SuttaCentral
Hmm, good point, let me think about it.
It’s certainly been the major thrust of the good folks who want to both-sides Putin’s genocidal war of imperial conquest.
This is true.
A lot of good points here, folks, thank you, and I will consider them as I think about writing an essay on the topic.
My sense of the Dhamma is that it must be practicable, and useful to us. If we see the precepts as laws or injunctions, rather than training rules, we set ourselves up for the painful absolutism that many, like myself, suffered with being raised in the Catholic Church, and who suffered with guilt and worry about being sent to hell for our sins. One of the qualities of the Dhamma that I feel is so wise, and so beneficial to human life, is its lack of rigid moral absolutism. It is, as Ajahn Jayasaro has said, an “educational system.” An ethics based system of the cultivation of wisdom and ethics as a foundation to a Path toward release from suffering and the cultivation of true human happiness and potential. It seems to me that as soon as we misinterpret the training rules (part of a system of education), and resort to absolutes, we lose the capacity for the acquisition of wisdom, and of compassion.
I do think Ven. Bodhi struck the right chord in his writings and talks on “just war/violence.” I do think his opinion on just war is Dhammic and sound, though there are certainly aspects of the Suttas that can be cited to support an absolutist position.
It kinds of goes back to the way that Ven. Bodi approached the issue of Bhikkhuni ordination. Ven. Thanissaro filed a legal brief that argued against the ordination of women; like a silk-stocking appellate lawyer, he wrote a persuasive brief, much like the way he argues against the idea of a just use of defensive violence. Yet, Ven. Bodhi argued in that case that even with all of the well-reasoned arguments in favor of subordinating and canceling women in Buddhism, he asked the one important question: which is the most compassionate perspective? In other words, if the application of Dhamma to a fact pattern does not result in a just, wise, and compassionate outcome, of what benefit is the Dhamma to us, other than being like a dusty book of appellate cases sitting on a shelf, unused and unread?
I would like to contribute to Ven. @sujato future essay by this Dhammapada verse Kāḷayakkhinīvatthu:
For never is hatred
settled by hate,
it’s only settled by love:
this is an eternal truth.Na hi verena verāni,
sammantīdha kudācanaṁ;
Averena ca sammanti,
esa dhammo sanantano.
Also, according to the commentary of the above verses, as quoted below:
The young wife laid her boy at the feet of the Tathāgata and said, “I give you this child; spare the life of my son.”
Maybe, as suggested, one possible solution among many to a conflict can be:
Instead of pursuing non-stop to settle the unresolved affair in the saṃsāra, offer the object in conflict (e.g. land, possession, debt, promise, revenge, etc.) to the Triple Gems to settle it once and for all.
Not really, he was roundly criticized by multiple Vinaya scholars. His argument was thin to say the least. To be sure, the task he set himself was not easy: it is hard to argue against the validity of bhikkhuni ordination when the Vinaya explicitly states that bhikkhunis can be ordained by monks.
Soon afterwards the Buddha gave a Teaching and addressed the monks: “I allow you to give the full ordination to nuns.”
If it were me, I would simply not try to argue that something explicitly allowed in the Vinaya is not actually allowed in the Vinaya. Otherwise, people might think that my motives for making the argument were not really about Vinaya at all. 
In my understanding, just as when the Buddha is questioned about things in absolute terms and he replies with the teaching on paṭiccasamuppāda, the spirit of the entire Dhamma is not to prescribe things that everybody should do, nor things that nobody should do but, rather, to describe what actions one should and should not do, if one desires to attain the end of suffering. This has already been correctly (in my opinion) pointed out by @owl.
I would say that that’s an important consideration, imho, further illustrated when the Buddha says that his teachings don’t conflict with the world nor with other sages (I don’t have the reference handy).
So with that in mind, one can argue, under a different ethical dimension, that the war in Ukraine is just for the Ukrainians who are being invaded. But I would say that any argument made in absolute moral terms is not the domain of Buddhism.
Are the soldiers right for defending their country from an oppressor? Sure, under a certain ethical framework. Are their actions helping them along the path to enlightenment? Certainly not. Does that make the war in Ukraine unjust in absolute terms? No, it just makes the actions of the soldiers go against the goal of reaching liberation from suffering.
I think, as practitioners, we’d do well to keep in mind that the Buddha only taught suffering and the end of suffering, not a framework for geopolitics. Anything else falls outside the domain of our practice, and is very much up to the individual and the individual’s idiosyncrasies. Can we choose to engage the world and its problems to help find solutions that go in accordance to the Dhamma? Yes, of course; it would be an expression of compassion. But that choice is neither here nor there, from the perspective of the practice, imho.
If I am misunderstanding the Dhamma, I’d appreciate any corrections. With mettā.
