ABSTRACT
The violence perpetrated by Buddhist ultra-nationalists in countries such as Sri Lanka and Myanmar in decades has drawn worldwide condemnation, dispelling the notion that Buddhism, uniquely among world religions, is immune to the lure of political violence. This chapter focuses on Buddhist nationalism in the modern period; rulers in pre-colonial Asia also utilized Buddhism to affirm communal bonds within a populace and to cultivate a sense of shared purpose in the face of external threats, a kind of proto-nationalism. Buddhist civic nationalism denotes an ideological association of Buddhism and the national interest that emerges from an enduring and well-established relation between Buddhism and the state. Tibetan and Bhutanese models of Buddhist civic nationalism go beyond reconciling Western nationalism with Buddhist tradition or harnessing the ideological and emotional appeal of Buddhism to a modernist national project. A unified Tibetan national identity, in opposition to Chinese occupation and assimilation in the diaspora, has been forged primarily out of Buddhist identity and culture.
