The Heart Chan Paths

One of the things brought up at our Chan retreat was the word “Zen” and the karma attached to it from the War. How here in the West it has become a life style not so much a spirtual path. I had heard something before in another reading elsewhere, about if the elders of the Soto & Reshin sect were “enlightened” how could they have been for the war and killing, which goes against basic Buddhist values. 

I did some reserach this is what I found:

“Warriors who sacrifice their lives for the emperor will not die. They will live forever. Truly they should be called gods and Buddhas for whom there is no life or death. Where there is absolute loyalty there is no life or death.”

Lieutenant Colonel Sugimoto Goro

“Since the Meiji period, our (Soto Zen) sect has cooperated in waging war.”

Soto Zen Statement of Repentance - 1992

Think of “holy wars” and western religions come to mind. The God of Exodus orders the extermination of the Caananites, instructing his chosen people to “show them no pity”. The commandment “Thou Shalt Not Kill” did not apply to slaying gentiles. In 1095, Pope Urban II ordered crusaders to Jerusalem to “kill the enemies of God.” In two days, Christian soldiers slaughtered 40,000 Muslims who were merely non-human “filth”. “Wonderful sights,” one crusader reported. “Piles of heads, hands, and feet It was a just and splendid judgment of God that this place should be filled with the blood of unbelievers.” And even now, Islamic terrorists proclaim “God is Great” as bombs explode in the Middle East.

On the other hand, Buddhism has always been portrayed as the religion of peace. “There has never been a Buddhist war,” I’ve heard many times over the years. When the Sakya kingdom was threatened with invasion, the Buddha sat in meditation in the path of the soldiers, stopping the attack. When the Indian King Asoka converted to Buddhism, he curtailed his military escapades and erected peace pillars. When the Dharma came to Tibet, it is said that the barbaric tribes were pacified. During the Vietnam War, Buddhist monks set themselves on fire to protest the fighting.

And now a new study emerges that will radically shake up this view of Buddhism. Zen at War is a courageous and exhaustively researched book by Brian Victoria, a western Soto Zen priest and instructor at the University of Auckland. Victoria reveals the inside story of the Japanese Zen establishment’s dedicated support of the imperial war machine from the late 1800’s through World War II. He chronicles in detail how prominent Zen leaders perverted the Buddhist teaching to encourage blind obedience, mindless killing, and total devotion to the emperor. The consequences were catastrophic and the impact can still be felt today.

Most western Buddhists will find this account heart- and mind-boggling. Enlightened Zen Masters supporting war contradicts everything we know about the Buddha’s teaching. After World War II, the Japanese Zen tradition, like the nation itself, went into a collective amnesia regarding its complicity in the war. So over 50 years of Buddhist history have been hidden from outsiders and the Japanese themselves. They are just beginning to confront what happened.

Zen at War could not have been written in Japan. To uncover this information demanded a person outside the Japanese world of loyalty who could dig deeply and ask uncomfortable questions. Victoria was urged not publish his book. One Chinese priest suggested that it would slander the Dharma. But, as Victoria rightly points out, the truth is never slander. Zen at War is a major contribution to understanding contemporary Zen and is a “must read” for all serious Dharma students. It may be the most significant Buddhist history book of the decade.

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Just a note, all humans have a dark side.

“Too many schools have lost the original teaching, which can effectively unify body, mind and spirit.  ”
I remember reading that the Taoist sect Wu Tang and Shaolin sect had at one point merged under Shaolin’s Banner. However due to Wu Tang wanting to create warriors and Shaolin wanting to remain true to it’s Spiritual values they had a major split after years of sharing. Yet Shaolin had/has it’s reputation from its fighting skills in history, it’s spiritual side has been kept in a cave.