How do you live with death?

[MinaciousGrace]

people just need to accept that when the last human dies the cumulative worth of our existence will be absolutely nothing

once you accept this you can either

A) lead an enriched and fulfilling life and take the initiative to do and experience the things you want and appreciate the world for what it is in the here and now

or

B) kill yourself

both options are (imo) better than living a monotonous purposeless life desperately searching for some validation for existence that doesn't exist

either way it doesn't matter because in the end life is merely a path to death

@rubix i seriously doubt the human race will make it much farther without completely destroying/decimating to the point of irreversible regression itself but you can always hope i guess

[MagicCarpetRide]

My sociology professor once said, "death is not a detour on the road of life." Yeah.... I hated that class... but it's a good point. Death is a part of your life. That is true with all living creatures so don't freak about it.

[UserNameGoesHere]

I imagine it won't be that bad -- past the agonizing pain part that is (unless you're lucky to die in a painless manner). Any pain should be relatively quick though right? Because past a certain pain threshold I'm told you automatically pass out anyway - then you don't feel anything.

I am fine with a nonexistent state. I was in such a state prior to life, have been in such a state a few times during life (ego death), and so it's nothing new. There are no cares or worries in such a state.

[Mau5]

I'm not concerned with death, what happens happens. What matters to me is the name you make for yourself and making sure what you do while you're alive is worth it in the end. Plus, by the time my time will be rolling around shortly, i'll probably be in a diaper being spoon fed beech-nuts and applesauce, so I don't think i'll mind too much then either..

[Herogashix]

Originally Posted by Hateandhatred

How do you live with death?

Well, for one, you don't take his cheetos.

But death isn't that bad of an ending to anything. I'd welcome death like an old friend.

[Aldentron]

a band i listen to summed it up nicely when they decided on a title for themselves: The World Is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die. that statement really put things in perspective for me.

this probably sounds warped as **** but im aldentron, master of unpopular opinions, and i say suicide is awesome. it's an easy way to get out of meaningless existence, and also a way to end a beautiful life satisfyingly (ie after you finish your ultimate goal and realize you have no reason to live)

i wouldn't try killing myself though. instead i've dedicated my life to dying.
i strive to do the things i love as often as i can to increase the chances of dying while doing what i love.
i was inspired to do this after hearing news that a brazilian jiu jitsu instructor of mine had passed away during Pan Am competition. nobody at the gym was sad because they all knew that was the way to go out for him. if you ask me, that's a mission accomplished.

not to mention, there are entirely too many people on this planet, and the only things that really hurt when some one dies are the industries turning a profit off of them (minus the ones turning profit on their death.) mass suicide would probably solve a lot of problems.

[Reincarnate]

You're right, that's a really dumb opinion

Existence isn't meaningless when you make your own meaning

[Aldentron]

yes but then when you make life cater to your own wants and needs you start infringing on other lives, human or otherwise, in one way or another. i would rather not do that, i'm not selfish.

[Emithith]

suicide is awesome = implying there's an afterlife to go to that's better than life.

[Aldentron]

i said no such thing and that is certainly NOT what i was implying. if anything, i implied that life IS the ultimate, there is no "better" on this plane of existence. if you have experienced life then you are well qualified to end your own. that is all i was implying.

[Reincarnate]

Originally Posted by Aldentron

yes but then when you make life cater to your own wants and needs you start infringing on other lives, human or otherwise, in one way or another. i would rather not do that, i'm not selfish.

That's not necessarily true at all.

I do think anyone should be able to end their life if they want to, but not everyone lives for the sake of an isolated, singular "ultimate goal" that suddenly renders the rest of life moot and meaningless after achievement.

Sometimes the "ultimate goal" is simply to live a long, happy life.

[Emithith]

Originally Posted by Aldentron

i said no such thing and that is certainly NOT what i was implying. if anything, i implied that life IS the ultimate, there is no "better" on this plane of existence. if you have experienced life then you are well qualified to end your own. that is all i was implying.

I was razzing you, I knew what you meant. :P

[Aldentron]

you're right, there are some scenarios where that is not true, but lets face it, those are paths of great resistance and abstinence. most people living in modern society depend on other life to live. whether it be community infrastructure, emotional/psychological stability, or poor wages in sweat shops to mass produce decadent goods. in that sense i believe that you are infringing on other lives.

if your goal is to live a long happy life then i don't think suicide would be in your best interests in the first place

[Reincarnate]

Originally Posted by Aldentron

you're right, there are some scenarios where that is not true, but lets face it, those are paths of great resistance and abstinence. most people living in modern society depend on other life to live. whether it be community infrastructure, emotional/psychological stability, or poor wages in sweat shops to mass produce decadent goods. in that sense i believe that you are infringing on other lives.

if your goal is to live a long happy life then i don't think suicide would be in your best interests in the first place

Well, I mean that's the point of society. Everyone relies on each other.

