According to some newspaper reports many Britishers have been critical of a British judge’s decision that one baby in a pair of Siamese twins must die to give other a chance for a normal life. What is inept in this unfortunate incident is that the parents have said that to kill one of them to enable the other to survive is not God’s wish. However, God’s will is for the two little ones to suffer until death, for no fault of theirs, but for God’s erratic creation to deny them the comfort the other children enjoy deliberately.

God is omniscient and merciful, and that is how the believing parents were gifted with a child. This is like saying when the boat is overturned that side too is as good as the other side: parents are naturally disturbed because they cannot enjoy their full parenthood. In situations like this a Buddhist following the Dhamma could easily realise the nature of samsara and avoid facing any contradictions. Since there is no creator to give conjoined children causing havoc in the minds of parents, they will blame none but take it upon themselves that they and the children have committed an akusala kamma in a previous birth. All of them will continue to suffer until their kusal kamma begins to take effect. Nobody has a right to kill one to save the other. It is pranaghatha (taking the life of a living being) to do so. Till then we should show them compassion and do whatever possible to lessen their physical and mental pain.

On the other hand, we often hear of beauty queens stating that their beauty is a gift of God to them, and they should not be ashamed to show it. Then, similarly the ugliness too is a gift of God to them and they should not be ashamed to show it. Nor should they do any plastic surgery to change the appearance. There are millions who are born deaf, blind, dumb and lame.

It is God’s wish that they should be born so. Man should not tamper with God’s creation like in the case of the Siamese twins. Otherwise we do not know which is God’s creation and which is not. Finally it is the doctrine of anichcha and dukkha (impermanence and the unsatisfactory of all mundane things) that triumphs whether in the west, east or the middle east.
E. M. G. Edirisinghe,
Dehiwela.