[Buddha-l] Buddhism and the "status quo"

[curt]

The attitude of Buddhism toward wars and militarism has historically 
been a seamless extension of Buddhism's overall approach to human 
society as a whole. Buddhism has never promoted radical, much less 
revolutionary, changes in society (with one important exception that 
I'll get to in a moment). Rather Buddhism has largely accepted 
conventional human society "as is" - and Buddhists have historically 
chosen between (a) living normal, conventional lives as "householders" 
doing their best to apply Buddhism to their own personal lives, or (b) 
leaving conventional society altogether and and becoming "home-leavers". 
The most consistent exception to this "apolitical" tendency in Buddhism 
has been that Buddhists, both lay and monastic, have often supported 
factions within the ruling elites who are well-disposed toward Buddhism. 
And being "well-disposed toward Buddhism" generally means what it meant 
to good old Emperor Wu: material support for Temples and monastic 
communities. For anyone not familiar with Emperor Wu he has his own 
wikipedia entry: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_legends_about_Emperor_Wu_of_Liang

- Curt