Are you afraid to die?

[trainedobserver]

Death is nothing to be feared. Death is a vital component of life without which new life could not arise. Death comes to all living things. Superstition and ignorance cause us to fear death. Actually, when you closely examine the state of death, it greatly resembles 'nirvana', 'heaven', 'paradise' and so forth. In death there is no desire and no suffering. It is indeed the great rest, the great relief, the liberation from suffering and want. I want to live as long as I can and enjoy my life and my grandchildren. I do not however entertain any notion that somehow 'living forever' would be a good thing or something to be desired.

When the day comes, and if I see death coming, I hope that I can have the presence of mind to greet it warmly and embrace it with dignity and grace.

Peace

[gita]

Originally Posted by trainedobserver

Death is nothing to be feared. Death is a vital component of life without which new life could not arise. Death comes to all living things. Superstition and ignorance cause us to fear death. Actually, when you closely examine the state of death, it greatly resembles 'nirvana', 'heaven', 'paradise' and so forth. In death there is no desire and no suffering. It is indeed the great rest, the great relief, the liberation from suffering and want. I want to live as long as I can and enjoy my life and my grandchildren. I do not however entertain any notion that somehow 'living forever' would be a good thing or something to be desired.

Now this I completely agree with. Well said.

[greybeard]

I agree fully with trainedobserver.
Having faced death on quite a few occasions I have come to terms with it.
Last time was in the Indian Ocean.
A series of freak waves smashed me against the bottom three times, approx fifteen foot down. The last time not having had the chance to get a proper breath.
I relaxed ready to drown and to my surprise when I made the surface the sea was calm but a mass of foam. I was rescued by two life guards not having the strength to make it to shore.
If I died now that would be ok but I would like it to be in bed after a final cigarette.

Chris

[trainedobserver]

Originally Posted by greybeard

A series of freak waves ...

I had a similar experience, although not as a close call as you had, while sailing in a tropical storm one summer. The catamaran overturned, we lost the mast, and we were way too far out to swin to shore. To our great relief the shore patrol saw us and came and got us. I do remember thinking, "I'm going to die doing this crazy thing!"

[futureyes]

are you afraid to die?

only if i have feared to live ...

be all we can BE ...

know the journey has no end ...

[Peace of mind]

@shaynard, illuminate and futureyes

Thats interesting trainobserver…but, I’m wondering more about the spirit, the individual identity.
Through meditations I came to a few conclusions myself. One of them is that your consciousness moves on to other realities to further learn. Another idea… is the consciousness of the individual will be existing in a reality of its own personal hell or heaven…depending on what that consciousness dwelled on the most (negative/positive), meaning that the body is now detached from the mind and the ego/identity is now expose to ampifications of itself/the pure mind, the thoughts of its own likeness, but amplified. I have some conflicting issues with both ideas but that is just what they are…ideas…like many others that can’t be proven factual by the living. I know we all like to imagine what death is like and that’s a good thing because it brings a peace of mind to the living. But ultimately, in the end we all should follow these wise words… “When the day comes, and if I see death coming, I hope that I can have the presence of mind to greet it warmly and embrace it with dignity and grace.”
i like that...

Peace

[MyShadow]

No. In my mind it's like a birth.

The thing that does cause me some concern, is if it were to happen while I was young - how it would affect my family.

[futureyes]

Originally Posted by MyShadow

No. In my mind it's like a birth.

The thing that does cause me some concern, is if it were to happen while I was young - how it would affect my family.

hi myshadow ... who we leave behind and their well being ... is of significant concern ... because we care ... we love ... it is the essence of who we are ...

i have surrendered to the idea ... that i feel to control ... what is 'best' ... for others ...
certainly if i had prior notice of my leaving this experience ... i would do all that i could do ... to assist ... streamlining my loved ones lives beyond my existance here ...
to assist ... but i now know ... i could not control ... such things ...

in the grand scheme of the blueprint of all that is ... what is it that i know ... do i know more than ... the greater power ... that allows the flow of our existance ... of how things flow within the blueprint ...

i don't ... no one does ... the greatest thing we can do ... is to TRUST ... to trust our families will be ok ... to trust we have extended our wisdom and our love to them ... throughout our duration here ...
and that they will carry forth ... with that of who we were ... and what we have shared with them ... remaining within them ...
and that they will be just fine ...

i feel ... this is why it is so important ... to be all we can be in this life experience right now ... to our greatest potential ... living LOVE ...
because this is a very significant foundation we are currently building ... foundation for a new paradigm ... there are so many souls here in this moment ... with this same opportunity ...

if we can feel within our hearts ... we have lived this life to the best of our abilities ... within love and not fear ...

then beyond our own physical self leaving one day ... we can ... with all heart ... TRUST ... our loved ones ... will be ...

loved ones ...

