According to Professor Thurman, the only effective institutional opposition to militarism in the history of humanity has been monasticism. He argues that monastic institutions enable the inversion of warriors. The militancy of the warrior is introverted, so that the monk or nun battles with his or her own inner demons of selfishness, anger, greed, and so on. In this podcast Professor Thurman suggests that dharma practitioners can win the inner battle, and when they constitute a large community, create something like a "peace army" for the society.

This episode is an excerpt from the lecture "Tibetan Buddhism: Historical and Philosophical Developments," given at Nalanda Institute in New York City, on October 1, 2015.

Universal Militarism Versus Demilitarized Society - Ep. 53 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Photo by Frank Holleman on Unsplash.

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The songs “Trance Tibet” & ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved.