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 unlikelyhero
Ramblin' Man
Registered: 12/31/02
Posts: 106
Loc: Lancaster (Uni), Darlingt...
Last seen: 20 years, 5 months
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 Fear of death 
#1929949 - 09/18/03 05:16 PM (20 years, 6 months ago) |
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Anyone else have this or been through this? I know for some of the more enlightened it's not something to worry about at all. I had to come to terms with the fact recently that I do have quite a deep fear of death - I'm a regular Woody Allen. Through coming to terms with it, I've been able to change my perspective and reduce my fear. I also read a book called Man's Serach for Meaning by Viktor Frankl that helped out.
I also realise that it might not be a fear of death as much as a fear of not enjoying life, or a fear of missing out on opportunities. Anyway, just thought I'd write that down - I think it's difficult thing to admit a weakness but evry healthy for the mind.
UH
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They lie about marijuana. Tell you pot-smoking makes you unmotivated. Lie! When you're high, you can do everything you normally do, just as well. You just realize that it's not worth the fucking effort. There is a difference - Bill Hicks
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 trendal
J♠
 
Registered: 04/17/01
Posts: 20,815
Loc: Ontario, Canada 
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I once thought I had mastered my fear of death.
I was taught differently 
Now I know that I am afraid of death. I have accepted, at least intellectually, that I will die at any time and that there is nothing I can do to prevent death. But I am still afraid, in a way, of the biggest change I will ever go through.
Fear is not a problem.
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Once, men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free.
But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.
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unlikelyhero
Ramblin' Man
Registered: 12/31/02
Posts: 106
Loc: Lancaster (Uni), Darlingt...
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Re: Fear of death [Re: trendal]
#1930011 - 09/18/03 05:37 PM (20 years, 6 months ago) |
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That's interesting. I guess if you accept your fear and stop fighting it, it's going to be easier for your mind to come to terms with it.
UH
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They lie about marijuana. Tell you pot-smoking makes you unmotivated. Lie! When you're high, you can do everything you normally do, just as well. You just realize that it's not worth the fucking effort. There is a difference - Bill Hicks
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spudamore
Stranger
Registered: 06/12/03
Posts: 1,460
Loc: Australia
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i have had a fear of death all my life sometimes i wouldn't get to sleep because i would be going somewhere without my body and the people i know as they were. would get into an anxiety attack. i feared since i was 3. or could of been that i feared life wasn't going to be normal for me. but then i realised all death is a fear of change. once i had these concept pounded into my thought process. i feel magnificent and this has only happened in the past 3 years
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suicide a permanent solution to a temporary problem
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unlikelyhero
Ramblin' Man
Registered: 12/31/02
Posts: 106
Loc: Lancaster (Uni), Darlingt...
Last seen: 20 years, 5 months
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Re: Fear of death [Re: spudamore]
#1930113 - 09/18/03 06:09 PM (20 years, 6 months ago) |
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Yeah, I definitely think I have a fear of change to an extent as well. I'm also a bit of a control freak and underestimate my own capabilties. I'm sure these things all link in someway.
UH
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They lie about marijuana. Tell you pot-smoking makes you unmotivated. Lie! When you're high, you can do everything you normally do, just as well. You just realize that it's not worth the fucking effort. There is a difference - Bill Hicks
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DankBluntZ
We know little
Registered: 01/29/03
Posts: 184
Loc: florida
Last seen: 18 years, 3 months
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Fear of death is the most basic human instinct. Once you conquer your fear of death only then do i feel you can truly live life to its fullest.
A couple years ago I was in a bad car accident that almost took my life. I was laying on the side of the road clutching my side which was bleeding internally ( i had to get part of my colon removed) with broken collar and rib bones. All i remember is begging in my mind asking for God to not let me die.
The way I see life now is dramatically different than the way I used to see it. I fear less things than I did before the accident. But now I fear some things that never used to bother me( riding in planes - i get that grip of death feeling now)
While the thought of riding on a plane sends chills down my spine now, I still go on them. During the flight im in a constant battle with my mind. I can usually subside most of this fear by telling myself that this is just my instinct and if anything were to happen there is nothing I can do about it anyway.
By having a near death experience I realize the cause for this fear was the accident. After the accident I consciously and subconsciously realized that I was a lot less super-human than I thought.
As I'm writing this out I realize that the accident, while not ridding me of my fear of death, has made me enjoy my life so much more, because I know that I can die.
Sure everyone knows they are going to die someday, but I think more people pretend that its not going to happen till they are 95 years old decked out in adult diapers and fake teeth.
By almost dying, i now feel more alive. Does any of this make sense?
-Dank
Edited by DankBluntZ (09/18/03 06:47 PM)
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Spokesman
The HighPhilosopher
Registered: 08/05/03
Posts: 847
Loc: New Jersey U.S.
Last seen: 19 years, 9 months
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Yeah i belive you dont live life untill you stop fearing death, i will admit i am not totally fearless of death but i consider this more as a fear of change. A fear of not knowing whats around the corner. But i dont fear death like other people do, i know its coming like i knew pubirty was coming. Its just another stage of life and it will come sooner or later so might as well enjoy the current breath than to worry if the next one will be there. 
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MarkostheGnostic
Elder
Registered: 12/09/99
Posts: 14,279
Loc: South Florida 
Last seen: 3 years, 2 months
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As one grows older, if one has lived according to one's faith, the hold that mortal terror - Root Chakra state of mind - Muladhara Chakra - Anal Plexus - the connection to why one shits one's pants with mortal fear - has a weaker and weaker hold over one's life. When faced with death from malignant melanoma, I went through the shaky, frightened physiological stuff, yet a sense of stillness remained throughout the whole panic period. That was in '96 when I was 43.
My Great-Uncle Herman died a couple of years ago at age 106. I last saw him at 103 and he said that if he didn't wake up in the morning it was "no big deal." Over 80% of people in their 80's do not fear death. This fear is connected with the life and vitality and beauty that younger people stand to lose through death - which is tragic. My lovely Jamaican neighbor can't be more than mid 30's and she was diagnosed for a third time with systemic cancer. She is not freaking, but shows abiding peace. She has a 6 year old daughter. If she dies, that is tragic, yet, she wants no pity and isn't freaking. I don't know how deeply she believes her Christian faith - I'll have to ask her - but today, I didn't see fear in her eyes.
All of Frankl's works are useful. He figured prominently in my Doctoral dissertation. I learned Paradoxical Intention from him, have taught it to some on the Shroomery, and recently received a PM of thanks for the technique.
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γνῶθι σαὐτόν - Gnothi Seauton - Know Thyself
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DankBluntZ
We know little
Registered: 01/29/03
Posts: 184
Loc: florida
Last seen: 18 years, 3 months
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Now youve got me interested in this Frankl guy. ;D
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Shroomism
Space Travellin
Registered: 02/13/00
Posts: 66,015
Loc: 9th Dimension
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Fear of death in often caused by the pre-conceived notion, or learned process, that after death is a state of nothingness/void/blackness/non-consciousness/non-existance. Being alive, we find it hard to comprehend this vague notion, thus we fear it. This is caused by the notion that consciousness is the same as physical body, which is not the case. The way to transcend this fear lies in utilizing consciousness to explore realms beyond the physical.. experiencing that consciouss/spirit, is an energy, our life force, which is a continual existance, based on learning and evolution. It exists seperate from, yet temporarily attached to the physical body, which dies. Consciousness does not.
Body is only a temporary vehicle, which consciousness/spirit resides in for a period of time (read:physical life), for which to experience physical reality. Upon death, the body returns to the Earth from whence it came, the consciousness is seperated from the body and returns to the 'other side', to enter a restful, 'cogitative' state of sleep, dreams, and analysis of the past life and experiences. After a period of time, the soul 'awakens' into a new body to experience more physical reality.. oftentimes blissfully unaware of the dreams from the night before. In a way, fearing death is similar to fearing sleep. You are not conscious when you sleep, and your body is 'shut down', yet you continue to exist. Physical reality reflects spiritual reality to a T.
After many times of repeating this cycle of physical life, the spirit eventually reaches a place where physical learning no longer offers any new wisdom or teachings, and that spirit can decide to continue incarnating on the physical cycle of life and death, in order to help others on their path, or to 'ascend' to the higher frequency, eternal world of spirit, devoid of physicality.
Fear of death can be healthy, to an extent. But eventually it must be overcome. Sometimes this does not occur until after death. It depends on the perspective of the 'physical mind'...ego. Note, physical mind is not consciousness... it is merely a computer, or processor, for which to compartmentalize and file the experiences of physical reality. Consciousness does the actual perceiving and experiencing.
Consciousness cannot experience physical life, without living in it. Which is why we enter into physical bodies temporarily, in order to have physical experiences. Spirit is beyond any cycle of life and death, and exists continually as an eternal, perceiving, experiencing, dreaming, entity.
The point is to not fear death, and live your life to the fullest, experiencing, learning, gaining all the wisdom you can from your physical experiences. Worry about death when you get there, that's a whole different ballgame, and we can't usually fully understand it until we undergo it. Remember, it's a natural cycle, and not the end of existance. Existance is eternal.
Let your inner light shine!
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fireworks_god
Sexy.Butt.McDanger
Registered: 03/12/02
Posts: 24,855
Loc: Pandurn
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Re: Fear of death [Re: Shroomism]
#1931628 - 09/19/03 05:03 AM (20 years, 6 months ago) |
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Hell motherfucker yeah! 
... nothing left for me to say, hehe...
Peace.
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If I should die this very moment
I wouldn't fear
For I've never known completeness
Like being here
Wrapped in the warmth of you
Loving every breath of you
  
 
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unlikelyhero
Ramblin' Man
Registered: 12/31/02
Posts: 106
Loc: Lancaster (Uni), Darlingt...
