Page "Ahimsa" Paragraph 7

Non-violence is an over-riding concern of the Pali Canon.

While the early texts condemn killing in the strongest terms, and portray the ideal king as a pacifist, such a king is nonetheless flanked by an army.

It seems that the Buddha's teaching on non-violence was not interpreted or put into practice in an uncompromisingly pacifist or anti-military-service way by early Buddhists.

The early texts assume war to be a fact of life, and well-skilled warriors are viewed as a necessity for defensive warfare.

In Pali texts, injunctions to abstain from violence and involvement with military affairs are directed at members of the sangha ; later Mahayana texts, which often generalize monastic norms to laity, require this of lay people as well.