Theos-Talk Archives (August 2004 Message tt00585)

Aug 27 2004

Dear Andrew:

Re: Budha on war.  

Which Sutta ?


I'll ask my friend and expert on Buddhism: Gerry Schuller. 

Hopefully, he will know.

Dallas

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Re	BUDDHISM AND WAR

Aug 27 2004

 
Dear Friend:

This seems to be an interesting view:

WAR -- BUDDHA ON

Theosophy does not advocate "war" at any time.

Here is what the great Buddha said 2,500 years or so ago:

--------------

One day, Sinha, the general of the army, went to the Buddha and
said:

" I am a soldier, O Blessed One. I am appointed by the King to
enforce his laws and to wage his wars. The Buddha teaches
infinite love, kindness and compassion for all sufferers: Does
the Buddha permit the punishment of the criminal?
 
And also, does the Buddha declare that it is wrong to go to war
for the protection of our homes, our wives, our children and our
property? Does the Buddha teach the doctrine of complete
self-surrender? Should I suffer the evil-doer to do what he
pleases and yield submissively to him who threatens to take by
violence what is my own? Does the Buddha maintain that all strife
including warfare waged for a righteous cause should be
forbidden?"

 
The Buddha replied,

 
"He who deserves punishment must be punished. And he who is
worthy of favour must be favoured. Do not do injury to any living
being but be just, filled with love and kindness.

All warfare in which man tries to slay his brothers is lamentable.

Struggle must exist, for all life is a struggle of some kind. But
make certain that you do not struggle in the interest of self
against truth and justice. He who struggles for peace and truth
will have great reward; even his defeat will be deemed a victory.

"If a person goes to battle even for a righteous cause, then
Sinha, he must be prepared to be slain by his enemies because
death is the destiny of warriors. And should his fate overtake
him, he has no reason to complain. But if he is victorious his 
success may be deemed great, but no matter how great it is, 
the wheel of fortune may turn again and bring his life down 
into the dust.

However, if he moderates himself and extinguishes all hatred in
his heart, if he lifts his down-trodden adversary up and says to
him, "Come now and make peace and let us be brothers," then he
will gain a victory that is not a transient success; for the
fruits of that victory will remain forever.

"Great is a successful general, Sinha, but he who conquers self
is the greater victor.

This teaching of conquest of self, Sinha, is not taught to
destroy the lives of others, but to protect them. The person who
has conquered himself is more fit to live, to be successful and
to gain victories that is the person who is a slave of self.

The person whose mind is free from illusion of self, will stand
and not fall in the battle of life. He whose intentions are
righteousness and justice, will meet with no failures. He will be
successful in his enterprise and his success will endure. He who
harbours love of truth in his heart will live and not suffer, for
he has drunk the water of immortality. So struggle courageously
and wisely. Then you can be a soldier of Truth."  

[From the Suttas]

 
======================================
 
-----Original Message-----


From: Andrew S
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 6:51 AM
To: 
Subject: RE: Buddha on War

Dal, can you find the exact Sutra (sutta) for me? The Buddha was a 
Ksatriya (soldier) by caste, not a Brahman, so that makes him all the 
more interesting to me, an old Viet Vet and Master sergeant.


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I add this as a contrast and counter-point from 

The BHAGAVAD GITA


CHAPTER I

THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA
 
OM! 

DHRITARASHTRA: [Blind King, leader of the KURUS]

Tell me, O Sanjaya, what the people of my own party and those of Pandu, who
are assembled at Kurukshetra resolved upon war, have been doing. (1) 


SANJAYA: [Observer, Minister to King ]

King Duryodhana, having just beheld the army of the Pandus drawn up in
battle array, went to his preceptor and spoke these words: 

"Behold! O Master, the mighty army of the sons of Pandu drawn up by thy
pupil, the clever son of Drupada. In it are warriors with great bows, equal
to Bhima and Arjuna in battle, namely, Yuyudhana, and Virata, and Drupada on
his great car; Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana, and the valiant king of Kasi, and
Purujit, and Kuntibhoja, with Saibya, chief of men; Yudhamanyu the strong,
and Uttamauja the brave; the son of Subhadra, and all the sons of Draupadi,
too, in their huge chariots. Be acquainted also with the names of those of
our party who are the most distinguished. I will mention a few of those who
are amongst my generals, by way of example. There is thyself, my Preceptor,
and Bhishma, Karna, and Kripa, the conqueror in battle, and Asvatthama, and
Vikarna, and the son of Somadatta, with others in vast numbers, who for my
service risk their life. They are all of them practiced in the use of arms,
armed with divers weapons, and experienced in every mode of fight. 

