{"id":702,"date":"2006-09-17T08:24:00","date_gmt":"2006-09-17T08:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/09\/buddhism-zen-and-violence\/"},"modified":"2006-09-17T08:24:00","modified_gmt":"2006-09-17T08:24:00","slug":"buddhism-zen-and-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/09\/buddhism-zen-and-violence.html","title":{"rendered":"Buddhism: zen and violence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The discussion in my last post raised some good questions. I don\u2019t suppose I can get into it much now, but along with the comments in the \u201cFree Inquiry\u201d article mentioned in the comments from my last post I thought I\u2019d add this.<\/p>\n

Brian Victoria has made quite a name for himself as a gadfly in the Zen world \u2013 he was (is?) an ordained Soto priest and has published a powerful critique of Zen (see below):<\/p>\n

Book Announcement<\/span><\/p>\n

Zen at War: Second Edition, by Brian Daizen Victoria<\/span>
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.<\/span><\/p>\n

_Zen at War_, which has been out of print for nearly two years, has<\/span>
been republished in an enlarged edition. The distinguishing features of the<\/span>
second edition are a new preface describing the first edition\u2019s impact in the<\/span>
West and more particularly in Japan where the Japanese language version<\/span>
contributed to the Myoshinji branch of the Rinzai Zen sect issuing the first<\/span>
ever apology in September 2001 for its support of Japanese militarism.<\/span><\/p>\n

A new epilogue addresses the connection between Japan\u2019s Zen-endorsed \u201choly war\u201d<\/span>
(J. seisen) and the broader and ongoing phenomenon of religion-endorsed warfare<\/span>
in today\u2019s world. More importantly, a new chapter entitled \u201cWas It Buddhism?\u201d<\/span>
explores the relatively unknown historic connection of Buddhism to warfare,<\/span>
especially on the part of the Chan\/Zen school, and comes to the controversial<\/span>
conclusion that \u201c. . . Zen\u2019s claim to be an authentic expression of the Buddha<\/span>
Dharma must remain in doubt.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Victoria gave a pair of talks at my university three years ago. At the first one several people left mid-way and one young man, anxious to ask a question but skipped over time and again by Dr. Victoria, gave him the finger and left angrily. At the second talk I, along with my companion, decided at the mid-point break that the rest wasn\u2019t worth seeing. Not only is his message quite hard to accept by many, but his delivery was anything but charming (as his last sentence here indicates)\u2026<\/p>\n

My interest\/question is in how Zen practitioners take his works.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The discussion in my last post raised some good questions. I don\u2019t suppose I can get into it much now, but along with the comments in the \u201cFree Inquiry\u201d article mentioned in the comments from my last post I thought I\u2019d add this. Brian Victoria has made quite a name for himself as a gadfly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBuddhism: zen and violence<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The discussion in my last post raised some good questions. I don't suppose I can get into it much now, but along with the comments in the "Free Inquiry"\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/09\/buddhism-zen-and-violence.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Buddhism: zen and violence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The discussion in my last post raised some good questions. I don't suppose I can get into it much now, but along with the comments in the "Free Inquiry"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/09\/buddhism-zen-and-violence.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Buddhist Perspectives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-09-17T08:24:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/7907151-115847937489581032?l=americanbuddhist.blogspot.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Justin Whitaker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Justin Whitaker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/09\/buddhism-zen-and-violence.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/09\/buddhism-zen-and-violence.html\",\"name\":\"Buddhism: zen and violence\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-09-17T08:24:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2006-09-17T08:24:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/abfb8f851f671638c4c7536b963f9da9\"},\"description\":\"The discussion in my last post raised some good questions. I don't suppose I can get into it much now, but along with the comments in the \\\"Free Inquiry\\\"\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/09\/buddhism-zen-and-violence.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/09\/buddhism-zen-and-violence.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/09\/buddhism-zen-and-violence.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Buddhism: zen and violence\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/\",\"name\":\"American Buddhist Perspectives\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/abfb8f851f671638c4c7536b963f9da9\",\"name\":\"Justin Whitaker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/817b6fba8ae056aaff4f9bdc84347d72?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/817b6fba8ae056aaff4f9bdc84347d72?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Justin Whitaker\"},\"description\":\"I am an almost-life-long Montanan; a baptized Catholic; an ardent Atheist; a practicing Buddhist; a lover of Wisdom. I have a BA and almost an MA in (Western) Philosophy from the University of Montana-Missoula, an MA in Buddhist Studies from Bristol University, UK, and I am currently working on a Ph.D. in Buddhist Ethics at the U of London. My main academic foci are early Buddhist ethics and Kant (odd combination, I know). I also study Western ethics, Tibetan Buddhism, Theravada, Comparative philosophy, and Environmental ethics. I also like photography, running, drinking wine, and eating peanut butter (often in that order).\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/author\/justinwhitaker\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Buddhism: zen and violence","description":"The discussion in my last post raised some good questions. I don't suppose I can get into it much now, but along with the comments in the \"Free Inquiry\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/09\/buddhism-zen-and-violence.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Buddhism: zen and violence","og_description":"The discussion in my last post raised some good questions. I don't suppose I can get into it much now, but along with the comments in the \"Free Inquiry\"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/09\/buddhism-zen-and-violence.html","og_site_name":"American Buddhist Perspectives","article_published_time":"2006-09-17T08:24:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/7907151-115847937489581032?l=americanbuddhist.blogspot.com"}],"author":"Justin Whitaker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Justin Whitaker","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/09\/buddhism-zen-and-violence.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/09\/buddhism-zen-and-violence.html","name":"Buddhism: zen and violence","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#website"},"datePublished":"2006-09-17T08:24:00+00:00","dateModified":"2006-09-17T08:24:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/abfb8f851f671638c4c7536b963f9da9"},"description":"The discussion in my last post raised some good questions. I don't suppose I can get into it much now, but along with the comments in the \"Free Inquiry\"","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/09\/buddhism-zen-and-violence.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/09\/buddhism-zen-and-violence.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2006\/09\/buddhism-zen-and-violence.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Buddhism: zen and violence"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/","name":"American Buddhist Perspectives","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/abfb8f851f671638c4c7536b963f9da9","name":"Justin Whitaker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/817b6fba8ae056aaff4f9bdc84347d72?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/817b6fba8ae056aaff4f9bdc84347d72?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","caption":"Justin Whitaker"},"description":"I am an almost-life-long Montanan; a baptized Catholic; an ardent Atheist; a practicing Buddhist; a lover of Wisdom. I have a BA and almost an MA in (Western) Philosophy from the University of Montana-Missoula, an MA in Buddhist Studies from Bristol University, UK, and I am currently working on a Ph.D. in Buddhist Ethics at the U of London. My main academic foci are early Buddhist ethics and Kant (odd combination, I know). I also study Western ethics, Tibetan Buddhism, Theravada, Comparative philosophy, and Environmental ethics. I also like photography, running, drinking wine, and eating peanut butter (often in that order).","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/author\/justinwhitaker"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}