Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

newyorker.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 183 posts

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#61

Post by chris_mahan »

sosborn wrote: post #23
chris_mahan wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife is Japanese (born and raised there) and she does not look at it that way. She says people who commit suicide are losers can't apologize properly and work hard to make up for their mistake, or people who don't have the guts to weather through the hard times. Also, the whole samurai/bushido thing essentially doesn't exist for anyone under fifty over there. I went to Japan with my family in January, and I had a…

No offense, but making trip to Japan and eating at Joyful is like going to the Bay area and eating at Denny's.

Well, that's not the only place I went to eat. There's this little sushi bar just a short walking distance from their house where I ate raw frozen thin-sliced whale meat. (Tastes like a blend of beef and tuna. Unexpectedly salty. My son didn't like it. I ate the nine pieces in front of me.

Oh, also went to the shabushabu place in the Fukuoka train station mall on the 10th floor. Awesome. Best shabushabu in my life (not too pricy). Great view from the roof.

Yeah, and Miso soup and rice and other stuff for breakfast.

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#62

Post by bentcorner »

rrradical wrote: post #34
enraged_camel wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>She says people who commit suicide are losers can't apologize properly and work hard to make up for their mistake, or people who don't have the guts to weather through the hard times. My understanding is that at least some of the people who commit suicide have done things beyond apology. I mean, let's say a bridge collapses and kills tens of people, and it turns out this was due to the architect's gross negligence…

Wouldn't it be a better use of his life to work to make sure that sort of accident never happens again? Maybe he changes the culture that led to his incompetence. Maybe he tutors young architects and teaches them to learn from his mistake. I think someone that makes such a huge mistake is actually in a very powerful position to salvage something from it.

You're probably right, but personally if I was in that situation I don't think I'd be able to go through the mental hoops required to forgive myself.

Every morning, I'd wake up and remember what I'd done. The pain would be unimaginable.

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#63

Post by michaelochurch »

unlimit wrote: post #55

The other thing that got me very curious is how did a monk develop heart disease. I mean he must have been very very active and probably eating healthy.

The other thing that got me very curious is how did a monk develop heart disease.

Age and genetics. One will suffice, if not both.

Plenty of people develop heart problems who eat well and keep active. Healthy living improves your odds considerably, but doesn't put you at zero risk.

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#64

Post by dragontamer »

ugexe wrote: post #42
ranran876 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to contrast your experience, I had a very interesting two month working near Tokyo. The whole time I was there I didn't see any anime, or hikkimori and the whole thing didn't resemble anime at all (though.. granted, I'm not an expert in the genre). The only places you saw anything anime related was at gambling establishments and certain districts of Tokyo. I think on the whole, that subculture is looked down upo…

You shouldn't expect to run into hikkimori as their very nature is to shut themselves in

While that is true, one must always rate experiences correctly. My experience 'with' Japan basically boils down into "Watches some fiction that some subset of Japanese also watches".

His experience is actually visiting Tokyo, including newspaper and media coverage of the mainstream in ways that I don't have.

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#65

Post by Estragon » 

    He had spent seven years sacrificing himself, driving himself to the
    point of breakdown, nearly to death, trying to help these people,
    and they didn’t care about him at all. What was the point? He knew
    that if you were suicidal it was difficult to understand other
    people’s problems, but still—he had been talking to some of these
    people for years, and now here he was dying and nobody cared.
When I volunteered on a suicide hotline, the frequent callers were by far the most disheartening aspect of the job. I believe some of them had borderline personality disorder... at any rate they were highly manipulative, and a large part of the training for the job was about how to avoid being taken in / drained by them. There were one or two people who had figured out the duty roster for the call center, and you would be guaranteed a call from them if you were on duty... multiple hours-long calls, if you let them.

The hotline didn't ban them unless they became sexually aggressive towards female volunteers, I think because they helped keep the call numbers up, which was important for funding.

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#66

Post by mililani »

I didn't like some of what was wrote. Suffering shouldn't be praised, and suicide shouldn't be look as being weak. Some people just can't cope with the harshness that is life. Some people can't cope with the harshness of their mental illnesses. Some people just can't cope with the pain that is caused by terminal illnesses. To say that suffering is good, is to trivialize these people's plight.

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#67

Post by bashinator »

MarkPNeyer wrote: post #53

i used to struggle a lot with suicidal thoughts. i kept wanting to get out from the loneliness and general sense of "well what's the point? nothing i do really matters". i felt like the world was broken and alternated between trying to enjoy myself as much as i could, and wishing i could make things better. what helped me finally move past this was repeatedly trying and failing to kill myself. always someone would co…

You might be interested in reading about quantum immortality.

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#68

Post by boohoofoodoo »

scott_s wrote: post #48
themodelplumber wrote: post #33

I used to live near the Tojimbo cliffs and have been thinking about the place (and what happens there) on and off since my first visit. I also really liked this NYT article, about a retired cop who made it his mission to stop suicide attempts at the cliffs. 222 lives had been saved as of late 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/world/asia/18japan.html?_r...

"Mr. Shige says his approach to stopping suicides is quite simple: when he finds a likely person, he walks up and gently begins a conversation. The person, usually a man, quickly breaks down in tears, happy to find someone to listen to his problems." Genuine empathy can be both powerful and shocking.

Agreed, http://www.smh.com.au/national/an-angel-walking-among-us-at-...

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#69

Post by bradleysmith »

scott_s wrote: post #48
themodelplumber wrote: post #33

I used to live near the Tojimbo cliffs and have been thinking about the place (and what happens there) on and off since my first visit. I also really liked this NYT article, about a retired cop who made it his mission to stop suicide attempts at the cliffs. 222 lives had been saved as of late 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/world/asia/18japan.html?_r...

"Mr. Shige says his approach to stopping suicides is quite simple: when he finds a likely person, he walks up and gently begins a conversation. The person, usually a man, quickly breaks down in tears, happy to find someone to listen to his problems." Genuine empathy can be both powerful and shocking.

unexpected empathy is always particularly moving, especially for the hopeless. It's a STRONG pattern interrupt to a negative view of the world around you, and really makes people question themselves.

Re: A Buddhist monk confronts Japan’s suicide culture (2013)

#70

Post by ahris »

mililani wrote: post #66

I didn't like some of what was wrote. Suffering shouldn't be praised, and suicide shouldn't be look as being weak. Some people just can't cope with the harshness that is life. Some people can't cope with the harshness of their mental illnesses. Some people just can't cope with the pain that is caused by terminal illnesses. To say that suffering is good, is to trivialize these people's plight.

Buddhism doesn't praise suffering. Asceticism is practiced as a way to reach nirvana, the ultimate state of mind that is devoid of suffering.

Some cool reads: http://viewonbuddhism.org/4_noble_truths.html#2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asceticism#Buddhism

Post reply on HN