This army of ours, which is commanded by Bhishma, is not sufficient, while
their forces, led by Bhima, are sufficient. Let all the generals, according
to their respective divisions, stand at their posts, and one and all resolve
Bhishma to support." 

The ancient chief, brother of the grandsire of the Kurus, then, to raise the
spirits of the Kuru chief, blew his shell, sounding like the lion's roar;
and instantly innumerable shells and other warlike instruments were sounded
on all sides, so that the clangor was excessive. 

At this time Krishna and Arjuna, standing in a splendid chariot drawn by
white horses, also sounded their shells, which were of celestial form: the
name of the one which Krishna blew was Panchajanya, and that of Arjuna was
called Devadatta -- "the gift of the Gods." Bhima, of terrific power, blew
his capacious shell, Paundra; and Yudhishthira, the royal son of Kunti,
sounded Ananta-Vijaya; Nakula and Sahadeva blew their shells also, the one
called Sughosha, the other Manipushpaka. The prince of Kasi, of the mighty
bow; Sikhandi, Dhrishtadyumna, Virata, Satyaki, of invincible arm; Drupada
and the sons of his royal daughter; Krishna, with the son of Subhadra, and
all the other chiefs and nobles, blew also their respective shells, so that
their shrill-sounding voices pierced the hearts of the Kurus and re-echoed
with a dreadful noise from heaven to earth. 

Then Arjuna, whose crest was Hanuman, perceiving that the sons of
Dhritarashtra stood ready to begin the fight, and that the flying of arrows
had commenced, having raised his bow, addressed these words to Krishna: 


ARJUNA: [ The Mind-Soul of every Human being]

"I pray thee, Krishna, cause my chariot to be placed between the two armies,
that I may behold who are the men that stand ready, anxious to commence the
battle; with whom it is I am to fight in this ready field; and who they are
that are here assembled to support the evil-minded son of Dhritarashtra in
the battle." 

SANJAYA: 

Krishna being thus addressed by Arjuna, drove the chariot, and, having
caused it to halt in the space between the two armies, bade Arjuna cast his
eyes towards the ranks of the Kurus, and behold where stood the aged
Bhishma, and Drona, with all the chief nobles of their party. Standing there
Arjuna surveyed both the armies, and beheld, on either side, grandsires,
uncles, cousins, tutors, sons, and brothers, near relations, or bosom
friends; and when he had gazed for awhile and beheld all his kith and kin
drawn up in battle array, he was moved by extreme pity, and, filled with
despondency, he thus in sadness spoke: 


ARJUNA: 

"Now, O Krishna, that I have beheld my kindred thus standing anxious for the
fight, my members fail me, my countenance withereth, the hair standeth on
end upon my body, and all my frame trembleth with horror! Even Gandiva, my
bow, slips from my hand, and my skin is parched and dried up. I am not able
to stand; for my mind, as it were, whirleth round, and I behold on all sides
adverse omens. When I shall have destroyed my kindred, shall I longer look
for happiness? I wish not for victory, Krishna; I want not pleasure; for
what are dominion and the enjoyments of life, or even life itself, when
those for whom dominion, pleasure, and enjoyment were to be coveted have
abandoned life and fortune, and stand here in the field ready for the
battle? Tutors, sons and fathers, grandsires and grandsons, uncles and
nephews, cousins, kindred, and friends! Although they would kill me, I wish
not to fight them: no, not even for the dominion of the three regions of the
universe, much less for this little earth! Having killed the sons of
Dhritarashtra, what pleasure, O thou who art prayed to by mortals, can we
enjoy? Should we destroy them, tyrants though they are, sin would take
refuge with us. It therefore behooveth us not to kill such near relations as
these. How, O Krishna, can we be happy hereafter, when we have been the
murderers of our race? What if they, whose minds are depraved by the lust of
power, see no sin in the extirpation of their race, no crime in the murder
of their friends, is that a reason why we should not resolve to turn away
from such a crime -- we who abhor the sin of extirpating our own kindred? On
the destruction of a tribe the ancient virtue of the tribe and family is
lost; with the loss of virtue, vice and impiety overwhelm the whole of a
race. From the influence of impiety the females of a family grow vicious;
and from women that are become vicious are born the spurious caste called
Varna-Sankara. Corruption of caste is a gate of hell, both for these
destroyers of a tribe and for those who survive; and their forefathers,
being deprived of the ceremonies of cakes and water offered to their manes,
sink into the infernal regions. By the crimes of the destroyers of a tribe
and by those who cause confusion of caste, the family virtue and the virtue
of a whole tribe are forever done away with; and we have read in sacred
writ, O Krishna, that a sojourn in hell awaits those mortals whose
generation hath lost its virtue. Woe is me! What a great crime are we
prepared to commit! Alas! that from the desire for sovereignty and pleasure
we stand here ready to slay our own kin! I would rather patiently suffer
that the sons of Dhritarashtra, with their weapons in their hands, should
come upon me, and, unopposed, kill me unresisting in the field." 

