Post by Otagiri Tatsuzou on Jan 28, 2008 18:46:11 GMT -5
(xpost from the AA where I was responding to a question of militaristic Buddhism)
At the World Parliament of Religions in 1894, Soyen Shaku Roshi had this to say:
www.china1900.info/gedanken/wpr05.htm
But his belief in world-peace faltered. Tolstoy wrote to him in 1904 to request that Shaku join them in condemning the Russian-Japanese war. Shaku refused, concluding that "... as a means of bringing into harmony those things which are incompatible, killing and war are necessary."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyen_Shaku
These essays originate from that same time. I post the following excerpts without comment.
In 1904, in The Buddhist View of War, Soyen Shaku Roshi
In 1904, in At the Battle of Nan-Shan Hill, Soyen Shaku Roshi wrote...
In 1904, in At the Battle of Nan-Shan Hill, Soyen Shaku Roshi wrote
In 1904, in At the Battle of Nan-Shan Hill, Soyen Shaku Roshi concluded
In 1905, at the Great Golden Hall, in An Address Delivered At A Service Held In Memory Of Those Who Died In The Russo-Japanese War, Soyen Shaku Roshi wrote
At the World Parliament of Religions in 1894, Soyen Shaku Roshi had this to say:
...International law has been very successful in protecting the nations from each other and has done a great deal toward arbitration instead of war. But can we not hope that this system shall be carried out on a more and more enlarged scale, so that the world will be blessed with the everlasting, glorious bright sunshine of peace and love instead of the gloomy, cloudy weather of bloodshed, battles, and wars?
We are not born to fight one against another. We are born to enlighten our wisdom and cultivate our virtues according to the guidance of truth. And, happily, we see the movement toward the abolition of war and the establishment of a peace-making society. But how will our hope be realized? Simply by the help of the religion of truth. The religion of truth is the fountain of benevolence and mercy.
We must not make any distinction between race and race, between civilization and civilization, between creed and creed, and faith and faith. You must not say "Go away," because we are not Christians. You must not say "Go away," because we are yellow people. All beings on the universe are in the bosom of truth. We are all sisters and brothers; we are sons and daughters of truth, and let us understand one another much better and be true sons and daughters of truth. Truth be praised!
We are not born to fight one against another. We are born to enlighten our wisdom and cultivate our virtues according to the guidance of truth. And, happily, we see the movement toward the abolition of war and the establishment of a peace-making society. But how will our hope be realized? Simply by the help of the religion of truth. The religion of truth is the fountain of benevolence and mercy.
We must not make any distinction between race and race, between civilization and civilization, between creed and creed, and faith and faith. You must not say "Go away," because we are not Christians. You must not say "Go away," because we are yellow people. All beings on the universe are in the bosom of truth. We are all sisters and brothers; we are sons and daughters of truth, and let us understand one another much better and be true sons and daughters of truth. Truth be praised!
www.china1900.info/gedanken/wpr05.htm
But his belief in world-peace faltered. Tolstoy wrote to him in 1904 to request that Shaku join them in condemning the Russian-Japanese war. Shaku refused, concluding that "... as a means of bringing into harmony those things which are incompatible, killing and war are necessary."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyen_Shaku
These essays originate from that same time. I post the following excerpts without comment.
In 1904, in The Buddhist View of War, Soyen Shaku Roshi
Why, then, do we fight at all?
Because we do not find this world as it ought to be. Because there are here so many perverted creatures, so many wayward thoughts, so many ill-directed hearts, due to ignorant subjectivity. For this reason Buddhists are never tired of combating all productions of ignorance, and their fight must be to the bitter end. They will show no quarter. They will mercilessly destroy the very root from which arises the misery of this life. To accomplish this end, they will never be afraid of sacrificing their lives, nor will they tremble before an eternal cycle of transmigration. Coporeal existences come and go, material appearances wear out and are renewed. Again and again they take up the battle at the point where it was left off.
But all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas never show any ill-will or hatred toward the enemies. Enemies - the enemies of all that is good - are indeed wicked, avaricious, shameless, hell-born, and, above all, ignorant. But are they not, too, my own children for all their sins? They are to be pitied and enlightened, not persecuted. Therefor, what is shed by Buddhists is not blood, - which, unfortunately, has stained so many pages in history of religion, - but tears issuing directly from the fountain-head of loving-kindness.
