Attitudes to Death and Dying

[Tanstaafl]

I was worried I was getting morbid having thought a lot about death recently. Then I remembered I've been watching Six Feet Under (great show) every night for the past week. So when I was passing the DVD store I thought I'd get something cheerier and I bought season 6 of Scrubs. D'oh! More illness and death! Oh well.

When I was in Scn the subject of death would occasionally come up in discussion and I'd alway say that it didn't really bother me. I was whistling past the graveyard!

As a Scn, of course, I "knew" what would happen when I died. I'd rise above the body, hang around for a while, stay for the funeral and diligently avoid the between lives implant station before joining the queue at a nearby maternity ward. No problem. Except for the fact that this was all stuff that I'd read about. The truth is that I have no certainty as to what will happen to me and what I will and will not be capable of. Oh, and worrying I might come back as a girl (no offence girls).

Thinking about death brought home to me how I define myself - by the books and music that I love. While my main concern was leaving Mrs T to handle the VAT return on her own, this was closely followed by a mild terror of forgetting the CDs and books that mean the most to me and the intense irritation from thinking they may fall into undeserving hands!

Anyway, the main point of this thread is to say that I now realise I do not know what will happen to any of us and to invite ideas and opinions on the subject.

 

[gomorrhan]

Well, I for one hope not to find out. It is my plan to follow Woody Allen's advice concerning immortality. Instead of seeking it in the permanence of my work, I choose to find it in NOT dying. So far, I've been pretty good at this, though I've needed some help. I'm a real believer that if we can make it just about twenty more years, we might make it indefinitely after that.

Buy and read Ray Kurzweil's "Fantastic Voyage: How to Live Long Enough to Live Forever" (http://www.fantastic-voyage.net/)

Of course, until you are actually dead, you won't know what happens to your consciousness when you die. My experience with approaching death suggests you hold on, much like the android in Aliens after he's been ripped in half. You just hold on, as long as you can, which is longer than you think, and then you just TURN OFF. And sometimes, that's the best thing for a person. When I first woke up from my situation in February, I wasn't at ALL happy to be alive. I still had a breathing tube, I had tubes all over me, and I was nearly vegetative. I'm astonished to be back to full speed again, only five months later. It was not a sure thing. I got lucky, some don't. But if you can just hang on until we arrive at nanomedicine, immortality becomes something which is no longer really just a dream.

 

[Pixie]

I was worried I was getting morbid having thought a lot about death recently. Then I remembered I've been watching Six Feet Under (great show) every night for the past week. So when I was passing the DVD store I thought I'd get something cheerier and I bought season 6 of Scrubs. D'oh! More illness and death! Oh well.

When I was in Scn the subject of death would occasionally come up in discussion and I'd alway say that it didn't really bother me. I was whistling past the graveyard!

As a Scn, of course, I "knew" what would happen when I died. I'd rise above the body, hang around for a while, stay for the funeral and diligently avoid the between lives implant station before joining the queue at a nearby maternity ward. No problem. Except for the fact that this was all stuff that I'd read about. The truth is that I have no certainty as to what will happen to me and what I will and will not be capable of. Oh, and worrying I might come back as a girl (no offence girls).

Thinking about death brought home to me how I define myself - by the books and music that I love. While my main concern was leaving Mrs T to handle the VAT return on her own, this was closely followed by a mild terror of forgetting the CDs and books that mean the most to me and the intense irritation from thinking they may fall into undeserving hands!

Anyway, the main point of this thread is to say that I now realise I do not know what will happen to any of us and to invite ideas and opinions on the subject.

I think death is an illusion Tans, only the body dies in my opinion, however I don't think it's a good idea to think about it too much as it's a waste of time and energy. None of us know what's around the corner, things happend without warning, I could cross the road tomorrow and get hit by a truck, and poof, you guys will be left with no one to tease.. so I'll just become a wee ghosty and come into your bedrooms at night and haunt and taunt you, especially the Dull Old Fart..

