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Concept
Buddhism and euthanasia
Summary
Buddhist views, although varying on a series of canons within the three branches of Buddhism (Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana), observe the concept of euthanasia, or "mercy killing", in a denunciatory manner. Such methods of euthanasia include voluntary, involuntary, and non-voluntary. In the past, as one school of Buddhism evolved into the next, their scriptures recorded through the oral messages of Buddha himself on Buddhist principles and values followed, guiding approximately 500 million Buddhists spanning the globe on their path to nirvana. In the Monastic Rule, or Vinaya, a consensus is reached by the Buddha on euthanasia and assisted suicide that expresses a lack of fondness of its practice.
Buddhism does not confirm that life should be conserved by implementing whatever is necessary to postpone death, but instead expresses that the intentional precipitation of death is ethically inadmissible in every condition one is presented in.
The Vinaya Tripitaka is one of three Buddhist canonical sources that makes up the Tripitaka that most relates to euthanasia. It was created to encompass a series of case laws in which Buddha provided judgement on various matters, even though the term "euthanasia" is not specifically mentioned. Monks and nuns are meant to follow the decorum that is relayed, which expresses what is considered to be wrongfully killing someone (prohibited by Buddhist precepts) by the actions of another who is conferred to follow holy orders and those who are not. Outside of Vinaya, there is no specific mention in early Buddhist texts on euthanasia. During the life of Buddha, instances occurred when monks who practiced medicine were put in situations where they had to make a decision to assist in another's suicide by physically taking their life, providing the instrument used to take their life, or allowing the person to suffer, as observed in cases written in Vinaya. The Buddha, therefore, included a precept in Vinaya against the termination of another human life following the discovery that monks either took their own life or requested that others kill them because they were unhappy with their body.
Official source
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