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General Buddhism => General Buddhism => Topic started by: hope rainbow on November 22, 2011, 01:59:26 PM
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I am talking about euthanasia.
I take an example: I could tell my children that if, after an accident for example, I ever was in a situation of no more brain activity, yet with a body still functioning and reduced to a bed hospital until natural death occurs, I would prefer for them to let me go.
By informing my children of such and even signing papers about it, is it then all right (in karmic terms) for them to sign my "release" papers from the hospital so that I may end a life (mine) that was no more capable of actions nor had any more conscience?
What do think of this as a Buddhist?
Would you give such guidance to your children?
How would you react if your mother or father made such a request to you?
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I had always tell my family this same statement - if I ever be reduced to a 'vegetable' and the only thing that is keeping me physically alive is the live-support equipment, please pull the plug!! I dont want to be a burden to anyone.
I always thought I am doing my family a flavor by letting them 'pull the lug' - but i have never look at this from your point of view! This is definitely scary!
Anyone wants to contribute ?
I will tell my kids to hold that thought until I am clear on this! :D
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Now I might ask my children to let me go when I'm brain dead. However, there is no guarantee that even in the "vegetable" stage, my sub conscience might want to live on. My point is we always change our mind. What we decide now might change in the next year, month or even the next moment.
From a Buddhist view point, stopping the life supporting system will not stop the suffering. We will experience the unexhausted karma in the next life.
It is also unfair to put the burden of carrying out the life terminating instruction on the children. Who would like to stop the machine that sustains one's Mom /Dad even if the parent is unconscious?
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Maybe this would help us debate:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rom_Houben (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rom_Houben)
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I am talking about euthanasia.
I take an example: I could tell my children that if, after an accident for example, I ever was in a situation of no more brain activity, yet with a body still functioning and reduced to a bed hospital until natural death occurs, I would prefer for them to let me go.
By informing my children of such and even signing papers about it, is it then all right (in karmic terms) for them to sign my "release" papers from the hospital so that I may end a life (mine) that was no more capable of actions nor had any more conscience?
What do think of this as a Buddhist?
Would you give such guidance to your children?
How would you react if your mother or father made such a request to you?
Killing is the heaviest negative action a sentient being could perform. Killing one’s father or one’s mother is one of the five actions of immediate retribution. Someone who commits such an action will go straight to hell at the end of that life, which is why it is called an action of ‘immediate retribution’.
Our human lives are so precious because:
1) It is the best realm of existence in samsara where human can experience both suffering and temporary happiness. With these experiences, humans can develop the minds of renunciation and subsequently to gain liberation from samsara and full enlightenment
2) The human body is a vehicle that can be used to accomplish enlightenment in one lifetime through the practice of Highest Yoga Tantra.
No matter what motivation we might have to end the life of another being, it is a severe negative action because the action abuses the preciousness of the human life.
Lord Buddha once killed a ship pilot to save 500 others. The consequence was Buddha has to be born in hell. However Buddha immediately took rebirth in the God realm after the hell realm because of His bodhicitta intention of saving 500 lives of others.
We may be in situation of no more brain activity and our body supported by life sustaining equipments, however our minds are still intact assuming our life span is not yet over! We still have feelings! If we have not trained or transformed our minds prior to our ‘death’, we will not be in the position to face death confidently!
Hence the questions to ask prior to consenting to euthanasia are:
1) Is euthanasia causing more harm to others and oneself?
2) Is the person requesting euthanasia not causing more sufferings to others (in this case his or her children) if they were requested to end their parent’s life? The children are already suffering from the pain of separation, why add salt to the wound by asking them to kill the parents?
3) Is the person requesting euthanasia confident enough to face death?
4) Is euthanasia legal? If it is not legal, then the person requesting euthanasia is committing a negative action by breaking the law of the country.
5) Is euthanasia ethical?