If we think about what's going to or not going to happen in the future we are wasting our lives now, the secret is being in the now, that way time seems to slow right down, there seems to be more of it, you get more done, things feel lighter, so, on a practical level, sure, get the wills and stuff sorted, but at the end of the day, we're all going to be a pile of ashes so what's the point in worrying about it?

 

[Royal Prince Xenu]

I think death is an illusion Tans, only the body dies in my opinion, however I don't think it's a good idea to think about it too much as it's a waste of time and energy. None of us know what's around the corner, things happend without warning, I could cross the road tomorrow and get hit by a truck, and poof, you guys will be left with no one to tease.. so I'll just become a wee ghosty and come into your bedrooms at night and haunt and taunt you, especially the Dull Old Fart..

If we think about what's going to or not going to happen in the future we are wasting our lives now, the secret is being in the now, that way time seems to slow right down, there seems to be more of it, you get more done, things feel lighter, so, on a practical level, sure, get the wills and stuff sorted, but at the end of the day, we're all going to be a pile of ashes so what's the point in worrying about it?

I like your wording 100%.

Having already been dead (surgical shock), I have no fear of actual death, just how I may happen to die.

I would prefer to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather did, not yelling and screaming like his passengers.

 

[Tanstaafl]

I think death is an illusion Tans, only the body dies in my opinion, however I don't think it's a good idea to think about it too much as it's a waste of time and energy. None of us know what's around the corner, things happend without warning, I could cross the road tomorrow and get hit by a truck, and poof, you guys will be left with no one to tease.. so I'll just become a wee ghosty and come into your bedrooms at night and haunt and taunt you, especially the Dull Old Fart..

If we think about what's going to or not going to happen in the future we are wasting our lives now, the secret is being in the now, that way time seems to slow right down, there seems to be more of it, you get more done, things feel lighter, so, on a practical level, sure, get the wills and stuff sorted, but at the end of the day, we're all going to be a pile of ashes so what's the point in worrying about it?

Thanks for that Pixie. Paul wanted me to ask whether any spectre you may use to haunt him will be scantily clad.

I admire your practical viewpoint. However, I can't help being philosophical by nature. I like to know how everything works. Actually that's not true - I must know how everything works and I must know now!

Anyway, death can be funny. Some of the deaths in Six Feet Under have cracked me up.

Quite a few have read this thread and not posted. That may be because they don't like to talk about death or because it's a crap idea for a thread. I prefer the former theory.

 

[Tanstaafl]

I like your wording 100%.

Having already been dead (surgical shock), I have no fear of actual death, just how I may happen to die.

I would prefer to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather did, not yelling and screaming like his passengers.

Great gag RPX!

 

[Pixie]

I like your wording 100%.

Having already been dead (surgical shock), I have no fear of actual death, just how I may happen to die.

I would prefer to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather did, not yelling and screaming like his passengers.

Interesting, my grandmother who brought me up until age 10 died in her sleep too and I have always hoped that that is how I would like to go. However no matter how death comes, we don't really have a lot of choice but to accept it.

 

[Pixie]

Thanks for that Pixie. Paul wanted me to ask whether any spectre you may use to haunt him will be scantily clad.

I admire your practical viewpoint. However, I can't help being philosophical by nature. I like to know how everything works. Actually that's not true - I must know how everything works and I must know now!

Anyway, death can be funny. Some of the deaths in Six Feet Under have cracked me up.

Quite a few have read this thread and not posted. That may be because they don't like to talk about death or because it's a crap idea for a thread. I prefer the former theory.

I understand, but this constant internal dialogue of your that you 'must' know everything and know it now isn't who you really are and you're allowing that to drive you .. and us.. nuts! No but seriously, if you live for the next four hundred years Tansy you're not going to know everything anyway, nature is and always will be way more superior to us, so let go of the chatter.. and breath!

 

[Tanstaafl]

I understand, but this constant internal dialogue of your that you 'must' know everything and know it now isn't who you really are and you're allowing that to drive you .. and us.. nuts!

Are you trying to encourage me?

