As an agnostic, how can I transcend the fear of my own death?

Question

Being agnostic, I must admit the possiblity that when I die, my consciousness will cease to exist. This is (currently) very frightening to me. How do I overcome this fear?

Answer 1

You are supposed to be scared of death (at least in the concrete) for survival purposes, at least until death comes close and is inevitable.
But to fear death in the abstract, that is different. It is okay to overcome that fear.
You are afraid that your consciousness will cease. Why? Are you afraid to go to sleep? A permanent loss of consciousness... is that so terrible? On the other hand, are you afraid of what you might experience after death, if your consciousness does not cease? Are you afraid of the Unknown?
Explore within yourself; what is it that makes you afraid. Face your fear honestly. In time, you will be able to come to terms with it.

Answer 2

Hey yo, if you can ask a great question like that, that says a lot about you. It says, you have love for your self as a person. It says that you have hope and passion. It says a lot about the biggness of your heart. So, take a second and admit the possibility of at least A Greater Force. And that you are in a realm of Relativity, so that the Physical part of what is known as you may EXPERIENCE the Etheral part of you when it converts back into it's former unique form. Ok, so there is a Greater Force and we are in a different realm in a different form. When we die we DO transcend our FEAR of your own death with you when you die, YOU CAN ONLY DO THAT AT some state of consciousness. Subconcious, Conconcious, SuperConcious. You are never out of the state of one of these states EVER. You are NEVER in pain AGAIN. YOU NEVER FEEL THE FEAR once you get to the realm of the ABSOLUTE. THERE is NOTHING BUT LOVE THERE. See everything as perfect and that is what you will see. What you WISH to see.... YOU WILL SEE!! But only for a little time, Once you settle down from the shock, you will be fine. Death and Birth are the same. It takes a little getting used to...It is a Natural Process. Celebrate! Celebrate! Celebrate! Life! and Death! It never Ends! It's a Never Ending Play Ground.

Answer 3

there is really no true way to cure this fear of death. but perhaps you should try looking this fear straight in the eye and stare it down. understand that if u are to blot out of exsistance after you die (which is more of an atheist thing to me because im agnostic too but i believe in ghosts and spirits so this really isnt a big fear for me since i believe you live on after death) then you should be living your life to its fullest and not worrying about what happens after you die. this will only bog you down and prevent you from living a happy life. so don't worry about it because what will come will come and there is no way avoiding it so you might as well enjoy the ride. And if you are a more scientific person heres a theory, okay so in chemisty there is a thing Called the law of conservation of mass which states that no matter is ever gained or lost in a chemical reaction. by applying this to real life, humans are most certainly matter and when we die we are indeed going through a chemical reaction. so if we are made of matter and go through a chemical reaction that tells the parts of the body to shut down completely which means we have just be incorperated into the law of Conservation of mass. which means we won't lose matter, it just comes out in a different form, perhaps instead of having a body you just become a floating soul.

Answer 4

Well... your consciousness may cease to exist..but nobody really knows what that means...It may transcend into a different type of unconsciousness. Think of it as an adventure of a new kind. You will return to the earth and be regenerated back into nature. You will become part of everything around you.. the earth, that which grows from the earth, that which feeds and is nourished from the earth.

And If your consciousness truly stops, you will never know it.

Answer 5

I'll just throw some thoughts in the air, see if any of them are any good for you:
If my consciousness does cease to exist, at least I'll not be around to experience it. Everyone has to go through it. So if they can do it, so can I. Let is be a surprise and a mystery. I'm sure nothing bad will happen to me because I will be taken care of.

Answer 6

Look at the possibility that consciousness may last, with an open mind, not agreeing or disagreeing, believing or disbelieving......
The tool is just the self-awareness, and the goal.....
to deepen the perception beyond sense organs.... yes.... beyond the sense organs, like your self-awareness does not need the sense organs except to 'know ' that you are still alive, the very same question which wakes you from sleep, and the very same question that you will face when the body ceases to be(am I alive?).
Incidentally it is strongly recommended to try to experience that death is just absence of life, like the darkness absence of light and the 'cold' is just the absence of heat !

Answer 7

While you live in a society that is based on fear, there is not really much you can do. Any attempt to rise above the fear will be trampled on by your peers.

Living and dying are both states of mind. However, death is a state of mind that is in the future, and worrying about the future only adversely affects you in the present.

Just resolve (in your mind) to enjoy the present, and let the future take care of itself. Sooner or later you will be in the future and you can deal with the issues as they arise :-)

Answer 8

Why are you afraid? If you are afraid of dying, you must be afraid of living. Another thing - Try to speak without using the words " I "or "me". That is your ego speaking - your ego is what is afraid to die. There is no difference between living and death. It is as natural a thing as can be possible. Everyone dies - we all get a turn at it - accept it as part of living.

Answer 9

We fear the unknown, either get to know death better, or learn to embrace even the most drastic of change. After all, we do not know what tomorrow will bring, the same way we do not know what death will bring.

Answer 10

Make sure you live each day to its fullest potential. Giving of yourself and accepting help from others. That way you will have to lead a full life and have no time to worry about death.