A Buddhist perspective on the death penalty
On Sept. 28, the state of Florida executed Manuel Valle after he spent 33 years on death row. On Sept. 21, the state of Georgia took
Troy Davis’s
life, despite a lack of evidence proving his guilt. On the same day, the white supremacist Lawrence Brewer
was killed by lethal injection by the state of Texas, despite the a
request by the victim’s family that the district attorney not seek the
death penalty.
Buddhists, along with a growing number of members of other religions,
believe that the death penalty is fundamentally unethical. From the
Buddhist perspective, non-violence, or not harming others, is the heart
of the Buddha’s teachings.
Everyone has the ability to uproot negative, self-centered thoughts
and instead nourish an open engagement with others. In doing so, we find
true happiness and fulfill our potential as human beings. Manuel Valle, Troy Davis, and Lawrence Brewer and the 3,200 inmates on death row will not have this opportunity.
According to Buddhism, everything that happens in our lives is the
result of causes and conditions. Nothing happens at random. Every action
gives rise to results that we experience immediately or in the future.
By not committing any of the five non-virtuous actions (killing, lying,
stealing, sexual misconduct, taking intoxicants), we ensure that we
ourselves are not victims of murder, theft, etc. Likewise, when we do
experience such misfortunes, we recognize that they arise in our lives
only because of similar actions we committed in the past.
We bear full responsibility for our present and future lives, both for the positive and negative experiences.
In the works of a great Tibetan scholar, the Sakya Pandita,
“Howsoever anyone breaks the law, they may win for a while, but in the
end, they lose.” Even though someone may appear to get away with
breaking the law, in the long run, he/she will experience the results of
the negative action. Karma, the law of cause and effect, is definite
and not subject to the inequities and arbitrariness of any legal system.
As such, the death penalty is unnecessary, because the person who
violates the law by committing murder will definitely bear the horrible,
irreversible karmic consequences.
In the
Dhammapada
, we find the following verses:
“Whoever harms with violence
those who are gentle and innocent,
to one of these ten states
that person quickly descends:
he would beget
severe suffering;
deprivation and fracturing
of the body; or grave illness, too;
mental imbalance;
trouble from the government;
cruel slander;
loss of relatives;
or obstruction of property.”
Both murderers and supporters of the death penalty deserve our
compassion because they will experience the karmic effects of killing.
It may seem strange to generate compassion towards those who harm us.
Buddha taught that our actions are influenced by causes and conditions;
similarly our minds are poisoned by ignorance, attachment and hatred.
When our minds are overcome by hatred, at that moment, we go crazy, and
we are not able to control ourselves.
One of the defining scholars of Buddhism, Nagarjuna,
wrote to a king: “Especially generate compassion for those whose ill
deeds are horrible.” Punishment should be carried out with compassion,
“not though hatred nor desire for wealth,” or for retribution, since
retribution is another name for revenge; “revenge” implies the action is
done with anger, and therefore would burden the executioner with hatred
and its resultant poor karma.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama signed Amnesty International’s pledge against the death penalty several years ago, and has spoken out against it on multiple occasions. He opposes the death penalty because it punishes the person and not the action.
Buddhism does allow ending the life of another when it is done in
self-defense, and the argument could be made that, sometimes, capital
punishment could be viewed as a society’s attempt at self-defense. But
when there are other means available to prevent a person from harming
others, such as imprisonment, it would seem that the less lethal option
should be favored.
Countering violence with violence only results in more violence. The
true enemy is our own self-cherishing and self-grasping tendencies, and
the negative behavior that we engage in to defend, protect, and sustain
ourselves even at others’ expense.
Losang Tendrol is a nun in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. She teaches meditation and Buddhism at the Guhyasamaja Buddhist Center in Reston. The Center was founded in 1994 and is affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition. The Center follows the Gelugpa tradition, the same lineage as His Holiness The Dalai Lama. - The Washington Post, 26/10/2011, A Buddhist perspective on the death penalty
THE
clamour to be heard is growing louder by the day. Ever since Minister
in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz
announced on Oct 12 that the government was considering the possibility
of withdrawing the mandatory death sentence for drug offences and
replacing it with jail terms, pro-life groups and advocates probably saw
that as a "God send" for their voices to be heard before the
government makes any final decision.
