The Three Classifications of Suicide
Near-Death Experiences
While
there exists documented reports of very beautiful near-death
experiences resulting from attempted suicide, there also
exists hellish reports. This suggests the act of suicide
itself is not a factor in determining whether a person has
a beautiful NDE or a hellish NDE. However, it is possible
for a hellish spiritual condition already existing within
a person to be carried over and continued after death. Many
suicides are committed by people who are already experiencing
a hell on Earth for one reason or another. In this respect,
death does not remove a pre-existing hellish spiritual condition
unless this condition was caused by the brain. Many people
who
commit suicide are mentally ill. Because mental illness
is a physical disorder of the brain, the mental illness
ends with brain death and does not continue after death.
This is true because NDEs have been reported by blind people
who have regained their sight during their NDE. Other handicaps
have reportedly been removed from experiencers upon their
death. Religious leaders
sometimes tell people that suicide is an unforgivable sin
leading to eternal damnation in hell. This is not what the
NDE reveals. NDEs do describe life as being an inescapable
learning experience. Suicide prevents this learning experience
from being completed. Experiencers describe hell as being
a temporary spiritual condition rather than a permanent
place of torture.
1. Dr. George Ritchie's
Three Classifications of Suicide
Dr. George Ritchie,
author of
Return From Tomorrow
and
My Life After Dying,
learned during
his NDE
what happens to some people who commit suicide. According
to Ritchie, the quality of life a person initially finds
after suicide is influenced by their motive for committing
it. He classifies suicide in the following three ways:
Three
Classifications of Suicide
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1. |
The first classification includes those who
kill themselves in order to hurt someone, get
revenge, or who kill themselves out of hatred
for someone else. According to Ritchie, these
people haunt the living by being aware of every
horrible consequence their suicide had on others. |
2. |
The second classification includes those who,
because of mental illness, confusion, or a terminal
illness, take their own life. Ritchie states
these people are allowed many opportunities
from God to grow in love just as any other person
would who had not committed suicide. In other
words, there are no negative consequences for
them. |
3.
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The third classification includes those who
kill themselves from drug, alcohol, or any other
addiction. According to Ritchie, these people
can become stuck in limbo trying in vain to
satisfy their addiction until eventually something
frees them. This condition is often called an
earthbound condition. |
2. George
Ritchie's NDE Involving a Suicide
Dr. George Ritchie
described in his book
Return From Tomorrow
what Jesus revealed to him concerning what happens
to some people who commit suicide for less than justifiable
reasons. Here is an excerpt:
In one house
a younger man followed an older one from room to
room.
"I'm sorry, Pa!"
he kept saying. "I didn't know what it
would do to Mama! I didn't understand."
But though I could hear
him clearly, it was obvious that the man he was
speaking to could not. The old man was carrying
a tray into a room where an elderly woman sat in
bed.
"I'm
sorry, Pa," the young man said again. "I'm
sorry, Mama."
Endlessly, over and over,
to ears that could not hear.
Several times we paused
before similar scenes. A boy trailing a teenaged
girl through the corridors of a school.
"I'm
sorry, Nancy!"
A middle-aged woman begging
a gray-haired man to forgive her.
"What are they so sorry
for, Jesus?" I pleaded. "Why do they keep
talking to people who can't hear them?"
Then from the light beside
me came the thought, "They are suicides, chained
to every consequence of their act."
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3. Kevin Williams'
Analysis of NDEs Involving Suicide
 NDEs
reveal there is no condemnation from God for our actions.
The problem many suicides face after death is difficulty
in forgiving themselves for the horror they have put family
and friends through by taking their own life. One remedy
for helping a suicide cope with this predicament comes from
the
Tibetan Book of the Dead,
an ancient Buddhist book of the afterlife. The Book of the
Dead is one of the oldest books on Earth documenting NDEs.
In my view, this source should be given great respect. The
Book of the Dead mentions people who succeeded in committing
suicide and who became imprisoned in the experience of their
suicide. Accordingly, they can be freed from this condition
through the prayers of the living and by them imagining
streams of light pouring on them. Such actions free the
person from the pain and confusion of their suicide. The
Book of the Dead also mentions that people have no choice
but to follow any negative karma resulting from their suicide.
NDEs report people
choosing their own destiny in life before they are born.
