Poll- Do You Fear Death?

[Penumbra]

I don't have any fear of death. I do, however, fear suffering and pain that is often present when dying.

The topic of why so many people fear death has always been interesting to me. I've been rather fascinated with the concept of death ever since I was a child, and I realize that makes me sound kind of creepy.

 

[dawny0826]

I don't fear suffering and pain, really. I'm not afraid to hurt. I'm afraid of being taken away with things left undone and unsaid. I always feel like there's too much to do and too little time.

 

[jarofthoughts]

I nearly died a year ago and ended up lying in a coma for over a week.
I wasn't afraid of death then and I am not now.
I don't believe in any form of afterlife and I fully expect my death to be the end of me.
Why should I fear that?
I don't expect to be there to experience it and I've had a better and fuller life than almost anyone who ever lived.
So when I do die...who am I to complain.

 

[chinu]

I nearly died a year ago and ended up lying in a coma for over a week.
I wasn't afraid of death then and I am not now.
I don't believe in any form of afterlife and I fully expect my death to be the end of me.
Why should I fear that?
I don't expect to be there to experience it and I've had a better and fuller life than almost anyone who ever lived.
So when I do die...who am I to complain.

Don't worry, Everybody is in coma here on this earth, The difference is you was in sleeping coma that time and now you are in waking coma, but death is something else.

Truely "Death" is the other name of "Fear of leaving everything".

_/\_
Chinu

 

[Primordial Annihilator]

I have died many times...I remember each death in my dreams.

 

[painted wolf]

Death isn't anything to fear in my religion. It comes to us all so why worry about it.

I worry more about the deaths of those I love than of myself.

wa:do

 

[xkatz]

I could really care less. Death isn't something I find important.

 

[MysticSang'ha]

Not to sounds so overtly cryptic or anything.....but are we not dying and generating life all the time anyway?

Death is one of the greatest teachers we have in life.

 

[cottage]

I think some people are, perhaps, not being fully honest with themselves. Most creatures on this planet have a fear of death and pain; it is natural selection at work and it helps a species survive. Fear of death is bred into our bones; that is what makes the human condition so unique and special, in my opinion.

I may be wrong, but I'm not sure that is what the OP was getting at. Clearly we all fear coming to some harm, which includes death, but that isn't to say we all fear the idea of our eventual expiry. Some people accept that inescapable fact as being part of life, while others prefer to believe that there is an existence hereafter.

Just my two pennyworth.

 

[Muffled]

Hence, Buddhism.

Why bother? Why can't conscience and ego get along peacefully?

 

[dyanaprajna2011]

Why bother? Why can't conscience and ego get along peacefully?

Because both are impermanent, and ego gets in the way of transcendence.

 

[no-body]

It's complicated, I've lived with an existential fear of death since I was about 5 and first learned of death. The thought of not existing anymore still strikes fear into my heart on occasion, but embracing eastern thought I have almost conquered the fear or at least learned to live with it at a tolerable level.

Yeah, try telling somebody dying of cancer some psychobabble like "they don't exist" and let me know how that goes for you.

Many people who have a "time stamp" death will spend their last months in acceptance of their death and at peace with themselves.

 

[ellenjanuary]

Last time I thought I was dying, I looked an my Gwynnies and smiled. Was actually upset when the pain stopped. But yeah, we're not taking about any kind of representative sample here, sixty percent... but in contrast, here is where I can speak of death...

Real people in the real world, well, they want to mourn their loss. Their prerogative; but I have moved so far beyond "fear of death" that I am not fit for human consumption in those matters... another area I'd have to contend the reality of faith. It is not so much what I say among them that they cannot abide, but the manner of my saying, the uncomfortable reminder of just how animal we humans still are. People, in general, fear death with a mindless terror. They do not reconcile that "I" is essentially beyond animal. There's like two of us in here, ellen and animal; and while we parse information differently, we both have access to the same data. So, make no mistake - you find yourself contemplating non-existence, and drowning in mindless fear - that's your animal talking, and that's your animal's anxieties stimulating chemical production in your brain.

Cause there ain't no you and I with animal; there's only the three f's - fight, flee, and the other one. Animals die, big whip. For you and I, it is not to die - we never even lived - when the biology no longer supports the simulation, back to waveform with us. How many trillions of tons is held in a cubic centimeter of nothingness? You're gonna tell me that the universe is not set up to run these eternal simulations? Bah humbug. I got way more interesting things to fear.

Like my Gwynnies. But fearing pain? I can understand that; fear associated with death - well, the animal is not your enemy. This is another reason why I'm like - understanding, yea; repentance of sin, nay - because if you handle the big D, your animal can handle all the little D along the way. One thing animals do know, is how to die. They just get confused about what to do when they get there. Use the force, Luke; and you and your pokemon will have no problems in transition.

The only thing I know about fearing death is fearing the loss of complexity. Think about it; do you really want all this complexity?

 

[James.williamson.3]

there is no reason to fear the unknown. you can only open yourself to it and embrace it as a freind.

 

[gnostic]

I dont fear death. I would actually welcome quick death than prolonged wasting and agonizing disease.

As to the fear of hell, I don't believe in heaven and hell so I don't fear hell.

But just for the sake of argument these places do exist then I would have to say that I would fear both. The idea of eternal torment is sick and deranged and sadistic mind of the creator god. But I would fear heaven even more because I could not think of worse torment then basking in the divine glory of God for eternity; nothing could be more boring.

 

[YmirGF]

I am as dead, right now, as I am ever going to be, so what is there to fear?

 

[Levite]

Do you?

Nope. I've had a number of mystical experiences that make me pretty confident about my beliefs in the eternality of the soul, reincarnation, afterlife, etc. I'm good to go.