hi david,

joan roshi did have something to say about assisted death.  now i remember. 

she said that she was asked by a patient who was suffering from painful, and stinky, cancer of the vagina that was going on and on with no relief in sight for help to end her unendurable life.  jh said that it was a troubling request.  after much soul-searching, the woman was offered the necessary drugs.  joan said that the decision bothered her sense of ethics vs. the obligation to relieve suffering. so later she spoke with hh the dalai lama about this and he said that mercy, in a case like this, must be considered as the guide.

now this question of self-determination for ending one's life brings up the question of reincarnation.  and the consideration of the karmic impact on the next rebirth after suicide.  because the karma that's not addressed here and now will be there in the next life and possibly be karma-on- steroids.

it must be noted that dying does not imply that one will be automatically liberated.  the tibetan book of the dead makes this clear.

an interesting item in this soup of right-to-die discussion is the buddha's tolerence of suicide by a few monks who were sick.

another interesting note is that it was considered auspicious that an arahant should die after the attainment of the goal because there was nothing more to be done in this life.  some had heart attacks and another was gored by a cow and died:  all a cause for celebration---they'd made it, never to return.  in these cases it was said that they were clear of karma at the time of their passing.

re ananda:  my prayer is that he's experiencing the bliss state---4th jnana---because he's no longer dominated by the 3 poisons and the 5 skandhas.  my fear is that he's in agony.  what do you see ?  please offer him my humble regards and warmest wishes.

thank you---fascinating topic.

spring is poking its nose into the bay state---temps in the low 60's and snow all gone [for now].

cheers,

your brother bozo,

lor

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