Death: Before, During & After... Death: Before, During & After.. | Page 33

Death
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she commits suicide? Do they take the form of a bhoot (ghost)
or pret (spirit without body after death)?
Dadashri: After committing suicide, one’s spirit or soul
wanders around. In fact, by committing suicide one invites more
problems. If a person commits suicide just once, the repercussions
of this act are such that he will have to do the same for several
lives to come. When a person commits suicide in this life, it is not
a new suicide. The suicide of this life is the effect of suicide
committed in the past. It is because of such effects, that one
continues to commit suicide, life after life. When one commits
suicide, he has to wander around without a body.
A ghost is a different thing altogether. It is not easy to
become a ghost; it is an incarnation in the celestial life form. One
becomes a ghost when one has performed severe penance and
austerities in ignorance.
One Cannot Live Without a Sense of ‘I am’
Questioner: Why do thoughts of suicide occur?
Dadashri: A person is alive because of his sense of being
and self worth. His awareness of ‘I am Chandulal’ is called vikalp.
‘All this is mine’, is his sankalp. This sense of ‘I and my’ is the
basis of his worldly life. Once he loses this sense of being, he
loses all worldly awareness and that is when thoughts of suicide
arise. So this sense of ‘I am’ is necessary and helpful.
When natural and spontaneous thoughts cease, negative
thoughts begin. He becomes immersed in complete internal
darkness and is not able to ‘see’ anything. Sankalp means ‘my’
and vikalp means ‘I’. When both these stop, a person will think
about dying.