Buddhists Who Kill: Buddhist War Ethics in Sri Lanka

This paper explores the role of the sangha, the Buddhist monastic community, in the Sri Lankan civil war (1983-2009), and how they served as resources for the Sinhalese, particularly politicians and soldiers. While the word “support” is open to interpretation, it is generally agreed that the majority of the sangha supported or condoned the war. To investigate that claim, I first explore two of the most important Theravada Buddhist textual moments, the Pali canon and the Mahavamsa, which the sangha employ to, depending on one’s perspective, justify the war or support the soldiers. These texts are re-contextualized in modern Sri Lanka by Buddhist leaders, as studied by three scholars, Stanley Tambiah, H.L. Seneviratne, and Tessa Bartholomeusz. They pursued answers to why the sangha was, or at least seemed, complicit in the war, and in the process, developed criticisms of the monks’ role in it. I then present a counterargument via the research of another scholar, Daniel Kent, whose work with members of the sangha who preach to soldiers undermines some of the criticisms by Tambiah, Seneviratne, and Bartholomeusz. Finally, I look at the degree to which these scholars are justified in their critiques of the sangha, offering my own vision of a holistic understanding of the monastic community