings, business in meat, business in intoxicants, and business in poison." Vanijja Sutta (this is from the Sutra-pitaka of the Tripitaka),

These most obvious wrong livelihoods are those which directly involve breaking the Five Precepts: for example

v  FIRST PRECEPT- working in a slaughterhouse, being a fisherman or soldier (first precept),

v  SECOND PRECEPT - being a thief or swindler

v  THIRD PRECEPT- Using female objectification to sell motor cars as an advertiser.

v  FOURTH PRECEPT being an astrologer or being a journalist on the Sunday Sport).

v  FIFTH PRECEPT- Selling Weapons.

One important aspect of Theravada Buddhist ethics is the recognition that our actions may also indirectly contribute to others’ suffering. It is our intention rather than the directness of the effects of our actions which has the karmic effect. Indirect effects are often important in economic life. For example, by making or selling things that are harmful, we can indirectly contribute to harm even if we don’t actually directly apply that harmful thing. This is why Buddhism traditionally considers trading in poisons, weapons or alcohol to be wrong livelihood.

Even if violence, theft, sexual misconduct, lies and intoxication are things people choose to do for themselves, you are also partly responsible if you encourage them or provide them with the necessary facilities: so acting in violent films, receiving stolen goods, prostitution, advertising and working in a pub might all be considered more or less questionable when judged in terms of Right Livelihood. However, it’s obviously impossible to have no indirect connection at all with conditions which support breaking any precepts: do you refuse to sell apples because they could be made into cider, or a kitchen knife because it could be used violently? Obviously there are relative judgements to be made about how far to go in ensuring Right Livelihood.

Some occupations are also not obviously unethical, but how far they are Right Livelihood depends on how much effort is put into them. Working in a shop selling genuinely useful and non-harmful goods, for example, might be seen as Right Livelihood provided that one relates positively to the customers.

Honesty the Best Policy

A person in any sort of job might be asked to be dishonest. You may work for an educational book publisher, which would seem to be a Right Livelihood. But the owner of the company might expect you to boost profits by cheating the vendors—typesetters, freelance artists—and sometimes even the clients.

Obviously, if you're being asked to cheat, or to fudge the truth about a product in order to sell it, there's a problem. There is also honesty involved in being a conscientious employee who is diligent about his work and doesn't steal pencils out of the supply cabinet, even if everyone else does.

Right Attitude

Most jobs present endless practice opportunities. We can be mindful of the tasks we do. We can be helpful and supportive of co-workers, practicing compassion and Right Speech in our communication.

Sometimes jobs can be a real crucible of practice. Egos clash, buttons are pushed. You may find yourself working for someone who is just plain nasty. When do you stay and try to make the best of a bad situation? When do you go? Sometimes it is hard to know. Yes, dealing with a difficult situation can make you stronger. But at the same time, an emotionally toxic workplace can poison your life. If your job is draining you more than nourishing you, consider a change.

A Role in Society

We humans have created an elaborate civilization in which we depend on each other to perform many labors. Whatever work we do provides goods or services to others, and for this, we are paid to support ourselves and our families. Perhaps you work at a vocation dear to your heart. But you may see your job only as something you do that provides you with a paycheck. You're not exactly "following your bliss," in other words.

If your inner voice is screaming at you to follow another career path, by all means, listen to that. Otherwise, appreciate the value in the job you have now. Vipassana teacher S.N. Goenka said,

"If the intention is to play a useful role in society in order to support oneself and to help others, then the work one does is right livelihood." (The Buddha and His Teachings, edited by Samuel Bercholz and Sherab Chodzin Kohn [Shambhala, 1993], p. 101)

And we don't all have to be heart surgeons, you know.

Theravada Monasticism and Right livelihood

The supreme example of Right Livelihood is traditionally that of the monk or nun. Having renounced both possession of money and the responsibilities which require lay-people to earn money, the monk or nun relies only on gifts to meet their basic needs. No harm is done or even supported through this, but instead the opportunity is given for lay people to earn merit. Traditionally this is seen as an entirely blameless vocation.

