Buddhist teachings and worshipping both have impacts on adherents and the Buddhist community. Both provide an insight into how to achieve the ultimate goal of enlightenment and reach Nirvana. Bioethics is a major topic in Buddhist teachings an the ethical regulations of Buddhist teachings are derived from the concepts of the Eightfold Path, karma, four noble truths and the five precepts. These are the ethics that judge human actions as morally right or wrong. Moreover, significant practices drawn from Temple Puja can be used to convey worship of the Buddha and offer Buddhists a greater understanding of their path to enlightenment. Such significant people like the 14th Dalai Lama, have contributed to the impacts of Buddhist teachings. Adherents …show more content…
From this, the teaching of compassionate thinking is important in terms of bioethical issues, as people are required to carefully consider others’ journey to enlightenment. Abortion is an issue raised in Buddhist ethical teachings, and is interpreted as Panatipata. It is when a pregnant person does not want to give birth to a child and so abortion is undertaken to deliberately terminate the pregnancy. Buddhists regard the moment of conception as the beginning of the life of an individual, since the foetus is a being with consciousness. A foetus should have the corresponding respect as a mature person also because it has the potential to achieve enlightenment. The action of aborting a foetus is one that brings bad karma since it is a deed that violates the ahimsa enshrined in the first precept; “abstain from taking the life of any living being”. This parallels with the Dalai Lama’s statement, “abortion … is an act of killing and is negative”. This teaches Buddhists to avoid murdering sentient beings so that the beings can continue their journey of reaching enlightenment. Ultimately, individuals’ spiritual commitment to the Buddhist teachings is reflected in the path they take, whether to abort or not. However, unless the mother considers deeply about her proposed act, knowing that her intention is not based on selfishness, then the deed may not generate bad karma. The Dalai Lama further states that abortion is an “exception” in cases where “the unborn child will be retarded or if the birth will create serious problems for the parent”. Essentially, Buddhist teachings impacts Buddhists by encouraging them to remember not to make decisions out of selfishness and be fully responsible for their actions and the results of the
The teachings of buddhism, the Dalai Lama and the Temple Puja can all impact a Buddhist adherents on the ethical issues of the individual. The buddhist teachings consist of lists of rules that can be followed in order to live a peaceful and humble life, which nirvana can be met. Temple Puja are acts and ways the buddhist teaching can be applied to the life of Buddhist adherents. The Dalai Lama is a spiritual leader of the tibetan people who expand on the teachings of Buddhism worldwide. All these factors influences the decision making of challenging ethical issues of Buddhist adherents.
With guidance from principle beliefs and the XIVth Dalai Lama, Buddhist bioethics and the devotional practice of Temple Puja have an impact of high significance on individuals, and the Buddhist community in ultimately, guiding the life of the adherent to achieve total enlightenment. As the modern figurehead for Buddhism, the XIVth Dalai Lama has contributed to the formulation and reassessment of the Buddhist approach to ethical issues.
Imagine…the birth of a human being into the world. 9 months of endless anticipation leading to someone’s first chance at seeing the world for the first time. While some enjoy the result of a pregnancy, leading to a new human being entering life, some are not so fond, or just can’t be in such a situation. Abortion is the supposed “cure” to this problem and is, for the most part, done safely. However, one of the factors stopping someone from committing an abortion is the consideration of moral status on the child.
Our culture has a stringent belief that creating new life if a beautiful process which should be cherished. Most often, the birth process is without complications and the results are a healthy active child. In retrospect, many individuals feel that there are circumstances that make it morally wrong to bring a child into the world. This is most often the case when reproduction results in the existence of another human being with a considerably reduced chance at a quality life. To delve even further into the topic, there are individuals that feel they have been morally wronged by the conception in itself. Wrongful conception is a topic of debate among many who question the ethical principles involved with the sanctity of human life. This paper will analyze the ethical dilemmas of human dignity, compassion, non-malfeasance, and social justice, as well the legal issues associated with wrongful conception.
In a previous paper I explored how new generations of Western doctors are more focused on treating the disease, rather than the patient as a whole. If doctors spent extra time with each patient to treat their spiritual well-being, as well as their physical ailments, they could create a new dynamic in the way medicine is practiced. In this paper I will discuss why arts from Eastern mysticism should be incorporated into Western medicine practices, as well as a few ways they may be incorporated.
Bioethics was originated many centuries ago. Ethical theories in medicine are the basis of bioethics. There are many different ethical approaches which causes much dispute. The imperical question is, what makes an act right and which approach to follow. The Greeks addressed the virtue of ethics. They looked into the good of the person and the situation. Ethos in Greek means, disposition and trait. So consequently they looked at eh person’s skills, habits, and traits. Compassion and the meaning of suffering are some other issues in Bioethics that can be argued. Choosing an act because it is right and also looking at the consequences are some other concerns. Other things to consider are what the patient and their families want. Their religious beliefs are also a major concern. How far should someone go to help a dying suffering patient who wants to take their life? Is it right to intercept and help a patient to die? Medical technology is ever advancing. People are being kept alive for years on support. This is a major topic of debate in Bioethics. Deciding if it’s right or wrong to keep them alive even if they are brain dead is a major concern. What constitutes a person a person when they have Alzheimer’s or brain damage? Are they a person? These are some of the major topics discussed in Bioethics.
