Culture of War Vs.

Engaged Buddhism
By: Dan Geezy
In the United States of America we currently live in a culture of war, all of our problems
are solvable through war, whether it is a religious problem, economic problem, or a social
problem. From a young age we are taught that war is the answer to all our problems, after all our
country was founded by a war. But is a culture of war still necessary? A culture of engaged
Buddhism believes that there is no justification for war. But does that mean that everyone in the
USA should convert to Buddhism? A culture of war and a culture of engaged Buddhism are two
very different things, but neither one is 100% correct all of the time. Exposure to Buddhist
ideologies and teaching would greatly benefit a country like America, or other countries that also
have cultures of war.
What creates a culture surrounding war? Let's look at the case study of America, a
country founded by war. In 1776, the revolutionary war separated America from Great Britain,
since then, the country has participated in countless wars, some wars between the country's own
people. But were all the wars necessary? Of course not, most of the wars our country has
participated in were not necessary, but because of our Country's culture, they were unavoidable.
The baseless 2003 war in Iraq, now considered pointless, was not met with overwhelming
opposition, and even with some support from American citizens. We are taught from a young age
that war is correct. A culture of war does not only support engaging in a large war against another
nation, when living in a culture of war small personal "wars" against each other, are often waged
over power, money, and beliefs. In America we have conflicts and small "wars" every day with

each other. In a culture of war we often do not think about our actions or the impact they could
have.
Engaged Buddhism is a term coined by Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, in a culture
of Engaged Buddhism people are mindful and always think about the outcome of their actions.
Fourteen Precepts are followed, the Precepts detail a life of mindfulness and compassion,
without harming others. Engaged Buddhism is considered to be humanistic Buddhism, this kind
of Buddhism is a way to link the meditation of the Buddhist religion and social action, something
Buddhism lacked.
It seems obvious that and engaged Buddhist society will be a lot more peaceful and
mindful than a culture of war, so why are we not all practicing buddhism? War culture is
ingrained in American Culture, so it is likely we will never see mass conversion in the United
States

Both culturAdopting either ideal completely whether it be war or engaged buddhim may
not be the right desicion but both have teachings which are important to learn."What if someone
attacks you?" is often the first question someone asks when discussing Buddhist values, but the
idea that Buddhist don't defend themselves is a common misconception. Ven. Dr. K Sri
Dhammananda "The Buddha did not teach His followers to surrender to any form of evil power
be it a human or supernatural being."