What is the value of human life (or all life in general)?

Kunga

Where does the value of life come from?

I understand that in Buddhism the main goal is to end the cycle of birth/death. But wouldn't that also necessitate the end of all life? or can there be life without birth/death?

Thanks,
~Kunga

Jeffrey

A lifespan has value relative to your relationship. The true value of a life is love itself. Knowable but never owned.

ThailandTom

I guess each of us puts a price tag on our life depending on many factors. If I am not wrong, if you liberate yourself from samsara, you still exist, yet you become an arya and are still subject to karma.

Phoenix

In my opinion, the value of life comes from your own compassion and respect for other living things. You see and feel for yourself the impact of your own actions and the actions of others on your life (starting early on in childhood) which are the building blocks of your compassion/respect for others. I'm over simplifying of course, (there are always exceptions) but without writing a full on novel about the topic, this is the basic idea.

Although I am not a believer in re-birth myself, the way I see it is this: You will be re-born unless you live a pure life in accordance with the Eightfold Path. The compassion side of it comes in this way - by following the path you necessarily have to eliminate your attachment to your own life (wanting to be reborn, etc) in order to be a fully compassionate and loving being. To put it another way, in order to be the most beneficial for all beings you must get rid of all sense of selfishness. This does not mean to be disrespectful of your own life in any way, but rather to live a life that does not contribute to the suffering of the world.

This of course begs the question - if I lived a very good life, almost perfect, but not quite, then couldn't I be re-born and be a benefit to even more beings? And of course we see this in some traditions, the Dalai Lama being a prime example. But the counter argument is that by following this line of thinking you had to make a sacrifice somewhere which caused suffering - possibly grave suffering - for some being.

It's an argument of the one vs. the many, which is always a difficult debate no matter what the context. As I said before, I'm not a believer in re-birth myself, I see it as more of a cultural thing the Buddha had to deal with to explain himself to all the Hindus of his day or it was just cultural influence all around...but I could be way off. :-)

For me, thinking that I will not get another chance with another birth makes me feel that the compassion I show for others in this life is vitally important to make the world that much more pleasant for those who come after me. Compassion for the world does not begin and end in the present moment, but continues far beyond us all due to the laws of kamma.

I hope this is an acceptable answer to your question.

federica

When broken down into fluids, tissues and germ fighting our bodies are worth more than $45 million.

This price tag on the human body is based on a survey published in Wired magazine. It found that vital organs are no longer the most valuable body parts. Rather, bone marrow heads the list…priced at $23 million, based on 1,000 grams at $23,000 per gram.
DNA can fetch $9.7 million, while extracting antibodies can bring $7.3 million. A lung is worth $116,400, a kidney $91,400 and a heart $57,000.

Women's eggs are costlier than men's sperm. The survey found that a fertile woman could sell 32 egg cells over eight years for $224,000; however, for a man to earn the same amount, he would have to make 12 sperm donations a month for 20 years.

The prices are based on cost estimates taken from hospitals and insurance companies, and are based on projected prices only in the United States. Of course, the prices also assume that all these substances can be extracted from living tissue for sale.

Morally however, I think all human life is priceless.

ThailandTom

wow, that much for some fertile eggs. that is pretty sweet. i might sell some antibodies or a kidney

federica

It's illegal to sell or purchase body parts.
You can donate organs for transplants while alive, for no financial gain, and genetically you have to be a close match to the recipient. But selling organs for profit is world-wide illegal....

And your system has to be free of recreational or addictive drugs for at least 2 years because the liver stores a lot of that crap and leeches it out into the system over time....

ThailandTom

yea, nobody will want my liver, and i only have one anyway. It is the only organ that can grow back if i am not wrong? I am sure there is a black market for body parts and stuff anyway, lots of money to be made there

hermitwin

Every life is precious bcos of its potential.

