Though traditionally regarded as a peaceful religion, Buddhism has a dark side. On multiple occasions over the past fifteen centuries, Buddhist leaders have sanctioned violence, and even war. The eight essays in this book focus on a variety of Buddhist traditions, from antiquity to the present, and show that Buddhist organizations have used religious images and rhetoric to support military conquest throughout history.

Buddhist soldiers in sixth century China were given the illustrious status of Bodhisattva after killing their adversaries. In seventeenth century Tibet, the Fifth Dalai Lama endorsed a Mongol ruler's killing of his rivals. And in modern-day Thailand, Buddhist soldiers carry out their duties undercover, as fully ordained monks armed with guns.

Buddhist Warfare demonstrates that the discourse on religion and violence, usually applied to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, can no longer exclude Buddhist traditions. The book examines Buddhist military action in Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and shows that even the most unlikely and allegedly pacifist religious traditions are susceptible to the violent tendencies of man.

Buddhist Warfare, Michael Jerryson and Mark Juergensmeyer, Oxford University Press, Paperback, 272 Pages, $31.95

Michael Jerryson is an assistant professor of Religious Studies at Eckerd College, Florida. He is the author of Mongolian Buddhism: The Rise and Fall of the Sangha.

Mark Juergensmeyer is the director of the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, and a professor of Global and International Studies, Religious Studies, and Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence and editor of The Oxford Handbook of Global Religion .

Table of Contents
Introduction - Michael Jerryson
Chapter One: Buddhism and War - Paul Demieville
Chapter Two: Making Merit through Warfare - Stephen Jenkins
Chapter Three: Sacralized Warfare: The Fifth Dalai Lama and the Discourse
of Religious Violence - Derek F. Mahler
Chapter Four: Corporal Punishment during Mongolia's Theocratic Period - Vesna Wallace
Chapter Five: A Buddhological Critique of 'Soldier Zen' in Wartime Japan 148 - Brian Victoria
Chapter Six: Buddhist Monks in China during the Korean War - Xue Yu
Chapter Seven: Sermons to Soldiers in the Sri Lankan Army - Daniel Kent
Chapter Eight: Militarizing Buddhism: Violence in Southern Thailand - Michael Jerryson
Concluding Remarks: Afterthoughts - Bernard Faure
Appendix