cerridwen Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Death? Big fat deal! Link to post Share on other sites
TaraMaiden Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 (oh no, i intend to die looking my best.....! ) Link to post Share on other sites
Black Jack Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 What are your thoughts about death? Are you afraid of it? Do you believe or hope for some sort of afterlife? If so, why? I think about my mortality multiple times per day. It is something that is almost always in the back of my mind during every task I perform. The constant reminder that I could lose it all in the next few seconds amplifies my meaning and purpose to life. It forces me to live in the moment to the point of it being hard to imagine myself in 2-3 years. It makes me happy knowing that I am healthy and appreciate the life I live, and it lets me live up to my full potential. By doing so, death is something I am no longer afraid of. I was taught to fear death mainly because it's taboo in our society. Over time however, I realized that death itself wasn't what I was afraid of. I am more afraid of dying as someone I don't want to be. I want to go as the person I know I am. Dying with regret or unfulfillment in my opinion is the worst punishment. I hope that this is it. I don't want to live in any kind of after life, nor do I want to be reincarnated as something or someone else. I believe in getting it right the first time, and one life is enough work for me. Existing after death seems meaningless to me, even a land of paradise would eventually turn to hell. If something has no end, then what's the point of it? I think about it from time to time. Everyone dies alone. Link to post Share on other sites
Blackfrost Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I have no fear of death, only the sadness of knowing that there will be loved ones who will miss me. Knowing that it all ends, has always been the biggest motivator in pushing myself to live a very full and robust life. I don't fear death, because I have lived exactly how I have wanted to, and have no regrets, because I've never missed out on experiencing anything I've wanted to experience: good and bad. A friend of mine was talking about how he wished he could be immortal, and I looked and him and said "What? you want to spend eternity going to work to earn a living (I sure don't) and watching everyone around you, that you love, grow old and die?" That made him stop and think. The end is the end, and whenever I get there, I will be ready to rest eternally. I already feel like I've seen done more than most people on this planet. Link to post Share on other sites
frozensprouts Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 (edited) I am absolutely terrified of death. this may sound lame, but I admit that years ago I used to smoke up from time to time. Most of the time, it never did anything, but the last time I did, it was a horrible experience. I experienced a real distortion of time and felt absolutely separate from my surroundings and other people. It seemed to last forever ( but was really only a few minutes) but i was terrified that i had died and that this was what death was like ( remember, I said this was lame) Up until that point, I'd had little experience with death in any real context ( my older relatives had all died before I was born), and I never really gave it any thought. Because of the way my fathers father and mother died, nobody talked about them or their death at all. After that, I really began to think about it. It's the unknown that frightens me so much. If it's anything like what I thought it would be , i think i'd end up passing out eternity in a state of near insanity. What if it's worse? If I knew that death was simply 'the end of all things', or that we come back around as something better or we go and join one great ad loving cosmic unity,I'd be okay with it...it's the unknown that terrifies me, and since no one has come back ( nor do I think they ever will) to tell me what it is like, I don't see that changing anytime soon. there's also the pragmatics of it...what will happen to my children after I am gone? who will look after them? Two of them may likely need care even as adults...who will be there for them when they need it? Edited March 8, 2012 by frozensprouts Link to post Share on other sites
Eve Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Really not into the idea of reincarnation. I am however open to the idea that I have been here before and would say that if this is true it is highly probable that this is my final cycle here on Earth... then it's back to the source for me. Take care, Eve x Link to post Share on other sites
Thieves Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Death? Big fat deal! Just have to say that I ****ing LOVE your signature. That is all. Link to post Share on other sites
zengirl Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Occasionally, I fear death. I fear the loss of myself, sure. Sometimes when I step outside my ego and practice anatta, I fear death more. It is a small death, just for a moment, that I can escape. Anatta forever? Sure, that's scary. Being recycled into a new 'self' that doesn't know or care about this me? Sure, that's scary. But it also seems nice. The main reason I could not be Catholic (as I was raised) was that I could never quite wrap my head around Heaven --- seems egoistic to me to believe I exist, in the same form, forever. No other energy does. My body and brain that make up all I am change types of energy? Why shouldn't we? Anyway, Heaven and Hell and Purgatory just never rang true for me. Sometimes I wonder if it's all true, and we just pick our poison. *Shrugs* At any rate, I find death fairly scary and fairly comforting. All depends when it arrives, I guess. Link to post Share on other sites
oldguy Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 I have been here before and would say that if this is true it is highly probable that this is my final cycle here on Earth... then it's back to the source for me. Wow! I have/had a friend who use to say almost exactly the same thing. He did die a few years ago & I haven't heard from him since so my guess is he did go home:) Of course the other reason I haven't heard from him may be because he did come back. thats why when I see a large dog now I say "hi" and ask if it's him:laugh: 1 Link to post Share on other sites