Mahayana and Right Livelihood

Our global economy complicates the precaution to do no harm to others. For example, you may work in a department store that sells merchandise made with exploited labor. Or, perhaps there is merchandise that was made in a way that harms the environment. Even if your particular job doesn't require harmful or unethical action, perhaps you are doing business with someone who does. Some things you cannot know, of course, but are you still responsible somehow?

Vietnamese Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh wrote,

"To practice Right Livelihood (samyag ajiva), you have to find a way to earn your living without transgressing your ideals of love and compassion. The way you support yourself can be an expression of your deepest self, or it can be a source of suffering for you and others. " ... Our vocation can nourish our understanding and compassion, or erode them. We should be awake to the consequences, far and near, of the way we earn our living." (The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching [Parallax Press, 1998], p. 104)

In The Seventh World of Chan Buddhism, Ming Zhen Shakya suggests finding a "pure" livelihood is impossible.

"Obviously a Buddhist cannot be a bartender or a cocktail waitress, ... or even work for a distillery or a brewery. But may he be the man who builds the cocktail lounge or cleans it? May he be the farmer who sells his grain to the brewer?"

Ming Zhen Shakya argues that any work that is honest and legal can be "Right Livelihood." However, if we remember that all beings are interconnected, we realize that trying to separate ourselves from anything "impure" is impossible, and not really the point.

If you keep working in the department store, maybe someday you'll be a manager who can make ethical decisions about what merchandise is sold there.

Questions

1. Explain what Buddhist is the fifth step on the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path ?

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2. Explain what positively is the idea of right livelihood?

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3. Explain the idea of wrong livelihood?

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4. Explain the importance of the idea of Karma in Theravada thinking on right livelihood?

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5. Would these be examples of right or wrong livelihood? To what extent? Why? (NB this is often a matter of interpretation rather than having an absolutely right answer.)

• Bingo caller

• Diamond miner

• Worker in a fish finger factory

• Journalist working for Vogue

• Merchant sailor

• History teacher

• Tree surgeon

6. Explain what Mahayana teachers say about the importance of right livelihood?  

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Ahimsa: Buddhist Traditions and War

To Buddhists, war is akusala—unskillful, evil.  The Buddha says

“Even if thieves carve you limb from limb with a double-handed saw, if you make your mind hostile you are not following my teachings.” Majjhima-Nikkaya 1:28-20

Still, Buddhists sometimes fight in wars. Is war always wrong? Is there such a thing as a "just war" theory in Buddhism?  The Buddha says

“A man is not a great man because he is a warrior and kills living beings, but because he hurts no living thing. He is in truth a great man.”  Dhammapada 270

Theravada attitudes to justified war and pacifism

Theravada Buddhism attitudes to war reflect a view that we should look beyond a simple right/wrong dichotomy. In Theravada Buddhism, an act that sows the seeds of harmful karma is regrettable even if it unavoidable. An action can be karmicly bad but necessary. Here the principle of “elephant and mouse” is used to decide in Theravada. 

Theravada Buddhists fight to defend their nations, homes and families. This cannot be seen as "wrong," yet even in these circumstances, to harbor hate for one's enemies is still a poison. And any act of war that sows the seeds of future harmful karma is still akusala.

Theravada Buddhist morality is based on principles, not rules. Our principles are those expressed in the Precepts and the Four Immeasurables--loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. Our principles also include kindness, gentleness, mercy and tolerance. Even the most extreme circumstances do not erase those principles or make it "righteous" or "good" to violate them.

Yet neither is it "good" or "righteous" to stand aside while innocent people are slaughtered. And the late Ven. Dr. K Sri Dhammananda, a Theravadin monk and scholar, said, "The Buddha did not teach His followers to surrender to any form of evil power be it a human or supernatural being."

