One Word Can Save Someone’s Life
―A Real-Life Story of the Stop-the-Suicide Advisor on How You Can Help Prevent Suicide―
“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 (it could be 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 , 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 their words but also their 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?” He then explains. “From a spiritual perspective, in almost all cases when someone wants to commit suicide, they are possessed by stray spirits who had killed themselves.” The callers get startled by this at first, but most of them say that although they have never thought about it that way, 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 giving 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. Using this power, Buddha explained the cause of their current suffering and the solution to their problems. Buddha understood the nature of each person’s soul and provide and 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 their suffering if they die. So even if we tell them “Don’t die,” it will not help them in the truest sense. They need the reasons for them to continue living amidst in the pain and suffering.That’s why Mr. Y tells them the spiritual truths that we human beings have eternal souls and that we are born into this world to train our souls. Buddhism teaches us how we should polish our mind 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 life and why we need to continue living.
Knowledge about the Afterlife Is a Must
Currently, there are about 300,000 people who want to commit suicide in Japan. Happy Science’s Stop-the-Suicide hotline was created to stop those people from killing themselves. Those who call in the hotline are the people who couldn't solve their problems through other services. There are even people saying, “This is the last call I am making before I commit suicide. I am going to kill myself after this.”
After receiving more than 2,000 calls a year like this, Mr. Y is convinced that having the knowledge about the afterlife is a must. Asked what he thinks is the most important knowledge that people need to have, he quoted a passage from the book, “Today, materialistic and scientific thinking is widely prevalent, so a tremendous number of people believe that the other world does not exist. For those who do not believe in the other world, there is neither hell nor heaven. That is why they do not have any place to go after they die.”
Lost souls or ghosts are roaming on the earth only because they don’t know the existence of the world after death. “There are many souls wandering in this world not realizing that they are already dead.” Mr. Y explains. ”Those who do not believe in the afterlife fall under the negative influences of the lost souls unawares.”
Want to learn more about the spiritual truth about suicide?
Click here to watch “Sujin’s Regret”―”Stop-the-Suicide Video” Watched More Than 400,000 Times around the World.
Saving Souls One by One
Asked how he finds passion and maintains the energy to continue with this difficult job, Mr. Y shared with us a passage that he holds most dear to his heart:
“I sincerely pray from my heart
That each one of you will fulfill your great mission―
To save the mind of each person, one by one.” (“The Laws of Hell” P.239)
Taking this passage, “To save the mind of each person, one by one,” as his life’s mission, Mr. Y continues to answer the calls of those who seek help, telling them the spiritual truths about suicide, with an earnest wish that they will find hope, courage, and happiness in life.
To find out how you can help save people’s souls and stop Hell from spreading, read “The Laws of Hell.”
There are lost souls or ghosts roaming on the earth only because they don’t know the existence of the other world. In order to save those souls, we recommend you read The Laws of Hell. The Laws of Hell teaches the Truth. It’s a book to save your heart and soul.