UnbornTao

Of course you fear death. You are talking about an idea or something other than the reality of it. You just should throw your conclusions away and look into what things are regardless of opinions.

That sense might be based on the recognition that what you've got is just conceptual, not existentially "real" -- in other words, you do not experience the truth, but as much everyone else, we pretend that our concepts are real -- reality. If you're serious about this work, you eventually confront this reality and, as a resul, might struggle because of it. Move towards experiencing things authentically; have insights, contemplate. You can start with this sense. For example, what's the payoff you get for thinking this way? You can see how a lack of meaning being taken as a negative itself has meaning for you, a negative one. You may benefit from listening to The Trap of The Toxic Life Purpose.

May be about two opposing forces fighting (competing) for one exclusive result or outcome. Competition is a basic aspect in business, games, sports, politics, and non-partnership relationships.

Tea tree oil?

Sure, I'm not invalidating intellect as a whole. It could also be an observation.

You're trying to intellectualize your way into a condition that needs direct insight.

No way!

Before the how, figure out the what!

"Buy your own water bottle"

Ha, ok.

@Inliytened1 @AerisVahnEphelia You guys are full of it.

Aversion (wanting to avoid) itself shows up as a struggle.

@MellowEd May be time to shift from a childish relationship to the matter to a more serious one. Why are you asking? What do you hope to get out of answers? Regardless of your purpose for asking, first look into what you are, then it might be useful to tackle what life is.

You'll intellectualize, but focus on contemplating it; let it be completely, feel it, and ask what it is and what's it doing? Look into your experience of the emotion itself rather than on your concept about it. The emotion occurs in a different domain than the intellectualizing, so contemplating it requires being where the emotion is felt.

Without knowing what suffering and ourselves are, first we should have those handled.

No.

Extreme introvert. Like to be reclusive most of the time.

What is shame?

I think posts such as these aren't needed.

Depends on what purpose you set for yourself. Only you can do that. Recognize beliefs. Study stuff. Be curious.

That works, too.

Not familiar with the work of Sam Harris but stumbled upon this chatbot and am having fun with it. https://kronikle.ai/sam_harris/chat

If you're dead at some point you were alive. It's the same dynamic.

Wasn't intentional

Fear is a basic human experience. It is a relationship you adopt to the future. We take ourselves to be someone or something, defending that involves fear. Everything other than you is potentially a threat. Fear is very easy to access and generate. Seems like as long as self-survival is your operating principle, fear is present, to a greater or lesser degree.