ABSTRACT
This chapter explores beyond ethnographic material that empirically demonstrates Buddhist justifications for war, including the many intersections between military structures and organized Buddhism, and presents questions about how the people are to theorize about Buddhist militarism and just-war ideology. It discusses the view that canonical texts advocate pacifism is widely held by Buddhists as well as by scholars of Buddhism, but it is author's contention that the 'discourse of nonviolence' ignores ambiguities concerning violence in the canon. King Dutthagamani's war against Elara serves par excellence as a narrative for Buddhist justification for war, and it was often cited during the Sri Lankan civil war. The chapter emphasizes that 'just-war' was an oxymoron, and that under no circumstances was war justifiable on Buddhist grounds. The crucial point is that for the contemporary monk in Sri Lanka, canonical ambiguity regarding violence leaves open a range of political positions and practices in relation to war.