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Dear all,
Just to share :
Years ago my friend's only brother met with a fatal accident. Since his mother was greatly saddened by the tragedy, my friend was given the heart breaking task of turning off the life supporting system to his brother after doctors certified that the poor man was brain dead.
He refused to talk about it for a long time and had nightmares till recently after he got connected with Buddhism and had better understanding of life from a Buddhist perspective. He finally let go of the guilt he had burried deep within himself.
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Euthanasia is a very sensitive topic. As a Buddhist, any form of killing is bad karma. Furthermore, if we stop the person from going through the karma this lifetime, the person will still need to go through the karma in his or her future lives but with greater sufferings. It would be better to relief the person from pain by administering pain killers.
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Euthanasia is illegal in most countries and it need laws to be passed in order for someone to have the right to take their won life, including authorizing someone to pull the plug.
In a Buddhist point of view, we should not simply take a life just because it reduces the suffering and makes it easier for the people around to move on. The reason is because a person would have to karmically live their life until the karma is ends. And taking your own life would mean taking rebirth in the lower realms. It is their karma that the incident occurs to them as they have not done anything like doing good deeds, making offerings or prayers to alleviate the karma. If you end the life early without exhausting the karma, then it will follow them like a shadow to their next rebirth and next rebirth. This is something we cannot avoid.
Even my father has told us, his children, that if he is diagnosed with a terminal disease, he would not want us to persuade him to go for treatment as he sees that treatment is more suffering for him. I don't think I can allow that to happen as I would like him to go for medical treatment and for him to live long, let alone taking his life.
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The most important thing in life is to be of benefit to others. I would like to examine the topic of euthanasia based on this statement.
As a vegetable/comatose/brain-dead person, there isnt much the person's mind can do, I suppose. However, they are not suffering per se, as they dont feel pain or hurt etc. So there is no need to perform euthanasia on them, so that you do not collect the negative karma of killing someone, even though you have their consent. If it is your parents, I am pretty sure the karma is even heavier.
Instead, let's benefit them in the best possible way - collect merit for them while they are still alive. How many times have we heard that as long as our loved ones are alive, we can collect more merit for them than if they are dead. So lets do that - dedicate our merits to them, do pujas for them, liberate animals for them, make a Buddha image dedicated to them and make offerings daily etc
Wouldnt that be better than all this negative talk about euthanasia?
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Yes, we should always dedicate our merits gain on doing Dharma to our parents so that their bad karma would be lessened and that they would not have the cause to even think of euthanasia. They may not even need to know that you are doing Dharma for them. And it will definitely give us peace of mind that their after life would be better.
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The most important thing in life is to be of benefit to others. I would like to examine the topic of euthanasia based on this statement.
As a vegetable/comatose/brain-dead person, there isnt much the person's mind can do, I suppose. However, they are not suffering per se, as they dont feel pain or hurt etc. So there is no need to perform euthanasia on them, so that you do not collect the negative karma of killing someone, even though you have their consent. If it is your parents, I am pretty sure the karma is even heavier.
Instead, let's benefit them in the best possible way - collect merit for them while they are still alive. How many times have we heard that as long as our loved ones are alive, we can collect more merit for them than if they are dead. So lets do that - dedicate our merits to them, do pujas for them, liberate animals for them, make a Buddha image dedicated to them and make offerings daily etc
Wouldnt that be better than all this negative talk about euthanasia?
Dear Thor,
Thank you very much for your post, I like it a lot.
Thank you.
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I don't think it is right to put that responsibility on our kids nor anyone. Imagine the guilt and pain they have to go through. I don't think I can do that if I was asked to. I have no right to say who gets to live or not. It is still killing. None of us are at the level of a Buddha to think that we can kill someone out of compassion.
While they are still alive and although brain dead, we can still do other methods to help them in the after life instead. We can do prayers or liberate animals on behalf of them. Even after they die, we can still continue doing so in the next 49 days.
