Day One: Buddhism and Ethics

The speaker with BIOCEP organizers.
From left to right: Dr. Ruth Fischbach (Columbia),
Dr. John Loike (Columbia), Phra Chainarong,
Mr. Brian Phillips (Mahidol)

Today's topic was an introduction to Buddhist ethics, and some of the main issues that arise in Eastern vs. Western bioethics. Our main speaker was Phra Chainarong, a Buddhist monk. He was awesome -- I'm not sure how any other lecturer is ever going to live up to the standard he set today!

Phra Chainarong was born into a Thai family, but lived in the United States for many years. He began training as a monk at age 8, and at age 20 decided to commit his life to the practice. Phra Chainarong is unique not only because he has a deep grasp of both US and Thai culture (as well as a perfect command of both languages), but also because he is a university student, a rare path for one who is already a monk to take. He gave an amazing presentation which provided an introduction to the main principles of Buddhism -- nirvana, karma, the four noble truths, the eight-fold path, the basic elements of Buddhist cosmology -- in a way that was clearly tailored to those used to a more Western worldview. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of these books I've read: clearly written out of a deep love and respect for Buddhist principles and teaching, but in a way that demonstrated conversance with other ways of thinking about the world and our place within it.

Some of the most interesting things we discussed, to my mind, concerned theology: the way in which elements of the Judeo-Christian God can be found (in disaggregated form) in Buddhist cosmology, the importance of karma as a principle of the natural universe, the things which Buddhism does and does not attempt to address. Phra Chainarong told us a great story to illustrate this final point. Once, Buddha was walking in the woods with a group of his followers. He bent down to scoop up a handful of sampasa leaves from the forest floor and showed them to his disciples. Comparing the small number of leaves in his palm to the vast numbers of leaves overhead and elsewhere in the forest, he proposed an analogy to his own teachings. The world is vast beyond comprehension, just as the leaves in the woods are uncountable by mere mortals like us. Buddha never claimed to understand everything about the world -- its creation myth, its eventual termination, etc. -- only a few topics, a number as small as the number of leaves in his outstretched hand. To followers, this not only demonstrates the Buddha's great humility, but also a fundamental truth about Buddhism: that it does not pretend to offer a comprehensive explanation of all facets of reality, but rather represents a philosophy for understanding and exploring certain parts of it.

We also spent, as you might expect, a considerable amount of time discussing Buddhist ethics and Buddhist perspectives in bioethics. I was fascinated to hear that there is a lively contemporary debate in Buddhist ethics as to whether it is best interpreted as an absolutist or consequentialist philosophy -- that is, whether its core principles (such as the prohibition on killing animals) are meant to hold in absolutely all cases without exception, or might sometimes be outweighed by other considerations depending on the details of the particular case. We also learned some very interesting things about the cultural standpoint of the Thai Buddhist laity from Phra Chainarong as well. For instance, there is almost no such thing as an advance directive or "living will" in Thailand, since decision-making about end-of-life care, as about all things, is much more collectivist than individualist. Moreover, Buddhist beliefs about reincarnation and the relation of spirit to body mean that organ donation (whether before or after death) and cadaveric donation are not only more common but even revered here. On the other hand, many take a dim view of animal experimentation, and respect for patient autonomy -- paramount in the Western framework -- plays a much less important role in decision-making and moral reasoning here.

The lecture was brilliant, and ended long before anyone wanted it to. We could have stayed there asking Phra Chainarong questions all day long -- he was funny, down-to-earth, and often had a better grasp of where our questions were coming from than many US philosophy professors I've known! It was an honor and a privilege to learn from him, and I'm so grateful we had the opportunity to do so.