Does dying of an illness due to loss of the will to live count as suicide?

The constitutive elements of suicide are, first, having the desire to die, and second, having a concrete act of suicide. This act may be carried out by oneself, may be carried out by having someone else do it in one's place, or may result from inaction—not saving oneself and not allowing others to provide treatment.

A person who has lost the will to live has not adopted any means of suicide, nor does he deliberately wish to die; he has simply become disheartened, causing his life to end quickly. There is no suicidal gesture or act, so it does not count as suicide, and there is certainly no guilt. When one does not want to live and has no hope in life, death comes quickly, but it does not constitute suicide.

Suppose a person falls seriously ill and, unwilling to endure the suffering of the illness, wholeheartedly seeks death, and eventually dies of the illness—does this count as suicide? If this person gave up treatment and refused to give himself a chance to continue living, it counts as suicide; if he deliberately refused food, it counts as suicide. If the patient could have pressed the call button before dying of the illness to summon a doctor for rescue, but in the end chose not to press the button to call the doctor and died of the illness, does this count as suicide? Such a deliberate act of not saving oneself, refusing to give oneself a chance to live and thereby causing one's own death, counts as suicide. But it carries no guilt. Whether it is killing or suicide, there must be not only subjective intent but also the means and method; for killing, six conditions must be complete for the crime of killing to be established. Not saving oneself and refusing to rescue someone on the verge of death are the same principle: refusing to rescue someone who is dying is not against the law, it merely violates worldly moral notions, and not saving oneself is even less against the law.

In the Buddha's time, after the bhikṣus attained the first through the fourth fruits, because they had no longing whatsoever for their own lives and no interest whatsoever in the world of the five aggregates, they took action to end their lives, or sought someone's help to die. All of these count as acts of suicide, yet none of them carried guilt. Because the final destination of one's own life is decided by oneself, as long as one does not harm the interests of others, there is no crime. But bodhisattvas absolutely never commit suicide, because bodhisattvas have higher aspirations in their hearts; in their hearts there is the Buddha's teaching and there are sentient beings, and there is great power of vows, so they cherish life and time immensely.