Death & Afterlife Exam 2
The three schools of Buddhist thought/practice
Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana
Protection of Society
- Remove harm from society
Purposes of Punishment
- Retribution - Deterrence - Rehabilitation
Retribution
- Revenge - Getting even - "Eye for an eye"
Karma
*Action*; every action has a reaction tied to it (a good or bad evaluation)
Mahayana Buddhism
- "Large raft" or "Large vehicle" - The Bodhisattva Way: attempt to gain the compassion to do the same as the Bodhisattvas; model yor life to become enlightened and help others - The way of faith: dedicate yourself to a particular bodhisattva who will help you gain enlightenment (Amida Buddha for the pure land) - The cultic way: Statues of Buddhas and offerings made by those who aren't as educated; use of Stupas (burial mounds) - Opened up enlightenment to masses
Theravada Buddhism
- "Small raft" or "Small vehicle" - Monks and Nuns are the ones closest to enlightenment - People bring gifts and offerings to monks and nuns to gain good karma
Marga
- A path to enlightenment - Karma Marga - Jnana Marga - Bhakti Marga: devotion to a god through ritual
Pure Land
- A place in the afterlife where one can devote himself to gaining enlightenment - Amida/Amitabha Buddha
Irrational suicide
- All low points are a phase that should be endured and lived out
Bodhisattva
- An enlightened individual who postpones transcendence into Nirvana to help others reach enlightenment out of compassion
Buddha
- An enlightened one - Goal is to be a Buddha and escape Samsara - Key of Buddhism is that everything is impermanent
Stupas
- Burial mounds for burying the cremated bodies of Buddhas; pilgrimage to a Stupa allows one to build up good karma - Place used for meditation; a place of worship towards Buddha as someone who knows enlightenment and can help you
Sati
- Burning or burial of the wife as a sacrifice in the burial of her husband
The role of religion in contemporary culture wars concerning end-of-life issues
- Catholic hospitals are allowed to force-feed those who refuse food and cannot perform assisted suicide - Follow Ethical & Religious directives (ERDs) - Religious liberty: initially to protect religious minority against the dominant religion, but also the other way around - Religious people do not want to be forced to denounce some aspects of their own religion (retain the right to practice their pro-life beliefs)
Cuba Syncretism
- Christianity & Spiritism - Espiristas: mediums between the spirit realm and this world - Orishas; sort of life saints (figures who have died but you can still access them)
Jamaica Syncretism
- Combination of African, Judaism, and Christianity - Jewish Apocalypticism: restoration of the African Kingdom back to its rightful place (like Judaism under Rome) - Savior-figure of Christianity: Ethiopian Emperor Haile Sellasie declares the Ras Tafari, or savior, who would bring back the African Kingdom (similar figure to Jesus)
Thomas Aquinas
- Creator of the "Double Effect" - Christian philosopher who was against suicide Against suicide: - Contradicts natural law and thus is against God's will (It is God's will alone to pronounce death/life) - The individual belongs to society and is obliged to live and contribute to it - If suicide is perceived as a lesser evil, that is faulty logic
Dukkha
- Crucial to the 4 noble truths (existence of Dukha, cause of Dukha, End of Dukha, and Eightfold Path) - Suffering; the longing for things that are impermanent (not just sadness, but more of an existential matter)
Chinese Buddhism
- Devotion to Buddha in life and focus on Amitabha at moment of death will grant access to the Pure land - Belief in the Bardo realm, where little tests allowed the enlightened to pass into Nirvana, while others eventually wandered towards reincarnation - Heavy focus on attempting to reach the Pure land to later attain enlightenment
Zamani
- Distant past & future; however, future doesn't really exist as anything that happens is simply added to the past - Once someone is forgotten, they become a part of Zamani, or the collective
Rehabilitation
- Fixing, reforming or restoring a criminal
Rational suicide
- For the terminally ill - In times of war; to avoid torture, kamakazi, or seppuku (ritual suicide) - Religious exemptions - Reaching a ripe age
Haiti Syncretism
- French Catholicism & African Traditions (Voudou) - Spirits accessed through Loas (spiritual realm mediums, similar to Catholic saints)
Agni
- God of fire in Hinduism - Important in cremation when the body is burned facing southward - Carries individual from living to dead
Sasa
- Here and now, the present - "Living dead" - Anytime someone can be remembered, they are in Sasa
The three margas in Hinduism
- Jnana Marga: Path of Enlightenment & Knowledge - Bhakti Marga: Path to the afterlife through devotion to a God - Karma Marga: Path of duty and fulfilling your dharma
Syncretism
- Mixing things from different religions and putting them together
Hsien
- Mortals who became immortal in Taoism - Minor divinities
Wu-wei
- Non-action; actionless action - Act in a natural way; don't get in the way and let things happen - Goal is to achieve oneness with the Tao and balance with Yin-yang
Yin-yang
