Customer Reviews

Zen at War (2nd Edition)

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I was born a decade after the Japanese surrender to theAllies.

About ten years ago, when I was deep in the romanticperiod that every beginning Zen student goes through, I excitedly told my 96-year-old grandmother about my new-found religion. As I was gushing about the Japanese words and customs I was learning, Grandma interrupted, "If I saw a Jap, I'd shoot him!"

I quickly changed the subject.

I could not understand how my grandmother could be so poorly informed about the Japanese. "Japan is a Buddhist country," I assured myself. "Its culture has been heavily influenced by Zen itself. How could Grandma have acquired such bitterness about a people with whom she had had no real contact?"

In 1995, I became transfixed by the 50th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "How could we possibly have incinerated 200,000 innocent Japanese civilians?" I asked myself. "What could my parents' generation have been thinking?"

A few months ago, I saw an advertisement in Tricycle magazine for the forthcoming publication of "Zen at War." On the cover of the book was an old photograph showing rows of black-robed Zen priests, marching in formation in front of their temple, rifles at their shoulders. As it turned out, the book would not be published for several months. Somehow, however, simply seeing the cover of "Zen at War" served as a warning that it was time for me to face the truth about my Japanese cultural/religious heritage.

I read "The Rape of Nanking," Ienaga's "The Pacific War," "Unit 731," and several other books about the conduct of the Japanese military and government during the 1930's and 40's. The effect was shattering. Although I still did not share it, I now understood my Grandmother's visceral response to the mere mention of the Japanese.

"Zen at War" is the saddest news of all. No Zen student can help but be devastated by learning that our childhood heroes -- Shaku Soen, D.T. Suzuki, Sawaki Kodo, Harada Daiun Sogaku, Yasutani Hakuun, Omori Sogen, Yamada Mumon, and many others -- were enthusiastic supporters of Japanese imperialism. Far from calling for peace, far even from serving as a moderating influence, Japanese Buddhist leaders vocally endorsed the killing of Chinese, Korean, American, or any other people who lacked the supposedly superior understanding of the Japanese people. The pseudo-dharma jibberish that these "enlightened masters" put in print to condone murder and cultural exploitation is agonizing to read.

What the hell went wrong?

The author, Daizen Victoria, does not take us very far in understanding this tragedy. In that respect, the book seems achingly incomplete. Although Victoria does not claim to be in a position to provide the answers, leaving that work to future scholars, one wonders whether it might have been better for him to have waited until he could provide more perspective on what he has discovered. For what he has unearthed, on its face at least, seems to render almost everything we thought about our Japanese ancestors a bitter lie. If my revered Dharma ancestor, Harada Roshi, really meant what he wrote, he would not have hesitated to shoot my father dead.

Who were these men, really? What was in their heart of hearts? Was their enlightenment worth anything, if they could become advocates for genocide? If they dissembled in order to preserve the Buddhist establishment, what kind of choice was that?

Curse you, Daizen Victoria, for destroying my innocence. Nine bows to you, Daizen Victoria, for having the courage to open first your own eyes, and then mine.

Every Zen student, scholar, and especially every Zen teacher should read this sobering, stimulating, excellent book. "Do not put any heads above your own." "A disciple of the Buddha does not kill," two Buddhist fundamentals, violated deeply by well-known, well-respected teachers in the Zen school in pre-1945 Japan. This book is an incentive to the reader to re-examine one's own life and daily actions and decisions. The incredible ability of the human mind to rationalize away behavior that is immoral, and to intellectually contort Buddhist teachings in the same service, is vividly brought forth in this book. I want to keep this book always visible on my desk or altar as a reminder to never forget about living with integrity, true courageous integrity.

The problem with this fascinating book isn't that it had any quarrel with Zen, but that it tries to point, from the spirit of Zen, at one application of that very Zen spirit that, in today's common understanding, is false and evil. The topic are the more or less hidden underpinnings between (not only Zen) Buddhism and Japanese militarism, but, too, the resistance against that unholy alliance. The author is a professor at Auckland University, and for 30 years an engaged priest of the Soto school of Zen. So his interest surely is more than just casual and distant, and one cannot shrug it off as some 'clearing up the dark sides of Zen' business.

