[Buddha-l] Buddhist Bioethics

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

Hugo schreef:

>Hello Erik,
>
>On 8/20/05, Erik Hoogcarspel <jehms at xs4all.nl> wrote:
>  
>
>>I don't see any reason why Buddhism would prohibit stopping the life
>>support. The Buddha himself silently agreed to arhants taking their own
>>life, and even maybe having themselves killed by others.
>>    
>>
>
>Could you please point out which suttas you are referring to?
>
>The Vinaya explicitely forbids those two scenarios:
>http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/vinaya/bhikkhu-pati.html#1
>
>3. Should any bhikkhu intentionally deprive a human being of life, or
>search for an assassin for him, or praise the advantages of death, or
>incite him to die (thus): "My good man, what use is this wretched,
>miserable life to you? Death would be better for you than life," or
>with such an idea in mind, such a purpose in mind, should in various
>ways praise the advantages of death or incite him to die, he also is
>defeated and no longer in communion.
>
>  
>
Well, appearently the messages are contradictory like in any decent 
religion. I had the Channovadasutta in mind (Majjhimanikaya 144). Channa 
is suffering from a disease and the Buddha accepts his euthanasia. There 
are articles about suicide in Buddhism at
http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma/suicide.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ethics/sanctity_life/euthbuddhism.shtml
http://www.buddhistinformation.com/buddhism_and_suicide.htm
http://www.metta.lk/english/suicide.htm
<http://www.friesian.com/donner-2.htm>http://www.friesian.com/donner-2.htm
http://www.yogichen.org/efiles/mbk16.html
The passage in the Vinaya may be a reaction to a practice which had 
grown among older monks to have themselves killed. A friend of mine has 
been translating hte Majjhima Nikaya and he told me that in one of the 
Nikaya's (I'm not sure which one, it may be 80, or 84, or 127, but if 
you insist I can ask) Kaccano (or Kaccayana) tells the Buddha that he 
wants to return to his homeland (near Mumbai). And the Buddha warns him 
for attacks at his person. Kaccano answers that he would'nt mind because 
if that would happen he would have met his arhantkiller.
I suspect that the objection against suicide or euthanasia is directed 
against killing motivated by 'thirst for being' or 'thirst for not 
being'. And since only an arhant is completely free from this one could 
say that it's forbidden for normal people, but why would a normal person 
not be temporarily be free in certain circumstances? This problem is 
quite different from the Christian motivation which is that life's a 
gift from God and exclusively His business. The Buddha is more concerned 
with klesha's and asava's. This life, this body is only a temporary 
matter and one shouldn't be attached to it or hate it.

-- 
HTH

Erik


www.xs4all.nl/~jehms