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A Buddhist perspective on suicide: The Past, the Present, and the Future 

A Buddhist perspective on suicide: The Past, the Present, and the Future
Chapter:
A Buddhist perspective on suicide: The Past, the Present, and the Future
Author(s):

Somparn Promta

and Prakarn Thomyangkoon

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780198570059.003.0005
Page of

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date: 01 December 2020

The basic morality of Buddhism is based on the content of the five precepts: killing is an evil; stealing is an evil; sexual misconduct is an evil; lying is an evil; and taking intoxicants is an evil.

Buddhism does not consider killing merely in its form but in its origin, and judges whether or not it is immoral case by case, according to its complicated and contextual factors. Suicide is a type of killing, and the moral rules applying to all types of killing, apply also to suicide. All of the precepts in Buddhism are written in general form, meaning that there is considerable room for interpretation. This chapter discusses interpretations of cases when suicide may be considered as morally wrong and when it can be morally acceptable. Generally speaking, suicide is not necessarily an evil in the Buddhist perspective: some are morally acceptable. All sects of Buddhism agree that death is just a transformation of life, and that we live to die and we die to live again. Therefore, suicide is viewed differently from other religions, which do not believe in life after death or reincarnation.

The chapter concludes with epidemiological data concerning suicide in different Buddhist countries in Asia, which show a range of 6/100,000 in Thailand to 35/100,000 in Sri Lanka. In accordance with the statistics, the Buddhist religion may impact the suicide rate differently depending on the national context.

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