To be a soldier...or dare to refuse? (sutra)

Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly based on trans. by Ven. Thanissaro (accesstoinsight.org) on right and wrong livelihood (SN 42.3); HAIR on the Ed Sullivan Show

Jewish girl refuses to enlist: Jewish Israeli was imprisoned for opposing Israel's illegal occupation

(Owen Jones) Nov. 6, 2023: Atalya Ben-Abba is an Israeli conscientious objector: as a teenager forced to enlist, she was sent to prison for refusing to join the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) because of her opposition to Israel's illegal occupation of the West Bank. Now she's calling for a ceasefire. In response to her courage, we stand by her.

Sign her petition here: anothereurope.org/petition... Follow Voices Against War: againstwarvoice, and sign up to the Refuser Solidarity Network: gaza.refuser.org. Subscribe and help take on the pro-war media here: owenjones84

• UN official Albanese causes declares that Israel's acts are 'war crimes' and its excuse of having a right to 'defend' itself against a people it occupies does not apply to a state occupying said people

(@larsvonretriever) Best cover of RAGM's "Killing in the Name" by the North Korean Army Band ;)*

SUTRA: Considering becoming a soldier? You may want to reconsider...

Do it, Yudas, join the army. It's very patriotic.

The Headman Yodhajiva went to the Buddha, bowed, and sat respectfully to one side. Sitting there he said to the Buddha:

"Venerable, I have heard that it has been passed down by the ancient teaching lineage of warriors that 'When a warrior strives and exerts in battle, if others strike one and slay one while one is striving and exerting in battle, then with the breakup of the body, after death, one is reborn in the company of those shining ones (devas) slain in battle.' What does the Buddha say about that?"

That's what warriors say. Is it right?

"Headman, enough. Set that question aside. Do not ask it."

But a second...and a third time the Headman Yodhajiva asked: "...What does the Buddha say about that?"

"Headman, apparently, I am unable to get by by simply saying, 'Headman, enough, set that question aside. Do not ask it.' So I will just say:

[Why it's bad karma]

Look, Palestine, I'm a settler colonialist

"When a warrior strives and exerts in battle, that person's mind is already seized, debased, and misdirected by such thoughts as: 'May these living beings be struck down, slaughtered, destroyed, annihilated. May they be exterminated!'

"If others strike one down and slay one while one is striving and exerting in battle, then with the breakup of the body, after death, one is reborn in a hell called the Realm of Those Slain in Battle.

"But if one holds some view such as this: 'When a warrior strives and exerts in battle, if others then strike one down and slay one while one is striving and exerting in battle, then with the breakup of the body, after death, one is reborn in the company of shining ones (devas) slain in battle,' that is one's wrong view.

"Now, I declare, there are two destinations for a person possessed of wrong view -- either hell [Note 1] or the animal realm [rebirth into the womb of an animal]."

But I wanted to go to Valhalla by killing people!

When this was said, the Headman Yodhajiva began to sob and burst into tears.

[The Buddha consoled him saying:] "That is what I could not get through to you by simply saying, 'Headman, enough, set that question aside. Do not ask it.'"

"But, venerable, I am not crying because of what the Buddha said to me, but rather because I have been deceived, lied to, and fooled for so long by that ancient teaching lineage of warriors who said [that nonsense] (SN 42.3).

[Reaction]

I don't want to enlist like others might.

At the conclusion of sutras there is usually this text because of a person being overcome with great confidence (saddha, "faith") in the Buddha and the Dharma (the Teaching) and those successfully instructed in it. It so fills a person directly instructed by the Buddha that one usually exclaims (as in SN 42.2):

"Excellent, venerable, excellent! It is just as if one were to set upright what had been overturned, or revealed what was hidden, or shown the way to one who was lost, or carried a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see visible forms!

I shoulda listened to Dharma and not the CIA

"In the same way has the Buddha — in many ways — made the Truth (Dhamma) clear. I go for guidance to the Buddha, to the Dhamma, and to the Sangha [noble ones, the community enlightened disciples]. May the Buddha remember me as being a lay follower who has gone for guidance (sarana) from this day forward for life."

1. Sārājita niraya: not so much "hell" as the "downward path" of one reborn in the subhuman plane among other warriors/killers. It is a niraya ("downward path") in which those who die in battle are reborn (S.iv.311). The Commentary (SA.iii.100) states that it is not a distinctive "purgatory," but rather a part of Avīci (the lowest infernal "waveless" or uninterrupted, incessant, interminable hell though not eternal), where fighters of all sorts fight on in their imagination. Cf. Sarañjita, according to G. P. Malalasekera's Dictionary of Pali Proper Names (palikanon.com)

HAIR: The Musical in 1969 on the famous American TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show

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*LYRICS: "Killing in the Name"

(Intro lifted from The Cars' "Candy-O"] Killing in the name of/ Some of those that work forces/ Are the same that burn crosses/ Uh!/ Killing in the name of/ Now you do what they told ya/ And now you do what they told ya/ Well, now you do what they told ya/ Those who died are justified/ For wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites/ You justify those that died/ By wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites/ Some of those that work forces/ Are the same that burn crosses/ Killing in the name of/ Killing in the name of/ Now you do what they told ya/ (Now you're under control)/ And now you do what they told ya/ Those who died are justified/ For wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites/ You justify those that died/ By wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites/ Come on! [Guitar Solo]/ Ugh! Yeah!/ Come on! Ugh!/ F*ck you, I won't do what you tell me/ F*ck you, I won't do what you tell me/ M*therf*cker!/ Ugh!