Category: Buddha

Cultures and Gender Inequality

Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving. [1: According to Samovar and Porter (1994)]

‘Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behaviour acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e. historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, and on the other as conditioning elements of further action.’ [2: Kroeber, A.L., & Kluckhohn, C. (1952). Culture: A critical review of concepts and definitions. Harvard University Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology Papers.]

Gender inequality amongst various cultures

Gender Inequality exists amongst all cultures. “ At present, gender discrimination is so frequently defended by reference to culture, religion and tradition that it seems safe to conclude that no social group has suffered greater violation of human rights in the name of culture than women. [3: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Gender Equality : Heritage and Creativity, “ Foreword by Farida Shaheed, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights ”, UNESCO, Paris, 2014]

Parents tend to treat their kids differently based on their Gender. Whether it is based on the toys they play with or the stories they are told. Even those who believe in Gender Equality tend to do so due to the societal norms. For example giving a girl a doll or a cooking set is considered as normal. What is to be noted as what it symbolises. This has a direct impact on the child’s personality.

Cultural Stereotypes can be considered as one of the biggest reasons for gender inequality and disparity. Women are viewed to be born with nurturing instincts and are thus find more apt for jobs that such skills such as nurses, airhostess, teachers et cetera. On the other hand males are considered to be the breadwinners and for jobs that require decision making ability as they are considered as more logical and less emotional. They are considered stronger too and thus preferred for jobs that require physical strength.

Culture is important to an individual and shall be protected but at what cost. Cultures that promote things like breast ironing, child marriage, domestic violence and other horrific crimes against women shall not be regarded as cultures.

Culture and Menstruation

In spite of being a natural and physiological process it is still shadowed by myths, secrecy and seen as a taboo. Lack of awareness regarding menstrual hygiene often makes adolescent girls a lot more vulnerable to RTIs. Menstrual bleeding is viewed differently from women to women, family to family and culture to culture.

Girls in resource-poor countries around the world tend to use old cloths, tissue paper, cotton or wool pieces, or some combination of these items to manage their menstrual bleeding. Girls often miss school for at least a day due to lack of adequate bathroom facilities. According to a study only 54% of girls reported attending school while menstruating. Furthermore, knowledge about menstruation and menstrual hygiene tends to be higher in girls from urban areas compared with rural girls and in older as compared with younger adolescent girls. Similarly, in Amhara province, Ethiopia, more than half of girls in secondary and preparatory schools reported being absent during menstruation, and those who did not use sanitary pads were more than 5 times as likely to be absent. Even those who attend school tend to be distracted and unable to focus as they are constantly afraid of getting a stain as that is considered to be something they shall be embarrassed about. [4: Kumar R. KAP of high school girls regarding menstruation in rural area. Health Popul Perspect Issues. 1988;11:96–100.] [5: Menstruation and menstrual hygiene amongst adolescent school girls in Kano, Northwestern Nigeria. Lawan UM, Yusuf NW, Musa AB Afr J Reprod Health. 2010 Sep; 14(3):201-7.] [6: Age of menarche and knowledge about menstrual hygiene management among adolescent school girls in Amhara province, Ethiopia: implication to health care workers & school teachers.Gultie T, Hailu D, Workineh Y PLoS One. 2014; 9(9):e108644.] [7: Menstrual hygiene management and school absenteeism among female adolescent students in Northeast Ethiopia. Tegegne TK, Sisay MM BMC Public Health. 2014 Oct 29; 14():1118.]

In rural areas a number of women are not even aware of the availability of sanitary napkins and often use things like leaves, tree bark, sand and dirty old clothes. These alternatives are uncomfortable, often leak and might lead to infections.

Different cultures view menstruation in different ways. The basis of many conduct norms and communication about menstruation in western industrial societies is the belief that menstruation should remain hidden. By contrast, in many hunter-gatherer societies, particularly in Africa, menstrual observances are viewed in a positive light, without any connotation of uncleanness. [8: Laws, S. (1990). Issues of Blood: The Politics of Menstruation. London: Macmillan.] [9: Turnbull, C. M. 1960. The Elima: a premarital festival among the Bambuti Pygmies. Zaïre 14: 175-92.]

Different Religions and their view on Menstruation

Judaism

Judaism prohibits sexual intercourse with a menstruating woman until she immerses herself in a ritual bath which is intended only for married women. Orthodox Judaism forbids men and women to even touch or pass each other things during this period. In the Torah, considers menstruation as ritually unclean. Touching a menstruating female or an object she sat on makes the other person ritually unclean. Observation of these rules depends on the degree of orthodoxy.

Christianity

Most Christians denominations do not follow any specific rules during or regarding menstruation.

Islam

During menstrual periods, women are excused from performing prayers. Sets of rules are advised for women to follow while during menstruation. They should not fast and left over fasts of Ramadan are to be completed during other days.

Buddhism

In Buddhism (Theravada or Hinayana) menstruation is viewed as ‘a natural physical excretion that women have to go through on a monthly basis, nothing more or less’. However, in certain branches of Japanese Buddhism, menstruating women are banned from attending temples.

Hinduism

In Hinduism, menstruating women are traditionally advised rules to follow. During menstruation, women are advised not to “enter temple, work in kitchen, wear flowers, have sex, touch other males or females, or come in contact with any creative energies to ensure free flow of Apana.” Menstruation is seen as a period of purification, and women are often separated from place of worship or any object pertaining to it, for the length of their period. This forms the basis of most of the cultural practices and restrictions around menstruation in Hinduism.

In 1991, the Kerala High Court restricted entry of women above the age of 10 and below the age of 50 from Sabarimala Shrine as they were of the menstruating age. On 28 September 2018, the Supreme Court of India lifted the ban on the entry of women. It said that discrimination against women on any grounds, even religious, is unconstitutional.

Sikhism

The Sikh gurus teach that one cannot be pure by washing his body but purity of mind is the real pureness. They are not called pure, who sit down after merely washing their bodies.Guru Nānak, the founder of Sikhism, condemned the practice of treating women as impure while menstruating. In Sikhism, the menstrual cycle is not considered a pollutant. Certainly, it can have a physical and physiological effect on the woman. Nonetheless, this is not considered a hindrance to her wanting to pray or accomplish her religious duties fully. The Guru makes it very clear that the menstrual cycle is a God-given process. The blood of a woman is required for the creation of any human being. The requirement of the mother’s blood is fundamental for life. Thus, the menstrual cycle is certainly an essential and God-given biological process. Those who are impure from within are the truly impure ones.

Meditating on God’s name is of importance in Sikhism. Whether a person’s clothes are blood stained or not (including clothes stained from menstrual blood) is not of spiritual importance. Thus, there are no restrictions placed on a woman during her menstruation. She is free to visit a gurdwara, take part in prayers and do Seva.

So it can be concluded that menstruation is seen differently in different cultures. What is requited is to remove these discrepancies and treat it as a biological function.

