The Contradictory Nature Of Buddhism In The Application Of Violence And Participation In Hostilities

The Contradictory Nature of Buddhism in the Application of Violence and Participation in Hostilities
As is known, the history of Buddhism dates back several millennia. It allowed Buddhism to develop an ethical concept, the followers of which can be found all over the world. Buddhist philosophy gives answers to various questions, but the most important question relates to the possibility to get rid of suffering and find personal happiness. Buddhism offers not only a theoretical approach to solving the most important issues for the Buddhist, but also a set of practical advices that are to help man in his/her way of moral and spiritual cleansing and enlightenment. Buddhism can be regarded as a kind of ideology that gives people a practical guide
Given that Buddhism has spread in many countries, including Thailand, it makes sense to analyze its impact on the social and political conditions of life of the citizens of this country. In particular, as the researchers note, there is a certain connection between the ideology of Buddhism and the troubled political situation in Thailand. In fact, during the period of domination of Buddhism since the 30s of the last century, Thailand has repeatedly faced with the military political upheavals, which play a negative role in the life of Thais (Farelly 281). Analysis of Buddhist ethics allows one to agree with the statement that the ethics of Buddhism is rather controversial in the application of violence and the use of military force. Despite the fact that Buddhism is perceived by the majority as an exclusively peaceful religion that denies violence, regardless of the objectives, which it pursues, in Buddhism one can find a contradictory and ambiguous approach to the question of war and violence. This makes it possible to assert that as the main religion of
In particular, the study of the practice of Buddhism, as well as a number of Buddhist texts gives reason to believe that Buddhism demonstrates the ambivalence in relation to the use of violence and participation in hostilities. Firstly, as Keown notes, in Buddhism there are texts, which confirm the fact that Buddhism is inclined to accept the feasibility of the use of military force. In particular, the ancient Buddhist text called Mahabharata clearly defends the idea of the possibility of using military force in order to realize justice in society (Keown 72). In addition, in the history of Buddhism, one can find many examples where Buddhists participated in so-called just wars in the name of a good cause. In fact, "turning from theory to practice, the pacifist ideal of the classical sources has not prevented Buddhists from fighting battles and conducting military campaigns from a mixture of political and religious motives" (Keown