Military Culture's Effect on Practice
Blackbird
New
I'm new to the forum, so Hello!
I've recently been notified that I will be losing my job in May. So, instead of looking for another job in my field (Geology) I'm considering joining the Army. This is something I've pondered for several years, but with varied intentions.
Now, this is not a RIGHT-livelihood question, but rather how a practice that moves towards the unconditioned existence would fare by joining an organization that is strongly rooted in conditioning. You probably get a reaction like, "Not Well," but consider everyday life.
When I consider that everyday life is conditioned as well, in terms of; ideas, attachments, confusion, expectations, pressures, orders, etc. I wonder how much different there really are. But when you considered the narrowed choices of a soldier it sort of reminds me of how I envision monastic life.
Any thoughts?
Thank You,
Aaron
Comments
I don't have any answer to your post, but just wanted to say cheers to another geologist!
Cheers!
Hi
Soldiers take part in a system of organised and sanctioned murder.
Monastics shouldn't.
This is an important distinction.
Otherwise, rhinos eat, sort of reminds me of when I eat?
How do I edit a post?
Thanks
-It seems to me the challenges of everyday life would have more in common with serving in the military than with monastic life.
Hi Aaron,
Welcome to Buddhas army, editing is only briefly possible, an hour for new recruits and three for us veterans I believe.
Not killing people is regarded as easier outside of the military. You might have worked that out. That you can get paid for government sponsored slaughter does not have to be an incentive.
What is the attraction to being trained as a sociopath? Have you no compassion for evolved rocks? Some of us here are worried about harming vegetables . . .
If eating meat is cause and effect what's the deal with vegetables, and I assume fruits? > @lobster said:
In any post you write, there should be a little symbol (like a cog) to the upper right of the post. Left click on that and a small box will drop down which you click on to edit, then save. There is a limited amount of time in which you can edit.
Well Aaron/Blackbird . . .
Eating our friends - flora is in our DNA, is considered a form of cannibalism. Vegetation may have limited sentience but eating rocks is too advanced for most of us . . .
It is incidentally mentioned in 'The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying' for those interested in geological culinary nutrition . . .
Here to help [allegedly]
Came across this and I feel it answers my question.
http://www.beyondthenet.net/thedway/soldier.htm
Aloka
There is both conditioned and unconditioned. When the former falls apart we are left with the latter (which is always there though not always manifest).
Welcome @Blackbird. Hope you find something useful here.
There are all sorts of postures Buddhists can take when it comes to the military. Give it enough time and we'll probably see most of them in this thread.
There is a Buddhist precept which amounts to "do not kill." Killing is inarguably one of the central functions of a military life. The Soto monk and educator, Brian Victoria, has made something of a cottage industry out of calling Buddhism (and other spiritual persuasions) to task for their implicit and explicit support of military adventurism. He makes some pretty good arguments and you might want to research a little of that direction if you plan on being both a Buddhist and a military person.
Best wishes in your pursuits.
There are helpers in the military like anywhere in life. There are Buddhists in the military. Whether you can reconcile what you know about Buddhism with what the military stands for has to be for you to decide.
What about the military sounds like a good plan to you?
I don't know how old you are and I don't mean to assume, but my oldest son is going through a major life transition as well, graduating high school and starting to think about careers. I always tell him, and my other kids, make sure that what you use your passions and talents for is creating more good in the world. Not more division, more violence, more disconnect. Or as my dad told me growing up, "You always have the choice to be constructive, or destructive. Always choose to build rather than destroy."
That doesn't mean it can't be done in the military. But can you do it? Does it fit with your values as a Buddhist (or just a human being)? Perhaps the job market in your degree field is not good, but what are your talents? How can you use them to make the world a better place, even if it's just your community and not the whole planet?
About the conditioning portion, yes, we are all conditioned at least to some degree, by schooling, social rules, employers, our parents. But we always have a choice to change. In the military, not as much. If you change your internal world you could find yourself at odds with the military promises you made and the contract you signed. Do you want to purposely sign up in order to have your brain altered in a way you are not necessarily fully in control of?
