Resource Tag: EASTERN RELIGIONS

An examination of the suicide rates in Singapore shows the Chinese & Indians to be significantly more prone to suicide than the Malays. The author briefly discusses the cultural meaning of sucide for each group. Neither Buddhism nor Hinduism explicitly condemns sucide & for the Chinese & Indians, suicide is accepted as a way of […]

This discussion of suicide spotlights key issues in the field of Buddhist ethics & doctrine, particularly the doctrinal issue of the individual’s relationship to his/her “body” & the ethical matter of the relationship between the individual & society as a whole. This paper attempts to resolve & explain the apparent anomaly that suicide is both […]

Discusses suicide in India with reference to the influence of religion & philosophy on attitudes toward death & suicide & the psychodynamic importance of marriage & family in Indian culture. Socioeconomic factors & methods are reviewed & bereavement after suicide is touched on. (11 refs.) (LH)

This chapter presents a review of suicide in the history of China, discusses suicide in contemporary Taiwanese culture, & describes changing patterns of suicide & attitudes toward suicide in Taiwan. Data obtained in a series of suicide studies in Taipei are included. (12 refs.) (LH)

Although suicide is condemned by most of the Christian religious establishments, many arguments used to discredit the act are self-contradictory or lack firm scriptual support. Brief statements about suicide & Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, & Japanese religions, some recent clerical views, a homily for a victim, 3 book reviews, reasons for a high suicide risk among […]

A historical review of the Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Hindu and Buddist attitudes of suicide. The evolution to the contemporary Christian perspective is discussed citing contributions of Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas and Donne. Issues realised by life-extension technology are discussed.

An overwhelming majority of the self-immolations throughout the world in the last decade were political acts. More than 1/3 were committed by Buddists, for whom the act is a deed of supreme sacrifice. Several cases, from different countries, are presented & motivations in each case are discussed. 12 refs.

Arvind Sharma discusses Emile Durkheim’s classification of the Hindu custom of Suttee as obligatory altruistic suicide (suicide that results from selfless dedication to & identification with a social group, where suicide is seen as a duty or obligation.) The author takes exception with this categorization, which he feels is inexact, citing problematic historical, sociological & […]

This article describes the protests by South Vietnamese Buddhist monks (via self-immolations) in 1966. The author describes the political motivations & messages of the monks. These protests are compared to similar protests that occurred in 1963. American & South Vietnamese political & cultural responses to these suicides are discussed. (SC)

This paper reports on a case of suicide by self-immolation on the funeral pyre of the husband. The custom of sati, or widow-burning, is reviewed historically & its meaning is explored within the psycho-social setting of Hinduism. The contribution of developmental events & psychiatric illness is considered. (12 refs.)

The author investigated the social role of self-immolation in Vietnam in 1963. She found that self-immolation was not always viewed as suicide by Buddhists, but sometimes was seen as the sacrifice of the “small self” for the “Big Self”. If the self is regarded in the traditional Oriental way, self-immolation can be an affirmation for […]

This paper discusses the Hindu view of suicide, why Indians commit suicide, & what their reactions to it are. The author introduces the factors related to self-destruction & relevant data pertaining to them. He then attempts to explain these data in light of his personal knowledge & observations of Indian life. Finally, he describes the […]

This paper is a preliminary investigation in a limited area of normative behaviour – the chaste behaviour expected for a widow. Inference about the variation of patterns in actual conduct are drawn from the records of the Ch’ing Dynasty (1644-1912). With the popularization of Neo-Confucianism, female suicide, as the ultimate expression of chastity, also gained […]

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