Baba
Euthanasia in AM
Note: This letter is only for those who have reverence for Sadguru Baba Shrii Shrii Anandamurti ji and try to follow His Ananda Marga ideology.
Namaskar,
In select states within the US, some European nations, and other regions around the globe, euthanasia is allowed. It is a growing phenomenon. People turn to assisted suicide or euthanasia when they feel their current condition is unbearable. They think that the pain, suffering, or humiliation is too much to bear and that the only viable solution is to kill oneself. They harbour the dogma that upon prematurely ending their life their suffering will be over and they will find eternal peace. But that act of assisted suicide actually multiplies the problem and one incurs more negative samskaras and suffering.
Defective mindset: Trying to escape suffering by euthanasia
These days if someone is suffering from a terminal illness, and they are suffering a lot, then some materialistic people think that, “If I die, then I can escape from suffering.” But this is a defective mindset. Because they do not realise that it is the mind that suffers - not the body. And after the assisted suicide while the body remains here on this earth in a lifeless condition, the mind moves on and carries the current load of samsarkas that will take expression in future lives. So theirs is a defective mindset to think they have escaped all suffering by annihilating themselves through euthanasia.
The mind was suffering - not the body
When they look at the mindless body it is still and quiet. So they wrongly conclude that the person has found peace. But that is just their irrational outlook to think that that deceased person is now at peace. The reality is something far, far different.
That dead body no longer has a mind associated with it. And it was the mind which was suffering - not the body. That is why the body is now calm and quiet - because it is lifeless and the mind has exited that body. The disembodied mind has moved on to the next stage. And when that mind again takes birth in a physical body it will experience the reactions of its past actions and suffer more. After rebirth and taking form, as an animal, bug, or inanimate object etc, that mind will now have more negative samskaras to face because of the harm they inflicted on their own body. So the deceased does not gain any semblance of peace or eternal peace through the choice of assisted suicide. Rather it multiplies the pain and suffering for its next life.
How onlookers get confused
Onlookers superficially see the lifeless body and wrongly think that indeed that person is no longer suffering. Because earlier that person was crying and wailing in pain and agony and now the deceased bodys is quiet. One should understand that before death both body and mind were together. And after death only the body remains. The mind has left the body and it was that very mind that was suffering. Remember, previously the body was not suffering; it was the mind within the body that was suffering. And after death the situation is the same: The body still is not suffering while the mind has all the samskaras of suffering. In its bodiless state the mind will not suffer, but whenever in the future that mind gets a physical body it will undergod the leftover samskaras which it could not exhaust in the previous life. Having left the body the mind is now seeking a new home (i.e. body) to exhaust those samsakras. So the only difference is that the mind is no longer associated with that body. But mourners and onlookers see the lifeless corpse and think that now there is no pain and the person reached safely to heaven. They wrongly view euthanasia as a win-win situation. The patient is relieved, or they escaped from excruciating pain and reached happily to heaven, and the family members are relieved from seeing the suffering.
Net result of euthanasia is very degrading
Here is a brief overview:
- (a) the body does not suffer; the mind suffers;
- (b) after death the body remains as is, but the mind is not there;
- (c) people wrongly conclude that the suffering has ended at the time of death;
- (d) after death the mind leaves the body and it is seeking another body to undergo its leftover suffering;
- (e) the sinful act of euthanasia abruptly terminated the opportunity to experience one’s samskaras;
- (e) prakrti will provide the deceased with an animal body, or worse, to undergo the leftover suffering plus more suffering that was created due to self-annihilation;
- (f) the mind was suffering before death, and when the mind takes rebirth it will undergo that degree of suffering plus more;
- (g) the net result of euthanasia is very negative.
Committing suicide = incurring more negative samskara
In the end we can say that euthanasia is a double or triple wrong. With human life one can exhaust their samskaras very quickly but when one destroys their human body the exhaustion of samskaras becomes prolonged. They will undergo their premature physical death, incur more negative samskaras for destroying themselves, and then have to wait for rebirth as an animal. Finally, in animal life they will begin the slow, multi-layered process of undergoing all those negative samskaras - both old and new. Thus it may take a long time - millions of years - to exhaust those samskaras which otherwise could have been finished in just a few days time had they kept their human body and not destroyed it via euthanasia.
With human body one can exhaust their samskara very fast, unlike with an animal body.
