Overview

It is said that the famous ninth century Chinese Buddhist monk Linji Yixuan told his disciples, ""If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him."" The deliberately confounding statement is meant to shock people out of complacent ways of thinking. But beyond the purposeful jolt from complacency there is another intention. This axiom suggests that, for liberation, one should seek the Buddha nature that resides within, rather than a mere Buddha exterior. The metaphor of killing the Buddha dislodges a person from the illusion that enlightenment lies outside the body. The proclamation also highlights the power of violence, even on a symbolic level. Violence abounds in Buddhist thoughts, doctrine, and actions, however unacknowledged or misunderstood. If You Meet the Buddha on the Road addresses an important absence in the study of religion and violence: the religious treatment of violence. In order to pursue an understanding of the relationship between Buddhism and violence, it is important to first consider how Buddhist scriptures and followers understand violence. Drawing on Buddhist treatments of violence, Michael Jerryson explores the ways in which Buddhists invoke, support, or justify war, conflict, state violence, and gender discrimination. In addition, the book examines the ways in which Buddhists address violence as military chaplains, cope with violence in a conflict zone, and serve as witnesses of blasphemy to Buddhist doctrine and Buddha images.

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9780190683566

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Reviews

This is the book that scholars of religion and violence have waited for, a comprehensive exploration of violence in the Buddhist tradition. Written with grace and clarity, it shows that violence is endemic to Buddhist practice in all of its forms-in warfare, punishment, blasphemy and gender discrimination-as it is in every religious tradition. Thus this study touches on the dark religious history of all humankind and our common global culture. --Mark Juergensmeyer, author of Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence With a multidimensional approach and expansive conception of 'violence, ' Jerryson challenges us to consider more fully the role of cultural authority in explaining the power of religious actors in instigating violence. He also offers rich and original reporting from the field on the dynamics of current conflicts. --Stephen L. Jenkins, Professor of Religious Studies, Humboldt State University

Author Information

Michael Jerryson is Professor of Religious Studies at Youngstown University. He is the co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Religion and Violence and the editor of the Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Buddhism.

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