Organ Donation

ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂਜੀਕਾਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ||ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂਜੀਕੀਫ਼ਤਹਿ||
VaahegurooJeeKaaKhalsaa||VaahegurooJeeKeeFatheh||

When we pass away, is it within Gurmat to donate all your organs if you wish to for National Health Service to use to help someone else? Or must you have you 'whole' body intact at the time of Atam Sanskaar? Is there anything in Gurmat Reht Marayda that can answer this or within Gurbani?

Daas personally thought that it would be ok to donate your organs after you pass away as you will then be helping someone else live their life better after you/ because of you. Kisse dhaa Bhalla hove! But another Singh I spoke to thinks otherwise. You should have your body intact at the time of Sanskaar.

What do others think?

ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂਜੀਕਾਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ||ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂਜੀਕੀਫ਼ਤਹਿ||
VaahegurooJeeKaaKhalsaa||VaahegurooJeeKeeFatheh||

im not so strong on remembering gurbanee

but there is a pankti somewhere ( i think AKV ) where it says

stop decorating body with ornaments and jewels

this body is going to be wasted

daas personally thinks, it should be allright to donate organs....i mean.....maran ton baad kiss kam aune aa right ??


but then the question arises, that someone who is disabled or has a disease and let's say needs our eyes.
it was guroo sahibs hukam for him/her to be blind.

are we breaking guroo sahibs hukam by helping some1 get the power of sight ?

please enlighten us gurmukho......i was going to post this question as well

akal takht has issued a hukamnama stating that donation of body organs (when dead) and of blood (while alive) are great seva and should be undertaken by sikhs.

and like veerjee said above, the body is simply dust. when our soul no longer inhabits this body, why should we remain attached to it? the body is maya. so why not do one last seva and donate something that can give life to others?

I am strongly in agreement with full body organ donation, one could change many peoples lives. This a very honourable seva. It makes no sense for the body to be intact at time of Atam Sanskar, what if the Singh is already a soorma (blind) or an amputee?

ਕਬੀਰਾ ਧੂਰਿ ਸਕੇਲਿ ਕੈ ਪੁਰੀਆ ਬਾਂਧੀ ਦੇਹ ॥
kabeeraa dhoor sakael kai pureeaa baadhee dhaeh |
Kabeer, the body is a pile of dust, collected and packed together.

ਦਿਵਸ ਚਾਰਿ ਕੋ ਪੇਖਨਾ ਅੰਤਿ ਖੇਹ ਕੀ ਖੇਹ ॥੧੭੮॥
dhivas chaar ko paekhanaa anth khaeh kee khaeh |178|
It is a show which lasts for only a few days, and then dust returns to dust. ||178||

vaheguroo jee

anyone else, can you clarify what daas asked about guroo sahibs hukam or razaa for someone being blind or handicapped and your organs change that hukam ?

then one could also say that your organs implanted within him/her was also hukam ?

do elaborate please

i don't have knowledge

Gupt Mastaanaa jee, Guru Jee had said at the outset hukam na kahiaya jaee so it is impossible for us to understand concept of freewill/hukam etc but what we do know is that it's the Gursikhs duty to try and help those in need, this may be in the form of loose change, clothing, or even in this case an organ. If someone is poor or hungry one does not think it is hukam for them to be poor or hungry, they try and help. Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Jee said that that the Sikh who allows their gumandan (neighbour) to go to sleep hungry is not a Sikh of mine.

It would be written in someone's karams that they would be blind until age 35 then X Singh would die and donate their eyes to them. There would be no change in hukam, because that's what was going to happen anyway. Another poor example, say you are thinking whether or not to move your finger, you have that decision in your power at that time whether or not to move it, but the physical result of whether you actually move it or not move doesn't matter because that what was going to happen anyway regardless of your decision. I think this type of thinking is a bit dangerous as some people try and make excuses for not doing Gurmat karams like how we know it is Guru Jee's hukam for us to take Amrit, jap Naam, do Nitnem, never to lie, no nindiya etc

Whatever is going on, no matter how terrible, we can be assured in the knowledge that is in the miTha bhaanaa (sweet will) of Guru Jee, but at the same time we know what is the hukam of Guru Jee to the Gursikhs. This all ties in with Gurmat Karam Philosophy which I have zero knowledge of but maybe one can learn some about here and here. I don't know anything, but I hope you can make some sense of the above.

vaheguroo

jaskirat singh veerjee

you really cleared any doubts about the whole Hukam or not question
thank you very much jeeo
it seems perfectly fine now to donate organs, what use are they anyways right (once dead) ?

bhai kulbir singh jee, bhai jasjit singh jee, aap jee de kee vichaar ne about intact body at antam sanskaar ?

vaheguroo

VaaeguroojeekaakhalsaaVaaheguroojeekeefatehh...!!

Awesomeee thread...!! I'd like to add that most of us know people who have undergone major surgeries and fought with life threatening diseases and came out 100% fit and fine...!! Its all because of people who donated their organs for research work way before such surgeries could take place in real... So I personally think I would donate everything i have for others or maybe research work as well..!!

VaaheguroojeekaakhalsaaVaaheguroojeekeefatehh...!!

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you really cleared any doubts about the whole Hukam or not question
thank you very much jeeo
it seems perfectly fine now to donate organs, what use are they anyways right (once dead) ?
bhai kulbir singh jee, bhai jasjit singh jee, aap jee de kee vichaar ne about intact body at antam sanskaar ?

The humble opinion of this Daas is not going to be popular but here is it:

1. Even though the body is dead and the Jeev-Aatma has left the body, still it's maryada of Mirtak-Sanskaar to do Ishnaan of the body, ensure all Kakaars are on the body.

2. To do Beadbi of Kesh, or remove an organ from the body gives a strange feeling.

Being a traditionalist, I would prefer that the body be kept intact while Sanskaar as while living. This is just my humble opinion and in no way I am suggesting that the opinion of others is wrong.

Kulbir Singh

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

A complex issue but daas feels that we need to look at the implication of procedure when organs are being removed. Imagine when we comb our hair every day, the dead hair break and are removed by the kangha. Even those Kes are given utmost respect by Singhs and are kept safely to be agan bhet later. What will happen to the Kes of a gurmukh when the Soul has left the body if the surgeon shaves the body to take out the Organs??

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

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What will happen to the Kes of a gurmukh when the Soul has left the body if the surgeon shaves the body to take out the Organs??

the gumukh is not the body, the gurmukh is the soul. when the soul has left the body, how can it matter what happens to the body? we don't take any maya with us when we leave, that includes the physical body. attachment to the dead body has no basis in gurmat that i can understand.

perhaps if someone can provide some gurbani to support such a theory...

I did not think about the Kesh beadbi issue, the reason the surgeons do this as they say it reduces chance of infection or something. However there is no such problem after death, so if this is a matter of concern, the family members can ensure that the organs are removed without Kesh beadbi.

What is someone died in a horrible way which caused many body parts and organs to be lost? We would still do the ishnaan, dressing in Bana and Kakkars as per maryada regardless.

Gupt Mastaanaa Jee I was really glad to read your reply

Organ donation is okay. Go for it, so long as one's organs are healthy enough for the transfer.