Suicide - why avoid it?

"The very spirits of people who have committed suicide are unanimous in declaring the intensity of suffering they experience (...). They affirm that hunger, disillusionment, poverty, disgrace, illness, blindness, or any other situation no matter how distressing it is on Earth, would still be excellent condition compared to the best that can be achieved by means of suicide. " 1

Hilário Silva2 narrates that Allan Kardec, in April of 1860, went through times of discouragement.  Difficulties of all sorts supervened over him: criticism, insults, mockery and lack of resources.

 On that occasion, he received a beautifully bound copy of "The Spirits´Book", with a letter of gratitude from a stranger.  The letter reported that the writer had being about to throw himself into the River Seine.  When holding on to the rail of a bridge, he saw a book there.  It was "The Spirits´Book.  The death of his beloved woman had led him to despair and this was  the reason for his disenchantment with life.

Hilário Silva also registered that Allan Kardec read the letter; feeling between angry and curious; in the frontispiece of the book: "This book saved my life. Read it carefully and take good advantage. - A. Laurent.”

He then immersed himself in reading of the book and not in the waters of the river.  He abandoned the ominous idea and resumed life.  When he sent the book to Kardec, he added:

"It saved me, too. God bless the souls who have cooperated in its publication. - Joseph Perrier.”

And he encouraged Allan Kardec to "carry out his tasks for clarification of Humanity."

The testimony had come when the Missionary was feeling the full weight of his task and it cheered him up, encouraging him to continue the work of the Codification of Spiritism.

The Codifier(Allan Kardec), was moved when he read the letter.
He took a handkerchief to his eyes, discreetly wiping away his tears …

The study of Spiritism has freed  human
being from falls

As can be seen, from its origin in the last century, the study of Spiritist Philosophy and the understanding of its principles  has freed mankind from the falls that lead them to ignorance of spiritual reality.

It gives man assurance of survival of the Spirit after the death of the body; it explains about responsibility for his actions, the knowledge of the Law of Cause and Effect; and the futility of extreme action, that is, as eternal Spirits, it is impossible for us to renounce life.

Enlightened candidates for self-destruction, give up this act which is the fruit of unbelief, despair and materialism when they read testimonials from Spirits of suicides: life goes on; untold sufferings befall the victims of this futile attempt to escape, consequences of suicide go on for centuries of suffering, the restoration of balance through reincarnations to atone for the consequences of this severe shortage.

The abundant Spiritist literature contains much about it, from the launch of the book "Heaven and Hell"3 on 1st August 1865, by Allan Kardec'.  There one can read testimonies of suicides; studies and observations on the topic by the Codifier, in Chapter 5 of Part 2.

Voluntary suicide means  a transgression of the law  of God

 It guides us, though, about what many of us ignored: excesses of all kinds are varieties of suicides, although slow and indirect but also serious, albeit unconscious:

- Excess of food and work;
- The habit of irritation and anger;
- The use of alcoholic beverages;
- The habit of smoking;
- The use of intoxicants;
- Excesses, indeed all the vices, physical or moral.

It is what one reads in the book "Our Home"(aka Astral city).4

 In "The Spirits’ Book"5 , questions 943 to 957 deal with the subjects: Heartbreak of Life. Suicide.  Amongst them, we highlight the following:

Question 944: Has man the right to dispose of his life?

 - No, only God has this right. Voluntary suicide means a transgression of this law."

 a) – Is suicide not always voluntary?

- "The madman who commits suicide does not know what he does."

Question 950: What are we to think about those who commit suicide, hoping to get more quickly to a better life?

 - Another madness! It is better yet for one carry out good deeds and surely one will be nearer to a better life, as committing suicide, delays entry into a better world and one will have to ask to be allowed back to finish the life that was ended by oneself under the influence of a false idea.   A mistake, whatever it may be, never opens the sanctuary of the elected ones. "

 "Question 957: In general terms with respect to the state of the Spirit, what are the consequences of suicide?

The consequences of suicide are very diverse. There are not determined penalties, and in all cases, they always correspond to the causes that produced suicide.  However there is a consequence which the one who committed suicide cannot escape: it is disappointment.  But luck is not the same for all, it depends on the circumstances. . Some atone for the mistake immediately, others in a new existence, which will be worse than that which was interrupted. "

"That man carries out good and for sure one will be near to  better life", it is the wise suggestion from a Spirit.

We can not in any way, run away from ourselves

 Let us see two valuable lessons on the subject.

