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discussed major ideas regarding Buddhist ethics by applying the relevant sources as seen in the Pāli Tipiṭaka. Central to Buddhist morality is the encouragement of wholesome karmas and to discourage unwholesome ones, including those that incorporate killing. I demonstrated that the definition of these would derive from interpersonal relationships in most cases when one acts in society. This also led to a question of whether self-killing— without harming others— should be regarded as embodying unwholesome karma.
Moving to the reading of the Sutta Piṭaka for the second objective, I examined the three discourses regarding the monastic suicide of: Godhika, Vakkali, and Channa. I attempted a new reading of these discourses to evaluate their deaths by suicide as narratives. This was intended to show the essential themes as literature could present them, beyond a n y dualistic ethical judgments. Thus I focused on their dramatic characteristics such as story line, characters, and dialogues. My further analysis of the third objective was conducted by comparing the commentary and modern previous studies in order to show the development of ethicization concerning their resultant suicides.
Consequently, the result of my examination also clarified the dramatic effects of the three discourses demonstrating the process of one’s life and the meaning of life, and not only limiting my focus on suicide alone.
The examination of the jātaka narratives in Chapter 3 also aimed to achieve the second and third objectives. First, I explained the meaning of dāna-pāramī that describes the motives behind the Bodhisatta’s self-sacrifice based on the studies of the Pāli Tipiṭaka. I then analyzed his motives by classifying all eight jātaka stories into two groups according to the Bodhisatta’s
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declaration before his self-sacrifice. The second group has more specific utterances such as the attainment of omniscience, while the stories of the first group more simply voice the motive of saving the life of another human being.
I also speculated about the probability of the development of these motives in the later extra-canonical collection of jātaka narratives such as the Paññāsa-jātaka. Since the Bodhisatta declares his motives in detail in the Paññāsa-jātaka, I analyzed the development of symbolization of the Bodhiatta’s self-sacrifice so that general Buddhists will not copy such suicidal acts. I also presented my idea that this intended symbolization also had the paradoxical effect of attracting others to copy his actions.
The examination in chapter 4 was to show how the acts of suicide and euthanasia as described in the Vinaya were interpreted in negative ways in order to discourage these as being associated with unwholesome karmas. For the second objective of my study, I focused on the reading of the first sub- story that caused the promulgation of the third pārājika rule. My first task was to read the original text as narrative by focusing on the story and the characters in each scene just as I would watch a drama or theatrical performance. I first classified the major incidents in three scenes and secondly, for the third objective, I analyzed the explanation in the commentaries in order to clarify what the commentaries saw as problematic and compared it with the other moral concepts reiterated in the Pāli Tipiṭaka. One notable point is the incoherent reasoning governing the Buddha’s seclusion. The commentary attempted to justify the Buddha’s actions with reference to Abhidhammic concepts such as destructive karma. The other is the difference between the Buddha’s statement
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calling for prohibition and that calling for condemnation. My examination showed this difference introduced confusion or ambiguity regarding the question of whether or not suicide should be included in the third pārājika. I also presented some more examinations of the other stories concerning suicide and euthanasia.
Throughout my study, my aim was not to investigate these cases of suicide and euthanasia in the Pāli Tipiṭaka within a framework based on Buddhist ethics. This is not a study on Buddhist ethics. Instead, I attempted to trace the transition of the later attempts made to ethicize suicide and euthanasia in the context of negative views and also to read the relevant texts as narratives.
Especially as Buddhism pays the greatest respect to living one’s life with wisdom and compassion, violent acts are never encouraged.
It must be said that these stories involving suicide and euthanasia never actually encourage these acts, but simply relate how people in the stories acted and lived. Their ethicization may have contributed to the prevention of or warning against suicide and euthanasia to Buddhists. Conversely, this has also limited in another way the understanding of these “life” stories. More importantly, each case depends on the situations into which people in the story were placed. Therefore, none of the cases presented in these stories can be universally applied to others.
For future studies of suicide and euthanasia from a Buddhist perspective, I would suggest that one should avoid framing Buddhist ideas exclusively in concepts derived from Western ethics. Although this attempt could be successful to some extent, it may well be inadequate to cover the entire
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spectrum of Buddhist moral values. Buddhist ethics will never offer universal theories while also remaining flexible enough to be applied to each case in the same manner that the Buddha helped beings to be liberated..
Instead, I would suggest that the studies of these texts can attempt new possible ways of textual readings from different perspectives. Although searching for their underlying ethics is one approach to reading these stories, I hope researchers including myself can find different ways to arrive at new interpretations of them. I also hope such new perspectives can shed more light on as well as offer a more cogent response to the issues of suicide and euthanasia from Buddhist perspectives.
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