fear of death , page-66

ah, D&C

anybody who does not fear death is either kidding themselves ...or they haven't thought hard enough about it.

wrong. the are those that do not fear death because they have meditated deeply & clearly enough to the point where the "self" delusion has completely dissolved

meditation is not thinking but opening consciousness so consciousness purifies & thought & emotional formations dissolve

it is because one thinks too much they never dissolved & overcome fear


Personally, I do not want to die in my sleep ... I'll have waited all my life for that moment and I don't want to miss it.

when fear arises, be sure to just be with/accept the fear

fear will arise because it has not be extinguished (nirodha) beforehand

fear is just fear; just a biological emotion; no need to interpret it personally



Just a bit of self disclosure

ah....'self'...

'self' & 'fear' are intermingled

fear results in 'self' not dissolving

'self' results in fear is not ceasing

Buddha taught doubt/fear is the 5th & final hindrance to proper samadhi



I have meditated for a little over 45 years.

yes...but this does not mean the meditation is of a high or effective quality

i know those that in their first 45 days of meditation developed much more than your 45 years, i.e., their mind entered the state where 'self' completely dissolved



About 20 years ago I fooled around by imagining myself dying. I did not entertain any fantasies about what I was dying of ... just the fact of dying. Within a fairly short period I became quite good at it ... so much so I stopped doing it. What I discovered is deep within me [us?] is profound fear. The more vivid the sense of dying became the more I experienced that fear.

Buddha taught those attached to sensuality will experience fear

Buddha taught meditation on death & correctly said it leads to a footing in the Deathless (Nibbana)

however, if the mind has improper samadhi & is not purified to a certain level, the experience will be similar to yours, namely, fearful



What I took away from that is ... that fear resides deeply in me

yes, it does



[and I believe all of us]

this kind of egoism shows the lack of progress

it is not beneficial or proper to make oneself the measure of all things



and it is the unconscious driver for many [if not all] of our decisions and actions in life. It is a part of what I consider genuine spiritual development to accommodate oneself to that fear and accept and integrate it into conscious awareness.

sure...this is certainly a wise step in the right direction



The more a person succeeds in that the greater their capacity to be truly self possessed .... rather than driven by fear.

true...but fear can end



Also your anecdote about reviving from anaesthesia .... that experience is a direct parallel to the final stage of meditation. The difference being however that the meditator arrives at that state by intentionally withdrawing their attention away from the senses.

your experience shows you don't know much about meditation

now you are just posting theory or wrong meditation (micca samadhi)

proper meditation does not intentionally withdraw attention away from the senses

proper meditation gives up craving, attachment & coarse intention (until the senses move inwards, naturally)





In meditation experience it will be much the same as the experience of 'going under'

this is very incorrect

you have no understanding of meditation

in proper meditation, the mind is lucidly awake



[not that I have ever been anaesthetized] with there being no experience of losing consciousness but there will be some experience of coming to. That returning to consciousness is actually the interesting bit. Because ... what witnesses the return to consciousness??? What is it that can clearly recognize the mind returning to full function???

this is non-sense



I consider the Yoga philosophy correct on this and the Buddhist incorrect.

no. it is you that is incorrect

Buddhist meditation is the mind completely awake & consciously lucid but insight & selflessless manifesting in that lucidity


your opinion of Yoga is unconsciousness. this is why you cannot uproot fear

fear arises from certain sense experiences therefore fear can only be ended while being fully conscious


***