@Blackbird. May I ask you why you chose the Army? What sort of training are you looking to receive?
Thank you for the guidance, and questions to ponder. I'm 26, and have decent understanding of the Buddha's teachings and Dhamma.
@Blackbird
One girlfriend, many years ago, and not with my advice, spent a couple of weeks in a retreat at a monastery I had once lived in.
Many tears were apparently shed during this retreat and upon returning she did compare her experience to joining the military...... but I think she might of also been talking about our relationship....whereupon she promptly found someone else who acted more like a civilian.
Well, that was a blanket statement, wasn't it?
So, on peacekeeping operations in Bosnia, as a soldier, we were involved in organised and sanctioned murder, were we? Or were we protecting aid workers and convoys - from what were effectively 'bandits' - taking food/clothing/medical supplies to remote areas?
Soldiers are not inherently murderers on their own side; sometimes soldiers can do heroic acts of courage motivated by compassion too, you know. In fact for every Victoria Cross awarded, the motivation behind that wasn't the killing of the enemy, the disregard for their own personal safety was more about saving their comrades. One guy, a major in the medical corps won two Victoria Crosses for dragging injured soldiers out of harms way in no-man's land. See what I mean about being motivated with compassion? Compassion is powerful stuff.
There's many trades within the military that don't entail killing too; aircraft technicians, medics, veterinary corps, clerical roles, mechanics, chefs, movement controllers, etc.
I was never a Buddhist - or had any interest in Buddhism - while in the army, but there was ample opportunity to practise compassion in places I've served. I could give all kinds of examples; not just for humans too; in Vitez we found a starving bear who was caged in appalling conditions beside what was an old restaurant and the British military pulled out it's finger and transported this poor creature hundreds of miles to Italy, to be given to a charity called LiBEARty. Soldiers regularly - and this is common - rescue stray dogs, which seem to be everywhere, in war-torn poverty stricken areas. One British marine left the military and started up a charity for these dogs. There's quite a touching TV program been done on him.
I know guys who've went hungry because they gave away their own rations to starving civilians. I know guys who've been traumatised from stuff they've experienced - human misery and the like.
Soldiers aren't baby-eating murderers; they're just human beings, like us, really.
Indeed. I knows that . . .
As far as I know baby eating is not presently a military tactic. Life removal is sadly.
Apart from opportunities to be altruistic, the main function of armies is sanctioned peace keeping up to and including removal of life by killing. Even bankers do not have this option on loan defaults, much as they might like it.
I fully support the adoption of the presently unrealistic US Army Commissioned First Earth Battalion military experiment.
Their training manual is here:
http://arcturus.org/field_manual.pdf
Advanced stuff but was read by many top military brass and became the basis of the film 'The men who stare at goats'
. . . and now back to peaceful Jihad . . .
Soldiers definitely do amazing things. One of my closest friend's husband is in the Army and has been deployed many times. He was to go this spring to Africa to help with ebola support but the situation has improved enough that deployment was canceled. When the war in middle east was ongoing, he was stationed in Kuwait and his job was to go on flight missions to retrieve the remains of deceased soldiers. Hard job, bringing home to remains of loved ones. His job was honorable but he paid a price as well. Being in those situations fundamentally changes a person.
But at least insofar as you are talking about the American Army, if you go in as a soldier you have to understand that you may well be asked to kill people, and saying it goes against your beliefs is not something you are able to do. If so assigned, you will not have the choice to not take the lives of other people, including possibly completely innocent people. Of course, there are other jobs, you might be a cook or a nurse or any number of positions. But the problem with active duty versus the guard or reserves is they determine, for the most part, what you are going to do. In guard or reserves, usually they use your current skills, training, education and experience to determine where you will fit in.
Also, keep in mind that if you end up in a soldier/infantry type of roll, the treatment provided to ensure your mental health isn't very good. Way too many soldiers come home only to get hooked on drugs and alcohol, hurt themselves, hurt their loved ones, and on occasion, even kill their own families out of their mental suffering. The army has the highest rates of suicide in the military, and military-wide, suicides in the military are higher than in civilians.