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Experiencing death.

#21
Im 27, never been afraid of death, done some pretty stupid things and never once thought "man i could die doing this!"

IMO the only thing you know for sure is that one day one way or another you WILL die!

Its only a question of when and how!

Once you accept that fact, its easy to live without caring about dying! I would rather live a bit more, but if i die tomorrow i would still be able to say i have had a good life!
 
#23
A few years back I had to have open heart surgery at 42. I had to sign a waiver before the procedure that stated that I was aware that the surgery could cause my death.
Weird thing to have to face... but I got two things out of it personally concerning life/death

#1) the anticipation of death is the worst part of it. Death itself is no biggie I think, just a change. A change to what? I dunno..but my sense tells me that whatever it is, isn't so bad.

#2) until you actually face your own mortality, it's hard to appreciate life.
 
#27
I've been where you are. I still go back & visit once in a while, but, what has helped me get past the overwhelming fear is physics and philosophy. You can neither create nor destroy energy, only change it's form. So, regardless of form your energy has always existed and will always continue to do so. Whatever philosophy or religious construct you choose to wrap around that existence is up to you.
 
#28
I cannot answer this question in the way you desire. I disagree with some of your statements, such as human life is the end of it all. I personally believe I am energy, within a human body. Like me, trees have energy too, but they are not human, but a tree. Perhaps our energy could have been a tree in the past life... perhaps it can our future life. I do not know. I find it very difficult to believe that our lives have no other purpose than to just momentarily exist and than that is it.

How do I know this will be my fate? I do not, but how do you know it will not be your fate? You do not know either. The fear of death, to me, seems completely irrational. It happens all around us, in massive and miniscule ways. Ever step on an ant? You ended a life form. That ant's body, like all humans, will decompose. Bugs will feed upon us, and through that process we will return to the Earth.

It seems disgusting, but it is actually a beautiful thing. Your body can become the dirt which bears new life. There is no point in worrying over the inevitable. You can do this for the rest of your life, and as you get closer to the time of passing on, than you might just end up questioning your quality of life since you have been so concerned with the death of it.

Step out, breath in the air, take in the sun, and just be. It won't last forever, so do not worry what is to come tomorrow.

With all these rumors of the end of the world... I recently accepted a new point of view on it. Let it end. I am ready. Take me now, and I hope that my existence was meaning to at least someone else (and I know it has been meaningful to many).

Learn how to read your body signs, note when you blood pressure is rising, and take your pulse. When your pulse is higher than normal, learn deep breathing exercises. Fill your mind with more positive thoughts - whether they are about good times, living life to the fullest, and maybe one day, you can think of the positive aspects of death.

Just remember the law of of Conservation of Energy.

"The law of conservation of energy is a law of physics. It states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant over time (is said to be conserved over time). A consequence of this law is that energy can neither be created nor be destroyed: it can be transformed from one form to another or transferred from one place to another. The only thing that can happen to energy in an isolated system is that it can change form: for instance chemical energy can become kinetic energy; energy can enter or leave a closed system."
 
#30
Once again, thank you all for your responses so far.

ehque said:
That's nice and simple and all, but how do you know that you won't know?

I believe the answers lie where the OP has categorically excluded.
Click to expand...

I have excluded nothing - only requested that we abide by TB rules. And religious discussions are not Kosher around here. I would rather we have limited yet still informative discourse rather than an all-encompassing thread that ends in 5 posts because a religious argument develops and the mods have to close it down.
 
#33
It seems to me you fear how you will die, rather than dying itself. It reminds me of the old joke; "When I die, I want go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming in terror like the passengers in his car.":p

From what I've learned in my 45 years, is that all we perceive in this life can be distilled down to one of two things; fear or love. Ask yourself, do want to love life? Or fear death? You have ultimate control over your thoughts. Learn to master your thoughts and you will find peace.

I highly recommend reading The Power of Now by Ekhart Tolle. He illustrates some very useful techniques for quieting your mind and gaining control over your thoughts.

Disclaimer; FWIW, IMHO, YMMV, My $.02, Etc...
 
#34
jb63 said:
It seems to me you fear how you will die, rather than dying itself. It reminds me of the old joke; "When I die, I want go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming in terror like the passengers in his car.":p

From what I've learned in my 45 years, is that all we perceive in this life can be distilled down to one of two things; fear or love. Ask yourself, do want to love life? Or fear death? You have ultimate control over your thoughts. Learn to master your thoughts and you will find peace.

I highly recommend reading The Power of Now by Ekhart Tolle. He illustrates some very useful techniques for quieting your mind and gaining control over your thoughts.

Disclaimer; FWIW, IMHO, YMMV, My $.02, Etc...
Click to expand...

Reminds of me that scene from Donnie Darko.... where Donnie proceeds to tell Kitty Farmer above the Love and Fear chart..... (cut to principal's office)
Kitty Farmer: "I'll tell you what he said! He asked me to forcibly insert the lifeline exercise card into my anus!"

lmao... gets me every time!!!
 
#35
Muaguana said:
Objectively, I know my life and my sentience are finite and must end.
Click to expand...

Oh, do you? And how do you know that your sentience will come to an end? :hmm:

Muaguana said:
Have you imagined your own death in such depth that you could feel your very consciousness disappearing as your brain dies? Can you fully grasp the thought of not existing?
Click to expand...

For one who's never been there (yet), you assume a lot... :rolleyes:

Muaguana said:
If not, then what are your thoughts on consciousness and death? Or consciousness and pre-life?
Click to expand...

You don't recall your pre-mortal life - yet. But eventually you will. As far as being and consciousness are concerned, there never was a beginning. And there will be no end. There is only the development of being and consciousness from one stage to another, from a lower form to a higher form. Thus far, at least.

For how well we "perform" in this life, and in this world, will determine how far we continue to develop & evolve in the next world. And the world after that. And after that. (And no, I'm not referring to reincarnation...)

Muaguana said:
As per TB rules, let's keep religion out of this, so please no one bring ideas of an afterlife into this.
Click to expand...

Nice try. That's like opening a discussion of plant life - while forbidding any reference to botany. Or biology. Or even science.

I "prophesy" that this thread will be cut short by moderator intervention...

MM
 
#37
Jazz Ad said:
That's easy. There is no known example of any living being retaining sentience after death.
Based on statistics alone, you're not very likely to remain sentient after death.
Click to expand...

Unless you are with that person in the spirit and can communicate with him/her after the death of the body, then you would have no way of knowing that he/she is no longer sentient.

Since that person lives on as a fully-conscious, disembodied spirit, I would say that person's continued sentience is a given... :hmm:

MM
 
#39
Jazz Ad said:
For all we know, there is absolutely no reason...
Click to expand...

to believe we won't come back as fruits after we go. That is to say, there isn't any information either way.

It's like living your whole life in a room with no windows, but you get newspapers from outside. They don't agree with each other, so you can't believe everything. Coming to the conclusion that one newspaper is more correct than the other, or that none of them are correct at all, is logically identical.
 

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