Suicide and Ultimate Destination

[Mark_]

If a person decides to commit suicide while at the same time chanting the maha-mantra, what is the soul's destination?

[theist]

Just a philosophical question I trust, right Mark?

[Guest guest]

may be the soul will continue to hover over sacred places till it completes its life.

[Guest guest]

"Thou shalt not kill"

 

Suicide is murder. Murder is an ultimate sin. To use the maha-mantra in such a way is offensive.

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

At the moment of death, the conditioned soul is put through such intense circumstances that one will likely not actually be thinking of Krishna at the time of death, nor chanting His divine name.

 

If we have difficulty thinking of Krishna 24 hours a day in life, then we will certainly not be able to remember him at the time of death. We must just rely on the mercy of the pure devotees and pray they show some special mercy on us.

 

Occassionally there are rare exceptions, where one is able to chant Krishna's name at the time of death unknowingly (such as Ajamila calling to his son Narayana). But the practical reality is that it will not be so easy to time the chanting of Krishna's name to the exact moment your soul is leaving the body. In all likelyhood your body would have already ceased its ability to make audible sound, and it will only be your soul calling through the subtle body. In such a state, your inner tendencies will take over and you will not be able to think of God unless you have inner purification and attachment to the Lord.

 

[Mxyzptlk]

Not only is it murder, but if one is a devotee, or a brahamana, then the offense is exponentially greater. Although I've heard that one may reside as a ghost for some time, I have also heard from senior Vaishnavas that one will also have to visit Hell for such an offense. Suicide never solves anything, it just postpones the karma one is experiencing. And in the case of killing a devotee or a brahmana, it merely creates additional bad karma.

 

If one feels so desparate that he feels he must take his life, better to fast for a few days and chant/read/do bhajana. Usually one will feel rejuvenated and feel their spirits uplifted after this. Suicide is never an option.

[ethos]

You certainly can't exploit God and use His name as blackmail because it is nondifferent from Him.

 

The process is surrender to the Holy Name or God, there is no difference.

 

This is another demoniac idea of enlisting God to do your bidding.

 

Uh, for all the amateurs out there. I'm not calling you a demon Mark. I think you're just poseing a question. But it is a demoniac idea.

[Mark_]

"Just a philosophical question I trust, right Mark?"

 

Yes, just that.

[Guest guest]

Many societies believe that suicide is a "one-way ticket to hell." Often, this belief is can be traced to faulty religious influences. However, near-death experiences show that our afterlife destination is not necessarily determined by how we died, but by how we lived. Unfortunately, living can be extremely difficult at times. Life can be so difficult at times, many people choose to end their own lives. This raises some important questions that need to be answered. Is suicide justifiable if a person is terminally ill and suffering unnecessarily? Should we help those who are suffering from a terminal illness die with dignity if they choose to do so? Don’t physicians often extend a terminal patient's suffering rather than extend their quality of life? Isn’t it a basic human right to be able to control one’s own death and destiny as one sees fit? Is falling on a grenade to save the lives of others an act of suicide? Is constantly feeding a junk food habit an act of suicide? Wasn’t Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem an act of suicide? He knew this action would result in his death. If it is our choice to be born, as many near-death experiences suggest, isn't this choice an act of suicide considering the choice ultimately results in our deaths? I personally believe the answer to all these questions is "yes."

 

Although many people commit suicide because they believe it is justifiable, this doesn't give us the right to damage our family and friends lives by doing it. Suicide often leaves a devastating emotional scar in families - a scar that may never be healed in this lifetime. The emotional damage suicide often inflicts on families is the REAL tragedy. A suicide dies only once; but those left behind may die a thousand deaths trying to understand why. Near-death experiences reveal there karmic penalties for hurting others. However, suicide doesn't always result in hurting others. People who sacrifice themselves for the sake of others, end the suffering of a terminal illness, find life to be to hard in advanced old age, suffer from an incurable mental illness, become martyrs such as the early Christians and Jews - all such suicides can be a great blessing. Throughout history, many people have felt this way such as Jesus, Buddha, Samson, Saul, Christian and Jewish martyrs, Socrates, and Joan of Arc, just to name a few.

 

 

 

While there exists documented reports of very beautiful near-death experiences resulting from suicide, there also exists hellish reports. This suggests the act of suicide itself is not a factor in determining whether a person has a beautiful near-death experience or a hellish near-death experience. However, it is possible for a hellish spiritual condition already existing within a person to be carried over and continued after death. Many suicides are committed by people already experiencing a hell on earth for one reason or another. In this respect, death does not remove a pre-existing hellish spiritual condition unless this condition was caused by the brain. Many people who commit suicide are mentally ill. Because mental illness is a physical disorder of the brain, the mental illness ends with brain death and does not continue after death. This is true because near-death experiences have been reported by blind people who have regained their sight during their near-death experience. Other handicaps have reportedly been removed from near-death experiencers upon death.

