Are You Afraid of Death?

reply to post by Cythraul


If it is better to have love and lost, then it was not love on the first place but a masquerade of love. When you love you don't loose, love has nothing to do with attachment (because attachment is a fraud of love) , love is singular, love is free and eternal...that is love in the real sense.
Now, I can't push people I can only show some road.
The road for freedom will come to you as it came for many other.
It is not a freedom of knowing or not knowing but rather a freedom of being.
Life is so f.....g beautiful this is why you have to give it up with a smile.
Take care.

In my childhood years I used to give myself panic attacks worrying about death and what was next. I went through two stages. The 1st was the concern over nothingness. I used to lie awake at night freaking out at night worrying what would happen if I just stopped being, stopped existing. Then I realized nothing would happen, I wouldn't even know. I would just not exist forever. THen I began to get concerned that I might be wrong, what if the CHristian concept of the afterlife was what would happen. Ouch, existing for eternity, man not sure which would be worse, existing or not existing forever.

I got married and lost my brother to a drunk driver on my birthday/wedding day more than a decade ago and haven't worried about it since. Whatever the answer is, whatever the outcome at the end of this life, if I simply maintain myself as an earthbound spirit, go to some sort of afterlife or have my being scattered about the cosmos never to hold cohesive thought again, I can't do much of anything about it now. So I'll do the best I can while I'm here.

reply to post by Cythraul


Oh! I think I see the misconception here! First let me apologize for the gender confusion

You must be under the impression that as soon as you transcend this physical existence, you rejoin the source, or whole, or a singular consciousness. This is almost certainly not the case. Think of this life as a building block. You have many more experiences left--much more learning to do--once you re-enter the non-physical. This is probably not your first physical existence (although it's possible), either.

You also seem to be under the impression that you lose all of your Earthly experiences when you pass. Also not true. You not only retain them, but depending on where you are in your journey when you transcend, you could have access to all of your previous experiences as well. I warn, though, that you must find a way to change your current perspective. The sooner the better

So, to summarize: You have a long way left to go before you are even close to completely rejoining the source. Most of your progression will be non-physical. You will still be "you" after you leave the physical, but also more. As you are still "you", so are your acquaintances still "them", but also more. You may even find that you have a deeper relationship than you were aware of with some of them.

To answer your question about how I know: I know through experience, and the experiences of those who have shared in my experiences. I know that this is insufficient, as my experiences are subjective, but it is like I said to begin with: "The proof is in the pudding." Experiencing is knowing. You must take it upon yourself. Teachers can only guide you. You must dig deeper, and form your own conclusion--but PLEASE, base them on personal experience. Do not take what is written in a book as truth, do not take what a spiritual leader tells you as truth, do not take what I am telling you right now as truth, take my ADVICE though, and find out for yourself.

To quote the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."

I would not claim to be a Buddhist, but there is value in the teachings. Good luck on your journey.

"When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky." -Siddhartha Gautama

Quick offtopic followup: X-Ray showed no cancer/tumors, but apparently I have some emphysema from my smoking days. They still aren't sure about my chest pain.

Yep, I was definately feeling some fear of death there. Whew...

reply to post by MyrTheSeeker

Thank you! That certainly cleared things up for me. I didn't quite understand your perspective on the afterlife until now. I don't think I will be ready for returning to the source in this lifetime - I'm far too individualistic. But it's comforting knowing that I will only return to the source when I'm content to, and that I probably have many lives left to enjoy first. I'm often told I'm an "old soul", but obviously not that old.

i actually afraid of death, but almost 2 months ago my 2 year old nephew died and if i die i will meet him

Let me see how many times I have about died. From an asthma attack, from MRSA staph infection, from fever, overdosing on drugs(though clean now) and probably a few other times I have been near death. Here's what scared me the most about death: Not being able to accomplish things that I need to do and being away from my family and friends.

But there is a certain power gained from being near death. You realize that life is short and you realize you are on borrowed time. You no longer take time for granted and just wade through life, it is yours to claim and make good use of it. You realize that the 9-5 mentality is a false one and there are greater things to do. You value more your friends and family and you tell them you love them more. These are all good things.

I don't fear death...I mean, why fear something that's going to happen. We we're all born to die. I know that sounds really pessimistic, but its true. But, it doesn't mean that when your on the brink of death to just give up and accept that your going to die.

I've been told live life(you know), cause we're only here once. I believe in reincarnation, that we will simply be reincarnated, whether it be into the past, future, or present. But then again, it'd probably be more simple to believe that once we die, our minds(our souls, spirits, whatever you want to call them) just, cease to exist after that.

But that's no fun. Hehh, and that's my opinion.

reply to post by athenegoddess

I just wanted to mainly get some insight on the subject of death from people of this generation. I noticed that our civilization represses the subject profoundly and that makes for people to reject things that entail death all too eagerly. So, please tell me. How do you deal with the subject of death and are you prepared for such a transition?

Um, which generation are we speaking to?

Okay, since I am a Boomer (and proud of it), I will make the arrogant assumption that you mean us... and reply without further ado.

Speaking strictly for myself, (how worthless was that generation thing?), I don't fear death though, admittedly, I don't particularly look forward to the part where I die.

Oh yes, while I am a firm believer in life after physical death, the ending may be no more pleasant than the beginning. We don't come into this world with angels singing and harps playing... so I really don't expect the end of physical life to be much better.

