This is my first post and the subject has been bothering me some time, as well as intriguing me greatly. When I'm high, and sometimes when I'm sober, I often think about death. About what lies ater it, about how it feels, I wonder why I am here and I wonder how and when I will go, will I see my loved ones go before me or will they have to see me? I can often sit and ponder this for hours and I decided that yes, everyone must think about this sometimes. Its impossible not to, as human beings and as intelligent creatures we must think about what we cannot answer. And so I wondered what other people think and how other people ease the fear of death? How people can live their lives without constantly thinking "But its all pointless in the grand scheme of things"... and are there any 'mottos' or 'self invented laws' that people create to justify their lives, there existence, something that if accomplished enables them to die happy?
You can't die. It's not possible. You are not who you think you are. You are all of the things that make you up. Those things, those ideas that you have, go out into the world with everything you do. Everytime you interact with people, especially when they like what you do and want to emulate it, you live on in the world. You're not this body. That is the illusion. If you were, there is reason to fear death. But you are not. Let me take a popular example, jesus. Did he live 2,000 years ago, as per the bible? I don't know. What I do know is that he is alive today. How do I know that? Cuz he has impacted almost the entire world. It doesn't matter whether his body existed 2,000 years ago. He exists right now. And I'm not a christian, I'm just using that as an example. The buddha lives, muhammed lives, they all live. After you die, you will live, just as they do.
Indeed. So I'm not afraid of death in the slightest. What do worry me though, is if that death will be a long and painfull one, where you got plenty of time to think of all the things you won't get to do or experience, and the pain of those loved ones left behind. Now that would be hard to handle.
Yes! So what happens when the things that make you up are destroyed? What do you call the resulting state of non-existence? Should medical professionals stop worrying about patients in the emergency room? "Oh, he'll be fine, death is only a metaphorical state of non-existence anyway, so really, he's immortal"
That's a bold statement, how do you know? Thread should be renamed "Death: The Human misconception". Just my two cents. Love you all. - peace, joy, love, and light
The things that make you up can never be destroyed. Because everything that you do changes the universe. Therefore you are eternal. And no, doctors should not stop worrying about patients in the emergency room. People don't wanna experience pain, people don't want to die. This is why we help people. It doesn't matter whether it's ultimately as important as we think, because our wants and innate needs ARE important, for why else live if not to get fulfillment?
Religion isn't everything. I disagree with your statement and what most mainstream relgions say. - peace, joy, love, and light
So what happens to your consciousness/awareness when your neurons stop firing (I think is the analogous question)?
You're not your consciousness. When your consciousness stops, your consciousness stops. Every body and consciousness is just one manifestation of what is. Every action and thought changes the universe, and thus lives on in the universe. You must drop this sense of self in who you think you are if you are to understand what I'm talking about.
Die before my kids, but after my parents. Which means, I want to outlive my parents, but not my kids. When I think about death, I can think of many aspects of it. Like, HOW am I going to die... But HOW isn't nearly as important as WHEN. WHEN am I going to die? I can't come up with a date, but I can come up with some sort of 'schedule'. First, do the wedding for my kids, then see my grand kids, then somewhere here my parents are going to die, so funeral for my parents, and then I can have my own. Something like that.
I understand what you are talking about but you are missing the point. The self is central to the OP's question. It's all about experience. And what you describe does not experience. It is a collection of experiences which are meaningless because they are not connected to anything.
People fear death because we don't know what happens to you AFTER you die. its fear of the unknown. the worst fear of all.
Your consciousness/awareness lives on like always IMO. It hasn't been proven that neurons create our consciousness, it's just a theory if I'm not mistaken. If you could provide some evidence, that would be great. I think the thousands of recorded near-death experiences show that when we die, we rise put of our body in spirit form. How could our consciousness, if neurons do create it, make us experience an OBE, a total reliving of events in our life, and communicating with spiritual beings? There are thousands of these experiences told by people who died and then were revived. People who actually died are the best sources of information, not some study on a lab that makes predictions and theories IMO. There are minimal near-death experiences when everything just goes blank. - peace, joy, love, and light
That's very correct. I don't personally hold the view that our awareness lies in physical processes, out of a desire for human agency. I just wanted to raise a bit of debate there. Or that people exaggerate, or that our body has a mental defense mechanism (one postulation might be to occupy your mind so you aren't flailing limbs about-- when your body is being tossed around, you're better off unconscious then conscious), or that there are collective elements to our imagination (ever read anything about Jung?) The same way it creates hallucinations or convinces psychotic people that there are X (X being whatever thing they think exists but we can't see, e.g. aliens [a specific alien; i'm not denying the existence of aliens] or mind rays)?
All good points. Finally someone who can carry on a discussion without being totally rude and biased. I'd love to discuss more but I'm really tired. I'm off to bed. Namaste. - peace, joy, love, and light
It's innate to fear death. It's purely a survival mechanism. It wasn't long ago where I felt a lot of angst to the world, mostly after the realization that everything is without meaning. But, now I'm coming around that that's actually a beautiful thing. We were lucky enough to be given a body with a brain fit to contemplate - and create a meaning if we need to. We're one of the few animals that can do it, and for that I must admire this life.