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Well putting your children in this position will be very hard on them. They would have a hard time accepting it in the first place. Maybe the following will be interesting from a Buddhist point of view:
The Dalai Lama, PhD, Tibetan head of state and spiritual leader, was cited by Agence-France Presse in a Sep. 18, 1996 article titled "Dalai Lama Backs Euthanasia in Exceptional Circumstances":
"The Dalai Lama boosted the spirits of supporters of legalised euthanasia here Wednesday [Sep. 18, 2009], saying mercy killing was permissable in certain exceptional circumstances under Buddhist philosophy...
Asked his view on euthanasia, the Dalai Lama said Buddhists believed every life was precious and none more so than human life, adding: 'I think it's better to avoid it...
'But at the same time I think with abortion, (which) Buddhism considers an act of killing... the Buddhist way is to judge the right and wrong or the pros and cons'...
He cited the case of a person in a coma with no possibility of recovery or a woman whose pregnancy threatened her life or that of the child or both where the harm caused by not taking action might be greater.
'These are, I think from the Buddhist viewpoint, exceptional cases,' he said. So it's best to be judged on a case by case basis."
Sep. 18, 1996 - Dalai Lama, PhD
Source: http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000158 (http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000158)
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I don't think it is right to put that responsibility on our kids nor anyone. Imagine the guilt and pain they have to go through. I don't think I can do that if I was asked to. I have no right to say who gets to live or not. It is still killing. None of us are at the level of a Buddha to think that we can kill someone out of compassion.
While they are still alive and although brain dead, we can still do other methods to help them in the after life instead. We can do prayers or liberate animals on behalf of them. Even after they die, we can still continue doing so in the next 49 days.
I agree with bambi on this... It's a horrible position to put your kids in. Not only to kill someone, but to kill your own parents.
You indirectly teach them that it's ok to end a life, and this should never be the case. If your parents go into a vegetative state, they have the karma to cause them to be in a vegetative state. So by ending their life, you indirectly stop them from experiencing through the karma.
Karma doesn't start on a clean slate when we enter into another bodily (or formless) vehicle. Your parents will have to experience through the karma of being in a vegetative state.
It's best to do lots and lots of mantras, and dedicate the merits accumulated from your Dharma work to them while they are in a vegetative state than to pull the plug.
So, sorry mum and dad, but if anything happens... I'll keep you in the vegetative state!!
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Euthanasia is the deliberate ending of life of a person suffering from an incurable disease.In recent years the concept has been broadened to include the practice of withholding extraordinary means or ''heroic measures and thus allowing the patient to die.There are many different views among Buddhist on this issue but many are critical of the procedure.It is immoral to embark on any course of action whose aim is to destroy human life,irrespective of the quality of the individual motive.Therefore,I wouldn't want my children to bear the guilt of making this decision.
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If I was put in this dilemma i wouldn't know what to do. But i personally feel that in such a case I would let my parent live in the state. After all it is a purification of his/her bad karma, and thus leaving them in that state would make sure they wouldn't experience it in their next life. I would do prayers, and do as much to help them, because in their next life they could be born away from the dharma, so anything can happen. I'd rather help them with access to the dharma, than let them live an unpredictable next life.
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Hmm... good question. Euthanasia has always been a hot topic and vastly debated not only among Buddhists, but people around the world in general.
When it comes to Euthanasia and Buddhism, it is safe to say that Buddhism is like a two sided coin (in a good way)... There are things that normal people perceive it to be wrong but can be the most appropriate thing to do for Buddhists, and it all boils down to motivation.
However, when it comes to euthanasia... just having a good motivation to carry out euthanasia is not enough... Why? because just like what everyone has already pointed out, we don't know where the terminally ill person will take rebirth if we let him/her go now. Unless, one is a renowed master/lama and his student also is a renowed lama that can see where the person that is being euthanized will take rebirth, and if the euthanized individual will take a better rebirth to benefit more people, then of course, no harm or bad karma is collected through euthanizing such a person. However, these type of situation is definitely very rare... therefore it is always safe to not take the chance especially when we are all regular people that are unable to see into a person's future life...
