Buddhist Violence: in conversation with Vajra Chandrasekera

In this episode I have the privilege of speaking with the brilliant writer, Vajra Chandrasekera, where we discuss his award-winning fantasy novel, "The Saint of Bright Doors." The story revolves around a boy named Fetter – who has certain gifts (he can see other worldly beings that are invisible to the rest of us, he doesn’t have a shadow, and he can defy gravity at times) - and is trained by his mother to become an assassin from when he is a young child. His one and only target is his father, who happens to be a well-known religious leader, known as The Perfect and The Kind. 

There are so many layers to this story but the one I am most interested in addressing in my conversation with Vajra is the theme of Buddhist violence. When we think of Buddhism or Buddhists we tend to imagine a pacifist people, monks meditating, Mindfulness!, people practicing loving kindness & compassion. Indeed, these are important aspects of Buddhism, and I would argue, of all religions. And when we hear of "religious violence," perhaps the last group of people we might think of are Buddhists or Buddhist monastics. However, this is the community - specifically the activities and beliefs of the radical Sri Lankan (Sinhala) Buddhist nationalists, that is being highlighted in "The Saint of Bright Doors."

In addressing the themes of state violence, ethno-nationalism, genocide, communal resistance, and the people and the power structures – both the visible and the invisible - that shape us, Vajra Chandrasekera's work reminds us that Buddhist violence isn’t just the stuff of fantasy.

To learn more about Vajra and work please visit his website at vajra.me

Information about the Sri Lankan civil war was drawn from an article written by Nithyani Anandakugan in the Harvard International Review: https://hir.harvard.edu/sri-lankan-civil-war/