[Buddha-l] Nirvana Sutra Chapter 19

[Jo]

Dan Lusthaus writes:
> Yes, Chris. There are already Pali suttas in which Buddha declares of 
> monks who had committed suicide that they were on to good destinies.
> Modern sensibilities aside, asian cultures have not been squeamish 
> about suicide. In China, Korea and Japan, it is built into the moral 
> codes of the country (esp. in Japan) -- Buddhism was a never a 
> counteragent to those cultural tendencies. On the contrary...
I think this is quite wrong. About East Asia I cannot speak, but you may be reading East Asian attitudes into Indian culture. There are a few exceptional cases where someone reaches nirvāṇa after taking their own life, but suicide is generally seen as a form of taking life, bound to lead to a bad rebirth.

Lance
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I don't question cultural valuation of suicide, but more particularly:  isn't it the case in the Pali suttas that those monks who committed suicide did it because they were extremely ill and suffering uncontrollable pain? It's not as though they committed suicide to save face or restore some kind of honor, to take revenge, or any of the various other cultural rationales for suicide.

My 2 cents.
Joanna