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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, December 10, 2018 (Hindu Council by Dr. RajMaheshwari): Bioethics addresses specific ethical issues relatingto science and medicine. With the advancement in technology, we areconstantly faced with new scientific scenarios where ethicaldecisions need to be made. The principals of ethical decisionmaking in Hinduism is informed by some of the ancient texts, namelyVedas, Upanishads, and two main epics: Ramayana and Mahabharata.Cycle of rebirth is one of the core concepts in Hinduism, based onthe belief that the body is just a carrier for the soul, whichpasses on through the repeated cycles of birth-life-death-rebirthuntil the soul has been purified and can ultimately join the divinecosmic consciousness, also called as Moksha.Contrary to the Western view of health, Hinduism doesn’t viewhealth as mere absence of disability; instead it is assessed as aproduct of sound mind and body, which of course is one of the goalsof a Dharmic life. Likewise illness is accepted as part of ordinarylife experience, which is instigated as a consequence of a bad pastkarma or a test from God to assess your commitment to a dharmiclife. Hinduism views death as not opposite to life, rather, it isopposite to birth, and life is a journey between birth and death.Hinduism accepts suffering as inevitable even in death, sodiscomfort is accepted over drugs, while a conscious dying processis seen as a good death that would determine the properties of yourrebirth. Thus death is seen as just another step in this cycle ofbirth, life, death, and rebirth.For more of this talk on bioethics by Dr. Maheshwar, including histhoughts on the Hindu view of organ transplants, conception andabortion, biotechnology, and fertility matters, see “source”above.

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