In "What Buddhist Believe," the Venerable Dhammananda wrote,

"Buddhists should not be the aggressors even in protecting their religion or anything else. They must try their best to avoid any kind of violent act. Sometimes they may be forced to go to war by others who do not respect the concept of the brotherhood of humans as taught by the Buddha. They may be called upon to defend their country from external aggression, and as long as they have not renounced the worldly life, they are duty-bound to join in the struggle for peace and freedom. Under these circumstances, they cannot be blamed for becoming soldiers or being involved in defence. However, if everyone were to follow the advice of the Buddha, there would be no reason for war to take place in this world. It is the duty of every cultured person to find all possible ways and means to settle disputes in a peaceful manner, without declaring war to kill his or her fellow human beings."

As always in questions of morality, when choosing whether to fight or not to fight, a Buddhist must examine his own motivations honestly. It is too easy to rationalize one has pure motives when in fact one is fearful and angry. For most of us, self-honesty at this level takes extraordinary effort and maturity, and history tells us that even senior priests with years of practice can lie to themselves.

In recent years, Theravada Buddhist monks have been leaders of political and social activism in Asia. In the collective memory of Sri Lankan Buddhists, the emergence of their nation is seen as linked with the advent of their faith in the era of King Ashoka, if not earlier. It is the monks of Sri Lanka who lead the Jathika Hela Urumaya, "National Heritage Party," a strongly nationalist group that advocates a military solution to Sri Lanka's ongoing civil war. The Saffron Revolution in Burma and the March 2008 demonstrations in Tibet are the most prominent examples. Most of these monks are committed to nonviolence, although there are always exceptions.

What does pacifism mean in Theravada Buddhism?

Nibanna is the spiritual goal which all Buddhists aim to achieve. Nibanna can be achieved by deep meditation, profound peace of mind and insight into the nature of existence. Buddhists should therefore try to overcome all desires so as to be completely free from suffering. They become closer to Nibanna by following the Five Precepts and by not harming others:

Just as a mother would protect her only child even at risk of her own life, even so let one cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings. Let one’s thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world – above below and across – without any obstruction, without any hatred, without any enmity. Metta Sutta

Mahayana attitudes to justified war and pacifism

Mahayna in general says we should extend loving kindness and compassion to our enemies, even when facing them on a battlefield. That's not possible, you may say; yet this is the Buddhist path.

People sometimes seem to think that one is obligated to hate one's enemies. They may say ' How can you speak well of someone who hates you?' The Buddhist approach to this is that we can still choose not to hate people back. If you have to fight someone, then fight. But hate is optional, and you may choose otherwise.

So often in human history, war has sewn seeds that ripened into the next war. And often, the battles themselves were less responsible for evil karma than the way occupying armies treated civilians, or the way the victor humiliated and oppressed the conquered. At the very least, when it is time to stop fighting, stop fighting. History shows us that the victor who treats the conquered with magnanimity, mercy and leniency is more likely to achieve the lasting victory and eventual peace.

Mahayna Buddhist scholars say there is no justification for war in Buddhist teaching. Yet Mahayna Buddhism has not always separated itself from war. There is historic documentation that in 621 CE monks from the Shaolin Temple of China fought in a battle that helped establish the Tang Dynasty.

In centuries past, the heads of Tibetan Buddhist schools formed strategic alliances with Mongol warlords and reaped benefits from the warlords' victories. Most recently the Dalai Lama led the Tibetan army before fleeing to the west and yet got the noble peace prize!  The Dalai Lama argues that one can take limited action in self-defence. “If a man is aiming a gun at you,” he once said, “you can shoot back, but to wound rather than kill.”

The links between Zen Buddhism and samurai warrior culture were partly responsible for the shocking collusion of Zen and Japanese militarism in the 1930s and 1940s. For several years, a virulent jingoism seized Japanese Zen, and teachings were twisted and corrupted to excuse killing. Zen institutions not only supported Japanese military aggression but raised money to manufacture war planes and weapons.

