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What is the value of human life (or all life in general)?
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
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
0
Comments
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.
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.
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....
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?
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.
of some kind. So, I think we should just keep
doing good deeds no matter what.
If you do not see the value in things, then it's very hard to get out of more cycles of hurtful thoughts.
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
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.
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
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
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.
and federica, that would be an expensive meal, plus I think my kidneys is a little sour