It is essential that not only the historical facts are listed, but that one may have a look at their causal nexus - so it's possible to perceive how a number of rather prominent representatives of the Zen sect with subjectively good conscience came not only to defend, but to call things good and just which aren't compatible with the tenets of Buddhism, or those of any general humanity for that. And that they aren't viewed as bloodthirsty monsters, but as people also stricken with a (only??) Japan-immanent mechanism. When reading, again and again the atmosphere reminded me of the first book I ever read about Japan, and on the deep mutual understanding between Germans and Japanese - from Nazi times.

There's one figure very central in the book - the 'Zen-missionary' so eminent in the West, D. T. Suzuki, and his changes of viewpoint, depending on time and audience - whether before, during, or after the war, and speaking to Japanese or to Americans - his stock of upaya seems to have been inexhaustible. And it seems he couldn't imagine a western oriented mind might be annoyed there and take that as insincerity - as also it didn't burden him that he not only contradicted others, but himself as well. But that's an attitude one meets rather often with masters (or would-be's) nowadays - "Why should I bother with that nonsense I've told you ! the other day!". On the other hand, a lot of his insights and oversights would be most interesting and, maybe, guiding. Especially I remember his saying "With satori alone, it is impossible [for Zen priests] to shoulder their responsibilities as leaders of society. Not only is it impossible, but it is conceited of them to imagine they could do so." (Zenkai Sasshin) There's a second question of course - do Zen priests really want to take the responsibility of being leaders of society, and if so, with what kind of a title?

The - quantitatively minor - resistance against the pocketing of Buddhism and, especially, Zen through 'Imperial Way Buddhism' is appreciated justly - that both sides are quoted in rather harsh tones, only contributes to the realism of description. Most interesting are the passages of those who first were active as hangers-on and flag-wavers, and later learned to critically reconsider and relativize their attitudes of wartime. The last part of the book deals with the working-up (or rather, not-working-up) of the facts inside and outside Japan after the end of WWII. These descriptions made me prick up my ears, and partly bewildered me. The league of inconvincables isn't unknown in Germany, too, but mostly they aren't found among the intellectual and spiritual élite... When 35 years after the war a high-ranking Zen master openly emphasizes that 'Japan destroyed itself in order to grandly give the countries of Asia their independence. I think this is truly an accomplishment worthy the name 'holy war'... I think the various peoples of Asia who achieved their independence will ceaselessly praise their accomplishments for all eternity' (Mumon Yamada), then it might be Suzuki's opinion isn't completely mistaken, that enlightenment attained is not necessarily sufficient to make unerringly correct statements in any given situation. There maybe the expectations of western Zen students play a role, as described in Stuart Lachs' essay 'Coming down from the Zen ! Clouds': "Unlike psychologically-based movements for personal transformation, whose leaders appeared as seekers themselves, Zen Buddhism promised, in the person of the teacher, a master who had actually realized the Buddhist goal of Enlightenment and manifested its qualities continuously in his daily life. American Zen students have tended to hold these teachers in awe, to the point of regarding their every action as pure and selfless. This tendency to idealize the teacher comes in part from the students' inexperience, but is strongly encouraged by the Zen organization and the teacher himself".

The last chapter picks up the thread and ties it to the 'Corporate Zen' of present, which isn't explicitely militaristic but is an offspring of the same spirit - 'Zen is obedience unreflected - reflecting neither the contents of instructions nor the person giving it.' Or, as a contemporary Japanese master says, "Sincerity [in carrying out orders] means having feelings and actions of absolute service, giving one's all [to the task at hand]. In doing this there can be no personal loss or gain... By carrying out our assigned tasks, we become part of the life of the entire universe; we realize our original True Self... This is the most noble thing human beings can do." (Sakai Tokugen)

Brian Victoria it seems has valued his book quite realistically - not as a compendium of answers, but a collection of unsolved - or possibly unsolvable - questions; and not as a conclusion, but an initiative to some examination of the corruptability of spiritual ways.

What I found most disturbing about this book was not so much what Victoria had to reveal about the Zen culture of Imperial Japan, (don't get me wrong, that was pretty darn disturbing too)but rather the reaction that came from many, if not most, of North America's Zen masters. Almost to a one, they refused to even admit the core issue that the book arises: "If an _enlightened_ person can support an evil empire, what does it say about being enlightened?" No one doubts that Catholic Popes can committ evil acts (Dante fills Hell with them), but then the Catholic faith makes far lessor claims about the spiritual powers and insight of its clerics.