[MyShadow]

Originally Posted by futureyes

hi myshadow ... who we leave behind and their well being ... is of significant concern ... because we care ... we love ... it is the essence of who we are ...

i have surrendered to the idea ... that i feel to control ... what is 'best' ... for others ...
certainly if i had prior notice of my leaving this experience ... i would do all that i could do ... to assist ... streamlining my loved ones lives beyond my existance here ...
to assist ... but i now know ... i could not control ... such things ...

in the grand scheme of the blueprint of all that is ... what is it that i know ... do i know more than ... the greater power ... that allows the flow of our existance ... of how things flow within the blueprint ...

i don't ... no one does ... the greatest thing we can do ... is to TRUST ... to trust our families will be ok ... to trust we have extended our wisdom and our love to them ... throughout our duration here ...
and that they will carry forth ... with that of who we were ... and what we have shared with them ... remaining within them ...
and that they will be just fine ...

i feel ... this is why it is so important ... to be all we can be in this life experience right now ... to our greatest potential ... living LOVE ...
because this is a very significant foundation we are currently building ... foundation for a new paradigm ... there are so many souls here in this moment ... with this same opportunity ...

if we can feel within our hearts ... we have lived this life to the best of our abilities ... within love and not fear ...

then beyond our own physical self leaving one day ... we can ... with all heart ... TRUST ... our loved ones ... will be ...

loved ones ...

Nice perspective!!

Trust? Not coming from fear - it's just complex, the world today - to leave dependents behind. The cards just seem stacked against "sink or swim". I just teach them swimming everyday!!

[Tango]

I don't want the next one, to be so bloody... Maybe, a go in your sleep, that would be nice....




Tango

[ConsciousSponge]

I accept life as it is, including the expiration date. My only concern is for the ones left behind. As much as I try to pass the flame within, their wicks are wet with fear or attachment to the physical world. We all find our way eventually, so I keep my faith there. One day this life will end and a new one will begin, whether I become an etheric spirit, a child of another race, a flower, or a stitch in the fabric of space that lovingly holds it all together doesn't matter...I will continue to be...matter or not.

[GenerationIke]

Yes, I am. And I should know better, but still I am.

[metaw3]

I'm afraid of apathy in and around me, but I'm not afraid to die. It's unavoidable so I'm just curious.

[trainedobserver]

Originally Posted by Peace of mind

@shaynard, illuminate and futureyes

Thats interesting trainobserver…but, I’m wondering more about the spirit, the individual identity.

The individual identity is tied to the physical structure of the brain. Change the physical structure through chemistry or surgery and you can change the personality, memory, and emotions. There is no need or real evidence for an etherical component you are concerned about. No worries in other words.

One of them is that your consciousness moves on to other realities to further learn.

I wouldn't give a lot of weight to subjective experiences you may have during altered states of conciousness. They are notoriously unreliable.

To get a reasonable idea of what death is like try this thought experiement (or try it for real if you wish). Take your computer, boot it up, get something running on it. Take a ball-peen hammer and smash the CPU on the motherboard (or claw hammer if you simply must) and pound on the disk drive a couple times. You'll notice an immediate failure of the operating system, a total inablity to access the hard drive and the disappearance of whatever was being displayed on the screen. This is the state of death. Non-activity. The total loss of all information. A non-existence. The program that was running on the hardware doesn't fly off to run somewhere else, it ceases to exist as the circuits which supported its existence no longer exist.

If it isn't like that I'll be surpised shall we say.

[amate]

The secret of life some say ,
is "to die before you die and then find there is no death".
If you understand this you will know that you have nothing to fear
ever again.

