By default, Buddhism is perceived as a "religion of peace and goodness," or even simply a religious philosophy of pacifism. But this perception is a legacy of the twentieth century and the preaching of the last Dalai Lamas.
In fact, everything is completely different: both, in part, with peacefulness, and with the fact that Buddhism is a kind of religious and philosophical unity.
Theravada school
In fact, the Buddhist sangha, the community is a collection of sects, or, so as not to cut the ear, currents that interpret the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha quite arbitrarily, absorbing the past cultural heritage of the peoples who converted to Buddhism. The commonality here is only in terminology and nominal purposefulness to nirvana, that is, dissolution in the great "nothing". But the particulars are very, very peculiar.
For example, there is a tradition that is considered ancient and primordial called "Theravada". By the way, it is professed in the Republic of Myanma. And this school, which is also called the "teaching of the elders," does not imply any kind of aggression on religious grounds. True, the "teaching of the elders" covers all aspects of the life of those professing this school in such a general way that to take a stick and go beat someone who does not like it - in general, not that a clear religious taboo. Well, karma will be worse. And then only if there is a clear intention to commit this act of violence.
To make it clearer, let us cite the words of the orientalist Viktor Sukhotin: “Karma in Buddhism is understood differently than we are used to in“popular Hinduism”. There can be a good reward for a good deed, a good reward for an evil deed, and a reward in evil for both a bad and a good deed. Everything depends on the manifestation of the intentions of the person committing this act. In general, if a Buddhist of the Theravada school went somewhere without explicit intentions to beat someone with a stick and beat someone with a stick, without regaining consciousness, then it is not a fact that his karma has completely deteriorated - maybe it even got better …
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Multi-armed demon
Everything is much more interesting with Tibetan Buddhism, where, by the way, the Dalai Lama resides, who has already condemned the riots in Myanmar. In Tibetan Buddhism, which has integrated into itself, including pre-Buddhist paganism, there is a concept of "Dharmapala". And the interpretation of this term varies from "guardian angels of the Doctrine" to "terrible angry executioners."
In short and simplified, Dharmapala are the sacred essences of anger that protect the purity of the teachings, and each individual Buddhist, and the entire sangha as a whole. There are eight of these "angels", and the characters are, frankly, gloomy. They are headed by Yamantaka, described as "a multi-armed and many-legged demon, with many heads and a bull's head, blue skin, dressed in a bloody ivory cloak," and, following Asian etymology, he is the "killer of Yama," that is, the god of death. The rest of the guys from this pantheon are no less "nice personalities". And yes, this is also Buddhism.
And since in Tibetan Buddhism the world of spirits and the world of people are very closely and directly connected, periodically the Tibetan Buddhist by the will of "Dharmapala" needs to take up arms and create violence in the name of the bright ideals of "nirvana". By the way, which is typical, there is a version that the notorious Chelubey, who fought with the monk Peresvet, was just a Buddhist monk. And the fact that Chelubey fell was a violation of all the laws of karma and "guarantees" of Dharmapala in victory.
"Holy Wars" of Tibet
However, speaking of the "holy wars" of Buddhists, it is worth paying attention directly to Tibet, which in the 7th-8th centuries became a powerful hierocratic militaristic state and with a tenacious grip kept the trade routes passing through it. Tellingly, the struggle for power of the Buddhist hierocracy in the then Tibet was quite in the spirit of the era, and remained so until, in fact, the New Time.
At least, based on the memoirs of the Catholic missionary Evarist Regis Gük, who wrote: “During our stay in Lhasa, a nine-year-old boy was sitting on the throne of the Tale Lama; three of his predecessors died a violent death before reaching adulthood … The first Tale Lama was strangled, the second was strangled in his bedroom, the third was poisoned along with all the members of his large family.
These fierce internal competition only strengthened the Tibetan Buddhist state, which by the end of the 8th and early 9th centuries went into the expansion of Asian territories, and especially what is now called China. Characteristically, no one particularly experienced any kind of peacefulness from the Tibetans.
For example, one of the chroniclers of the time wrote: “The Tibetans established their kingdom on our western borders many years ago; like silkworms, they gnawed into the possessions of their barbarian neighbors in order to expand their territory. During the time of Emperor Gao-Tsung, their territory was 10 thousand li, and they competed with us in superiority; in newer times no one is stronger than them."
China once laid siege to Tibet, although it experienced many problems from it precisely in military terms. However, while China was experiencing problems, Tibetan Buddhists went and missionary in China, building and developing their pagodas, and created quite a political and military force for themselves, which splashed out as the ihetuan ("boxer") uprising of 1898-1901.
"Fists" of harmony
Ihetuani, or "the detachment of harmony and justice", was one of the Buddhist sects. Their rebellion reached such a scale that the empress of China Cixi entered into an alliance with them. During the uprising, they purposefully destroyed Christians, including Orthodox Christians, who were canonized as a host of Chinese new martyrs.
The uprising for the ihetuans was entirely religious in nature: in addition to protecting the imperial house and country from foreign influence, protection against the penetration of "foreign" religions was declared. And the Chinese who converted to Christianity were subjected to especially cruel torture and death.
In general, concluding this short historical and religious excursion, it is worth saying that, firstly, Buddhist and Buddhist strife. And secondly, even if two very different Buddhists, very different schools beat someone with mortal combat, then there is nothing particularly contrary to the doctrine of "peace, goodness and non-action" in this. Because not only goodness, but also non-action can be with fists.
Alexander Chausov