No but seriously, if you live for the next four hundred years Tansy you're not going to know everything anyway, nature is and always will be way more superior to us, so let go of the chatter.. and breath!

Good advice. Believe it or not, I have started taking steps on this. Some of them forward !

 

[Pixie]

Are you trying to encourage me?



Good advice. Believe it or not, I have started taking steps on this. Some of them forward !

Oh well done little monkey!!

 

[WrongPlaceRightTime]

Hello Tans-
Like many others I have spent a lot of time mulling this one over. The concept of Karma made it easy for me to forgive and the thought of reincarnation made me unafraid to die. At this point in my life I have come to the conclusion that there is no sense spending energy worrying/thinking about such things. I am alive now, why should I spend a moment thinking about what happens when I die? My perspective is that most of the ideas out there are sheer speculation and until I have a Near Death Experience of my own, I cannot invest in *believing* anything in regards to death. In fact at this point I don't believe in anything. I experience. And until I have an experience I am open to the possibility of whatever. And that is just fine with me. So much less clutter in the noggin.
Best,
JMB

 

[Tanstaafl]

Hello Tans-
Like many others I have spent a lot of time mulling this one over. The concept of Karma made it easy for me to forgive and the thought of reincarnation made me unafraid to die. At this point in my life I have come to the conclusion that there is no sense spending energy worrying/thinking about such things. I am alive now, why should I spend a moment thinking about what happens when I die? My perspective is that most of the ideas out there are sheer speculation and until I have a Near Death Experience of my own, I cannot invest in *believing* anything in regards to death. In fact at this point I don't believe in anything. I experience. And until I have an experience I am open to the possibility of whatever. And that is just fine with me. So much less clutter in the noggin.
Best,
JMB

Thanks for that WPLJ )). I get your viewpoint. Makes sense.

I hope I didn't give anyone the idea that I was terrified by my own mortality or anything similar. I just find the whole area fascinating and closely linked to spirituality. And, as always, I find the viewpoints of others very interesting and hope to learn from them.

 

[Pixie]

Thanks for that WPLJ )). I get your viewpoint. Makes sense.

I hope I didn't give anyone the idea that I was terrified by my own mortality or anything similar. I just find the whole area fascinating and closely linked to spirituality. And, as always, I find the viewpoints of others very interesting and hope to learn from them.

Hey no worries! It is an interesting subject for sure! But it's just possibly not something people want to talk about and possibly too so soon after BH's sudden departure.

 

[Tanstaafl]

Hey no worries! It is an interesting subject for sure! But it's just possibly not something people want to talk about and possibly too so soon after BH's sudden departure.

Yes, point taken, PPPPP.

Or can I call you 5P?

 

[Pixie]

Yes, point taken, PPPPP.

Or can I call you 5P?

I don't know if it's that Tans, it just could be, I don't know you know. :confused2: I've found a lot of people don't like to talk about it in general so I can't say but don't worry about it whatever you do, it's a fair point and an interesting conversation.. as for the rest....

Call me what you like! Everyone else does! See I've lost all control lately Tans, if I loose my head, which I have done on this forum on several occasions during your departure, there is no balance, and it goes too far, and it ends up like this: and I almost get myself banned, so having looked within and dealt with the demons.. I have balanced the need to punish and correct and fight with a more .. lets say.. pleasant side to my character..

So in other words, I dare not start telling anyone what to do or what not to do as I have discovered this to be a total waste of my pure Pixie energy, so I'm keeping that for the Elves.

 

[Dulloldfart]

Alan's given this link a couple of times. He just posted that BH is doing these steps right now: http://www.charlesberner.org/Tibet_Book_Dead_web.pdf. Makes sense to me. It gives one some tools to help choose one's next body cycle instead of being the willy-nilly effect of whatever.

I know a couple of (sensible) people who have got back into comm with freshly-deceased loved ones, one for a month or so and one for about a year now. As I have mentioned a few times, I wrote a whole Robot Auditor module to facilitate such communication, recently dead or not: http://www.paulsrobot.com/LovedOne

Past-life incidents that give one relief in auditing, that had not occurred up to that point, can do much to give personal insight into immortality, irrespective of stories from others that may or may be true. The accuracy of the scene as one perceives it in session does not necessarily affect the release of forces and emotions and thoughts tied up in it.

