Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Religion News
The Dalai Lama & The Death Penalty: Engaging Buddhist Ethics

The Dalai Lama & The Death Penalty: Engaging Buddhist Ethics

Last updated on: September 7, 2025 at 7:37 pm by Jeff Hood

0 Comments

The Dalai Lama & The Death Penalty: Engaging Buddhist Ethics 2025-09-07T19:37:46-06:00 Jeff Hood

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Wikimedia Commons

The Dalai Lama & the Death Penalty: Compassion & Liberation

“The death penalty is pure violence, a barbaric and useless violence. Dangerous even…because it can only lead to other acts of violence…as all violence does.” – The Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama’s Opposition to the Death Penalty

The Dalai Lama’s opposition to the death penalty is not casual opinion. It is the consistent fruit of a life rooted in compassion (karuṇā), nonviolence (ahimsa) and the deep well of Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Central to his thought is the Dharma…the Buddha’s teaching and the truth it expresses. The Dharma is not merely a collection of doctrines but a living path intended to guide beings to liberation from suffering. It is a description of the way things are…the moral and spiritual law that underlies reality itself. In this sense, the Dharma can be compared to Western concepts such as natural law in the tradition of St. Thomas Aquinas (Thomism), which understands moral truth as rooted in the very order of creation. Just as Aquinas argued that human law must be measured against natural law to ensure justice (Summa Theologiae, I–II, Q.91), the Dalai Lama insists that human systems of punishment must be measured against the Dharma’s central truth…that violence breeds suffering…while compassion and restraint lead to peace. Modern human rights traditions…from the Enlightenment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the International Criminal Court…also echo this recognition that human dignity is not granted by governments but inherent to human existence. For the Dalai Lama, rejecting the death penalty is not only a Buddhist teaching but a universal ethical imperative.

The Dalai Lama, The

Dharma & Buddhist Ethics

The Kangyur…the canonical scriptures of Tibetan Buddhism…grounds his vision. In the Vinaya texts, the Buddha commands disciples to abstain from killing…“A disciple of the Buddha must not intentionally deprive a living being of life, even an ant” The Dalai Lama often appeals to this principle…arguing that respect for life cannot be selectively applied. If compassion is only extended to the innocent, it is not truly compassion. The Buddha’s prohibition reminds us that even those who have committed grave wrongs still possess life worthy of protection. To execute under the cover of law is still to kill, and to kill is to break with the Dharma (the path of liberation).

He presses this conviction:

“The death penalty fulfills a preventive function, but it is also very clearly a form of revenge. It is an especially severe form of punishment because it is so final. The human life is ended and the executed person is deprived of the opportunity to change.”

Echoes of this logic can be found in words that have been repeated across centuries of Buddhist practice…“Hatred does not cease through hatred; hatred ceases only through love. This is an eternal law.” State executions may feel like justice, but they are ultimately the institutionalization of hatred…the belief that killing will solve killing.

Violence, Revenge & the Cycle of Suffering

The Dalai Lama’s vision rests on the conviction that people can change.

“My overriding belief is that it is always possible for criminals to improve and that by its very finality the death penalty contradicts this.”

This conviction is not misplaced optimism but a deliberate ethical stance…to deny the possibility of change is to deny human dignity itself. A society that embraces execution embraces vengeance over justice.

The Dalai Lama has carried this message into public life, writing to leaders such as the President of Mongolia:

“I have supported the abolition of the death penalty for many years and have written on many occasions to world leaders appealing to them to waive the death sentence in their countries…To take the life of a human being, which provides the precious opportunity for the being to change and develop is especially grave… does not solve the problem of crime…”

Even when asked about the execution of Saddam Hussein, he did not soften his stance:

“The death penalty may help in preventing further crimes but it is an act carried out with a revengeful motive.”

His words return to the same conclusion…executions satisfy revenge, not justice. They close the door on repentance and leave only suffering behind.

Compassion, Rehabilitation & Transformation

The Dalai Lama’s opposition is both deeply Buddhist and universally human. It grows from the Dharma but speaks across traditions. The Dharma…the Buddha’s teaching and the path it points toward…is not simply a code of belief but a way of life that rejects killing and honors compassion. At its heart is the conviction that violence, hatred and killing only deepen the cycle of suffering…while compassion, wisdom and restraint open the way to liberation and peace.

The Buddha’s prohibition against killing and his teaching that hatred cannot end hatred find practical expression in the Dalai Lama’s call to replace execution with compassion, rehabilitation and transformation.

The Dalai Lama’s witness leaves no ambiguity. The death penalty is not justice. It’s violence. It destroys lives that could be transformed. It feeds cycles of revenge instead of breaking them. His call is clear…abandon execution, embrace compassion and conform all ideas of justice to the way of liberation.

Catholic

Politics and Religion

fresh writings

Thoughts

Anti-death penalty arguments

Buddhist view on capital punishment

Dalai Lama death penalty

Dalai Lama on compassion

Dharma and nonviolence

Tibetan Buddhism and justice

About The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood

The Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood is a theologian, writer, and activist who has spent years ministering to people on death row. As a spiritual advisor and witness to executions, he speaks out against state violence and calls for a society rooted in justice, mercy, and the sacredness of life. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

September 5, 2025

Priest-Penitent Privilege: A Defense from Death Row

Next Post

September 8, 2025 Locking God Out: Prison Chaplains & Religious Liberty

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"'God’s Sheep on the Sidewalk' is immensely thought-provoking and conscience-stirring. Thanks. "The people out there ..."

Dr.Cajetan Coelho

God’s Sheep: The Ones Who Sleep ..."

"Greetings, Jeff, and bless you for your relentlessly regular fierce posts and your profound commitments ..."

DCF

Between: On the Person and Character ..."

"God as the Between, thoughts:As a child we were taught, in the blue or green ..."

madalyn baumstark

Between: On the Person and Character ..."

"Sometimes we make it harder than it is. Not saying things don't bring us to ..."

Patrick Dennis

Get Behind Me, Satan: A Death ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Danny & Jeff fresh writings latest poetics north texas fellowship of reconciliation Sermon theology from death row Thoughts Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the wise woman who saved her city from Joab by throwing a man's head over the wall?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Bathsheba Michal Abigail A woman of Abel