Attitudes to Pacifism

What pacifism means for Buddhists

Pacifism is the belief that war and violence are wrong and that disputes should be resolved peacefully. An absolute pacifist rejects violence in every circumstance. A commitment to peaceful methods, however, does not automatically mean that someone rejects every possible use of force. Buddhist teachings strongly support non-violence, but Buddhists do not all interpret their implications in exactly the same way.

An important principle is ahimsa, meaning non-harming. Its concern extends beyond avoiding war: it includes how people treat other living beings in everyday life. Compassion means concern for others’ suffering and a desire to relieve it. For a Buddhist pacifist, even an enemy remains a being who can suffer and deserves compassionate treatment.

Pacifism also involves developing peaceful habits. Restraining anger and hatred makes non-violent responses more possible. Peace is therefore both a way of dealing with other people and something cultivated within oneself.

The Five Precepts as a foundation for peace

The Five Precepts are ethical training principles followed by Buddhists. They involve abstaining from:

• taking life;
• taking what is not given;
• sexual misconduct;
• false speech;
• intoxicants that cause heedlessness.

The First Precept provides the clearest basis for pacifism. Deliberately killing an opponent conflicts with the commitment not to take life. Buddhist pacifists therefore see refusing to kill as an application of their ordinary ethical practice, not a rule that applies only during war.

The other precepts also help people live peacefully. Respecting others’ possessions and relationships reduces harm and distrust. Truthful speech makes honest communication possible. The Fifth Precept concerns avoiding intoxicants, not merely avoiding drunkenness: heedlessness means losing the awareness and self-control needed to act responsibly. Intoxicants can therefore make it easier to break the other precepts, for example by becoming violent or lying. Together, the precepts encourage a life in which peaceful intentions are expressed through behaviour.

The Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta: peace in action, speech and thought

In the Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta, the Buddha speaks to Cunda the silversmith about purification. Cunda initially approves of ritual practices such as washing in water. The Buddha instead explains that purity depends on bodily actions, speech and mental attitudes. Rituals do not cancel out harmful conduct.

The description of someone who abandons killing is especially important for pacifism:

“He dwells with his rod laid down, his knife laid down … compassionate for the welfare of all living beings.”

Laying down weapons expresses the refusal to harm. The reference to all living beings gives this teaching a wider scope than protecting only friends or members of one’s own community.

The discourse also praises speech that reconciles people who have become divided and strengthens existing unity. It rejects abusive words that provoke anger. Peaceful conduct therefore requires more than putting down weapons: people should avoid inflaming hostility and actively encourage reconciliation.

Finally, the Buddha contrasts wishing that others would be destroyed with wishing that they might be “free from animosity, free from oppression, free from trouble”. This connects outward non-violence with inward goodwill. Someone who refuses to attack but continues to wish harm on an opponent has not fully developed the peaceful attitude described here.

From ancient teachings to modern peace work

Buddhist support for non-violence has roots in the Buddha’s teachings, rather than beginning with modern anti-war campaigns. Those teachings have also inspired new responses to changing circumstances.

During the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh argued that meditation and helping people suffering from war should go together. He helped develop Engaged Buddhism, which applies Buddhist practice to social problems rather than withdrawing from them.

In the early 1960s, he founded the School of Youth and Social Service, a relief organisation with 10,000 volunteers based on non-violence and compassionate action. This shows that pacifism can involve demanding practical service, not simply refusing to fight.

Passive resistance: opposing violence without using it

Passive resistance means opposing injustice or authority through non-violent action. Despite its name, it is active: people may speak publicly, organise peaceful campaigns or refuse to cooperate with harmful policies. Its aim is to challenge wrongdoing without attacking opponents.

Buddhist teachings support this approach through the refusal to kill, compassionate concern for those affected and speech directed towards reconciliation. Self-discipline matters because resistance can expose people to hostility; responding with hatred would undermine the peaceful method.

Thich Nhat Hanh’s peace campaigning provides examples within Buddhism. In 1966, he travelled to the United States and Europe to call for an end to hostilities in Vietnam. Both North and South Vietnam subsequently denied him the right to return, beginning a 39-year exile. His example shows that non-violent opposition can carry serious personal costs.

He also lobbied Western leaders to end the war and led the Buddhist delegation to the Paris Peace Talks in 1969. These actions challenged the continuation of war through advocacy and negotiation rather than armed struggle. They aimed to achieve peace by methods consistent with Buddhist non-harming and compassion.