One’s samskaras can only be exhausted while alive and one should use the physical body on this earth in order to finish all one’s past unexpressed samskaras. After death, the mind cannot function without the brain. After death, there is not any difference between a disembodied mind of an animal, plant, bug, or human. It is just a mind along with its unexpressed samskaras awaiting rebirth. And that person who committed assisted suicide may be reborn as an animal, plant, or bug etc, but not as a human.
Conclusion
If a person ends their life intentionally, i.e. euthanasia or assisted suicide, then that creates yet another bad samskara. Because they will face that negative samskara of deliberately destroying their body. Since one can't exhaust their unexpressed samskaras after death, they will have to take rebirth and undergo the reaction. In that case, they will face their newly created samskara of murder by assisted suicide - along with their other samskaras. So they will not get a human body anytime soon.
All in all, it is just like if you bought a special, exotic, top-notch toy for your child and the child destroyed the toy within 5 minutes and threw it in the garbage. In that case, you will not be tempted to purchase another toy for the child right away. Those who commit assisted suicide do not get a human body again easily. They are last in queue - they will have to wait millions of years. Nature gives this punishment. The final conclusion is that assisted suicide creates more sin.
Namaskar,
In Him,
Mrtyuinjay
Plunge deeper on the path of negative pratisaincara
If someone commits suicide, that is very negative. Ultimately that person has killed themselves. And just as killing others is sinful, killing oneself is more sinful. Indeed if someone kills another person, they a commit serious sin. But if someone kills themselves, that generates an even greater amount of sin because God has given you the physical body, and with your own free will you destroyed it. So as punishment, you will not get another human body easily in the future. It is just life you give a small child a children’s book to read. And before your eyes, that child destroys that book and throws it away in the garbage. Then you may not be tempted to immediately give another book to the child because they misused it. In a similar way, the person who committed suicide will have to undergo millions of lives as an animal before again getting a human body. So suicide and assisted suicide pushes on far back along the path of negative pratisaincara.
His grace, not assisted suicide, relieves all suffering
Ananda Marga philosophy states, "The reaping of consequences of original actions performed by a human being occurs mainly in the psychic sphere. And if a person attains the blessings of evolved beings and the Cosmic grace in that same psychic sphere, the problem is solved. Pain and misery is bound to come. Depending upon one's inborn sam'ska'ras and the actions performed, tortures and afflictions are bound to be undergone - the expression of one's own samskara [reactive momenta]. Tortures and afflictions will not be as severely painful as before; with the blessing and grace, the psychic afflictions will be removed. Well, when there is pain and the pain is not felt as such, should it then be called pain? In this case, in the psychic sphere, one will remain in a state of bliss. Let the afflictions come. When the affliction and pain are not felt as such, one should not worry about it." (1)
Thus the only way to permanently relieve oneself of any suffering is not to run after worldly allurements but rather get His divine grace. Just a tiny portion of His grace is enough to free the mind of any suffering. Then one will just be in a state of peace - bliss. That is Baba's above guideline.
~ In-depth study ~
By sadhana eliminate all sin even on deathbed
When the body is debilitated then feelings of helplessness arise, and that brings feelings of surrender – the highest calling in life. Thus this time of life should be used for spiritual growth and not wasted.
Another important aspect is that one cannot do sadhana without a physical body. Baba has said many times that even microvita [devayonis] must get human framework if they wish to gain salvation.
Sadhana only needs the feeling of "I am", "I exist", and "I do" and then one can practice meditation. When on one’s natural deathbed (not that of suicide), then feelings of surrender arise, and all sins get destroyed, by His grace.
But all these opportunities are lost when one resorts to euthanasia - rather one incurs more sin and negative samskaras.
“Please grace me and give me strength to face suffering”
Part of our spiritual approach in life is to ask Baba, “Please grace me and give me strength to face any and all suffering and setbacks in life.” Especially in dark periods of life or when sick, one should take this ideation.
One should always remember that a person can become one with Parama Purusa with the right ideation – it takes just a moment. Proof of this is the terrible robber Valmiki who in the course of a few moments expressed his repentance with great sincerity and thereafter became known as a great saint.
One should not give way to feelings of nihilism (i.e. this world is misery). This is not appreciated by Ananda Marga. We do not agree with Buddha’s teaching. One must not fall prey to feelings of misery and plunge into the sin of assisted suicide. Instead one should cross the ocean of maya and reach unto Parama Purusa.
As long as one is able to think, one can ideate on Him. No matter how grave one’s problems one can always cry for the Lord. One should always cultivate the feeling, "Parama Purusa is mine. I am not lowly or worthless. I am His and He is mine."
All of the above speaks to the importance of keeping one’s physical body as a precious vehicle for manifesting one’s spiritual ideal and surrendering unto Him. There is no scope for euthanasia, i.e. assisted suicide. That will only worsen the situation.
You cannot escape samskara by assisted suicide
Some dogmatic persons think that after assisted suicide or death they will live joyously in heaven. As Ananda Margiis, we do not subscribe to such dogmatic concepts. We know that one cannot escape their samskara. If you die, or deliberately terminate your life, you will be reborn and face that samskara. If you commit assisted suicide then you will also face the negative consequences associated with intentionally destroying your body. So it is a double loss.
उनकी आँखें तुम्हें देख रही हैं
परमपुरुष सर्वत्र हैं | और सर्वत्र तुम क्या कर रहे हो, मन में क्या सोच रहे हो, देख रहे हैं, सुन रहे हैं | छिपाकर तुम सोच तक नहीं सोच सकते हो; करना तो दूर की बात है |
न अन्तलिक्खे न समुद्दमज्झे
न पब्बतनां विवरं पविस्स
न विज्जति सो जगतिप्पदेसो
यत्थत्थितो मुञ्चेय्य पापकम्म
अन्तरिक्ष में छिप गए हो; नहीं-नहीं, वहाँ भी देखोगे कि उनकी आँखें तुम्हें देख रही हैं | “न समुद्दमज्झे”—समुन्दर के अन्दर अगर छिप गए हो; देखो, नहीं, समुन्दर के पानी के अन्दर भी उनकी आँखें तुम्हें देख रही हैं | “न पब्बतनां विवरं पविस्स”—पर्वत के भीतर में, गुफा में अगर घुस गए हो, अन्धकार में; नहीं बच सकते हो; वहाँ भी उनकी आँखें तुम्हें देख रही हैं | तो, विश्वब्रह्माण्ड में इस तरह का देह, इस तरह की जगह तुम्हें नहीं मिलेगी; जहाँ छिपकर तुम उनकी दृष्टि से बच सकते हो | (2)
Here is the English summary:
Parama Purusa is omnipresent. Whatever you are doing anywhere, and whatever you are thinking in your mind, He is watching and listening. You cannot even think anything that is hidden from Him, what to say of doing anything.Those who do not believe in samskara theory think that by eliminating their body they can put an end to their suffering. But they do not know that wherever they go they will have to face their suffering. So then why not face it here and now? Those who commit assisted suicide will incur more sin and be reborn as animals and undergo countless tortures.
Na antalikkhe na samuddamajjhe,
Na pabbata'nam vivaram pavissa,
Na vijjati so jagtippadeso,
Yatthathito munceyya pa'pkamma.
You are hiding in the sky, no, no, you will see that His eyes are also seeing you there. "Na samuddamajjhe," If you are hiding in the ocean, you will see He is watching you there. "Na pabbatnam vivaram pavissa," If you have entered in the cave of a mountain there also you cannot escape, His eyes are watching in darkness too. Therefore there is no space or place in the universe where you can hide from His eyes.
Their suffering will multiply exponentially
The whole scene is no different from those terrorists who think that by being a suicide bomber then they will reap the rewards of heaven and be surrounded by beautiful women for their gratification up to eternity. This is just their dogmatic outlook. In earnest, they will have to undergo the reactions of their actions. And their suffering will multiply exponentially.
Delays and alters the evolution of that animal
Here is why ignorant persons resort to euthanasia for their pets as well. They think that as soon as the body becomes lifeless - whether it be a human or an animal - then that being is now in a state of deep peace and serenity. So when they see that their pet cat or dog is suffering then they euthanize that pet. But that just grossly delays and alters the evolution of that animal.
References
1. Ananda Vacanamrtam - 6, The Physical, Psychic and Spiritual Strata
2. DMC 19 Oct 1971 Bombay, नाम और नामी, Na’ma aor Na’mii, SS-21 - Ch 7
== Section 2: Links ==
Niilakantha Divas - Feb 12 Recent postings
Other topics of interest
Legal Notice: ©2018 Ananda Marga Universal Forum. All rights reserved. Ananda Marga Universal Forum content is the intellectual property of Ananda Marga Universal Forum or its third party content providers. Ananda Marga Universal Forum shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Any copying, republication or redistribution, part or full, of Ananda Marga Universal Forum content, including by framing or similar means, is against the court of law and expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Ananda Marga Universal Forum.
Reply to: anandamargauniversal1@yogasamsthanam.net