Values

The core of a culture is formed by values. They are broad tendencies for preferences of certain state of affairs to others (good-evil, right-wrong, natural-unnatural). Many values remain unconscious to those who hold them. Therefore they often cannot be discussed, nor they can be directly observed by others. Values can only be inferred from the way people act under different circumstances.

Values are individual beliefs that motivate people to act one way or another. They serve as a guide for human behavior. Generally, people are predisposed to adopt the values that they are raised with. People also tend to believe that those values are “right” because they are the values of their particular culture.

Gender Stereotyping

Gender stereotyping is defined as an overgeneralization of characteristics, differences and attributes of a certain group based on their gender. Those who do not act as expected by these norms are looked down upon. Every day, transgender and gender non-conforming people bear the brunt of social and economic marginalization due to discrimination based on their gender identity or expression. Advocates face this reality regularly working with transgender people who have lost housing, been fired from jobs, experienced mistreatment and violence, or been unable to access the health care they need.

Sixty-three percent of transgender and gender-nonconforming people experience serious acts of discrimination – events that have a major impact on a persons’ quality of life.

The society expects a woman to look after the house and family and the man to be the breadwinner. These expectations forces people to abide by these set of standards and not have a viewpoint.

Not standing by the social values often makes one seem like a rebel and is talked about, looked down upon and discarded by the society. These values are instilled since birth. We follow certain things without even realising as these are embedded in our minds.

Child care is a stereotypically feminine activity, and marks a less traditional family role for fathers. This may be especially the case when fathers spend time with daughters. Fathers also react more negatively to crying, fearfulness, or signs of feebleness in sons than in daughters. These data suggest that, although fathers’ involvement with children, generally, reflects a more egalitarian gender role orientation, high level of paternal involvement selectively with sons may reinforce a more traditional gender ideology.

Throughout the duration of the Nanking Massacre, better known as the “Rape of Nanking,” Buddhist Japanese soldiers barbarically raped, tortured, and butchered 350,000 Chinese civilians. Nanking was brimming with rotting masses of mutilated corpses for months. One could ask, how could someone who follows Buddhism, the religion typically least associated with violence, to execute such horrendous and inhumane bloodshed? The answer is that these actions were primarily fueled by political and socio-cultural motivations that caused Buddhists to deviate from genuine Buddhist teachings (teachings of Buddha) against violence and justify that their actions were for the greater good to protect against threats to civilization, peace, and enlightenment (Sapardanis). Although these political and socio-cultural motivations may be inspired by Buddhism, behavior involving physical or psychological force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something, also known as violence, is not justified according to teachings by Buddha because they forbid violence for resolving conflicts as a primary virtue. However, because Buddhism’s doctrine is not dogma and is merely observational and experimental, it is possible for variations of Buddhism to justify forms of violence.

Buddhism was founded as an inherently peaceful religion, as the first precept, or rule to live by, forbids taking someone’s life. Buddha believed that actions and thoughts of violence heeded one’s potential spiritual progression and personal conquest that led to Nirvana, or the goal of enlightenment. The Fourth Noble Truth describes a path to follow in order to achieve Nirvana. Also known as the Eightfold Path, it explains “ethical, experimental, and doctrinal dimensions that are traditionally divided into three disciplines: ethical conduct (right speech, right action, and right livelihood); mental discipline (right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration); and wisdom (right understanding and right thought) (Prothero 183).” With the right ethical conduct, Buddha believed that one should train to be morally conscious in his exercises, abstaining from actions and behavior that could bring harm to oneself or others, therefore condemning the killing or harm of living beings. It is believed that a mind filled with lust, hatred, and delusion leads to unwholesome actions, thus, indulging in violence is considered to be self-harming. However, the people who follow these teachings of Buddhism are considered to be practitioners, rather than believers. Dharma is not considered fact or divine revelation, and its practitioners are challenged to experiment with this guidance in order to determine for themselves whether the Buddha was right and whether his teachings actually reduce one’s suffering. Therefore, the teachings of Buddhism can be interpreted in various ways, leading to many loopholes for justification of “right actions.”

After becoming the official religion of Japan in the 17th century, Buddhism had taken over and spread with its growing power and influence, eventually creating resentment and threatening the ruling class. As a result, attempts were made to reintroduce Shintoism as the traditional, ethnic religion of the country during the Meiji era, and the demolition of Buddhism was sought out through destruction of temples, and statues, and reassimilation of monks into civil society. Buddhism had to adapt in order to survive by becoming part of the new imperial regime (Victoria). “Buddha was replaced by the Emperor, Dharma (the cosmic law and order in Buddhism) was replaced by the dedication to the state and the Japanese spirit, and Sangha (community or assembly) was replaced by the nation (Sapardanis).” Imperial law and Dharma were seen as the same thing. Because of Buddhism’s varying interpretations, different branches of Buddhism were formed, such as Zen Buddhism. Zen Buddhism was prominent in Japan and did not necessarily rely on or follow scripture, doctrine, or ritual, but personal experience passed on from master to disciple through arduous training (Fischer). This being said, the legitimacy of original Buddhist scriptures were somewhat recognized. There was an integration of Japanese Zen Buddhism history with samurai culture and bushido, the way of the sword, a demonstration of the interlaced connection between Buddhism and militarism. “The sword was a Buddhist symbol for cutting through delusion, but it evolved from metaphor into an object of veneration and obsession, idealized and worshipped” under bushido (Baran). A Zen leader made the point that “Buddhism saw life and death indifferently and that the absence of a clear dogma made it flexible in adapting to any philosophical or moral system, as long as what was intuitively felt to be its truth was kept intact.” These Zen leaders advocated that if “killing is done in a state of no-mind or no-self, then the act is an expression of enlightenment. No thinking = No-mind = No-self = No karma.” With this mentality, the sword did the killing instead of the man yielding it, because the man had no desire to harm anyone. Therefore, the first precept remains intact.

As a loophole was found to evade the “right conduct” of the Eightfold Path because there was no thought, there was ultimately no effect on karma. In order to contemplate violence’s justification according to genuine Buddhist teachings and its loopholes, one must determine what are considered to be “genuine” Buddhist teachings. Earlier on, I had made the distinction between the original teachings of Buddha and the variations or sects of Buddhism. I believe that the answer is both no and yes, depending on the definition of these “genuine” Buddhist teachings. In terms of the teachings of Buddha, there is a very clear forbiddance to kill- so violence is not justified whatsoever. However, if there are variations of Buddhism due to no central dogma, violence could, indeed, be justified. Throughout the decades, some Buddhist traditions, such as Zen in Japan, have developed different approaches with regards to violence. In Zen at War, the author describes how Zen leaders “perverted the Buddhist teaching to encourage blind obedience, mindless killing, and total devotion to the emperor.” The Zen soldiers were taught that their individual lives were of no value and that complete adherence to the emperor would give their existence meaning. According to Sapardanis, the united Buddhist leadership said that, “in order to establish eternal peace in East Asia, arousing the great benevolence and compassion of Buddhism, we are sometimes accepting and sometimes forceful. We now have no choice but to exercise the benevolent forcefulness of ‘killing one in order that many may live’ (issatsu tasho). This is something which Mahayana Buddhism approves of only with the greatest seriousness.” In other words, the sword that kills serves as a function of justice, where it simultaneously gives life. Therefore, violence in this case is considered just.

