Contemplating Death: Death-DENIAL

[r0ckyreed]

I have been reading Kubler-Ross, On Death & Dying. It is a very insightful book and I have been contemplating it from time to time. I have been trying to finish that book since the beginning of this year, but I have been putting it off because she illustrates the topic of death profoundly that it has made me want to take a break from the book from how heavy it is. 

The main insight from the book I have been contemplating is death-denial. Denial is a coping skill that we use to avoid the emotional overload of contemplating our own death and demise. It is difficult for us to even conceive of our own death. Death denial is very sneaky, and we use it all the time! Kubler-Ross pointed out some examples of death denial such as war and belief in an afterlife. Her reasoning is that people go to war as part of their way of denying death by taking others' lives and by surviving war, feeling a sense of accomplishment as if they have "defeated death." We do risky things like rock climbing, scuba diving, etc. Why? Part of us wants to "defeat death" and come out on the other side. But this will not happen. No matter how strong you are, you will die all the same.

The belief in an afterlife makes our suffering more meaningful in that you suffer now and reap the rewards in an afterlife. But if there is no afterlife, then all the suffering people endure is ultimately meaningless. I would argue that this teaching that "death is an illusion" or "death is imaginary" is another form of death denial that you are fooling yourself into.

Some ways I deny death are the following:

1. Thinking that my good health and vital energy will continue to last (discounting that my metabolism will slow down overtime).

2. Eating junk food

3. Not admitting that my eye sight is getting worse and will continue to get worse over time.

4. Not admitting I will go bald and lose my teeth eventually

5. Not looking into the fact that I will lose everyone I love

6. Scrolling on social media

7. Going to work

8. Exercising

These are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. 

Having kids, getting married, sex, etc. are also forms of death denial.

What do you make of this?

Edited October 5 by r0ckyreed

[Hojo]

@r0ckyreed

You forgot you deny death by stopping engagement with thought when the feelings get too scary as you said you put the book down cause it got too intense. If you can find the point in your mind that makes you panic about dying that's you you are pointing at, with your intellect.

Edited October 5 by Hojo

[r0ckyreed]

Everything we do is geared towards death denial. Personal development for instance and wanting to create massive value that outlives you. Reproduction is the desire for immortality.

[Keryo Koffa]

Breathing is a coping mechanism

[Breakingthewall]

Death is impossible, what exist cant cease of existing. Death is just a change of frequency.

[r0ckyreed]

1 hour ago, Breakingthewall said:

Death is impossible, what exist cant cease of existing. Death is just a change of frequency.

How would you know? Isn’t that just death denial? Sure, you are imagining your own death in the same way that you are imagining you being sick. But the reality is that death is going to happen in the same way that sickness is going to happen. People who denied Covid was a form of death denial.

Edited October 5 by r0ckyreed

[Breakingthewall]

49 minutes ago, r0ckyreed said:

How would you know? Isn’t that just death denial? Sure, you are imagining your own death in the same way that you are imagining you being sick. But the reality is that death is going to happen in the same way that sickness is going to happen. People who denied Covid was a form of death denial.

I just perceive what existence is, it's like anything else, it never was created, never could be destroyed, just transformed. 

[Hojo]

@r0ckyreed It will probably suck but you never stop existing.

Edited October 5 by Hojo

[Someone here]

@r0ckyreed die before you die and you shall never die. 

[r0ckyreed]

17 minutes ago, Hojo said:

@r0ckyreed It will probably suck but you never stop existing.

How can you be so sure? Death literally means the cessation of consciousness like a dreamless sleep but infinitely deeper. If an afterlife or continuity exists, then there is no death. When you look at a dead corpse, what continues? That consciousness is gone.

Edited October 5 by r0ckyreed

[Hojo]

@r0ckyreed its not in the body. Conciousness is the field. The field attachs to bodies then de attaches. You are outside pretending to be inside something. Conciousness is surrounding the body. When you blink its outside your body blinking not your eyes the information your eyes send into the field is stopped. But you are not behind blinking you are in front blinking.

Edited October 5 by Hojo

[r0ckyreed]

I will say that an interesting thought is that we were all born from death in a way. We didn’t exist before we were born, yet from death life springs. 

[Hojo]

@r0ckyreed when people say life finds away they don't know how profound it means. Life literally found a way to break out of space and time to continue existing.

a plant coming through a crack in the cement is only a tiny bit of the meaning.

[Princess Arabia]

How does one experience death?

[r0ckyreed]

5 hours ago, Princess Arabia said:

How does one experience death?

You can’t experience death. Death is the cessation of experience. When you die, you won’t even experience your death. It’s like falling asleep. You don’t experience falling asleep, you experience waking up. 

[Hojo]

@r0ckyreed Its possible to stay conscious going to sleep. Some go to extreme measure.

 

[Staples]

It's hard to take death as anything but personal.

- Peter Ralston

Edited October 6 by Staples

[Ishanga]

@r0ckyreed Avoid the fact that we are Mortal, is basically the distraction ploy being played out, we use distraction (social media, video games, entertainment of all sorts, 5 sense pleasure seeking, drugs, etc) so we can avoid all sorts of situational facts that are happening in our lives, especially the fact that someday our bodies will become weaker and eventually fail us and die.

Why this happens, why do we lose our physical strength, vitality and endurance? I think this is natures way of making us go Within, to find our Real Selves, and Purpose while Embodied before we lose our Embodiment, just think of it we lose more as we age, this forces us to face impermanency, that everything we come intouch with will leave us, this is a lesson, we need to learn the lesson and go within and then things will work out in the End...

One just needs to know that someday we lose our body and the ability to be alive, don't let it emotionally cripple You, just have it there as a simple realization, this should make You focus more on what is important in life and not the stupid shit most of us are doing with wasting our time while here...

[Princess Arabia]

9 hours ago, Staples said:

It's hard to take death as anything but personal.

- Peter Ralston

Ralston being funny. "Scull and crossbones".....lol

[LoseYourvelf]

Just now, Princess Arabia said:

Ralston being funny. "Scull and crossbones".....lol

I hope Pete Raltson is there at the pearly gates man