If you are afraid of non-existence, why is this so?

@Thomas,

Well, we are but a poor, bare, forked animal, after all.

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@Thomas,

Many religions do inspire fear in their believers. Fear of retribution, fear of punishment for sins and so on. I've never seen the same thing in Buddhism.

Fear comes from one single thing; attachments. What you grow attached to, you fear losing. Buddhism teaches to shed attachments, and thereby shed fear. Even the rebirths are not a cause for fear, but a cause for hope, because it means that no matter what happens, you will get as many turns as you need to get it right. There is no punishment and no reward, there is only consequence, or karma. Fear is it's own punishment, as happiness is it's own reward, and as long as we are attached to things, even the thing we call "self", we empower those things to dictate our fear and our happiness.

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@dlowan,

Who said it? I guess it is part of the so-called Perennial Philosophy desribed by Aldous Huxley. But now it's ours too.

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@Cyracuz,

Well said.

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@JLNobody,

JLNobody wrote:

Who said it? I guess it is part of the so-called Perennial Philosophy desribed by Aldous Huxley. But now it's ours too.

That was supposed to be a paradox.

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@dlowan,

Dlowan, sorry, I missed it.
Dyslexia, I agree and consider the most fundamental attachment that of ego-attachment. One of the best lessons from meditation is the realization/observation that every second our "self" ends. By not holding onto our thoughts and sensations, as well as that of the sensation of self, we come away with the condition of sunyata, a full, flowing unencumbered emptiness. We also know that that is what awaits us every second now and after we die.

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yet I look at death as a sort of exploration

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@north,

I would share that attitude if I could accept the notion of some after-life self who would do the exploring.

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@JLNobody,

Perhaps North may mean the process of dying?

When I was a kid I saw it as a major life experience that you wouldn't want to miss.

Now i say take me in my sleep! Suddenly!

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@dlowan,

Woody Allen said, as I'm sure you know, that he didn't mind the fact that he will die someday, but that he just didn't want to be there when it happens.
I suspect that most people will not "be there" (be consciously aware of the event) when they die.
As I recall, Aldous Huxley wanted to be acutely aware of his transition from life to death (whatever that would be), even to the extent of having a doctor present to administer a perception-intensifying drug at the moment of death. I don't know how that turned out.

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@JLNobody,

JLNobody wrote:

I would share that attitude if I could accept the notion of some after-life self who would do the exploring.

you

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@dlowan,

dlowan wrote:

Perhaps North may mean the process of dying?

When I was a kid I saw it as a major life experience that you wouldn't want to miss.

Now i say take me in my sleep! Suddenly!

after the process of dying

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@JLNobody,

JLNobody wrote:

Woody Allen said, as I'm sure you know, that he didn't mind the fact that he will die someday, but that he just didn't want to be there when it happens.
I suspect that most people will not "be there" (be consciously aware of the event) when they die.
As I recall, Aldous Huxley wanted to be acutely aware of his transition from life to death (whatever that would be), even to the extent of having a doctor present to administer a perception-intensifying drug at the moment of death. I don't know how that turned out.

it would have been interesting to say the least

of course it could have the effect of blowing his spirit apart

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@north,

Quote:

of course it could have the effect of blowing his spirit apart

And how would you know what effect it would have on his spirit?

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@Procrustes,

Procrustes wrote:

Quote:
of course it could have the effect of blowing his spirit apart

And how would you know what effect it would have on his spirit?

I don't , just saying

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@north,

Oh, I would loved to hear you explanation it.

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@Procrustes,

What I meant to write was 'I would love to hear your explanation of it'... The bad grammar was annoying me.

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@Procrustes,

Procrustes wrote:

Oh, I would loved to hear you explanation it

it could shatter the soul or mind by dividing the mind into fragments into the sub-atomic

to the point that the space between them , is so vast they could never be recombinded

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@north,

That is of course we assume that the energy that escapes us from death is contingent to form a cohesive 'entity' of sorts.

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@Procrustes,

Procrustes wrote:

That is of course we assume that the energy that escapes us from death is contingent to form a cohesive 'entity' of sorts.

true

but I think that all of us has a cohesive " enity " or soul

1 Reply

If you are afraid of non-existence, why is this so?

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