SANJAYA: 

When Arjuna had ceased to speak, he sat down in the chariot between the two
armies; and, having put away his bow and arrows, his heart was overwhelmed
with despondency. 

Thus in the Upanishads, called the holy Bhagavad-Gita, in the science of the
Supreme Spirit, in the book of devotion, in the colloquy between the Holy
Krishna and Arjuna, stands the First Chapter, by name -- 

THE DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA. 


====================================================


2

CHAPTER II

DEVOTION THROUGH APPLICATION TO THE SPECULATIVE DOCTRINES 

 

SANJAYA: 

Krishna, beholding him thus influenced by compunction, his eyes overflowing
with a flood of tears, and his heart oppressed with deep affliction,
addressed him in the following words: 


KRISHNA: [The Divine Soul - Wisdom incarnate]

"Whence, O Arjuna, cometh upon thee this dejection in matters of difficulty,
so unworthy of the honorable, and leading neither to heaven nor to glory? It
is disgraceful, contrary to duty, and the foundation of dishonor. Yield not
thus to unmanliness, for it ill-becometh one like thee. Abandon, O tormenter
of thy foes, this despicable weakness of thy heart, and stand up." 

ARJUNA: 
"How, O slayer of Madhu, shall I with my shafts contend in battle against
such as Bhishma and Drona, who of all men are most worthy of my respect? For
it were better to beg my bread about the world than be the murderer of my
preceptors, to whom such awful reverence is due. Were I to destroy such
friends as these, I should partake of possessions, wealth, and pleasures
polluted with their blood. Nor can we tell whether it would be better that
we should defeat them, or they us. For those drawn up, angrily confronting
us -- and after whose death, should they perish by my hand, I would not wish
to live -- are the sons and people of Dhritarashtra. As I am of a
disposition which is affected by compassion and the fear of doing wrong, I
ask thee which is it better to do. Tell me that distinctly! I am thy
disciple; wherefore instruct in my duty me who am under thy tuition; for my
understanding is confounded by the dictates of my duty, and I see nothing
that may assuage the grief which drieth up my faculties, although I were to
obtain a kingdom without a rival upon earth, or dominion over the hosts of
heaven." 

SANJAYA: 
Arjuna having thus spoken to Krishna, became silent, saying: "I shall not
fight, O Govinda." Krishna, tenderly smiling, addressed these words to the
prince thus standing downcast between the two armies: 

KRISHNA: 
"Thou grievest for those that may not be lamented, whilst thy sentiments are
those of the expounders of the letter of the law. 

Those who are wise in spiritual things grieve neither for the dead nor for
the living. I myself never was not, nor thou, nor all the princes of the
earth; nor shall we ever hereafter cease to be. As the lord of this mortal
frame experienceth therein infancy, youth, and old age, so in future
incarnations will it meet the same. 

One who is confirmed in this belief is not disturbed by anything that may
come to pass. The senses, moving toward their appropriate objects, are
producers of heat and cold, pleasure and pain, which come and go and are
brief and changeable; these do thou endure, O son of Bharata! For the wise
man, whom these disturb not and to whom pain and pleasure are the same, is
fitted for immortality. 

There is no existence for that which does not exist, nor is there any
non-existence for what exists. By those who see the truth and look into the
principles of things, the ultimate characteristic of these both is seen. 

Learn that He by whom all things were formed is incorruptible, and that no
one is able to effect the destruction of IT which is inexhaustible. 

