Religion and fear of death

[Marisa]

I think it comes from not being able to imagine non-existence. I don't see much sense in being afraid of it but I still find it very frightening.

I can't imagine it either. I wonder if anyone can? LOL

 

[Unveiled Artist]

"Its not that Im afraid of death, I just dont want to be there when it happens." ~Woody Allen

 

[Rick O'Shez]

Actualy, yeah. Many ethnic religions (or folk) see death as a psrt of life so the fear isnt the unknown or afterlife but how one dies to get there.

You mean these religions assume an afterlife but worry about the transition?

 

[Twilight Hue]

At any rate, I'm with Twain on this one:
I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it. Mark Twain

I'm a big fan of Twain as well. :0]

It's good and well to see that I'm not the only one around who happens to view living and dying as being unobtrusive when looking at the overall picture.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I guess you can say that. Real or not, they are comfortable with the afterlife but as for how they die, thats different. People take death with honor some with fear. For me, its how I die. Its no use of being fearful of what I dont know. Although not quite the scale, I have seizures and dont know when I will have another one. If I kept in panic of when I will seize (or one will die) Id go crazy. So I have to be comfortable with surprises. Death is one of them. (Almost been there)

I think its natural to fear. Many cultures have ways of adapting to the unknown.

You mean these religions assume an afterlife but worry about the transition?

 

[Madhuri]

I can't imagine it either. I wonder if anyone can? LOL

Nope, not possible

 

[LuisDantas]

Okay my first thread! Well besides my intro!

One of the things I really like about Epicurean philosophy is freedom from fear of death via Epicurus's understanding of the nature of life and death.

It occurred to me that perhaps without afterlife concepts being introduced at a young age, fear of death wouldn't be introduced because there would be nothing good or bad associated with death.

Do you think this is accurate or do you disagree?

It sure sounds accurate.

 

[Penumbra]

No. Buddhism does not have any. My 'Advaita' Hindu belief also does not have the concept of rebirth because I am born from the whole and return to the whole.

That sounds like a belief in an afterlife to me.

Unless your conception of moksha or returning to the whole is identical to oblivion or complete nonexistence of consciousness. Most advaita hindus I see refer to moksha as bliss, consciousness oneness, or something along those terms. That would be an afterlife.

 

[Penumbra]

Okay my first thread! Well besides my intro!

One of the things I really like about Epicurean philosophy is freedom from fear of death via Epicurus's understanding of the nature of life and death.

It occurred to me that perhaps without afterlife concepts being introduced at a young age, fear of death wouldn't be introduced because there would be nothing good or bad associated with death.

Do you think this is accurate or do you disagree?

I doubt the common fear of death is casually based on the teaching of an afterlife.

If anything I'd suspect there is some mild causality in the other direction.

Some people fear death. Some others may not but they often still fear painful deaths or fear the deaths of loved ones or fear dying and leaving dependents behind.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

That sounds like a belief in an afterlife to me.Unless your conception of moksha or returning to the whole is identical to oblivion or complete nonexistence of consciousness. Most advaita hindus I see refer to moksha as bliss, consciousness oneness, or something along those terms. That would be an afterlife.

I think it's the idea of continuation which is significant, continuation in some sense rather than complete extinction.

 

[Aupmanyav]

That sounds like a belief in an afterlife to me. Unless your conception of moksha or returning to the whole is identical to oblivion or complete nonexistence of consciousness. Most advaita hindus I see refer to moksha as bliss, consciousness oneness, or something along those terms. That would be an afterlife.

It is neither oblivion nor nonexistence. I am what exists in the universe, Brahman, and no other thing exists. My body arose from a billion things, the DNA contributed by my parents, air, water, food. Do not go on form. Through the last 13.75 billion years, what constitutes me has taken various forms. On what is termed as my death, my body will be cremated. It will turn into 1. Water vapor, 2. Carbon-di-oxide and 3. Lime. That will take care of perhaps 95% of what constitutes me. These will go in to a billion things. This cycle continues. If other religions or sects of Hinduism make a simple thing complex (that is natural because I am an atheist Hindu), it is their problem. My theory is the grand redux.

 

[Typist]

Having grown up a surfer, I always liked the analogy of ocean waves.

As we sit on the beach watching the waves roll in, each one is unique, each one seems to have a "life" as it appears from the ocean depths, rolls towards shore, breaks on the sandbar, and then foams up towards the shore. And if we swim out to meet them and let them break on our heads, the waves sure feel very very real!

Each wave appears to have a birth, short life and death. From a limited perspective this is a reasonable way to think about it. Taking a larger perspective, each wave is just another face of an unchanging ocean.

Each way of looking at the wave is valid.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

Each wave appears to have a birth, short life and death. From a limited perspective this is a reasonable way to think about it. Taking a larger perspective, each wave is just another face of an unchanging ocean.
Each way of looking at the wave is valid.

I live by the sea and like watching waves, and I agree they are an interesting analogy. But taking your larger perspective, what does the ocean represent?

 

[Penumbra]

It is neither oblivion nor nonexistence.

I specified oblivion or nonexistence of consciousness.

I am what exists in the universe, Brahman, and no other thing exists. My body arose from a billion things, the DNA contributed by my parents, air, water, food. Do not go on form. Through the last 13.75 billion years, what constitutes me has taken various forms. On what is termed as my death, my body will be cremated. It will turn into 1. Water vapor, 2. Carbon-di-oxide and 3. Lime. That will take care of perhaps 95% of what constitutes me. These will go in to a billion things. This cycle continues. If other religions or sects of Hinduism make a simple thing complex (that is natural because I am an atheist Hindu), it is their problem. My theory is the grand redux.

If you do not believe consciousness continues in some form, including no belief in the consciousness becoming some larger whole, and merely believe that your matter disperses back into nature, then that indeed seems like no belief in an afterlife, which would differ from the majority of Buddhists and Hindus.

 

[Aupmanyav]

With me matter creates consciousness in a body (lest someone tries to make it in to a universal consciousness). Yes, no Indian religion usually will say that..

 

[ShivaFan]

Adventure. Increases the odds of death. I am a Hindu, because of adventure. It is the greatest adventure. Once you try it. You can be safe and bored, or go on an adventure and die.

I like the later. So I guess I fear death less than others might. That is what Hinduism does to me. I go on safaris.

 

[Typist]

I live by the sea and like watching waves, and I agree they are an interesting analogy. But taking your larger perspective, what does the ocean represent?

Well, that would depend on what story one prefers about reality of course.

One option could be that the ocean represents itself. After all, all life on Earth arose from the ocean.

Here's a fascinating experiment where they removed the blood from a dog and replaced it with seawater. After a bumpy first few days, the dogs survived and thrived for years after, with sea water running through his veins instead of blood.

The Dog Experiments

Joni Mitchell famously sang that "we are stardust" which is of course literally true. What we are physically made of was created in supernova explosions far, far from Earth, long long ago.

Some will continue to trace "what the ocean represents" back beyond the realm of time, space, matter etc. It seems quite a speculative endeavor, but then science also claims everything came from nothing, or something very close to nothing.

So who knows what the ocean represents, not me.

Personally I find experiencing the connection more productive than the seemingly impossible task of trying to explain it, however entertaining that game admittedly can be.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Oh yes. No degrees needed. Street dentists in India will implant a dog's teeth in a person's mouth in flat 5 minutes. I wonder what were the qualifications of René Quinton!