ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 32, 2025

Buddhism and Nonviolence in the Contemporary World

Jay L. Garfield
Smith College
Harvard Divinity School
University of Melbourne
Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies

This essay is not a disinterested analysis of Buddhist doctrine, but an unapologetic exposition of the implications of that doctrine for ethics and political action in the contemporary world. To understand a Buddhist analysis of nonviolence in a way relevant to our contemporary life, it is first important to understand how violence manifests in the contemporary world. Second, we must develop a recognizably Buddhist analysis of that violence and its causes. Third, we must examine how a Buddhist ethical framework determines our responsibilities as agents in the context of that violence and a path to its eradication. Read article