Dharma practitioners accept the natural rhythm of life and death, and do not engage in extraordinary measures to prolong life (in fact, suffering) at great effort and expense.
These ‘heroic’ measures include those actions that cause ecological and societal harm through the depletion of natural resources, contaminate the environment, or burden the family or society with disproportionate or excessive cost.
Toxic pharmaceuticals, hyper-technological instrumentation, and interventions that require vast expenditures for their preparation, transportation, or administration, constitute extraordinary measures.