Although it is hard to imagine that Zen Buddhism had shown such a deep familiarity with the way of killing for centuries, not all of those who identified as Zen were involved. However, this facet was a significant element of their culture. These acts of violence, inspired by Buddhism, were technically considered just by their own standards and were made possible by an unclear central dogma and text. Had Buddhism been more similar to religious scriptures such as the Bible, it would have been more clear on whether or not violence was justified.

Bibliography

1. Baran, Josh. “Sword of Compassion?” Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, 1998, tricycle.org/magazine/sword-compassion/.
2. Fischer, Norman. “What Is Zen Buddhism and How Do You Practice It?” Lion’s Roar, Lion’s Roar, 8 Jan. 2019, www.lionsroar.com/what-is-zen-buddhism-and-how-do-you-practice-it/.
3. Prothero, Stephen R. God Is Not One: the Eight Rival Religions That Run the World. HarperOne, 2011.
4. Sapardanis, Kostas. “Justification of Violence in Buddhism.” Sapardanis Kostas, Sapardanis Kostas, 6 Apr. 2016, sapardanis.org/2016/03/18/justification-of-violence-in-buddhism/.
5. Victoria, Daizen. Zen at War. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2006.

What is the meaning and purpose of life, the importance of this question is to understand why humans were put on the Earth and how Catholics and other Religions provide reasoning to this question. The term “Meaning” in this question refers to the importance or value of a question. In this text I will look at the Non-Religious point of view and comparing the Catholic and Buddhism view to the question and will Focus on the following. What Catholics and Buddhism’s set of Values and Morals are and what I non religious persons values are.

In 1973, Theodosius Dobzhansky, a biologist wrote ‘Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution’. The description very much applies to us as evolution happened over a very long period of time, humanity appeared as one of the many products of evolution, and ever since we developed some level of consciousness, we have been seeking guidance on the meaning of life. Like any other life form, our ‘meaning’, such as it is, is to find food and shelter, and to pass on our DNA to the next generation, almost everything else is just details. It’s up to us whether we want to inspire our lives with more love and caring for others, acting respectably, morally and honestly, trying to do both what is right and what is good (while defending ourselves from evil), trying to create beauty in art, music, enjoying hobbies, learning, culture, other people’s culture. Many people find their meaning in worshiping a God. Worshipping a god or figure generally comes with a set of values passed on from that religion by which the individual follows or sets their standards by. These values and standards become a prerequisite to achieving the beliefs of the religion. A non- religious person does not have a set of religious values or beliefs so they live their lives with no common purpose amongst them, values or direction. A non religious person would make their own set of values based on there routine. It is true that many non religious people have a similar or same set of values but this does not mean they follow a religion.

A Religious person would say that their meaning of life is to be a disciple of their God and to live out their lives as they did. In this quote from Jesus “and so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds and to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Luke 11:9-10, talks about how you will receive if you ask and if you keep on trying, That is relevant to the question as you can put this into your own life and continue to ask questions and keep on “knocking on doors” or questioning and you will be able to find your meaning and purpose. The question “What is the meaning and purpose of life” is important to understand as it opens up your view on your life and what’s to come in the future or how you can improve on what’s happened in your past.

Christianity follows a set of rules which can be found in the ten Commandments and beatitudes. The 10 Commandments are the guidelines on how to worship one God, respect your parents, and to keep the sabbath day holy, as well as blasphemy, murder, adultery, theft and dishonesty. The Beatitudes are the 8 blessings by Christ when he spoke on the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5-7.

Buddhism is very similar in that it also follows a core set of values similar to the 10 commandments. The Buddist are down to earth and peaceful people and their meaning of life is very understanding. As the Buddist have a belief of Reincarnation and Life after death there meaning and purpose of life is fairly simple as they have another chance to live which means that they live to understand life at its fullest and carry out the 7 virtudes perfections – generosity, proper conduct, renunciation, wisdom, energy, patience, honesty, determination, Good-Will, equanimity.

In conclusion the meaning of life is to be who you are and to follow your spoken morals or given virtues whether your a non religious person, a Catholic or Buddist and to live them out in your day to day lives and to enjoy life to the absolute fullest.

Buddha and Confucius’s ideas reshaped the mindsets of the world and added new scopes to universal concepts of ethics, justice and humanity. Write a well-developed argumentative essay of four to five paragraphs on either Buddha or Confucius and any other Western philosopher of your own choice. Kindly state whether you are pro or con any of the philosophers illustrating the reasons behind your position. Your stated position has to be supported by evidence.

Know today is much different from what it was centuries ago. It can be said that psychology has it’s roots in philosophy and the interest in minds and souls of people followed by conscious experience and observable behavior which let them create their own beliefs and philosophies. So every era of time and every region has it’s own thoughts .As I have considered all the philosophers that I have read about, I have chosen Buddha and Albert Camus to use in my comparison of eastern and western philosophers. My choice is based on the enjoyment I gained while reading about each character than anyone of either’s philosophers. Also my enjoyment did stem from the fact that each person elaborated their points of view in ways that I was able to understand and therefore their words held more power for me than many others I read about

Back to the 6th century a philosopher named Siddhartha Gautama known as (Buddha) . He was enlightened one lived on India during a period when religion and legendary accounts of the world were being questioned . He was an Indian prince who came from a royal family .He was pampered by everything until he got married and his life turned upside down . This was the beginning of his philosophy. Buddha believed that the relation between him and anything he love is an unhealthy relationship . So he decided never to attach himself to anything he loves. As he thought that this is the only way to heal from suffering in life .He sought a life with self indulgence but also without deprivation. And he ended up being in a life of asceticism He believed that in order to live in true way you must deattach yourself from everything you love until you become a person who doesn’t keen on anything. It was a kind of self-defense as people become weaker when they are attached to something they love. This philosophy is related to the way of how to live your life from his point of view . Buddha spent the rest of his life teaching others how to achieve this spiritual state. And Buddhism became a lifestyle.

It’s not logic to come to the meaning of life and ways of living and not to come to our minds the western philosopher (Albert Camus) . Camus was a Franco -Algerian philosopher with some great insights on the meaning of life and why we should look to this life. His life and way of thinking were rather different from most philosophers. Camus focus on the idea of how to live our lives and deal with our existence ,despite this he can give us insights into how to cope with our existence dread and offer us some suggestions for how to live our meaningless lives. Camus didn’t see that meaningless life as bad and he explained how to understand life absurd is the first step to being fully alive . Then the question is what makes life worth living then? According to Camus he praises sunshine ,women ,beach ,dancing and good food. He loved sports and was champion soccer player in his youth. He took great enjoyment in the little things and encourage us to do so well . Just because life is meaningless doesn’t mean it can be enjoyable! Camus told us that the answer is to embrace the meaningless . The person who can truly know that life is absurd and get through it with a smile is a hero. He found that there is no way to satisfy all our needs but this can’t be a problem as well still living there and have the ability to enjoy ourselves.

