What are your views on life and death?

Question

Why do we live and then die? Why do some die young and others at older ages? Why are people afraid of dying? Why are people afraid of living? Is there life after death? Is there a life after the life after death? Would we remember our previous lives? Or do we just rest ourselves on our deathbeds like in eternal slumber? Do we dream in that eternal slumber? Or is everything pitch-black?

*You don't need to answer every one. I'd just like to know your viewpoint on this kind of subject. It's something that gets me thinking a lot.

Answer 1

i believe life and death are a constant cycle and that whether you believe in adam and eve or science, that we all came from the same thing in the beginning so while our consciousness is aware of only our own lives, we are part of the organism known as life on this planet Earth its actually more simple to think of it that way I think

Answer 2

you are born, you live, you die. It's what you do in between that decides what you get afterwords.
Seriously, no one can give you an absolute answer except God. And once he tells you, you can't share it with anyone still here on earth. My belief is that there is something else after death. Is it heaven or hell like we are taught? I don't know for sure. My belief is that yes, there is a reward or punishment waiting for all of us. I know there has to be something, because, I have seen a ghost. Two different ones actually. And heard a voice another time. One ghost was that of a pet dog that belonged to my aunt. So, if there is some type of "force" left from when we, or an animal dies, that means that there has to be something else after death. Birth and then death are just steps to the next level. If we try to shortcut the steps by taking our own life, I believe that we don't get to move on. I'm not afraid to die, I'm just not ready too.
Does any of this help with your questions?

Answer 3

Dunno why we live, don't see why it matters. We die because if we didn't there would be no space for people being born.

All depends on your worldview. Some people would rather slide in to home with a beer in one hand and a chicken wing in the other, others would rather end in peace.

People are afraid of dying because we don't have any way of proving (faith does not count as proof) what it's like.

People are afraid of living because they haven't learned that if you're just cheerfully stupid, everything goes great.

Maybe, don't know, don't care, going to find out anyway so why stress it?

See above.

Why would we?

I figure when you're dead, you're dead and there's nothing. The mind has stopped. You sense nothing, for you do not exist anymore. It's kind of a mindfuck at first but you get used to it.

Many answers you will get will be based off of somewhat nonsensical logic. We looked at the world around us, figured it was cool, and justified it. Thus, philosophy. However, we don't die because life gets boring after a while. We die because our bodies break down, but we know it's going to happen so we live our lives with that knowledge. If we knew we were going to live forever, then we'd be fine with that knowledge. That wasn't as coherent as I wanted it to be, but I think you get what I'm saying.

Answer 4

The fear and suffering of death comes from not understanding our true identity in existence, on a intuitive level. We identify ourselves as our bodies; a perceived permenent truth that it's ours always, and death takes that away.

Let me use a metaphor that might help. Imagine a block of ice. Were it self-aware, it would identify itself with its consistency and form. When the block melts, it would "die". But in truth, that is not the case, as all a block of ice is, is H2O molecules at varying energy levels. It's H2O before it melts, and it is H2O after it melts. If the ice were to identify itself as H2O, however, there would be no problem, no death, for it would just be changing form, just as ALL all things do.

The trouble arises from thinking that this form is all there is, but you are not your body, or mind, as these concepts are, generally, thought of as static things. You are a PROCESS, a swarm of changing and interacting parts, any of which can be replaced or removed. Not even the cells or atoms in your body are the same as when you were a child, every single one of them have been exchanged for others.

My suggestion is to meditate, specifically breath meditation ("Insight" meditation). You will learn a lot about yourself, and learn to let go of your ego (a delusive sense of self). If you are interested, listen to the MP3 linked below. It is a sutra study on the "Mindfulness of Breathing" going step by step over each stage. it's done by Ajahn Brahm, a Cambridge University, England Ph.D in theoretical physics who became a Buddhist monk. I hope this helps!

Answer 5

I think A LOT about these questions. I have not found answers that make sense to me yet. Religion does not do it for me - it feels like a lot of nonsense.

I think the answer is "there is no answer". We need to embrace the mystery. Much of our life is "in our heads". I mean, what we think about is how we perceive our life.

I think it is important to learn and love as much as possible in this life, and enjoy it as much as possible. We are all in the same boat - all of us humans floating around on this big rock, not knowing where we came from or where we are going. So lets enjoy the ride. And of course, fight the good fight - abolish war, hunger, crime and take care of our planet.

Peace to all!

Answer 6

You sound like someone seeking spirituality. Christianity teaches that you are eternally accountable for your behaviour in this life. Hinduism teaches that you have eternity to get it right. Atheism teaches that there is no eternity. When you get down to it, a human is just a jumble of elements that have been arranged in an incredibly complex manner, Why?...

Answer 7

I feel we die to create a sense of balance in the world. As for coming back as something, I feel that is a way for some people to heal their hurt, to think that something else is planned for them. To know that when we die, we go somewhere where we can matter and do more than the life we had before.

Answer 8

Death is part of Life... the reasons why ppl are so scared of Death is because we do not know what will happen in the after life ( death )

Answer 9

You live to pay bills, because you buy things.
Paying bills creates jobs for other people.
So they can pay bills, because THEY buy things.
And so on...

Death is falling asleep, but without the dreams. Not terrible, not to be afraid of. You are finally free of all problems.

Answer 10

As the Pink Floyd song, The Great Gig in the Sky, says:
"There's no reason for it, we've all got to go sometime"

Simple and true.