page_title: Buddhist ethics
section_title: Suicide and euthanasia
hierarchical_section_title: Buddhist ethics / Issues / Killing / Suicide and euthanasia
caption_attribution_description: English: Thích Quảng Đức's self-immolation during the Buddhist crisis in Vietnam. Malcolm Browne won the 1963 World Press Photo of the Year for a similar photo. Malcolm Browne went on to win the 1964 Pulitzer Prize as well. Русский: Самосожжение буддийского монаха Тхить Куанг Дыка в знак протеста против религиозной политики Нго Динь Зьема. Малкольм Браун был удостоен Пулитцеровской премии за это фото 日本語: ゴ・ディン・ジエム政権抗議のためのティック・クアン・ドックによる焼身自殺（1963年6月11日）
context_page_description: Buddhist ethics are traditionally based on what Buddhists view as the enlightened perspective of the Buddha, or other enlightened beings such as Bodhisattvas. The Indian term for ethics or morality used in Buddhism is Śīla or sīla. Śīla in Buddhism is one of three sections of the Noble Eightfold Path, and is a code of conduct that embraces a commitment to harmony and self-restraint with the principal motivation being nonviolence, or freedom from causing harm. It has been variously described as virtue, moral discipline and precept.
  Sīla is an internal, aware, and intentional ethical behavior, according to one's commitment to the path of liberation. It is an ethical compass within self and relationships, rather than what is associated with the English word "morality".
  Sīla is one of the three practices foundational to Buddhism and the non-sectarian Vipassana movement; sīla, samādhi, and paññā as well as the Theravadin foundations of sīla, dāna, and bhavana. It is also the second pāramitā. Sīla is also wholehearted commitment to what is wholesome. Two aspects of sīla are essential to the training: right "performance", and right "avoidance".
context_section_description: Buddhism understands life as being pervaded by Dukkha, as unsatisfactory and stressful. Ending one's life to escape present suffering is seen as futile because one will just be reborn again, and again. One of the three forms of craving is craving for annihilation (vibhava tanha), and this form of craving is the root of future suffering. Dying with an unwholesome and agitated state of mind is seen as leading to a bad rebirth, so suicide is seen as creating negative karma. Ending one's life is also seen as throwing away the precious opportunity to generate positive karma. While suicide does not seem to be interpreted as a breaking of the first precept (not killing other beings) it is still seen as a grave and unwholesome action.
  In Theravada Buddhism, for a monk to praise the advantages of death, including simply telling a person of the miseries of life or the bliss of dying and going to heaven in such a way that he/she might feel inspired to commit suicide or simply pine away to death, is explicitly stated as a breach in one of highest vinaya codes regarding the prohibition of harming life, hence it will result in automatic expulsion from Sangha.
  Buddhism sees the experience of dying as a very sensitive moment in one's spiritual life, because the quality of one's mind at the time of death is believed to condition one's future rebirth. The Buddhist ideal is to die in a calm but conscious state, while learning to let go. Dying consciously, without negative thoughts but rather joyously with good thoughts in mind is seen as a good transition into the next life. Chanting and reciting Buddhist texts is a common practice; in Tibet the Bardo Thodol is used to guide the dying to a good rebirth.
  Traditional Buddhism would hold Euthanasia, where one brings about the death of a suffering patient (whether or not they desire this) so as to prevent further pain, as a breach of the first precept. The argument that such a killing is an act of compassion because it prevents suffering is unacceptable to traditional Buddhist theology because it is seen to be deeply rooted in delusion. This is because the suffering being who was euthanized would just end up being reborn and having to suffer due to their karma (even though not all suffering is due to karma), and hence killing them does not help them escape suffering. The Abhidharma-kosa clearly states that the killing of one's sick and aged parents is an act of delusion. The act of killing someone in the process of death also ruins their chance to mindfully experience pain and learn to let go of the body, hence desire for euthanasia would be a form of aversion to physical pain and a craving for non-becoming. According to Kalu Rinpoche however, choosing to be removed from life support is karmically neutral. The choice not to receive medical treatment when one is terminally ill is then not seen as morally reprehensible, as long as it does not arise from a feeling of aversion to life. This would also apply to not resuscitating a terminal patient.
  However, there are exceptions to the injunction against suicide. Several Pali suttas contain stories where self-euthanizing is not seen as unethical by the Buddha, showing that the issue is more complex. These exceptions, such as the story of the monk Channa and that of the monk Vakkali, typically deal with advanced Buddhist practitioners. In these exceptional cases, both Channa and Vakkali are both said to be enlightened arhats and euthanized themselves in a calm and detached state of mind.
  In East-Asian and Tibetan Buddhism, the practice of Self-immolation developed. In China, the first recorded self-immolation was by the monk Fayu (d. 396). According to James A. Benn, this tended to be much more common during times of social and political turmoil and Buddhist persecution. It was often interpreted in Buddhist terms as a practice of heroic renunciation. This practice was widely publicized during the Vietnam war and have also continued as a form of protest by Tibetans against the Chinese government.
caption: Thích Quảng Đức's self-immolation during the Buddhist crisis
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