What is the spiritual benefit of sacrificing own life to save others?
In today’s times when selfishness is rampant and there is a general degradation of social unity, ethics and even family structure it sounds very unusual to hear stories of heroes who are doing unselfish acts for others.
The last such incident that we have seen, when the Japanese firefighters willingly exposed themselves to high, even deadly levels of radiation in order to protect their fellow citizens is quite inspiring and admirable.
(AP Photo/Tokyo Electric Power Co. via Kyodo News)
We immediately wonder if we would have been able to do the same in their situation? It also makes us wonder how much these people gained spiritually with this act, because it is quite a high sacrifice to make and one would guess it is a valuable one in the scope of universal law. A similar level of sacrifice is often expected from some other professions such as the police or the army, where one has to sacrifice life for the sake of duty, nation, etc.
We can look at this act from two angles which are also the two reasons we are born: the angle of karmic law, and the angle of spiritual growth on the path to God-realisation.
The karmic law is quite complex, and there are numerous parameters which influence the quantity of merits or demerits which are created. Of all of these parameters the most important parameter is the intention behind the act and that defines which benefit one gains from sacrificing life.
If the intention of the person is to sacrifice his life in order to save one person, or his family members, a karmic account is created, that is, that person he is saving or the family members he is saving will be in his debt. The only case when they will not be in his debt is if through this act he is just repaying the debt from a previous life to that person or to his family. In that case the karmic account gets settled.
If on the other hand the intention of the person is to sacrifice his life for the collective, for the society or the nation, then he gains merits which he will collect either in heaven or in his next life. From the angle of spiritual progress however, in both these cases karma is being created or completed, so the person is not gaining spiritual progress from the act.
We may wonder why would the person not gain a full spiritual benefit from such a big sacrifice? In order for the embodied soul to reach God-realisation one must imbibe Divine qualities and purify all the bodies, including the physical body, mental body, intellect and ego. Sacrificing life is akin to sacrificing attachment to the physical body, but one also needs to sacrifice attachment to all the impressions in the mind, the intellect and one’s own ego. Only then can we experience our inner Divine nature.
We undoubtedly gain by striving to work and sacrifice for the benefit of others. The person doing work or sacrificing for society or his community with the right intention gains merits. However when our sacrifice for others is coupled with spiritual practice such as chanting, performing service to the spiritual cause, developing spiritual love, imbibing seekership qualities and developing spiritual emotion, it brings us added spiritual benefit and brings us closer to the Divine.
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I’m a new visitor to your spiritual journey site.
I come from a different spiritual orientation than the adherents of your teachings. And I want to treat that with respect.
My basic belief is there is a creator God. And the divine source of all things has purpose for all of the creator’s creation. This is my starting point.
Two years ago I experienced a dramatic change in my belief about God. Up until that point, I labored under the belief that I had to live under the weight of sacrifice to please God. It was a terrible burden. And one that nearly crushed my life.
Today, I no longer embrace that belief. I’m uncertain how that fits in with your spiritual orientation. But I do know I have a great deal more peace in my life…by not living under the burden of attempting to prove myself through sacrifice.
Mark Lemar
Dear Mark, welcome.
It’s really good that you have spiritual inclination and that you have been making efforts to practice your spiritual beliefs.
What may be important to understand about sacrifice is that it is one of the steps we can practice in growing closer to God. From the viewpoint of an average individual who is not interested in realising God, making some sacrifice (even if for a non-spiritual cause) is a step forward. So instead of thinking only about oneself, in this type of sacrifice there is some thought about others and one becomes more expansive.
In sacrifice as part of our path for spiritual growth, initially we sacrifice as per our comfort level. We can sacrifice our body, mind or wealth for God. Sacrificing body for a spiritual cause would be e.g. helping set up chairs or banners for a spiritual function. Sacrifice of mind would be e.g. chanting the Name of God, as by chanting we have to give up the thoughts that keep appearing in the mind and focus on God’s Name. Sacrifice of wealth may be e.g. donating towards the organisation of a spiritual event. Since in this context, we sacrifice for a spiritual cause, God is Himself responsible for taking that cause to fruition. So in fact the opportunity to sacrifice is given for our own upliftment. One can experience this after making the sacrifice.
What is also important is that sacrifice is not an end in itself. It is only a medium for our spiritual upliftment which should be practiced along with other steps such as chanting, awakening of spiritual emotion, service, etc. By practicing all these aspects on a regular basis, one can really make progress on the spiritual path.
Thank you for the response. I had forgotten this comment, and just happened to return.
Your words are helpful…and I better understand what you are saying about the value of sacrifice.
From a slightly different vantage point, I heard an expression in a recent movie by Denzel Washington…”The Great Debaters”. A father who happened to also be a professor at a smalll African American college in the rural south in 1930 said to his son…a college student at age 14…in reference to his studies…”We do what we must, so we can do what we want.”
Sacrifice is a part of life, and though it may seem painful at the time…there is good that can come from it.
God bless,
Mark
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