I think it is quite clear there is nothing which Russia has done in Ukraine that the USA and its western vassal states haven’t done elsewhere.
For example, the USA are currently illegally occupying about 1/3 of Syria and extracting oil from it, but since the media instead focus solely on Russia, how many people are aware of it?
Australian whistleblower David McBride said
I’ve been asked if I think the invasion of Ukraine is illegal.
My answer is:
If we don’t hold our own leaders to account, we can’t hold other leaders to account.
If the law is not applied consistently, it is not the law.
It is simply an excuse we use to target our enemies.
Bhikkhu Bodhi should consider supporting action about his own government before targeting a foreign government (even if that means he won’t be invited to the White house anymore). And actually he should consider not engaging in politics altogether, as the Buddha advised to monks. This issue proves that Buddhist monks are as susceptible to fall victim to “cognitive warfare”-fueled propaganda as everyone else and just reinforces the Buddha’s advice.
America being a bloody and imperialistic empire does not undo the horrors of what Russia is doing. It is also entirely unfair to criticize Bhikkhu Bodhi and say he should talk about America’s own crimes…when this is something he has done multiple times.
Americas hands being soaked in innocent blood does not wash away Ukrainian blood from Russia’s. It does not clean away the gold teeth they plucked from Ukrainian mouths. Two nations can be committing crimes at once, one does not cancel out the other.
Interesting idea, supported by at least 7 posters here. Can you or any of the others provide any suttas that directly support your claim? Thank you
For example, MN 130 is about being punished for eons in hell. It seems the bad kamma committed in MN 130 was:
Your Majesty, this person did not pay due respect to their mother and father, ascetics and brahmins, or honor the elders in the family.
There seems to be a misunderstanding here. It is generally a good thing to refrain from criticizing people for things they have not said.
Hi everyone,
Just a reminder for any future posters to stay on topic and to take time and care when posting about such complicated and upsetting issues as war, especially ongoing ones.
Warm regards.
Alex on behalf of mods
If you’re going to both-sides and what-about, perhaps you might do better than citing a right-wing think tank established by that respected exemplar of integrity … checks notes … Richard Nixon, in an article that sagely opines:
… many of Trump’s campaign statements were eminently reasonable. But contrary to his clear-eyed observations …
The article (inaccurately) describes a situation under Trump in 2018, prior to the “clear-eyed” Trumpian betrayal of allies in 2019 with its chaotic and unplanned withdrawal.
Meanwhile, the notoriously pro-US news propaganda of … checks notes once more … Al Jazeera says that there are currently about 900 US soldiers in Syria, located in areas controlled by the Syrian opposition.
I have zero sympathy for US policy in the Middle East and have relentlessly opposed US imperialism ever since I heard Midnight Oil. But it is ridiculous to compare the US support for the opposition parties in the Syrian civil war with the Russian invasion of the peaceful democratic sovereign nation of Ukraine.
This is definitely a difficult issue, I struggle myself with it. It is not easy to stand by and let innocents be killed and absorbed into an autocracy. But killing is also a dark thing to be abhorred in all its forms.
Whatever the case though, it is important to note that a Buddhist in a war zone has many options for direct action - helping the wounded, rebuilding / cleanup, rescue jobs, firefighting, other humanitarian work, taking people to safety, distributing food, and so on.
So the option is never black and white. If I was a Ukrainian Buddhist, I would naturally gravitate towards these jobs, which are very important in a war zone - as important as combat jobs in many cases.
This is part of the challenge with the genocide and war that has been going on in Burma/Myanmar. Many NGOs in Thailand and Myanmar working to support the victims of war and the IDPs; I’ve pitched in in small ways as best I can. Yet, I have the thought to help provide some defensive help to some of the IDPs and Karen villages, that are routinely attacked and burned out of their villages. Many times, the Tatmadaw soldiers will rape women and girls in these villages. After some of these episodes, I considered deeply an effort at getting defensive weapons to some of these villages. Maybe this makes me a bad Buddhist, but after the rapes and battery and murders of some young Karen girls, the savagery of the Tatmadaw soldiers needed to be addressed when these helpless villages are attacked. I’ve provided medical equipment to the Free Burma Rangers (they train resistance fighters in Myanmar villages) that I brought in from the US, to exchange at locations near the border so that the gear can be taken on foot to the field hospitals in Burma. I mention this only to suggest that real action can be taken, that there are many NGOs in Ukraine and Thailand/Myanmar doing amazing work, and yes, there are needs for defensive weapons in some cases where the rape and murder of innocents is just too tragic and too frequent in Karen State.
