Buddhist wisdom for overcoming the fear of DeathAll of us are terrified of Death. If we are interested in religion or philosophy we may believe in eternal life as promised by the scriptures. The Christian faith, Hinduism and many other religions assure us that death is not the end and life continues even after the physical body dies. On the other hand if we place our faith in Science we may come to believe that dying means extinction. Bertrand Russell, in his critically acclaimed book, Why I am not a Christian – put forth the view that dyingis the end, a complete full stop. Yet neither of these 2 views help us to overcome the fear of death.
My first experience with the fear of dyingMy grandmother lived to a ripe old age before she contracted lung cancer in her late 80s. She had always taken a keen interest in the Hindu religion and had written a book on the Bhagavad Gita. The Gita assures us that life continues even after the death of the physical body. Yet all this learning did not help my grandmother on her deathbed. As she lay dying she found it almost impossible to breath because of the cancer in her lungs. I was with her as she lay dying and I can remember her continuously gasping for breath. But the most vivid impression I have was the fear of death that my grandmother was suffering from as she lay dying. I could feel the fear in her – it had almost a physical presence. All our views and beliefs – whether of eternal life or otherwise – are of no help at all when we finally face up to the fact that we are dying.And yet what is it that dies at the time of death? It is only the ego – our sense of a separate self. We see ourselves separate from the world around us and it is this and only this – the separate ego – that dies. Why do we fear death?Imagine a wave in the ocean. It is immediately obvious to us that a wave is transitory. It lasts but for a moment and then ceases to exist. And yet a wave is made of water which continues to be even after the end of the wave. Suppose a wave had consciousness as we do. It may become terrified of its impending death – just as all of us are. It may see itself as separate from other waves, from the rest of existence.And yet the wave is made of water. If only the wave could get in touch with its true nature – which is that it is water and not separate from the ocean – then the fear of death would vanish. The wave would know that the water and the ocean of which it is a part will continue to exist even after it has ended. And this realization would have the effect of ending all fear of death in the wave. Buddhism tells us that everything in this world is impermanent – is subject to change. Everything in the Universe is in a continuous state of becoming. Consider a cloud in the sky. It came into being because the rays of the sun evaporated the water in the Oceans, lakes and rivers. And in time the cloud will relieve itself of the water contained in it is the form of rain. The rain will water the plants in the fields. The plants will serve as fodder to the cows. The cows will give milk which we will then consume in the form of tea or coffee or for that matter, ice cream. If we look deeply at the ice cream we can see the cloud in it, as well as the rays of the sun, the cow, the diary farmer who milked the cow and the business enterprise which made the ice cream. The milk in the ice cream contains any number of non-milky elements in it. The milk would not exist if all these other non-milky elements did not bring it into being. And also, the moment we consume and digest the ice-cream the milk changes its form again as it is digested by the body. All of this leads to the view that there is no milk separate from the rest of the Universe. The whole Universe has come together to bring the milk into existence. It is not separate from the rest of the Universe. And what applies to milk applies equally to us. We are not separate from the Universe. The whole Universe has come together to bring us into existence. And in time – due to the ceaseless process of change –we will change shape and take up another form. An intellectual understanding of this is not enough to take away the fear of death or to make us enlightened. We need an experiential understanding and not just an intellectual understanding. This we can gain through meditation and deep contemplation. We are waves and we need to understand that we are made of water. Thich Nhat Hanh – the Zen Buddhist Master – has written an insightful book – No Death No Fear . It explains this and many other concepts. By reading and sincerely following the teachings of the book we can overcome our fear of death. This book is available at Amazon. Please click on the link above to obtain your copy. For some of the most memorable quotes about death please visit this page on Buddhism beliefs Is someone close to you facing the end? Here is some heart advice on Helping the dying For a complete list and links to all the articles please visit this page on Buddhism
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Overcoming Death
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