What drove him to the grave?
By: Blesson (January 23rd, 2010)
I was visiting Australia and was at the home of one of my good friends, who since the time I meet him at the metro station, would keep telling me about his daughter and the pain she’s going thru. As the strong man drove his huge 4 x 4 truck, I could feel that he was vulnerable, all the strength and grit that I admire him for had somehow been weakened.
As we drove along, I heard the tale from a father, worried over his young daughter’s emotional state, grieving over the suicidal death of her best friend. Apparently this young man jumped in front of a train and killed himself. It was shocking to hear that in Australia. Back at home in India, people commit suicides and it is reported almost daily, however a detailed look in to the cases or their death notes, reveals misery, torture, debt and other issues which the person was unable to bear. Hence hearing about suicides in Australia almost got me stumped! A land which gives so much value to freedom of an individual, a land which protects and provides for its people - couldn’t have discouraged citizens! In a land that is prosperous and plentiful, how could a young boy jump in front of a running train.
My friend showed me his new mansion, this beautifully designed home, sheer luxury and Hollywood lights. But often as we kept talking, he would speak about his daughter. I could sense the mood in the house, which was trying to cope with two deaths. One was the death of their twelve year old pet and the other was their daughter’s friend who committed suicide. In times like these, one thing becomes apparent, that nothing that we pursue with all our life, is able to pacify and comfort a grieving and hurting heart. While all the comforts of a conceivable home are there, none of it could bring in true comfort and heal the soul.
As we finished our coffee and catching up with what happened in the last few months since we met. I met my friend’s daughter. Her face mirrored the pain and grief she was carrying within. My friend who knows about my spiritual inclination and people helping activities, asked her to talk to me, so she could ask me the questions, stored up in her heart.
I gladly agreed without really not knowing what I was jumping into. Having personally suffered loss and pain I was confident that God could use some my experiences to heal others. But then I soon realized that hope and healing through grief can only be had, if one has the right world view. Of the many questions that I tried to answer I am sharing a few of them.
Our worldview is put to test during times like these. Cherie wanted to know why her friend commited suicide? Is there no hope for people, that they end up so much frustrated and helpless with their lives, that suicide becomes their only solution? Was it that he reached such a point where there he could not have been able to hold on for a day more ? It’s hard to answer honest questions of a hurting heart. We will at times never have answers. I do not say that we have all the answers, but yes I sincerely care for those who ask the right questions. However as we discussed we found out that a person’s worldview is tested in these situations. The foundations of our hope or joy are put to severe test.
For a person with an atheistic worldview, all that is about life is just limited to the chemical and physical. There is no purpose to live for – as the atheist just lives to die. There is no meaning to life, as everything about life is defined by DNA’s and molecules. There are no moral standards to work on. One’s life is not significant as it is just another bunch of chemicals floating along with billions of others. Its quite easy to get frustrated and depressed, when even the thought itself – living to just die. It is so much disheartening. When bottoms fall down in one’s life, a person with atheistic worldview really doesn’t have much to cling on, as there is nothing beyond or greater than him. He himself is the measure of all things, and man cannot play god for long. Frustrated and unwilling to accept the truth, he crumbles and at times easily falls prey to killing himself when he begins to get convinced that his life isn’t worth living any longer.
For someone with a pantheistic worldview the picture isn’t better either. While pantheism offers some great false ideas – telling people that they are gods, the picture in reality is quite different. Pain and suffering for them is due to the karmic debts ( payment of punishments for deeds done in their previous life) many try to ignore it and accept it calling it maya or illusion while others end up in doing numerous religious acts to atone for their deeds. However for a soul in crisis it offers no help, for in a pantheistic worldview one cannot pray – cos then which god is praying to which one, as it teaches that everyone’s a god. A hurting soul cannot expect supernatural help, cos that would be easing their karma’s and this is infact not good for the soul, as it may have to come back again to pay these pending debts. Hence doctors and nurses and people like them are an evil to the society - as they help people ease their pain and karmic debts in some sense, for which many will have to come back and live again to complete the pending debts. In here too, life has no purpose, cos everyone’s living simply to die and to come back again. The creator or the author, if there exists anyone in the pantheistic worldview simply is impotent, and just watches hot tears rolling down our eyes. The whole picture gets even more worse, when one begins to question – that if everything is just maya or illusion and there is nothing called good and evil, how come one is subjected to pay for karmic debts, when the philosophy itself teaches there’s nothing called good and evil.
Humanity’s struggle are real and at times they are quite frustrating and depressing. It is quite evident and clear why so many people are left hopeless when they face crisis in their lives.
What we believe does have a great impact on how we face our lives. Jesus once gave an interesting illustration about two people building their houses. One built it on sand and the other on rock solid foundation. The tide rose and the waves hit the houses, none was spared, but the one who built his house on the rock solid foundation was saved, while the house built it on sand didn’t survive. Waves, will come in to our lives and no one’s spared from it. Ain’t it time to check before we are driven to the sands, whether we’ve built our lives on rock solid truth or just sandy philosophies.
Tags: atheistic worldview, pantheistic worldview, philosophies