In contrast, Zen Buddhism makes the extraordinary claim that each and every Zen master is part of an intact person-to-person chain of direct mind contact to Bodhidarma, through to Guatama Buddha himself. Moreover, they maintain that this direct contact through the Zen transmission is essential to enlightenment, which cannot be learned "on ones own" or "through books". Moreover, Buddhist make the claim that Masters, and people they acknowledge as "awakened", have achieved some sort of real "awakening".

The cheesy responses that I have read and received from the Zen Masters I have read on the subject all invariably come up with the same sort of defence: cultural relativism. I was horrified to see this because it strikes me that not only were they willing to so "scale back" what "enlightenment" means that a deeply enlightened Zen master (ie: in Imperial Japan) would lack the discernment to see through government propaganda, it means that the individual modern master (ie: the one writing in "Tricycle" or communicating to me over the internet) lacks the discernment to see the profound implications of Victoria's book.

The process of reading Victoria's book and investigating the reaction of the North American Zen "establishment" made me totallly re-examen my understanding of Zen and Buddhism as part of the "community of world religions". It gave me an increased sense of my own worth as a Master of Western Philosophy and a student of world religions in the face of the significant claims exerted by Buddhists about their own implied superiority over these alternative spiritual systems.

I do not want to denigrate the significant and obvious merits of Buddhism and Zen, but _Zen at War_ has shown that there are no "priviledged" ways to wisdom. All are equally valid, and all are equally flawed.

Many readers interested in zen have heard of, or have read about, Brian Victoria. This is the guy who had the courage, audacity, and honesty to pull back the cover on Japanese zen's dark side, much to the chagrin of not only mainline Japanese zen organizations, but also to the chagrin of Western zen students, many if not most who naively worshipped famous Japanese zen teachers as "enlightened" masters. In general, Victoria's expose', in his articles and two books ("Zen at War" and "Zen War Stories"), thoroughly ripped open a painful underbelly of Japanese far-right political/military brainwashing and brutality, especially- but not only- during the 2nd World War. As someone involved in Japanese culture myself for many years and pretty familiar with the Japanese psyche (for a gaijin, anyway), I've always wanted to comment on Mr. Victoria's heroic efforts at some point, so now I do so.

Victoria's books are an object-lesson to anyone interested in buddhism. Not just folks interested in zen, but all schools of buddhism. Object-lesson for what, you ask...? For one thing, they are certainly a wake-up-call to quit being so naive about one's chosen authority figures. Yes, even famous ones who are supposedly "enlightened"...as Victoria reveals time and time again, Japan's most famous zen masters (and other thinkers) supported the war effort and perverted the buddhist message of compassion into a brutal militaristic form of brainwashing, twisting the traditional doctrine of "no-self" (mushin) into a exhortation to kill without reflective thinking or remorse. Certainly many Asian countries involved in the War (China, Korea, Philippines, etc.) can testify the brainwashing was highly effective on Japanese soldiers, and Japan has yet to fully acknowledge it's guilt in all the resulting brutality. Indeed, national apologies are painful to admit. Japan has come some way in acknowledging some of this inhumanity, but as Victoria reveals, and as other countries are well-aware, the efforts have come decades too late and the apologies have been feeble...

Why did all this support for militaristic brutality occur, and what happened to turn highly-regarded religious figures into war-mongers? The answer lies in the peculiar culture of Japan itself. In essence, the cult of the sword goes back to the very origins of the nation. I see several traditional influences at work here, although Mr. Victoria doesn't go into heavy sociological analysis of Japan's warrior past. One factor is, in indigenous Shinto, the early animistic religion of the island, the sword was regarded as a sacred symbol. One can easily see how easily an early belief in the divinity of the sword could play into Japan's militaristic history...and in fact did. As for Japan's long "warrior" tradition, readers need no reminding how huge the samurai image has been throughout Japan's history...it pretty much defines Japanese culture even up to today. Heck, comic books today are full of legends of swordsmen heroes that continue to inspire Japanese youth...