- Opposites like dark-light, female-male, water-fire, passive-active - Good and evil happens on the balance of these opposites (bad results from a lack of balance; good occurs when everything is in balance)
Samsara
- Part of Hinduism & Buddhism - Cycle of birth, death, and reincarnation - Goal is the escape samsara
Bardo
- Part of Tibetan Buddhism - Bardo Realm: A place between life and death which is filled with tests only the enlightened can pass successfully (the enlightened pass into Nirvana and others get distracted and wander towards reincarnation) -
The Middle Way of Buddhism
- Path between indulgence & sacrifice - Avoiding both extremes
Bhakti Marga
- Path of devotion to a god through ritual (going to the temple, having a statue, etc.) - A love so strong that leads to wanting to merge with that god - Arjuna the warrior king follows Krishna, the reincarnation of the god Vishnu, in following his duty and fighting cousins so as to not accrue bad karma (as long as he fulfills his dharma while being devoted to Krishna, he will not receive bad karma)
Karma Marga
- Path of fulfilling one's Dharma - Dharma is based on the role a person has in life (caste system)
Jnana Marga
- Path of knowledge/wisdom - Understanding what's real = enlightenment - Brahman: ultimate, final reality (you are the universe and the universe is you)
Yoga
- Practices with the end goal of escaping Maya (illusion of individuality) - A spiritual discipline for each of the three Marga (paths) - Om: a chant to take oneself out of his/her distracted life
Deterrence
- Prevention; deter people from repeating a crime or deterring other people from doing the crime
Arguments for capital punishment
- Privitizations; corporate control, prisons must be at maximum capacity to use - Largely focused on deterrent impact - Another justification rests on the principle of retribution - Broad public support for death penalty persists in the US
Important statistics surrounding the capital punishment debate
- Racial disparity - The best predictor for the severity of punishment is the race of the victim (white victims tend to warrant a harsher punishment) - The second best predictor for the severity of punishment is the race of the accused (people of color tend to receive harsher punishment)
Taoism
- Religion about following the Tao, the way of the universe - One of the end goals of Taoism is physical immortality (Hsiens) - Taoist Mediums allow communication with the dead
Dharma
- Religious duty based on your caste or social status - Doing your duty (Dharma) accrues good karma, and going against your duty accrues bad karma
The Eightfold Path
- Right action - Right speech - Right livelihood - Right effect - Right mindfulness (awareness) - Right concentration - Right view - Right intention Living by these 8 "rights" to go down the middle way
Confucianism
- Shang Dynasty: Kwei (ghost) goes to yellow springs after death - Yellow Springs: all people are bound for the yellow springs in death; a bleak existence - Chou Dynasty: Mandate of Heaven & Ancestor worship - Individual ancestors are honored, but through subsequent generations, individual ancestors are forgotten and replaced as the forgotten ones become a collective bunch (the ancestors never disappear, they just join the collective bunch of ancestors) - Ancestors reside in a heaven-like spiritual plane
Brahman
- Specific understanding of ultimate/final reality - To break free from Samsara, the individual must understand that *Atman* (soul) is a part of *Brahman* (universe), which allows them to achieve *Moksha* (end of cycle) - Everything is ultimately Brahman (you are the universe and the universe is you
Nirvana
- The end of attachment to the illusion of self or individuality - The detachment from all feelings; particularly attachment to the impermanent and want for permanent (therefore, the end of suffering) - Nirvana isn't a place; it's a state that transcends the suffering all others exist in
Soma
- The god associated with ecstatic experiences in Hinduism - Initially, a drink to get high or have euphoric experiences believed to be communication with the gods
Maya
- The illusion that everyone is individual from one another - Hindu belief
Moksha
- The liberation from Samsara in Hinduism (no more reincarnation) - The ultimate goal
Jiva
- The self that gets reincarnated
Atman
- The soul or self
Tao
- The way: the pure, which has been largely displaced - Everything is naturally in its state of being and should exist in harmony with nature - If you talk about it, you don't actually get it
Vajrayana Buddhism
- Tibetan Buddhism with the book of the dead that details the way through the afterlife in a 49-day period - The book guides you to the Pure Land or to your next reincarnation
Anatman/annata
- Understanding of impermanence - There is no permanent self that exists, nothing is permanent - The doctrine that there is no soul or permanent essence in people and things
Arguments against the death penalty
- Value of Human Life/Right to Life - Applied unfairly (racial disparity, wealth of the defendant) - Execution of the innocent - Retribution is morally flawed - Brutalizing society - Expense - Cruel, inhumane, degrading - Unnecessary
The Noble Truths
