Mon, 08 Sep 2008
Buddhist Military Chaplains
I mentioned the Buddhist Military Sangha blog shortly after it started. It's kept going since then and a mobth ago they posted an interesting article about the requirements for becoming a Buddhist military chaplain. The requitements I found most interesting are that one must have graduated from an accredited chaplain's program, one must be ordained in a Buddhist tradition, and one must be approvrd by an authorized Buddhist group. The only Buddhist group currently recognized by the military is the (Pure Land) Buddhist Churches of America. The requirement for ordination raises a dilemma for any Buddhist lineage that keeps the Vinaya seriously: there is a prohibition in the Vinaya against monks being associated with the military:
Should a bhikkhu watch an army in battle array, unless there is a suitable reason, it entails a Pacittiya offence.
Should a bhikkhu stay with an army more than three consecutive nights, even for a suitable reason, it entails a Pacittiya offence.
Should a bhikkhu go to a battlefield, a roll call of the troops, a battle array or to see a regimental review while staying with an army, it entails a Pacittiya offence.
