Euthanasia

[Guest guest]

Greetings:

 

I found the following at www.himalayanacademy.com :

 

1) " Before dying, Hindus diligently fulfill obligations, make amends and

resolve differences by forgiving themselves and others, lest unresolved

karmas bear fruit in future births. That done, we turn to God through

meditation, surrender and scriptural study. As a conscious death is our

ideal, we avoid drugs, artificial life-extension and suicide. Suicide only

postpones and intensifies the karma one seeks escape from, requiring several

lives to return to the evolutionary point that existed at the moment of

suicide. In cases of terminal illness, under strict community regulation,

tradition does allow prayopavesha, self-willed religious death by fasting.

When nearing transition, if hospitalized, we return home to be among loved

ones. In the final hours of life, we seek the Self God within and focus on

our mantra as kindred keep prayerful vigil. At death, we leave the body

through the crown chakra, entering the clear white light and beyond in quest

of videhamukti. The Vedas affirm, " When a person comes to weakness, be it

through old age or disease, he frees himself from these limbs just as a

mango, a fig or a berry releases itself from its stalk. Aum Namah Sivaya. "

 

2) " Suicide has traditionally been condemned in Hindu scripture because,

being an abrupt escape from life, it creates unseemly karma to face in the

future. However, in cases of terminal disease or great disability, religious

self-willed death through fasting--prayopavesha--is permitted. The person

making such a decision declares it publicly, which allows for community

regulation and distinguishes the act from suicide performed privately in

traumatic emotional states of anguish and despair. Ancient lawgivers cite

various stipulations: 1) inability to perform normal bodily purification; 2)

death appears imminent or the condition is so bad that life's pleasures are

nil; 3) the action must be done under community regulation. The gradual

nature of prayopavesha is a key factor distinguishing it from sudden

suicide, svadehaghata ( " murdering one's body " ), for it allows time for the

individual to settle all differences with others, to ponder life and draw

close to God, as well as for loved ones to oversee the person's gradual exit

from the physical world. In the ideal, highly ritualized practice, one

begins by obtaining forgiveness and giving forgiveness. Next a formal vow,

mahavrata-marana, " great vow of death, " is given to one's guru, following a

full discussion of all karmas of this life, especially fully and openly

confessing one's wrongdoings. Thereafter, attention is to be focused on

scripture and the guru's noble teachings. Meditation on the innermost,

immortal Self becomes the full focus as one gradually abstains from food. At

the very end, as the soul releases itself from the body, the sacred mantra

is repeated as instructed by the preceptor. "

 

Lastly, on page 164 of " The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, " Sri Ramakrishna has

this to say:

 

" Suicide is a heinous sin, undoubtedly. A man who kills himself must retrun

again and again to this world and suffer its agony. But I don't call it

suicide if a person leaves his body after having the vision of God. There is

no harm in giving up one's body that way. After attaining Knowledge some

people give up their bodies. After the gold image has been cast in the clay

mould, you may either preseve the mould or break it. "

 

God Bless,

Brad