Are You Afraid of Death?

i'm confused by what you mean by "from people of this generation"; i'm very used to generations being identified by the social mores of the times. the 50's had the rebel-without-a-clue types, bobbysoxers and greasers; the 60's had the beatniks, hippies, yippies etcetera. more currently generations have been identified by trendy labels culled from popular literature, music and movies. "Gen X", "Gen Y", etcetera.

i have not found that society represses the subject of death, rather quite the opposite. there are quite a lot of killings and deaths portrayed on television and in movies on a daily basis. newspapers report obituaries and TV news notes the passing of well-known people.

there is also the popularity of several layers of culture in modern American society that is very death related. vampire type movies have been enjoyed by many for the longest time, but over the past 10 or 15 years there has been a few TV shows knocking ratings out of the ballpark that are death, undead and walking dead related. i may be wrong but i think the 'Goth' crowd is a little into the playing dead scene as well.

my family had to deal with an unexpected death less than three weeks ago. while i was surprised at the unexpected news, my grief was limited. my sister-in-law was a really good person, and i had no doubts that she had gone to great rewards due to my personal religious beliefs. last December a favorite BIL passed on. i knew he was ill but none of us were told he was terminal. i was shattered. because i prefer to be left the hell alone when i am sick, i do the same for others. knowing how my sister views grieving people ( she feels the cliche bit about those who weep in sorrow are feeling guilty or selfish ) added to my misery at the viewing. she knew her husband was terminally ill. they are a totally religious Bible-based family. none of them shed at tear that i saw; they knew their Husband / Father was with God in Heaven. the viewing was too much for me to bear; my BIL was a great guy and was always so kind to me. i couldn't go to the burial or the get-together afterwards.

so there are two examples of how i deal with death. summed up: not very well. i've had a huge amount of relatives and friends pass on over the years, i'm an old so-and-so. each loss reminds me of past loss. i'm a sensitive person. that does not fit in well with our society, or with my emotionally vacant bitch of a wife. too bad. when someone i loves dies, i shed tears.

as far as transition, i think this varies with different people who will respond according to their personal beliefs or lack thereof. mine are based on the religion of my choice.

death is an unhappy subject. common sense tells us this is why people don't dwell upon it. life is for the living. we all know it's coming, it's the cycle of life.

there is nothing to fear. IMHO, we are eternal. we in a large part are energy, and energy never ceases, it merely transforms shape. i welcome my own death, i'm ready and fine with going. like i wrote, i'm an old sock. i've seen way more than i want to see. with the horror of what takes place around the planet 24 hrs a day I'm surprised people don't suicide in great numbers daily.

reply to post by OMsk3ptic


Thats a very important question; can we only 'experience things' while being 'alive'?

This is a tough one. I don't think I am afraid of death, but I am afraid of the pain of dying. I really just hope I go quick like hit by a bus crossing the road or something. Also, it would suck to die alone. When I go hopefully it'll be something big (NIBIRU!! JK), and I can share the experience instead of fear it.

reply to post by zerozero00


I admire that. I wish I could remember that far back!

reply to post by athenegoddess


Death is a way long time to go. Most people have barely crossed their 20s and 30s here. I think one fears death because we fear the unknown. When we die, our relatives and friends will miss us and they are never gonna see us again..well..at least in this world. But you see.. this is all due to attachment. Human beings are vulnerable to emotions and bond. If we aren't vulnerable there is no point in being a human. After all, our gift is to remain attached and live life as it is to be celebrated.

It all ends when we depart but there could be a new beginning after death. We could join the already departed and could wait for those who will come. Who knows? But being afraid of death will cause pain and will engulf our current harmony. Everybody fears death no one is an exception but when our time comes, we shall be ready to get pass it and see the other side. But we have so much to see and do here.

reply to post by XXXN3O


I totally agree, the lost of self is what scares people.
In fact I think the whole point of life is to progressively shed the ego ( sense of self ) in preparation for what is(or not) to come.

reply to post by Diogeneser


One can only hope.. ha ha..

reply to post by XXXN3O


I agree with everything you said. That is exactly what I am afraid of; losing my identity. Wow.

You are here right now, with the sensation of being self aware...it would be reasonable to assume you will be so again in one way or another. Whether it is pleasant or torturous is debatable, but it has happened once as far as you can tell...why wouldn't the chance for your awareness exist again? It could take the form of you, it, all or everything...nothingness would only be in between the great expanse of chances constant rolling of the dice (if that IS how it operates).

