Suicide: Upside/Downside

Five swamis critique media, spaceships and suicide

Flash Directory to Our Whole Site

Swami Atmarupananda (Vedanta Society of Southern California, San Diego): I am in the area where the suicides happened. In reporting on the Heaven's Gate suicide, the media showed more restraint than usual: with some exceptions, they didn't rush to demonize the participants as they often do with strange religious phenomena. However there was once again this strange and totally unfair association of the Heaven's Gate with Eastern religion. Just as Jews, Christians and Muslims have voices to respond to unfair treatment in the media, so Hindus need the same: not a fanatical voice that imagines insult at every turn, but a reasoned and balanced voice that responds to genuine prejudicial treatment. I think the act of the Heaven's Gate members was a mistake, but I also see much good, as a Hindu is philosophically free to do. It was, I think, a mistake to follow someone with a promise that had no verification outside of his own words. That's the value of a tradition, it is time-tested in the experience of many, and that's the value of scriptures, which are the recorded experiences of others. Perhaps the participants had a personality flaw which made them susceptible to the influence of one man's strange promise. But the followers of Heaven's Gate also showed remarkable sincerity, singleness of purpose, discipline, purity, no matter how mistaken they were in their basic premise. Such good qualities never go to waste. No genuine sacrifice, even if misguided, goes to waste. To believe that people that are sincerely motivated and good-hearted but mistaken in the object of their motivation will, because of that mistake, be in any sense completely lost is a hellish doctrine, and contrary to the Hindu tradition which recognizes goodness--and the triumphant power of goodness--wherever it is found.

Prabhushri Swami Amar Jyoti (Founder, Desert Ashram, Arizona, USA): It is unfair to associate these things with Eastern beliefs or Hinduism. It is purely a Western or American phenomenon. Almost all of these tragedies have occurred in Christian groups. It is the result of failure of the modern Western culture and religion. The media portrayal of such incidents is very unfair, trying to "pass the buck" as well as place the blame "at the door of Eastern beliefs." In principle, I do not support suicide--it is not right--but in practice there are exceptions which can be acceptable and have their own use/need. [The threat to fast to death] as in the case of Mahatma Gandhi, whose method was nonviolent and selfless, was alright and even laudable. But the same can and has been exploited by some others for the wrong purposes, stubbornly, as brats would do selfishly to get their own way.

Swami Chetanandanda (Head, Nityananda Institute, Oregon): From the Hindu perspective, the idea that going from one place in a physical universe to another place in a physical universe is an advancement is ridiculous. Because the soul is eternal and one, suicide is not considered such a terrible thing under certain circumstances. It is not terrible when suicide takes place under conditions by which you are preserving your own personal integrity or conserving limited resources used better by others (self-sacrifice). It is not terrible to sacrifice oneself for the real possibility of advancing important humanitarian ideas (as in Gandhi's case). In these situations suicide leads to a higher reincarnation. In other cases, such as attempting to escape difficult circumstances, suicide might be an unfortunate decision. Suicide simply would be an extension of the unfortunate circumstances--circumstances that one will inevitably face countless times until they are surmounted.

Swami Bua Maharaj (Indo-American Yoga-Vedanta Society, New York): In the wake of this suicide, some persons have tried to compare this abhorrent act to Hindu beliefs and practices. Some cite Gandhi's willingness to "fast to death" or the self-immolation of Padmani (and all women of the Jaipur palace) during the terror of the Moguls in the 16th century. There is no comparison whatsoever between the Heaven's Gate deaths and the countless Hindus who have embraced death rather than compromise their honor. The Heaven's Gate members have not risen to a higher level, but have sunken to a lower one. Like many other lost souls, they were misguided and misrepresented. Whereas Padmani and the others surely rose to a higher level of being--because they died to preserve their honor, not just to satisfy their curiosity. To grasp the Truth, one has to let go of one's own ego and misconceptions. One is not enlightened overnight, nor is one enlightened by chasing after a comet, or jumping on the bandwagon of some cult. We need to still our own mind and become humble, responsible and resourceful human beings. If we want to leave our mark on the world, then let it not be written in blood and tears, but in the sweet sweat of our own unnoticed and unselfish service.

H.D. Swami Prakashanand Saraswati (Founder, Barsana Dham, Texas, USA): Intention or action of committing suicide is sin according to Hindu religion. Human life is a gift of God to receive His love and vision; it is not for destroying willfully. The consequence is always a downfall of the soul. Depending upon the non-Godly beliefs, desires and the intention of the person, he may be reborn in a miserable state in a human form, or he may enter into lower species. There is a definite rule in the universe. One cannot escape it. Whatever a persons' mind is before death, agitated, envious, worldly, non-Godly, etc., in a similar state is he reborn in this very world. Thinking of going into a spaceship by committing suicide is the product of a sick mind. The public must be aware of such cults and not fall for them. There are three main indications of such cults: A) They do not worship an omnipresent personal form of God as prescribed in our main scriptures; B) Their way of worship is more or less secretive; it is not open to the public, and they like to remain aloof from the general society; C) They believe in the supernatural power or existence which they may call as God and talk of joining with that, but they don't believe in the gracious kindness, love and the vision of Supreme God.