 

Religious leaders sometimes warn people about suicide being an unforgivable sin leading to eternal damnation in hell. This is not what the near-death experience reveals. Near-death experiences do describe life as being an inescapable learning experience. Suicide has the ability to postpone this learning experience from being completed. Near-death experiences describe "hell" as being a temporary spiritual condition rather than a permanent place of torture.

 

Dr. George Ritchie learned during his near-death experience what happens to some people who commit suicide. According to Ritchie, the quality of life a person initially finds after suicide is influenced by their motive for committing it. He classifies suicide in the following three ways.

 

The first classification are those who kill themselves in order to hurt someone, get revenge, or to kill themselves out of hatred for someone else. According to Ritchie, these people "haunt" the living by being aware of every horrible consequence their suicide had on others.

The second classification are those who, because of mental illness, confusion, or a terminal illness, take their own life. Ritchie states these people are allowed many opportunities from God to grow in love just as any other person would who had not committed suicide. In other words, there are no negative consequences for them.

The third classification are those who kill themselves from drug, alcohol, or any other addiction. According to Ritchie, these people can become "stuck in limbo" trying in vain to satisfy their addiction until eventually something frees them. This condition is often called an "earthbound" condition.

Near-death experiences reveal there is no condemnation from God for our actions. The problem many suicides face after death is a difficulty forgiving themselves for the horror they put people through by taking their own life.

 

One remedy for helping a suicide cope with this predicament comes from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, an ancient Buddhist book of the afterlife. The Book of the Dead is one of the oldest books on earth documenting near-death experiences. In my view, this source should be given great respect. The Book of the Dead mentions people who succeed in committing suicide and become imprisoned in the experience of their suicide. Accordingly, they can be freed from this condition through the prayers of the living and by them imagining streams of light pouring on them. Such actions free the person from the pain and confusion of their suicide. The Book of the Dead also mentions people have no choice but to follow any negative karma resulting from their suicide.

 

 

Near-death experiences reveal a perfect universal plan being worked out by God. Perhaps this perfect plan is not thwarted by suicide. There is no reason to believe it is. But if a person cuts short their destined time for life because of problems coping, these problems may not necessarily go away. These problems may also be complicated by the added burden of knowing the full horrible consequences of their action on others.

 

 

People who are thinking of killing themselves can learn a great deal from near-death experiences. Some near-death experiences suggest there may be nothing worse than rejecting God’s gift of life thereby destroying an opportunity for spiritual advancement. Not only that, some near-death experiencers have observed suicides existing in an earthbound condition of temporarily being "slaves" to every consequence of their act of suicide. Such souls have been observed hounding and hovering around living family members and friends trying in vain to seek forgiveness. Some of them have been observed existing in a grayish fog and shuffling around slowly with their heads down. Perhaps these earthbound souls become freed from this condition when their natural destined time for death occurs. This condition is very likely only temporary. Some near-death experiencers have even observed such souls being helped in the afterlife.

 

Sandra Rogers’ near-death experience is a good example of what can happen when a person unjustifiably cuts short their life. When she committed suicide, she was given only two choices by the being of light. One choice involved being revived and living out the rest of her days. (This was the choice she chose.) The other choice involved remaining in the light with the condition of having to reincarnate at a future time to re-experience everything that led her to commit suicide in the first place. Sandra’s near-death experience demonstrates how people must overcome their problems in this life or else face them again in a future life. In Sandra’s case, committing suicide did not solve anything. If we delay dealing with these problems by committing suicide, we may only compound them. Perhaps the greatest enemy we face is ourselves. Our problems may never go away unless we conquer them. Near-death experiences reveal people carrying their non-physical problems with them after death. Perhaps one of the reasons we are born into this world is to overcome such problems. If don’t overcome them, we may have to reincarnate until we do.

 

Another interesting near-death experience resulting from suicide is the near-death experience of Angie Fenimore. After committing suicide, Angie found herself in a hellish realm of psychic disconnection and torment. The anguish she experienced within herself in life had manifested itself in the spirit after death. A being of light, whom she identified as God, asked her, "Is this what you really want?" Angie realized none of the other suicides in this hellish condition were aware of God's presence. God told her, "Don't you know that this is the worst thing you could have done?" She realized then she had "thrown in the towel" and because of it, she had cut herself off from God and from his guidance. She felt trapped. She told God, "But my life is so hard." God’s reply was, "You think that was hard? It is nothing compared to what awaits you if you take your life. Life's supposed to be hard. You can't skip over parts. We have all done it. You must earn what you receive."

