fyrenza
Ariel Looney
- Thread starter
- #61
The Japanese monks were originally non-violent, but starting in 950AD, they started to protest the Feudal Lords' attempts to control the temples.
The Shogun and Daimyo responded with military force, resulting in massacres. The surviving temples had to militarize and incorporate martial meditations into their daily routines, to avoid a similar fate.
By 1200 AD, every major temple had developed into a massive martial force, with local peasant villagers joining up and enduring a 12-year training regiment to defend the temple and local population.
Thus, Japanese Zen Buddhism developed doctrines allowing for violent action, principally when it is more compassionate to kill than to let live. The monks termed such killing "liberation," in that they are liberating the evildoer's spirit from an evil existence.
These same principles were invoked during the Imperial period of Japan (1600-1946AD)
That is TOO WEIRD!!!
I grew up in Japan!
Just part of how I got to be THIS way!
1967 ~ 1973.
Some of the best years of my life, and part of my Total God Experience.