Thread: Do you fear death?

You do realize that not all religions believe in an afterlife and not all atheists believe in no-afterlife, right?

You are basing this off Judeo-Christianity, so pretty much a moot point. Either way "Whats going to happen after death?" is as far as I know not something we can answer with todays technology. Most point towards "nothing" in which you would no longer care. In this case the fear is exactly of NOT CARING. Fear of being unable to feel anymore, it won't be there when you die but it will be a horrible death to suffer if you die fearing it, which is why afterlife seems so compelling to those who fear nothingness.

On the other hand, eternity can also be feared. What will your mind become? What will you be doing in 1billion years? In 1billion times that? Then again and again, will you not get bored? Go mad? Stop being yourself? In this case what you fear is the afterlife.

Being indifferent means you don't care about what could happen, the fear comes from something that has not happened yet but could, whether it is eternity or nothingness (Not even talking about hell or heaven here).

Also, what does this have to do with lucid dreaming? Have you ever been "nothing" in a lucid? Have you experienced what would be described as "eternity"? I personally have been nothing a bunch of times and well, as expected you don't even feel which is kinda cool save for the fact the next thing I know something is when the dream ends lol

Let's try to keep religion out of this as much as possible, please.

On topic:

I don't fear death for the very reason that it's not something I can control or conquer.

Why fear something you have no control over?
I just accept it and live my life to fullest until that time comes.


As far as feeling nothingness in a dream, I have had a lucid during NREM.

When you feel that, you will know true void.

What if, when it comes to eternal physical suffering in the afterlife, we are assigned a new body instead of being a floating body-less soul? We automatically assume that when we leave our third dimensional body, we are left with none. That makes sense of course, but what if this wasn't the case? The only thing we can do at this point is make assumptions instead of accusations or claims. Blind faith is all we have to go by. Perhaps in the future when science reaches a completely new level, we would know what happens. I heard that Nikola Tesla was planning on a device to communicate with the dead.

But anyway, to answer your question; nah. I don't fear death. At least not now. In one of the dreams that I had, I was on the verge of death, barely holding on. I had little time to think before the inevitable came, and my emotions just started to burst, and I really, really started fearing and questioning what happens after. It was a strange feeling and it felt different when you know you only have a few seconds left to live, everything started to change. The problem I have with this though is that in dreams, emotions are greatly heightened, so it's not like I can talk with experience.

I now fully believe that whatever comes next after death will be positive. I am almost certain that there is an afterlife, but even if not, I don't believe the void to be such a bad thing.

I'm a Christian, so I do not fear it. When I physically die, I will look forward to chillin with Jesus in another plane of reality known as Heaven. I also believe that an additional plane of reality exists known as Hell, to which the unsaved end up when they die.

I think at the moment of death I might be a little scared that there is nothing after this life, but overall I don't fear it that much. I'm more worried of how I will die.

I am horrified of dying.
I want, more than anything else, to attain functional immortality.
Nothing weighs more heavily on my mind than my mortality, and the inevitability of my death. It sits on top of my mind as I drift to sleep, literally every night of my life. It randomly haunts my daytime thoughts. It intrudes of pleasant daydreaming. It's a terrible pest.
And it seems unnecessary, and feels like it's only hung around because every deems it an inevitable part of life.

I fear death, but only my own not death in general, idk what will happen to me in the afterlife if there is such a thing (I would like to believe so) but one thing is fact, once an organism dies its elemental components are released into its environment which creates greater opritunity for new life, death is simply a doorway to new life and its okay to e afraid of what's on the other side, the trick is to get over the fear and try to live happily while your still alive. Death isn't an agent of evil, death and life are two sides of the same coin.

And as far as what this has to do with lucid dreaming, as a child I dreamt of being killed or my mother dying or my dad being cooked alive infront of me regularly so I learned to LD early, funny how fear forces you to get a grip or go mad

Originally Posted by ccrinbama

I am horrified of dying.
I want, more than anything else, to attain functional immortality.

Sometimes for me, what I fear more is the concept of immortality. It's kind of strange, but as long as we are eternal/immortal, there doesn't seem to be what I'd define in my own way, 'rest'. What if you just wanted to not exist? Not possible.

Originally Posted by milans

Sometimes for me, what I fear more is the concept of immortality. It's kind of strange, but as long as we are eternal/immortal, there doesn't seem to be what I'd define in my own way, 'rest'. What if you just wanted to not exist? Not possible.

Immortality is not the same as invulnerability. You can still die if you want to, or when someone kills you. But not by time. I also hope that we invent this in our life-time. I think it is possible that we might. If not I will probably let my brain be frozen until there is immortality.

Perhaps I someday want to stop existing, but I do not forsee that coming in the next couple hundred years.

Originally Posted by milans

Sometimes for me, what I fear more is the concept of immortality. It's kind of strange, but as long as we are eternal/immortal, there doesn't seem to be what I'd define in my own way, 'rest'. What if you just wanted to not exist? Not possible.