So, my point? It is very selfish of us to force our children on contract to make them carry out euthanasia for us if we are ever in the situation that qualifies us to do so... Instead, we should concentrate on encouraging them to commissioning pujas, and doing meritorious things to dedicate the merits to us when we're terminally ill... with the motivation that they will continue to do Dharma even after our death (if they're not into Dharma initially).
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It would be a burden to my children if I don't request them to let me die. In a short run it will lessen their suffering however, in the long run it may not be so. Children has their obligations to their parents. Both have karmatic infinity. Children will suffer when their parents are old and sick, parents suffers giving birth and bringing up a child. Suffer now is better than suffering the consequences of killing whether there is consent or not. If this is the route we choose, both the parent and children will collect the negativ karma for killing. The parent will also collect negative karma for requesting their children to kill even though the motivation is not a bad motivation.
Best thing to do is live healthy for our loved ones, practice dharma and stop collecting negative body karma so that we die in a better manner or at peace. This way we will not burden anyone in future.
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This is an often tricky and sensitive topic as it goes against the principles of Buddhism yet in a way it does feel like the we are ending the suffering of someone... But is it? I reckon that is the whole point. We need to look at the bigger picture.
If we take the "easy" way out and end our life before it ends in order to reduce our pain and not, so call, inconvenience our love ones, are we doing this out of the motivation to benefit ourselves or other and does it really matter of the two?
Personally, if one is inclined to giving the power of attorney to their loved ones to end their life should they ever have to go through a karma of being a vegetable is being selfish! It sounds absolute because it is as the negative karma accumulate in killing oneself as well as instructing others to do the the act would be huge. Yes there will be negative karma I am sure. Karma is very black and white. Never grey. However the motivation behind it, makes the "repercussions" less or more... In this situation, one does not want to suffer and also not want others to suffer in having to look after them. Which one out weighs the other?
I do not have an answer for this but as I shared above, there IS and WILL be repercussions to which we will be bearing in our next life.
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I am talking about euthanasia.
I take an example: I could tell my children that if, after an accident for example, I ever was in a situation of no more brain activity, yet with a body still functioning and reduced to a bed hospital until natural death occurs, I would prefer for them to let me go.
By informing my children of such and even signing papers about it, is it then all right (in karmic terms) for them to sign my "release" papers from the hospital so that I may end a life (mine) that was no more capable of actions nor had any more conscience?
What do think of this as a Buddhist?
Would you give such guidance to your children?
How would you react if your mother or father made such a request to you?
This is an interesting question. But i will let my self die because if i am ever to be in that state, i will not want to live as well. Take the suffering that i will be going through in my mind during that period out of the context, i won't want my children to suffer financially or emotionally to keep me alive with the life support machine. for them of course it will be very hard decision to make, but from my point of view is that we as Buddhist should not be a burden to anyone. We should take responsibility of our own life and if we can't do anything more than being reduced to be kept alive by the life support machine, i might as well end it.
From the moral context, it is not right for children to 'kill' their parent(s) in such circumstances and should do whatever they can to keep the parent(s) alive. it is deemed unfilial for many but sometimes we have to be logic and think from the parent's point of view.
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I will cheat here. Bring up your children to be Dharmic and for me and my children to have good Guru Devotion. Then any of the below may happen.
1) The condition for my children to have to make a decision would not arise as I wish to die peacefully.
2) If at all, that condition arises, then my children can ask the Guru for guidance.
3) If the Guru is unavailable, then we good motivations the children can make the correct decisions. It is all in the motivations. No arguments about whether the brain dead but the body is not etc etc. All in the motivations.