These finite bodies, which envelop the souls inhabiting them, are said to
belong to Him, the eternal, the indestructible, unprovable Spirit, who is in
the body: wherefore, O Arjuna, resolve to fight. 

The man who believeth that it is this Spirit which killeth, and he who
thinketh that it may be destroyed, are both alike deceived; for it neither
killeth nor is it killed. It is not a thing of which a man may say, 'It hath
been, it is about to be, or is to be hereafter'; for it is without birth and
meeteth not death; it is ancient, constant, and eternal, and is not slain
when this its mortal frame is destroyed. 

How can the man who believeth that it is incorruptible, eternal,
inexhaustible, and without birth, think that it can either kill or cause to
be killed? As a man throweth away old garments and putteth on new, even so
the dweller in the body, having quitted its old mortal frames, entereth into
others which are new. 

The weapon divideth it not, the fire burneth it not, the water corrupteth it
not, the wind drieth it not away; for it is indivisible, inconsumable,
incorruptible, and is not to be dried away: it is eternal, universal,
permanent, immovable; it is invisible, inconceivable, and unalterable;
therefore, knowing it to be thus, thou shouldst not grieve. 

But whether thou believest it to be of eternal birth and duration, or that
it dieth with the body, still thou hast no cause to lament it. 

Death is certain to all things which are born, and rebirth to all mortals;
wherefore it doth not behoove thee to grieve about the inevitable. The
antenatal state of beings is unknown; the middle state is evident; and their
state after death is not to be discovered. What in this is there to lament? 

Some regard the indwelling spirit as a wonder, whilst some speak and others
hear of it with astonishment; but no one realizes it, although he may have
heard it described. 

This spirit can never be destroyed in the mortal frame which it inhabiteth,
hence it is unworthy for thee to be troubled for all these mortals. 

Cast but thine eyes towards the duties of thy particular tribe, [Kshatriya -
warrior] and it will ill become thee to tremble. 

A soldier of the Kshatriya (1) tribe hath no duty superior to lawful war,
and just to thy wish the door of heaven is found open before thee, through
this glorious unsought fight which only fortune's favored soldiers may
obtain. 

But if thou wilt not perform the duty of thy calling and fight out the
field, thou wilt abandon thy natural duty and thy honor, and be guilty of a
crime. Mankind will speak of thy ill fame as infinite, and for one who hath
been respected in the world ill fame is worse than death. The generals of
the armies will think that thy retirement from the field arose from fear,
and even amongst those by whom thou wert wont to be thought great of soul
thou shalt become despicable. 

Thine enemies will speak of thee in words which are unworthy to be spoken,
depreciating thy courage and abilities; what can be more dreadful than this!
If thou art slain thou shalt attain heaven; if victorious, the world shall
be thy reward; wherefore, son of Kunti, arise with determination fixed for
the battle. 

Make pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, the same to thee,
and then prepare for battle, for thus and thus alone shalt thou in action
still be free from sin. 

"Thus before thee has been set the opinion in accordance with the Sankhya
doctrine, speculatively; now hear what it is in the practical, devotional
one, by means of which, if fully imbued therewith, thou shalt forever burst
the bonds of Karma and rise above them. In this system of Yoga no effort is
wasted, nor are there any evil consequences, and even a little of this
practice delivereth a man from great risk. In this path there is only one
single object, and this of a steady, constant nature; but widely-branched is
the faith and infinite are the objects of those who follow not this system. 

"The unwise, delighting in the controversies of the Vedas, tainted with
worldly lusts, and preferring a transient enjoyment of heaven to eternal
absorption, whilst they declare there is no other reward, pronounce, for the
attainment of worldly riches and enjoyments, flowery sentences which promise
rewards in future births for present action, ordaining also many special
ceremonies the fruit of which is merit leading to power and objects of
enjoyment. But those who thus desire riches and enjoyment have no certainty
of soul and least hold on meditation. The subject of the Vedas is the
assemblage of the three qualities. Be thou free from these qualities, O
Arjuna! Be free from the 'pairs of opposites' and constant in the quality of
Sattva, free from worldly anxiety and the desire to preserve present
possessions, self-centered and uncontrolled by objects of mind or sense. As
many benefits as there are in a tank stretching free on all sides, so many
are there for a truth-realizing Brahman in all the Vedic rites. 

