Does the concept of reincarnation deter suicide ?

[aneeshm]

Does it ? Knowing that death is not liberation should deter suicide . I don't have the statistics , I haven't bothered to look them up , and I don't want anyone who has them to post them , because I want the discussion to proceed along purely hypothetical and logical lines .

[SlowwHand]

If one believes in reincarnation, they would believe in advancing towards perfection as lessons are learned and put into practice.
Suicide kind of goes against that, wouldn't you say?

They might come back as a platypus, I guess.

[Elok]

Geez, now I really do have to know more about Hindu civilization before responding...

[VetLegion]

I'd say no. There has been speculaton that religion affects suicide levels (protestant countries tending to have slightly higher averages than catholic ones) but I think that the difference can be explained by earthly circuimstances (catholics living in warmer climates and having larger support networks) rather than specifics of the respective belief systems.

[Dr Strangelove]

What if a person believes that his current life is worse than a cockroach's?

[snoopy369]

Actually, unless there's some sort of penalty for suicide, I'd say reincarnation encourages it. IE, if you're in a lousy circumstance right now, but know that if you die you'll put yourself in potentially a better circumstance, then why not?

[aneeshm]

Suicide is a violence committed upon yourself . The karmic effects of doing that violence will have to be worked out by you , on you . And karma dictates that whatever it was that caused you to be in those circumstances in the first place will not let you go until you have gotten over it , either by experiencing it or by liberation . As death is no liberation , you will have to undergo something like this in your next life , too .

[SlowwHand]

See?

[Terra Nullius]

Personally, I'd have to say 'Yes.'

One time in particular I was very close to going through with it. I fell asleep and had quite a vivid dream about where I was headed. Suffice to say it convinced me there was no escape.

Not that I felt any better about staying alive, just that suicide wouldn't do anything to take the problem away.

Mind you, I'm not talking about a belief in re-incarnation specifically, just an impression of enduring consciousness.

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by aneeshm
Suicide is a violence committed upon yourself . The karmic effects of doing that violence will have to be worked out by you , on you . And karma dictates that whatever it was that caused you to be in those circumstances in the first place will not let you go until you have gotten over it , either by experiencing it or by liberation . As death is no liberation , you will have to undergo something like this in your next life , too .

That rather depends on your views of reincarnation. A Hindu's view and a Buddhist's view on the subject might be rather different.

[Terra Nullius]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
What if a person believes that his current life is worse than a cockroach's?

What's wrong with a cockroach's life?

I'd swap with a cockie any day of the week.

Sleep all day, party all night. Eat sh1t and enjoy it... and no cockroach ever had to read through Sloww's posts.

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by snoopy369


That rather depends on your views of reincarnation. A Hindu's view and a Buddhist's view on the subject might be rather different.

An inescapable law of Karma is one of the commonalities of Hinduism and Buddhism .

[SlowwHand]

Terra, invest $7.99. It will be the best money you've spent.

[CerberusIV]

I'd say yes. If you believe in reincarnation then you are assuming you will get reborn. If you believe in karma then you take forward your experiences from past lives and suicide is a pretty negative one so not helpful. If you believe that you get a complete fresh start then suicide is still effectively saying you couldn't cope with your current life which isn't encouraging for starting a new one no matter how much you hope it will be in better circumstances.

[SlowwHand]

Suicide would be a step backwards. What you believe, in a deranged state of mind, doesn't particularly equal the truth.

Example being terrorists and virgins.