We are only partially rational beings — and at the non-rational level, we believe medicine will save us from our fates. And good job too, you may say. There is an argument that strong denial mechanisms are essential in order to survive our existential plight. Maybe the maintenance of such delusions is the secret of a happy life. Thus, we are never quite at peace, because we are always working so hard to keep our eyes from staring at the sun.
We immerse ourselves in trivial distractions — shopping, loud music, flashing lights. As the existential psychologist Rollo May observed: As a recent study on cancer at Johns Hopkins University revealed , lifestyle is somewhat overrated as a panacea for extending life. Researchers found that more than two-thirds of cancers are driven by random mistakes in cell division that are completely outside our control.
And beyond that, there are genetic predispositions, also outside our control. So perhaps, rather than being at constant battle stations, we should get used to the idea, especially as a former editor of the BMJ, Richard Smith, said it was probably the best way to go: Sometimes it is a heavy burden to bear. Truly, this is it; now or never. I am immensely grateful for both the comfort and the compulsion born of this sacred evolutionary perspective. From a religious naturalist standpoint, it seems clear that we go to the same place we came from before we were conceived -- the same "place" that trillions of other animals and plants have gone throughout Earth's history whenever they perished.
Some speak about this transition as "coming from God and returning to God.
We fear death, but what if dying isn't as bad as we think?
As to my own beliefs, I usually respond with humor , "If it turns out that where I go isn't the same place that all other animals, plants and bacteria have gone throughout Earth's history, I'm gonna be pissed! A universal experience whether or not we choose to admit it is this: From the moment we take our first breath, the outcome is ultimately death. Any so-called "faith" that doesn't include trusting that whatever happens on the other side of death is just fine is, in my view, really no faith at all.
Fear of a terrifying, hellish after-death scenario, or hope of a blissful, heavenly after-death scenario are just that: The cradle of your love of life The idea of being "rewarded" condemned?! Adding to the repugnance would be knowing that those relegated to never-ending suffering included not only perpetrators of outright evil but also those condemned for nothing more than holding wrong beliefs -- that is, beliefs different from mine.
My formal training for becoming a United Church of Christ minister culminated in an ordination paper that I wrote and then presented to a gathering of ministers and lay leaders. A widely respected minister posed a question I shall never forget. However, there's a little boy who lives in me, and that little boy wants to know: Emory Wallace, a well-known and beloved retired minister, had for nearly three years guided me through my ministerial training.
He died suddenly, at the age of 85, just a few weeks before my ordination hearing. I knew I needed to say something -- after all, this was my ordination hearing -- so I just opened my mouth and started speaking, trusting the words to come. My response went something like this:.
Why Accepting Death Will Make You Worry Less
In order to answer that question I have to use both day language the language of rational, everyday discourse and night language the language of dreams, myth and poetry. Both languages are vital and necessary, just as both waking and dreaming states of consciousness are vital and necessary. Like all mammals, we cannot survive without dreaming. It is a necessary function of our brain.
Sleep is not enough; we must be allowed to dream. We, of course, know that day experience and night experience are different. For example, if you were to ask me what I did for lunch today, and I told you that I turned myself into a crow and flew over to the neighborhood farm and goofed around with the cows for awhile, then flew to Dairy Queen and ordered a milkshake -- and if I told you all that with a straight face -- you might counsel me to visit a psychiatrist.
However, had you asked me to share a recent dream, and I told the same story, you might be curious as to the meaning of that dream -- but you wouldn't think me delusional.
- My Great Family Vacation.
- We’ll all die one day. Isn’t it time we got used to the idea?.
- I went to a death cafe to learn how to talk to dying patients!
- Drysalter (Cape Poetry).
So in order to respond to your question, "Where is Emory? First, in the day language of common discourse I will say, Emory's physical body is being consumed by bacteria.
- Collecting Cultures: Myth, Politics, and Collaboration in the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition (Indigenous Archaeologies Series)?
- Death: Sacred, Necessary, Real.
- Avatare (German Edition).
Eventually only his skeleton and teeth will remain. His genes, contributions and memory will live on through his family and through the countless people that he touched in person and through his writings -- and that includes all of us. It takes guts to confront this vulnerable truth: We avoid thinking about death, yet we fear it in silence.
Try this exercise I learned from Bernie Roth at Stanford. Answer one question at a time.
Live the way you want to be remembered
Imagine you have 10 min to live, what would you do? And the rest of your life? Every time I facilitate this exercise in a workshop, it catches everyone off-guard. We take time for granted. But when the end is around the corner we regret our assumptions. Some people get anxious about finishing or starting their most valuable project.
Why Accepting Death Will Make You Worry Less – Stretch for Change
Everyone agrees that they want to spend their last 10 minutes with their close family. This exercise is very moving, especially done in a group setting. The premise of confronting our future death is a powerful reflection on how we are living. The purpose of this exercise is to stop taking life for granted.
Like it happened to me when I had to survive the cold weather in Patagonia. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow.
Adding a sense of urgency to your life makes you focus on what really matters. Spend your energy doing something worthy of your time on Earth. Buddhism promotes meditating on death and dying as a way to embrace it and prepare in advance. Most people find this idea absurd. As Zasep Tulku Rinpoche said: Death is both certain and uncertain. Spiritual practice can train our mind to accept that truth instead of being in denial. Even if you feel skeptical, I would recommend you give this death meditation a try.
As Tibetan lama, Chagdud Rinpoche said: