Are You Afraid To Die? (page 8)

Jamelle

Right now I would say that I am not afraid of death - and I don't dwell on it. Every now and then the topic comes up in my mind and although I get nervous at the thought of NOT KNOWING what will come afterwards - I end up shrugging it off.

I tend to be very practical about this matter and feel that whatever will be, will be in that department.

I grew up thinking that I was going to die at Armageddon - that frightened me. I never really thought I was going to live forever. My dearest friend did buy into all that crap though and has had issues coming to terms with her own mortality since leaving the JWs.

Someone posted a quote on another thread that I'd like to repeat:

From the movie, Tuck Everlasting: “Do not fear death. Fear the unlived life. You don’t have to live forever. You just have to live.”

I really like this quote, it comforts me. It combats the brainwashing of early childhood.

When I worry about dying, I try to focus on getting what I want out of life. A loving husband, a happy home, children and grandchildren. Friends that are like family. I want to learn to play the piano, I want to travel to Ireland, I want to get the most from my brief span...

The Witnesses put their lives on hold - they are joyless because they expect to have all their joy in the new system. Their lifestyle is a kind of death - a fate worse than death to me. After surviving that, I can take anything this universe has to throw at me!

joelbear

no i welcome it, i wish someone would shoot me in the head.

zen nudist

I have never known a moment when I did not exist and I never will.

fear is anticipation of pain and since I have never and can never know what it is like to be non-existant, there is no reason to fear it.

if ignorance is bliss why are so many afraid of the unknown?

acadian

Hello all,

No.

Once the veil is removed from our eyes, we see the true reaility, we see who and what we truly are.

We need to rid ourselved of the pre-conceavied ideas forced upon us by society (religion)

Here's a clue.... Jesus said "is it not written that we are all gods?"

Their's more to life than meets the eye...

Kind Regards
acadian

dorayakii

No, not at all.

In fact i don't at all understand a fear of death itself. Maybe a fear of suffering before death, or of the fact that you leave loved ones behind, but death itself? Death is nothing. It doesn't even deserve in fact to be called anything, because it simply is the absence of existence... (i'll add "probably" to that, because i can't be too dogmatic about it for the obvious reasons that i can't empirically prove it, lol.)

When JWs say that it is unnatural to die or when they ask people on the ministry "wouldn't you LIKE to live forever" and get a "No, not really" as a response, they are often shocked about it. I just don't understand such surprise. Its not that i want to die... but i didn't want to be born either, it wasn't my decision.

I'm quite a happy person in general, quite happy with my life so far, and happy with the direction i seem to be taking, but the idea of going on and on even in eternal bliss and happiness is still not appealing to me. I'd much prefer the Buddhist concept of "Nirvana" (which is not as many think an eternal bliss, but an eternal unconsciousness, rest, or literally "extinction" or "extinguishing of the candle").

The word "Nirvana" is an intransitive version of a verb meaning "to blow out" so it means in a sence "the spontaneous cessation of a flame". That prospect is more appealing for me, especially since i love sleep so much and never want to get out of my bed in the mornings.

In view of the Buddhist teaching of embracing Nirvana, it seems ironic that the root of the word Buddha is budh meaning "to awaken", but in fact the irony dissappears when you realise that it is only when you are fully awake that you can appreciate sleep. However, people still seem to be afraid of their own death, but at the same time, they don't fully appreciate their life and try to live it to the fullest. If life is worthless to them, why worry about death?

If one troubles oneself by worrying about death, one will never be truly happy in this life.

"Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that... and all will be well." - Siddhartha (Gautama Buddha)

acuragirl

I personally couldnt be more afraid of death, basically i try not to think about it.I think thats why i wanted the JWs to be right so bad because they promise everlasting life i would never die and thats what i want. I want to live forever but if the witnesses arent right,there goes the thought of living forever to and so makes me realize we only have this life so we better make the best of it and live to the fullest.You know how the witnesses are always saying that the paradise is the REAL life, they are wasting the only life they have now on preaching ,meetings and meaningless studies. Missing out on holidays, family etc.......really fun times!

minimus

Death I am not afraid of. Pain bothers me, though.

poppers

Only the ego fears death. When one discovers that the ego isn't "me" then all fear dissolves, including fear of death. When one discovers what one really is, then there is the realization that there is no such thing as "personal death", only life.

"I" never existed to begin with, only an idea of "me" had seemed to exist, kept "alive" in the mind. But when the reality of this "me" was investigated directly, it couldn' t be found. All "individuals" are mental creations only; what those creations arise within always is - and that's what you really are.

Sparkplug

I am so afraid to die. There is nothing worse than dying a virgin!

zen nudist

The word "Nirvana" is an intransitive version of a verb meaning "to blow out" so it means in a sence "the spontaneous cessation of a flame". That prospect is more appealing for me, especially since i love sleep so much and never want to get out of my bed in the mornings.
In view of the Buddhist teaching of embracing Nirvana, it seems ironic that the root of the word Buddha is budh meaning "to awaken", but in fact the irony dissappears when you realise that it is only when you are fully awake that you can appreciate sleep. However, people still seem to be afraid of their own death, but at the same time, they don't fully appreciate their life and try to live it to the fullest. If life is worthless to them, why worry about death?

actually, the buddhists do not believe in nilihism, when they say the flame is blown out, they do not mean it has stopped existing, for them such a concept is unthinkable, but what they mean is that the flame has become one with all that is, spread out to infinity if you will.

Are You Afraid To Die?

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