Recently I was helping Dad complete his monthly report for the Governor when I came across an article about the growing rate of suicide in the state. Every time I saw suicide cases splashed across a tiny inlet in the first page of Now! I gave it a fleeting read. Needless to say, suicide is an important issue in the state.
Durkheim studied suicide during his initial years and his study shed light on suicide as being a sociological issue, apart from a psychological one. He differentiated between four types of suicide: anomie, egoistic, altruistic and fatalistic, based on levels of social integration and regulation. I don’t think me getting into the details of the above would be of much interest to you. As the state progresses under the watchful eye of the centre, youngsters are finding it hard to cope with the changing equations, especially those who are unable to keep up with the rising standards of living therefore driving them to a point of no return.
Looking at it from a Buddhist perspective, it makes one feel disappointment. To be able to get the human form is a privilege. One may have had to take hundreds of re-births for this to happen. The Buddhist philosophy states ‘attachment’ as the root cause of all suffering. Look at the irony: we, being a Buddhist state, are practicing the very idea that our religion preaches against. So far it is our mind which rules over us. The ultimate goal, however, should be to be able to control our mind. Having said all of the above, I feel sad when I hear about suicide cases. To waste such a precious life is a big loss, not just for the bereaved family but for humanity as a whole. We may not be able to occupy seats of power and authority like the likes of Obama or Bill Gates but we are powerful in our own way. We need to understand this and cultivate our energy to produce positive results instead of letting depression overpower us and lead to emptiness.
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