 

Angie’s near-death experience gives us a unique insight into unjustifiable suicide. It suggests that one of life’s purposes is to grow through suffering. It validates the truthfulness of the phase, "No pain. No gain." This principle is also found in the Bible where it describes how suffering creates character, wisdom, perseverance and strengthening of faith. Near-death experiences reveal the fact that everyone has a destiny to fulfill and a "mission" to complete. Part of this destiny may include suffering for the purpose of learning and growing. It probably also includes learning from past-life mistakes, paying back karmic debts and receiving karmic rewards. The fact that near-death experiencers are often told their time for death is not ready to happen, suggests our time of death is predetermined. Suicide can possibly prevent a person’s mission from being fulfilled. Sandra Rogers’ near-death experience suggests the remedy for this is reincarnation.

 

Many people commit suicide due to a mental illness. One of life's lessons may be to learn how to cope with depression and overcome it. An overwhelming desire to commit suicide is one of the biggest indicators of clinical depression. There are many medications available on the market that can reverse clinical depression. If a person is thinking of committing suicide because of depression, seeking medical help may be one of the smartest decisions of their life. Nevertheless, near-death experiences such as Dr. George Ritchie indicate that mentally ill people who commit suicide are given the same opportunities after death as those who do not.

 

http://www.suicide-helplines.org/

 

Joy

 

 

[Guest guest]

 

 

 

That was a good post. I almost committed suicide when I was young do to developing a mental illness as a result of my girlfriend cheating on me. I have always wondered what would have happened to my soul if I had. I don't think God would have damned me to an eternal hell without at least taking into account the circumstances that caused me to become so despondent. I thank God that he gave me the strength to endure that period of my life but I do understand that sometimes the circumstances of life can become so horrible that people take their lives that don't deserve to be damned to any sort of eternal hell.

[Guest guest]

Hi Guest,

For more info visit http://www.near-death.com

 

Don't look behind,God is at your side.You are never alone my friend.I will pray for you.God bless u.

 

Joy

[Guest guest]

What is the technical definition of suicide according to scriptures? It can be perceived in two different manners according to time. A self inflicted gunshot would take a fraction of a second to end one's life, but what about indulging in cholesterol-rich food for years that could ultimately lead to a heart attack? How about excessive alcohol and cigarette use, is that not a form of suicide, but instead over a longer period of time?

 

-Mark_

[madhav]

One who decides to commit suicide does not think there is any hope for his problems' solution. So, he does not have faith that God could help him either. So, he will not be able to chant or think of god at his last moment.

If he has faith in god and His message,

he would know that suicide is not a good idea, but is sin.

 

Doing suicide and mechanically chanting does not help.

 

Jai Sri Krishna!

 

 

[Guest guest]

I read your composition on suicide, I smiled, I cried, I wondered, and now still think... so what. Harshly said, it all seems like guilt to keep living. What about not wanting to be here, not asking to be here, living a life of constant struggle, always experiencing the push me pull me games of life, being attractive isn't enough, never having enough money, never liking yourself, hating your body, always feeling like no matter what you do or how hard you try just is never good enough. Having boyfriends cheat on you, get you hooked on drugs, making you hate yourself, not only for doing them, but letting someone do it to you. What about loss of integrity, dignity, loss of... self. What does it matter, why live, who cares... honestly.... who really cares. out of the billions of people on this planet NOW... and then 100 years ago, the billions of people that were alive then, and so on and so and so.... do you think my one life makes a difference? I find it hard to believe in God or God to believe in me as I am only one of 100's of billions of people and him taking the time to talk to me in an after live such as these people say they did. Maybe there is no after life, maybe it was the repressed feelings of guilt as a part of there conscience that gave them this impression of being talking to them when in fact there was no being. What about if someone hates their life, hates it... nothing is right. NOTHING... do you think it's fair to guilt someone to continue a miserable existence or let them do what they want to do. And that is to be happy for once and end this miserable existence, this unwanting so called "gift" called life. What about the gift of death. Can't that be a gift?

[Guest guest]

suicide or not suicide who has the mind fixed in krsna at the time of death goes in krsnaloka

 

the problem is that suicide is the result of frustrated attachement to the material world

 

not exactly the sign of spiritual advancement