Euthanasia and Buddhism

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The precepts as protection for one self are simply as they are.

Abstaining from taking live. It's not possible to have an skillful intention for an act of killing, to tell someone to kill or to accept or appreciate killing. All three doors, body, speech (sign), thoughts, are unskilfull an bad kamma, while the first to are a break of the precept.

Actually, in this frame, there are even many (sadly even encouraged by "buddhist" teacher, even monks) who do Abhithanani by killing even mother or father in this frame of ideas. Since such fatal bad deeds lead directly to hell, it's actually a very serious topic. Such a person is also incapable to progress further in Dhamma, meaning that he/she has less ways to lighten the fruits perception of his/her deed.

Here are two talks which might be useful to understand and learn:

It's good to avoid people who develop what ever kind of ideas and justifying which require the break of the basic precepts. Such a person, whether layman, monk, high respected... has to be seen as an outsider, a person not relayable in regard of Dhamma and liberation with even great lack of faith and confidence into the Juwels.

[Note: This is a gift of Dhamma, not meant for commercial purpose or other low wordily gains by means of trade and exchange.]

Upvote:0

I am not a buddhist. But there is an article in wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_and_euthanasia

Both talk about 2 people

Vakkali and Channa

Both committed suicide

And both seems quite okay

Upvote:9

I've been to a lecture in which a Tibetan Buddhist monk (specifically, a nyingmapa) was asked the same question by a teenage girl. Basically, his answer was, such killing would both end some existing suffering and create some new suffering. Because regular person does not see all complexity of karma network spanning multiple lives, his or her acts are very likely to make the karmic situation even worse.

According to that monk, compassionate killing should be left to either dakas/dakinis (the crazy yogis capable of "eating icecream and shit at the same time" -- i.e. skilfully dealing with consequences of the bad karma they take on) or omniscient buddhas who can grant liberation at the time of killing, or at least create a favorable karmic condition in subsequent lives.

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