by minimus 83 Replies latest jw friends
I'm more afraid of dying a horrilbly violent painful death...I was a paramedic and I know every bad thing that can happen.I don't worry about what happens afterwards - heaven, hell, purgatory, nothing...
I worry about leaving my sons alone in the world and not seeing them grow into the wonderful men I know they are going to be.
Chrystal aka Why Georgia
I'm more afraid of dying a horrilbly violent painful death...
Me, too ! I just want to die in my sleep. No other way.
I wonder if we will still be able to see what happens to our kids and grandkids, once we are gone. Have to wait and see, I guess.
By the way, WG, cute pic of your kid and you. Wife likes it, too.
Back to the subject at hand, sort of....I feel bad for animals. Most animals experience a violent death. I don't know if they worry about it, though. In some ways, they probably do. Like, the poor Impala being chased by a lion. Or the monkey being stalked by a leopard. Or cows waiting to be slaughtered, so you can enjoy a good hamburg at Mac'd's. Or even a fish, being devoured by a larger fish, or caught in a fisherman's net. Ever hear of a fish dying of old age? (except in a fish bowl, and that's even rare). Poor animals.
Hubert
actually, the buddhists do not believe in nilihism, when they say the flame is blown out, they do not mean it has stopped existing, for them such a concept is unthinkable, but what they mean is that the flame has become one with all that is, spread out to infinity if you will.
you are quite right zen. I think you may have misunderstood what i said. The desire to "sleep" in Nirvana is not nihilism. When the flame is "blown out" as it were, there is a cessation of the consciousness. The "Mind", and even the "Self" is extinguished. There is only the "Atman" that remains. The Atman is not total oblivion, it cannot be, because it is a named and identified entity, therefore it is not nihil (nothing). In fact not only is it NOT "nothing"... it IS"everything" (or more accurately All because the phrase "every thing" still carries the meaning of seperate entities). http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/103155/1784088/post.ashx#1784088 When there is a removal of I-ness, the removal of Self and ego, only the indestructable Atman (the All, the Absolute) is left, so that fear is irrelevant. Many Buddhists say that the Atman was never born and will never die. They also say that true liberation comes from a realisation that that which really matters (the Atman) can NEVER be hurt or damaged. On the other hand, the Self, the conciousness and the ego can both perish like a dying candle. The Self keeps "part/all" of the Atman in a temporary illusion, which is individual physical existence. Nirvana is the destruction or extiction of the Self, and the waking up from that "illusion". Nirvana can be reached by letting go of the Self, recognising it as not worthy, and instead beginning to care for All. The continuous cycle of entrapment of the Atman, will then cease and peace is achieved.
Only the ego fears death. When one discovers that the ego isn't "me" then all fear dissolves, including fear of death. When one discovers what one really is, then there is the realization that there is no such thing as "personal death", only life."I" never existed to begin with, only an idea of "me" had seemed to exist, kept "alive" in the mind. But when the reality of this "me" was investigated directly, it couldn' t be found. All "individuals" are mental creations only; what those creations arise within always is - and that's what you really are.
Nicely put Poppers... the ego fears death because death is the ego's destruction. The way to eliminate fear is to realise that the ego is not really "me", "me" is actually the All. Therefore the ego doesnt matter only the All matters. All cannot be destroyed so neither can "me". Fear of death disappears in a puff of really, really, really complicated oriental philophical logic.
I worry about leaving my sons alone in the world
I agree with this statement......
Most days I would rather be dead so no I am not afraid to die. Just afraid of what would happen to the ones I leave behind when I do.
