The tragic death of Robin Williams shocked and demonstrated once again that fame and worldly success do not necessarily bring happiness.
Without speculating or moralizing (we cannot know the inner workings of his soul), all we can do is to thank him for all that he gave us as a talented artist and to respectfully wish him well on his journey.
However, since I live in a country plagued by suicide at the moment (far more than the people admit, far more than families allow to be known, far more than statisticians permit -for political reasons- to be revealed), I thought it was important to share my thoughts on the matter, which cannot be but of spiritual nature.
How can it be otherwise? A matter so sensitively close to life and death cannot be but of spiritual nature.
The answer to the pull of suicide, to the suicidal ideation, to the illusion of 'liberation' through death and 'atonement' through self-attack, can only come through the Light.
In some ways, suicidal ideation is the death itself and the only answer to this inner death is not the physical death, but the Life, the True Life and Eternal Life.
The breath of Life that can liberate the suicidal mind can only be given by God, when called upon.
Whether it comes through a helpful word from another person, an event that makes us see things differently, or medical help (yes, God works through doctors too), the answer is always through the source of Life and that is God.
Our calls upon the Highest Forces of Light are always heard.
Jesus is one of the most powerful forces for Life and Truth and calling upon Him (whether we believe in Him or not) cannot but spell out the darkest darkness -if we let Him.
This is important to do, when tempted by suicidal ideation, for four reasons: 1)Because, as already said, God is the Source of Life and only the true Source of Life can dispel the dark despair of death thoughts.
2) Because God doesn't judge.
Unlike His religious (self-nominated) human representatives on Earth, who often are very judgmental about suicide, God's love is totally unconditional and unshaken by any thoughts or feelings, however desperate they may be.
He is always, constantly streaming that endless river of love, compassion, caring and admiration for us, no matter what state we may be in.
A strong factor in suicidal ideation is often the guilt about having failed, even guilt about being in this state, which then feeds into a vicious cycle.
God does not get in the least put off by our state.
He is very compassionate, but not upset: our darkest thoughts cannot scare Him off.
He can handle it and He can handle us.
He has total faith in us, no matter how hard we try to prove to Him (and ourselves) that we are a lost cause, to be over with.
He knows better.
You could say that His love is blind, but actually it is exactly the opposite: it is because He can see the whole truth about us, beyond the blackness that blocks our vision that His love is so constant and unchangeable.
We can ask Him to help us see ourselves as He sees us (HE, not his religious human representatives).
This can lift the black smoke of suicidal ideation, as much of it is about self-attack.
Threatening people with hell if they commit suicide (as some religions do) is not going to deter them from doing so.
It may deter them from seeking help from God (associating Him with the threatening religion) and thus push them further into the depression abyss.
The way to deter people from suicide is to show them the infinity of Love and Light that is already there for them.
The negative cannot be fought with another negative.
But only with what is genuinely positive and this can only come from Spirit.
3) The third reason we need to call upon the Light, if in this state, is psychic protection.
In some cases, negative energies get attracted to the depressed mind and sometimes (not always, but sometimes) the voice (or thought) that says "Go kill yourself" is not actually our own.
This need not scare us, because God is far more powerful than any of these entities, and calling upon Jesus, in particular, to protect us and dissolve the attacking thoughts can be extremely effective.
The symbol of the Holy Cross, calling upon Jesus' name, holding His icon, saying the Lord's Prayer, all these are powerful quick ways to bring protection upon us.
In Him, there is nothing to fear.
The problem is that many people simply do not call upon God for help, often because they do not believe in Him, or these 'psychic' things.
That's exactly what these energies want, so they can go on about their business.
Even if you don't believe in them, call upon Godto protect you.
That'll do.
4) The fourth reason why we need to call upon God during the depressive or suicidal time is that in Him lies our true identity, safe and unscathed.
Sometimes, suicidal thoughts come as a result of our sense of identity being shattered, because of life circumstances.
I see this a lot in my country: men who suddenly lose their job and belongings and subsequently, their partner (often taking the children along) have their identity (at least as it is structured in our Western civilization) totally taken to pieces.
As the sense of self goes, along with the life circumstances, the person may be tempted to respond to the apparent dissolution with physical dissolution.
The subconscious thought may be: "If I have nothing, then I am nobody, therefore I'd better be dead".
Yet, the dissolution can be a turning point for true liberation, albeit in an extremely painful way.
Whatever the change, however catalytic, God keeps our true identity in place, whole and intact.
We can call upon Him, and by calling upon Him, we remember who we truly are and then, we feel alive.
