Death

[IJesusChrist]

Fear it?

I got on the subway today and a man [yes I have the bias bug] with a turban walked on, and I got anxious. I almost wanted to move... but then I thought why? I would like to live, but I shouldn't fear it on this level, should I?

It's an odd question; I want to live, I would not like to die, but should I fear death? Does anyone have no fear of death?

 

[HermesTrismegistus]

Fear it?

I got on the subway today and a man [yes I have the bias bug] with a turban walked on, and I got anxious. I almost wanted to move... but then I thought why? I would like to live, but I shouldn't fear it on this level, should I?

It's an odd question; I want to live, I would not like to die, but should I fear death? Does anyone have no fear of death?

I think the most people fear the unknown, so should you be afraid of death? I think it is one of the deepest fears that alot people do share with you and me. But at the same time i don't believe that we should fear it, although my feelings do say something different. I am also curious about what others have to say about this.

Greets and Love,
Hermes.

 

[ararat]

I don't fear death when I think about it, but some people say that, ultimately, all fear is fear of death. it makes sense somehow, and thus I do have fear of death, because I am afraid of certain things.
maybe I have to discriminate between two types of fear I feel, there is a natural, protective fear, and the irrational, learned one. possibly they are one and the same, I can't really remember feeling the first one. edit: I just remembered what I felt when I came across a snake in thailand. it seemed natural to be afraid of snakes, I do want to survive after all.

my first and only ego-death experience gave me the feeling that death is something not to be afraid of, even though I worked hard against it before it happened. reflecting upon the experience, I came to the conclusion that there seems not to be such thing as death. fear of death is the fear to loose the image of yourself, the identification with something that you aren't really fears for its existence.

it's tempting to say that fear of snakes is a good thing, for you will flee and not get bitten, but be there death or not, you still will want to continue living and not die senselessly because of stepping on a snake. I like to see fear of death and the thrive to live as two separate things.

and if there really is death as the common view (that you absorb growing up in this culture) says - what does it matter right now? you are living now, and being afraid of something that is going to happen in the future won't give you the ability to fully live the moment, which is a most precious thing because it's the only thing that you have (or that is). life isn't there to be afraid of death all the time, and even less for fighting against that fear all the time.

I felt a bit like preaching wine and drinking water while writing this

 

[ophiuchus]

in a philosophical/mental sense, i have no fear of death. in fact i eagerly await it, respectively, once i have finished my missions on this rock.
of course this is contrary to the way my body reacts to things that could possibly cause injury or death, because much of the reaction(release of adrenaline, etc) is a reflex, and one of the most useful. if a snake is there, you want to avoid it at all costs, fearing that your quality of life may be hampered my using a joystick on a wheelchair to move for the rest of your life. these things "scare" me far more than one simple event. a briefly passing event. if i was made to be bound to this world and be forced to simply watch and never to interact again, THAT would cause much more emotion inside of me than fearing going into the unknown, being set free.

there is a divergence in types of fear. one is a (egotistical) fear of losing ones own life, the other is a fear that you may not be able to help those that matter. internal fear, vs external fear. i contain (more of)the latter(now). i realize that my potential, is in part, there to please myself and to gain a stable mind for myself, but on the same token, without others being selfless and giving the time to show me these things, i would never have discovered life as such. and so naturally i think, what is the point in pleasing myself, if others are not pleased? in the end, all of that passes from you, and so nothing is left from all that self-service other than ONE good mind? not in my book! in realizing this, i can now only gain pleasure if somebody else benefits as well. whether they like it or not haha

if you think of life as a game though, as i am incorporating into my view more and more, then you get this sense of excitement, instead of terror, which allows you to USE that adrenaline, productively, instead of being passively incapacitated by it. once it happens, even if for a brief moment, even ONE time, one can do nothing but be astonished upon the discovery, and since i have learned this, i want nothing more than for everybody to know about it, and i will continue to try to teach people how to use it.

remembering that you have that switch all the time is the hard part, even for someone who KNOWS

 

[IJesusChrist]

I feel the same, I have instinctual reactions - the ones forged thousands of years ago that I seem to have no control over, or very little control. But then I have this wisdom that death should not be feared - evolution on earth may fear it, but individuality does not seperate from it.

It is hard to understand whether evolutions' evolutionary ways are correct... or atleast important, or whether self - enlightenment is,...

 

[ophiuchus]

It is hard to understand whether evolutions' evolutionary ways are correct... or atleast important, or whether self - enlightenment is,...

do you mean to say which is more important? helping the group or helping yourself? i believe they are both crucial for healthy developement of society. with it going too far either way i see many bad things down the road.

 

[IJesusChrist]

Well, I mean is evolution - the instinct to live & reproduce the ultimate means in this? To pass on your DNA? Or is enlightenment of one's self the route in which we are better to take?

I suppose it's a personal decisions with many consequences.

 

[ophiuchus]

Well, I mean is evolution - the instinct to live & reproduce the ultimate means in this? To pass on your DNA? Or is enlightenment of one's self the route in which we are better to take?

I suppose it's a personal decisions with many consequences.

what good is passing down the dna if you cant make it any better? i see your point, just that i believe that you could mesh together both at the same time really well. helping others always makes me have a good day, open to learning more

 

[Teonanacapilli]

Thinking about death, I don't fear it. Faced with death, it terrifies me.

I have always been curious to know what death is. I have long thought that any death, even the most drawn out, is nothing compared to a lifetime of life. It's fine to THINK you don't fear death, that you fully accept it, but to face it is different.

This past week I was camping alone in heavy cougar (mountain lion, puma) country. I went for a nice 5km streamside hike during the day and found the remains of a cow from a nearby farm, it was quite obviously a cougar kill from earlier this year. On a game trail in the bush I found a large scat, full of hair, unmistakeably cougar and recent. Fine, I started whistling songs to make sure any cat in the area was alerted to my presence, the last thing you want is to surprise one. Cougars can and do kill and eat humans, we are still prey to them.

There's a pack of coyotes in the area too that I'd heard yipping on previous nights, not something to worry about since coyotes generally respect humans (unless fed) and do not see us as prey. At dusk, as the songbirds quieted and the shadows began to take over, the coyotes began to howl on cue. By the time the sun had fully faded I could hear footsteps around my tent, this wasn't the sound of a small animal. I tried to think that it was coyotes, and hoped it was. They must have smelled some of the food crumbs in the tent and were curious, no problem. But I was getting a bit nervous, I grabbed my hatchet and pocket knife and laid them next to my side.

Okay, now I hear a purring, a deep purring. HOLY FUCK. No way... the chances are... this is... ah shit! I extended the knife, gripping it firmly and sat up in my sleeping bag, listening. I was dead sure of what I was hearing; a very large cat circling my tent, and fucking purring!! You want to talk about anxiety? I am no stranger to panic attacks; my throat tightened, I began to sweat, face flushed. Forget it, I can't afford a panic attack now, so I forced myself out of it. I got mad, I stiffened like a board and got ready for anything, holding the knife in front of me, hatchet in the other hand. This is how I spent most of my night.

Point is, this shattered all of my pretty little ideas about death, maybe yours are more solid. But I really believed I was faced with death that night,and that was enough to teach me that I truly fear it.

 

[amyweaver29]

I have always thought that death is an eventuality of life. We are all going to that. But,truthfully, when my father died I realized we are not exempted from such eventuality. Life has to go on for us living.

Now, I am praying for the grace to face death with joy - joy of being finally in the arms of the Creator.

Regards and God bless,