Both philosophers are talking about how to live and deal with our life. As for me I tend to Camus philosophy in life. As in my point of view it’s an optimistic philosophy . Camus search for happiness with every single thing. Despite that he knew that life is meaningless and ridiculous . But we have to cope with it as it is. On the other hand (Buddha) ,he took the decision to isolate himself from every beautiful thing in life and from everything he loved. And I believe that if people live without doing anything they love or enjoy there life will be tragedy and it might lead them to suicide thoughts.

Finally, we can see that people in every specific era of time have their own way to deal with the same circumstances and as we all know people are not the same and everyone thinks differently . But at the end everyone should follow what makes him really feel happy and satisfied about his life . At the end those philosophers made a great thing which is they left their philosophies which people still reading them and get benefit of them until this day.

Buddha is a great Eastern Philosopher who discovered himself only though detaching his soul from this world and its pleasures. Write a well-developed opinion essay of four to five paragraphs on Buddha and his Theory of Detachment and The Four Noble Truths, illustrating your own perspective on both philosophies and their contribution to human thought. Kindly draw The Four Noble Truths diagram too please and attach it to your answer.

Every era has its own thoughts and philosophies. Philosophies were created in critical situations in order to find solutions for specific problems. Suffering is one of the biggest problems that we all face in our life. Every philosopher has different solution for this problem and everyone has the right to select what matches his mind. Buddha is one of the greatest philosophers who talked about suffering in life as a result of his experience and he told us the solution from his own point of view.

Back to the 6th century we will find that Buddhism arose in the eastern part of India. Buddhism is called with this name related to Siddhartha Gautama who is known as (Buddha). He was enlightened one lived on India during a period when religion and legendary accounts of the world were being questioned. He was an Indian prince who came from a royal family .He was pampered by everything until he got married and his life turned upside down. This was the beginning of his philosophy. Buddha believed that the relation between him and anything he love is an unhealthy relationship. So he decided never to attach himself to anything he loves. As he thought that this is the only way to heal from suffering in life .He sought a life with self indulgence but also without deprivation. And he ended up being in a life of asceticism He believed that in order to live in true way you must deattach yourself from everything you love until you become a person who doesn’t keen on anything. It was a kind of self-defense as people become weaker when they are attached to something they love. This philosophy is related to the way of how to live your life from his point of view. Buddha spent the rest of his life teaching others how to achieve this spiritual state. And Buddhism became a lifestyle.

Buddha was searching for a solution for ending his suffering in life. Beside that he decided to go away from anything that dust human nature in order to know himself better, he also became a very humble person who don’t keen about anything until he reached a state of asceticism which is the philosophy that many prophets believed in where they would get rid of all worldly pleasures to discover who they really are. Buddha explained suffering into 4 truths. First one is suffering meaning of the world which starts from the first day in our life when said welcome to life with crying. He means at this moment we knew that we came to suffer in this world until we die. Second truth is the origin of suffering, from his point of view that the only thing that makes you suffer is attachment.. Third truth is talking about the ending of suffering which is the solution for the problem. He believed that the only solution to heal from suffering is to de attach yourself from every blessing and everything you can love or enjoy.The last truth is the path to the ending of suffering which means to eliminate the desire towards anything and to overcome the ego. This will lead to the state of asceticism.

I believe that Buddha summarize the meaning of suffering in a very clear way. He also reached the reason why we suffer in life and he thought a lot until he found the solution to cut it short and overcome this problem. People nowadays focus on materialistic things more than anything else and this is why people suffer. People suffer to get more money .They have the desire to own things and they believe that when they fulfill this desire they will be happier. But if we look at our prophets we will find that they were kind of poor people, who live primitive life which is free of flashiness and luxuries. This is what Buddha mentioned in his philosophy and I do agree with him that if we attach ourselves to something we really love and need we will go through a whirl of suffering that we cannot end. Attachment here is not only for material things But also for people. As for me I used to get attached to people, things, and places too much. But at the end I found that nobody cares, people change, and Places diminish and things is not everlasting. I found it painful to be attached to everything I love. So one day I decided to extract myself from everything that could make me a weak person. I started to de attach myself from everything by knowing the fact that nothing will last with me forever. From this moment I feel that nothing is worthy in this life and people who understand life is living in paradise on the ground.

At the end I want say that every person has the right to believe in specific philosophy and thoughts. No one is wrong and no one is right. The wisdom is to live in a way that makes you feel happy and satisfied on your life. As may people live and die searching for satisfaction in their life and they didn’t reach it .We have also to recognize the truth that life will always seems hard to us specially if we hinge our happiness on others or on specific something. It’s hard to be happy when you’re based your existence around the presence of someone. so we have to make it easy by our determination and willingness in searching for the right meaning of life in order not to soak in trouble of suffering in life.

In both novels, the author’s present the way in which society’s expectations of men and women can be detrimental to a person if these expectations are not defied. Both Kureishi and Woolf explore how women are oppressed by society, and how opposing this oppression is crucial in order to progress as a society. Both novels are also concerned with the suffering caused by stereotypical views of masculinity and how men should behave. Furthermore, both novels present the way in which the concept of marriage can cause men and women to feel by trapped by the expectations that accompany it.

In both Mrs Dalloway and Buddha of Suburbia, the authors use different female characters in order to portray how society oppresses women, and to highlight a shift in attitudes towards women’s role in society. In Mrs Dalloway, the role of women in society is presented mainly through the characters of Clarissa and Sally Seton. Woolf’s use of stream of consciousness highlights the contrast between Clarissa’s outwards appearance as an upper class, married woman and her inner thoughts as she questions her place in society and harbours feelings of unfulfillment. The novel opens with Clarissa shopping for flowers for her party, which on the surface seems like a frivolous activity. Critic Elaine Showalter states that “it is easy to see Clarissa as superficial and slight. Yet following her thoughts, memories, anxieties and epiphanies from morning to night… we see a broad and deep cross section of London” (Mrs Dalloway: exploring consciousness and the modern world). The use of stream of consciousness to highlight Clarissa’s private feelings and give us a better understanding of her character is evident from the start, “She had a perpetual sense, as she watched the taxi cabs, of being out, out, far out to sea and alone; she always had the feeling that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day.”pg6. The imagery of the sea emphasises Clarissa’s feelings of loneliness as although she follows the conventions that come with being a woman of her class, she still feels as if there is something missing in her life but is not able to express this out loud. This is portrayed throughout the novel through the recurring symbol of her party, to which she seems to place a great deal of importance, as she repeats the phrase “remember my party!”. Furthermore, after having spoken to both Peter Walsh and her husband Richard Dalloway, Clarissa realises that “both of them had criticised her unfairly, laughed at her unjustly, for her parties”pg111. Peter seems to mock her parties repeatedly “yes, yes but your parties – what’s the sense in your parties?” whilst Richard “merely thought it foolish of her part”. The mocking tone of both men is ironic considering that she is complying to the patriarchal views of how women should behave, and suggests their feelings of superiority over her.

