Buddhism Question

[saffiyya]

Peace!
I was wondering today if there was any history of violence in Buddhist history, violence perpetrated by Buddhists and sanctioned in Buddhist Doctrine.
The reason I wonder this is because Buddhism is a major world faith, and all the others (major world faiths) have had sanctioned violence in their histories. Buddhism alone is said to be truly peaceful, and it has been around so long...
I could go online and search this out, but misinformation is rampant, and I know we have knowledgeable people on this board who most likely have already done this research, alhumdulillah.
No offense is meant by this question, alhumdulillah, just looking for information.
Thank you,
saffiyya

[Yahya Sulaiman]

If there ever has been, it's been Mahayana Buddhism behind it, I'll bet anything.

I am the poster formerly known as American Deist. No, I don't have a little Venus sign to show you. ;-)

[Vajradhara]

Namaste saffiyya,

thank you for the post.

we've touched on this briefly in this thread:
http://www.understanding-islam.org/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=2&ARCHIVEVIEW=&TOPIC_ID=416

however, to answer your questions specificially...

yes, there are instances of violence in Buddhist history, no, they are not sanctioned in the Buddhist doctrine.

there is a concept of Dharma combat, however, this is a spiritual contest between monks.. though i have seen it misrepresented in other places.

we see some instances of Buddhist violence in todays society in countries where the missionaries are converting poor people with promises of food and medicine. this is considered to be quite deceptive and, unfortunately, has been met with some violent protest by some fundamentalist Buddhist monks.



~compassionately~

[Ahmad24]

we see some instances of Buddhist violence in todays society in countries where the missionaries are converting poor people with promises of food and medicine. this is considered to be quite deceptive and, unfortunately, has been met with some violent protest by some fundamentalist Buddhist monks.



~compassionately~



You mean they do not give food to someone wont convert?

[Ahmad24]

we see some instances of Buddhist violence in todays society in countries where the missionaries are converting poor people with promises of food and medicine. this is considered to be quite deceptive and, unfortunately, has been met with some violent protest by some fundamentalist Buddhist monks.



~compassionately~



You mean they do not give food to someone wont convert?

[Vajradhara]

Namaste Ahmad24,

thanks for the post.

it appears that certain monotheistic traditions are using questionable methods to convert poor people in very rual areas. in essence, if the people want medicine or food, they need to leave their traditional practice and embrace the new one... and if they do, they get good food and medicine and sometimes money. if they don't, they are not given food and medicine. the charity is only for those that convert, it would seem.

this type of behavior does tend to bring out some bad inclinations in some fundamentalist type Buddhists and they act on it as such.



~compassionately~

[Ahmad24]

Assalamu Alaikum,



Namaste Ahmad24,

thanks for the post.

it appears that certain monotheistic traditions are using questionable methods to convert poor people in very rual areas. in essence, if the people want medicine or food, they need to leave their traditional practice and embrace the new one... and if they do, they get good food and medicine and sometimes money. if they don't, they are not given food and medicine. the charity is only for those that convert, it would seem.




Did you get to know and experince this by yourself?, or you read about it from authentic news?

Salam

Ahmad

[nr]

this type of behavior does tend to bring out some bad inclinations in some fundamentalist type Buddhists and they act on it as such.
I'm sure it happens somewhere. Though it is shameful and unchristian for Jesus said "what good is helping your friends...", it is the money of the people trying to do the converting. There have been people such as mother Teresa who have helped people irrespecitve of religion.

[Vajradhara]

Namaste nr,

whilst that may be true (mother theresa) that isn't really germane to the conversation at hand.

there has been violence and it is not sanctioned.

we may even agree, to a certain extent, that their actions were understandable, and we might have done the same thing in their position.

acutally, surah, these would be Hinyana Buddhists that have engaged in this activity. though... i could see how a Mahayanaist could go down that path.. i would tend to think that wouldn't be the case though.

now.. i suppose it should be said that there are beings that don't produce karma with their actions. Karma, remember for us Buddhists, is that by which our good or negative actions are kept track and it's fruit (either positive or negative, depending on our actions) will manifest when conditions are ripe.

it is not necessary, for instance, to have a negative deed manifest in this lifetime if the conditions are not met. also.. it should be clearly noted, that you do not have to be bound by your karma to repeat or cycle through actions or lives. you can change your karma right now. today. this very moment. provided it's a positive change, it can mitigate the reaping of negative fruit.



~compassionately~

[saffiyya]

Peace Vajradhara,
Thanks, that is what I thought.
saffiyya

[Vajradhara]

Namaste saffiyya,

thank you for the response, i'm glad that i could help :)



~compassionately~