"Let, then, the motive for action be in the action itself, and not in the
event. Do not be incited to actions by the hope of their reward, nor let thy
life be spent in inaction. Firmly persisting, in Yoga, perform thy duty, O
Dhananjaya (2), and laying aside all desire for any benefit to thyself from
action, make the event equal to thee, whether it be success or failure.
Equal-mindedness is called Yoga. 

"Yet the performance of works is by far inferior to mental devotion, O
despiser of wealth. Seek an asylum, then, in this mental devotion, which is
knowledge; for the miserable and unhappy are those whose impulse to action
is found in its reward. But he who by means of Yoga is mentally devoted
dismisses alike successful and unsuccessful results, being beyond them; Yoga
is skill in the performance of actions: therefore do thou aspire to this
devotion. For those who are thus united to knowledge and devoted, who have
renounced all reward for their actions, meet no rebirth in this life, and go
to that eternal blissful abode which is free from all disease and untouched
by troubles. 

"When thy heart shall have worked through the snares of delusion, then thou
wilt attain to high indifference as to those doctrines which are already
taught or which arc yet to be taught. When thy mind once liberated from the
Vedas shall be fixed immovably in contemplation, then shalt thou attain to
devotion." 

ARJUNA: 
"What, O Kesava (3), is the description of that wise and devoted man who is
fixed in contemplation and confirmed in spiritual knowledge? What may such a
sage declare? Where may he dwell? Does he move and act like other men?" 

KRISHNA: 
"A man is said to be confirmed in spiritual knowledge when he forsaketh
every desire which entereth into his heart, and of himself is happy and
content in the Self through the Self. His mind is undisturbed in adversity;
he is happy and contented in prosperity, and he is a stranger to anxiety,
fear, and anger. Such a man is called a Muni (4). 

When in every condition he receives each event, whether favorable or
unfavorable, with an equal mind which neither likes nor dislikes, his wisdom
is established, and, having met good or evil, neither rejoiceth at the one
nor is cast down by the other. He is confirmed in spiritual knowledge, when,
like the tortoise, he can draw in all his senses and restrain them from
their wonted purposes. 

The hungry man loseth sight of every other object but the gratification of
his appetite, and when he is become acquainted with the Supreme, he loseth
all taste for objects of whatever kind. 

The tumultuous senses and organs hurry away by force the heart even of the
wise man who striveth after perfection. Let a man, restraining all these,
remain in devotion at rest in me, his true self; for he who hath his senses
and organs in control possesses spiritual knowledge. 

"He who attendeth to the inclinations of the senses, in them hath a concern;
from this concern is created passion, from passion anger, from anger is
produced delusion, from delusion a loss of the memory, from the loss of
memory loss of discrimination, and from loss of discrimination loss of all! 

But he who, free from attachment or repulsion for objects, experienceth them
through the senses and organs, with his heart obedient to his will, attains
to tranquility of thought. 

And this tranquil state attained, therefrom shall soon result a separation
from all troubles; and his mind being thus at ease, fixed upon one object,
it embraceth wisdom from all sides. 

The man whose heart and mind are not at rest is without wisdom or the power
of contemplation; who doth not practice reflection, hath no calm; and how
can a man without calm obtain happiness? 

The uncontrolled heart, following the dictates of the moving passions,
snatcheth away his spiritual knowledge, as the storm the bark upon the
raging ocean. 

Therefore, O great-armed one, he is possessed of spiritual knowledge whose
senses are withheld from objects of sense. What is night to those who are
unenlightened is as day to his gaze; what seems as day is known to him as
night, the night of ignorance. Such is the self-governed Sage! 

"The man whose desires enter his heart, as waters run into the unswelling
passive ocean, which, though ever fall, yet does not quit its bed, obtaineth
happiness; not he who lusteth in his lusts. 

"The man who, having abandoned all desires, acts without covetousness,
selfishness, or pride, deeming himself neither actor nor possessor, attains
to rest. This, O son of Pritha, is dependence upon the Supreme Spirit, and
he who possesseth it goeth no more astray; having obtained it, if therein
established at the hour of death, he passeth on to Nirvana in the Supreme." 

Thus in the Upanishads, called the holy Bhagavad-Gita, in the science of the
Supreme Spirit, in the book of devotion, in the colloquy between the Holy
Krishna and Arjuna, stands the Second Chapter, by name -- 

DEVOTION THROUGH APPLICATION TO THE SANKHYA DOCTRINE. 


===========================


Interesting? I think so,

Dallas