Originally posted by SmokeandShadow
You are here right now, with the sensation of being self aware...it would be reasonable to assume you will be so again in one way or another. Whether it is pleasant or torturous is debatable, but it has happened once as far as you can tell...why wouldn't the chance for your awareness exist again? It could take the form of you, it, all or everything...nothingness would only be in between the great expanse of chances constant rolling of the dice (if that IS how it operates).

I'm not sure it would be reasonable to assume anything.
I would say it is more reasonable to assume that you would stop to exists in any kind of aware state.

I can tell you right up that I do not afraid of death, I simply curious of what beyond death (IAM NOT SUICIDAL).
But what I am afraid of is people whom I hold dear that I have to leave behind.....I'm the one mainly take care of my family so until someone take up my torch.....I am still afraid.

Originally posted by athenegoddess
reply to post by XXXN3O

 

I agree with everything you said. That is exactly what I am afraid of; losing my identity. Wow.

Here is something else to think about as well.

If you were to bang your head tomorrow and completely forget who you are, does that mean you as a person no longer exist (have died)?

What about if I or someone else told you a story that changed your life completely in every single way?

By looking at it like this, this makes me wonder if death is nothing more than an experience that changes who you are mixed with what you are too.

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
Frank Herbert, Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear, "Dune"

Originally posted by athenegoddess

Thats a very important question; can we only 'experience things' while being 'alive'?

Well it's just my belief. As far as I can tell I didn't experience anything before I was born, and so I don't expect to experience anything when I die. Believe me I hope I'm wrong and reincarnation, or some other form of life exists when we die, but I just get the feeling, and all the forms of logic and reasoning I can muster, leads me to believe that this life is all there is. Let's just hope I'm "dead" wrong, unless of course I'm slated to go to hell, in that case I hope I'm right

Originally posted by OMsk3ptic

Originally posted by athenegoddess

Thats a very important question; can we only 'experience things' while being 'alive'?

Well it's just my belief. As far as I can tell I didn't experience anything before I was born, and so I don't expect to experience anything when I die. Believe me I hope I'm wrong and reincarnation, or some other form of life exists when we die, but I just get the feeling, and all the forms of logic and reasoning I can muster, leads me to believe that this life is all there is. Let's just hope I'm "dead" wrong, unless of course I'm slated to go to hell, in that case I hope I'm right

One way to look at is.........the soul/mind is a hard drive that we fill up with our existance/experiences and when the power pack fails(heart) the hard drive goes into sleep mode but all the info is on the hard drive still even though no power is put through it!.....and as we are talking meta physics and not computer hardware the hard drive can reboot when it has found/chose its next power host!.....

continuing with my analogy!

But you say you don't remember anything the hard drive picked up in previous lifes!...arh!..........now you need to access the information that was put into sleep mode via some form of computer programer or regression therapist!
Search the subject PastLife Regression and you'll see where I am coming from!
I am aware of some remarkable cases of people remembering previous lifes/existences with amazing accuracy!

I'm not really afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry. I do live everyday like it's my last, I'm sure someday I'll be right. My
Grandfather once told me when you hear old folks talk about how good things were when they were young and how bad things are now they are just kind of giving themselves permission to die.

I don't think people should be scared of death! It is the natural process of life!

People are afraid because they can't comprehend why it happens or what happens after life!

I am not afraid of death nor am I afraid of the realization that I will cease to exist! (I spent a fair bit of my childhood pondering and grieving about the subject.)

My advice is to the people worrying... Just live your life! You are a success regardless of what happens... Out of the 50 - 500 million sperm created by your father you are the one which managed to get to the finish line!

I've never been afraid of death since I see it as falling asleep and never waking up but being the sentimentalist I am, I do fear losing my loved ones.
This is also why I hate getting older. Since the older you get, the more people you lose.
In my first 20 years I only lost 1 loved one, but the last 10 years have been pretty bad.

Although I do not have a death wish and would miss people here on earth, I have no fear of death. I have had spiritual experiences during my life, and because of them I have 0 doubt that the soul does not die.

Death is just a word, something that helps us quantify something we may fear and do not understand.

Death is infinate and energy can never be lost, only transferred.

Your soul can travel to any space point or time, past or future as any being.

The Universe is a vast and diverse space and you will continue to travel it whether you realise it or not.

As for religion, well that was simply something invented by man to control fellow man!

MR