Is Choosing Euthanasia to End One's Life a Sin?

Everyone's life belongs to the individual, and the individual has the right to choose life or death, but doing so is an irresponsible act. First, because a single individual life involves many causes and conditions, exerting considerable influence on other lives and, by extension, changing the destinies of related people, such as parents and children, as well as other family members and relatives. Second, the existence of a life carries many meanings and offers many opportunities to change one's destiny; giving up one's life is tantamount to giving up the opportunity to change one's destiny, and also giving up the opportunity to eliminate karmic retribution. When karmic retribution arrives, once it is endured, it is gone; not enduring it in this life does not mean the retribution disappears—it must still be undergone in future lives, so it is better to endure it all in one lifetime. Therefore, those who persuade others to undergo euthanasia or assist in euthanasia also bear corresponding negative karmic responsibility; persuading someone to die or helping someone die constitutes an unpardonable offense.

However, some acts of suicide may be a form of karmic retribution; perhaps the suicide's retribution in this life has come to an end and their lifespan is exhausted, with karmic causes from past lives determining that they had no choice but to take their own life. But even if the lifespan is exhausted, one can only decide one's own death; one should not persuade others to die or assist in their death. If one does so, one commits an unpardonable offense and will suffer evil retribution in future lives. Once there was an emperor of meager merit (alpa-puṇya) who, during his reign, faced constant warfare and a people plunged into misery; in the end, this emperor, having no alternative, died by suicide. He did not want to die, but having truly run out of blessings, he had no choice but to die. Some people commit suicide because they are forced by circumstances; this too is cause and effect, a fruit of retribution that must inevitably repay the offenses of past lives.

Asking someone to kill oneself belongs to the category of suicide, not homicide. When two armies are locked in confrontation, a captured prisoner, in order to avoid suffering or betraying intelligence, may ask his own comrades to kill him; these are all acts of necessity, not selfish acts. The person who accepts the request to kill is also compelled by circumstances, acting to fulfill the other's wish, without any personal motive to kill and without persuading anyone to die, and so bears no offense of homicide. But cause and effect are still involved, and it must be judged according to the specific circumstances: there may be a slight evil result, or there may be a wholesome result.

If euthanasia is performed to help a patient escape suffering and also accords with the patient's own wishes, does it also fall under the situation described above? Assisting someone in euthanasia differs somewhat from helping an imprisoned person commit suicide to escape punishment: the latter is a matter of necessity that cannot be avoided and is not proactive, whereas the former could be avoided but was not, which is tantamount to assisting death, and carries evil retribution. The two cases differ in intention and purpose, and thus their fruits of retribution differ.

Why do some people want euthanasia? Because they cannot die on their own; no matter how gravely ill they are, they cannot die naturally and can only ask others to take measures to end their lives. Since they cannot die naturally, it means the karmic retribution they should undergo in this life has not been exhausted; since it has not been exhausted, they should continue to undergo it until it is. If one dies before the karmic retribution is exhausted, one will continue to undergo it in future lives, and in future lives the retribution is often undergone in the three evil paths, where the suffering far exceeds that endured in the human realm. Therefore, no matter what setbacks or tribulations one encounters in the human realm, no matter how severe the illness or how great the pain, one must tenaciously endure and resolve them, and must not choose death. Karmic retribution cannot be escaped; one must carry on until the karmic conditions of this life are exhausted and the retribution of this life is complete.

How can karmic retribution be exhausted as quickly as possible? By undergoing more of it—the heavier the retribution endured, the faster it is exhausted. This is a clumsy method, but also one of necessity. A faster method is to sincerely repent of karmic obstructions every day, repenting of the evil karma committed in the past. After repentance, first, the mind becomes pure and some karma is dissolved; second, with karmic creditors, they can forgive some of your faults and let you off.