For many people, the idea of Buddhists serving in the military seems to be a contradiction. After all, the first of the “Five Precepts” basic to the life of Buddhist laypeople is “I undertake the precept to refrain from destroying living creatures.”
For some Buddhists, however, the idea of “skillful means,” that there are situations in which one has to find the best solution to a problem that may contradict the basic teachings, means that military service is not only acceptable but in some cases preferred ro refraining from military service.
There is no one right answer ultimately for all Buddhists. After all, the samurai and some martial arts began in Buddhist traditions. These three firsts demonstrate that Buddhism continues to find a place in a most unlikely area of society in the United States, the military services.
The first Buddhist military chapel in the United States
The United States Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado, had a reputation of favoring evangelical Christians and being intolerant toward others. So, in late 2007, it was a surprise that the “first space in a federal facility dedicated to Buddhism” (according to the Denver Post ) would be at the Air Force Academy.
If that is not surprising enough, then, consider that there is also an earth-centered pagan group at the Academy.
The first Buddhist military chaplain in the United States
That Thomas Dyer is the first Buddhist chaplain in the Unite States military is surprising, but perhaps even ore surprising is that he used to be a Southern Baptist minister, according to his story as it is told in the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
As Dyer himself explained in an interview with NPR, his seminary education as a Baptist minister gave him the academic credentials need to become a military chaplain. He also addresses the issue of Buddhists serving in the military by saying that such service might be “right livelihood” from a Buddhist perspective “because the potential to do good and to protect is there.”
The first Buddhist military blog in the United States
This is not official, but certainly there is nothing that shows that something has “arrived” quite like its having a blog, and so the Buddhist Military Sangha is an important part of this story, with news and commentary on Buddhists in the military. Its entry for Veterans Day last year, November 11, 2009, is a poignant account of “possibly the first interfaith Christian-Buddhist service,” the funeral of the first US Marine to die in Japan, in 1854.
If you would like to learn about King Asoka, one of the few military leaders in Buddhist history, you can download a 250-page PDF, King Asoka and Buddhism: Historical and Literary Studies from the vast online library of free resources from BuddhaNet.
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