"I want to die…" is the phrase that Mr. Y hears most often when he picks up a phone. As an advisor at Stop-the Suicide hotline, he receives more than 2,000 calls a year from those who are seriously considering ending their lives.
Currently, there are about 30 million people who have thought about committing suicide in Japan. That is about 27% of the population, which means one in four is a potential victim of suicide.
Have you ever thought about what to say when someone, your family member or friend, tells you they want to kill themselves?
Why Do They Say They Want to Die?
"Speaking with someone who is standing at the edge of life is always a heavy task. When I first became an advisor, I was very scared to answer the phone," says Mr. Y who is a suicide prevention advisor of the Stop the Suicide hotline, a non-profit organization sponsored by Happy Science Group.
"But then, I changed my mindset." Mr. Y explains. "Instead of fearing their calls, I decided to learn from them. I told myself I should listen to not only the words but also the voices coming from within. I realized that when someone says, 'I want to die,' it was a silent cry that said, 'No one understands me.' It was actually a test to see if we can really understand the pain and difficulty they are going through."
"It's not always necessary to exchange words repeatedly. Instead, it's important to hear what their inner voices are trying to tell me." Mr. Y started to listen to each of the callers imagining that he was embracing their souls as he spoke to them. That's when the callers started saying that they were able to honestly share their true feelings with someone for the first time.
"Are they Really Your Own Thoughts?"
When Mr. Y talks to the people who want to commit suicide, a question that takes them completely by surprise is "Are they really your thoughts?" Then, Mr. Y explains to them. "From a spiritual perspective, in almost all cases when someone wants to commit suicide, they are possessed by stray spirits who had themselves killed themselves." The callers get startled by his words, but then, they say that although they have never thought about it that way, but it may actually be the case. Mr. Y then tells them why they shouldn't commit suicide. "Human beings have eternal souls. If you kill yourself in the midst of suffering, the suffering will continue even after your death."
Giving Advice Takes the Power of Enlightenment
"At other suicide preventions services, advisors are usually trained to listen attentively, but they are usually told not to give advice to the callers. But based on my personal experience, we cannot save people's lives just by listening attentively." Mr. Y explains. "My ideal counselor would be Shakyamuni Buddha. Buddha had the power of enlightenment to see through the history of someone's soul, that is their past, present, and future lives, based on the Laws of Cause and Effect. Buddha explained the cause of their current suffering and the solution to solve their problems. Buddha understood the nature of each person's soul and gave provided advices to everyone in a way that's most suited to them. In order to truly save someone's soul, we need the power of enlightenment."
Knowing that We Have Eternal Life Will Help Find Purpose of Life
Mr. Y argues that the power of enlightenment is crucial to help prevent suicide. People think about killing themselves for many reasons, be it terminal cancer, debt, or family discord. Whatever the issue may be, they fall into despair thinking that they will never be able to solve the problem. They think that they can end the suffering if they die. To them, the phrase, "Don't die" will not reach their hearts. They need the reasons to continue living through the pain and suffering. That's why Mr. Y tells them the spiritual truth that we human beings have eternal souls and that life doesn't end at the time of death. Buddhism teaches us how we should polish our souls from the perspectives of our past, present, and future lives. It is by knowing that we have eternal life that we can find the true meaning and purpose of why we need to continue living.
The Laws of Hell is the Book to Save Many Souls
There are many people who are calling Happy Science's Stop-the-Suicide hotline. Those are the people who couldn't solve their problems by calling other services. There are even people saying, "This call is the last call before I commit suicide. I am going to kill myself now."
After receiving more than 2,000 calls a year, Mr. is convinced that having knowledge about the afterlife is a must.
Currently, there are 300,000 people who commit suicide in Japan and since the beginning of 2023, there have been an average of about 67 suicide deaths per day in the United States (ref: Wikipedia). Stop-the-Suicide hotline was created to stop those people from killing themselves.
The Laws of Hell tells us the importance of saving the mind and heart of each person, one by one. By sharing the knowledge about the other world or Spiritual Truth, we can save our loved ones.
Lost souls or ghosts are roaming on the earth only because they don't know the existence of the other world. In order to save these souls, we recommend you read The Laws of Hell.