The Buddhist View of Human Cloning

Excerpted from "Cloning Human Beings: Religious Perspectives on Human Cloning"-- a commissioned paper by Courtney S. Campbell, Ph.D. Oregon State University

The Buddhist Churches in America claim approximately 100,000 adherents. There are, in addition, numerous non-affiliated Buddhist temples, monasteries, and organizations. There is as yet no systematic consideration of cloning by Buddhist scholars, nor is there is any formal teaching authority. This manifests the Buddha's warning to his followers that speculation about metaphysical issues was futile because the human problems of birth, old age, death, and sorrow remain regardless. However, basic Buddhist teachings present an ethic of responsibility, centered on the values of non-injury and the relief of suffering of sentient beings, compassion, the "no-self," the moral authority of intuition, and reincarnation. These values offer some elements of a Buddhist response to reproductive and genetic technologies, including cloning. Buddhist teachings indicate that the Buddha (560-477 BCE) provided a four-fold decision-making method for his followers should they encounter unanticipated questions. The four steps involve recourse to (1) original Buddhist texts; (2) derivation of rules in "consonance" with the original texts; (3) the views of respected teachers; (4) the exercise of personal judgement, discretion, and opinion. Buddhist scholars have cited this method as a resource for Buddhists in addressing the issues of cloning, with a particular emphasis on the authoritative nature of personal intuition and opinion (Nakasone). By its nature, then, there is a notable diversity of views by Buddhists on cloning, rather than a Buddhist view. Procreation and Reproduction. Buddhist scholars generally agree that the process by which children are born into the world makes no difference. "Individuals can begin their lives in many ways," including but not limited to human sexual generation. Cloning is thereby understood as an alternative method of generating new human life, in principle continuous with other methods (Keown). One Buddhist ethicist has supported use of reproductive technology, so long as it benefits the couple who wish to have a child and does not bring pain or suffering. However, some Buddhist scholars find in human cloning an impoverished approach to procreation. It marks a diminished creativity and diversity, analogous to the difference between the creativity, initiative, and investment that is required for an original painting and the mechanistic process required to reproduce the painting (Nolan). Human Status and Enlightenment. The status of human being is critical within Buddhist thought, because it is the only ontological condition by which an entity can achieve "enlightenment" and liberation from a world marked by suffering. Buddhist scholars throughout history have reiterated that, due to karma, the chances of being born as a human being are rare and remote. Human life is a precious opportunity to escape from perpetual rebirth (karma-samsara) by following the teachings (dharma) of the Buddha. In this respect, any form of human reproduction, sexual or asexual, that allows for the birth of a human being may be especially valuable. Buddhist tradition contains stories of "spontaneous generation." Buddhist scholar Damien Keown states that cloning, if it "is ever perfected in human beings, would show only that there are a variety of ways in which life can be generated. It would not cast doubt on whether the host from which the clone was taken, or the clone itself, were ontological individuals" (Keown, 90). Some forms of Buddhism may endorse cloning because of the chance human life gives to achieve enlightenment. The Dalai Lama, the exiled leader of Tibetan Buddhism, was questioned about his attitude towards the following hypothetical scenario: "[What] if at some future time...you could make by genetic engineering, with proteins and amino acids, or by engineering with chips and copper wires, an organism that had all of our good qualities and none of our bad ones,...?" The Dalai Lama indicated he would welcome such a technological evelopment, because it would facilitate the process of rebirth and liberation. Moral Development and Spiritual Priorities. Buddhist understandings that change is the nature of reality suggest that, in considering technological developments, the central questions concern how persons can accommodate change and how they can use change to expand their self-understanding and their understanding of humanity. Cloning may be an occasion for self-knowledge, which is a central feature to the experience of enlightenment. Nonetheless, the end of enlightenment as an end in itself may not, for some Buddhists, justify the use of any means of reproduction. A different position on cloning can be supported by claims and stories in Buddhist texts. It is important in Buddhism for children to express generosity to their parents, especially the mother, for the risks of birth and nurture they assume in bringing a child into the world. Human cloning offers a way of reproduction that, if efficient, would diminish risk, and thus diminish the generosity and gratitude of the child. Moreover, while cloning may preserve genetic identity, it cannot assist in what for Buddhists is most critical- the cultivation of spiritual identity. The problem of distorted priorities is illustrated in a famous narrative, the "Parable of the Mustard Seed." In the parable, a distraught woman sought out the Buddha, requesting that he restore life to her dead child. The Buddha indicated that a cure was simple: The woman needed to prepare tea from five or six grains of mustard seed. The Buddha stipulated, however, that the grains needed to come from a house not visited by death. The woman was unable to obtain a single grain, thus learning about the universal truth of death. This narrative supports Buddhist concerns with cloning research or human cloning due to the attention focused on bodily, material life to the neglect of cultivating discovery or the inner life of a person. This misguided priority is reflected in the statement of Gen Kelsang Tubpa, a Buddhist monk: "Cloning is just another example of man's belief that by manipulating the external environment he will create happiness for himself and freedom from suffering." Some Buddhist scholars have raised objections to applications of cloning, particularly commercial or social agendas that may support cloning for reasons contrary to the interest of the clone. These agendas may include pressures on scientists for continual progress and discovery or for commercial gain from pharmaceuticals or organ harvesting. In this respect, there would be greater suspicion within Buddhism about private-sponsored cloning research without public oversight. Sentience and Cloning Research. While cloning might be permissible under some understandings of Buddhism, the scientific research necessary to build up to cloning encounters difficulties. Part of the "Noble Eightfold Path" promulgated by the Buddha prohibits infliction of violence or harm on sentient beings. This would seem to permit research on human pre-embryos, but the primacy Buddhism places on birth as a human being as a necessary condition of enlightenment can restrict such research. Buddhism does hold that a new being comes into existence shortly after fertilization. Moreover, especially where the research process is very inefficient and causes loss of life, both embryo research and animal research would be especially problematic. Any Buddhist account would ask of cloning research or human cloning: "How does this serve all sentient beings?"

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