Contrarily, the character of Sally Seton could represent the changing attitudes towards the role of women in society. The older generation in the novel seem to be made uncomfortable by Sally; Clarissa’s father calls her “untidy” – Sally Seton “shocked people” with her unfeminine activities such as smoking cigars and her views on women’s rights (“women should have votes, vulgar men did, she said” pg168). Whilst Clarissa lacks education (“she knew nothing; no language, no history “pg 6), when she was with Sally, she remembers that she “read Plato in bed before breakfast: read Morris; read Shelley by the hour”. Woolf herself was not sent to school unlike her brothers, and it was said that she resented her lack of education. At the time, women were not allowed to graduate from university, so perhaps Woolf is portraying how education can liberate women through the character of Sally. This is highlighted at the end of the novel, where she seems “older and happier” in contrast with Clarissa’s melancholic attitude.

Similarly, in Buddha of Suburbia, Kureishi uses the character of Jamila to represent not only the role of women in British society, but also the cultural differences with the role of women in Indian society. Much like Sally Seton, Jamila uses education to escape her father’s constraints, and to not conform to her role as a woman. Even though she has been forced into an arranged marriage, she spends her time working in her room “with the door open” so that Changez and Karim can see her. This could be seen as an act of defiance, as she wants her husband to see that she chooses to spend her time educating herself rather than being his wife in the stereotypical sense. Karim says that she “knew what she wanted to learn, and she knew where it was; she just had to shovel it all into her head”pg95. This brusque metaphor shows her determination to use education as a way of non-conformity to her traditional role as a woman. This is further emphasised with the description of Jamila’s clothes after she gets married “the days of tight tops and mini skirts were gone. Jamila was wearing what looked like several sacks”pg81. This could suggest that women were now in charge of their own sexuality, as Jamila chooses to cover up so as not to be sexualised by Changez. In David Lodge’s Art of Fiction, he states that “clothes are always a useful index of character, class and lifestyle”. The description of Jamila’s clothes as “a long smock in faded green and on her feet a rather unrelenting pair of Dr Martens”pg81 suggests that Jamila is someone who places more importance on her education rather than her appearance, the word unrelenting suggest that she is willing to fight against her traditional role as a woman. Furthermore, Jamila’s mother portrays the unhappiness caused by conforming to expectations of women, and the liberation that comes when defying these expectations, much like the characters of Clarissa and Sally.

Jamila represents the second wave feminism that was present in the 1970’s, which drew light to a wider range of issues than just women’s vote, such as sexuality, family, reproductive rights and domestic abuse. In both novels, the authors explore how society’s views on masculinity, as well as sexuality, can cause men to repress their feelings.

In Mrs Dalloway, Woolf explores how this repression of feelings can cause deeper psychological trauma through the character of Septimus Smith. Years after returning from the war, Septimus is still haunted by the horrors he had seen. At the time, Septimus’s mental illness would have been misunderstood, or labelled simply as “shell shock”. The character of Dr Holmes represents society’s failure to understand or sympathise with the mental issues faced by soldiers after the war. He claims that here is “nothing whatever the matter with him” and his use of rhetorical questions “didn’t he owe perhaps a duty to one’s wife? Wouldn’t it be better to do something instead of lying in bed?” makes him sound patronising and dismissive, reflecting society’s view of the mentally ill. Woolf herself suffered with serious bouts of psychosis like Septimus’s throughout her life, so perhaps through the characters of Holmes and Smith she is mirroring her own experience with inadequate medical responses to her mental health.

Woolf set the novel in 1923, to portray how five years after the war, England remains a society in trauma, particularly affecting the millions of young men who had fought. The war itself could represent society’s views on traditional masculinity, and how this forced masculinity had detrimental effects on Septimus’s mental state. Before the war, his teacher Mr Brewers describes him as “weakly”, implying that Septimus did not fit the typical masculine role. He also personifies the war by saying “so prying and insidious were the fingers of the European War”pg78, the word “insidious” implying the harmful effects the war had on young men such as Septimus.

During the war, Septimus instantly “developed manliness”, and at the same time “drew the attention, and indeed the affection of his officer, Evans”pg78. The word affection implies a romantic aspect to their relationship, which is further implied in the use of listing “they had to be together, share with each other, fight with each other…” This suggests that Septimus had feelings of love for Evans, however due to the stigmatism surrounding homosexuality at the time and his newfound “manliness”, he had to supress and hide his feelings from society. Septimus’s repression of his feelings is most evident after Evan’s death, where instead of showing any emotion he “congratulates himself upon feeling very little and very reasonably. The War had taught him. It was sublime”pg79. The contrast between the devastating event of Evan’s death and Septimus’s celebratory tone in the words “congratulate” and “sublime” indicates how Septimus feels forced to not show any emotions due to the expectations of masculinity, to the point where he feels almost numb, which is shown through the repetition of the phrase “he could not feel”. Critic David Bradshaw claims “although Septimus’s anguished repression is most obviously a symptom of ‘shell shock’, it is also a harrowing legacy of his intimacy with Evans”. (Mrs Dalloway and the First World War). This is evident in the fact that he repeatedly mention’s Evans during his depressive episodes, suggesting that he felt forced into hiding his feelings, Evan’s will always haunt him.

Whilst Septimus is forced to repress his feelings due to society’s views on homosexuality and masculinity at the time, in Buddha of Suburbia Karim is openly bisexual, and has no inner conflict regarding his sexual experiences with men. This is clear from the first chapter, when he has his first significant experience with Charlie. However, there is a sense of internal conflict within Charlie; although he enjoys the experience, he “avoided my (Karim’s) lips by turning his head to one side. The fact that Charlie refuses to kiss Karim could show that although he doesn’t feel the need to completely repress his homosexual feelings, there is still a sense of shame and stigma associated with it. This is further emphasised with Haroon’s reaction after seeing Karim and Charlie. He “jumped up and down in anguish as if he’d just heard the whole house had been burned to the ground”pg18. This simile, along with the insults such as “bum banger” that he directs at Karim, reflects his extreme feelings of disgust and disappointment at seeing his son with a boy. This clearly shows that although society has made some progress in how male homosexuality is perceived, there remains still a huge stigmatism surrounding it that affects men who fear reactions like Haroon’s.

