Are You Afraid of Death?

reply to post by Cythraul


You said what I was saying in other words. You are the same person now, but also different due to your progression.

You will not cease to know your mother after you die. You may find that you know her that much better, when you find that she is so much more than your mother. How many times has she been a mother before she was your mother? How many times has she been a father? Something else all together? Your love and understanding will grow as you shed your physical ideas. If your relationship is strong with your mother or husband/boyfriend then perhaps you have known them before under different circumstances. Perhaps not. Either way you will still appreciate your relationships and experiences in this lifetime, whether they seem good or bad to you, even after you pass on, because that is precisely what we are here for--to experience.

Why fret over a change in perspective, when you do not understand how much greater your outlook will be? You will come to understand exactly how right it is. Be careful not to get mired in your fears, and this feeling of bleakness. It is only because you cannot understand from your perspective. Give yourself a couple of months, and the benefit of the doubt. Try what I recommend. See for yourself

Are You Afraid of Death?

Short Answer.. no - death is part of the greater picture and completes the circle of life, we live we die just like everything else in this planet and even out there in space.

Long answer? yes.....dont get me wrong i dont fear death, i, like i suspect hundreds of thousands of others out there, fear the unknown.

do we die like the flicker of a candle, once shining bright then ping the light goes out?

do we die and are reborn- not necessarily as an animal but as another living thing, like the legends of the phoenix borne from the ashes of its death - thus keeping the circle of life ongoing, never breaking.

do we go to limbo? a place in-between living and death, not complete gone but not alive nether.

do we go to the so called places called heaven and hell?

do our energies simply leave our shells and join the big ball of energy that gives life to everything, being reused and recycled?

so really its not death itself that people (nor i ) fear, its not knowing whats going to happen once our shells die. Humans as a species has to have an answer to everything (imo), we have to know and understand everything to feel settled,and thus tis is a question that can never be answered to ones satisfaction, but the way i see it death would be the greatest adventure known

I have a spine disease that is very grave and for the last few months I have felt like I am dying. I'm only 23 but have been very ill for my entire life and recently had the worst possible disc herniation happen to me, and am unable to move much.

I have an amazing girlfriend who keeps me happy and alive but I know that I must be prepared because otherwise a day may come where I am told I am dying in a short period of time and I will be so unprepared that it would be overwhelming.

The hard part is having it feel like your last moments and impressions are being wasted and misunderstood, more than that you don't know what will happen. I assume death will feel like a dream as it happens and so I want my conscious and unconscious to get to that point with a sense of purpose from my life, which has been generally horrendous and constantly challenging.

Feeling like you are dying can put a profound seperation between you and your friends and make you feel like you don't really care any more about them. I feel like I've learnt enough about life, I just want to start being treated with some respect. All I've ever wanted out of life is the respect I am due and you will not find that in the medical system (even in Canada). In fact I was accused over and over of faking my condition (which I have had for so many years: I had a physio therapist following me my whole life but she was in a car accident, one of God's many jokes at my expense).

Death for the Egyptians must have meant feeling very fulfilled (even dying at a young age) because of the respect and tributes given there. Here you feel like as soon as you die only negatives and jokes will be remembered about you and the true qualities dissappear. My lasting legacy is the most worrying thing but it is too late to change who I am.

My opinion is when one dies, true life begins, or is about to, something like that, i won't go into the whole idea in this thread.

The issue i do have with death though is i think to much about the people around me. I know they will be sad, and i find that upsetting.

reply to post by athenegoddess


Good Question:

I can't think about death without thinking about life aswell. I don't know if any others feel the same way, but I think it's more of a question about contentment of your life up until now. If I was to be faced with death, I would feel a little anxious about not having done things that I was looking forward to doing in my human state. But looking back at it all, I feel fairly content with the way it has played out, and therefore I don't fear death.

If faced with death tomorrow or in the near future, I'd probably say to myself "awe crap" and just hope for a quick and painless end to my existence on this planet.

Conscience is energy which can not be destroyed, It came from somewhere before you were born and it goes somewhere after you die! The only thing I dont like about death is possibly not seeing my children grow up and me not being there for them when they need me most!
I believe the whole meaning of life is experience, hate, love, greed, loneliness, etc. If we lived forever life would have no meaning, no more first kisses or loves, or child hood memories. Everything would eventually become boring. BUT, if we die to come back and live different lives and experience everything that would be exciting and worth death!