I remember a famous person who said he donated sperm
during his college days.
He was able to earn enough money to live comfortably.
I believe its $200 per deposit.
Do you think its ok to donate sperm?

andyZ

Do you think its ok to donate sperm?

There're many couples who can't conceive a child on their own. Everything that promotes life is good in my book.

hermitwin

Just wanna share this.
S Korea is one of the most impressive country technologically.
In 2009 its suicide rate was higher than Japan.
Around 40 people die from suicide daily.

hermitwin

While many reject reincarnation, most accept rebirth
of some kind. So, I think we should just keep
doing good deeds no matter what.

In my opinion, the value of life comes from your own compassion and respect for other living things. You see and feel for yourself the impact of your own actions and the actions of others on your life (starting early on in childhood) which are the building blocks of your compassion/respect for others. I'm over simplifying of course, (there are always exceptions) but without writing a full on novel about the topic, this is the basic idea.

Although I am not a believer in re-birth myself, the way I see it is this: You will be re-born unless you live a pure life in accordance with the Eightfold Path. The compassion side of it comes in this way - by following the path you necessarily have to eliminate your attachment to your own life (wanting to be reborn, etc) in order to be a fully compassionate and loving being. To put it another way, in order to be the most beneficial for all beings you must get rid of all sense of selfishness. This does not mean to be disrespectful of your own life in any way, but rather to live a life that does not contribute to the suffering of the world.

This of course begs the question - if I lived a very good life, almost perfect, but not quite, then couldn't I be re-born and be a benefit to even more beings? And of course we see this in some traditions, the Dalai Lama being a prime example. But the counter argument is that by following this line of thinking you had to make a sacrifice somewhere which caused suffering - possibly grave suffering - for some being.

It's an argument of the one vs. the many, which is always a difficult debate no matter what the context. As I said before, I'm not a believer in re-birth myself, I see it as more of a cultural thing the Buddha had to deal with to explain himself to all the Hindus of his day or it was just cultural influence all around...but I could be way off. :-)

For me, thinking that I will not get another chance with another birth makes me feel that the compassion I show for others in this life is vitally important to make the world that much more pleasant for those who come after me. Compassion for the world does not begin and end in the present moment, but continues far beyond us all due to the laws of kamma.

I hope this is an acceptable answer to your question.

ThailandTom

who wants a kidney

NOTaGangsta

The cycle of Birth and Death happens every times a bad memory comes back to make you upset again and again. You would want to end that so your days would alot happier.

If you do not see the value in things, then it's very hard to get out of more cycles of hurtful thoughts.

federica

who wants a kidney

Only if I can flambé it with cognac, garlic, parsley cream and English mustard.

Cinorjer

Where does the value of life come from?

The same place your thoughts come from.

I understand that in Buddhism the main goal is to end the cycle of birth/death. But wouldn't that also necessitate the end of all life? or can there be life without birth/death?

Thanks,
~Kunga

No, the main goal is to eliminate suffering. One way would be to eliminate all life on Earth, but that's rather drastic, don't you agree? We don't want to eliminate life and death, only liberate our minds from clinging to the illusion that we begin at birth and end at death. When we discuss this concept, we use a lot of shorthand that can be easily misconstrued.

aMatt

Where does the value of life come from?

Kunga,

Life isn't really what is valuable, rather, things that are alive (sentient) suffer. This makes our loving-kindness and compassion toward life valuable, because it helps still cycles of suffering in ourselves and others. When phrases like "life is valuable" come up, they seem intent on helping cultivate that compassion.

With warmth,

Matt

seeker242

All sentient beings feel pain from violence.
All sentient beings fear death.
Seeing other beings are like oneself;
Treating other beings like oneself;
One should never ever harm nor kill ...
Dhammapada 129


Which I think could be paraphrased like this. Other beings value their own life just like you do, therefore it is appropriate to value their life, because you value yours in the same way.

DhammaDhatu

I understand that in Buddhism the main goal is to end the cycle of birth/death.