Another factor in shaping the W.W. II Japanese mentality was a revival of Emperor worship, which the author shows was linked with many right-wing ideologies. Japan's right wing had long been distrustful of the Meiji Period's collaboration with the West, and with what they saw as a weakening concession to Western powers. To right-wingers, Japan's entrance into the modern Western technological age heralded a loss of the nation's "spiritual" essence. As a result, these right-wing groups reacted against Westernization by insisting that the Emperor's (symbolic) ruling powers actually be restored ("tenno-syugi"). In short, a "cult of the Emperor" was seen as an antidote to foreign influences. This should NOT be seen, however, as any particular affection or devotion for the emperor; many right-wingers actually despised the empty shell the emperor role had become. While old Shinto ideas on the "divinity" of the emperor were promoted, these images were deliberately used by ultra-nationalist thinkers to foster national unity and a sense of cultural identity. Religion, after all, is a great tool for "group-think"- send the people to the shrines, and make them all think the same way...
Add to all these influences a widespread racial superiority complex, still held today by some right-wing Japanese in important positions in government and industry, and you have a recipe for potential problems.

Well, in W.W.II, all these factors merged together and produced an ugly mentality- a huge nationalistic pride, a conviction Japan was destined for greatness, and a perception that other Asians (not to mention gaijin, i.e., foreigners) were inferior and could be conquered by the "Japanese spirit". Alas, Japanese leaders made fatal errors in judging the ability of Western nations to win the war, despite the West's obvious advantage in technological and industrial might. The defeat of Japan was a crushing national psychological blow to this myth of Japanese spiritual superiority, needless to say.

But enough about W.W. II, veterans and history buffs need no reminding about the infamous Japanese military psyche. For our purposes here, what is instructive is how supposedly "enlightened" buddhist teachers in Japan were sucked into the nationalistic spiel and themselves encouraged and contributed to military brainwashing of soldiers, resulting in a brutal inhuman treatment of other nations. It is not only a dark period of Japanese religious history, the situation speaks in general of the failure of so-called "enlightenment" experiences ("satori" or "kensho") to transform a buddhist authority figure into the bodhisattva ideal they are supposed to become...in fact, tellingly, it made no difference.

Ah, well, somebody might say, that all happened in the past- of what relevance is that today? The answer is not completely comforting because, unfortunately, the same elements are still in place in Japan, lurking somewhat below the surface in the right-wing ideologies held by powerful factions in business and industry. And unfortunately, the buddhism in Japan is always susceptible to these influences. (Interested readers of Victoria's books will also find instructive an expansion of the theme of zen and Japanese nationalism in articles by buddhist scholar Robert Sharf). In saying this, one should not associate these militaristic right-wing feelings with the typical Japanese citizen, who might well be horrified at these inhuman events if they thought about it much, but of course young (and old) Japanese are reluctant to revisit a painful past.

So why should buddhists in general be humbled by all these war revelations? Apart from demonstrating that claims of "enlightenment" are no guarantee that famous teachers have transformed lives, another observation is that we see a great deal of gullibility on the part of zen students everywhere. This, in a religion supposedly teaching students how to see things clearly... Those who are familiar with numerous scandals in the United States, for instance, concerning certain teachers (American and Asian) in both the Tibetan and Zen traditions, not to mention scandals of corruption in Japan, etc., should realize buddhism hardly fares better than other religions in tales of human fraility. It is human nature to attach to one's teacher and be uncritical when the latter's behavior gets questionable, but since we now have documented proof "enlightened" masters are no better than others, one begins to wonder when buddhist devotees, particularly Western students, will learn from past mistakes about putting esteemed teachers (Asian or otherwise) on a pedestal. It was truly a shock that these Japanese heroes held in such high esteem turned out to be such brutal human beings... The entire master/student relationship as defined in traditional Asian culture, with all of the problems this cultural expectation entails when brought into Western culture, needs to be discussed regarding these naive tendencies of students. It is a fascinating topic in itself, but we don't have space here.

Wait just a minute, Christians and other religions, you're not off the hook either...there is always a tendency to venerate one's authority figure and be (sometimes willingly) blind toward the latter's faults and failings or abuses, but this gullibility needs to be addressed. There certainly seems to be something in the typical religious mentality that venerates authority figures beyond what common sense should allow, an observation that skeptics of religion see very clearly. Alas, the true believers tend not to see the problems here...just witness the blind eye believers have toward the material excesses of your typical TV evangelical preachers.
Not a desirable situation by any means. Gullibility on the part of believers; deception and greed on the part of leaders. Of course this picture does not describe everybody, but if it weren't a continuing pattern, nobody would need to bring it up.