Of course, once passed this transition (good choice of words, by the way), things should improve if we have met whatever requirements and standards for making said passage successfully.

I am also a Christian and... that's okay, I am behind a locked door in a concrete bunker somewhere in the deep south. You can only insult me and let's be honest, words don't hurt

Anyway, I am not sure about the heaven and hell thing as per the literal interpretations of the Bible... though I feel that since there is a positive and negative aspect to nearly everything else in this universe, the afterlife could represent that in some form... so I try not to mess up as much as I did when I was young and so profoundly, criminally and hysterically stupid.

In sum, no. I do not fear death but I would have preferred something in the handbook about the dying part.

Best

No.

Next question please !

The threat of death is all we have....

I don't think I'm scared of death, I just worry it'll happen too soon for me before I can do certain things that keep being taken away from me whenever I get close to fulfilling them like there's some form of energy stopping me from doing the things and completing the goals I've spent at least half my life working towards so far.

No i am not.This is because firstly we all will die one day and secondly after our death we will have a great chance to see what is on the other side i.e. whether god or satan exists , is there a heaven or hell,whether there is reincarnation or not.We will at least get some wisdom of the other side.
Also there is a fact that if we reach the highest point of pain in our life then we become one with god i.e. we will feel no pain at all. I myself have experienced this and also seen similar things in the media.Example if someone is walking in the middle of a road and is hit by a super fast moving car then if he experiences the highest pain of anyone's life he will understand that pain but after that instant-eous moment he won't feel anything.He will feel as if nothing serious has happened to him.99.9% people die from accidents because of factors such as the car hit him with slow speed or the driver pressed the brakes after hitting him which in turn reduces the speed and velocity and thus that person did not feel that ultimate point of pain and thus die.Had they felt that ultimate point of pain they would not have died - which happened in my case and has happened with some other people and can happen to anyone.
So the point is i am not afraid of death at all just like many people are not.I think the soldiers who protect our countries have understood this philosophy of life and so are not afraid of death.

For the first 20 odd years of my life, I was petrified of dying, sometimes as a child I couldn't sleep because I was scared I would die whilst asleep.

Nowdays, it doesn't scared me at all, in fact if I was told tomorrow I would die next week, my only fear or sorrow would be for my family and friends, my sons father died many years ago and I wouldn't want them to be alone in life.

I have seen and experienced to much for the prospect to scare me. I know there is more to come, after the end of this life. I have been told that the "dead" are busy in their realm. Some of them see and interact with us, death is a rebirth, not an ending.

reply to post by eccentriclady


I feel the same, the only reason I wouldn't want to die is because of how it would affect my family and friends.

I actually had a discussion with someone else about "what's the worst thing that could happen to you" and he mentioned that death is the worst thing that could happen. My answer was that we all die eventually and I really don't see a problem with it or how it could be considered as something bad. It's like being scared of going to sleep or having to eat.

Im not afraid of death, although it would be awfull to leave my husband and children on this realm. I havent ever been ill or injured enough to fear I will die so havent put my belief to the test.

I am not a religious person and I dont believe in god, heaven and hell, but I do believe in a spirit realm you go to when you die. Here you will meet up with your deceased relitives and loved ones.

I look forward to meeting with my Dad again. He died when I was 10 years old, so this keeps my fears away.

Fearing death is pointless, in my opinion. Whether you fear it or not, it's going to happen. Why spend your time worrying about it, thinking of everything you'll be missing, etc. Worrying isn't doing you any good, so just accept it.

I wouldn't say that I WANT to die, but I also don't really care when I do. I don't go around playing in traffic, jumping off buildings, or anything like that. But I don't base any action or decision on "this could make me live longer".

reply to post by athenegoddess


Death has never particularly worried me. It's the funny thing about life really... no one gets out alive. Instead of worrying about whats going to happen to me then, I'd much rather simply live. Cause I'll tell ya, death is fine... not LIVING, that's bloody terrifying! Be there an afterlife or not, I genuinely feel bad for the folks who spend the entirety of this life preparing for whatever comes next (if anything). To the hells with that I say! Live every day as if it were your last! Dance like no ones watching! Drink like a lord! Find someone, anyone who will get your pulse racing just that little bit faster... then go do something utterly mad for their affection!

In closing, I'm not sure whats going to come next. I don't much care. But when I reach the end, I want to know that I had a HELLUVA time getting there!

Since I have posted this, I'm about 35 percent more ready for death than before.

Originally posted by athenegoddess


Thoughts? Thanks!

Hi!
Since I's fully conviced that there is a life after death I'm not at all afraid, infact I can hardly wait..

When I do go there I will meet my lost friend, my guardian and some others that I am really anxious to catch up on..

There only a matter of time and it's going to be a relief to get out of this world, I am not really comfortable with living as living is here in our world.

Where at least I'm going, there is no worry, and if there is, you solve it, not like here, where everyone just looks after themselves(with a few exceptions) and don't give a rats a** about any other one... Thats NOT how it's done there I'm told, there is peace, but my guardian D, he don't want me there just yet, I have to wait, and I'm doing just that.

Of course there is indeed people I'm sad to leave behind...but advantages outweigh the disadvantages here and I just have to take care of business first, then I'll join..
//MillsCore