cerridwen Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Just have to say that I ****ing LOVE your signature. That is all. Awww, thank you. Should you ever have a sad day, seek me out and climb behind my shield. Plenty of room. Link to post Share on other sites
Feliciti Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Never see the point of fearing or tabooing death. Reminds me of Harry Potter, which is silly. I enjoy taking care of children, and I never try to shield them from the horrors of death. I don't traumatise them, but try to make them develop an understanding of the word. My boyfriends daughter is 8 years old, and has a grandfather at the age of 94. He isn't all that well, and probably only has a few years left. If we just pretend death doesn't exist, how does an 8 year old girl react when her grandfather is no longer around? What do we answer her? I'd much rather teach her about it, so she knows what happened, understands it, feels sad about it, but is capable of accepting it. I don't believe in the afterlife as such, but I do believe we all end up somewhere. I don't fear death either, believing it to be a poor attempt to denying it's existance. Like Cerridwen, I've also experienced a few near-death experiences, and it numbed me a bit from it. I'll no doubt feel sad if someone dies, but I won't deny the possiblity that it can happen. The shock is only there if you trick yourself into believing that it can't happen to you or your family. It can. It will happen to everyone at some point, late or early. Link to post Share on other sites
Honeymoon Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Death is not over, dude Link to post Share on other sites
Eve Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Wow! I have/had a friend who use to say almost exactly the same thing. He did die a few years ago & I haven't heard from him since so my guess is he did go home:) Of course the other reason I haven't heard from him may be because he did come back. thats why when I see a large dog now I say "hi" and ask if it's him:laugh: Although I have learned to fit in on the surface, all my life I have been yearning to go home back to God... even before I had a religion! I am more comfortable with animals and nature than people.. though I have trained myself to be accepting. My favourite brother reckons it was a case that one of our older brothers wanted to come back and so we came back to be with him. If you met him you would understand .. Favourite brother and I are both sensitives and have no intention of coming back next time. Life is too harsh and people can be quite horrid if you ask me. I have seen a lot of good though from meeting nice genuine souls and of course having my babies and loving my Hubby .. as well as eating chocolate brownies and ice cream. All good experiences... but overall.. nah, not coming back here. It is a sad, hedonistic place without God being here. I don't mind death at all. I have been blessed to see where I am going and I am cool with it. Just not yet, got to make sure the kids are ok before I leave for good and that all seems to be on track quite nicely now. Take care, Eve x 1 Link to post Share on other sites
GorillaTheater Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I'm not afraid of death. I just don't want it to hurt too badly. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
TaraMaiden Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I'm not afraid of death. I just don't want it to hurt too badly. I think this sums it up. It's not the dying. It's the 'how'. Woody Allen once famously said: "I'm not scared of dying; I just don't want to be there when it happens." Well I do.. I mean, i really want to 'be there', still in control of all my faculties, still able to communicate what I want, what i don't want, where i'm comfortable, where it hurts, and to know who's there with me - if anyone. Oh i do so, want to be there. But I see the way my dad died - almost comatose, aged nearly 90 - and i am going to ensure i have a 'living Will' - and ensure it's adhered to, to the letter..... Link to post Share on other sites
frozensprouts Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 I'm not afraid of death. I just don't want it to hurt too badly. a few years ago i watched a documentary about a man who had ALS and was going to ( i think) Switzerland because assisted suicide thee is legal. He was going for the express purpose of having "a good death". He wasn't really afraid of dying, he was much more afraid of living a life paralyzed and in pain and not being able to do anything to end it. Link to post Share on other sites
gaius Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 I view sleep as a practice run for death. The part right when you fall asleep and aren't dreaming, that you never remember and aren't aware of when it's happening. I'll admit the idea of never waking up doesn't appeal to me at all, but being in a state like that forever doesn't really scare me either. Seems very peaceful. a few years ago i watched a documentary about a man who had ALS and was going to ( i think) Switzerland because assisted suicide thee is legal. He was going for the express purpose of having "a good death". He wasn't really afraid of dying, he was much more afraid of living a life paralyzed and in pain and not being able to do anything to end it. I think it's atrocious that we don't offer people who really want to die an easy and pain free way to go. So many end up gorked out in the hospital because the bullet didn't take the right path or with serious health problems because the pills or poison didn't quite work the way they hoped. Let's have some mercy on those who are in so much pain they can't stand being here any longer. Link to post Share on other sites
