STUDENT:

More on the vegetative state. Now we have the technology to keep people alive when they would normally expire. What about this?

SHIH-FU:

Now that the technology is available, we must use it to do our best to keep these people alive. It goes back to treating each dharma as it is. This is a matter of one's attitude. If there is no technology available, then there is no issue. When there is a machine available, you have a choice of using or not using it, or disconnecting it. In fact, this is a passive way of helping someone to die.

STUDENT:

If a law is passed that says under certain conditions we can perform euthanasia, and we follow this law under the prescribed circumstances, what kind of karma is involved?

SHIH-FU:

If laws are passed, or if it is the custom of the culture to kill someone who is in extreme suffering, or allow people to die who are in vegetative states, then it depends on whether we have a choice or not. If we have no choice, then karma is still created, but it is collective karma. If the decision is left up to the individual, then it is personal karma.

STUDENT: