Summary: Messages from near death experiences resulting from unsuccessful suicide attempts tell us a lot about the impropriety behind the act. Even though the impropriety is generally felt by all, the inside story of it reveals a great deal more.
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People who return from a near death experience (NDE) after an attempted suicide tell us in different ways why such an act is fundamentally improper. The perspectives given by them can help people understand the preciousness of life and the need to desist from the heinous act of self-annihilation.

In his book ‘Reflections on Life after Life’ by Raymond Moody, there is a chapter on suicide. On going through that chapter, one gains a lot of insight into this matter of self-annihilation. When we combine with it our understanding of Karma, we have a fairly comprehensive perception of the impropriety of the act.

People who return after a NDE say that they love life as much as they love death. So, in spite of the fact that they experience the beatific consciousness on the other side, they have no desire to adopt self-annihilation in order to go there again. On the contrary, they sense the impropriety of ending one’s life in that manner. This is because they come back with the understanding of the profound purpose behind our living on earth – a purpose to be fulfilled with deep feeling for it. One NDEer reported to Raymond Moody that, when he was there, he understood two things expressly forbidden for us to indulge in: self-annihilation and the ending of another’s life – because the first one would be tantamount to throwing God’s gift back in his face and the second would be a matter of interfering with God’s purpose for that person. Another NDEer said that, in case of self-annihilation, he felt there would be the penalty of having to witness the suffering he caused to others by such an act. A third person reported that she was psychologically ‘trapped’ in the situation which provoked her attempt. She had the feeling that the situation in which she was before her suicide was being repeated again and again, as if in an endless cycle. The pain was unbearable.

After studying many cases of NDE following suicide attempts, Raymond Moody concludes that all of those people agree on one point: they felt that their attempt to end their lives solved nothing. This is an important message because if people understood that fact, it is very unlikely that they would ever think of suicide as a solution to any problem. Such NDEs also make them come to the conviction that they should never indulge in it anymore. They feel glad that they did not succeed in their attempt. On being asked whether he would ever try to choose to end his life, an experiencer said ‘No’ in a categorical manner. He went on further to say that our duration on earth is such a small period of time and there is so much which needs to be done. In contrast, we experience the value of eternity on the other side.

It has also been noticed by those who understand the hidden aspects of Karma that what is left unfinished has to be finished in a new incarnation. In other words, one cannot escape difficulties by being cruel to the innocent body! This matter needs profound understanding of both the hidden and the open content of Karma. Edgar Cayce has a lot to say on why self-annihilation is improper from several points of view, including the aspect of Karma. There are many websites depicting his presentations on this issue.
People interested in NDEs may visit the site http://spirituality.yolasite.com

Author's Bio: 

Graduated in 1963 from the then Engineering College, Madras University (now Anna University) in Civil Engineering. Received the Master’s degree from IIT, Madras, while being on the teaching and research faculty there in the Hydraulic Engineering Dept. The doctoral degree was in the field of Coastal Engineering from the North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA, in 1978. Served as Asst. Professor in that university for about two years and then worked as a Research Scientist at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research for eight years. Presented papers in conferences held in different parts of the world.
Became interested in the philosophical aspects of life from the student years at college and spent some time reflecting on them during the active years. Is a member of the International Association for Near Death Studies, Durham, NC, USA, from 2003.
Settled down in Kodaikanal with the family in 1990 and has been on a semi-retired life from then on.