Another way in which Kureishi presents how men are forced to repress their feelings is through the character of Ted, Karim’s uncle. When he takes Karim to a football match, we see that he fits the stereotypical masculine role as he not only enjoys sports, but also uses violence to express himself when he vandalises the train, as he “stabbed the seats and tore the stuffing out of them”pg44. The use of violent verbs “stabbed” and “tore” emphasises the fact that Ted feels he can only express himself through a stereotypical masculine display of power, rather than words or emotions. This is similar to the way in which Septimus was encouraged to “develop manliness” through the violence of the War. In the 1970’s, organised football hooligan groups began to emerge and supporters like Uncle Ted would use chants and violence as an outlet for their social angers. Ted uses hooliganism to express himself, as he represses his true emotions and feelings, perhaps in fear of not being deemed masculine enough by society. However, during Ted’s conversation with Haroon about his strange behaviour, he begins to cry and show his emotions “Ted was suffering. He sobbed generously.”pg50. The short sentences and matter of fact tone place emphasis on how shocked Karim is to see his uncle behaving like this. Karim realises that “somehow Dad had released Ted from the obligation to behave normally”. Normally, Ted would feel the need to hide and supress his emotions due to society’s expectations of masculinity, however as soon as he starts releasing his emotions, he becomes a calmer and more peaceful person throughout the rest of the novel, and he becomes happier. Kureishi is portrays through the character of uncle Ted how by defying the stereotypical masculine role and not being afraid to show emotion, it is easier to lead a happier life. On the other hand, Woolf’s presentation of Septimus Smith shows how the repression of feelings due to society’s views on masculinity can result in suffering, as this results in Septimus’s suicide.

Critic Rachel Foss states that “Identity is frequently also filtered through ideas of class, gender and sexuality as the characters experiment with continually inventing and re-inventing themselves” (An Introduction to the Buddha of Suburbia). Ted’s reinvention of himself is due to his choice to defy his gender expectations, giving him a new identity. Lastly, both Kureishi and Woolf explore how society’s expectations of how men and women should act in marriage can cause unhappiness and discontent.

In Buddha of Suburbia, this is presented through Changez and Jamila’s arranged marriage. Jamila, a second-generation immigrant, is forced into this marriage by her father, who threatens to starve himself if she does not comply. Although she does eventually agree to the marriage, she does this on her own terms and refuses to adhere to her traditional role as a wife. Instead of compromising her own happiness and fitting the mould of a traditional wife, Jamila refuses to consummate her marriage with Changez. Due to his expectation of how a wife should behave, this causes Changez to be unhappy in their marriage and Jamila’s father Anwar to be also disappointed. When Anwar asks about a potential grandson, “Changez said nothing, but shuffles backwards, away from the fire of Anwar’s blazing contempt, which was fuelled by bottomless disappointment”pg99. The metaphor of the fire to depict Anwar’s anger, and the hyperbole “bottomless disappointment” emphasises the suffering that both men have inflicted upon themselves due to their traditional expectations of how women should behave. On the other hand, Jamila’s refusal to adhere to these constraints allows her to keep her self-worth, and not suffer in their marriage. there seems to be a switch in gender roles in their relationship, as Jamila makes Changez “do the cooking and washing and cleaning”pg135, which he is not pleased about. Meanwhile, Jamila is busy educating herself to escape her traditional role as a wife, also portraying the changing role of women in society.

Through the character of Jamila, a second-generation immigrant, like himself, Kureishi is portraying the culture clash of the traditional Indian values vs the more liberal British society. After the war, Britain attracted large numbers of workers and families from India and Pakistan (Anwar, Haroon and Changez) which would have led to a culture clash for second generation immigrants such as Jamila. Her father, who is less integrated into British society than she is, has a very specific and traditional view of the role of women in marriage, whereas Jamila wants to challenge this view.

On the other hand, Woolf presents how marriage can cause suffering in a society that doesn’t allow women or men to escape these expectations. Clarissa feels discontented in her marriage, and this is evident from the start of the novel where she feels “invisible; unseen; unknown there being no more marrying, no more having of children, but only this astonishing and rather solemn progress with the rest of them, this being Mrs Dalloway; not even Clarissa anymore; this being Mrs Richard Dalloway”. This suggests that Clarissa feels restricted by being a woman, now that she has had children, she feels like there is no other purpose in her marriage. A sense of uselessness is portrayed through Woolf’s use of listing, and the repetition of the phrase “no more”, which emphasises the lack of opportunities presented to women. The phrase “solemn process with the rest of them” suggests that now that Clarissa has completed her stereotypical role as a wife, there is nothing but death to look forward to. Furthermore, Clarissa refers to herself as “Mrs Richard Dalloway”. The fact that she doesn’t feel that even her first name belongs to her highlights the fact that women in that society often felt like they lost their identity after marriage. Woolf was heavily associated with the literary modernism movement, as she was concerned with the shift in society, particularly towards women’s rights. This is clear through her presentation of Clarissa’s loss of identity due to her marriage.

Both novels use female character’s who defy traditional roles of women in order to highlight the suffering endured by those who don’t. In Mrs Dalloway, Sally’s character highlights Clarissa’s suffering whilst in Buddha of Suburbia Jamila highlight’s her mother’s lack of freedom. Both novels are also concerned with the suffering inflicted upon men due to society’s views on masculinity. Whilst in Mrs Dalloway the character of Septimus portrays the devastating affects that is caused by men repressing their feelings, in Buddha of Suburbia Kureishi shows how men can go against these social expectations and become happier in the process.

Both Kureishi and Woolf depict the suffering caused by society’s views of the role of men and women, and through their use of varying characters they portray how this suffering can be eased when these roles are defied.

The novella Heart of Darkness opens and closes with a Marlow seating in a Buddha like posture, and so regarded as modern day Buddha. The author Joseph Conrad gives an obscure picture of Buddhism in the pose of Marlow. The pose also represents him to a certain degree philosophical and wise because Marlow keenly observes human life and nature in his voyage. The basis for the common portrayal of Marlow as a meditating figure perhaps due to the Marlow’s intentions of avoiding suffering and find the inner peace as he begins his tale about the heart of darkness which found in all humans.

The ideas regarding Buddhism presented by Conrad are uncertain. Although, reference to Buddhism depict in Conrad’s Marlow are understandable to some extent. The Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development leading to insight into the true nature of reality. Correspondingly, Marlow’s journey into the impenetrable and mysterious core of jungle is not only physical but also psychological and mystical journey where he encounters darkness of both moral and physical. The intrinsic darkness which is deep inside all of us, and the extrinsic darkness of the impenetrable forest. Marlow eyewitnesses the true nature of human reality. However, the novella possesses central theme that no true groups of people unnecessarily are distinct from one another in terms of barbarity, civilization, savagery, and refinement.

The line from novella, “he had the pose of a Buddha preaching in the European clothes and without a lotus flower” showing that he is telling the tale in a didactic manner of Buddhism. The anonymous narrator comparing European values of Marlow with the Indian values of Buddhism. Although, he is European that’s why he is seating without lotus flower. The mentioning of lotus flower is allegorical to Marlow because lotus holds an enormous symbolic weight in Buddhism. The lotus has a life cycle unlike any other. It submerges every night into murky water and revive next morning without residue on its petals. An incredible daily cycle of life, death, and a sudden immaculate rebirth that can only be described as spiritual. Comparably, Marlow also learn that spiritual experience of life and death within the forest and a sudden rebirth in his self after the continuous episodes of darkness. But the rebirth or revival of Marlow was not as pure as of lotus flower. However, Marlow lacks the lotus flower suggesting an imitating Buddha.