1) Dukkha (Suffering): the longing for things that are impermanent; not just sadness, but more of an existential matter 2) Cause of Dukkha (desire/craving): we want things to be permanent; we get attached to things that are impermanent 3) The end of Dukkha (end desire): understanding that everything is impermanent, and don't want things that you will get attached to 4) Follow the Eightfold Path to end desire: how to bring about the end of Dukkha
David Hume on Suicide
1) Humans in nature are governed by casual laws, so suicide can't go against nature 2) God gives the gift of choice and committing suicide is an exercise of that gift 3) The individual stands alone, up to you to act in a way that increases happiness/decreases sadness 4) Rational suicide is courageous
Joyce Carol Oates from "The Art of Suicide" on Suicide
1) Not immoral, but foolish 2) Seldom rational; most lives are worth keeping 3) When self-destruction is romanticized, it is a faulty logic and mocks genuine achievement 4) One cannot rationally "choose" death because it is an unknown experience (it could be nothing)
Thomas Aquinas on Suicide
1) Suicide contradicts natural and its against God's will 2) The individual belongs to society and is obligated to contribute to society 3) If suicide is perceived as a lesser evil, that is faulty logic 4) God's will alone to pronounce life & death
Broad similarities across African conceptions of death and the afterlife
1) Time: remembered dead reamin in Sasa, once forgotten, they transfer to Zamani 2) Spiritual World: Ancestors are in spiritual world, but they can visit through dreams, mediums, or possession 3) Self-: Multiple/plural; combination of physical and spiritual 4) Reincarnation is considered a possibility/optional: a spirit reincarnates only if there is some reason to (unfinished business or just to guard over someone) 5) Ancestor Realm: an extension of the physical world where the deceased gather to perform the same daily tasks they did in life; similar to the Mesopotamian afterlife or the Egyptian field of rushes
Eightfold Path
1. Right action 2. Right speech 3. Right livelihood 4. Right effort 5. Right mindfulness 6. Right concentration 7. Right view 8. Right intention
What is most important in the outlook of these religions as they pertain to death
Afterlife
Joyce Carol Oates
Against suicide: - "The Art of Suicide" - Not immoral but foolish - Seldom rational; most lives are worth keeping - When self-destruction is romanticized, it is a faulty logic and mocks genuine achievement - One cannot rationally "choose" death because it is an unknown experience
ANH
Artificial Nutrition & Hydration - Feeding tube - Originally meant to be temporary - An ethical dilemma whether to continue feeding - Should be considered ordinary care according to the Pope, and once you reach futile care, then it becomes extraordinary
Holism
Belief that the body and soul are interconnected
Dualism
Belief that the body and soul are separable
The religious systems that contribute to Chinese conceptions of death and afterlife
Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism
David Hume
For rational suicide: - Humans in nature are governed by casual laws; even if we want to, we cannot go against nature (if you commit suicide, it's because it has been the natural trajectory of life that has led you there) - God gives the gift of choice; committing suicide is an exercise of that gift - Individual stands alone; up to you to act in a way that provides the most happiness - Rational suicide is courageous
The religious systems we have discussed and their conceptions of the afterlife/Ultimate Reality
Hinduism: - Cremation of the body - Ritual designed to separate soul from the physical body; the soul cannot leave until the body is destroyed - Lighting of the fire at the mouth; mourners leave without looking back; sons walk around the body before the eldest lights the body - Until the body is destroyed, the essence remains near the body
Yama
Lord of the underworld in Hinduism; resides in the world of the fathers
3 jurisdictions that impact end of life choices
Medical - Hospitals, doctors, nurses, bioethicists, medical schools, insurance, pharmaceutical companies Legal - Lawyers, judges, politicians, jails/prisons, advocacy groups, state/federal government, supreme court Religion - Churches, pope/bishops, followers, religious texts, charities
Societal institutions/systems that impact how we die in America
Medical - Hospitals, doctors, nurses, bioethicists, medical schools, insurance, pharmaceutical companies Legal - Lawyers, judges, politicians, jails/prisons, advocacy groups, state/federal government, supreme court Religion - Churches, pope/bishops, followers, religious texts, charities
PVS
Persistent vegetative state; no mental capacity but ability to perform basic bodily functions - No consciousness appearing, no higher brain function - May open their eyes, yawn, breathe, but unaware of environment
Reincarnation
The rebirth of a soul in a new body "To take flesh again"
VSED
Voluntarily Stopping Eating & Drinking - Normal thing for people in natural dying cycle - Considered passive voluntary and legal - Because of patient autonomy, this can be considered refusing treatment