Also, this reminds us to practice well NOW, for we never know when and under what circumstances we will die. Best not to burden the children. Practice powa if possible; have strong Guru Devotion and hopefully, the Guru, Yidam and Protector can help at the point of death.
Otherwise, any amount of arguing about this topic will be pointless. I take it back. I am not cheating.
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i think that even tho the parents asked the children to let go of them and let them die, i don't think any of children willing to do that. And beyond that there is a karmic result.
Since cause reflect in result why we not change a cause by instead of thinking that when we getting old and we might sick, have diseases or have bad incident until in coma state and brain dead and prepare by asking children for Euthanasia, why not we use our precious time that we have right now to do more virtuous actions eg do prayer and mantra daily, make donation to sangha or temple, volunteer in buddhist centre, attend puja or sponsor puja etc to create more merit so we not end up in a very bad situation when getting old.
What happen today is the result of yestauday and what is going to happen tomorrow is from what we are doing today.
Let change our future when we getting old by changing what we are doing today.. is that make sense?
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If it is for me to be in this stage, that means I have to karma to go through this, as long as I’m still not dead, any action of putting me to sleep is consider killing, killing is a very heavy karma more over for someone to kill their parents? I could not imagine how much negative the kids are receiving.
If due to we don’t want to suffer and we ask for euthanasia, this is very selfish, this means what? This means we asking someone to take on such heavy karma to help us to ‘release’ our suffering by not knowing that even if we escape from this karma, it will come back heavier in future life and we are gonna have big time with it. Do you think it is fair for others to perform such action?
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For one to end up being in that state would be a direct result of accumulated actions/karma from previous deeds. For the family members, having to go through the turmoil, the pain, the sadness and emotional rollercoaster is also a direct result of previous deeds. Therefore both parties have to undergo and experience it entirely to exhaust the karma that has been created from past actions.
If the parent asked to be euthanised, it would mean they choose to end their "suffering" early, and in the next life, would have to suffer again, this time maybe heavier. If the kid agrees, it may be for a few reasons:
1. to end the pain of their parent
2. to put their parent and others out of misery
3. although difficult to do, they may want to choose the best and most beneficial solution for both parties including minimizing the burden that the kid(s) would have to deal with should they not opt to euthanise the parent.
Therefore, choosing euthanasia is ending suffering and what you otherwise might have to endure, early. If we believe in karma, we would know that no matter what, it will return if not fully exhausted. And everyday we accumulate more just by living. If we choose to euthanise our parent, even at their consent, the result willl come back and bite us twice as hard. I wouldn't put my kids through that. I'd rather my kids say mantras by my bedside..at least my consciousness will have some imprints.
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The Dalai Lama, PhD, Tibetan head of state and spiritual leader, was cited by Agence-France Presse in a Sep. 18, 1996 article titled "Dalai Lama Backs Euthanasia in Exceptional Circumstances":
"The Dalai Lama boosted the spirits of supporters of legalised euthanasia here Wednesday [Sep. 18, 2009], saying mercy killing was permissable in certain exceptional circumstances under Buddhist philosophy...
Asked his view on euthanasia, the Dalai Lama said Buddhists believed every life was precious and none more so than human life, adding: 'I think it's better to avoid it...
'But at the same time I think with abortion, (which) Buddhism considers an act of killing... the Buddhist way is to judge the right and wrong or the pros and cons'...
He cited the case of a person in a coma with no possibility of recovery or a woman whose pregnancy threatened her life or that of the child or both where the harm caused by not taking action might be greater.
'These are, I think from the Buddhist viewpoint, exceptional cases,' he said. So it's best to be judged on a case by case basis."
Sep. 18, 1996 - Dalai Lama, PhD
Source: [url]http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000158[/url] ([url]http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000158[/url])
Thank you for quoting the above source.
For some years I had struggled with whether I had done the right thing for terminating my pregnancy when it was discovered that the baby I was carrying was diagnosed as having a major alpha thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder that would have led the baby to suffer a cardiac arrest during my third trimester which would have in turn put my life in danger.
