Friday, September 16, 2011
What Does Buddhism Say about Suicide?
by Gelongma Losang Drimay
September 16, 2011
Some people mistakenly have the idea that Buddhism supports suicide because they have heard of monks lighting themselves on fire. There have only been a handful of Buddhist monks who have lit themselves on fire in modern times as acts of political protest. This isn't a Buddhist doctrine. Their actions may have been noble--trying to bring attention to human rights issues--but in general Buddhism doesn't support the reckless harming of one's body.
Anyway, I want to talk here about suicide, which is different from self-sacrifice. I mean killing yourself out of despair, self-pity, feeling like you've made such a big mess out of everything that there is no point in going on. What does Buddhism say about that?
Precious Human Rebirth
Those of you who have been through the Lam-rim teaching (such as in the Discovering Buddhism courses) will have heard the point about how precious our opportunity is now that we have managed to attain a human life; and not just an ordinary human life, but one in which we have miraculously met the Dharma teachings and have the mental faculties to be able to understand and practice the Dharma. Maybe our relationships or employment are not going so well, but we still have a chance to move our Dharma practice forward as long as we are in the human life, so we should try to stay alive just for that reason.
Suffering Doesn't End with the Ending of This Life
According to Buddhism, this life is just one in a continuum of past and future lives. Our past lives go back into the unseeable distance. We will continue to have lifetimes in the cycle of uncontrolled rebirth indefinitely as long as we remain under the influence of our delusions, and the karma we create because of those delusions. If you think you're getting out easily just by killing yourself, you will be very disappointed. Your karma will follow you. The only way to get out is to remove the delusions through study and practice.
The Suicidal State of Mind
Your state of mind at the time of death sets the mood for your transition. You want to be in the most positive state of mind-- feeling gladness, contentment, and compassion--in order to activate the positive potential to get the best rebirth next time. If you are feeling overwhelmed by sadness, anger, or any kind of insanity, don't kill yourself right now! It's a bad time to die. You are in a bad state of mind, so don't go right now. Wait until you feel better. (And then you won't feel like killing yourself anyway.)
Interference by Spirits and Malevolent Forces
Some cultures believe in unseen forces. Our modern, Western culture is skeptical about such things, however, Lama Zopa Rinpoche advises that many/most/all instances of suicidal thoughts can be traces to the influence of spirits. These spirits might be seeking revenge, or maybe you just owe them a karmic debt from something you did in the past, maybe even in a past life. Be careful. Don't try to harm them back; that will just make it worse. Try to apologize. Feel compassion for them. And then follow the instructions of a qualified lama as to what sorts of pujas to get done. You can requests the recommended pujas to be done on your behalf, by big monasteries such as Kopan or Sera, or by local practitioners such as Geshe Dakpa or the Gyuto monks.
Here are some selected comments by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the topic of suicide:
Suicide is a result of the negative karma from criticizing people. Previously created negative karma ripens on the base of that negative karma, then these maras influence your mind and make the thought of suicide arise. It is not your own thought, somebody else influences it. It is harm to you by these maras based on your negative karma.
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Generally, problems in life are created by the mind. This moment’s thought creates this moment’s problems. This moment’s thought is created by the mind of the past.
In the hundreds of volumes of teachings called the Kangyur, the Buddha explained depression that you can’t find a reason for, and also sudden states of depression and unhappiness that come when you wake up in the morning, and similarly in the evening. In his teachings on the shortcomings of not practicing the five lay vows, Buddha explained that depression that suddenly happens at nighttime is the result of sexual misconduct committed in the past. Since the action was performed out of self-cherishing, it becomes negative karma.
One solution is to purify the mental continuum of these sufferings. The purification is not only in order not to experience depression. There are many other sufferings to be experienced in the human realm, as well as in the lower realms. By purifying the cause of those negative experiences, suffering for so many eons can be avoided.
Performing Medicine Buddha practice, confession to the 35 Buddhas practice with prostrations, and Vajrasattva practice purifies not only the karma of sexual misconduct but also all other negative karmas.
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Please, I want to remind you again that, when the suicidal mind arises, there’s an external spirit involved, besides karma. The person doesn’t know, starts to hallucinate, thinking this is the only solution for peace and happiness. But it’s totally opposite to that.
Therefore, at the beginning, as I told you, you should look at your mind as the baby or the student and yourself as the teacher. Therefore, you don’t listen to the mind, as the baby. It’s very dangerous. Before you follow the mind, analyze whether the shortcomings of an action are greater than the benefits. Do whatever has the greatest benefit or at least greater benefit and fewer shortcomings.
Otherwise, if you don’t analyze, it’s very dangerous. It stops you from having vast amounts of merit, and giving enormous benefits to others.
Besides past negative karma, those outside spirits also harm you when the suicidal thought arises, so don’t follow it. Just ignore it. Let it disappear, like wind passing through.
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Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Online Advice Book, www.lamayeshe.com
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90% of suicides are the result of undiagnosed mental illness
ReplyDeleteGood point. Or even mental illnesses which HAVE been diagnosed. Still it comes to the same point: Don't listen to those thoughts. Don't listen to those voices.
ReplyDeleteMost of the time people who are troubled talk about the voices or say things which do not add up to reality. That is the time that others are able to step in and help because it is their cry for help. The voices are very very real to them and more convincing than what we have to say. Intervention can be brutal but worth it to save a life.
ReplyDeleteI would like to respond to both Anonymous's posts:
ReplyDeleteSometimes "normal" (in conventional sense) people have unusual experiences that can be seen by others as "mental", but this does not make them mentally ill. Also what you may call "mental illness" is nothing more than a stigma. People react with different attitude toward someone diagnosed as "mental" vs. someone who had a heart attack, I suppose. Ask yourself if You would react with the same judgement toward someone who has heartache or the headache, that can indicate the possibility of stroke, as well as generate strange visions and voices, would you? I would be very careful to make statements such as" 90% of suicides are the result of undiagnosed mental illness" as well as "Most of the time people who are troubled talk about the voices or say things which do not add up to reality..." etc. For once you can't say you know what Reality is, unless you are fully Enlightened being. Second of all-I was the person who attempted suicide. At the end of the day-I was not given any mental illness diagnosis and I guess this makes me 10% of the "normal" according to your statement? I do however have a multiple sclerosis, that is NOT the mental illness, but neurological, and is very often causes suicidal tendencies in many people who go through traditional western treatment of this condition. Be careful before you through numbers and ideas without seen the whole picture. Personal opinions are tricky things and often self-misleading, unless you are medical professional with statistics background, I would skip the numbers and assumptions, and simply read what the actual post was trying to say. This is post about PREVENTION and HELP, rather than judgement or diagnosis.
Om Mani Padme Hum.