The Buddhist practices like meditation are means of changing yourself in order to develop the qualities of awareness, and a path which ultimately culminates in Enlightenment and Buddhahood. Similarly, Marlow pose himself as an idol for self-enlightenment as he looks to find meaning in his life and experiences. Marlow in search of elusive figure Mr. Kurtz goes deeper into the core of jungle and begin to notice that savagery is a primitive phase of civilization. But Marlow’s awareness of truth in terms of civilization changes, what he thought as rational and superior was irrational. When Marlow learn about Kurtz’s activities in the Congo, he had criticized the Kurtz moral decline because of moral separation from European civilization. The paradigm of Kurtz forced Marlow to look into his own soul and reassess his European values. Marlow comes to know the hollowness of European Civilization at the core. He mentions the white men he come across in Africa, from the general manager to Kurtz as empty, and alludes to the European city as the ‘sepulchral city’, a sepulchral is hollow tomb. Throughout the novella Marlow argues that what Europeans call ‘civilization’ is superficial, a mask created by fear of the law and public disgrace that hides a dark heart, just as a beautiful white sepulchral hides the decaying dead inside. Therefore, Marlow meets a chance to enlighten himself.

Marlow’s tale of Congo adventure was seemed to have Buddha’s quest in which he restraints himself from the evil which was prevalent in the jungle. Marlow after meeting with the surroundings of this dark continent and Kurtz, learn to know the whole atmosphere that was the embodiment of corruption, decay, and exploitation. Conrad actually questions the imperialist narrative of his time through Marlow. In the disguise of a noble cause, Belgians have exploited the Congo by claiming to educate the natives and to bring them religion and a better way of life. This was called as hypocrisy of imperialism. However, Marlow’s quest is a failure because Kurtz turns out to be the biggest monster of all. The failure causes him to learn that at heart of everything lies only darkness. Marlow notes that he escaped the jungle’s influence not due to that he had high principles and ideals but due to his job or work which kept him busy. The work perhaps the only thing in the “heart of darkness” that Marlow views in an entirely positive light. This elaborates why he is so horrified when he saw laziness, poor work and machines left out to rust.

The darkness that was become a fact to humans by Marlow, can be oppressed by religious practices by humans. Thus, Marlow sit crossed legged, with his arms dropped, the palms of his hand outwards, resembled an idol. It gives him perhaps the inner peace and a courage to tell the story to others. A story full of human darkness of heart which may burst out where the opportunity meets.

What is a ‘good life’? The idea of a ‘good life’ varies and is argued as everyone has their own beliefs on what is the best use of their life and how that will contribute to it being a good life. Not only this but different upbringings and religions influence the way we perceive goodness and success in life.

Buddhism:

What is Buddhism? Buddhists believe that human life consists of suffering and that the practice of meditation, spiritual and physical labor and good behavior are the ways we can achieve enlightenment or nirvana.

What are their key ideas? The key belief of Buddhism is the idea that human life is a cycle of suffering and rebirth, and only by reaching a state of Nirvana (enlightenment), it is possible to escape. In Buddhism, there are many doctrines that relate to different beliefs. They include the “four noble truths”: the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering. It is vital to have the right understanding, correct thought, correct speech, correct action, correct livelihood, correct effort, right mindfulness, and correct concentration for the noble eightfold path. All these are required in order to live a good life from the perspective of Buddhism.

What are the terms which are specific to Buddhism? Buddhists believe that there are three marks of existence, that are essential across life, these terms are specific to Buddhism, and they are: Dukkha, frustration, or dissatisfaction, ‘Life does not necessarily provide people with what they want, and things are always changing.’. Anatta, no soul, ‘There is no fixed sense of self because everything is constantly changing.’ (The Three Marks of Existence – Life and Teachings of the Buddha – Edexcel – GCSE Religious Studies Revision – Edexcel, n.d.). Annica, Impermanence, ‘Things in life are always changing.’ The three marks of existence are required to be reviewed when considering the possibility of a good life.

Socrates:

What are Socratic beliefs? Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher who was one of the main sources of western thought to date. He created a method of questioning called the Socratic method, which was a form of an argumentative cooperative dialogue between two people, based on the answering and asking of questions to stimulate critical thinking and find ideas and hidden presuppositions.

What were the key beliefs? Is believed by Socrates that philosophy should achieve results for the greater well-being of society as a whole. He believed in the possible outcomes of an ethical system based on human reason rather than the theological doctrines of other people’s beliefs. He believed that human choice is motivated by the desire for a feeling of happiness, “Ultimate wisdom comes from knowing oneself, knowing yourself lets you be a better judge of how you should live your life.” (Socrates).

he believed that achieving true happiness it directly relates to the idea of a good life. Socrates believed that his method of identification and questioning of human nature directly translated into politics with the best form of government being not tyrannical or democratic but instead by when ruled by individuals who had the ‘greatest ability, knowledge, and virtue, and possessed a complete understanding of themselves.’ According to Socrates, ‘an unexamined life is not worth living.’ It was believed that the key to leading a good life is to examine the reasons behind the pleasures we enjoy and then control those passions.

In my opinion what makes a good life is a way we treat ourselves and others. Unless we have a personal relationship with people around us and our families (within reason), I believe it is impossible for us to experience good living. I think that it is really critical that we treat ourselves well, practising self-love is essential to contribute to the journey of experiencing a good life. not only this but I agree that behavior and actions are what is looked at when judging whether or not life has been spent well. Good living is directly related to being a good person.

In some ways, Buddhism, Socrates, and my own beliefs are related. Each of them has a different way to contribute to a good life. Socrates’s perspective of human reason is capable of achieving total well-being in a society and is able to relate to living a good life in a mass format as human nature is motivated by the need to feel happy. The way to achieve enlightenment is through good behavior and practice. This directly relates to the ability to live a good life since the enlightenment and living a good life are somewhat similar. The issues with these beliefs can be corrupted by the idea of personal superiority, with a view of our lives viewed through rose-tinted glass we are unable to locate whether we are living a truthfully good life or if we are simply convincing ourselves that what we are deciding to do is good inherently.

These ideas can lead to a good life if they are conducted in the right way, we can live a good life. By working to be better through enlightenment and making calculated decisions based on logical evaluation, we can be able to achieve a good life experience.

I think even though they differ in some ways from the way id perceive the journey to live a good life, they still have aspects that I think are similar to my own outlooks, from calculated thoughts and actions as well to good actions toward others and myself I think that both Buddhism and Socrates are relevant in the search to live a good life.

I think that the fulfillment of a good life can be achieved from the practice of partial Socratic practices. The way that Socrates plays off of human nature in order to determine and investigate intentions and questions more thoroughly I think is a great example of how one can live a good life. The way that actions that an individual is unsure about are investigated is by looking into the intent and reasons that that may or may not be a good idea. In the right way, this can be a successful practice of living a good life.

