Depends upon how one defines 'rational'. It's rational to kill one's self if one thinks that being dead will be better than being alive. Given the status of being dead is unknown, except through faith, it's a tough value judgement to make.
Does the concept of reincarnation deter suicide ?
- Thread starter aneeshm
- Start date
I think most people who kill themselves do not fully ponder the implications not only for themselves but for others, and it is done while under the influence of if not chemical substances at leats powerful emotions. But I am no expert.
aneeshm
Deity
Truronian said:
There you are choosing the lesser of two violences . One choice is cutting off the leg and living , the other is not cutting it off and dying . Which , in your opinion , involves more harm being done to you by you , given that you are the decision maker ?
Eran of Arcadia said:
Bah, emotions ruin all logic, all the time. Even upbeat people can hardly be described as being rational (except by consensus). I do think that suicidal people contemplate their own fate very precisely (but not accurately, but see first sentence). You're correct that the decision is often a selfish one, but so is 99% of the rest of our actions.
The facts of a person's life don't change during a depressive cycle, merely the interpretation. It's one of the amusing things about the brain; we put such stock in interpretation of facts, but when it comes to 'worth', we're tricked all the time.
aneeshm said:
A gangenous leg is not self inflicted.
Tank_Guy#3
Lion of Lehistan
I think that it would encourage it, as people would believe they could just start over after taking their life.
I do not deny that even positive emotions make us act irrationally, but I see nothing wrong with a little irrationality from time to time. It's what makes us human.
Panda
Metal head
I don't think so. You have to go pretty far to seriously consider suicide as a realistic option.
Hyperborean
Demiurge
Yes, I think the concept of reincarnation prevents suicide. This, of course, assumes that there is something like Karma, which determines your future lives, and that taking your own life gives a big blip on the Karmic-meter.
However, even without the Karmic concept, people who believe in reincarnation see suicide as a bad thing, not the least because you will be born again. The whole point of reincarnation is to seek a way out. And suicide only prolongs your suffering. It solves nothing. And hoping for better luck in next life is like hoping to win on the lottery.
The concept of Karma is not as all-permeating in the West as it is in the East, but even without it there is no "theological" support for suicide. Platon spoke against it in Phaedo, and Richard Wagner was afraid that suicide would force him to come back to this existence once more: "I cannot take my life, for the Will to accomplish the Object of Art would draw me back into life again until I realized that Object, and so I would only be re-entering this circle of tears and misery."
Despite the lack of a Karmic function in the Western tradition, the various ideas of reincarnation held by the Orphics, the Pythagoreans, the Platonics, the Gnostics, the Theosophics, the Antroposophics and the Transcendentalists all speak against suicide.
I very much doubt that someone with a sincere belief in reincarnation would ever contemplate suicide seriously. It's not a part of the solution, but a part of the problem. Ascetism, philosophy and good behaviour leads to an end of the cycle of rebirths, not suicide.
However, even without the Karmic concept, people who believe in reincarnation see suicide as a bad thing, not the least because you will be born again. The whole point of reincarnation is to seek a way out. And suicide only prolongs your suffering. It solves nothing. And hoping for better luck in next life is like hoping to win on the lottery.
The concept of Karma is not as all-permeating in the West as it is in the East, but even without it there is no "theological" support for suicide. Platon spoke against it in Phaedo, and Richard Wagner was afraid that suicide would force him to come back to this existence once more: "I cannot take my life, for the Will to accomplish the Object of Art would draw me back into life again until I realized that Object, and so I would only be re-entering this circle of tears and misery."
Despite the lack of a Karmic function in the Western tradition, the various ideas of reincarnation held by the Orphics, the Pythagoreans, the Platonics, the Gnostics, the Theosophics, the Antroposophics and the Transcendentalists all speak against suicide.
I very much doubt that someone with a sincere belief in reincarnation would ever contemplate suicide seriously. It's not a part of the solution, but a part of the problem. Ascetism, philosophy and good behaviour leads to an end of the cycle of rebirths, not suicide.
Within the Christian tradition, Origen's version of human reincarnation only involved making progress on the path to finding God. There was no backward motion possible. Within traditional Hinduism the great wheel of life raises the lowest life forms to the heights (at some point) and brings low the most exalted as governed by ones karmic bindings.
I do not think that reincarnation encourages suicide. One's karma could produce a life of despair and isolation that could lead to suicide. If one is on a downward cycle then worse is in store for such a soul. If the soul is on an upward cycle then paying this karmic debt could lift the soul to something better.
I do not think that reincarnation encourages suicide. One's karma could produce a life of despair and isolation that could lead to suicide. If one is on a downward cycle then worse is in store for such a soul. If the soul is on an upward cycle then paying this karmic debt could lift the soul to something better.
punkbass2000
Des An artiste
Is karma implied when discussing reincarnation?
GenMarshall
High Elven ISB Capt & Ghost Agent
Sorry, even if this "reincarnation" exist. I doubt that it would deter suicide because its more like hitting a reset button on life when something does not go well, plus with Buddhist and Hindu Theology, the karma of the soul would be tarnished with the sin of killing one's self and would end up reincarnated to a lower stage within humanity (If I believe that reincarnation exist, I would believe that human souls are only reincarnated to new human bodies, regardless of sex)
Usually. But hey, I'm open.punkbass2000 said:
Hindus and Buddhists believe in the transmigration of souls (reincarnation to and from non human life); The early christian father Origen believed in reincarnation within human form and that one only moved closer to god with each new life. Over time, even the devil would reincarnate and eventually find god.CivGeneral said:
http://www.iep.utm.edu/o/origen.htm
GenMarshall
High Elven ISB Capt & Ghost Agent
That is the only thing I dont like about the Hindu and Buddhist belief of reincarnation. If reincarnation is actualy true, I do not want my soul to be transmigrated into non-human life. I would perfer to have my soul transmigrated within human life. But I dont believe in reincarnation anyway and hopefully recive eternal life.Birdjaguar said:
Narz
keeping it real
I imagine suicide in India is far lower per capita than in the US or Europe or Japan depsite a much lower standard of living.
If someone truly believes in the theories behind reincarnation then yeah, definitely the suicide rates would be lower.
If someone truly believes in the theories behind reincarnation then yeah, definitely the suicide rates would be lower.
Swedishguy
Deity
As all of these boring religions it must be considered extreamly bad Karma to do so, because those who made it up didn't want their whole community to disappear. It's just Humbug!
Swedishguy
Deity
Yes, it's all Humbug, almost all religions I can think of has some kind of Karma.
Shaihulud
Deity
Suicidal people are usually very depressed, and propably thinks on the line of "my life can't get worse". Karma would be very far from her mind, and if it was, it is propably be " i deserve to be reincarnated as a headlice" kind of thought.
Within the context of Hindusim and Buddhism, your soul is not one soul among many, but the only soul, the paramatma and the "individual" is only an artifact of its appearance within the illusion that is creation. At no time is the soul separate from god, it is god and only within creation, which is not real, does it appear to be separate. When one grasps that creation is an illusion, it falls away and one realizes what is Real and has always been Real: god alone is.CivGeneral said:
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