personally i think, without any sastric foundation, that it's ok to donate or receive organs - specially if it enables you or somebody else to perform devotional service with the stitched-up body.

i'd make sure, though, that the donated organs aren't bought from third-world countries, or coming from pigs, etc.

eagerly waiting for VEDA's input on this ...

ys phani.

VEDA is like a sharp arrow.

My pleasure to serve you all.

your ghost? which ghost? my ghost?

..don't see why not , can't do much service if your dead ( of course you are not really dead )

I could be wrong, but the way I see it, the donated organ is a gift. Therefore, it brings good karma to the donor, even if he led a horrible life, and doesn't reflect at all on the recipient.

If your car was stalled and a karmi offered you a jump start, wouldn't you take it? I don't think our bodies are so terribly different- they're just vehicles to get around with here in the material world.

I see this as an artificial way of prolonging life. Even if the devotee is doing a huge preaching service, then his higher consciousness will dictate that as an opportunity to prepare to go gracefully and peacefully.
Maharaj Pariksit could try to avoid his death, instead you know what he did.

mishra:

Regarding to that devotee that is accepting an organ from another devotee.

Would the receiving devotee prepared to do same thing for another devotee?
Or then he will produce some arguments or just dismiss the whole thing as "his/her karma"?

Are you talking specifically about Shyamasundara1967 P.?

If one takes such a service, he should be ready to do the same, if possible.

Is it right to cause suffering to another devotee to prolong my life span, is the donor devotee lesser and thus "spendable?"
(do not think that surgery will be like changing lollies from a pocket to another) It will cause a big amount of suffering and some impairment in the life's donor, could even cause death.)

Obviously it must be 100% voluntary.

Why the receiving devotee is prepared to accept suffering of another devotee for conservation of his crippled body?

Reasons may vary, like an important service to finish or fulfilling some obligations.

What is the wonderful service this devotee is doing apart from the "glory" of being an earlier Prabhupada disciple? Is he preaching vigorously every day, is he making devotees in a steady way?

That's a matter of specific case evaluation.

Is it not a symptom of advanced devotee to take opportunity to go from this world in a glorious manner?

Yes. But can every devotee be on such a level? In case of Shyamasundara1967 there was reported a huge positive feedback, which surprised the doctor and staff. Imho, this is a great preaching opportunity since this case will be probably recorded in medical journals, etc.

Is it OK trying to avoid death at any cost and in the way cause suffering to another devotee?

See above.

mishra:

I remember how many times a new devotee has given up all his/her assets in favor of temple and then being dumped. Will that be the same thing?

It shouldn't.

Taking advantage of a very pious person but doing the wrong thing, not being prepared to receive such charity ? It is on the "advanced" senior devotees judgment not to do that, but how "advanced" they are?

That can be only said by those more advanced than them, imho.

Is appearing on medical journals more important than to avoid suffering from just one devotee? Besides, who reads them? Not the general mass of people for sure.
Who said to please the scientific establishment (or the ones faithful to them) is one of our goals? No.

That is an example of promoting Sri Caitanya's message to the scientific community, one of Srila Prabhupada's high priorities.

The medical community was surprised so many donors were willing to donate. How will that get written up in medical journals and be preaching? That seems VERY farfetched and silly.

I find one article about it in the Newsletter of ISKCON Health and Welfare Ministry 2006/12, also find in web
http://www.loaj.com/articles/ayurveda_philosophy.html#uk

"Organ transplantation is but one of the medical procedures that unquestionably fall in the category that Srila Bhakti Vinoda Thakura has labeled “extraordinary endeavors to keep body and soul together.” Not only do they constitute bhukti (attachment to and gratification of the physical and subtle bodies), but also should be avoided as ugra karma, a term defined as “difficult action with limited rewards.” ....
WAW!!!

Dr. Singh: Srila Prabhupada, what about heart transplants? We know that the spirit soul is within the heart. But nowadays doctors can replace an old heart with a new one. What happens to the spirit soul in each heart? Does the person who receives a new heart also get a new personality?

Srila Prabhupada: No.

Dr. Singh: Why not?

Srila Prabhupada: Suppose I get up from one chair and go sit in another chair. Does my personality change? I may change my seat, but does that mean I have changed?

Dr. Singh: But the heart is changed, and the heart contains the spirit soul.

Srila Prabhupada: The Vedas describe the heart as a sitting place for the soul. So when they transplant hearts, they simply change the soul's seat. The same soul remains. If they could prove that by changing the heart they have increased the patient's duration of life, then that would prove they've caught the spirit soul. But they cannot increase the duration of life, because people have acquired their bodies by a superior arrangement. You have this body, and you must live within it for a certain period. If you simply change one of the parts of your body, that will not help you prolong your life. That is impossible. The doctors think that by changing the heart they will increase the duration of life, BUT THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE.

Dr. Singh: So a heart transplant is a kind of artificial transmigration of the soul from an old heart to a new one?

Srila Prabhupada: Yes, it is something like that. Krishna explains in the Bhagavad-gita (2.13):

dehino 'smin yatha dehe
kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir
dhiras tatra na muhyati

"As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change."

Changing hearts is just a change of material bodily organs. THE HEART IS NOT THE REAL SOURCE OF LIFE, and therefore changing the heart does not prolong the duration of life.

"Life comes from life"

I heard of a case in Sweden where one devotee got a blood transfusion and then wanted to eat meat and didn't want to worship Krsna. It was like a possession of sorts. Don't know how long it lasted.

This phenomenon is mentioned in relation to cellular/body memory.

Is the crux of the issue here that some people think that by activity (material activity, like eating, exercising, or medical procedures) they can overcome karma?
Like trying to use karma to make an end to karma, to outwit karma?

Like saying "I am going to use my abilities and my resources (which are mine, and God has nothing to do with them), to outwit and outperform God's plan and power" -?

This would certainly be a mistake.