Buddhist perspectives on organ donation

Please note the information below is provided for general information purposes only. Please consult a qualified, relevant authorized officer in your respective country prior to making any final decisions.

Organ donation in Buddhism

The BBC reported Sri Lankan Buddhist monks as having helped to encourage donations and teaching people to see them as an act of giving that can help them to enjoy a good rebirth. One of these monks, Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero, has already donated a kidney and is encouraging others to do the same. He held up the Buddha as an example in the Buddhist scriptures. Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thero illustrated this with the Jataka tale of how the bodhisattva selflessly gave his eyes to a blind beggar, restoring the latter’s vision. “Generation after generation, we are listening to those kinds of stories,” he told the BBC. “So we are very encouraged to give our body parts to others.”

Source: Buddhist Door