PL
BUDDHISM AND WARThe article raises the issue of Buddhism and its attitude towards war. An analysis of a number of canonical documents as well as historical sources shows that in spite of the declared idea of avoidance of aggressive conduct, in certain periods of its history, Buddhism had not been able to avoid resorting to aggression and violence. It was both aggression directed towards oneself (suicide) and towards others (armed struggle in defense of state sovereignty, fighting with supporters of rival schools, and even terrorism). These type of events are known to have occurred in the history of Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Korea, Vietnam, and particularly Japan. At the other pole, one finds Buddhists who are known for heir participation in peace movements and for their decisive resistance to all forms of violence.