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The
Thought of Suicide
•Guru's
Talk•
(By
Living Buddha Lian-Sheng, Sheng-Yen Lu)
(Translated by Harmony.
Edited by TBN)
(From Book 158, Contemplation
Under the Lonesome Light)
I was once asked, "Grand
Master Lu, please tell us the truth-have you ever thought of
committing suicide?"
My answer was, " Yes! Let me
tell you this: I attempted suicide when I was a sixth grader
in elementary school."
"Oh!" The people were
all very shocked.
I revealed more. "My
brother, Lu Zhao Rong, killed himself by drinking potassium
hydroxide."
Again, everyone was stunned when
they heard this.
According to an analysis done by
a famous psychologist, the percentage of people who have
suicidal tendencies is definitely not small. Moreover, the
number of people who have had suicidal thoughts is even
greater. Fortunately, for most people, thoughts of killing
themselves are immediately eradicated by reason. If this were
not so, the human race would be nearly extinct from suicides!
I recently wrote several articles
cautioning people to not harbor suicidal thoughts and to not
commit suicide.
Since I possess spiritual
insight, I know that the souls of people who commit suicide
experience much greater suffering than other souls. After a
suicide, it is very hard for the soul to be delivered because
it has violated the first of the Five Precepts-abstaining from
killing-which results in very heavy negative karma.
Even if these souls are able to
cleanse all their karma and reincarnate as human beings, they
either become handicapped with blindness, deafness, and/or
muteness, or they are born with incomplete brains, hands, or
legs. These people live in immense pain. In general, most
suicides do not gain any sympathy from the world. Instead,
suicides only leave those who want to get rid of them rubbing
their hands with glee. Therefore, what kind of benefit do they
derive from suicide when it only hurts their family and
delights their enemies? In my opinion, it is dying an
unproductive death.
So what happens when you reach a
dead-end in your life? My advice is to search for the
happiness of the moment. Life's journey should be completed
with pure joy.
What do you do when you are
humiliated, over-pressured, or in great pain? The Buddha
taught us the Tolerance Paramita [the tolerance
"perfection"-one of the qualities leading to
Buddhahood]. After practicing tolerance, you can reach the
other shore.
Now I think that as long as you
don't die, happiness and bliss will come eventually. If you
die, not even hope remains. Therefore, it is wise to not
commit suicide.
(Provided by the Padmakumara
Translation Team)
(Website: www.padmakumara.org)
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