[Peace of mind]

thats deep^^amate

@ trainedobserver

That sounds about right but the PC doesn’t have a spirit to govern its existence. Without outside interaction/programming the PC and all of its parts are practically dead or in limbo… waiting for a human/or alien to give it life. Humans are born into the world with a soul; there’s no need for outside help to move around. Could the program be running from somewhere else, perhaps? Humans have feelings, awareness, a sense of purpose, a desire for love and exploration. Maybe dreams, astral projections, and comas can be compared to death because the mind temporary leaves the body. But there also isn’t any proof the individual still functions (elsewhere) without a living body. hmmm

If a soul is able to be transfer from one body to another then that is reason to believe the individual spirit does continue living. But, I have no such proof of that just hear say.
That’s an interesting concept about the mind and body being one and once the body is done so is the mind, I can understand this logically from a living perspective, but how can we truly confirm this? I’m sure the real answer will present itself one day so it’s not really a serious matter…to me anyway. Thanx, trainedobserver

Let’s just say that our spirit left these vehicles to venture elsewhere…do you think that our dealings here and now will have any effect on our journeys into the unknown? Anyone know of any flat-liner cases when the patient came back “from the dead” after being clinically dead for some time?



Peace

[trainedobserver]

Originally Posted by Peace of mind

t
That sounds about right but the PC doesn’t have a spirit to govern its existence.

Of course, it is my contention that neither do we and questions about the particulars of an afterlife are immaterial ... so to speak.

[dagon]

no

[Frank Samuel]

Death is not something I fear I have come to terms with death. My fear is committing the same mistakes over and over not learning anything at the end of each of my physical lives. A wasted life, no one to love, no one to care for.
The world is an incredible beautiful place size this moment and live your life as if it was your last day on the face of this earth.

[Jack]

At the risk of soundin like a big girl it absolutely grabs my heart that there is such an awake and aware bunch of true spiritual sorts who come visit this forum and with my slow computer telling me its 22:22 makes me wonder even more as i chilax through the evening.

[Jack]

Wheres the "im more afraid of life" option?

[Carrie1971]

I have been there Twice.

Not my time yet.

I still have a mission to be here on this rock NOW in thie TIME.

There is nothing about death that I fear. It does not hurt at all.

[SteveX]

Peace of Mind

Here's something i posted on a different forum (23 dec 09). It's with reference to dieing for others.

I have been severely ill for a few years. It was consistently incorrectly then under diagnosed. On January 15th this year (2009) I had 3 days to live if I didn't have emergency surgery. Now! being the all action hero that I am death is an old friend. Of the 6 chats we've had I've paid him off with 16 broken bones and 4 feet of scars. Play twilight zone music... got a disability this day 23rd Dec 1985. Still got me leg though (Shywolf..chicks dig scars)

So...3 days eh. I have a choice. You may think that as a no brainer. As it goes I had a lot of things going on. Now! my wife is a good un. Deserves a meddle for action above and beyond the call of duty as a loyal wife. This left me with a conundrum. Throughout my suffering she suffered. One income and expired savings and expired state benefits. The deepest financial problems.

I've seen her crying so many times as I've rolled around in absolute agony. Her suffering became the greater of my sufferings. So what to do? " take arms against a sea of troubles And, by opposing, end them". I was thinking of leaving so she didn't have to endure my suffering but she figured it out. After a chat my honour was to some degree assuaged. "tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." But here I am. At a stage where I'm spending more time unconscious than awake and the clocks ticking. Having been to the other side of mortality I could just shut my eyes "and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache " Karen wouldn't know I let myself die but she'd be so unhappy. However, once unconcious the doctors would probable go behind my back and have my wife sign the consent forms... and she would sign.

So reasoning things out, "slings and arrows", I survived and have since had more surgery. I have been pronounced fit and well for work. We're still skint but we have each other.... for better or worse she keeps saying. This year 2010 I intend to get a job, start from scratch and spend the rest of my life with my wife. Hopefully along the way I'll provide her with some pleasantries before my old friend calls again.

[Peace of mind]

I appreciate that letter and I’m sure others will too. All you guys rock…

Peace

[futureyes]

Originally Posted by amate

The secret of life some say ,
is "to die before you die and then find there is no death".
If you understand this you will know that you have nothing to fear
ever again.

thank you amate ...