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Fear of death.

Enlight Spurrett said:
Everyone seems to fear death. Sometimes it's just the pain that you could suffer when dying but others are scared of the actual process and not being here anymore. This seems reasonable. So why don't I fear it? I have my theories on the death experience which involve N-N DMT as well as other neurotransmitters causing a strong time dilation for the person experiencing it. Meaning that you will go to whatever is at your core. Basically making every religion right and wrong at the same time. If however I am wrong, then there is possibly nothing at all. As if it would be like falling asleep without the dreams. So there is no need for me to fear that because there will be nothing /to/ fear. Does anybody else feel the same or similarly to me?
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Do you jump when something like a car comes racing at you? That's instinctual fear of death.

From my experience most humans when young automatically cannot connect with the actual fact of death due to high energy levels. So they may consciously feel they don't fear death because that fear has been driven and buried into the unconscious to emerge at a later time when the energy levels drop due to entropy or another factor. If you really feel you have no fear of death then take this challenge. Read Ernest Becker's book Denial of Death and come back here and report. No one ever takes me up on this once they read the introduction. ;)
 
Yes of course due to reflexes etc. I agree. I'm fully aware of my own mortality. I've been well aware since I was young. I just don't fear it at all. Maybe it is an age thing. I will have a look now! :)
 
IMO you don't fear it because you're not faced with it. Are you currently faced with imminent death? People often say they don't fear things they aren't faced with. War is a very good example. In WW1 hundreds of thousands marched gleefully off to war to win fame and glory for themselves only to return as shell shocked shadows of their former selves. It is the youth that marches off to war in this way. Ignorance is bliss. (and bravery)
 
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I have fear of what pain, suffering, and agony may be induced through dying, since it is something I have never gone through yet in my life, but, being dead, I have no fear of being dead.

I'm not exactly going to go out and hang myself, though.

Live life to the fullest while the opportunity to do so presents itself - we may only get one chance at this, so it is worth enjoying.
 
That's a big one for sure. I hates pain. Living life to the fullest is something I hear often but have yet to meet the soul who does it. I figure if you manage just a little adventure you're ahead of the game.
 
Reacting to sudden danger in order to avoid death is an instinct of the meat, and it's not really the same as humanity's existential turmoil over what death means.

Your body will tenaciously fight for every last breath no matter how schooled you are in what's about to happen as you die. That's nature.

How you react on a consciousness level to what's happening is a product of your cultivation. Though, I would argue that once you're beyond the pale and your body starts shutting down, you really have very little control over much. There's simply no energy to be you.

The one exception - maybe - is the Tibetan Buddhists. They have this idea that a lifetime of deep meditation on the subtle mind will mean that once you are dying and enter that state of no-control and no-self, you'll have pre-programmed enough of an alternative pathway that it will automatically kick in and you'll avoid rebirth. Without this training, they claim, your subtle mind will just do its automatic thing like it does every time you die, and you'll be subject to rebirth. Maybe there's something to that. Do I want to spend the rest of my life cultivating preparation for death though? Not really.
 
What death means...death means nothing. Thou shall not look for meaning where there is none.

Humans look for the meaning of death because they can't grasp the extend of the miracle of life. Molecules came together to give their form which is not sustainable, for technical reasons, and the molecules end up coming apart. People say well, it can't be just that...because admitting that it is just that is:

1) Being able to grasp the extend of the miracle of life.
2) Getting the bad news that all questions remain unanswered.
 
I started this topic for friendly conversation and I'm fed up with the arguing. Either stop arguing or I'll request for the thread to be closed. Jeez. Didn't realise it would get everyone so het up!

Ksa - Your point about "We are the ability of the Universe to acknowledge that it exists." Totally agree and it's good to see that other people have come to the same conclusion!

I feel that this conversation has gone off topic though and away from the original question. My question was whether it was normal to not fear death, not whether there is anything after it or what reality is. That's a whole different topic. I've finally come to the conclusion that it is. I wasn't looking for a simple answer but that is my answer in short.
 
Enlight Spurrett said:
I started this topic for friendly conversation and I'm fed up with the arguing. Either stop arguing or I'll request for the thread to be closed. Jeez. Didn't realise it would get everyone so het up!
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Its what happens in this forum. I think we are all adult enough to have a debate without people getting too upset. If you wished your thread to go a different way, you should have interjected sooner.

My question was whether it was normal to not fear death, not whether there is anything after it or what reality is. That's a whole different topic.
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Its really not. To determine whether one should fear something or not, its vital to establish what that something actually is. This thread has therefore evolved in a relatively predictable way... I've found it interesting at the very least. :)
 
I suppose I'll live and learn. By the time I got on here though, I became over-faced and wasn't in the best of minds for interjecting.

Don't get me wrong, I love it when a conversation healthily evolves. I just think it has gone too far off topic. Questioning reality is a different topic. That's more to do with the world around us and our perception, beliefs, theories etc. Asking about the fear of death is more to do with whether my thoughts are healthy, if my attitude has an effect on my choices and whether it positive or negative and whether it has anything to do with age and experiences etc. Also whether it ties into anything to do with my other feelings about death. For example, the fact that I struggle to deal and cope with deaths of those close to me, even though I have theories that I strongly "believe in" to the point of being 90% sure.
 
Well if one believes in an unconscious part of the mind that has to be taken into account. Many people consciously believe things that don't quite jibe with their actions over time. This leads me to suspect that what we tell ourselves or state consciously is not always the truth about things. If you ever come across this amazing documentary I recommend taking the time to watch it. It might change your mind about some things you believe. It certainly altered my thinking forever after.
http://transcendentalmedia.com/new/films/now-playing/flight-from-death-the-quest-for-immortality/
 
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