On July 14 2009, I was invited as a panelist in forum organized by the Nilai University College during its Ribbon Week. The Ribbon Week is an event initiative by the college to increase awareness in Malaysia on important health causes. There are four colour coded ribbons that represent:
White Ribbon: Maternal and Child Health
Pink Ribbon: Breast Cancer
Green Ribbon: Organ Donation
Red Ribbon: HIV and AIDS
The forum was to enlighten the public on the various religious points of veiw on the practice of organ donation. There was four of us, a Buddhist monk, a Christian Pastor, A Muslim lecturer and I of course represented Hinduism. Below is the introductory text of my opening for the Hindu Point of View on Organ Donation.
In my years of Hindu missionary work in Malaysia and abroad I have not encountered a situation where a Hindu leader or guru has forbidden organ donation or organ transplanting. However, no authority in Hinduism has come up with guidelines for this relatively new innovation in medical care. (Relative from the the point of view of human history). In general organ donation is considered the personal choice of an individual.
I personally believe that if the late Sage Charaka, an eminent Ayurvedic surgeon, were here today, he would be very excited about organ transplanting and will most likely delve into this field with no hesitation. Charaka is an historic figure in the development of Ayurveda, the Hindu medical system. During his time, about 1000 years ago, he innovated facial reconstruction techniques.
From the spiritual point of view, organ donating will amount to good karma for the departing soul of the body and also the family who willingly allow the use of the donated organ. This is obvious especially if the organ transplanting is successful and the welfare of the receiver is preserved or becomes better. The good feelings and gratitude of the receiver and his loved ones will transform to a good deed for the soul and his immediate family, hence the good karma.
According to Hinduism the body of the departed is but a shell or vehicle of the soul to experience life and express itself on earth. Once the soul departs, the physical body is not important to the welfare of the soul. In general unless the soul has achieved liberation from the cycle of reincarnation, the soul will go on to another life on earth in a different body. Thus the preservation of the body after the soul departs has no consequence to the evolution of the soul. In fact the tradition of cremating the body is to make the soul become aware as soon as possible of its disconnection from life on earth so it may continue with its spiritual journey.
However it is important for the organ donor to inform his or her immediate loved ones of the their willingness to donate their organs if they are viable at death. Since the soul will lose rights to its body after it departs, it is important that the decision is a joint decision among family. Any good karma that the soul might accrue from organ donation will be cancelled if the action causes upset or hurt feelings among his immediate loved ones.
Being on the receiving end, the patient has to go through various challenges to accept the new organ into his or her body. Since the process is against the basic natural order of nature, the body initially rejects it biologically. However, technology to overcome this has become more advanced and efficient over the years, therefore success rates and risk have considerably improved. I believe these days it is taken for granted that organ transplants are successful.
From the spiritual point of view, the receiver neither accumulates good nor bad karma. However organ donation can have psychological consequences for the receiver of an organ. According to yoga philosophy, which is the basis of Hinduism, our mind, particularly the subconscious mind exists in the entire body and is not isolated in the brain. In fact different organs will hold different emotional impressions, memories and tendencies of the donor. Organs that hold the most intense of these are the heart, eyes, stomach. liver, larynx, hearing organs, pancreas and the gonads. Other organs such as the bones, skin, kidneys, tongue and blood hold mainly personality tendencies.
Thus when an organ is transplanted from one person to another, part of the mind and personality of the person can be transfered. This transfer however is more subtle and depends on the intensity of the memories of the the donor. In most cases overcoming the rejection process of the body can erase most of these subconscious impressions in the organ. However, if the impressions are especially intense positively or negatively, they can amalgamate into the subconscious of the receiver. The receiver can have flashes of memory that is not theirs and changes in personality can occur.
As far as I know mainstream medical care does not recognize this consequence of organ transplanting. There is sporadic evidence for this, but because of the subjectivity of it, it is mainly ignored by modern medical care of organ transplant patients. I believe that modern medical care also dissuades the receiver from knowing of or meeting the donors family, that is if they are unrelated. Though it would be therapeutic for the patient if they encounter changes in their personality or encounter memories not theirs, to meet with the donors family. At the very least they should be prepared to ignore memories not theirs and regain their own personality if they sense changes since the subconscious can be reprogrammed internally.
To summarize, organ donation from the Hindu point of view is a spiritually advantages deed for the donor, if the decision is made with the knowledge and agreement of those close to the donor. For the receiver it is more challenging physically and in the mind. However, when these challenges are overcome, it can be considered their good karma to have a new lease on life. A win-win situation in other words.