Granted, some groups are abused so others can benefit at their expense. But I don't think that means the best solution is just to off yourself. That reminds me of a story I read once where some rural family was struggling and the son hanged himself in the shower so his father would have one less mouth to feed.

That sort of mindset is obviously pretty tragic -- I think the better solution is to, well, improve various economic functions. Education and cost minimization is obviously essential for such things.

In general though, yes, we all impinge on each other. But suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem, in most cases.

You could argue that staying alive and impinging is selfish, but you could also argue that killing yourself is depriving the world of a life that could have been put to helping others, yada yada. The door swings both ways if you want it to.

[korny]

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/video...8mNa1b7DbqsiW7

scroll down

[Syhto]

You say without religion, but I'd like to say Buddhism is extremely focused on the acceptance of and preparation for death, what powers life holds for us and working through our fears to find a deeper reality than we can simply analyze, by opening up our conciousness. I think there's a balance between being analytical and being in your heart, having intuition about death and being afraid of something we can't contol. Our fears surrounding death are very powerful for a reason, because when we finally get to that platform in our lives, what does everything mean? If our main fear is death, and we reach that point, what else is there to fear? There's a grasping going on constantly, there's some level of fear, because there is a lack of knowing. But what if death is supreme knowing? Sometimes it's easier to think that consciousness will cease when you die, because this is all we "know." We see people die and they lose consciousness, their body no longer moves, but isn't it still alive? Atoms, molecules, the fabric of reality and all still persists. So what is the driving force behind everything, the universe, right? And aren't we deeply connected to it, being part of it in the most direct of ways? There may be fear in you about losing your personal life, losing everything you worked for, having it all be for nothing. But every moment is new for you to come closer to doing/becoming something you really love, getting closer to who you really are, having realizations. The longer we stay in the background and ignore death, we miss out on the fruits of our heartache, on the insight we get when we ask big questions. I believe that there isn't one question you can't ask yourself and in some way find a truth.

Honestly, myself, I used to think about death almost constantly. I still think about it often, but not nearly the way I did in a supremely depressed state, dealing with the fact that everything I know would some day come to an end. Now, it's almost comforting. Actually, now thinking about death isn't hard for me at all. What's harder for me is hoping that other people think about the same things I do and we will ultimately come to a mutual understanding through all of humanity and learn to cease the madness through love. I think that's the most important thing. Although there is a lot of bullshit to get through, I don't think anything is impossible and I believe there's a bright future for all of us, regardless of if death really is the end. What's more important is living life to its fullest and being there for all other living things.

btw I am not buddhist, just advocating buddhist teachings for this subject that have helped me in my everyday life. I'm not religious per se, I'm more of a pantheist. life has soooo much to offer, I hope we can all get past our personal problems and the universe/god will shed light on our existence, and it will be beautiful. In fact I believe that is inevitable, with what amount I've seen in my life, that death isn't the end

BTW again, I suggest looking up dharma, and hindu philosophies for everyday life, along with most other religions, they give a good outline. basically work for the highest good

[shadow 1800]

Ok really though. You do not live with death, death lives with you. It's quite simple really spend your life living in fear or spend your life fighting those fears to actually have some sort of life.

[Herogashix]

Guys.
Death is death.
It's part of life.
What's there to discuss? Just try not to die until you absolutely have to.
/discussion

[Spenner]

Originally Posted by Herogashix

Guys.
Death is death.
It's part of life.
What's there to discuss? Just try not to die until you absolutely have to.
/discussion

Clearly you've done some critical thinking on the matter!!!

I've had a pretty decent view mentally of what approaching death might be like, I'm getting better at suspending my emotional side with it. Once I can do that, and not have anxiety over what may or may not be, it should be a natural and maybe even relaxing transition.

[Crashfan3]

I'm glad you brought up this question because to be completely honest I never thought about it much until recently.

One month ago my grandmother, age 63, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and I'm not going to go into all the details or pull anyone's heartstrings, but even though the doctors have said it's possible she'll survive, she has occasional days where she thinks she won't be around next year and she feels emotionally shattered.

Seeing her go through this got me thinking, what would happen if I knew my death was coming. What would I do? And to be completely honest, I don't have the damnedest idea what I would do. My grandmother has been sick off and on since 2007, plus she's elderly, so I think she's at least somewhat prepared.

Me? I'm barely out of high school. I haven't been given much of a chance to live yet, and if the next 50 years or more of my life were taken from me, I think my first natural response would be extreme anger, likely to the point where I would do something so stupid that if I lived somehow, I would spend the remainder of my life regretting it. I'm not trying to sound like an internet attention whore here, that's my honest feelings. It's a first reaction because at my core, I've always had issues with stress and anger, maybe it's some form of inner anxiety, I don't know. I'm just saying my response would not be a rational one if the doc told me "lol, yur gunna die in 6 weeks, gl hf"

So if I must die while I'm young, I hope I'm not given time to think about it. Let it be in a car crash or from a stray bullet.

I like what Syhto posted and I hope that I can mentally train myself to be ready for the day when it comes, as I watch the same events unfold upon my elders.