Mercy Killing

仁慈与杀生

Mercy and Killing can never go together.

仁慈与杀生永远无法并存。

According to Buddhism mercy killing cannot be justified. Mercy and killing can never go together. Some people kill their pets on the grounds that they do not like to see the pets suffer. However, if mercy killing is the correct method to be practised on pets and other animals, then why are people so reluctant to do the same to their beloved ones?

佛教不认为杀生可以合理化，仁慈和杀生根本就无法并存。很多人杀死他们心爱的宠物，是因为不忍心看见牠们受苦。如果这种做法是正确的，那么他们为什么不用同样的手法杀死那些生命垂危、忍受极大痛苦的亲人呢？

When some people see their dogs or cats suffer from some skin disease, they arrange to kill those poor animals. They call this action, mercy killing. Actually it is not that they have mercy towards those animals, but they kill them for their own precaution and to get rid of an awful sight. And even if they do have real mercy towards a suffering animal, they still have no right to take away its life. No matter how sincere one may be, mercy killing, is not the correct approach. The consequences of this killing, however, are different from killing with hatred towards the animal. Buddhists have no grounds to say that any kind of killing is justified.

当人们看见他所蓄养的宠物患病时，因不忍心牠们受苦而将牠们杀害，他们把这种行为叫做仁慈的杀生。其实这对那些宠物并不仁慈，他们只不过是为了避免和防范将来可怕情景的发生。如果人类对动物有真正的仁慈，就不会因为要解除动物的痛苦而杀害动物。不管人类是多么的诚意和仁慈，杀生同样是不正确的处理方法。虽然说，这类的杀生并没有嗔恚的成份，可是人类还没有理由来使杀生合理化。

Some people try to justify mercy killing with the misconception that if the motive or reason is good, then the act itself is good. They then claim that by killing their pet, they have the intention to relieve the unhappy animal from its suffering and so the action is good. No doubt their original intention or motive is good. But the evil act of killing which occurs through a later thought, will certainly bring about unwholesome results.

很多人误解以为动机是善良的，杀生也可以是一种善行。杀害病患的宠物是为了解除牠们的痛苦，这种行为如果是善良的，我们怀疑他甚至有更善良的意图和动机。杀生是意识产生后的行为，注定会带来有害的结果。

Keeping away from mercy killing can become a nuisance to many. Nevertheless, the Buddhist religion cannot justify mercy killing as completely free from bad reaction. However, to kill out of necessity and without any anger or hatred has less bad reaction than to kill out of intense anger or jealousy.

因此，佛教认为「仁慈的杀生」和「安乐死」是不会产生善业的。佛陀说，只要人人都不杀生，就能和睦共处。佛教无法承认「仁慈的杀生」的合理性。但是，在无嗔恚也非嫉妒，并非蓄意伤害的情况下杀生，是可以被原谅的。

On the other hand, a being (man or animal) may suffer owing to his bad kamma. If By mercy killing, we prevent the working out of one's bad kamma, the debt will have to be paid in another existence. As Buddhists, all that we can do is to help to reduce the pain of suffering in others.

话说回来，众生的苦是恶业造成的，如果要「仁慈的杀生」不如防范恶业的形成。佛教有一套完善的系统来减轻和消除痛苦。

Killing for Self Protection

自卫与杀生：

The Buddha has advised everyone to abstain from killing. If everybody accepts this advice, human beings would not kill each other. In the case where a person's life is threatened, the Buddha says even then it is not advisable to kill out of self-protection. The weapon for self-protection is loving-kindness. One who practises this kindness very seldom comes across such misfortune. However, man loves his life so much that he is not prepared to surrender himself to others; in actual practice, most people would struggle for self-protection. It is natural and every living being struggles and kills others for self-protection but kammic effect depends on their mental attitude. During the struggle to protect himself, if he happens to kill his opponent although he has no intention to kill, then he is not responsible for that action. On the other hand, if he kills another person under any circumstances with the intention to kill, then he is not free from the kammic reaction; he has to face the consequences. We must remember that killing is killing; when we disapprove of it, we call it 'murder'. When we punish man for murdering, we call it 'capital punishment'. If our own soldiers are killed by an 'enemy' we call it 'slaughter'. However, if we approve a killing, we call it 'war'. But if we remove the emotional content from these words, we can understand that killing is killing.

佛陀告诫人们不要杀生，如果每个人都遵守这一项原则，就不会自相残杀了。佛陀说，即使当生命受到威胁时，为了自卫也不能杀生。以武器来捍卫自己，但是不伤及其他生命，是一种仁慈的行为，人类太爱惜自己的生命了，不准备放弃。有这种仁慈的心就不会遭遇不幸。实际，人类为了捍卫自己的生命而斗争是一种自然的反应，自卫却是另一回事。当自卫时，无意的杀害对方，是不需要为自己的行为负责的，如果是蓄意的，就会造成恶业，就得面对果报。我们必须认清一个事实，杀生就是杀生，不能因为不赞成时称为「谋杀」，赞成时称为「处死」，我们的战士被杀害时，称为「牺牲」，赞同杀生也就是赞同战争。如果我们排除了一切情绪的因素，我们就会了解到杀生就是杀生。

In recent years many scientists and some religionists have used the expressions like 'humane killing', 'mercy killing', 'gentle killing' and 'painless killing' to justify the ending of a life. They argue that if the victim feels no pain, if the knife is sharp, killing is justified. Buddhism can never accept these arguments because it is not how the killing occurs that is important, but the fact that a life of one being is terminated by another. No one has any right to do that for whatever reason.

在过去，很多科学家和宗教家都以「神圣的战争」、「仁慈的战争」、「正义的战争」、「无痛苦的战争」来夺去他人的生命。他们声称，只要刀刃是锋利的，死亡就不会痛苦。佛教绝对不承认有合理的杀生存在，当一个生命受到另一个生命威胁时，任何人都有权力阻止这种事情的发生。