Suicide
Skillful qualities / Noble Eightfold Path / Right Action / Killing / Suicide
9 excerpts, 48:17 total duration

Abhayagiri Monastic Retreat 2013, Session 6 – Nov. 28, 2013

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15. “What would you say to someone who committed suicide if you could?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suicide] [Teaching Dhamma]


Abhayagiri Monastic Retreat 2013, Session 7 – Nov. 29, 2013

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27. “Seems like the more I ‘see clearly,’ the more depressed (bordering on suicidal at times) I feel rather than freedom...Any practice suggestions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Depression] [Suicide]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 45 – Mar. 7, 2014

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2. “How common is burial as opposed to cremation in Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/Thailand] [Funerals] // [Death] [Suicide] [Ghost] [Rebirth]

Story: A person killed by a gunshot wound doesn’t realize that he is dead.


Death and Dying, Session 2 – May. 9, 2014

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3. Reflection by Ajahn Yatiko: “Authenticity and Freedom”: Ajahn Yatiko reflects on his brother Glenn’s life, values, and suicide from the perspective of a “Siamese twin joined at the soul” and from the perspective of a Buddhist monk. Originally offered at Glenn’s memorial service on September 30, 2013, at Ascension Lutheran Church in Edmonton, this talk was replayed during the 2014 Upasika Day on Death and Dying. [Family] [Suicide] [Truth] [Liberation] [Death] // [Christianity] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Mental illness] [Idealism] [Spiritual search] [Judgementalism] [Impermanence] [Kamma]


Developing Skill in Reflective Meditation, Session 2 – Dec. 1, 2019

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3. “You mentioned the example of the monk who wanted to commit suicide and then he remembered his virtue and that uplifted him. In the Saṃyutta Nikaya there are a few instances where monks committeed suicide, but the Buddha said they attained Nibbāna (SN 22.87 Vakkali; SN 35.87 Channa). How is that possible?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Monastic life] [Suicide] [Sutta] [Buddha/Biography] [Recollection] [Nibbāna] // [Jhāna] [Māra] [Saṃsāra] [Delusion]


Abhayagiri 25th Anniversary Retreat, Session 12 – Jun. 12, 2021

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11. “How to deal with self-blame due to losing a loved one to suicide?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Suicide] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] // [Volition] [Proliferation] [Relinquishment] [Western psychology] [Forgiveness]

Quote: “People who commit suicide leave their skeletons in other people’s closets.” — Steven Levine. [Suicide]


28th Anniversary Practice and Study Day, Session 4 – Jun. 1, 2024

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1. “How do you deal with a friend who has commited suicide and the despair and grief that comes with that? How do you support a friend who has feelings of seeking annihilation and wanting to kill themselves?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suicide] [Depression] [Grief] [Craving not to become] // [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Compassion] [Suffering] [Language] [Cessation of Suffering] [Fear]

Quote: “Compassion is a skillful or beautiful response to the suffering of the world.” [Skillful qualities]


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5. “How is suicide reconciled with the First Precept, the precept against taking life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Suicide] [Killing] // [Vinaya]

Sutta: MN 144: Channovāda Sutta.


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6. “What about a serious practitioner who refuses machines and procedures to extend life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Health care] [Suicide] [Aversion] // [Relinquishment]