I found Buddhism soon after the incident and it has helped me put into perspective on whether what I did was right or wrong.
However, I sometimes do feel guilty that I had 'saved' my life by terminating the pregnancy and perhaps bought time for myself? Hence I always questioned myself:" Should I have allowed my unborn baby to let me die" instead?
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I will not tell my children any decision or what to do to me, just let it be naturally because all this is personal karma. If one day i need to go through suffering like this which mean in my previous life must done somethings bad. No one can escape their own current/previous karma, the most important is stop create bad karma at the same time self transformation & benefit others to create good future karma. Or else do something spiritually dedicate merit to them is immediate action bring result instead of sitting there wasting time allow negative thought arise.
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How can a person allow another person to kill? This creates great negative karma!
I’m so lucky to understand this through Buddhism teaching.
Speaking about ‘euthanasia’, termination of life a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life, to relieve intractable suffering. Any suffering cause by their own previous action that create the karma. Of course it doesn’t meant we cannot do anything and just wait for the time.
Practically in my opinion as long as the person still alive we should follow the Buddhism way which is to generate more merit and dedicate for them. There is much beneficial to do while the person still a life. When a person dies they will bring along the negative karma to their next life. Why not purify it while they still can and dedicate for a good condition for their good rebirth.
Create as much merits as possible while we still can and while we still a life and we still have the great opportunity.
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As with any issue that involves religious ethics, it is better to deal with this on a case to case basis. H.H. the Dalai Lama (quoted above) is very wise to mention exceptional cases where euthanasia can be administered. It is a matter of choosing the lesser of the two evils. Which action is kinder?
Buddhism is not a dogmatic religion. Even if there are rules (against killing etc), there are also exceptions to the rules. So it is wise to study each individual case before deciding what to do. In this particular case, if the children would feel guilty if they followed their parent's instruction, then it is better not to force them. I would certainly consider their feelings about it.
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Before i learn about law of cause and effect, i would definitely let my children to put me on euthanasia if they see me suffer from severe illness or at the stage of being "vegetable".
Now that I've understand karma, i wouldn't encourage my children to actually "kill" me. As we know even we end our life by our own will, the karma wont exhaust, we still need to suffer in our future lives. Killing is such a severe negative cause that will definitely bring us down to the lower 3 realm, being a mother, how could i let my children do so?
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I would not tell my kids to pull the plug if I ever knew that was going to happen. I would tell them to make their own decision based upon the teachings of cause and effect. They should be adult enough to make their own decisions. I would however, tell them to take care of each other, donate their time, effort and resources to the Dharma and study the Lamrim. Also, I would tell them to perform pujas for my rebirth and not be too greedy over the wealth I have left them but to donate a large chunk to charities and my Lama's organisation. I think, those would be better things to tell my children before I die.
On the other hand, if I were a kid of such an adult, I would not pull the plug but try to find altenative opinions with doctors and exhaust all possible ways. Simultaneously, i would do a lot of Dorje Shugden pujas and consult qualified Lamas for other pujas that will benefit that parent. I would never pull the plug not just because that would be killing but there is perhaps karma that is unfinished that I owe this parent so i would have to exhaust it by doing my best to find ways to heal this parent.
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If I have to suffer in that vegetative state for the rest of my life then I have to accept the course that my karma had led me to. How could any parent allow their children to shoulder the burden of taking away this precious life? How could you as a parent burden your kids with this guilt? You become selfish not wanting to "suffer" anymore, but did you think how much more your kids would suffer if they had to pull the plug?
We may say Eat healthy, stay healthy to have a quality life but that does not guarantee you a happy ending does it?
