Spirit Rock Meditation Center is dedicated to the teachings of the Buddha. We provide silent meditation retreats, as well as classes, trainings, and Dharma study.
War or Peace? Thinking Outside the Box
Four Buddhists grapple with the precept of non-killing. A roundtable discussion with Lama Surya Das, Jan Chozen Bays, José Cabezón, and Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Tricycle: How do you view the U.S. government’s military response to the events of September 11?
Jan Chozen Bays: I would have preferred a more restrained response. In an ideal world you’d send special forces into Afghanistan in the dead of night, anesthetize the core group of terrorists, put them in padded restraints, provide them with lawyers, and deposit them on the steps of the international court in the Hague. This is an imperfect world, but still I had hopes for a more “surgical” intervention. As a physician I think of terrorism as analogous to cancer. A physician’s job is to go in and surgically remove the cancer to alleviate the immediate cause of suffering.
Tricycle: José?
Share with a Friend
Member Supported Content
Please login or join to continue.
Become a Supporting Member
*With Autorenew
- You Get
- Tricycle | The Magazine - a one-year subscription to premier Buddhist quarterly
- Tricycle Retreats - a new online video teaching every every week by a contemporary Buddhist teacher
- Tricycle | The Digital Edition - web based edition of the magazine
- The Wisdom Collection - nearly two decades of teachings by the world's most compelling teachers, from the pages of Tricycle
- Tricycle Gallery - the best in Buddhist art to download and share with friends
- Tricycle Book Club - online discussions with leading Buddhist authors
- Tricycle Discussions - teacher-led explorations of dharma in daily life
- The Tricycle Blog - our diary of the global Buddhist movement
- Daily Dharma - heart advice delivered direct to your inbox
- The Tricycle Newsletter - the latest news, teachings, events, and more, every Monday
Become a Supporting Member
Become a Sustaining Member
*With Autorenew
- You Get
- Tricycle | The Magazine - a one-year subscription to premier Buddhist quarterly
- Tricycle Retreats - a new online video teaching every every week by a contemporary Buddhist teacher
- Tricycle | The Digital Edition - web based edition of the magazine
- The Wisdom Collection - nearly two decades of teachings by the world's most compelling teachers, from the pages of Tricycle
- Tricycle Gallery - the best in Buddhist art to download and share with friends
- Tricycle Book Club - online discussions with leading Buddhist authors
- Tricycle Discussions - teacher-led explorations of dharma in daily life
- The Tricycle Blog - our diary of the global Buddhist movement
- Daily Dharma - heart advice delivered direct to your inbox
- The Tricycle Newsletter - the latest news, teachings, events, and more, every Monday











Latest Magazine Comments
This excellent update on the suffering of the Rohingya people at the hands of Buddhists was very timely for me...
This is great.
Thank you for taking the time to break that down step-by-step in simple terms.
It is...
Hi celticpassage. I don't think it's as simple as all that. It seems like the women who were abused did challenge...
As a student of a senior student of Sasaki, I was appalled when I first heard of his alleged serial acts of abuse...