Last seen: 20 years, 5 months
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All interesting posts. I like what you said Shroomism but as much as I'd like to believe that, I'd have to experience something that showed me that what you say is true. I have no reason to believe that we don't just rot in the ground in the same way that I don't have any reason to believe that we don't seperate from our bodies. I'm an agnostic. I always jokingly consider in my mind to put myself through a near-death experience to give me a different perspective on life. Another possiblity I've mulled around in my mind is that if I fear death then maybe it's because I enjoy life so much. I don't know - it's definitely linked to my fear of change, I know that much.
UH
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They lie about marijuana. Tell you pot-smoking makes you unmotivated. Lie! When you're high, you can do everything you normally do, just as well. You just realize that it's not worth the fucking effort. There is a difference - Bill Hicks
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matteo
empty
Registered: 09/14/03
Posts: 69
Last seen: 18 years, 13 days
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Shroomism, i couldnt have put it better myself 
Hero, it seems like you're spending alot of time in negative thought circles reguarding death. If i may offer some friendly advice, consider the idea that it is pointless to spend time predicting the future, we have no control over the inevitable process of life and death, why spend time pondering the impossible to predict when you could concentrate your energy into positive thought?
Peace.
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I have presented the above as fact, but it is only based on one of an infinite number of possible theories, each of which is as true as the other is false.
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Rhizoid
carbon unit
Registered: 01/22/00
Posts: 1,739
Loc: Europe
Last seen: 2 months, 5 days
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Fear of death comes in various forms. One is the built-in animal survival anxiety that arises when an immediate threat to your life appears. I don't think this can be completely eliminated, even if it can be subdued. It's part of our wiring.
Then there is what I like to call chronic fear of death. It is not a reaction to an immediate life-threatening situation. It can be provoked by something that reminds you that you are one day going to die, or it can just pop up in your head for no obvious reason at all. I had this fear from when I was about 8 or 9 until I was in my mid-30s. I used to think that it was LSD that cured me of this (I was 34 when I first tripped on LSD), but now I believe it's more correct to say that LSD was a factor. There was no ego-death involved, no sudden realization, I just noticed one day that my old fear had vanished.
But old habits die hard, and on occasion that fear resurfaced again, mostly during periods of non-tripping when I was heavily involved in the games that define "social reality". At one point I even welcomed this, because I was confusing it with the previously mentioned animal survival anxiety, and I thought I had lost that, which worried me a bit.
Has anyone here seen the movie "Fearless" by Peter Weir? Starring Jeff Bridges and Isabella Rossellini. I saw it right at the time when I had begun to worry that I had lost all fear of death, and it made a profound impact on me. One of those synchronisms.. Look it up on IMDB if you haven't heard of it.
Anyway, when I much later had my first ego-death experience I saw how I had been worrying for the wrong reasons. I don't fear death now, but I want to avoid death as long as there are things that will be broken when I die, and most important of these is the love that I give and receive. It's like not wanting to abandon the contents of your pipe if you know that there is still something good left in there. 
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sirreal
devoid
Registered: 01/11/03
Posts: 1,775
Loc: In the borderlands
Last seen: 16 years, 11 months
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Re: Fear of death [Re: Rhizoid]
#1932045 - 09/19/03 10:21 AM (20 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
Rhizoid said:Has anyone here seen the movie "Fearless" by Peter Weir? Starring Jeff Bridges and Isabella Rossellini.
Is that the movie where Jeff bridges was in a plane crash and was allergic to strawberries?
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I may not always tell the truth, but atleast I'm honest
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I see what everyone is saying. It is so hard to form an opinion when you see both sides so clearly!
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Strumpling
Neuronaut
Registered: 10/11/02
Posts: 7,571
Loc: Hyperspace
Last seen: 12 years, 10 months
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I'm quite excited about death, actually.....
But there's no need to RUSH it
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Insert an "I think" mentally in front of eveything I say that seems sketchy, because I certainly don't KNOW much. Also; feel free to yell at me.
In addition: SHPONGLE
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Sole_Worthy
Stranger
Registered: 04/20/03
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Loc: over here
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death will be the uktimate experience, im also a little exited, but im fine chillin here for a bit, learning away.
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get it all together get like birds of a feather
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YellowSubmarine
Soviet Pig
Registered: 10/09/02
Posts: 946
Loc: U.S.S.R.
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Shroomism, your post reminds me of Tibetan thought on reincarnation.
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Shroomism
Space Travellin
Registered: 02/13/00
Posts: 66,015
Loc: 9th Dimension
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The three realms?
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DankBluntZ
We know little
Registered: 01/29/03
Posts: 184
Loc: florida
Last seen: 18 years, 3 months
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Re: Fear of death [Re: Shroomism]
#1934728 - 09/20/03 03:42 AM (20 years, 6 months ago) |
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I've never heard of that perspective before SHroomism, where or when did you come to see things this way? It's interesting to say the least.
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