[Buddha-l] A More Encouraging Read

[Curt Steinmetz]

Franz Metcalf wrote:
>
> It seems to me that Wahid is pointing out something that ought to be 
> obvious from a Buddhist perspective, but is entirely absent from the 
> media coverage I've seen on the protests: that Buddhism doesn't care a 
> fig for nations and just maybe the Dalai Lama doesn't, either. 

The problem here is that Buddhism has existed for 2500 years in Asia - 
and all during that time Buddhists have consistently defended their 
nations against attacks from their neighbors (who, as often as not, are 
Buddhists, too!). Nor is there any evidence of any Buddhist teachers, 
including Old Shakyamuni, ever encouraging political leaders to abandon 
the principle of national self-defense. And today a great many (probably 
most) Tibetan Buddhists do not share the Dalai Lama's views. So it is 
wrong to identify an absence of concern for national self-defense as 
something that is "obvious from a Buddhist perspective".

Curt Steinmetz