Biomedical Engineering Reference
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ness of undermining a sense of “self ” hold little sway in Buddhist culture.
Campbell writes,
Buddhist scholars generally agree that the process by which children
are born into the world makes no difference. Cloning (can) thereby
(be) understood as an alternative method of generating new human
life. . . . The status of the human being is critical within Buddhist
thought because it is the only condition by which an entity can achieve
“enlightenment” and liberation from a world marked by suffering. . . .
some forms of Buddhism may endorse cloning because of the chance
human life gives to achieve enlightenment. (1998, D-23)
on the other hand, most Buddhists would probably oppose human clon-
ing if commercial or social agendas were placed above the best interests
of the clone. Cloning research using sentient animals or human embryos
would also be problematic due to the suffering and death caused by such
experimentation.
Hinduism.
on human embryo manipulation in the hindu tradition, Camp-
bell concludes,
Classical hinduism does not accept distinctions found in Western
thought between God, human beings and other creatures, or be-
tween the supernatural, human nature, and nature. . . . hinduism af-
firms a oneness of self with divinity rather than separation. A person
cannot “play God” because in an ultimate sense the self is God. . . .
The animating spirit is present from fertilization in classical hindu
thought . . . [and] the embryo is given the status of person through-
out pregnancy. . . . The cultivation of spiritual self-awareness, rather
than manipulation of the external environment, or one's biological
self . . . is the overriding concern of the hindu tradition. (1998, D-27)
Campbell writes that most scholars or practitioners of classical hindu-
ism would oppose cloning research on human embryos because of the em-
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