Fearing Death

Men are disturbed not by external things, but by beliefs and imaginations they conjure up in their minds with regard to the form of their future lives. For example, death is not by itself that dreadful: the dread or terror exists only in our minds. It is not often that we are brave enough to come facing with the thought of our own mortality.

Insistence upon the truth of suffering may seem horrible and unacceptable to the mind which is unable to face realities, but it surely helps to reduce or eliminate the dread of fear realities by knowing how to actually face death. Once life is launched, like a bullet, it rushes to its destination i.e. death.

Realising thus, we must bravely face that natural occurrence. To be considered free in life, we must also be free from fearing death. Fear only comes to those who are not able to comprehend the laws of Nature. "Wherever fear appears, it appears in the fool, not in the wise man", says the Buddha in the Anguttara Nikaya. Fears are mere states of mind in actual fact.

Remember what science teaches us about process of dying? It is only a physiological erosion of the human body. We need not frighten ourselves with such imagination or anticipating the horrors which never come to pass. As a renowned physician, Sir William Osler puts it: "In my vast clinical experience, most humans die really without pain or fear". A retired nurse once said: "It has always seemed to me a major tragedy that so many people go through life haunted by the fear of death, only to find when it comes that it is as natural as life itself. For few who are afraid of dying, when they get to the very end, only one seemed to feel any terror, a woman who had done her sister a wicked thing which it was too late for her to put it right", the retired nurse added.

"Something strange and beautiful happens to men and women when they come to the end of the road. A fear, all horror disappears. I have often watched a look of happy wonder dawn in their eyes when they realized this is true. It is all part of the goodness of Nature".

Attachment to life on earth creates unnatural fear of death. It creates a strong anxiety in life, a man who never take risks even for what is right. He lives in fear worrying that some illness or incident might snuff out the precious little life that he cherishes. Realising that death is unavoidable, the one who loves life on earth will go into devout prayer expressing the hope that his soul will survive in heaven.

No man can be happy in such a tempest of fear and hope. Yet, it is hard to dispise or ignore these manifestations of the instinct for self-preservation. There is however, a method of overcoming such fear. Forget the concept of self; turn one's love of the inward to outwards, that is provide the humanitarian service and to shower love on others.

Whoever constantly keeps in mind the fact that he would someday be subjected to death and this would certainly make him heedful in respect of this world and the next. Being engrossed in service to others, you will soon realise yourself from the heavy selfish attachments, hopes, vanity, pride and self-righteousness.