Question: My father committed suicide eleven years ago and it still disturbs me. He had cancer and had three months to live, so he took his life.

Sri Chinmoy: According to my inner philosophy, God has given us this life. At every moment we must avail ourselves of the opportunity to fight against death. You can say your father’s life was useless. Even if he stayed, perhaps he would not have been able to contribute anything to the outer world. But there is an inner world, the soul’s world. The soul may no longer be able to manifest in and through a particular body, but it can manifest through the near and dear ones. In this way, it keeps a connection with the earth. Like this, there are so many reasons why one should not commit suicide.

On rare occasions, spiritual Masters may leave their physical body because they know that God’s choice Hour has come for them. It is God’s Will. But for ordinary people, it is the worst possible inner crime. In the case of your father, he has departed, but you are still here on earth. You can pray to God for forgiveness for your father. The dear ones remaining on earth can pray to God.

At the end of your life, even if you are only moving at the speed of an Indian bullock cart, God is still achieving something in and through your life. Do not take a wrong turn by committing suicide. If you discard this life, how can there be any progress? Suicide is the worst possible experience, not only for the one who commits suicide but also for his family members. Anyone who has close connections with that individual suffers tremendously. If your brother or father or sister or someone else commits suicide, then some of your subtle nerves, which are absolutely necessary for God-realisation, can be damaged. So you have to pray for your own protection as well. When somebody breaks the cosmic law in the family, for example, if your brother has gone to jail, then something very sacred in you or in one of your inner beings will snap. Again, if your family members do something good or great for humanity, it affects you also. So we have to be so careful. Unless we consciously surrender our near ones to God’s Will every day, we are bound to be affected if they do something wrong in the inner world. Something in our consciousness will be damaged.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Sri Chinmoy answers, part 16, Agni Press, 1999
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/sca_16