 From Herminio C. Miranda (João Marcus):

"In fact, suicide is basically an escape.  The suicidal wants to escape from embarrassing situations, disappointments, people he hates, the hurt that one feels as having no strength to bear. He desires, after all, to run away from himself. Therein lies the genesis of his fatal disappointment: we cannot in any way run away from ourselves. (…)

 And those who shatter their own ears with a shotgun blast; are reborn with the hearing mechanism destroyed, therefore not being able to hear and unable to learn how to speak.  And then they go through a whole life, isolated in the enforced solitude in order that their Spirit understand in the silence, the true meaning of life and the invaluable value of the gifts we receive at birth.
Those who drank corrosive poison are born with their viscera disabled, subject to mysterious and incurable ailments. (...)

Thus, suicide is the biggest, the most tragic and unfortunate mistake that a human being can commit."6 (our underlining)

From Emmanuel:

 "154 - What are the first impressions of those who died by suicide?

The first disappointment that awaits them is the reality of life that is not extinguished with the transitions of the death of the body, life compounded by dreadful torments because of their decision ridden with supreme defiance.

There are those who committed suicide who carry on experiencing the physical ailments of their last hour on Earth in their somatic body indefinitely. (...)    the worst emotion of those who committed suicide is to carrying on seeing , minute by minute, the process of decomposition of their body left in the ground, vermined and rotten ".7

Jealous wives who have resorted to suicide have seen their husbands getting married exactly to those whom they were jealous of.  They gave away their own husband and children into the hands of those they had run away from.  And they still owe them favours, since those who fulfilled the tasks that were up to the dead wives to carry on together with their loved ones.

 Entrepreneurs feeling no prospect, seeing the problems they faced  overcome. And so on.

In no case, those who commit suicide are exempt from the consequences of their mistake

 From testimonies of suicides themselves; from answers or from observations by Allan Kardec coming from higher order Spirits and from  the questions mentioned above, it is concluded that:

- Suicide aggravates the sufferings of the Spirit;

- Those who shorten their sufferings, voluntarily hastening their death; are mistaken.

-Those who commit suicide are moved away from those whom they love: "Instead of coming together to those who were the object of their affections, they move away from them for a long time because it is not possible that God rewards an act of cowardice (...)" (question 956 of The Spirits´ Book);

There is long and stubborn persistence of the bond that unites the spirit to the body, causing spiritual disruption and many sufferings;

- They endlessly experience their own annihilation;

-They feel the effects of decomposition;

- This sensation can last for as long as the shortened life  should have lasted. On commenting on question 957 of "The Spirits` Book," Kardec says: "This effect is not general, but in no case, the suicide is exempt from the consequences of their lack of courage and, sooner or later, he atones, one way or another, for the offence incurred.  So certain spirits, who were very unhappy on Earth, said they had committed suicide in a previous existence and voluntarily submitted to new tests, in order to try to support them with more resignation(...) (...) Most of them suffer the regret of having made a useless choice, since they only encountered disappointments. "

 But if nothing positive comes out from suicide, if it leads to disappointments, to prolonged suffering for themselves and others, to painful repairs over many incarnations and it only causes harm, why resort to it?

It is our duty to avoid it and to move the unwary; who are about to fall into an abyss of pain; away from it by resorting to prayer, spiritual healing at the spiritist centres, medical treatment, the work for the benefit of others, where by giving  ourselves to the most in need we move away from obsessing spirits and sanitize the mind.
And always pray for those who were fragile and surrendered to the impossible escape.



Sources:

1 - FREDERICO FRANCISCO. The strange world of the suicidals. The Reformer, Rio de Janeiro, number 3, page 70, pages 88 to 89, March, 1994;

2 - SILVA, Hilário. The Spirit of Truth. 3rd  edition Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 1977. pages 125-128: Chapter 52.

3 - KARDEC, Allan. Heaven and Hell. 37th edition Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 1991. page 425p, 295 to 327:   2nd Parte, Chapter 5;

4 - XAVIER, Francisco C. Xavier. Nosso Lar (aka: Astral City), by the Espirit André Luiz. 25th edition. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 1982. pages 281, 31-35. Chapter 4;

5 - KARDEC, Allan. The Spirits´Book.  75th edition. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 1994. pages 439 to 444: 4th Part, Chapter 1;

6 - JOÃO MARCUS. Is it worth it to commit suicide?. The Reformer, Rio de Janeiro, 1963,  Rio de Janeiro, , n. 1.976, pages 340 to 341, November 1993;

7 - XAVIER, Francisco C. The Consoler,  by the Spirit Emmanuel. 7th edition. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 1977. Page 96.
O Consolador