ABSTRACT
A stereotypical view of Buddhism is that there is no place within it for the justification of war. In popular western consciousness, Buddhists, particularly robed members of the monastic community or Sangha, lead peace processions or look out at the world from the safe haven of solitary meditation, far from conflict. Immolate themselves, they might, in extreme circumstances, but not sanction the killing of other human beings. 1 The non-violent witness of His Holiness the Dalai Lama since the invasion of Tibet by China acts as a proof text for this view. However, predominantly Buddhist countries do have armies. Buddhists from Sri Lanka and Myanmar fought alongside Britain in World War II. The militarization of Japan in the middle years of the twentieth century did not draw much opposition from the country's Buddhists? And, in more recent years, there has been a vocal Buddhist minority in Sri Lanka that has consistently advocated a military rather than a negotiated solution to the island's long-standing ethnic conflict.
