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Those that fear death - are those who have never faced it.
Death is not the end. It is merely a transistion into the next level of consciousness.
Just out of curiosity; Do you think that applies to all living things, as the process of life and death is the same regardless if you're a human or an animal?
... Why do people fear death? If I told you in about 20 seconds, your body is going to shutdown forever and never work again... how would you react?
I'd be plenty scared. I do believe in souls, but I'd still be scared. I wouldn't want to leave my family and I would want to wake up everyday like normal again.
You sound like you are very sure of that. What knowledge do you have that makes you so sure?
I completely agree that "facing" death helps you cope. My stepmother was terminally ill (and at 47, far younger than most patients with her diagnosis) and given less than a year to live in December of 2011, and she passed 3 months ago. I don't look forward to death, but I no longer fear it. The way she handled it and the way my family handled it has changed the way I see death forever. It is a scary transition, especially with watching a loved one slowly break down, but the way she had a calmness about her knowing what was coming comforted me. It's almost as if our body and mind embraces the news if we let it. If she felt constant fear those 9 months (and I know she felt some, of course) then of course it would have caused some panic and fear amongst the family. I wish and hope that I have as tasteful a departure as my stepmother had. I think I will.
I have never myself faced a life threatening illness or experience, but I imagine this is something the poster above could have been talking about. I feel the more taboo we make death, the more people fear it.
You sound like you are very sure of that. What knowledge do you have that makes you so sure?
I suspect like many, it may be blind faith and blind trust. We are all born alone and everybody dies alone. Where they end up is anybodies guess. A world without logic and reason is a world truly without purpose.
If there is a god passing judgment on others and sending them to hell for eternity. I suspect that eternity is gods fate and destiny. This world has been wrong for thousands of years. To expect a happy ending is like expecting to find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
My life experience has been a painful one. There was a woman who said my purpose was to suffer. A Jewish man told me my purpose was to save souls.
Those who believe in an afterlife assume the survival of our consciousness. If you think about it, what is the word "soul" if not a way to collect all of our inner uniqueness into a single word/idea? The idea, as I understand it, is that our consciousness survives with our unique personality/memories.
But you did not answer my original question. What makes you think your "soul" remembers anything when your own living body can loose those very things? I know this is a question believers never want to think about, as it might actually make them question what they believe.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tjarado
Death = nothingness = bad.
Life = something = good.
We are genetically PROGRAMMED to value life above all else.
Those animals that didn't, would have died out.
Those animals that don't will NOT be genetically successful.
As for me I want to live forever!!
I was waiting for this. I do wonder if I have an inordinate fear of death. A year ago I was 100%, okay maybe 80% convinced I was going to die. I won't go into details but it changed everything. Now I obsess about death and admit, the pangs of panic still come. What I find weird is the reason WHY I fear it isn't more common than it should be. Pure oblivion, I fear non-existence, because existence is all I know. Think about it, when you die, if you don't believe in an afterlife, the UNIVERSE has ended FOREVER! Sometimes I can be calm about it but other times I go into a mania thinking about it and can't understand how others don't share this feeling. I know some do and don't admit it but that's a large reason why I think many cling to a belief in the afterlife, even if there's the possibility of a negative outcome. I don't want to cease to exist, I don't find 'eternal sleep' peaceful (unless I'm heavily sedated, I guess it shows it's a chemical thing, or am very depressed), and the idea of never seeing loved ones again is profoundly depressing. I have not made peace with death, and still cling to the hope there is something after death. If not, than I truly wish I'd never been born. That is how I honestly feel about it.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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For those who say fear of the unknown. Maybe the sober, grim fact is that we very much DO know what will happen (or what WON'T happen) after we die and we just can't handle it? At least the afterlife gives hope, although any kind where 90% of humanity burns in hell for eternity is worse than no afterlife at all. I have to admit reincarnation sounds kinda cool, I'd love to come back as an eagle or something, a zebra not so much lol. I mean in some ways it sounds even more fun than heaven, it'd be cool if we got say, 100 lifetimes, and maybe how we behaved in those 100 lifetimes averaged out dictated whether we'd go up or down after all is said and done, or whether we had earned eternal life, if that is what we so wished. But yeah, if there's nothing after life/death then everything just seems really depressing and meaningless, I guess, at least to me. I can't find true joy or meaning in temporal joys. The closest is having close relationships and all that jazz but it still feels like something is missing. So maybe y'all have it wrong, it's not the UNKNOWN we fear, but the KNOWN, the knowledge, deep down, that death is the end of everything, and it's something we can't handle to think about. If the earth is 4 billion years old an 80 year lifetime just seems so ABSURDLY short it's like God is playing a joke on us. ..So we make ourselves unafraid of death. I just wish I could be as unafraid as some here, any tips? lol.
I don't want to cease to exist, I don't find 'eternal sleep' peaceful (unless I'm heavily sedated, I guess it shows it's a chemical thing, or am very depressed), and the idea of never seeing loved ones again is profoundly depressing. I have not made peace with death, and still cling to the hope there is something after death. If not, than I truly wish I'd never been born. That is how I honestly feel about it.
I really differ from you on this. I think this is a middle ground, actually. The whole basis of religion seems to be almost entirely based on the concept that everything you say, think, and do impacts what happens to you on the next go-around. This means that people are competing for limited slots in a place where streets are paved with gold and are floating on clouds listening to harps, or tossed into a lake of fire. I once heard the expression "compete for the faith" on EWTN, a Catholic cable channel in the US. Well, that doesn't give me a frame of reference. In fact, it angered me. In school, I know what a 3.3 or a 3.8 looks like. That's a frame of reference. Whether I fall into these two pots is beyond my comprehension, nor do I want to go about constantly thinking about it. I actually think most people will just go to eternal sleep. I'm just going to "be myself" and let whatever happens happen. Heck, if this were to happen, most of us wouldn't even know we lapsed into such a state, so I don't see it as anything to worry about.
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