frozensprouts Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 I view sleep as a practice run for death. The part right when you fall asleep and aren't dreaming, that you never remember and aren't aware of when it's happening. I'll admit the idea of never waking up doesn't appeal to me at all, but being in a state like that forever doesn't really scare me either. Seems very peaceful. I think it's atrocious that we don't offer people who really want to die an easy and pain free way to go. So many end up gorked out in the hospital because the bullet didn't take the right path or with serious health problems because the pills or poison didn't quite work the way they hoped. Let's have some mercy on those who are in so much pain they can't stand being here any longer. there's much worse that can happen if a person is denied the right to a good death... my fathers parents were in that situation, and took matters into their own hands. (this was about 50 years ago) my father found them several days later, and it destroyed him inside if there wasn't the sense of shame attached to needing release from pain, many people could be spared a lot of needless agony Link to post Share on other sites
gary2411 Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 The human soul is only a purely physical function of the brain cells and ceases at death. All productions of the human mind and intellect are fundamentally mere muscular activities. Therefore,immortality of the soul is a myth without scientific foundation. Nothing leaves the body at death except our last breath. Death is a very mysterious thing. When you've had someone that you loved recently pass, it makes you ponder not only the remorse you feel for the loved one but death itself and what it truly means. I've noticed that some can discuss death very openly, and very candidly. And others you can tell feel very uncomfortable talking about it, they will try to change the subject to some lighter matter, perhaps what they're going to eat or where they're going to go. I think you'll find the people who are willing to discuss death with you are people who have thought about death quite a lot. if one leaves aside the last three hundred years of historical experience as it unfolded in Europe and America, and examines the phenomenon of death and the doctrine of the soul in all its ramifications - Neoplatonic, Christian, dynastic-Egyptian, and so on, one finds repeatedly the idea that there is a light body, an entelechy that is somehow mixed up with the body during life and at death is involved in a crisis in which these two portions separate. Link to post Share on other sites
Nightsky Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 I fear death and I love it. The idea that life is so fragile is scary and exciting. Things not lasting forever gives them an importance. The person I was when I was a child is no longer the person I am now. The person I'll be in 20 years if I'm still alive could be a person completely different yet stemming from the person I am now. I think something happens when you die I'm just not sure. Even if I am just a chemical reaction that means I'm just figmant or creation of my own imagination so that means something will happen. I'd like to have kids because I believe they are a way to live on when your gone. In a way all new children are a way to live on. Like when I go on youtube and listen to a song I like and some 12 year old kids comes on and is like "I'm 12 and I like this kind of music" I feel like wow people who like stuff I do and who are like me will be living after I'm gone. So I want live my life. Also I've given up on the concept of time. I think its better to live a great life than a long life. A great and long life would be good too though. But if I die while I type this so be it. I guess when ever you die you want more. I mean unless you feel you're being tortured. Which I don't at this time so life is good. Link to post Share on other sites
oldguy Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 (edited) As a young man searching for his own answers I was inspired by the short story; Jonathan Livingston Seagull, as I've found quite a few where at the time; there is more to life than eating, or fighting, or power in the Flock. ...another hundred lives until we began to learn that there is such a thing as perfection, and another hundred again to get the idea that our purpose for living is to find that perfection and show it forth... The same rule holds for us now, of course: we choose our next world through what we learn in this one. Learn nothing, and the next world is the same as this one, all the same limitations and lead weights to overcome." Even though it's been a very long time since I've read the story I still enjoy contemplating some of it from time to time. The mark of a good story. Edited March 15, 2012 by oldguy 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Tayla Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 wow Old guy, thanks for that excerpt from a Book I knew well. Kahlil Gibran was also another author who spoke of death ...they had similar ideas on it... A friend of mine brought me solice once because I really did and still to a lesser extent have a difficult time with "death", be it my own or a loved one. She was a science major and she politely said..."matter...Can neither..BE....Created...or destroyed"....and from that was my AHA moment! Maybe we can honestly say that death is not the end of destroying what mark we left upon this earth...instead it is changed into something else..... so when I utter my last words...I hope I get to say..Now I can be something else.... Quite honestly though I do beleive in the spiritual ...for when a lady friend passed on...I sense her around...and she has protected at times when I could not...can't explain it and dont think I want too...just knowing..brings comfort. Its never creepy...always warm and welcoming. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Snow-white Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 I am afraid of death. Even the thought of it makes me scared, honestly. I do not believe there is anything after death. You are nothing anymore. Horrible! I know. Link to post Share on other sites
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