I agree, true immortality is almost as terrifying as mortality, and it hit me pretty hard a few years ago.
That being said, I'm not really speaking of true immortality. Just functional. There'd be an out button, if you felt so inclined.

So like MrPriority stated, not invulnerability. Selective invulnerability would be nice. But permanent, non-negotiable invulnerability probably wouldn't be.

Originally Posted by MrPriority

I also hope that we invent this in our life-time. I think it is possible that we might.

I also feel like it'll be coming relatively soon. I'd wager we'll miss it by a generation or two, but I don't think it's outlandish to believe that functional immortality will be achieved before we're too old to benefit from it.

I think everyone fears death at one time or another. To not fear death at all--ever--seems unrealistic to me--regardless as to whether you think Jesus, Odin, Vishnu, or Bob Sagat is going to pat you on the back on the other side, or whether or not you think you are going to be reborn, or realize nirvana or whatever. We don't know what happens. Unknown things are both scary and exciting. So, I believe when most people say they have no fear of death, they are either posturing or are telling themselves what they would like to be true. Either that, or they are too young yet to truly feel that they will die. Give it twenty or thirty years. Death will wait to be appreciated

Originally Posted by EzioAuditore

I'm indifferent to this subject; When someone tells you you're about to die, your mind starts racing. "I've so much yet to do in my life!" "Why me?" "What's going to happen after death?" That side would be the fear of death. The reason it might not be so bad is that after you die, you won't care anymore. You can't grieve over yourself, and there's no proof of religion, only proof against it, so you don't need to fear what God will think of you. But the real part is the people who will miss you, and the people who believe that there is no God. The latter believes that consciousness is generated by a series of electrical impulses and synapses. Memory access is also this, so you're literally taking memories of smelling Grandma's cookies right to the grave with you. No one can revive you and access your wisdom, or know what you were like as a person. The former believes that when you die, you're judged by Jesus/God based on your life decisions.

If you fear death because of this, I can debunk it for you. You can't suffer in hell, assuming there is one.
Pain is generated by strong nerve impulses from your nerve endings. These are handed off to synapses, and travel up your spinal cord to reach your brain stem to process pain. Note that these are all in your physical body, so you can't and won't care about those hellfires.

Can your soul feel pain?

No. You can't even feel desolate, since as mentioned before consciousness and emotions are electrical impulses.

Thank you for solving death and suffering for us! But seriously, you are assuming that nerve endings are the only way we feel pain. It is possible to feel pain in a lucid dream without your physical body being hurt, so some of what you are saying is simply not true. Also, imagine the 30 minutes your mind has to scramble around after your heart stops beating. Plenty of time to experience a mental construct of hell, and it will probably seem to last an eternity.

But I think it is accepted that "fire" is a metaphor for spiritual suffering, at least from a Judeo-Christian standpoint. The reality of what "fire" means would be beyond conceptualizing anyway. Usually described (at least in Western Christianity) as being outside the presence of God.

In my opinon, the main reason you(me, and alot of people for that matter)are afraid of death is the fact that it's so uncertain. If you are a religious person you probably believe in an afterlife and thats fine, but even then you are not certain exactly where you will end up(hell,heaven,asgard,rencarnation?)

But think of it this way: you weren't alive before your birth were you? there is a good argument to be made that death will be similar since both are states of your non-existance, were you really afraid before your birth?

Bah, he explains it way better anyways:



As I said, what happens when your gone is something no one really knows, so until then, try and make the best out of your life and do whatever YOU feel like doing

That being said I am kind of a huge coward concerning death mainly because of the uncertainty part.

Originally Posted by HeWhoShapes

In my opinon, the main reason you(me, and alot of people for that matter)are afraid of death is the fact that it's so uncertain. If you are a religious person you probably believe in an afterlife and thats fine, but even then you are not certain exactly where you will end up(hell,heaven,asgard,rencarnation?)

But think of it this way: you weren't alive before your birth were you? there is a good argument to be made that death will be similar since both are states of your non-existance, were you really afraid before your birth?

Bah, he explains it way better anyways:



As I said, what happens when your gone is something no one really knows, so until then, try and make the best out of your life and do whatever YOU feel like doing

That being said I am kind of a huge coward concerning death mainly because of the uncertainty part.

You can't remember what it felt like when you were circumcised (if this happened) or when the doctor spanked your butt, but they still hurt. Likewise, just because you can't remember something doesn't mean it didn't happen and that it isn't still buried in your psyche somewhere. So, maybe we have just forgotten what it felt like before this life: similar to how we forget many non-lucid dreams upon awakening.

Originally Posted by ThreeCat

You can't remember what it felt like when you were circumcised (if this happened) or when the doctor spanked your butt, but they still hurt. Likewise, just because you can't remember something doesn't mean it didn't happen and that it isn't still buried in your psyche somewhere.

There's a scientific explanation for that though. In the first 3 years of your life, your brain doesn't record memories, but I get your point.

Originally Posted by EzioAuditore

In the first 3 years of your life, your brain doesn't record memories

you wanna bet?

