Coming to terms with DEATH!

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

I dont believe you.

 

 

Oh... wait, what part dont you believe?

[Jeramiah Zeitigeist]

JZ, it sounds like a very difficult times. Wish you best!

 

Thank you. I appreciate that !

 

It was an interesting time. But I learnt so much. I am very wise now !

 

It was obviously something I needed to learn.

[RyanO]

You said it here.

 

We didnt fear coming into life; why should we fear going into death? Cycle complete, that is all.

 

Yep this is an interesting argument often used by materialists, dating back to Epicurus. I've heard it mentioned by Bertrand Russell and Sam Harris also. I've also heard that the reason it doesn't console many people is that we process loss differently having acquired experience (losing something you love vs something you never even knew existed) so it's the loss of life that's the issue not fear of what happens after death.

 

I've though about death a lot (I think it is important to do so) and in some ways do fear it. I imagine that 'some' people who say they don't fear death are in denial or don't know what they are talking about (NOT saying that about anyone in this thread).

 

It tends to come up for me in anxiety producing situations, such as flying etc. I try to prepare for my mental state when the plane is going down, so to speak. I've been practicing a Kuan Yin Mantra and if ever such a situation occurs I will be chanting her name and visualizing her, with the hopes she will ferry me to her Pure Land. Whether or not this is objectively true, if there is any truth to existence after death, I think one's mental state while dying and one's last thoughts are very important to one's fate after death.

 

Lotus Sutra Ch. 25: The Universal Gate of Kuan Shi Yin Pusa

 

I also hope to retain enough awareness that I will remember, should any experience be painful after death, to simply smile, generate compassion, and treat it as an illusion. This is one reason I am interested in lucid dreaming.

Edited February 15, 2012 by RyanO

[Jeramiah Zeitigeist]

WoW. I think my blood pressure went up while reading that. My heart goes out to you.

 

My teacher has said that experiences like these challenge our growth. Especially healers. You say you are stronger, in a better place now. (If I remember correctly.) Good to hear you made it out OK.

 

Edit: Although I don't bike, I can also get attached to bicyles and cyclists in uniform. The Tour de France is enjoyable to watch!

 

Thank you.

 

I have just finished my book. 85000 words. Hopefully it'll be published this year.

 

Many healers have a similar experience, although mine seems to have been extreme, even by those standards. Its hard to know how to describe it. Emotional, perhaps ?

 

I am absolutely peaceful now. I'm very happy. I credit Chi Gong and meditaion, to a large part, in getting me to where I am now. Her previous victims all attempted suicide after just a few months. I made it through four years.

 

I wish I had ridden the Tour. But I was never good enough. Track and TT were more my thing. I look damn good in my lycra though ! I look the part, even if I am not so fast anymore.

[Tom Lin]

thanks Jeremiah, thoughtful post.

 

I accept death, and made my peace with it! It is inevitable, even those that live forever in the spirit and choose when and how they die must face it. I don't think there is any way to true immortality in the daoist sense (or any other) without coming fully to terms with death and being ready and willing to die without it meaning anything at all.

 

Don Juan Matus said that our death is a presence which follows us around at arms length on our left, and that when we are feeling weak or petty, to turn to our left and ask death for advice, because that will dispel our crappy feelings and give us a sense of immediacy. I have found that asking my death for advice is an amazing technique for cutting through false self-importance (is there any other kind?)

 

I had an awesome near death experience where i was so close to the light i reached out and touched it, and all i felt "out there" where i was, was unconditional love, and an overwhelming sense of compassion and acceptance. I knew without a doubt that all that church crap was for the birds, and that i would be forgiven for my mistakes without having to ask. I left that place and came back to my body, but after that, the idea of death didn't phase me at all. If i died while typing this, that would be fine. If i live to see my 200th birthday, thats also okay.

 

I would like to leave my body behind one day since the physicality is such a painful burden, and live as a spirit. That to me is like having my cake and eating it too . But i'm sure i'm not the only one hahahaah

 

 

Great. Near death experiences are always so fascinating and just the idea of this overwhelming sense of love and bliss is just so reassuring that no matter what you will always be loved and accepted for who you are...because of spirit.

[Cat Pillar]

Great. Near death experiences are always so fascinating and just the idea of this overwhelming sense of love and bliss is just so reassuring that no matter what you will always be loved and accepted for who you are...because of spirit.

 

Reading about NDE's propelled my interest in studying spirituality in general. I'm envious of the experience, I might be more relaxed and laid back if I had ever experienced universal forgiving love like that.

 

As for coming to terms with death...I think my fears around death are mostly about attachments - mostly I worry about dying before I can get my shit together. For me, it's all about loss, and not what comes next.