My personal attitude depends on how hard I think it will be to find an acceptable place to run a body in a few years' time after we finish trashing this planet and making it unlivable. I'm less pessimistic now than I was a year ago, but I couldn't say it's all hunky-dory.

Paul

 

[Tanstaafl]

I don't know if it's that Tans, it just could be, I don't know you know. :confused2: I've found a lot of people don't like to talk about it in general so I can't say but don't worry about it whatever you do, it's a fair point and an interesting conversation.. as for the rest....

Call me what you like! Everyone else does! See I've lost all control lately Tans, if I loose my head, which I have done on this forum on several occasions during your departure, there is no balance, and it goes too far, and it ends up like this: and I almost get myself banned, so having looked within and dealt with the demons.. I have balanced the need to punish and correct and fight with a more .. lets say.. pleasant side to my character..

So in other words, I dare not start telling anyone what to do or what not to do as I have discovered this to be a total waste of my pure Pixie energy, so I'm keeping that for the Elves.

Well 5P, I'd say at least one half of ESMB is too distracted by your avatar to get indignant about anything you post.

Just be yourself!
If a ban comes, it's soon over and everything comes out in the wash.
Not that I'm advocating any kind of naughty behaviour of course.

 

[Pixie]

Well 5P, I'd say at least one half of ESMB is too distracted by your avatar to get indignant about anything you post.

Just be yourself!
If a ban comes, it's soon over and everything comes out in the wash.
Not that I'm advocating any kind of naughty behaviour of course.

Yes, well as I said before, I'm more myself here than I think I've ever been anywhere which is interesting for sure. As for my Avatar, that was the Dull Old Fart don't you know! The one he said he wanted to 'fuck', yep, the very one. I used to wear winter attire, I was standing in the purple haze of the night sporting a large woolly scarf that Emma kindly gave me to keep the chills from my neck and chest. Then, Summer arrived and the Dull Old Fart thought that this Avatar was more fitting.. But I do like Pixies and this is my nickname in real life too so I don't mind, and if people want to judge me by an Avatar, then that's their problem and shallowmindedness, not mine!

 

[Tanstaafl]

Alan's given this link a couple of times. He just posted that BH is doing these steps right now: http://www.charlesberner.org/Tibet_Book_Dead_web.pdf. Makes sense to me. It gives one some tools to help choose one's next body cycle instead of being the willy-nilly effect of whatever.

Listen to me undistractedly - I find that material highly evaluative to say the least.

I know a couple of (sensible) people who have got back into comm with freshly-deceased loved ones, one for a month or so and one for about a year now. As I have mentioned a few times, I wrote a whole Robot Auditor module to facilitate such communication, recently dead or not: http://www.paulsrobot.com/LovedOne

Cool.
I hope I don't have need of your robot module in the near future.

Past-life incidents that give one relief in auditing, that had not occurred up to that point, can do much to give personal insight into immortality, irrespective of stories from others that may or may be true. The accuracy of the scene as one perceives it in session does not necessarily affect the release of forces and emotions and thoughts tied up in it.

My personal attitude depends on how hard I think it will be to find an acceptable place to run a body in a few years' time after we finish trashing this planet and making it unlivable. I'm less pessimistic now than I was a year ago, but I couldn't say it's all hunky-dory.

O-oh! Miss Gooch Syndrome!

 

[WrongPlaceRightTime]

Thanks for that WPLJ )). I get your viewpoint. Makes sense.

I hope I didn't give anyone the idea that I was terrified by my own mortality or anything similar. I just find the whole area fascinating and closely linked to spirituality. And, as always, I find the viewpoints of others very interesting and hope to learn from them.

I totally agree with you- spirituality has been the main focus of my attention for as long as I can remember...well, with the exception of those teenage years when I was pretty focused on boys. I didn't get the impression that you were terrified of your mortality.