Observed from a distance of time and culture, these actions and ideas are inexcusable corruptions of dharma, and any "just war" theory that arose from them were the products of delusion. This episode serves as a lesson to us not to be swept up in the passions of the cultures we live in. Of course, in volatile times that is easier said than done.

What does pacifism mean in Mahayana Buddhism?

Tenzin Gyatso was enthroned as the 14th Dalai Lama and is now the Buddhist spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. As a Buddhist, the Dalai Lama refused to consider violence to defend his country.

He continues to work on peaceful solutions and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. The Dalai Lama refuses to use violence to free Tibet from the Chinese government because he believes in following Buddhist teachings of non-harm.

The Dalai Lama sees himself as the rebirth of avalokitesvara bodhisattva of compassion and as such should embody karuna and metta- 

“May I be a good doctor for those who suffer from illness, a guide for those who have gone astray, a lamp for those who dwell in darkness, a source of treasure for those in poverty and need.”  Vows of Samantabhadra, Avatamsaka Sutra

Thich Nhat Hanh is a peace activist who marched with martin Luther King.  In his book Teachings on Love, he wrote,

"Each moment is a chance for us to make peace with the world, to make peace possible for the world, to make happiness possible for the world."   

Questions

1. Explain the general Buddhist approach to war?

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2. Explain the Theravada Buddhist approach to justified war?

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3. Explain the contribution of Theravada Buddhist contribution to thought on pacifism?

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4. Explain the Mahayana Buddhist approach to justified war?

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5. Explain the contribution of Mahayana Buddhist contribution to thought on pacifism?

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Ahimsa: Buddhist Traditions and Scriptures Pali cannon and Lotus Sutra

Miltary Cannon or Pacifist Passages? Reading the Pali Canon to justify war-

“The Pali cannon treats the military in six main ways.

1 The first category could be titled Scenery, Symbol and Security.

This category contains the Doctrinally neutral references, ones in which the military appears as part of the background or scenery of the passage. It may appear as a symbol of the power and prestige of a king or as security for him or the state. The military may well be used in teaching a point of Doctrine, but it does not constitute the subject of the teaching. So, no opinion is given or a judgment rendered on the military, and its absence would cause more a loss of color than substance and in no way affect the meaning of the passage.

2 Next, comes the category of Mundane (lokiya) vs. Transcendental (lokuttara).

Here are the references in which the Pali Canon places the military in the mundane; thus, military actions are the performance of mundane actions as opposed to being the performance of otherworldly or transcendental actions. Buddhist laity typically operate within the mundane, while someone performing Path actions, usually a monk, operates in the transcendental (Reynolds, 1979). The Canon makes it clear in numerous passages that military action is not conducive to following the Path; that it should be recognized as such and renounced. The Buddha himself, in his last life and in previous lives, renounced the apex of kshatriya life, that of a king. The skills and actions of a warrior are said to lead to a rebirth in a purgatory or hell. But, the military does not find itself singled out and condemned more harshly than any other mundane profession, action or skill. In fact, even when being condemned as ultimately unproductive, the Pali Canon often corroborates the high social status of the military within the mundane.

3 Monastic Discipline and the Military.

Some of the more important rules include: a monk may visit an army that has marched out of its garrison only if he has sufficient reason and if his stay does not last longer that three days; monks are forbidden from viewing a mock combat, army deployment, or an army review. These regulations were necessary, for some monks still had the desire to witness the above activities. Idle gossip, which includes talking of military matters, has also been forbidden. One of the crucial references in this study concerns the regulation banning soldiers in the king's service from joining the sangha (the monastic community). This passage leads one to believe that the Buddha made a political decision in recognition of Buddhism's need for protection from physical dangers.