I think this is very on-topic. Athene's Theory of Everything - YouTube

You watch such videos and think, yea this makes sense. But I never take one theory as a truth. So makes me think, what about all those things that scientist can't explain. I agree with OP on religion, not talking about miracles and so on. Simple things that are impossible to explain from a science perspective.

I do understand that we want to believe in afterlife, because it is disturbing to think that such does not exist. I understand that most of our memories are formed in our brain. Yes I say most, after 7 years of lucid dreaming, after all what I experienced I doubt that death is the end. I do not understand how my brain could possible generate some of my dreams.

As you know I am interested in shared dreaming and those successful shared dreams that I had simply blew my mind. The moment when you read those letters of another person dream and realize that you dreamt of exactly the same event, something is going through your mind.

To answer the OP question, no I am not afraid of death. I care about the ones I love and I want to stay with them as long as possible.

I don't have a religion so I'm one of those guys who thinks this is your only time to be alive. I do not want to die as I have a strong appreciation for the way life is but I don't really mind if I do die, honestly for me time seems to take so long to go by. I am satisfied with 18 years of being on this earth and would not mind knowing tommorow was my last day. I would never want to be immortal as that would defeat all the excitement out of life for me. Death isn't as scary as it's made out to be nor in life threating situations is it as scary as the movies, in life threating situations majority of the time you will not have the time to think about such things as " my futures gone or I die at this age ". To me I like the idea that death exist as it makes things much more interesting, no one can fully say they know what happens after death and that curiosity never seems to go away. It's what help made majority of the religions out there and it's also another way of giving people motivation. I like the excitement of being in danger and making it out of such situations, it gives me a better sense of understanding of myself. If you over think anything you'll make it into something it's not, I don't think others fear death as much as they say they do.

Originally Posted by Jacob46719

you wanna bet?

I think what Ezio means is that episodic memory is very bad in children up to the age of three. Young kids can remember certain things (like what their favorite color is, what "hot" means, who their parents are) but in terms of asking kids to tell you about the last time they went fishing, or something like that, most of the time there is nothing there. Every once in a while, they might remember that they went to a hockey game with Uncle Bud, but for the most part, babies (and kids until the age of three or four) don't remember narratives.

This doesn't in any way prove that there was nothing before life, by the way, and it certainly isn't a scientific explanation. It's an observable fact that science has tried to explain via conjecture because scientists do not know why this happens.

Interesting question -- especially on a lucid dreaming forum!

First, my answer: though I certainly retain the hard-wired aversion to death with which we were all born, either because of my advancing age or experience with LD'ing (probably both), I have no real intellectual fear of death. In other words, when I really think about it, I have no problem with death.

I think Hukif already touched on the LD'er's perspective on death here:

Originally Posted by Hukif

Also, what does this have to do with lucid dreaming? Have you ever been "nothing" in a lucid? Have you experienced what would be described as "eternity"? I personally have been nothing a bunch of times and well, as expected you don't even feel which is kinda cool save for the fact the next thing I know something is when the dream ends lol

Lucidity allows you an opportunity to feel oblivion, I think. I know that is a contradiction in terms, but when you get to that moment of pure nothingness where you are not observing a void but are the void, you'll see that contradiction fade. The feeling, as Hukif said, is literally eternal, and difficult to explain. I have experienced it many times, and welcome, even seek, future experience of it Upon waking, it does give the impression of what death might feel like... at least the first few moments of it, anyway. So LD'ing might just provide a window to the afterlife.

By the same token, sleep yoga is nothing more than the preparation of the Self, mostly through LD'ing, to continue after the body dies. Now, I have no idea what happens to my consciousness after my neurons stop firing, but I am willing to take a few precautions, just in case my lifetime of conscious activity did create something that might survive my body's death, something through which I might continue my existence and expand my explorations.

And if there is nothing at all after death? Well, I'll never know will I, so why should I care, or fear?

Nah, i dont fear it since its inevitable. No matter what happens after death i wont fear it since everybody have to face it.

Originally Posted by ThreeCat

You can't remember what it felt like when you were circumcised (if this happened) or when the doctor spanked your butt, but they still hurt. Likewise, just because you can't remember something doesn't mean it didn't happen and that it isn't still buried in your psyche somewhere. So, maybe we have just forgotten what it felt like before this life: similar to how we forget many non-lucid dreams upon awakening.

Good point, but in the video the guy makes a mention about how you don't really worry about the past since it's past.
I mean I don't really worry about being circumcised (which I was for the record) because it has already been done, unlike death which will happen in the future.
Basically you worry about the future more than the past.

A true Christian doesn't fear death because they are certain in their belief and look forward to a grand eternity. However, if one isn't a believer, why fear the ultimate culmination or fulfillment of life, which is death and unconscious oblivion? You were not worried about these things 100 years ago before being born, so why worry about what is afterward? Many of you are young...as you get older death becomes much less fearful. Anyway, it's our price for getting the privilege of life.

Originally Posted by Jacob46719

you wanna bet?

But of course, chap. $25,000 on the table. Cheerio