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Buddhism traditionally opposes abortion because a fetus is considered a sentient life and therefore, abortion is a form of killing which violates the first precept of Buddhism: to abstain from the taking of life.
However, many Buddhist leaders also view the issue as complex and one which needs to be addressed and infused with compassion. In a booklet titled The Buddhist Perspective on Women’s Rights, Hsing Yun, a modern Chinese Buddhist master, says there are at least two life issues where abortion may be acceptable.
The first one deals with a woman who is pregnant with a fetus which is severely handicapped. “Can a third party tell her that she must not have any abortion?” he asks and adds: “After she bears the child, she will spend decades raising it, and will any of those people be around to help or even care about her then?”
A second issue is a woman who is raped and becomes pregnant. “If we believe that compassion means that we must oppose all kinds of killing, including abortion, then how are we going to handle the mother’s potential life-long mixed feelings of love and animosity toward her child?” is the question he raises.
Master Yun believes that the abortion issue cannot be simply or easily decided “because there are just too many complex factors present in nearly every case.”
For that reason he teaches that “it is best to allow the person who is most affected by the abortion to have the right to decide what she wants to do, which means the pregnant woman should have the right to make the decision for herself. . .The person who has the most right to decide the question is the mother of the fetus. It should be up to her to make the decision and everyone else should respect it because, more than anyone else, she must bear all the consequences.”
However, many Buddhist leaders also view the issue as complex and one which needs to be addressed and infused with compassion. In a booklet titled The Buddhist Perspective on Women’s Rights, Hsing Yun, a modern Chinese Buddhist master, says there are at least two life issues where abortion may be acceptable.
The first one deals with a woman who is pregnant with a fetus which is severely handicapped. “Can a third party tell her that she must not have any abortion?” he asks and adds: “After she bears the child, she will spend decades raising it, and will any of those people be around to help or even care about her then?”
A second issue is a woman who is raped and becomes pregnant. “If we believe that compassion means that we must oppose all kinds of killing, including abortion, then how are we going to handle the mother’s potential life-long mixed feelings of love and animosity toward her child?” is the question he raises.
Master Yun believes that the abortion issue cannot be simply or easily decided “because there are just too many complex factors present in nearly every case.”
For that reason he teaches that “it is best to allow the person who is most affected by the abortion to have the right to decide what she wants to do, which means the pregnant woman should have the right to make the decision for herself. . .The person who has the most right to decide the question is the mother of the fetus. It should be up to her to make the decision and everyone else should respect it because, more than anyone else, she must bear all the consequences.”
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We live in disordered times, complicated, distracted, and demanding, yet to sustain a spiritual practice demands our steady attention. - Jack Kornfield
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Too many people use aging as an excuse to do nothing, be nothing and become irrelevant. No matter what year you are in, never, never do that. Aging skillfully means thinking and acting in these ways. At any age, write your book. At any age, lift weights, bike, run a race. At any age, start a business. At any age, find new love. At any age, make new friends. At any age, move to a new country. At any age, buy a new vehicle. At any age, adopt a pet. At any age, learn a new language. Do everything and anything you can to avoid aging badly, unskillfully. - VMP
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The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers. - M. Scott Peck, psychiatrist and author of The Road Less Traveled
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You are never too old, too lost, too hurt, too addicted, too adrift, too damaged, too broken, too hopeless, to begin again. - Victor M. Parachin
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A recent long term study strongly indicates that middle-aged and elderly people who cannot balance on one leg for 10 seconds are almost twice as likely to die within 10 years than those who can.
For this study an international group of experts from the UK, US, Australia, Finland and Brazil completed a 12-year study examining the relationship between balance and mortality. They worked with 1,702 people between ages of 51 and 75 following them between 2008 and 2020 to complete the study. Initially, participants were simply asked to stand on one leg for 10 seconds without any additional support.
In order to standardize the test, participants were later asked to place the front of their free foot on the back of the opposite lower leg while keeping their arms by their sides and their gaze fixed straight ahead. Up to three attempts on either foot were allowed. The results are striking and concerning:
• One in five (21%) failed the test.
• Over the next decade, 123 died of various causes.
• After accounting for age, sex, and underlying conditions, an inability to stand unsupported on one leg for 10 seconds was associated with an 84% heightened risk of death from any cause.
• An inability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds in middle to later life was linked to a near doubling in the risk of death from any cause within the next 10 years.
• The findings are so alarming that the researchers, led by Dr Claudio Gil Araujo of the Clinimex exercise medicine clinic in Rio de Janeiro, suggest a balance test should be included in routine health checks for older people.
The results were published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Prior research on balance and health also indicates that lack of balance ability (standing on one leg) is linked to a greater risk of stroke. People with poor balance have also been found to perform worse in tests of mental decline, suggesting a link with dementia.
If this kind of information frightens you let the fear soften by the reality that balance can be improved by anyone at any age. A great beginning would be to consult with a yoga instructor and get yourself into yoga classes regularly – as in three or four times a week. One yoga session done sporadically will not create the improvement necessary.
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Losses in life are never fun, but there I one loss no one can afford to experience – the loss of hope. If you lose hope, that may be your last loss, because when hope is gone, so is motivation and the ability to learn. - John C. Maxwell
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Dhammadipa, who is a lifelong practitioner of several Buddhist traditions now stresses the importance adding yoga to meditation admitting that excessive sitting harmed his body.
Read more about this remarkable Buddhist master at this link:
https://www.dhammadipa.cz/en/biogaphy/
Read more about this remarkable Buddhist master at this link:
https://www.dhammadipa.cz/en/biogaphy/
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If you do good actions with a selfless spirit, you will soar high into the regions of bliss and peace. - Swami Sivananda
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The principle that creates a wise society and a wise life is simple and universal: Actions based on greed, hatred, disrespect, and ignorance inevitably lead to suffering. Actions based on their opposites—generosity, love, respect, and wisdom—lead just as surely to happiness and well-being.
- Jack Kornfield
- Jack Kornfield