By feeling alive, we are liberated from the despair.
Not by suicide.
The true identity may not seem impressive to the outside world.
In fact, the humble holding of the true identity (discovering the person we truly are and living it) may appear as uneventful, some may even judge it as failure.
But it is the only success there is and it is immensely powerful.
It is the one that God recognizes.
Living it and feeling it on the Earth plane is what pleases God and makes our mission here come true.
It is the only thing that can truly satisfy.
Like depression, suicidal ideation is closely linked to self-worth.
And since our self is a human self, it is also linked to human-worth.
In many places in the world, including our Western civilization, human beings are simply not valued.
Part of the reason for the suicide epidemic in the crisis-hit countries, like Greece, is precisely this message, inherent in our money-driven culture: "Without money, you are nothing".
I am afraid that this message of worthlessness has penetrated many people's conscience, more than they would like to admit.
Intellectually they disagree of course, they get angry and rebellious at the suggestion.
But how much do they really value themselves in practice, if the system kicks them out of the game, in order to fight for their lives? Other people, who also intellectually disagree with this statement, act out this belief nevertheless to the one who lost everything.
Many in the helping profession, including psychologists and self-growth gurus, may not think twice about him, if he doesn't have the money to pay.
Friends and acquaintances, even family, stop calling the one who's gone bankrupt.
The pretense is more widespread than we would like to admit, yet once we realize it (to save us from future disappointment), it doesn't really touch us, for there is the greatest value-giver of all: God.
And He has already given us infinite value, choosing us as His children.
This is what we are.
We are not an accumulation of randomly selected DNA and molecules that just happened to adapt in the right way, a crumble of clay in an impersonal Universe governed only by laws of physics.
The Universe is not governed by the laws of physics, they are being broken all the time by the Will of God! There is another law that rules this Universe and it is this one that has allowed the planet and humanity to go on for so long, without blowing apart from the zillions of reasons that could have put it out of balance.
The Author of this Law has chosen us as His Children.
We are not a number of a bank account or a word after the word "Occupation".
We don't have to prove our worth to anyone, not even ourselves.
It has been given by Him already and that doesn't change.
Equipped with this worth, it is like crossing the sea of life with the most technologically advanced, strong and robust ship: nothing can touch it and even storms can be experienced with ease, even perhaps with excitement.
Without the awareness of this worth, it is like swimming with bare hands.
If a plank is given us and the weather is good, fair enough.
But if the plank (job, salary, partner etc.
) is taken away and the wind is blowing a little, we feel like drowning.
Yet our vehicle is right here waiting for us, brand new and full of fuel.
It has our name on it.
It is for us to cross that sea with.
Why drown into it when we can travel on it and see it all? Storms are always temporal and regional anyway.
The fullness of time will always come, whatever the difficulty.
Suicidal thoughts are not always due to financial troubles of course.
Matters of love -rather, lack of love- are often a factor in feeling that life is unbearable.
But that too is an illusion, since the loneliness is due to the wound of spiritual separation, which is always the wound underneath human separation.
Man left God, but the yearning for love remained.
Not knowing how to satisfy it (but stubbornly not wishing to return to God), Man decided that the source of love would now come from each other, in what the Course in Miracles calls the 'special relationship'.
Hardly any other issue has caused so much pain in humanity's heart history than this grave misunderstanding.
The agonizing search for satisfying human love is part of the reason why some people want to leave life.
Again, the problem here is a collective one: other people's reactions are often not helpful, because they too are caught up in the same illusion of emptiness and fear.
But those who have received, valued and consciously accepted the life-sustaining and so real love of God, these ones can help-just by their presence.
This love is available to us all and it is not just a theoretical idea.
Once you start connecting with it, it will nurture you more than any food or any human affection.
It won't matter if others don't understand it.
Once you plug into that God love, not only loneliness disappears, but never again would you even think to replace it with the futile chase of crumbles of conditional and imperfect human love.
Help and relief, He will bring.
Perhaps not in the pace we would like, perhaps His test to us will be patience and perseverance, especially if there is karma between us and Him.
But He will do everything He can and I dare say, bargain as much as He can with Universal laws to cut down as much karma as possible, especially if He sees us trying and committing to Him.
He doesn't keep grudges.
Even if we denied Him for years, even if we are angry with Him, even if we have derided Him, even then, God doesn't keep accounts.
He will rush to our help instantly and set in motion what is most suitable for our soul, although it may take a while for us to begin perceiving the changes.
Persisting to seek God, to seek the Light and to fight for Life and Love, when in the midst of depression is a very honorable struggle and every small victory counts hugely in the kingdoms of Heaven.