From my horizon I was depressed by my own fate only a few years back, I felt the coming catastrophe and had no way of improving myself and I was hopeless and surrendered completely to the almighty.

That is when I found Falun Dafa self-cultivation of mind and body and started to raise myself up(mind nature and body is constantly purified). Now I know the true meaning of life is to return to one´s origin and true self and eliminate all attachments(ie emotions and desires) in everyday life while living among them. This is very hard and my karma is blocking my pathway at every level(there are many levels to go through before enlightenment is reached) but I will persist until my last day. And this period oftime is the most unique in mankind´s history and Falun Dafa´s arrival in this world is the golden chance that I waited for during all my lifetimes.

What still worries me is if I can not raise my xinxing(mind nature) level anymore and dies without having achieved a good level in my cultivation. At the very least I will have eliminated alot of black karma and decreased some attachments at a low level. Taking joy in suffering(especially mental suffering is hard), is a key issue in reaching enlightenment I believe. That is a key aspect to see all conflicts in daily life as golden opportunities to raise one´s level.

I quote Master Li Hongzhi:

Nothing Kept


In life, nothing sought,
In death, regretting naught;
Washing away all wrong thought,
Buddhahood, with less
adversity, is wrought.

Just my two cents, no truth is offered whatsoever.

reply to post by athenegoddess


Death happens. I'll either die or get off easy and ascend when Jesus returns.

In either case, death sucks. But it probably wouldn't be the first time I felt it.

In life we understand now that we arose from the compilation of particles of matter under stress by the energy of the sun and in time evolution carried us along over a billion years to our current state. We are the descendants of some of the earliest forms of life on Earth.

Speaking personally I look forward to being dead and possibly experiencing something new. Every capable living thing should think about death because in this life it is the only constant. Any living thing could die at anywhere any time for a near infinite number of reasons. Roughly every 1-2 seconds a human dies from starvation somewhere on this planet. Imagine an unknown force of the universe comes sweeping through our local galactic cluster and wipes out all life in our galaxy and those immediately surrounding it? For all we as humans know it could happen any time. Why fear the inevitable? The universe is a large cycle. This cycle is repeated constantly and everywhere from the birth and death of galaxies to the birth and death of life on small planets. When life leaves my corpse I wish it to be left and allowed to decay back into the Earth and become one with it again.

Not particularly, but it may be an ingenuous answer.

I'm confident of where I'm going, so "death" is not scary; "dying" may be since I'm a pain-weeny. And I have the responsibility of caring for my family, so I'd rather put it off for awhile (though I admit reading all the doomsday threads makes the thought of dying in an ELE seem dramatic and somehow noble.)

But at the time of actual death? I don't know how I'll feel. I believe God will be there to take me home, but even on my best days that's not 100% belief. If I have time to prepare for it, I should be okay. And I've determined that in moments of tragedy and conflict, convincing yourself that today is a good day to die frees you up to be effective (rather than constantly checking your decisions for self-safety) will make you more effective.

As a Christian I know I must make the most of every day of life and that each day I breath, I have a purpose that must be fulfilled. So death is welcome, but not paramount.

reply to post by xBWOMPx


Sorry but consciousness only exists within your brain. With the proper machines I would be able to literally read your thoughts, which are electrical impulses being sent between the complex network of hundreds of millions of neurons inside your skull.

Originally posted by IdeaLogical
Personally it frightens me quite a lot. My belief that death is like what it was before we were born. Quite simply, nothing. I also believe this is why a lot of people suspend their logic reasoning when it comes to religion so they can be rid of this fear. Unfortunately my mind cannot do this hence the fear I feel.

But, when it comes down to it, when I die, I will not know as I am dead so therefore no more fear which I guess is good.

Also - I think it's one of mankind's greatest curses. The knowledge that one day we will all die. To not dwell on such things is one way to deal with it I guess. Another is to celebrate it.

edit on 19-7-2011 by IdeaLogical because: (no reason given)

Are you afraid to go to sleep?
Because it's just like dying,. You lose your perception of time and reality until you wake up.
I am sure once you 'wake up' from death, you will be back where you belong.

