The fear of death

[blazeofglory]

The fear of death is gnawing at us; no matter what we do, what summit we scale, what dept of the sea we can dive into, or what empire we can stretch we are always nibbled at by this lurking fear of death. Panicky, awestruck we wander about when we are warned that death’s hand is on our head. We can use arms and arsenals against visible enemies, but this hideously invisible archenemy is really untamable.

When we win geographies, erect monuments and ascend apexes of success beyond measures but this fear of death goes never subdued and subjected.
No religions, no beliefs, not even the power of God can subjugate it. We have theologies wherein deaths were vanquished, but they are simply myths to convince dimwits and dunces.

We know it lays its cold hand on us anytime no matter how powerful we are, and yet I wonder why we become too much greedy and try to own the entire earth and keep on amassing enormous wealth.

The dear of God is really disgusting, yet the joy of living is tantalizing. Man is hung between two polar opposites realities in fact in perfect balance.

[coberst]

To live is apparently our strongest emotion. Our repression of the anxiety caused by the fear of death is apparently the motivating force behind much of what we do. I guess that this fear of mortality is the cause of religion, which is the most dominating institution that humans have created. Everlasting life is our primary urge.

[amarna]

If you reckon death as nonexistence anyone already was dead before he was made by his parents. Man only goes back to a condition he already "knows", he will become nonexistent again. I suppose nobody has ever had unpleasant memories of the time of his prenatal nonexistence, which should pacify his fear, but it doesn't. Fear of death, I think, is the fear to vanish, it's - like religion, too - a revolt against Nothingness.

[godzila]

Hello blazeofglory, Really very nice information on reality of life. Your post title is also really very nice "The Fear Of Death". I read Dispelling The Fear of Death post by Stephen Knapp. Really very nice info share on this topic. This is the the reality. Thanks for sharing nice info.

[Michael T]

:) Isn’t it the knowledge of our own mortality that shapes and allows us to give such meaning to our lives? You may think of our ephemeral nature as a double-edged sword that makes meaningful our lives and our achievements and gives them value, whilst never allowing us to escape the fact that we must ultimately relinquish all.
They say the universe has existed for 13.5 billion years, and that perhaps it will continue for billions more before dying out for all eternity. Our universe is filled with amazing beauty and wonders, from nebulas and galaxies to flowers and field mice. Only we, as humans, have the unique ability and privilege to look upon these wonders for a brief moment and to know and feel the beauty and awesomeness of all that stands before us. Consciousness, however brief, is without doubt the greatest gift that the universe can bestow. If the price we pay for the privilege is death…which of us would not be willing to pay the admission fee? :nod:

[coberst]

Extended consciousness makes self consciousness possible. Self consciousness makes recognition of death possible. Recognition of death makes anxiety possible. Anxiety drives our need to repress this knowledge of our mortality. This drive creates our desire to have everlasting existence, which leads to the creation of religion and many other things.

[beroq]

I don't think the fear of death is the sole cause of the 'creation' of religion. Created by God and 'reveled' to mankind, religion covers a wider area in human's life -- wider than death and life alone. The fear of death is a natural, innate one; we could have been equipped with the required tools to ward off this death-- it is simply a matter of in what manner we receive the signals sent by the Source and decipher them.

[alexar]

Yeah there's more than death that needs explaining. There's accidents too. Bad stuff generally: earthquakes, tsunamis, orphaned children everywhere. Did they all sin or what? Oh I will have so many questions for god should I ever have the dubious privilege of meeting her.

[coberst]

I have been studying such things as our dread of death and how we repress this subject of our mortality because it causes us great anxiety.

In my effort to comprehend what this anxiety might be in its raw form I have constructed what I think might be useful in that understanding.

Suppose that we were placed on a platform high above the ground and were required to live there. And suppose that there were no guard rails on the boundary of the platform.

Do you think that this might be a useful imagination to help us understand these matters?

[Buh4Bee]

It is interesting to postulate what is the central production of raw anxiety when faced with death by defining this notion in terms of living on a platform with no guard rails. What can this notion tell us about humanity when stripped of the comforts of life? I think we need to think about what kind of person is living on the platform and what kind of coping mechanisms they may have. In terms of thinking about religion, this might help reduce anxiety for a devout person living on such a dangerous "habitat". This is just a start; anyone one else have further ideas?

For real life application, I attended a ten week hospice training class to volunteer as a hospice worker. One reoccurring theme that was shared was that some people find peace when faced with terminal illness, while others fight death to the end. In this case, there is no doubt that death causes anxiety in the terminally ill person. However, there are some who choose to work through the anxiety and embrace the end by "settling matters."

Anxiety is a reaction to fear and the end result is a fight or flight reaction.
I think those who face anxiety consciously before they die and struggle to come to terms may have internal conflicts and the anxiety is one part of this internal conflict.

This is a long complicated conversation, no doubt.

[alexar]

I often think about this. I have never been able to find any fear of death within myself. Doesn't mean it ain't there, but I never felt it. And I am not so young.

[amarna]

I don't fear death too but I wish I had more time left. Life is so entertaining, I already miss it.

[alexar]

Yes, definitely I don't want to lose life - but is not fearing death some kind of failure of the imagination I wonder.

[amarna]

On the other hand not fearing life is a failure of imagination, too.

I think I can imagine death, or at least the outer zone of it. When I was a child I lapsed in a coma for some days. I simply fainted and that was it. Actually no big deal, and a rather peaceful experience. But of course I try to avoid imagining physical death with all its unaesthetic concomitants.

[sc9108]

If we didn't have an expiry date we wouldn't get nothing done :),

[Judas130]

"It is possible to provide security against other ills, but as far as death is concerned, we men live in a city without walls." - Epicurus


Healthy children will not fear life if their elders have integrity enough not to fear death. - Erik H. Erikson


Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased by tales, so is the other. - Francis Bacon


Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. - Susan Ertz


From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity. - Edvard Munch

:thumbs_up

[Buh4Bee]

Nice quote by Henrikson. I'm a fan of his work from sometime back.

Children will live well in childhood if the adults around them are stable and loving. As we grow, we repeat this cycle for good or for bad.

How we live now, prepares us for the final moment. How are we going to go out. It's the greatest performance of our life, because I believe we have control over what happens. This control is a compilation of all the choices we make throughout our lives. What did you choose to do with your money and how did you treat your family?

Those children, what did we reflect back to them?