The Sea Inside
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Life story of Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, who fought a 30-year campaign to win the right to end his life with dignity. Film explores Ramón's relationships with two women: Julia, a lawyer who supports his cause, and Rosa, a local woman who wants to convince him that life is worth living. Through the gift of his love, these two women are inspired to accomplish things they never previously thought possible. Despite his wish to die, Ramón taught everyone he encountered the meaning, value and preciousness of life. Though he could not move himself, he had an uncanny ability to move others.
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The Sea Inside : Not Pro-Life = Not Pro-Nirvana
Just watched the movie "The Sea Inside", which is based on the true story of Ramon Sampedro - who fought for some 30 years as a quadriplegic to end his life. Despite being touchingly acted (yes, it brought me to tears) and beautifully filmed, respectully, I can't help disagreeing with him. Ramon in the show repeatedly said that "life is a right, not an obligation." He is totally right. We have the right to end our lives - but it doesn't mean we should, even in the most dire of situations, since what we truly want is True Happiness, not illusory "oblivion".
In Buddhism, any intentional ending of life is murder. Self-consented euthanasia is simply suicide or self-murder. What are some possible ill consequences? It might lead to the loss of an immediate human rebirth for a very long time, due to not treasuring it enough. Not "wearing out" one's negative karma of being ill till natural death, residue karma might surface immediately upon rebirth. One might be reborn with the corresponding ailments carried over from the last life. This means the fruition of negative karma is only deferred in suicide - for no good reason. True Happiness is only delayed, if not made harder to attain when we choose the "easier way" out of Dukkha (dissatisfactions), which does not work, which is actually the harder way. The extraction of, say, an aching tooth. might mean instant relief, but suicide only makes one plunge deeper into the abyss of Dukkha. Unenlightened,y You can't just switch off Dukkha or karma. If you reflect carefully, this pro-life stance is not cold at all; but totally compassionate.
A Catholic priest tries to dissuade Ramon from taking his own life, saying "Freedom without a life is not freedom." Ramon retorts, "A life without freedom is not a life." My take - "Freedom is going beyond attachment or aversion to life or death." Ramon's choice of euthanasia was made out of attachment to his previously active life, and to his belief that death will be the end-all and be-all to his mental suffering (since his body, being numb, did not really suffer.) Vice versa, he had aversion to not being able to live physically actively and thus to life. Obviously, though disabled, Ramon still had his fundamental and most precious freedom - the freedom to choose his state of mind. But he was so attached to physical mobility, that he felt his life was without dignity. Yet the film clearly portrayed him as a warm and loving person, readily bringing joy to those around him, who always treated him with love and respect. He was already living a fruitful life, more so than many others. It breaks my heart that despite this, he spent his last 30 years fretting life more than cherishing it. What he had were 3 decades of golden opportunities to practise and master meditation, to discover freedom of the mind, without the need to fret about caring for the body, which was cared for willingly by others! What good karma despite what bad karma!
His fundamental delusion, it seemed, was similar to the director's view, that just as there was "nothing" before birth, there will be "nothing" after death. Almost nihilistic? In Buddhism, everything physical and mental arises and sustains from the congregation and interaction of causes and conditions. How can something as complex as life simply spring forth from nowhere to only dissolve into nothing? There is constant transformation of everything, even so as we speak. We (d)evolve by our choices and (in)actions. Some life or death decisions are difficult to make. But let us be as brave as we can and make the right ones. May Ramon and his family be well and happy. -shian[1]