Hello Kunga

The Buddha taught in many ways.

On many occassions, the Buddha taught the main goal is to be free from greed, hatred & confusion (ignorance); to have an unshakeable freedom of mind.

When greed, hatred & confusion end, life will neither have value or lack value.

Life will neither be good or bad. Life will be just as it is ('suchness") and at ease; at peace.

Kind regards

DD

person

I think the better question to ask, is what gives life value? When you phrase it whats the meaning of life, that seems to be asking why are we here which doesn't really seem to be knowable by us. Since we are here, how do we make our life meaningful? The answer seems to be to help and care about others. I can't really say too much from personal experience but that seems to be what those who know say.

Jeffrey

Very Hanibal Lecter Fed

federica

I decided to research it literally.

Victorious

Women's eggs are costlier than men's sperm. The survey found that a fertile woman could sell 32 egg cells over eight years for $224,000; however, for a man to earn the same amount, he would have to make 12 sperm donations a month for 20 years.

For most men that is not a big problem.


When I was in school (a while back) we learnt that a human life was valued at about 12 million SEK. About 2 million USD. That is the amount of profit a human could produce in society by some calculation. Therefore society should not spend more that that amount to keep a person alive and healthy our teacher said.


I never found out if he was joking...

Also now there is a ongoing discussion for the Gov to pay an amount of 35000 SEK or roughly 5000 USD that can be spent on a burial or for charity for those who donate organs in Sweden.

/Victor

Phoenix

While many reject reincarnation, most accept rebirth
of some kind. So, I think we should just keep
doing good deeds no matter what.

I agree with doing good deeds no matter what, but am intrigued by your statement about reincarnation vs. rebirth. I've always equated the two... Please clarify for me how they can be separate.

Jeffrey

reincarnation implies an essence becomes a new person. From hinduism atman. Rebirth would be that karma continues like an apple rots turning into compost. The attachment to worlds causes the being to enter another world. In the mind only view of reality the worlds are actually created by the minds of the people in the world. Even in mind matter dichotomy clearly our relationship to the world and our desires are influenced by karma.

This is actually relative truth to uproot eternalism or nihilism and to be moral.

It is relative because we don't actually have backpacks of karma that hop around. The universe is mysterious.

Phoenix

Not to take this tangent too far, but if I understand you correctly, then we are constantly in a state of rebirth, correct? Is this not just a restatement of impermanence?

Jeffrey

Yeah I think so. But again there is more diversity than that view probably. In Tibetan Buddhism Bardo means in between. It is not just for between lives.

ThailandTom

I once heard a monk suggest that we a reborn thousands of times a second, constantly changing. There is no permanent self.

and federica, that would be an expensive meal, plus I think my kidneys is a little sour

Tikal2012

It seems that your wondering whether there is some consciousness based experience after Nibbana. The truth is, you would probably have to ask a Buddha that to know for sure, but I'll give it a bash. You are correct in saying that the goal of the Buddhist path is the cessation of birth and death, and I'm afraid that I would have to say that also, yes, that does mean the cessation of *conditioned existence* for yourself. Of course when you attain Nibbana, all of the animals will still be alive, and you will still be alive also, but when your body stops functioning, your mind no longer has any craving in it, and since birth is caused by craving, you will no longer be bound to a physical existence. Now I can not say weather or not Buddha's are alive and watching us from some heavenly realm, or whether they simply do not exist at all, but I can say for certain that they are no longer bound to an existence conditioned by the presence of a physical body, feelings, or thoughts, or consciousness. I hope that clears up at least a little for you. Good luck. . .

ThailandTom

The dalai lama said that once you are liberated your become an arya, enlightened. You enter the formless realm but are still subject to karma. Often aryas do become reborn again due to their karma

Kunga

The Cycle of Birth and Death seems to me to be a process of ever more complex beauty creation. Why we would want to end this process is beyond me.