Physical Death. Let's Face It. Let's Discuss It.

Since I joined ATS a ways back, there have been several ATS members that have died in that time, R.I.P to all of those.

Well one recent members passing has had me contemplating physical death for the last few days. There is definitely some fear associated with it, the unknown, the end of being here, the possible pain depending on how I leave, what will my friends and family members do without me here, etc

But on the other end, I have faced death before in various close calls and I understand logically that this life here, eventually ends. Death is part of life. The same buildings in which new children are born, just a few floors away, is the same building where the old go to die. (Hospitals)

Also death is discussed, accepted, and seen as part of the cycle of Life in various countries in the East. While in the West it is a taboo subject that should not be discussed, if you do you're viewed as a debbie downer, and since it isn't touched upon, when it does come to a family, it is very tough on them for this very reason. I have a friend who is a Psychologist who tells me that much of her business come from funeral homes and people not being able to cope with death. This not being able to cope usually ends up with alcoholism and pill popping to numb the pain of death.

Not too long ago I lost a cousin to addiction to various pain killers and other drugs. He was like a brother to me and I always looked after him and tried to steer him away from his lifestyle (granted I didn't do my best, but I tried).

When I got the call that he died, I thought I was like someone from the East, well prepared to deal with death. But I found I wasn't. My stomach locked up on me very painfully. It was a very strange experience, like a painful knot or ulcer in a specific place in the belly, and I soon came to find out that everyone else in the family had this specific stomach pain from this news. That's a whole conspiracy into itself ...the death news stomach knot. Anyway, I was at work when I found out and had to keep it together to finish out the day. I took a 20 minute break, breathed into the stomach pain, let go of my cousin and the "news", accepted that he's gone, and next thing you know, I was almost back to my regular self.

Just wanted to spark up a discussion on physical death and find out how you guys face it

reply to post by dominicus


Hi, i am afraid to die, and i have found some peace, from the epic of gilgamesh, one the main themes is when a close friend of gilgamesh dies, he goes on a journey to ask the gods WHY?
cheers,

Sorry to hear a member has recently passed.

Personally, like you stated, the only part of it I fear is the method in which I will die. I don't believe I will cease to exist when I leave this body, so I don't fear the after.

Although, being a mom, I do worry about how my sons will handle me being gone.

Deaths around you never become easier, you just learn how to handle yourself better. I've been pretty much surrounded by very close family deaths ever since I was 7. It's not like it doesn't bother me at all, that is not the case. I just feel prepared enough now so that, hopefully, I don't go off the hook when it happens again.

It's a strange subject indeed. It's a subject I've been confronting a lot since the age of 7 but doesn't really seem to get any 'clearer' if that makes sense. There are still as many mysteries surrounding death for me now as there were back then.

If anything, the best thing that came out of all this is that I appreciate the people that I still have, whether they are friends or family, so so so so so much more. Cherish the people you care about most then there are no regrets in the end.

Peace & Love

reply to post by dominicus



Hi op

As we all know death is part of life and is the only guarantee one will ever have
I find also interesting that not so long ago
death was a very big topic and was quite common to take photos of your deceased relative
and sexual topics were a no no.
Look how quickly times have changed, sex everywhere, even in a chocolate advert.

Maybe its because of all these inovations and leaps in medicine allowing us to live longer
that we are actually thinking "I could one day live forever"

reply to post by dominicus


Someday science will prevent death from natural causes, but untill then we are all at its mercy.

Losing someone to suicide is far worse than old age.

reply to post by Swizzy

If anything, the best thing that came out of all this is that I appreciate the people that I still have, whether they are friends or family, so so so so so much more. Cherish the people you care about most then there are no regrets in the end.

Yea same here. The other day I was having dinner with my mother and sister, and it was a great time, lots of jokes and laughs, and then I told them, "Make sure you appreciate and cherish times like these, with all of us together, cause tomorrow's never promised, and these are memories we are making."

They kind of got silent for a second when I said that, but then we went back to the laughs. I think they got it.

Another effect death has got on me, is that I don't put things off anymore. There were a few trips, purchases, and investments that I've hesitated to make over the years due to concerns of finance, but now I just run with it. No more putting things off

Originally posted by Wertdagf
reply to post by dominicus

 

Someday science will prevent death from natural causes, but untill then we are all at its mercy.

Losing someone to suicide is far worse than old age.

Yea been there too. Military bud, blew his head off w/ a high caliber weapon at home. My other buddy found him in pieces. HArsh words/reality but that's what happened. Oddly enough I was fine with it, because he suffered for years with PTSD and on various prescriptions, depression, flashbacks. Life became unbearable

Seriously now,

when we say, someone died, do we know what we say. What we really say is 'This person' is no more.

Right eh..

That's what we say, 'this person' is no more, and now we can never interact with him again, he/she'll never speak to us again and we can do nothing with him/her anymore (mostly having fun with them) AND we can do nothing about it.

That is in reality what we say, isn't it?

