Monday, November 1, 2010

Based on Buddhist beliefs, are patients generally supposed to refuse or accept treatment for cancer

Based on Buddhist beliefs, are patients generally supposed to refuse or accept treatment for cancer?
Should an elderly Buddhist woman be told she has cancer or should her daughters withhold the info? Does Buddhism have any scriptures that may relate to this issue? What about treatment? should she accept her death or get treatment for it if she were to be told? If you answer, can you tell me the book where you found this info from? I can't find anything. Thank you so much
Religion & Spirituality - 7 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
If you seriously have to ask this, then by all means refuse the cancer treatment. Because the last thing the human race needs is another moron.
2 :
Tell her! If she wants to refuse treatment it's her decision! And no, buddhists don't have any rules about refusing treatment for diseases. The acceptance they speak of doesn't mean that they don't do anything...would a Buddhist walk out into oncoming traffic because looking both ways wouldn't be "acceptance" of getting hit by a car? No. Buddhists can make the same decisions as anyone else when it comes to protecting their life and their health.
3 :
Traditional Buddhism stresses acceptance of the things you can not change to attain inner peace. There is no reason not to pursue cancer treatment since this diagnoses can be changed with treatment, but if the woman refuses treatment because the family cannot afford it then it is logical that she use her beliefs to accept the inevitability of death. Sorry, I don't have my books of Buddhist sayings anymore, but generally Buddhists don't argue with scripture the same way Westerners do.
4 :
I can't answer this from a buddhist perspective, but unless the woman's daughters know for certain that she wouldn't want to be told, they have no right to keep this information from their mother. How she chooses to proceed and why, once she has the information, is completely up to her. Her family should be supportive, whatever she decides. .
5 :
Your question raises a few complex issues.For the daughters to with hold this Information I would have to make the assumption that they have a really good reason to do so,and financial is not a good reason. If the mother asks what is wrong,then I believe that an honest answer is called for.Remember the precept about no false speech. As for the treatment side,there is no problem in buddhism about this.Buddhism would just teach that the treatment may work or may not work. I hope this helps a little.
6 :
Q- Based on Buddhist beliefs, are patients generally supposed to refuse or accept treatment for cancer? A- It depends on the type, aggressiveness and advancement of the cancer. It also depends on the known outcome, the ratio of benefit and risk, quality of life, financial cost, etc of the cancer treatment. The decision should be made between the doctor and the fully informed patient. Q= Should an elderly Buddhist woman be told she has cancer or should her daughters withhold the info? A- She must be told because it is her body. Q-Does Buddhism have any scriptures that may relate to this issue? A- Not that i am aware of. But we should use a common sense. Q- What about treatment? should she accept her death or get treatment for it if she were to be told? A- See above answer. If the cancer is aggressive and incurable, a real Buddhist should deny the treatment and accept the reality of nature that this body will not last forever and that everyone will die. A wise person must use the remaining time to strengthen one's mind to prepare for the next life. Q-If you answer, can you tell me the book where you found this info from? I can't find anything. A- I don't know any specific book but those answers come from my experiences as a Buddhist.
7 :
Buddhists must try to preserve their own lives at all costs, short of killing other people and commit serious crimes and breaking serious precepts; because if one do not make enough causes to be reborn in a good path, then whether one can become human again is doubtful. Furthermore, the Lay man's Five Precepts in Buddhism specifically indicated no killing of any sentient beings; by refusing to take on the treatments, she has commit the greatest moral sin in Buddhism, and the reasons are as listed below: 1) By killing a sentient being, a human being- herself, a potential result is going to hell. 2) By killing an Arahant- as all humans have the potential to be Buddha and Bodhisattva, and very minimum an Arahant- Result is definitely going to lowest level of hell. 3) By harming a Buddha- two types of beings you should not cause harm; one is a baby- because he/she could be the next Buddha; second all human have the potential to be Enlightened in this lifetime, and since she is a Buddhist, her bare minimum accomplishment can be achieved by going to the Buddha’s Pure Land; so she is a potential Bodhisattva and a potential future Buddha- the end result is in Hell after her death for harming a Buddha. 4) By not accepting her karma and let it ripened, that means she either cure from the disease or suffer through the disease, then the potential punishment after the above will be contracting the disease again in future lives; because the Karma must to fully manifested and ripened to be rid of it forever, else they will come back and haunt her in future lives. 5) By not accepting the treatment, she might died of painful death and disfigurement, even if she is lucky to be human again, she might carry disfigurement for many of future rebirths. But after if she tries all the treatments and fail, and only then can she stop accepting treatment, and concentrate on rebirth in the Buddha’s Pure Land There is no one particular Sutra and Satra that explains the way I explain it, because the messages are expressed and written in many stories Buddha talked about in his Sermons; but she is welcome to confirm with any monks of any lineage by bring my article to them for confirmation. **********888 Second point, her daughters should tell the cancer patient, because she may have something she wants to do; and by tell her, she might go into shock, but then she will come out of it and can either face the hardship of cancer therapies; or prepare herself for dying. She may have to put together the wills for personal and financial matters; maybe she wants to go her parents’ grave to say goodbye and announce her pending arrival. May be she was to see a place before she died, or she may want to go to her temple and ask for blessing… Some people thinks it is good to hide the truth, yet not knowing when there are things that the decreased unable to finish in this life, is the worst cause for them not be able to go away peacefully.



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