The Three Classifications of Suicide
Near-Death Experiences
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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.
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Table
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1.
George Ritchie's Three Classifications of Suicide |
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Dr. George Ritchie, author of
Return From Tomorrow
and
My Life After Dying,
learned during
his near-death experience
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:
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Three
Classifications of Suicide |
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The first classification
are those people
who kill themselves
in order to hurt
someone, get revenge,
or who kill themselves
out of anger for
someone else. They
arrive in the earthbound
realm out of hatred,
jealousy, resentment,
bitterness and total
distain for themselves
and others. Ritchie
writes, "I want
to make clear that
it was impressed
upon me that these
were the ones who
had the same type
of powerful emotions
which people who
committed murder
have" (p.25). Ritchie
says such people
mistakenly believe
they are not committing
murder which their
religious training
tells them is a
worse sin than suicide.
Their motive for
killing themself
is, "If I can't
kill you, I will
kill myself to get
even with you."
According to Ritchie,
such people
temporarily "haunt"
the living by being
aware of every horrible
consequence their
suicide had on others
until they are
ready to let go
and enter into
the light.
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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.
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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 also called an
"earthbound" condition
which is also
temporary.
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Concerning souls belonging to
the first classification, Ritchie writes:
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"I understood from what
I was seeing that these people and the average
murderer also are confined in a state where
they are given a chance to realize two very
important facts. One, you can only kill the
body, not the soul. Two, that only love, not
hate, can bring them and others true happiness.
I believe once they fully understand this, they
are given the opportunity to continue their
spiritual and mental growth."
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2.
George Ritchie's NDE Involving a Suicide |
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Dr. George Ritchie
described in his book
Return From Tomorrow
what Jesus revealed to him during his near-death experience
concerning what happens to some people who commit
suicide for less than justifiable reasons. In the following
excerpt, Jesus is giving George Ritchie a "tour" of
one particular afterlife realm known as the "earthbound"
realm which is located in the same place as the living.
However, earthbound spirits are unseen and unheard by
living people except by those who are psychic or mediums.
Earthbound spirits temporarily "haunt" the living or particular
places they once lived and are what is commonly referred
to as "ghosts".
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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.
In bafflement
I turned to the Brightness (Jesus) beside
me. But though I felt His compassion
flow like a torrent into the room before
us, no understanding lighted my mind.
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."
The idea stunned
me, yet I knew it came from Him, not
me, for I saw no more scenes like these,
as though the truth He was teaching
had been learned.
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3.
Kevin Williams' Analysis of NDEs Involving Suicide |
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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 how 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 is true, it is
also be true that we change this destiny by committing
suicide. It is also assumed that 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. I believe 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 how 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, as we have seen, 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
temporarily 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
by spirit guides around them.
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4.
An Analysis of Sandra Rogers' Suicide NDE |
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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. It has been said
that the greatest
enemy we face is self. 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.
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5.
An Analysis of Angie Fenimore's Suicide NDE |
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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 none of the other suicides in this
hellish condition were aware of God's presence. God
told Angie, "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 God's 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
toward perfection through suffering -- even as
Christ did. It validates the truthfulness
of the phase, "No pain. No gain." It is God's
"tough love" in action.
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 mentally ill people who commit
suicide are given the same opportunities after death
as those who do not.
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