How can a monk commit suicide?

Thay answers questions on 21 June 2014. Question 9

(Bell)

Dear Thay,
dear Sangha

I have heard that a few months ago,

a monk ended his life

in Plum Village.

I have this monk always in my head.

He was always smiling.

He was always wanting
to help other people.

And I do not understand.

My question is:

How can the daily
practice of your teaching

lead to desperation and to suicide?

In the time of the Buddha, there were
also monks who committed suicide.

Did you know that?

You didn't.

Many of us come
to Plum Village and practice.

And there are those of us
who are capable of

transforming and healing very quickly.

And there are those of us
who are very slow

in the practice
of transforming and healing.

But if you stick to the practice,
you have a chance.

If you truly take refuge in the Sangha,

if you try to practice wholeheartedly,
putting the practice into yourself,

then you have more chance
to transform and to heal.

And if you just want to prove
that you are a practitioner,

that is not good enough.

So that is what happened
during the time of the Buddha,

and it will continue
to happen in the Sangha.

In the Sangha there
will be people like that.

If we really take refuge in the Sangha,
get rooted in the brothers and sisters,

we will have more chance
to transform and heal,

even if we have that tendency,

that nature, of suicide in ourselves,

transmitted by
many generations of ancestors.

You bring that tendency, that seed
of society into the Sangha.

And if you hide that from us,

we do not have a chance
to help you soon enough.

So you do not have a chance.

So when you come to us, you should
tell us your suffering, your weakness

and ask for help.

And then we will know how
to generate a collective energy

to help you deal
with that specific question.

But if you try to hide it,

then we do not know how
to help you in the beginning

and you lose your time.

You pretend that everything is good,
everything is going well,

until one day,
you cannot do it anymore.

So things like that happened
during the time of the Buddha,

and, I think, will continue
to happen in the future.

We have to learn the lesson.

And that applies not only
to monastics, but also to lay people.

If you come to the Sangha,
you should take refuge in it.

You should sit among us and say:

Dear Sangha,
dear brothers and sisters in the Dharma,

here is my pain, here is my sorrow,
here is my despair.

Please help recognize and embrace it.

I need you, I need the collective
of the Sangha to guide me,

to lead me,
to help me transform.

That is our practice.

This is called the practice of
taking refuge in the Sangha.

Taking refuge in the Sangha is not
a statement made by chanting.

Taking refuge in the Sangha is

to truly believe in the power
of the Sangha to help you

and to open your heart,

ready to be embraced, guided
and instructed by the Sangha.

(Bell)