Military Buddhist Chaplains?

As my mother would ask, “Military Buddhist – isn’t that an oxymoron?” Well, anyone who has read Brian Victoria (Zen and War, etc) or many others who have documented the history of Buddhism and warfare would know that Buddhists, for better or worse, are people too. And as people, caught up in samsara, they too often find themselves in warfare and the military.

And as America is becoming an ever-more Buddhist country, more Buddhists are finding their way into the US Military.

That is where a recent interview by Rev. Danny Fisher comes in:

INTERVIEW: 2LT Rev. Somya Malasri

It’s a brilliant interview and very much worth a read to see into the life of the US Army’s (soon to be) first Buddhist Chaplain. Somya himself radiates wisdom and compassion in both words and his big smile, so I have no doubt he will set a high standard and as great inspiration for those to follow.

For my own part, my first goal is still to become an academic, to open new eyes to life through channeling my passion for Buddhism and Ethics in the classroom. I have had a taste of it, and I know I am hooked. But I also know that the job market can be unforgiving in academia, dozens of well-qualified and brilliant people apply even for obscure and low-paying positions at times. While the universe, karma, God, or whatever, has a way of dropping things (and people) into my lap at the right time, I figure a back-up plan is in order. I could go into publishing or an academic support role, and may still, but recently another option has come to mind: the military.

Speaking of timing, I have once again been pondering this over the last week or so, as I saw my paternal grandparents, both of whom served in the US Army in WWII. My father, too, served two tours in Vietnam for the Army. Now, while the men have actively fought in the wars they served in, my grandma (left) was a nurse, and I would be serving in a capacity more like hers.

And yet, while she helped repair the broken bodies of soldiers, my work would focus on the minds of young men and women in the service. My hope would be that whatever service I give will help them survive mentally the horrors of modern warfare, so that they can come home whole. As many of you know, tens of thousands of soldiers are coming back from their service with PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (a recent article). What many of you probably don’t know is that some estimates suggest that as many as 150,000 Vietnam soldiers have taken their own lives since their service (nearly 3 times the 58,000 who died in service). While exact figures are impossible to perfectly verify – many of these deaths were in suspicious auto accidents and perhaps perfectly accidental drug overdoses for instance – it should give us all pause when we salute the soldiers returning now from Iraq and Afghanistan.

While they certainly may be regarded as heroes, and they may walk tall and proud, many of them are fighting a terrible battle still in their own minds. While dealing with all of that directly will require a veritable army of psychiatrists and therapists, chaplains, Buddhist and otherwise, can and will play a great role in securing the long-term recovery of these men and women. And that is service worth taking part in.