Buddhism in India was born and would eventually rank as the world’s fourth major religion. The Buddha preached his first sermon in Deer Park, still a definitive text for all Buddhists. He proposed a path to enlightenment very different from the elaborate ceremonies and colorful myths attached to the Hindu deities of his youth. The Four Noble Truths: Recognizing and understanding suffering, letting go of self-centered cravings, realizing liberation, and cultivating the path. (Gach) Pain is inseparable part of mankind’s everyday life, our cravings of all kinds are the cause of this pain, and the way off this treadmill is to free oneself of these cravings. This can be achieved by following the Eightfold Path of: Right view, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration. The goal is to break the cycle of reincarnation based on your Karma and to reach Nirvana, the final goal of Buddhism. (Gach) The Buddha said that desire is the cause of suffering, and any kind of over indulgence may lead to addiction. Addicts and alcoholics are experts on desire; addiction is desire run rampant. (Griffin) In his book, Buddhism and the Twelve Steps, Kevin Griffin relates the steps with the practices of
In addition, Buddhism places emphasis on the Four Noble Truths, which is the teaching of Buddha, a guide to enlightenment. These are a set of guidance that basically teaches the followers of Buddha the essence of...
Buddhist follow, along with karma, follow an idea called the eightfold path. These 8 steps are: right understanding, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. These steps are another process Buddhist take to get to their revelations to enlightenment. It is the last of the very first of Buddha’s teachings, The Four Noble Truths. These truths are the basic guidelines of what Buddha wants to teach. They work in tandem with each other to explain the suffering of life, what causes it, and what one must do to eliminate
Abortion is a voluminous topic today all around the world. Differing viewpoints on abortion are recognized in politics, religion, and throughout the general population. There is a small amount of people who are nonchalant on the subject. Women have abortions for many different reasons and according to certain groups these reasons are either justified or not. Everyone tends to have their own articulated opinion, and many vocalize tenaciously what they believe. Pro-life individuals along with religion are sanguine that abortion is ethically and morally erroneous. Whereas those who are pro-choice say that abortion is inconsequential and the mother’s choice is more important than the fetus. Reasons to not get an abortion include risks involved in receiving an abortion. In some cases death can occur. However, there are other alternatives to abortion. For example, raising the child and adoption.
He also makes reference to the long history of religious intolerance and persecution within the Christian tradition, brought about by greed, mistrust, and ignorance. He emphasizes the need for continuous practice, prayer, meditation, mindfulness, and personal growth within individual religious traditions and cultures. We must make the spirit of the Buddha and the spirit of Christ part of our everyday lives. He explores the “Five Wonderful Percepts of Buddhism”: reverence for life, generosity, responsible sexual behavior, speaking and listening deeply, and ingesting only wholesome substances; comparing them to the teachings of Christ. These precepts are without a doubt, very similar to the principles thought by Christ and his apostles. Each precept or teaching works with the next, interconnecting and building upon each other toward the same goal to end suffering, bring about personal and worldly understanding, world peace, and spiritual
Abortion may appear ethical or unethical depending on various viewpoints and circumstances. The fetus is considered a person and bringing it to term may be unethical as the act is considered as murder. In some situations, the mother may require to terminate a pregnancy for her bodily autonomy (Johnston, 2003). In such positions, the resolution to terminate a pregnancy may be argued as the most ethical choice. The mother is also considered to having a reasonable level of ethical responsibility to the fetus, because she did not take enough precaution to ensure avoiding conception (Cline, 2014). The mother’s ethical responsibility to the fetus may not be enough to deprive her choice of abortion; it...
The case of Dr. Lowell and Mrs. Jackson revolves around a conflict between the doctor, who advocates the implementation of a particular treatment and the patient who disagrees with the doctor and wishes to do things her own way. The doctor feels that the suggested course of action is disastrous and threatens to have the patient declared mentally incompetent. The question now is whether or not the doctor is morally justified in taking action against the patient in order to implement the course of treatment she feels would be most effective. Is this an infringement on the autonomy of the patient or is the doctor morally obliged to do everything that he/she can possible do in order to restore the patient’s health even if that includes to go so far as to take this decision out of the hands of the patient?
The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism capture the ethos of the spirituality and its teachings. By just these four lessons, Buddha preaches the principles of tranquility within meditation, not mere concentration. From these truths he developed a guidance referred to as the Eightfold Path, a series of principles that lead to awakening when practiced and understood. He preaches that inevitable suffering comes from desire, however he concludes with a solution to a life lived in nirvana. The first two of the Four Noble Truths are Dukha and Avidya, focusing on the primitive presence of suffering within day to day life.
He set these rules to help create a peaceful atmosphere for the Buddhist community and to avoid corruption in the Buddhist community. All monks and/or nuns must not only follow these rules, but also many other rules and principles. The Eightfold Path labels all of the rights of monks and helps guide them to peace within themselves. The Eightfold Path guides monks and nuns towards Nirvana through eight simple principles. The first principle, the Right of Understanding, explains the significance of understanding situations the way they occur instead of understanding things from one’s personal experiences.