Buddhism places a profound emphasis on compassion, mindfulness, and the ethical preservation of life. When it comes to euthanasia — whether active, passive, voluntary, or non-voluntary — Buddhist ethics proceed with great caution. At the heart of the discussion lies the first precept, which forbids the taking of life, including one’s own or that of another, regardless of the motive.
Euthanasia, in Buddhist terms, is typically viewed as unethical. Even if done with the intention to relieve suffering, it involves the deliberate ending of a life, which is associated with unwholesome mental states like aversion, delusion, or attachment. Compassion alone is not enough to justify such an action if it includes an element of rejecting the deeper truth of suffering and impermanence .
Buddhist texts offer several arguments against euthanasia. First, suffering — including terminal illness — is seen as part of the karmic unfolding of life. Interrupting this process through euthanasia can hinder karmic resolution and may result in continued suffering in future rebirths rather than liberation . Additionally, a good death, which is calm, conscious, and mindful, is considered spiritually valuable. Choosing euthanasia to avoid pain may abort important spiritual growth at the threshold of death .
Cases from the Vinaya — the monastic code — illustrate this stance. Monks who encouraged sick colleagues to die, even “out of compassion,” were severely censured and expelled. These stories emphasize that killing, even with good intentions, is a grave ethical error in monastic life .
Still, Buddhism recognizes the complexity of real-life situations. For example, if a terminally ill person chooses to forgo further treatment because it is burdensome or futile, this is not seen as euthanasia if the intention is not to cause death but to live one’s remaining time with dignity. Similarly, giving painkillers that unintentionally hasten death is permissible if the goal is to relieve pain — a case of intended comfort, not death .
Moreover, modern Buddhist thinkers acknowledge that new pain-relief methods allow many patients to remain semi-conscious and relatively free from severe distress, making euthanasia less of a compelling option than it once might have seemed .
In TheravÄda Buddhist countries like Thailand and Sri Lanka, there is a growing consensus that euthanasia, especially active forms, contradicts traditional values. Even so, in practice, healthcare workers sometimes engage in actions — such as withholding resuscitation — that occupy ethically grey areas .
In summary, Buddhism opposes euthanasia not out of cold rigidity, but from a deep respect for life as a field of transformation. It holds that even in pain, the human mind can awaken, that death is not the end, and that the moral quality of our actions — and our state of mind at death — shape what comes next.