We are afraid to die. To end the fear of death we must come into contact with death, not with the image which thought has created about death, but we must actually feel the state. Otherwise there is no end to fear, because the word death creates fear, and we don't even want to talk about it. Being healthy, normal, with the capacity to reason clearly, to think objectively, to observe, is it possible for us to come into contact with the fact, totally? The organism, through usage, through disease, will eventually die. If we are healthy, we want to find out what death means. It's not a morbid desire, because perhaps by dying we shall understand living. Living, as it is now, is torture, endless turmoil, a contradiction, and therefore there is conflict, misery and confusion. The everyday going to the office, the repetition of pleasure with its pains, the anxiety, the groping, the uncertainty - that's what we call living. We have become accustomed to that kind of living. We accept it; we grow old with it and die.

To find out what living is as well as to find out what dying is, one must come into contact with death; that is, one must end every day everything one has known. One must end the image that one has built up about oneself, about one's family, about one's relationship, the image that one has built through pleasure, through one's relationship to society, everything. That is what is going to take place when death occurs

nice joke.

Paradox -

A fascinating topic. I have thought about this at times. I have accepted the fact that I am going to die. I have been trying to make piece with this thought and I think I have for the most part succeeded. I guess I only started living when I accepted the fact that I was going to die. There is still a part of me that is afraid of death but I hope as the years go by, that I can overcome this fear.

My own appoach to death is I will live my life to the fullest so that when death does come, I can look back at my life and say I had the best life anyone could have, and leave the world in peace. If there was anything I couldn't do in life for any reason, I would hope my children would be able to do those. (Maybe I need to get married and have kids afterall ...he he he)

Phew ... heavy stuff, huh?

Have a good one!

Please read the fourth sentence as "I have been trying to make peace with this thought and I think I have for the most part succeeded"

Upon reading what paradox wrote, some of the things sound familiar to me. And, with a little research, I found this link:

http://bol.sourceforge.net/on-line/BookOfLife.php

It would have been better had you cited the source. :)

Agreed - it is best to give the source when there is one.

Nevertheless, a fascinating topic, one that has and will continue to capture the imagination of people.

I'm off to live ... :)

its not the word "death" that creates fear.

its the word "Love" attached to "death" that creates fear.

its the fear of loosing someone dear and near to us, that creates fear. if it was just death, well 100's of ppl die everyday , but i dont thing that creates fear to anyone, but when it comes to someone we know, love , care about,,,and when death is related to them, then thats what creates fear.

so its not really death, its the love .

are you afraid of OX paradox

I kind of agree with manson. But is it not the result of loving that fears us the most? I personally think if we stop worring about the results of what we are doing with our full potential then we are fearless. Cause result is not in our hand: no matter if you love someone or you do something else.

If we think for a while a quote from Gita where it suggests keep on doing your work without thinking the end result, then fear does not exist. Love is not fear, the result of loving is fear. And death is not fear the result of death (leaving loved one behind) is fear.

Karmandaybadi karatye ma falesu kadachana...........


JAI HOS!

Hi , thank you very much for such enlightnening coments. I had taken it from www.jkrishnamurti.org. Sorry for not quating that. I read many books by JK and many by other writers. I always feel JK much more direct and uncompromising.

Hi Paradox!!!

Interesting topic.... However, I don't agree with you. I have a paradoxical view againt you "Paradox."

I only believe on dying "ONCE", and I don't want to die before, either twice or several times. You don't need to experience dying either by first hand experience or by graphical representation, it is a matter of "ACCEPTANCE." Sometimes, it comes with age, but not necessarily. The sooner you accept it, the easier the LIFE would be to both- LIVING and DYING.....

Interesting though...

Detouring Sajha...

I think realizing death as an undeniable fact can help one get wiser. I too wonder how it feels like to be in the brink of death…To hold the last breath. I console myself by thinking positively that it surely relieves yourself and your loved ones from further extending the painful life.

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."
- Mahatma Gandhi

Sounds as if you just have read "Bhagawath Geeta" paradox??

Death is inevitable.

I am not scared of death, But I am scared of the pain.

Hi, i really dont realise i will die, though intelectually i know i will die. Sometimes when i see people (some close one or .. ) dying i feel deeply insecured. if some one realise that he is going to die ( or more accuratly he is dying constantly), i think his way of living will radically change. we are taught from birth ( or even in the womb ) to follow the definite pattern,to accept all the irrational activities. when we were small child totally dependent in other to survive, we were moulded ,tourtured ,encouraged and formated innumerable times by the parentns , others family members and society . then we were compared to other people or other imaginary ideals, we were rewarded and punished many times for various reasons. So life became a struggle and another idea is made life is struglle since all struggling . We are constantly trying to become something or to avoide something all the time which means we are constantly denying our own nature , our own reality. Denying what is for what should be is the greatest conflict so is there struggle.
Now i think if i can die of these pattern , ideas , conformities and so on then what remains is me , i dont know how it will be , but i am too afraid to loose what i know , what gathered ,is the death extension of the fear? since i am going to lose everything silently , with out complain,........

Hey guys no need to fear, I have been there, well theoritically you can say. I have had this accident and was im comma for a couple of days. Doctors said that I had brain haemorage, the clot in the brain was big enough for the doctors to get worried. They told me if I wake up, then okay , if not then its all on the one watching. What I experienced was near death, my heart could have stopped any time, and trust me I would not have known a thing. So to wrap my long preaching up, I believe I have had that state of near death, and I can say, you dont feel a thing. If you can open your eyes you are back to life, or else you are there, you cant realize you are dead. You are simpley . . . . . . . . . . Dead

well said zingkira, that's exactly how i envision death.

my take on death:

death is a fear and fear makes a person more sane and thoughtful. if you think it positively, and believe that you may die anytime, you may want to live your life to the fullest, try not to hurt people around you, make the most out of what life has offered to you! so yeah, death rocks!!! :P

talking of fear, death can well be juxtaposed with scary things that one may do in life - say bungee jumping. i have done it a couple of times myself so i can tell you from my experience. a person looking at someone doing bungee jumping may think, wow! how could he do that. its scary!! eewww! but when you actually do it, it's not all that scary. sure your heart races like anything in the start, but once you jump it does not feel all that bad. in fact, you end up enjoying it! hehe:P

well, death may not be as easy as bungee jumping. but as zingkira said, your consciousness is not conscious enough to feel it second after a second. it just comes and boom there you go-- you are dead!!! :P

chill out people~!

LooTe

What is light ?
What is wisdom?

Is light what we see or that we feel?
I feel afraid of darkness not because of ghosts but because i cant feel my being.

Is life really a life, or just a time out, that we really live again after death. He he he, i think death is resumption of actual life.

eheh!!!!!!!!

live with the motto...... no fear dude........

Death is the most painful experience in a human's life.Nobody dies in a matter of seconds...its gonna take minutes....so just imagine all the physiological processes going inside every human cell is coming to an standstill..thats a real pity situation.
From another perspective.. one can imagine the pain when a victim is smothered to death...in natural deaths the level of pain is exactly the same but it is not expressed physically because of other physical debilitations.
btw i dont fear of death...:P