Euthanasia or “good death” is the concept of ending a life to relieve pain and suffering intentionally as long as there are approvals from the patient and their relatives. This concept can be classified into different categories: Voluntary, Non-voluntary or Involuntary and the procedural classifications: Active and Passive euthanasia which only the procedural will be discussed in this essay. Active euthanasia is the use of lethal substances or forces to end a patient’s life. Many cases involve directly injecting poison to the patient or an overdose of sleeping pills or pain killer. For passive euthanasia, it also have the intention of ending a patient’s life, but no real action being done. It usually defined as withdrawing medical treatment from the patient who requested euthanasia (Pregnantpause, 2001). The basic concept to distinguish between the two is whether there is an action involved in ending the patient’s life or not. When there is a topic about ending a life or killing, religion concepts are usually applied and talked about in society. Different religions have different perspectives for each topics and Buddhism will be the main focus. According to Florida (1993, 2), there is no Mahayama treatments of this topic, hence the majority of the discussion will be based on Theravada. This paper will underlie the bioethics of Buddhism, their perspective on active and passive euthanasia.

Religious path for Buddhist ethics have the ultimate goal of obtaining absolute wisdom and be released from cycle of rebirth (samsara). In the quest of enlightenment, a Buddhist need to go through threefold of training including ethics, meditation and wisdom. Just as the earth is the foundation of all things in the world, so does ethics are the root and basic of deeds (Fujii ,1991). When something is helpful to self and others, it is considered a skillful deed (kusula karma) and if it is harmful, it is an unskillful deed (akusula karma). Principles of ethics are good as long as ones followed the path assertively and are able to conduce along the path. Buddhist ethics have always been understood as the path of wisdom along with disciplinary aspects. For instance, one might meditate to gain wisdom and eventually enters the path of enlightenment and along the way, he has to restrain himself from sexual misconduct or taking alcoholic beverages (Florida, 1993, 3).

To understand euthanasia from Buddhist perspectives, the concept of karma should be understood. Karma refers to any actions that leave an imprint behind. It is the concept of actions from this life will have consequences within the same life or the next life. Negative actions will result in suffering and positive actions will result in happiness. Perspective of karma differs through religions (Fujii, 1991). For instance, Jainism views that all karma are negative as one always cause suffering for others, but Buddhism views this differently. Buddhists believe that there is no strict determination of karma. If one lives according to dharma, the law of righteousness and acts with good intentions then it’s considered a good karma and progress to enlightenment. If one acts with untamed mind-wills or poisonous motive of delusion, foolishness and aggression will shown then the act is unskillful and will result in harming oneself and others (Fujii, 1991). Another thing to consider is Buddhism is usually called a middle way, the way of non-extreme. This approach is very important because it is applied to the concept of morality as well. If one act too strict or too soft on the principle of karma, it is often seen as an extreme will. Principles are the guideline to manifest for wisdom, but not to be made an absolute.

In the matter of euthanasia, it is considered a very controversial topic in Buddhism, especially with the aspect of active euthanasia. The act of purposely ending life of a person is not an act of skillful deeds according to Buddhism. Buddhaghosa, the fifth-century sage, stated that taking life means to murder anything that lives or to put an end to life-force if they have one (Florida, 1993, 5). The size and the quality of the victim are also an important factor. Killing a large animal is worse than killing a small one and terminating a bad person’s life is better than a good person. Furthermore, Buddhaghosa believes that motivations (intentions) are the primary importance as it can determine karmic quality, but contemporary buddhists believed that active euthanasia is unskillful deeds. The reason is because if one motivation might be good, but if the action is to terminate someone’s life, it’s become an act of aversion (Florida, 1993, 6).

In addition, Buddhists believe that active euthanasia is a futile method to escape from karmic consequences as it is what bring illnesses and suffering in the first place. According to law of karma, one must suffer through their act from their previous life and if one tried to escape through this method, their next life will once again face suffering. One dilemma raise against this concept as if karma is the illness and suffering, does the act of medical treatment will be seen as a wicked act as it helps lessen pain and suffering. Furthermore, if illness really relates to karma, what is the point of medical treatment because it will only postpone the suffering one need to face (Lesco, 1986). These points are worth discussing, but according to Florida (1993, 7), the practice of medicine is always considered a skillful mean and should not be interfered. The arguments are considered extreme views and do not follow the teaching of Buddha. There is no direct approach to the active euthanasia because Buddhist view that all actions of terminating life are unskillful, but some can be exceptions. According to Wiltshire (1983, 128), Buddha also condone acts of suicide: “the protagonists suffering from a serious degenerative illness”. It is the matter of intentions because the body is mortal, thus the act of terminating illness to relieve pain and extreme suffering unselfishly can be committed.

Passive euthanasia is another problematic area needed to be discussed and many people uses different references and opinions to discuss this topic. According to Taniguchi (Florida, 1993, 7), using Theravada texts, passive euthanasia is also considered to be an unskillful act as he believes that choosing to die or refusal of medical treatments is an act of aggressive motivation towards suffering, or attached to being in the pleasant states, or falsely believe that death is the way to escape from suffering. This can also be considered an extreme view as Buddha himself also teach one to cure another one illness (Florida, 1993, 8). The matter of a person refuses to accept medication, in some situations, can be called a skillful act. If one can realized that their condition is far too worse and can no longer be cured or in the case of continuing with medical treatment will most likely cause suffering to others such as bankruptcy of the family for one more week of your life. If we take further consideration, prolonging a life could no longer be saved by receiving medical treatment might takes up space in the hospital for another person whose life could be saved. Now not only this causes suffering to the family, but also to other people who might face less severe cases, but cannot receive proper treatment due to lack of hospital space. Thus, not receive further treatment might be the skillful act rather than unskillful escape from suffering.

Another important factor is the process of dying in Buddhism. The religion consider life and death to be tied together through law of karma. Unfortunate existence can be caused by a akusala karma from a bad death and untamed mind. On the other hand, a good death will generate kusula karma and make one’s next life to be better (Florida, 1993, 11). Buddha can be used as the representative of dying properly. Buddha remained alive to continue his teaching when he was 80 years old with an ill health. According to Henry (1900), he and his followers were served food with one tainted-dish and Buddha insisted to take all the tainted food by himself and eventually lead him to death. This event support passive euthanasia as the Buddha chose to not extend his life and chose not to receive any treatment and allowed his body to passed away. Consideration of letting people go at the proper time and motive, passive euthanasia can be considered a skillful mean. All in all, passive euthanasia can be viewed as a skillful act or an unskillful act depending upon the motivation behind the action. If the action is to relieve pain or avoid suffering, it is unskillful. On the other hand, if the action is to avoid other suffering or acknowledgement of one self prolonging his life will not do any good, it is skillful act.

In conclusion, euthanasia or “good death” involved in Buddhist practice deeply. The act of terminating one’s life is considered an unskillful act, but exceptions from certain circumstances can be made. Unselfish death that leads to greater good for others would be one of the cases. The concept of euthanasia for medical uses can be very problematic in many situations because modern medical technology helps prolong a person’s life to a great extend which contradict with the law of karma. Medical treatments can be used to alleviate pain, but not to the extremes. If the usage of technology helps one to progress to the higher spiritual act, it can be considered a skillful mean. Acting with good intentions and follow dharma will lead one to the enlightened path.

List of references

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2. Fujii, M. (1991). Buddhism and Bioethics. Bioethics Yearbook, pp.61-68
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