To sum up, Mr. Victoria deserves all the acclaim and praise his books have generated; his work in uncovering the realities of the situation in Japan is a monumental effort and one many would not liked to have tackled. I'm sure he didn't like it. But honesty and integrity are obviously very important to him. What else can I say? I'm grateful. We all should be.

This exhaustively researched, well-documented and courageous book is incorrectly titled; it should have been "Buddhism At War" as that is its focus. Perhaps the editors/publishers were unwilling to draw the ire of the religious community or the existence of Damieville's "Buddhism And War" required another title; perhaps "Zen At War" was just more marketable.

As Victoria's book elegantly points out, however, every sect of Buddhism in Japan was part of "Imperial Way Buddhism". Buddhism morphed at every opportunity into what the Emperor and his bureaucracy wanted. Every accommodation was made if the Buddhists could use it to their political advantage, even if it contradicted their teachings or enabled the massacre of countless non-Japanese sentient beings.

A fundamental entanglement in this book is that "Zen", which translates as "meditation", is somehow dependent on Buddhism or that the two can only exist together. Meditation existed in the country of Buddha's birth (and in other countries) millenniums before he was born. All Buddhists do not meditate and all meditators are not Buddhists.

There is little doubt, and growing scientific evidence, that meditation develops concentration, detachment, heightened awareness, focus, clarity, etc. That is why so many cultures and countries embrace it for war and martial techniques, but also enhanced performance in commerce, athletics, artistic creativity, stress relief, flower arranging, calligraphy, etc.

A leading contemporary Zen teacher, Toni Packer, once far up the American Rinzai Zen Buddhist hierarchy, abandoned Buddhism entirely, forming an iconoclastic approach, a Zen completely stripped of any Buddhist doctrine, dogma, ritual, hierarchy, titles, robes, etc. Buddhism is not necessary for Zen or for enlightenment.

This leads to the second entanglement in this book, that enlightenment is uniquely Buddhist and therefore must align with Buddhist teachings. Enlightenment, as well as available documentation can attest, has occurred in every culture, climate, religious background, century, etc. To evaluate enlightenment by whether it abides by Buddhist doctrine is backwards at best.

The real blame here is on a religion, Buddhism, which was exploited by a militarist imperialist society in manipulating and disempowering millions and enabling the most heinous crimes. Rather than criticizing just Buddhism, however, perhaps the time has come for us to reevaluate the concept of religion. The real truth is so simple; it is just to be in one's natural state. Why are these religions necessary?

This book disproves the frequently repeated mantra that Buddhism is against war. Actually, any history book on the vicious religious wars in places like Tibet would alter that opinion.

Since so many other people have reviewed the contents of the book, I will just add what struck me most of all. A famous writer "Liang Su....(said)there is neither good nor evil has any significance...Such ideas are accepted as great truths" (p 105). Anyone who, like me, has lived in Asia for any number of years will have heard statements like this.

Victoria adds "one is tempted to believe that Liang was also a prophet able to foresee the deaths over a thousand years later of millions of young Japanese men who were drawn to their own deaths by the Zen-inspired 'light' of Bushido. All the more, the millions of innocent men, women, and children who burned with (or because of them)" (p 105).

An eye opening book. One that should be widely read.

This book gives an excellent perspective on the role of Zen in modern Japanese political philosophy. It has always played a critical role in Japanese military theory and the martial arts. In modern times it became an integral part of the political theories that set Japan on a course for military expansion in Asia. The book is well-researched and documents how top Zen leaders actively supported Japan's dreams of empire.

A enlightening history of role of Zen Buddhism in the Pacific War. Victoria analyzes how Zen and the Japanese military affected each other. He takes the writings of the leading Buddhists of the time to tell the story. A classical study on how religion and society influence each other., even a supposedly peace loving religion can be twisted into an instrument of the state. Sheds some light on one of the forefathers of American Zen, D.T. Suzuki

This book is critical reading for anyone seriously interested in Zen. Having committed his life as a Buddhist monk only to make these shocking discoveries must have been heartbreaking for Victoria, and it is remarkable that his tone remains as objective as it does.

Victoria is a refreshing and desperately needed antidote to Kapleau, Suzuki and all the rest the phony gurus peddling sundry brands of spiritual snake oil to vulnerable people desperately seeking some measure of assurance and comfort in this harsh world. His book reminds us that, however we may seek our own individual peace and spiritual security, we can never find it through lies, self-delusion, gurus and preachers.