Life Beyond Death
The purpose of death
The nature of life after death
How we can prepare for death
How we can assist the dying
Suicide
A man should wait, and not take his own life until God summons him, as he is now summoning me. Socrates, to his disciples in Plato's Phaedo
To get a human body is a rare thing - make full use of it. Every second in human life is very valuable. Brahmananda Saraswathi, Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath
When taking a human birth, we enter into a spiritual contract to live on the Earth plane for a definite period of time. This contractual lifespan is not exact to the second. But within a few days or weeks, everyone fulfills their contract, unless they commit suicide.
Not all suicides are a breach of spiritual contract. Sometimes, people sacrifice their lives for selfless reasons, in order to help others. Or sometimes, people will choose suicide towards the end of a terminal illness. But if the primary motivation is to hurt others, or to avoid difficult life circumstances, the act is usually a violation of one's spiritual contract, which brings deep regret. In such cases, the subtle body is caught in limbo for the duration of what would have been the person's natural lifespan. And during this period, their pain and frustration is often magnified or even compounded by remorse over the violent act itself.
There are documented accounts of attempted suicide survivors who can recall their experiences in the after death state. In most cases, they immediately realized the enormity of their mistake and wanted to go back and choose again. As further testimony, consider that from the beginning of human history, suicide has been prohibited in every spiritual tradition. If we know someone contemplating suicide, we should make every effort to persuade them to explore other options and seek professional help.
The purpose of life is to gain knowledge of who and what we are. This knowledge can only be gained through experience; not just pleasant experience, but the whole range of Earth experience. We may think that our lives belong to us, but this is an illusion. All life belongs to Divine Consciousness. From this perspective, it's not about what we may like or dislike. Any attempt to cut life short won't work. In the end, experiences will unfold as dictated by our destiny and the more we understand the process and the purpose behind it, the easier it will be to accept what comes and move forward.
Aside from the negative consequences of suicide, it's important to consider the tremendous value in living life on Earth to its natural end. Spiritual development is a continuous process on all the planes of experience. But in general, our growth is much faster on the Earth plane and this is particularly true when we're faced with difficult physical or emotional circumstances. That's not to say we should seek out painful experiences. But if they come uninvited, we can be assured they offer the opportunity for a quantum leap in our spiritual journey.
