Buddhism and organ donation
score:3
I found this article (by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi) recently when I was looking for a description of "compassion".
It says (beware that the following quote is taken slightly out of context),
Lay people support the Sangha with their simple material needs of food, robes, dwellings, and medicines. They also give generously to the poor and disadvantaged. In Sri Lanka, for example, blood donation campaigns are common on Buddhist holidays, and many people donate their eyes to eye banks and their bodily organs for medical research after their death. I learned recently that in Sri Lanka, more than 200 monks have donated kidneys, without any thought of remuneration or any other personal benefit, solely for the privilege of giving a bodily organ.
I infer that the "kidney donation" is from living donors.
In summary, I think that Theravada Buddhism says it's okay to do it (perhaps with some limitations which I hope are obvious regarding harmlessness).
This Buddhism and organ donation page from the UK claims that it's ethically okay, for example here is one of several quotes,
Organ donation is acceptable in Theravada Buddhism. It is a Buddhist virtue to generously extend help to other sentient beings and this covers the case of organ donation." (Phramaha Laow Panyasiri, Abbot, The Buddhavihara Temple)
It also says,
There are no injunctions in Buddhism for or against organ donation. The death process of an individual is viewed as a very important time that should be treated with the greatest care and respect. In some traditions, the moment of death is defined according to criteria which differ from those of modern Western medicine, and there are differing views as to the acceptability of organ transplantation.
I tried to ask about "the moment of death" in this separate question: How long to leave a body undisturbed after death?
More post
- 📝 What is the difference between transcendental state of mind and Nirvana?
- 📝 Can cold showers benefit or harm our practice (our concentration)?
- 📝 Avoiding Triggers that can generate negative karma
- 📝 Buddhism on paying for previous bad Karma
- 📝 Which Sutta does Sakkra asks 14 Questions from the Buddha?
- 📝 Why can't existence be mostly good?
- 📝 Why can't the Dalai Lama be a vegetarian?
- 📝 Why mara wants to distract
- 📝 Mindfulness when on the train, underground and bus
- 📝 A Buddhist guide to overcome self sabotage
- 📝 What is the difference between craving and clinging?
- 📝 Balancing the Five Powers
- 📝 Selling an animal to butcher will break first precept?
- 📝 if deities are merely creations of mind,how can there be purelands?
- 📝 Subtle sensations in Vipassana and Zen
- 📝 Harmlessness as the highest form of generosity?
- 📝 Should I hate them who else hates me?
- 📝 Why does it hard to ask other Buddhists to do analysis, rather than advising me to stop analyzing?
- 📝 Practice of the other three Brahmaviharas
- 📝 What enters the mind of an idle Buddha?
- 📝 Correlation between vedanta and Dhamma
- 📝 Looking for Dhammapada in Ebook format
- 📝 When an experienced monk meditates how much does their mind wander?
- 📝 Which sutras are most directly relevant to the virtue of courage?
- 📝 Possibility of nothing but all-encompassing, absolute Nibbana without Samsara? If so, is sustainability possible (and how)?
- 📝 Is there a defined sequence of events when a Buddhist enters a temple?
- 📝 What effect does mindfulness have on dependent origination?
- 📝 How do visualisation meditation practices relate to insight?
- 📝 Differences in attainments among Arahants
- 📝 Where can I find video Dharma talks?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Buddhism and organ donation
- 📝 Are Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhism the same thing?
- 📝 Does studying mathematics or science lead to a practitioner of Buddhism acquiring wrong philosophical views and mental afflictions?
- 📝 What are the differences/similarities in the concept of faith as used in Buddhism and Christianity?
- 📝 What's Buddhism view on choice, choicelesness and causality?
- 📝 Do Buddhism and Atheism contradict each other?
- 📝 Secular Buddhism and Suicide
- 📝 What does Buddhism literature and tradition say about transgender folks?
- 📝 What are the differences between "Nirvana" in Buddhism and "Moksha" in Hinduism?
- 📝 What is ignorance in Buddhism and what are examples of ignorance?
- 📝 How compatible are (Theravada) Buddhism and the Western life?
- 📝 Buddhism vs. Nature and Real World
- 📝 Boundaries and Buddhism
- 📝 Is there a historical connection between Buddhism and martial arts?
- 📝 Theravada Buddhism and Art
- 📝 Buddhism and addiction treatment
- 📝 Difference between Buddhism and Aristotelian "middle-way"?
- 📝 Pride and Shame in Buddhism
- 📝 Buddhism and self-improvement
- 📝 Preliminaries (common and uncommon) in Tibetan Buddhism
- 📝 Buddhism and terminal illness
- 📝 Can one follow Hinduism and Buddhism at the same time?
- 📝 Dualism of mind and matter in Buddhism
- 📝 What does Buddhism say about creativity and spiritual development?
- 📝 Buddhism and economics
- 📝 Buddhism and misanthropy
- 📝 Buddhism and Procrastination
- 📝 Hesitation between Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta
- 📝 Eternalism and Mahayana Buddhism
- 📝 Buddhism and bacteria