I am totally scared to die. I have at times, obsessed over the idea of it. I have also been very lucky with cheating death. I have had many close calls in my life that I am still shocked that I walked away from.

Through over analyzing it, I've come to realize that I have surrounded myself with that which scares me, hence I read tons of books on the topics of death, funerals, undertaking, funeral rites, etc. I collect skulls of all sorts, curios, oddities, etc. I have a huge collection of horror memoribilia, horror motif, you name it.
That which nourishes me, also destroys me.....

Since I cannot comprehend the finality of all of it, it drives me crazy. I am also a person who has insomnia and hates the idea of sleeping. I think about missing stuff and I try to rationalize the act of sleeping. This in turn cause me to not sleep. No biggie though, I'll get enough sleep when I am DEAD. LOL

The spiritual side of me believe this - If you live a good life but you don't instill any values or experiences in anyone or leave any kids or relatives to speak of you after you are gone, then what was the point of your life? It's like you never existed. When you leave a certain legacy, you are remembered and you live on through the lives that you have touched.

The intellectual side of me believes that - I WANT TO LIVE. I still have stuff to do!

Anyway, I have enjoyed reading some of the other posts and they are actually very calming in a way. Good thread OP!

Only thing I fear of death is reincarnation on this #ed up planet!

reply to post by athenegoddess


Dear Athenegoddess,
Interesting subject matter. I admit I have not taken the time to read through all the responses, however here is mine:

I was in a severe car crash 20 years ago, from which I suffered very serious injuries and flat lined on the operating table for a good few minutes due to extreme blood loss and systemic organ failure. As corny as it sounds I saw the white light, smelt my dead grandfathers eau de toilette and heard his voice reassuring me, telling me it was not my time. I saw myself on the operating table with doctors rushing around and performing a cardiac restart procedure from a view point of about 3 metres above my "body". I then felt what can only be described as a bungee rope pull into myself, like I was being wrenched back into my body when they managed to restart my heart.

Since that day I have no fear whatsoever of dying. I firmly believe there is "something" once we die, I don't follow any religious beliefs so do not associate this to God, heaven or anything biblical, but there is something.

I have read many accounts of similar cases which I can relate to.. so, when the time comes i'll get to find out if my beliefs were right or not.

Regards,
T

I guess i am and i don't like the idea of laying down and then knowing i'm about a minute away from dying and i'll never wake up again.........it freaks me out.

Originally posted by Dystopiaphiliac
reply to post by xBWOMPx

 

Sorry but consciousness only exists within your brain. With the proper machines I would be able to literally read your thoughts, which are electrical impulses being sent between the complex network of hundreds of millions of neurons inside your skull.

Once we are dead there is no more electricity to drive the heart and subsequently those impulses in the brain for that matter.

This "Flatlining" essentially translates to Zero electrical energy/voltage remaining in the body, and is the medically accepted clinical definition of Death.

If the consciousness can only exist within our brain then how do we explain people being aware of their surroundings after having been declared dead ?

Remember, there is no more any brain activity once the cardio pulmonary system is no longer providing oxygen to the brain cells of which the neurons are comprised of and are necessary for the Brain cells to function.

There are countless accounts of people having been declared as dead and returning after being told that it wasn't yet their time.

There has to be some degree of truth to this for there are too many examples of people existing outside of their physical bodies AND returning to them after being told that it wasn't yet their time.

Here's an example:

Originally posted by doom27
My opinion is when one dies, true life begins, or is about to,

I completly agree with this statement.

I think the soul/essense of the being lives on and I truly believe that what's beyond is far more important than anything in this physical world. So to answer the question in the OP....No i'm not afraid to die,however, I do fear how I will die. If that makes any sense.

I don't fear death.....I just don't fancy the whole *dying* thing.

reply to post by athenegoddess


Am I scared of Death? No. Not at all. For simple reasons really... Either I am going to die and spend eternity in a perfect afterlife or I am going to die and will just cease to exist, and if that is the case, I wont know the difference anyway.

Death has never really scared me. I've always felt that we all are going to die some time in some way.... and if this happens to be my time, so be it.

The only thing I am not looking forward to is the PROCESS of dying.... I am not looking forward to seeing people sad and hurting.....


When I die, I hope it is sudden and painless.