The first thing to understand is that death is natural. If life happens, death will to. That’s just how nature works. Even the Sun and the entire solar system, or the entire universe (don’t know much about cosmology though, don’t hold me accountable) dies. So what is the point of fearing it?
The reasons why people fear death:
1. Identification with the body. As we discussed in the first episode of this podcast, you are far deeper and profound than just your body. (Definitely check that episode out for more context.) But there are a lot of people who do not have the knowledge of this and live under the illusion that they are simply their physical body.
In reality, your physical body is nothing but a heap of food that you took from the Earth. So, essentially it is a loan that you have taken from Earth while you are alive. Doesn’t matter if you make something wonderful out of this opportunity of life or make it a horrible one, When time comes, you have to repay this loan back to the planet. This is what Death is. It is repayment of the loan you took without any interest charged! Instead, it comes with extremely precious perks like “a chance to live consciousness”, which makes Death the best bank ever to exist.
2. Everyone in society has been convincing you that the “fear of death” is natural. And we know that whatever the society deems “natural”, we not just accept it but embrace it with open arms. A few years ago, smoking cigarettes was completely natural. In-fact it gave people a false sense of illusion that it is “cool” to smoke. But today, we realize how dangerous smoking is. Even then, certain humans persist and continue to avoid the disturbing warnings on the box.
3. Misconception that Death = Pain.
In a lot of stories we’ve heard and movies we’ve seen, when a person dies, it is very painful, traumatic and all sorts of unpleasant for the person who’s dying. The break down of the body, like in the case of an accident or a murder can be painful, agreed. But death, in itself, is not painful. It is in-fact said that death is peaceful. Eternal rest. Rest in Peace right?
4. The final reason death is feared by people is because it is the fear of loss. A loss of the image, a persona that you worked so hard in order to build throughout your life-time. Those masks you wore in order to convince people around you that you were the best person to ever exist! That all took a lot of effort. Losing that is definitely difficult. You would wish to be able to enjoy that forever. But, that’s not how life works.
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