How do you come to an acceptance of death

[Ima Freeman]

Recently, I had a health related issue in which I had waves of anxiety and slight panic, coupled with what seemed like symptoms of an heart muscle inflammation roughly six hours in a row.

Medical testing refuted the inflammation concern.
But what I struggled with the most, was the acceptance of death. My mind opened the question. if I could now, if it so be, accept an sudden death by heart stop.

This was, not too surprisingly, a tough question. Especially because I was in the emotion of anxiety too.
There was the somehow irrational fear, that I could tip the balance in favor of death by accepting it.

How do you come to an acceptance of death, even in severe situations?
Is it only a question of courage?
Are insights necessary?
Is the ego in the way?
 

[Theplay]

When you are faced with death the fear and anxiety are natural responses of the body.

Its what you do after that matters.

If you accept death fully the responses will subside and you might feel unimaginably free.

I know a story about a kamikaze pilot who survived his mission and reported that the moments just before the crush were the most free and beautiful in his life. When he knew he was about to die and there is nothing he can do about it. He accepted it fully and was free.

That which is afraid of death is not just the ego its a built in instinct.

I think that even an enlightened master if experiencing a plane crush will have this responses at first.

It's natural. 

 

 

[Princess Arabia]

You don't have to waste time trying to accept something that will apparently happen anyway. Focus on life instead. What is there to accept or not accept. "Ok, I won't accept death". It's not like we have a choice. Who you think you are is not who you are. Accept that.

[CoolDreamThanks]

Don't accept it. Do everything that you can to break the cycle of birth and death.

[Breakingthewall]

More and more I see life's events as deliberate, necessary and unavoidable. This causes relaxation, absence of anxiety, acceptance and immersion in the now. It's impossible to know what your reaction will be when you know you're going to die, maybe a panic attack, but I think I'd deal with it well. we will see. 

 

[tuku747]

Death is what Life is. So technically you're already dead... Welcome to Eternal Life!

[Princess Arabia]

24 minutes ago, tuku747 said:

Death is what Life is. So technically you're already dead... Welcome to Eternal Life!

Nice

[Ishanga]

This is an old video of Sadhguru, he is answering a question from a participant about their friend that has cancer all over her body and if there is anything he can do to heal her. His response is very good, I watched both my parents die, they were in their 80's, lived good long full lives, but sooner or later everything that is physical has to end, that is the way of life, but as Human we do this with Grace and Dignity.  Many ppl that are dying do not die in Grace and Dignity, they live beyond what they should and it reflects in their quality of Life.

So if Your young start to contemplate Your Mortality, its important, and not in a morbid way, but in a way that makes You wise, that says to You "Don't waste time doing Stupid things, do things that are Important and Mean something to You!"..

 

[cetus]

5 hours ago, Ima Freeman said:

How do you come to an acceptance of death, even in severe situations?
Is it only a question of courage?
Are insights necessary?
Is the ego in the way?

This was me about mid November. It was like shock and awe to the system (the ego self) when I ask the Dr. "how much time would I have if I did nothing"? And he tells me -about a month or so. And I'm thinking O.K. so I would have till about Christmas or New Year if I choose to do nothing. And I'm thinking how I liquidate the house and all its contents so it's not too much of a burden on my daughter and son. I totally wasn't prepared for this short notice. At the time I did make my final wishes known to a certain person here on the forum and asked them if they would be willing to step in for me in the event that I could no longer fulfill my Mod duties (they know who they are. And as a side note I asked them to keep it on the hush as a favor to me). Hopefully Leo gives them his final stamp of approval when the time comes. Or even before. @Leo Gura Sorry, didn't mean to put you on the spot. I know this is news to you.

So, to answer your question: Life always hangs in the balance. It's a lesson in impermanence that each will learn to accept in their own way, in their own time.

Edited February 1, 2024 by cetus

[Yimpa]

Noticing your biases can be really helpful. How come it’s easy to accept when things go your way but reject things that don’t? Where did the idea that death is a terrible thing come from? 

[Guest Bazooka Jesus]

7 hours ago, Princess Arabia said:

You don't have to waste time trying to accept something that will apparently happen anyway. Focus on life instead. What is there to accept or not accept. "Ok, I won't accept death". It's not like we have a choice. Who you think you are is not who you are. Accept that.

Yes, yes, YES!

Existence is acceptance. If things weren't already fully and completely accepted, they would and could not exist. So it's not a matter of "accepting"... it's a matter of surrendering to the acceptance that is already there, always has been and always will be.

Just notice what is the case. That's the whole name of the game!

