why we fear death, the ultimate reason

[patricknotstar]

The fear of nonexistence isn’t just a byproduct of being alive—it’s a fundamental part of what it means to exist and be consciousp. To have a sense of self, an “I,” requires a resistance to the idea of not being. Without this fear, there would be no ego, no drive to preserve the self, and in a sense, no true existence. To exist is to maintain a constant tension between being and the awareness of non-being. If one were entirely indifferent to nonexistence, they would effectively dissolve the boundaries of their own identity, ceasing to truly “exist” as a self. Fear of nonexistence, then, is not merely emotional but a prerequisite for the experience of existence itself.

[Oeaohoo]

One morning, during Yong Maeng Jong Jin at the Providence Zen Center, a student walked into the interview room and bowed to Seung Sahn Soen-sa.
Soen-sa said, “Do you have any questions?”
The student said, “Yes. What is death?”
Soen-sa said, “You are already dead.”
The student said, “I’m only dying. I haven’t really experienced death yet. I don’t even understand what that would mean.”
Soen-sa hit him.
The student became confused and couldn’t answer.
After a few moments, Soen-sa said, “When you think death, you make death. When you think life, you make life. When you are not thinking, there is no life and no death. In empty mind, is there a you? Is there an I?”
“No.”
”You say No. You must understand No. This No is no self, no other, no body, no mind, no world. So it is no life and no death. This is true emptiness. True emptiness is before thinking. Before thinking is just like this. So life is only life; death is only death. You must not be attached to names and forms. It is like a clear mirror. In a clear mirror, all is nothing; there is only the clear mirror. Red comes, the mirror is red. Yellow comes, there is yellow. A woman comes, there is a woman. A man comes, there is a man. Death comes, there is death. Life comes, there is life. But all of these do not exist. The mirror does not hold on to anything. There is only the coming and the going. This is before thinking: all things are just as they are. The name for this mind is original pure mind. You must find your original face. Then you will not make life or death.”
The student bowed, and the interview continued.

The next morning, the same student walked into the interview room and bowed.
Soen-sa said, ”Do you have any questions?”
“Yes. What is death?”
“You are already dead.”
“Thank you very much. Now I understand.’
Soen-sa said, “You understand? Then what is death?” The student said, “You are already dead.” Soen-sa smiled and bowed.

[Princess Arabia]

May I ask what is this "the awareness of non-being" that you mentioned. What does that mean.

[Sugarcoat]

Before I had this one massive shift that released all the tension, I would experience this tension that seemed to be the sense of self and how it tries to maintain itself. It’s very heavy and it can be more or less heavy based on how many layers you’ve peeled from the ego. So that’s one connection I made to your post from my own understanding. 
 

You say to exist as a self requires a resistance to the idea of not being. I don’t think it’s the idea of it, it’s not being literally. The very activity, all the mental activity of the self is like noise to fill the effortless void that would be there. So it’s like the self is the very thing itself resisting dissolving into the void

Edited Monday at 04:38 PM by Sugarcoat

[Hojo]

@Princess Arabia As Chris Langan puts it its like God turns his face from your vision. You look at the back of Gods head and see its nothing but are still there. As if reality is God shining its spotlight on you and then you stop being the light goes and you are left with nothing but awareness since your body is made of the light. Awareness of non being is the fear of death as one day God will turn his head from you its guaranteed and that's what death is. If you dont like it you have no choice but to not like it and if you dont like it it will spiral into not liking it for infinite time growing and growing.

The fear of death is the soul knowing that you are going back into the dark alone forever.

Edited yesterday at 12:33 AM by Hojo

[LastThursday]

I would say that a self hasn't experienced non-existence so the fear can't be quite that. A self has to set up a wall to keep everything else out.  What a self really fears is the wall dissolving. It's a like a nation state which has an army to defend itself, any incursion into its territory has to be seen as an act of potential annihilation, so it will defend itself at all costs. From a higher perspective though, the wall around the self is a complete fantasy. There no difference between what a self thinks it is and everything else.