On the Earth plane, perhaps no one will notice the effort you make to get out of bed yet another day, but God does.
To Him, this achievement, this striving for life, especially when you are caught in the throes of depression, is a brilliant medal of victory, far more brilliant and valuable than any of the worldly achievements of those who never had to face the inner difficulties that perhaps you do.
It is of huge spiritual value because of what it overcomes, despite the fact that other people don't appreciate it.
God does and you could too.
The feat of getting out of bed.
And trying for God for another day.
And every effort counts.
This is the medal.
And whatever happens, there is no final verdict, success or failure, with which our world likes so much to judge people by.
There is no verdict at all, because you are a success by the definition of your creation and nothing can change that.
Nothing happens by accident.
So if there is a difficulty, it is of course because it has been designed by the soul and allowed by God.
There is a meaning behind it, seek for the meaning.
Ask yourself: "What is it trying to teach, what is it trying to say? What is it asking of me?" Get past the anger and the rebelliousness and the cynicism ("I don't want to try, I 'm fed up") and ask God again: "What is He asking of me? What is the meaning of this?" Once you align with God's Will for that lesson, the way you feel about the difficulty will begin to shift.
And this is where your true power lies: to the way you feel about the difficulty.
You have the power of choice to mediate fear into mere worry, agony into occasional discomfort, despair into passing sadness.
I won't use alienating big words, such as 'be in constant bliss' (which make any ordinary people feel inadequate), but you can increase the frequency of moments of inner peace and perhaps, at times, contentment.
The catalyst for this inner shift is your own free will to ask for God's grace.
Praying helps.
Praying, persistent praying attracts help, attracts relief, attracts love, attracts inner liberation, attracts meaning and change.
Little by little, day by day, it is possible.
Through prayer, detachment, positive thinking and self-worth ("I deserve to feel well, whatever happens"), even if external problems persist, we don't really care, and this is the beginning to inner liberation.
We can ask ourselves: "Come on, if I really wanted to help myself, if I really wanted to support myself, if this was my priority above all else, what would I do? What would I say to myself? What would I think? If I really wanted to help myself, not fight myself...
" We all have enormous reserves of self-support and self-preservation, we are wired that way.
We can tap into it, if we believe we are worth it.
Whatever the message given by our human culture about our worth (because non-worth has come from the outside somewhere), it is not true.
Other people, even if they were the entirety of human population, have no right to decide on our worth.
God has already decided on this and He has decided that we are worthy of Life.
We are worthy of relief and we are worthy of love.
We can tap into God's grace and our inner reserves to take us through the storm.
I will never forget that homeless man at the shelter in Athens.
He told me he had been in squalor and complete abandonment, begging on the streets for 7 years.
No one would talk to him or come near him, as he stank for miles.
Yet, he was never left without food.
And with Jesus' help, he found a way out of this pit, out of the street, healed and led a content, yes happy life, holding Jesus in his heart.
This man is an unforgettable example of strength and grace.
In his words, Jesus saved him and he was never forgotten by God.
If he can do it, so can any of us.
Suicidal thoughts flourish in silence and isolation.
This is why men are more vulnerable, as in most cultures, they have been taught not to talk about their problems.
Whether a man or a woman, it is important to find someone you trust to talk to, but you can always talk to God.
You can write to Him daily.
He receives all the letters.
He is a more careful and skilled listener than any psychotherapist and He doesn't charge! For those who find it difficult to feel or imagine God, try looking at the Sun.
As a physical representation of God's love on Earth (the Sun is the physical life sustainer, just as God is the sustainer of all life), the Sun is a powerful symbol that can help reconnect with the source of benevolence and Light.
Look at the Sun daily, breathe the Sun, see the golden light fill in your lungs and body.
Receive all that love-life that the Sun is trying to remind us of everyday: it is not there just for the photosynthesis! This life is the terrain of problems, but this life is also the terrain of liberation from problems.
Asking for the Light of God to breathe Life into you, while on this terrain, begins the conscious awareness of Eternal Life, which goes beyond the physical deaths and re-births.
During the process of the conscious awareness of that Eternal Life is when it all begins to make sense and fall into place.
The journey becomes not only painless, but interesting too.
It begins to reveal the meaning of what you came here to do, on this school called Earth.
It is worth the effort.
It is worth the persistence, putting your faith onto the One who can help.
It is worth it, because we are worth it.
God created us as His children, not some imaginary fiction characters in some other dimension of outer space, but us.
And judged us worthy of life.
And God makes no mistakes.