The issue of suicide is a controversial issue, being misunderstood in terms of the » moral » that, we do not know why, puts life as supreme value, when this is precisely the domain of Māra.
The way to escape from Death, from Māra, for one who reached the vision is precisely suicide.
Yes, you read correctly, he escapes Death through suicide. But this is restricted only to the nobles. Ordinary people often use suicide as a fast route to hell, a domain alien to the nobles.
In this sutta, Godhika, a disciple of the Buddha, once attained the vision has the intention of committing suicide, thus definitively escapes from the dominions of Māra. This one, tremendously worried, goes to the Buddha to stop the bhikkhu and the Buddha sends him out for a walk. The Māra, desperate, tries to grasp the consciousness of the suicide, but can not. Sad, he leaves defeated, dropping his lyre (a poetic way of signaling a state of deep depression).
Ignorance is the domain of Māra. And the ignorance about suicide is perhaps the last hold that Māra has to avoid the inevitable, that the nobles escape.
By the way, suicide is a noble thing. If you are not, abstain. You better…
Collection of Thematically Grouped Speeches Discourses connected with Mara SN 4.23. Godhika
So I’ve heard. On one occasion, the Blessed One was living in Rajagaha, in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrel Shrine.
On that occasion the Venerable Godhika was living on the Black Rock on the slope of Isigili. Then, while the Venerable Godhika was living diligently, ardently and resolutely, he attained the temporary liberation of the mind, but departed from that temporary release of the mind. A second time, while the Venerable Godhika was living diligently, ardently and resolutely, he attained the temporary liberation of the mind, but departed from that temporary release of the mind. A third time … A fourth time … A fifth time … A sixth time, while Venerable Godhika lived diligently, ardently and resolutely, he attained the temporary release of the mind, but turned away from that temporary release of the mind. A seventh time, while Venerable Godhika lived diligently, ardently and decisively, he attained the temporary release of the mind.
Then it occurred to the Venerable Godhika: «Six times I have already fallen from the temporary release of the mind. Let me use the knife. «
Then Mara the Evil One, having known with his own mind the reflection in the mind of Venerable Godhika, approached the Blessed One and addressed him with these verses:
«Oh, great hero, great in wisdom, burning with power and glory! I love your feet, One with Vision, Who has overcome all enmity and fear.
«Oh, great hero who has conquered death! Your disciple longs for death. He intends to take his own life: Take care of this, oh, bright!
«How, oh blessed, your disciple, one reveling in teaching, an apprentice who seeks the ideal of his mind, Take your own life, oh widely famous? «
Now on that occasion Venerable Godhika had just used the knife. Then the Blessed One, having understood, «This is Mara the Evil One,» addressed him in verse:
«This is how the firm act acts: They are not attached to life. Having attracted longing with its root, Godhika has reached the final Nibbāna. «
Then the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus: «Come, bhikkhus, let’s go to the Black Rock on the slope of Isigili, where the clan member Godhika has used the knife».
«Yes, venerable sir,» the bhikkhus replied. Then the Blessed One, along with a quantity of bhikkhus, went to the Black Rock on the slope of Isigili. The Blessed One saw in the distance the Venerable Godhika lying on the bed with his shoulder turned.
Now on that occasion a cloud of smoke, a swirl of darkness, moved eastward, then westward, northward, southward, upward, downward, and toward the intervening quarters. Then, the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus: «You see, bhikkhus, that cloud of smoke, that swirl of darkness, moving to the east, then to the west, to the north, to the south, up, down and towards the intermediate rooms? «
«Yes, venerable sir.»
«That, bhikkhus, is Mara the Evil One in search of the conscience of the member of the Godhika clan, asking himself: ‘Where has the conscience of the clan member Godhika now been established?’ However, bhikkhus, with unestablished consciousness, the clan member Godhika has reached the final Nibbāna. «
Then Mara the Evil One, taking a wooden lute of yellow vilva, approached the Blessed One and addressed him in verse:
«Up, down and through, in the four quarters and in the middle, I’ve been looking for, but I can not find where Godhika has gone. «
The Blessed One
«That firm man was resolute, a meditator always rejoicing in meditation, applied day and night without attachment even to life.
«Having conquered the army of Death, without return to renewed existence, having extracted the longing with its root, Godhika has reached the final Nibbāna. «
It hurt so much that his lute fell from his armpit. Then, that disillusioned spirit disappeared in the act.
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