4 The military also figures in the category treating the utopic rule of the cakkavattin (a Wheel Turning King).

Here, the military plays a strange role where the cakkavattin maintains a complete four-limbed army and his sons are described as "foe crushers"; yet, neither performs a military function. They seem to appear only as a necessary symbol of kingship.

5 The Metaphor: Nibbanic Action is War.

Here the military plays an important role in serving as the referent in this metaphor. Striving for nibbana, i.e. performing Path actions, is so difficult that the Buddha expresses this endeavor in a series of analogies, which express the powerful metaphor Nibbanic Action is War. In order to explain the difficulties of Path actions, and the superior qualities and skills necessary to overcome them, a monk is frequently told that he must be like a warrior or elephant skilled in battle. The Canon frequently speaks of "conquering" various mundane elements, and just as a raja would have his senapati, his army leader, the Buddha had his second in command the dhammasenapati, Doctrine army leader. And finally, there is the Buddha's "battle" with Mara just before his enlightenment. The use of military elements in such a fashion expresses implicitly a favorable attitude towards the military.

6 The final category is titled The Bodhisatta in Battle.

Here we find militarily involved Jataka or past life stories of the Buddha. In them the Bodhisatta and future arahants participate in military conflicts. Several of these Jataka present the battlefield as an excellent place to perfect energy (viriya, often appearing as perseverance in translations). Several stories raise questions as to the kammic fruits reaped by the Bodhisatta because of his military actions. As we have seen these kammic fruits should be negative, but the Canon remains silent on the matter. From the Jataka we learn that being a soldier in no way negates one's ultimate ability to attain nibbana; and, in fact, being a soldier might be an aid, since, as seen in the category Nibbanic action is War, a superior soldier has the necessary qualities for a monk to succeed. The fact that the Bodhisatta and the future arahants were able to perform military actions and still reach the ultimate Buddhist goal could and can reassure any Buddhist soldier that with the right effort their ultimate well-being could and can be assured. Within the Jataka, the military and military actions come across as perfectly normal in ancient India.

Pacifism in the Pali Cannon

The Buddha said “All fear death. Comparing others with oneself, one should neither kill nor cause to kill.” [Dhammapada 129]  

A non-violent moral stance

In a Jataka story (J 1I.400- 3; cf.] 1.261- 8), the Bodhisattva is said to have been a king told of the approach of an invading army. In response, he says

 'I want no kingdom that must be kept by doing harm',

that is, by having soldiers defend his kingdom. His wishes are followed, and when the capital is surrounded by the invaders, he orders the city's gates to be opened. The invaders enter, and the king is deposed and imprisoned. In his cell, he develops great compassion for the invading king (who will karmically suffer for his unjust action), which leads to this king experiencing a burning sensation in his body. This then prompts him to come to see that he had done wrong by imprisoning a virtuous king. Consequently, he releases him and leaves the kingdom in peace. Here, the message is that the king's non-violent stance managed to save the lives of many people - on both sides. In line with this approach are such verses as: Conquer anger by love, conquer evil by good, conquer the stingy by giving, conquer the liar by truth. (Dhp. 223) Though he should conquer a thousand men in the battlefield, yet he, indeed, is the nobler victor who should conquer himself. (Dhp. 103)

Early Buddhist literature contains numerous references to war. The view expressed almost unanimously in the texts is that because war involves killing, and killing is a breach of the first precept, it is morally wrong to fight in either offensive or defensive wars. In marked contrast to the teachings of the Qu'ran, the Buddha states (Sutta Nipata 4.308- 11) that warriors who die in battle go not to heaven but to a special hell, because at the moment of death their minds are intent on killing living beings. According to Vasubandhu in the Abhidharmakosabhasya, a soldier "even if conscripted, is guilty of killing unless he makes the firm resolve that he will definitely not kill anybody, even for the sake of saving his own life." The same text affirms that killing is bad karma even in the case of self-defence or when done for the sake of defending friends. A legend in the commentary to the Dhammapada narrates how the Buddha's kinsmen, the sakyas, offered only token resistance when attacked by King Vidudabha, and allowed themselves to be slaughtered rather than break the precept against taking life. The Jatakas contain stories concerning princes and kings who were so horrified by violence that they renounced their kingdoms to become ascetics or refused to defend themselves in the face of attack. “

WAR AND PEACE Keown (Encyclopaedia of Buddhism)

War and Pacifism in the Lotus Sutra

Does Skillful in the Lotus sutra mean War or Pacifism?