by Shwe Lan Ga Lay:
How can a dedicated meditator maintain the five precepts when encountering armed soldiers with orders to abduct, rape, torture, or even kill? How should devoted lay supporters of the Saṅgha respond when much of their own monkhood remains silent even as their country is burning around them? What is the best way that practitioners outside of Myanmar can support the protest movement at this time? These are just a few of the moral quandaries put to the Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi, in an interview which he later admitted was “one of the toughest I’ve ever had.” In truth, the questions were not posed to frame an intellectual, abstract debate; many were sent in by Burmese Buddhist listeners, and concern real-life—and sometimes life-and-death—challenges, in the context of the military’s on-going terror campaign. They are from people desperately seeking spiritual answers that in many cases their own monkhood has unfortunately not been providing. So this interview is not your typical Dhamma talk or theoretical discourse on Buddhist doctrine. With this in mind, Bhikkhu Bodhi emphasizes that his words “should be viewed as my personal opinions, and not authoritative dicta coming down from the high seat of authority, but my opinions, the way to resolve these very difficult ethical dilemmas.” His sensitive and flexible approach enables the Buddha’s teachings to be applied to a many-shades-of-grey reality, and acknowledges that in real life messiness, there may be no good, clean ethical options. Not only are black-and-white, theoretical absolutes not appropriate for people facing such difficult circumstances, they can even have the effect of turning people away from the teachings, bring unrealistic and rarified standards beyond most people’s reach in challenging life situations. So Bhikkhu Bodhi advocates adapting the spirit rather than the letter of the teachings to help us navigate our way through these serious challenges now facing Myanmar. The discussion is wide-ranging. Other topics posed to Bhikkhu Bodhi range from the way Buddhist monks can engage with this crisis skillfully and in accordance with the Vinaya, to how Buddhist communities can best protect themselves against the terror state while understanding the immutable laws of karma, to the Rohingya crisis and issues surrounding the integration of Burmese Muslims into society. None of these have easy answers, and this is the morass that the Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi has willingly waded into, knowing there are simply no good solutions. This makes his moral courage all the more remarkable, at a time when many Buddhist leaders, especially those whose lineages trace back to Burma, carry on their teaching schedules while carefully avoiding these difficult questions. We thank him for his courageous willingness to engage on these difficult matters, and for the sensitivity and value of his words of wisdom. Website: https://insightmyanmar.org/complete-s…
I think it is very unskillful to spread conspiracy theories in favor of a nation that has declared war on another, particularly one so clearly unjustified even by secular ethics systems. A government doing something never justifies the citizens of that country being subjected to violence…
Thank you!
We do not!
Whenever I can, when I see something that challenges my preconceptions I follow it up to see if there is any validity to it. Ignoring the nonsense, I checked the Amnesty report so you don’t have to.
Puerh described this as a report on “genocide” by Ukraine. It is not. The word genocide is not used.
It is a report on allegations of extra-judicial killings carried out in the war instigated by Russian insurgents on Ukrainian soil in 2014. This conflict resulted in about 8,000 casualties due to Russian hostilities.
Reports of extra-judicial killings by pro-Russian insurgents include:
Reports of extra-judicial killings by Ukrainian soldiers include:
Terrible things happen in wartime, and Amnesty is right to call for investigation and various actions by Ukraine to address this. At least some of the recommendations by Amnesty have been followed up in subsequent years.
There is a different government now in Ukraine, and the armed forces have significantly upgraded their training and command structure. Yet some things remain the same. Russia is still attacking them for no reason, and some people still feel the need to actually come out in public and shill on behalf of the genocidal fascist psychopath Vladimir Putin, because reasons I guess.
Bhante I do 100% agree with your characterization here and just cannot comprehend how somebody can be drawn to Buddhism AND somebody like Putin… That’s like being a democratic fascist or capitalist communist.
I don’t really agree with your earlier characterization of Ven. Thanissaro’s article though. I don’t think he was being naive because I don’t think it was pointed at Ukrainians as an attempt to give them advice. It seemed to be directed toward a Buddhist justification for participating in violence rather than admonishing Ukrainian participation in the war.
If, as it seems to me, you agree with Bhikkhu Bodhi on this issue, how can somebody participate in war and kill another person without being almost certain to be cast down to a lower realm after dying? Even in self defense? Like I said, this war is purely monstrous aggression on Putin’s part but wouldn’t the only course of action that conforms to the Eightfold Path be nonresistance?
Yes Putin is a monster but Ukrainian politics was not in that great of shape beforehand. The people were suffering all sorts of injustices from their upper class/government. Nonresistance in this case seems to me to be trading one set of bad rulers for one that’s mildly worse. Yes Putin’s crimes there have not been “mild” but after subjugation I see no evidence that that level of brutality would continue and they’d just be somewhat more exploited than before.
And I would absolutely NEVER give this “advice” to Ukrainians, I’m only referring to/asking questions about how foreign Buddhists should think about wars.
Thanks for this, Bhante. I appreciate your fact checking and that you’re always the voice of reason here. 
Yes Bhante, please. 