A fighting Buddhist may seem to be a contradiction in terms.
Are not Buddhists committed to non-violence? Yes, and
no. The first precept (see next chapter) is non-harming, but this
does not mean pacifism. It is said that the best gift is the gift of
the Dharma, that is, of final liberation from all suffering, but
physical needs must be met first, or people will not have the
leisure to understand Dharma. If the body is too weak from
excessive fasting, the mind cannot function. (We will examine
the Buddhist argument against extreme asceticism in chapter 5.)
Similarly, if there is starvation or war in a land, the people have
no energy for hearing or practicing Dharma. Buddhism, there-
fore, involves itself in politics, revolutions, and wars, but (ide-
ally) only insofar as this creates a space in which the teaching
of final liberation from samsara can flourish, and it is concerned
with the maintenance of justice in society.

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