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I for one will not ask my children to carry out that act, because I know that the action will hurt and haunt them for the rest of their lives. It is not fair. Why let them go through such physical trauma and not to mention the bad karma accumulated from carrying out that act. Pulling the plug terminates life and that is killing and killing ones own parents have very severe repercussions and I believe would go straight to hell. Therefore why would I want my children to go to hell. Moreover if I do not allow the karma to take its full course but cutting it short prematurely, I would return in my next life to complete the karma and possibly more severe.
In any case when you are brain dead, you just like having a long deep sleep.
Therefore if I am in that position, I would allow the karma to take its full course until final breath leaves my body.
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In any case when you are brain dead, you just like having a long deep sleep.
When a person is in a coma, there is no indication how long you will be "sleeping".
Picture this scenario : you have been in a coma for week, months, years --- you show no sign of ever waking. The doctors/specialists have done all they could - every single medical test they could think of, every type of new medication/drug the could lay their hands on - none worked.
Are you going to allow the people around you --- your family, friends, the health care staff -- continue to look after you, with the hope that you may one day wake up? Well, what if you and you end up in a vegetative state? Does that not also present a situation alike when you were in a coma?
If that were to be the case, would you not allow your children to let you die?
I guess the best would be not to have children, then we don't have to put it on their shoulders to pull the plug or not.
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When a person is in a coma, there is no indication how long you will be "sleeping".
Picture this scenario : you have been in a coma for week, months, years --- you show no sign of ever waking. The doctors/specialists have done all they could - every single medical test they could think of, every type of new medication/drug the could lay their hands on - none worked.
Are you going to allow the people around you --- your family, friends, the health care staff -- continue to look after you, with the hope that you may one day wake up? Well, what if you and you end up in a vegetative state? Does that not also present a situation alike when you were in a coma?
If that were to be the case, would you not allow your children to let you die?
I guess the best would be not to have children, then we don't have to put it on their shoulders to pull the plug or not.
Sad to say that there are cases where comatose patients have been sleeping for years. I had an uncle who slept for years and we couldn't do anything. He lost so much weight and parts of his body was having rash and peeling. It was really sad and disturbing but that doesn't give me the right to pull the plug. No matter what their karma is, it is meant to be like that. If we were to pull the plug, how would we know the karma have exhaust and it will not continue? How will we know if the person is not waking up? I can be sure to tell you I will not pull the plug. Why? Because my uncle woke up.
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When a person is in a coma, there is no indication how long you will be "sleeping".
Picture this scenario : you have been in a coma for week, months, years --- you show no sign of ever waking. The doctors/specialists have done all they could - every single medical test they could think of, every type of new medication/drug the could lay their hands on - none worked.
Are you going to allow the people around you --- your family, friends, the health care staff -- continue to look after you, with the hope that you may one day wake up? Well, what if you and you end up in a vegetative state? Does that not also present a situation alike when you were in a coma?
If that were to be the case, would you not allow your children to let you die?
I guess the best would be not to have children, then we don't have to put it on their shoulders to pull the plug or not.
Sad to say that there are cases where comatose patients have been sleeping for years. I had an uncle who slept for years and we couldn't do anything. He lost so much weight and parts of his body was having rash and peeling. It was really sad and disturbing but that doesn't give me the right to pull the plug. No matter what their karma is, it is meant to be like that. If we were to pull the plug, how would we know the karma have exhaust and it will not continue? How will we know if the person is not waking up? I can be sure to tell you I will not pull the plug. Why? Because my uncle woke up.
But if i am the one who is lying on the bed with brain dead, i would hope my children or family member to just pull off the plug. I would not want to imagine to even the slightest moment that i will have to go through the trauma in my mind that i am brain dead and start to worry for all my family members who are dragged into this problem of mine. I do not want to be a burden to anyone and the cost is too high to maintain my life. it is much better to use the money to save animals life or other meaningful purpose.
If i am looking from the family's point of view, i of course would not want to do that (pull off the plug) because it takes a very brave decision to do that decision especially if you are talking about the person who is suffering on the bed is my own parent. It makes me even harder to take.