The airplane crash here on Monday which claimed 189 lives, unlike many of the other crashes that have happened in this country during the years I have been associated with it, caused me some temporary pause for uncomfortable thought.
I'd missed a flight a few days earlier with the same airline, using the same type of plane, from the same airport out of which the fatelful plane had departed the previous day and experienced its possibly fatal instrument problems. I also know someone who is alive because they missed the flight that crashed because of a traffic jam and another who had changed her ticket to a later flight etc. etc. A few of the usual 'what ifs'.
It was interesting. I chatted with my wife about it and also on the phone with a couple of friends inclined toward contemplation and dissection (divegeester being one if them). The topic was the actual nature of the 'fear of death' when one really gets down to it.
As unpleasantly wierd and scary as it would undoubtedly be to be strapped into a screaming aircraft full of screaming passengers as it hurtled for a few dire minutes towards the its instantaneous destruction and everybody's death, I realized that my fear of death - or that glum feeling of being rattled by Monday's disaster - was not about the panic, the destruction, the grisly end.
I believe that the terrible experience would be finished, gone, no longer perceived or remembered as soon as it was finished. It's certainly not the sort of thing to fear in the same way as a terrible drawn out agonising illness or becoming a burden to one's loved ones by being 'taken' from them by acute dimentia enduring for years.
The same end-of-consciousness and end-of-narrative finality also means that my fear of death is not about lost opportunities and unfinished business either.
My fear of death centres around imagining the sense of tragic sadness and loss regarding my disappearance from their lives that would be felt by my family and loved ones, i.e. THEIR feelings about lost opportunities and unfinished business, not mine.
Do we not, indeed, glimpse the meaning of life in our fear of death?
@FMF
I think dead is gone – all gone. That I am not afraid of. Pain, suffering is another thing.
That others might suffer more by my being gone – yes, that is an astute insight. To want to be gone before they are – could be really selfishness. Depending on how things are. How to best live compassion – the real question. For myself.
@FMF
I've had a couple of near misses recently, both involving buses and not paying attention while crossing the road. (Well, to be precise, it's more a consequence of my sleep issues and impaired concentration). Both events were startling but the fearful thought that lingered with me afterward was the practical implications for my family. (Did my wife know how to pay the Council tax bill, how would the mortgage get paid etc). - Don't get me wrong, I have a healthy fear of death, but it's compounded by a fear of what would happen afterward to the people (and animals) I care about.
@ghost-of-a-duke saidBy 'fear of death', I am not referring to the acute instinctive aversion to something hazardous or possibly fatally dangerous, nor the prospect of some ghastly event that takes one's life; I am referring to a broader anticipation of no longer existing.
@FMF
I've had a couple of near misses recently, both involving buses and not paying attention while crossing the road. (Well, to be precise, it's more a consequence of my sleep issues and impaired concentration). Both events were startling but the fearful thought that lingered with me afterward was the practical implications for my family. (Did my wife know how to ...[text shortened]... t it's compounded by a fear of what would happen afterward to the people (and animals) I care about.
@fmf saidpssst Consciousness has no end 😉
The airplane crash here on Monday which claimed 189 lives, unlike many of the other crashes that have happened in this country during the years I have been associated with it, caused me some temporary pause for uncomfortable thought.
I'd missed a flight a few days earlier with the same airline, using the same type of plane, from the same airport out of which the fatelful plan ...[text shortened]... inished business, not mine.
Do we not, indeed, glimpse the meaning of life in our fear of death?
-Removed-We only become aware of it as we get older because of our conditioning. Or more accurately the lack of conditioning. Death conditioning to be more precise.
Start with a sound premise and use logic , not rationale, while seeking dilligently.
Like a math equation the answer will become apparent. 🙂
@ghost-of-a-duke saidYou fear the wrong things in life
@FMF
I've had a couple of near misses recently, both involving buses and not paying attention while crossing the road. (Well, to be precise, it's more a consequence of my sleep issues and impaired concentration). Both events were startling but the fearful thought that lingered with me afterward was the practical implications for my family. (Did my wife know how to ...[text shortened]... t it's compounded by a fear of what would happen afterward to the people (and animals) I care about.
@ghost-of-a-duke saidThis is what I am getting at: are these thoughts not snapshots of the meaning of life? Love. Loved ones. Love of life expressed through the impact on and of others. Not the whole story, of course, but simple snapshots nevertheless that go to the heart of things.
Don't get me wrong, I have a healthy fear of death, but it's compounded by a fear of what would happen afterward to the people (and animals) I care about.
@karoly-aczel saidHow so? Do you not have any loved ones who will be affected by your absence?
You fear the wrong things in life
@karoly-aczel saidThis sounds like pretentious back-of-an-envelope drivel. If I'm wrong, try again.
We only become aware of it as we get older because of our conditioning. Or more accurately the lack of conditioning. Death conditioning to be more precise.
Start with a sound premise and use logic , not rationale, while seeking dilligently.
Like a math equation the answer will become apparent. 🙂
@karoly-aczel saidSpeculating about this kind of stuff - or about things like how many angels can dance on the head of a pin - does not have any bearing whatsoever on the nature of my fear of death.
pssst Consciousness has no end 😉