The last conscious act
Almost all humans on Earth want to live as much as possible and experience how much of everything life can offer on this planet. With a few exceptions, most of us want a long, active and happy life. Nevertheless, these scenarios do not always happen, and certain life situations can become a true ordeal giving birth in someones mind to the idea of a conscious chose death to end the pain.
The philosopher Nigel Warburton has developed this idea until the last detail by giving it a name and a purpose: The Good Death Clinic.
This clinic, in his opinion, does not refer to any case of typical suicidal people who simply have been tired of life and want to end their days. Indeed, the Clinic of Death Good is a health center just like any other. Even more, it is supported by the national healthcare system. In a BBC presentation, this type of clinic does not differ from anything you normally do to treat yourself. Only the purpose of admission and "treatment" at this clinic is totally different from a normal one.
Although it seems that those who want to enter this clinic and end their long journey on Earth are those who decide this, in reality they aren't. Nigel Warburton has introduced in this imaginary clinic doctors and therapists who discuss with the patient and analyze both his physical and mental health to determine whether it is susceptible to such a "treatment." Something similar to euthanasia in pets suffering from an incurable disease that doesn't make sense anymore for them and their owners.
However, this scenario is very natural and based on logic reasons to become a reality in the opinion of the philosopher, but not from the point of view of most religions and spiritual traditions, where the idea of ending your life without waiting for your last breath to be consumed naturally is considered a sin.
For example, in Judaism, those who commit suicide do not receive the same type of specific funeral rituals and are not buried together with others, having a special place in the cemetery. In Christianity, for example, taking into account the writing of the Bible, it is never mentioned that suicide is a sin, including also examples of such people who committed suicide. However, some Christian dogmas are totally against such a "good death."
The same perspective is also found in the Hindu tradition, but the clearest explanation of disagreement over suicide is offered by the Buddhist tradition. At least in my opinion. Buddhists believe that the soul of every man becomes reincarnated after death, and all his deeds in the present life will determine the course of his future life. Nothing proven so far, but very close to the idea of continuity of the soul to the attainment of perfection.
They also say that these reincarnation cycles take place until that soul reaches the last state of being, or the state of Buddha. In fact, many religions speak about this ultimate goal of the soul, giving it different names, and also different practices to achieve it. When and how this happens, no one knows and it is also just an assumption.
Looking lucidly at these situations I perfectly understand both perspectives. On the one hand, I can empathize with those who suffer a lot, both they and others around them, and don't wish to continue such a life by resorting to the services of the clinic pictured by Nigel Warburton. I also see the point of Buddhists and their philosophy.
If we start from the premise that everything we live is in a perfect harmony with a certain divine plan, even if suffering is part of this plan, then our intervention is useless, even a possible complication. In the idea of reincarnation and the next life being determined by what is happening in the present, then putting it voluntarily to an end leads to a future life that has some unfinished business to be taking care of and the premise of the continuation of suffering unconsumed in the past one.
Although such traditions mentioned above would not agree with the Good Death Clinic and would probably have their reasons based on millennial beliefs, nobody can know for sure what the ultimate truth is in the perspective of the "conscious death" and what are its outcomes. If this clinic is already a reality in some corner of the world I do not know, but I know I would not be one of its patients.
Regarding the idea of reincarnation, I am not completely convinced about it and how it really works, but I think it is a kernel of truth in the middle of it, which is why I consider that everyone's life is a mixture of joy and suffering and that ending it on our will is not the perfect solution. It could be a premature decision taken around a temporary situation that can change at any time.
References:
https://twitter.com/bbcideas/status/996812531971731456?s=08
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_on_suicide