While this may be true, it may also be true that we change
this destiny by committing suicide. This is assuming nobody
is predestined to commit suicide. NDEs reveal a perfect
universal plan being worked out by God. Perhaps this perfect
plan is not thwarted by suicide. There is no reason to believe
it is. But if a person cuts short their destined time for
life because they have problems coping with life's demands,
their problems may not necessarily go away. Their problems
may also be complicated by the added burden of their knowing
the full horrible consequences of their action on others.
People who are thinking
of killing themselves can learn a great deal from NDEs.
Some NDEs suggest that committing suicide may be the worse
thing anyone can do because it is rejecting God's gift of
life which destroys an opportunity for spiritual advancement.
Not only that, some experiencers have observed the souls
of those who committed suicide existing in an earthbound
condition of temporarily being slaves to every consequence
of their act of suicide. Such souls have been observed hounding
and hovering around living family members and friends trying
in vain to seek forgiveness. Some of them have been observed
existing in a grayish fog and shuffling around slowly with
their heads down. Perhaps these earthbound souls become
freed from this condition when their natural destined time
for death occurs. Nevertheless, this condition is only temporary.
Some experiencers have also observed such souls being helped
in the afterlife.
4. An Analysis of
Sandra Rogers' NDE
 Sandra
Rogers' NDE is a good example of what can happen when
a person unjustifiably cuts short their life. After she
attempted to commit suicide, she was given only two choices
by the Being of Light. One choice involved being revived
and living out the rest of her days. (This was the choice
she chose.) The other choice involved remaining in the light
with the condition of having to reincarnate at a future
time to re-experience everything that led her to commit
suicide in the first place. Sandra's NDE demonstrates that
people must overcome their problems in this life or else
face them again in a future life. In Sandra's case, committing
suicide did not solve anything. If we delay dealing with
these problems by committing suicide, we may only compound
them. Perhaps the greatest enemy we face is ourselves. Our
problems may never go away unless we conquer them. NDEs
reveal people carrying their non-physical problems with
them after death. Perhaps one of the reasons we are born
into this world is to overcome such problems. If we don't
overcome them, we may have to reincarnate until we do.
5. An Analysis of
Angie Fenimore's NDE
 Another
interesting NDE resulting from a suicide attempt was that
of
Angie Fenimore.
After committing suicide, Angie found herself in a hellish
realm of psychic disconnection and torment. The anguish
she experienced within herself in life had manifested itself
in the spirit after death. A Being of Light, whom she identified
as God, asked her, "Is this what you really want?"
Angie realized that
none of the other suicides in this hellish condition were
aware of God's presence. God told her, "Don't you know
that this is the worst thing you could have done?"
She realized then
she had thrown in the towel and because of it, she had cut
herself off from God and from his guidance. She felt trapped.
She told God, "But my life is so hard."
God's reply was, "You
think that was hard? It is nothing compared to what awaits
you if you take your life. Life's supposed to be hard. You
can't skip over parts. We have all done it. You must earn
what you receive."
Angie's NDE gives
us a unique insight into unjustifiable suicide. It suggests
that one of life's purposes is to grow through suffering.
It validates the truthfulness of the phase, "No pain.
No gain."
This principle is
also found in the Bible where it describes how suffering
creates character, wisdom, perseverance and strengthening
of faith. NDEs reveal the fact that everyone has a destiny
to fulfill and a "mission" to complete. Part of
this destiny may include suffering for the purpose of learning
and growing. It probably also includes learning from past-life
mistakes, paying back karmic debts and receiving karmic
rewards. The fact that experiencers are often told their
time for death has not yet come, suggests our time of death
is predetermined. Suicide can possibly prevent a person's
mission from being fulfilled. Sandra Rogers' NDE suggests
the remedy for this is reincarnation.
Many people commit
suicide due to a mental illness. One of life's lessons may
be to learn how to cope with depression and overcome it.
An overwhelming desire to commit suicide is one of the biggest
indicators of clinical depression. There are many medications
available on the market that can reverse clinical depression.
If a person is thinking of committing suicide because of
depression, seeking medical help may be one of the smartest
decisions of their life. Nevertheless, NDEs, such as
Dr. George Ritchie, indicate that mentally ill people who
commit suicide are given the same opportunities after death
as those who do not.
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