What is the truth?

You lay down this body, your soul moves on. Whatever you do from there is up to you, your soul contracts, and what the I AM within you decides.

Bill Hicks hit it right on the nose IMO. Carlin wasn't wrong either.

You ARE the life that resides in your body. Your body "dies" when YOU leave it. There is still a you, you ARE that life. You never die. You are more than a bag of flesh. Every cell in your body, is energized with the energy of life. That energy, is you.

To a person who believes that you are the body, from which life departs, it would appear as a death, an end.

But for those who KNOW that you ARE the life that departs the body, there is no death.

For you, there is always life. Life eternal.

Originally posted by Visitor2012
You ARE the life that resides in your body. Your body "dies" when YOU leave it. There is still a you, you ARE that life. You never die. You are more than a bag of flesh. Every cell in your body, is energized with the energy of life. That energy, is you.

To a person who believes that you are the body, from which life departs, it would appear as a death, an end.

But for those who KNOW that you ARE the life that departs the body, there is no death.

For you, there is always life. Life eternal.

Well said... stealing this if you dont mind.... for today's facebook quote.. you
are 100% correct in these words

Most Atheists would say we came from nothing and there's nothing after Death, just nothing... That's just depressing.... Then the whole conversation sprials south. No I am not Atheist and stated that just as chewable words.

If it's true that we come from the Universe and are made of the same stuff in the Universe it would be simple enough without debate to state that when we transition out of the physical body we return to that universe.

To elaborate~ Nothing really dies, we just cease conciosness on this plane only in the Physical.

reply to post by steve95988


Here's the Bill Hicks quote I was referring to, above:

The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly colored, and it's very loud, and it's fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, "Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, "Hey, don't worry; don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we … kill those people. "Shut him up! I've got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real." It's just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok … But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.

FYI this was from 1993. Look how pertinent it is now, and forever will be.

reply to post by dominicus


Realizing mortality is a necessary part of spirituality. Death makes one feel alive.

I've had some fairly in-depth conversations with the terminally ill. Those who knew they would die sooner than expected mentioned a heightening of the senses, and an attitude towards life akin to that of a child. Everyday things, feelings, happenings, which may have been taken for granted, became valuable and special for them once again. Knowing they would die renewed their thankfulness for life and everything in it—even for the most dire of pessimists.

Thinking about and understanding one's own death brings meaning to a life that is void of any knowable purpose. It makes life special, and represents a connection we all share—our eventual end.

What song does God play when one dies?

Death lurks around every corner. Angel of death.

OP....who died recently? I didn't get the memo and would like to know.

As for death, my attitude has changed. I used to be convinced I was heaven-bound, Southern Baptist style. Then I got to college and all my assumptions changed.

With my religious questions, I began to fear death. What if I went to Hell? Did it even exist? What if there was no afterlife? What if I was reincarnated? What if.....what if...... what if.....

Now, I have a different view. I have no answers at all, but peace about it. I don't know why. But now, when I think about my death, I somehow know its going to be okay.

This video seems appropriate.

Lightning Crashes, Live

reply to post by smyleegrl

OP....who died recently? I didn't get the memo and would like to know.

ATS Member Tayesin recently passed. Thread here:
Thread

Also, A while back ATS member WilliamOneSac also passed. That's just ATS though. These were people I only knew from message board exchanges. People who I know from personal interaction, who have passed, it's definitely surreal.

Everyone else who posted, great posts!!!!

I think there is also an effect on whether or not you believe in and afterlife, and if there are consequences in the afterlife depending on what you do/don't do while here alive

Its interesting how quickly a person can get used to death. I happen to see it all the time and as such when someone I knows dies, I have no shock about it, only remorse that I will no longer have an experience with that friend or family member.

As for my own mortality I am quite looking forward to it. Its the next step on my journey and I can't wait to get it started. There may be bad things that happen if you try and promote it or speed it up so I am just biding my time till I can head on out.

I figure I'll eventually meet up with those I leave behind, or won't remember them, so I have no concerns about that either.

Obviously the energy that animates our physical bodies doesn't become nothing but what personalizes our individual energy? What makes our energy conscious of itself and does that conscious quality dissolve out of our energy when our physical bodies die or does it remain 'with' the energy until attraction entices it into another body? Sounds likely to me but I do think that the ego itself is pretty well wiped clean during the course of the transition. Could be completely wrong of course.

Originally posted by Visitor2012
You ARE the life that resides in your body. Your body "dies" when YOU leave it. There is still a you, you ARE that life. You never die. You are more than a bag of flesh. Every cell in your body, is energized with the energy of life. That energy, is you.

To a person who believes that you are the body, from which life departs, it would appear as a death, an end.

But for those who KNOW that you ARE the life that departs the body, there is no death.

For you, there is always life. Life eternal.

We are made of the exact same stuff that makes up a tree, a fish, an ostrich... So, when I eat those peppers and onions on my steak, their soul departs too?