Question

Please discuss the following prompt: There is a story of a Buddhist monk who was on a ship with a maniac who was killing everyone on board. The monk eventually decided to kill the man in order to prevent further harm of others on board. Do you think this conforms with the principles set out in Buddhism? Why or why not? How do you think karma and compassion come into play in this story?

Answer 1

In the given story, the Buddhist monk's decision to kill the man in order to save the lives of the others is undoubtedly a right decision. This decision does not violate the basic principles of Buddhism.

Apparently, it may be the perception that killing the man is violence but it's not so. The killing of the man is not for the self benefit, it does not reflect selfishness or any of the negative facets such as unjust desires, anger, greed, ego, envy etc.

In fact, the decision to kill the man is out of a congruent thought process mentioned in the "Ashtang Marg"/ Eightfold Path in Buddhism.

The eightfold path includes right- speech, conduct, view, resolution, consciousness, attempt, livelihood and samadhi. The right view, right attempt, right conduct and the right resolution of these indicate the necessity of the killing of the man because the other lives can be saved.

Eventually, Buddhist theory of Karma asserts that it is the intention that matters the most in the context of the actions. The intention of the monk in this story is a good/ just and ethical one as he is to save the life of the others, further the monk killed the person who was to kill others and therefpre was a threat. The killing of the man reflects the compassion for others and their lives and thus a holy figure like monk justifies the killing. Hence, karma and compassion both support the killing of the man by the monk.