>>33527The psychic toxin of suicide, however, enters into the fabric of the entity, and it affects the normalcy of the next personality.
Of course suicide has no permanent effect upon the evolution of the spiritual entity. It is merely an incident which is contrary to natural law, and therefore causes a powerful karmic reaction over a limited time.
In the case of Socrates drinking the hemlock the physical circumstances are not very different from suicide. In fact, Socrates would have been released upon the payment of a small fine which his friends cheerfully offered to pay. Plato, being a man of same means, tried in every way to induce Socrates to continue his life. But the great skeptic declared that by paying the fine he would admit guilt, and by admitting guilt would compromise the ideals which were more important than life; he would violate not only the highest ideals of philosophy but would cast reflection upon the gods. He therefore chose death, and was executed according to the law of his time.
The Greek philosopher would not regard this as suicide because the motive was entirely impersonal, and because he did it to protect the most sacred of human institutions, the body of learning. If his reasons had been personal he probably would have found no place in the memory of the Greeks.
The same attitude is held in cases of martyrdom, as for example the execution of Christians under certain of the Roman emperors because they refused to renounce their faith. By accepting pagan religion they would have lived; by refusing it they died. Therefore the choice of life or death was in their hands. But because the choice lay in their spiritual convictions and they chose to die rather than desert Truth as they knew it, neither nature nor man has branded them suicides.
The reasons are among those philosophical exceptions described by Olympiodorus, and the karmic results are modified by motive which is the most powerful karmic force in the world.
Accidental death creates no change in the personality laws. It is regarded the same as a natural death, with the possible exception that the mental nature maintains a certain unwillingness to die because of numerous and intense physical attachments. The after-death condition of the person killed in middle life by accident or disease is entirely normal unless the emotions are inordinately intense. Under such conditions the personality may be temporarily earthbound.
The fate of the physical body after death is of no great consequence. The personality, having entirely retired in from twelve to seventy-two hours depending upon the conditions causing death, is indifferent to the fate of its discarded body.
If, however, there is a tendency to be earthbound due to unusual conditions accompanying death, it is advisable to cremate the body to destroy any possible psychic ties between the personality and the physical world. Elaborate funerals confer no virtue, and, if anything, add to the discomfiture of the personality if it is earthbound. If the entire theory of funerals could be disposed of, and the relatives and friends of the deceased would follow the Oriental custom of performing some civic act in memory of the dead, the living would be far more benefited.
The inclination to suicide is frequently the result of poor health. Energy depletion from overwork, worries over money or domestic affairs, and forebodings concerning the future, are common causes of suicide. Very often a few days rest or a little constructive planning, or consultation with a qualified physician, will completely terminate the desire for self-destruction. The impulse is stronger during climacteric periods; that is, the years of a person's life which are divisible by seven without a remainder. Of eleven suicides noted in a daily paper, all the persons were in climacteric years.
Nearly every normal person, at least once during his life-time, feels an inclination to commit suicide. The notion quickly passes, being repulsive to the mind and contrary to the fundamental tendencies of the individual. If the condition persists, proper methods should be used to increase interest in life and environment. A good hobby frequently cures suicidal tendencies in persons of advancing years, and a good job has a similar effect upon the young. Life should be viewed as a rich opportunity for experience. A certain amount of adversity should be accepted as inevitable, and is no justifiable cause for protracted morbidity.
Suicide thwarts the plan of the entity which sends out the personality. Therefore, religiously, it was regarded as a sin against the Father; that is, against the cause of self. Fortunately the entity is far beyond the reach of man's destructive tendencies, and suicide is merely incidental to its evolution. It is, however, definitely detrimental to the consciousness of the personality, bringing much grief that could be avoided. Life is not to be evaded, but to be lived.
FINI