[Ima Freeman]

13 hours ago, Theplay said:

When you are faced with death the fear and anxiety are natural responses of the body.

Its what you do after that matters.

If you accept death fully the responses will subside and you might feel unimaginably free.

I know a story about a kamikaze pilot who survived his mission and reported that the moments just before the crush were the most free and beautiful in his life. When he knew he was about to die and there is nothing he can do about it. He accepted it fully and was free.

That which is afraid of death is not just the ego its a built in instinct.

I think that even an enlightened master if experiencing a plane crush will have this responses at first.

It's natural. 

Interesting story. I can intuit that after seeing a situation will doubtlessly end in death (of the body) resistance vanishes.

[Ima Freeman]

12 hours ago, Princess Arabia said:

You don't have to waste time trying to accept something that will apparently happen anyway. Focus on life instead. What is there to accept or not accept. "Ok, I won't accept death". It's not like we have a choice. Who you think you are is not who you are. Accept that.

I may need a lot more insights to see what I am.

But the things to be accepted are precisely the ones that you are conscious of to happen anyway.

[Phoenix Garfield]

Just know you will be reunited with God.

But, perhaps there are a few clues left in this world that would lead to seeing God's true soul, your own soul if you deem it so. It's stuck inside a big and depressing black box in the middle of the desert.

And once you find it, you'll say:  آه-روحي! (ah, my soul!) and it's yours forever.

Also, what does melancholy mean in Arabic?

 

Edited February 1, 2024 by Phoenix Garfield

[Ima Freeman]

11 hours ago, Breakingthewall said:

More and more I see life's events as deliberate, necessary and unavoidable. This causes relaxation, absence of anxiety, acceptance and immersion in the now. It's impossible to know what your reaction will be when you know you're going to die, maybe a panic attack, but I think I'd deal with it well. we will see. 

 

Depending on your age and fitness.

If your old and dead tired, you could even feel relieved. Who knows.

[Ima Freeman]

11 hours ago, tuku747 said:

Death is what Life is. So technically you're already dead... Welcome to Eternal Life!

Are you conscious of past lifes?

[Ima Freeman]

10 hours ago, cetus said:

This was me about mid November. It was like shock and awe to the system (the ego self) when I ask the Dr. "how much time would I have if I did nothing"? And he tells me -about a month or so. And I'm thinking O.K. so I would have till about Christmas or New Year if I choose to do nothing. And I'm thinking how I liquidate the house and all its contents so it's not too much of a burden on my daughter and son. I totally wasn't prepared for this short notice. At the time I did make my final wishes known to a certain person here on the forum and asked them if they would be willing to step in for me in the event that I could no longer fulfill my Mod duties (they know who they are. And as a side note I asked them to keep it on the hush as a favor to me). Hopefully Leo gives them his final stamp of approval when the time comes. Or even before. @Leo Gura Sorry, didn't mean to put you on the spot. I know this is news to you.

So, to answer your question: Life always hangs in the balance. It's a lesson in impermanence that each will learn to accept in their own way, in their own time.

Sorry to hear that. How are you know? Is your condition stable?

Impermanence is ruthless. Life is ruthless.

[Ima Freeman]

5 hours ago, Bazooka Jesus said:

Existence is acceptance. If things weren't already fully and completely accepted, they would and could not exist. So it's not a matter of "accepting"... it's a matter of surrendering to the acceptance that is already there, always has been and always will be.

So, surrendering to death it is then?

[inFlow]

@Ima Freeman Fear of death is the biggest challenge to overcome. It's why we are alive, because of fear, fear is very crucial in order to survive, so you should not be afraid to be in fear at those moments.

Everybody has a limited amount or prana given at birth. Even if you live a healthy life and your prana is done even thunder out of clear sky can strike you and your body will die. Car crash, heart stops etc, can happen.

When I do yoga, at the end there is one more pose left, the corpse, or shavasana. In there you let go of everything, you relax your body to your max, and when body scanning, I let go of my arms, legs so much that I tell myself "I don't need it anymore" as if I was going to die. If you can surrender very well you actually smile and accept "death". And I noticed that I no longer am afraid of death compared to how it used to be.

But don't worry if your body dies, which it will, you will get a new one at some time 

Knowing what WILL happen after you die makes it more acceptable of one's death.

[Breakingthewall]

1 hour ago, Ima Freeman said:

 

 

1 hour ago, Ima Freeman said:

 

I think that a phrase from the book Man's Search for Meaning is very accurate, written by a psychiatrist imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. He said that the change for him was to abandon the angle: what I expect from life and change it to: what life expects of me.