Because we do not find this world as it ought to be. Because there are here so many perverted creatures, so many wayward thoughts, so many ill-directed hearts, due to ignorant subjectivity. For this reason Buddhists are never tired of combating all productions of ignorance, and their fight must be to the bitter end. They will show no quarter. They will mercilessly destroy the very root from which arises the misery of this life. To accomplish this end, they will never be afraid of sacrificing their lives, nor will they tremble before an eternal cycle of transmigration. Coporeal existences come and go, material appearances wear out and are renewed. Again and again they take up the battle at the point where it was left off.
But all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas never show any ill-will or hatred toward the enemies. Enemies - the enemies of all that is good - are indeed wicked, avaricious, shameless, hell-born, and, above all, ignorant. But are they not, too, my own children for all their sins? They are to be pitied and enlightened, not persecuted. Therefor, what is shed by Buddhists is not blood, - which, unfortunately, has stained so many pages in history of religion, - but tears issuing directly from the fountain-head of loving-kindness.
In 1904, in At the Battle of Nan-Shan Hill, Soyen Shaku Roshi wrote...
...Here is the price we must pay for our ideals - a price in streams of blood by the sacrifices of many thousands of living bodies. However determined may be our resolution to crush evils, our hearts tremble at the sight of this appaling scene...
In 1904, in At the Battle of Nan-Shan Hill, Soyen Shaku Roshi wrote
War is an evil and a great one, indeed. But war against evils must be unflinchingly prosecuted till we attain the final aim. In the present hostilities, into which Japan has entered with great reluctance, she pursues no egotistic purpose, but seeks the subjugation of evils hostile to civilization, peace, and enlightenment. She deliberated long before she took up arms, as she was well aware of the magnitude and gravity of the undertaking. But the firm conviction of the justice of her cause has endowed her with an indomitable courage, and she is determined to carry the struggle to the bitter end
In 1904, in At the Battle of Nan-Shan Hill, Soyen Shaku Roshi concluded
I came here with a double purpose. I wished to have my faith tested by going through the greatest horrors of my life, but I also wished to inspire, if I could, our valient soldiers with the ennobling thought of Buddha, so as to enable them to die on the battlefield with the confidence that the task is great and noble. I wished to convince them of the truths that this war is not the mere slaughter of their fellow-beings, but that they are combating an evil, and that, at the same time, corporeal annihilation really means the rebirth of the soul, not in heaven, indeed, but here among ourselves. I believe I did my best to impress these ideas upon the soldiers' hearts; and my own sentiments I express in the following stanza, one of the many poems composed on the field of battle:
Here, marching on Nan-Shan,
Storming its topmost crest,
Have thousands of brave men
With dragon valor pressed.
Before the foe my heart
Is calmed, composure-blessed,
While belching cannons sing
A lullaby of rest
Here, marching on Nan-Shan,
Storming its topmost crest,
Have thousands of brave men
With dragon valor pressed.
Before the foe my heart
Is calmed, composure-blessed,
While belching cannons sing
A lullaby of rest
In 1905, at the Great Golden Hall, in An Address Delivered At A Service Held In Memory Of Those Who Died In The Russo-Japanese War, Soyen Shaku Roshi wrote
... Let us, therefore, not absolutely cling to the bodily existence, but, when necessary, sacrifice it for a better thing. For this is the way in which spirituality of our beings asserts itself.
This being the case, war is not necessarily horrible, provided that it is fought for a just and honorable cause, that it is fought for the maintenance and realizations of noble ideas, that it is fought for the upholding of humanity and civilization. Many material human bodies may be destroyed, many humane hearts be broken, but from a broader point of view these sacrifices are so many phoenixes consumed in the sacred fire of spirituality, which will arise from the smoldering ashes reanimated, ennobled, and glorified. ...
This being the case, war is not necessarily horrible, provided that it is fought for a just and honorable cause, that it is fought for the maintenance and realizations of noble ideas, that it is fought for the upholding of humanity and civilization. Many material human bodies may be destroyed, many humane hearts be broken, but from a broader point of view these sacrifices are so many phoenixes consumed in the sacred fire of spirituality, which will arise from the smoldering ashes reanimated, ennobled, and glorified. ...