•   the parable of the Burning house which teaches Skillful means and Ekayana and the compassion of the Bodhisattva

Does Sunyatta / Dependent Origination’ in the Lotus sutra mean War or Pacifism?

•   “The Prajna-paramita (Perfection of Wisdom) Sutras (inc Lotus Sutra) taught that all entities, including dharmas, are only conceptual existents or constructs”  Paul Williams

Does Buddha nature in the Lotus sutra mean War or Pacifism?

•   the goal of the Buddhist who accepts the Lotus Sutra is said to be ‘at-one-ness with the Transcendent Buddha’.

War

Pacifism

Skillful means can be understood to mean “peace building or peace by peaceful means,… The peaceful means, in the Buddhist eyes, must include both the external behaviors and campaigns, and the inner state of mind of the peace activists.  While the nonviolence resistance has been widely adopted by people working for peace, negative feelings and conflicts may exist within and between the peace-making groups.”

THE WAY TO PEACE: A BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE Theresa Der-lan Yeh

Skillful means justifies the killing of a human being in dire circumstances. E.g. Putting to death others to stop being reborn in hell as compassionate killing! E.G THE Captain of a ship of Bodhisattvas with the thief, the Jakata story of the king who kills Brahmin slandering Buddhism to save them from bad Karma  HARVEY PAGE 136-137

Mahayana texts contain passages which allow killing in constrained circumstances provided it is motivated by compassion and carried out with 'skilful means'. Harvey p263

Sunyatta / Dependent Origination’

Soka Gakkai, refused to support WW2 Japan A Nichiren school- ‘the world is an inter-dependent network that must learn to work in harmony (Metraux, I996: 377- 8).’ Harvey p272

Thich Naht Han argue given the interconnections between all things (“the Indra’s Net” in the Avatamsaka Sutra ) mean to harm others is to harm oneself.  The Lotus Sutra One Vehicle (Ekayāna), teaching which is also the Bodhisattva path leads inevitably to the vows of compassion to help others.

Sunyatta / Dependent Origination’

Zen (WW2) understood emptiness taught in the Lotus Sutra to mean that enemies are ‘phantoms’ whom to kill is not to do anything.

“In Bushido, the Zen contempt for death was still present, and this was drawn on in the training of Kamikaze pilots in the closing phases of the Second World War, when the Japanese were getting desperate” Harvey p270

Buddha nature

Given anyone can become enlightened killing anyone is killing a potential Tathagata. Killing is a denial of the ultimate truth, a dualistic expression ‘ignorance’ which can only be motivated by false dualistic thinking as it denies what we are. To kill to hurt others is to hurts oneself. The goal of Buddhism: to cultivate limitless compassion and goodwill to all living beings.

Buddha nature

“Zen (WW2) Killing those who have not accessed their true nature is not as significant as killing those who have.”

“Sogaku (1870-1961) reportedly said that a soldier should always become 'completely at one with' his work, doing whatever he is ordered to do, whether march or shoot, this being 'the clear expression of the highest Bodhi-wisdom, the unity of Zen and war' (quoted in Ives, 1992: 65)” p270 Harvey Intro to ethics

Questions

1. Explain what the Pali Cannon says about War?

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2. Explain what the Pali Cannon says about Pacifism?

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3. Explain what the Lotus Sutra says about War?

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4. Explain what the Lotus Sutra says about Pacifism?

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