If You Meet the Buddha on the Road: Buddhism, Politics, and Violence

If You Meet the Buddha on the Road: Buddhism, Politics, and Violence

by Michael Jerryson
If You Meet the Buddha on the Road: Buddhism, Politics, and Violence

If You Meet the Buddha on the Road: Buddhism, Politics, and Violence

by Michael Jerryson

Hardcover

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Overview

It is said that the famous ninth century Chinese Buddhist monk Linji Yixuan told his disciples, "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him." The deliberately confounding statement is meant to shock people out of complacent ways of thinking. But beyond the purposeful jolt from complacency there is another intention. This axiom suggests that, for liberation, one should seek the Buddha nature that resides within, rather than a mere Buddha exterior. The metaphor of killing the Buddha dislodges a person from the illusion that enlightenment lies outside the body. The proclamation also highlights the power of violence, even on a symbolic level. Violence abounds in Buddhist thoughts, doctrine, and actions, however unacknowledged or misunderstood.

If You Meet the Buddha on the Road addresses an important absence in the study of religion and violence: the religious treatment of violence. In order to pursue an understanding of the relationship between Buddhism and violence, it is important to first consider how Buddhist scriptures and followers understand violence. Drawing on Buddhist treatments of violence, Michael Jerryson explores the ways in which Buddhists invoke, support, or justify war, conflict, state violence, and gender discrimination. In addition, the book examines the ways in which Buddhists address violence as military chaplains, cope with violence in a conflict zone, and serve as witnesses of blasphemy to Buddhist doctrine and Buddha images.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780190683566
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication date: 05/02/2018
Pages: 240
Product dimensions: 6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Michael Jerryson is Professor of Religious Studies at Youngstown University. He is the co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Religion and Violence and the editor of the Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Buddhism.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Quandry of Buddhism and Violence

I. Buddhist Paths to Violence

II. State Violence and Buddhist Monks

III. The Violence of Gender Discrimination

IV. The Negotiaton of Violence: Buddhist Military Chaplains

V. The Violence of Trauma: Buddhist and Muslim Coping Strategies

VI. Violence against Buddha: A History of Blasphemy

Postscript: Buddhist Authority, Politics, and Violence

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