@dlowan,
dlowan wrote:Indeed. As I said initially I have no trouble with fear of death and sadnesss about leaving life and loved ones, especially if we have young children.
My question is not about that.
I have been surprised in discussions with some friends that the thought of not existing causes them terror, even though they believe they will not KNOW they have ceased to exist (though I do wonder if the fear is caused by an inability to imagine really not existing, and their fear of annihilation which perceives itself, but I have no evidence for that.)
THAT I don't "get". For me it can be no more frightening than non-existence was before I somehow became out of the collision between that egg and the little wriggly thing.
I understand fear of the processes of dying....seen 'em up close and personal and some deaths terrify the bejesus out of me.
Understand not wanting to leave the Fair (to me party doesn't resonate, life aint that much fun all the time).....resenting stuff, grieving over stuff I won't see (could be lucky there, I reckon), worrying about people that maystruggle to cope without us......all that I get.
Your question is interesting.
Just speaking for myself: I hope that I have fully addressed it,
in that
I have no fear of non-existence, nor have I ever feared that
(i.e., I did not fear it before the first time that I left my human body).
However: that is not what actually happens.
( I say that based upon what has consciously happened to me.)
The event that u have in mind is more accurately characterized
as
molting, as when a lobster leaves his exoskeleton behind
on the ocean floor and he goes on his merry way in a soft condition
until his new soft exoskeleton hardens. (That 's how thay grow.)
The event can also be compared to a snake leaving his skin
on the floor of a forest, or of a desert as he leaves in a new skin,
or of a chicken dropping off her feathers, possessing a new covering of new feathers.
What I have felt, known, recognized and experienced as being the
"REAL me"
has left my human body and has seen my human body a short distance
away ( c.3O feet away ) usually engaged in taking testimony
from witnessess in court, or in 1 case, seeing myself striding around
the room, formally shaking hands with my relatives, expressing thanks
for their assistance, or in another case: having lunch in a restaurant.
It feels nice. Its fun.
Most of the time, this has happened to me when I felt in a mild,
comfortable,
mellow condition, like "in-the-groove" e z going state-of-mind.
This has
never occurred to me
even remotely associated with drugs.
I wish that each event had lasted longer than it did.
Alas, this has not happened to me since the 1980s.
David
