Thoughts on Death

I've heard it said that all fear comes from the root fear of death. It stands to reason. It seems to me that most people will cite death as their biggest fear, and if you die, then you're presumably free from all other fears. I'm beginning to wonder, however, if all this fear of death is warranted.

Most people believe that after they die, there will be some kind of afterlife, or they will reincarnate, or alternatively, that there just won't be anything.

Well, if there if there is an afterlife, then why should one worry? Some people will fear that they will go to Hell when they die, but I think the vast majority of people that believe in the "afterlife" as such, think that they will be going on to the land of milk and honey. If this is a genuine belief, then why all the apprehension surrounding death? Why not view it as a celebration?

For those who believe in reincarnation, it seems that their attitude toward death should be informed by their current life situation--that is, if they are enjoying life, then they should have a certain amount of apprehension toward death, but otherwise, they should look forward to it.

For those who think that death is the end, full stop, why should there be any worry about about it one way or the other? Such people sometimes claim to have a greater appreciation of life than people with alternate ideas on death, but I find this reasoning questionable. Such people are completely identified with the body, so if the body is in constant pain, then death seems preferable.

So, are the only people that have a really good reason to fear death the people that believe they will go on to live in torment for eternity?

Regardless of the choice of the above beliefs, there often remains a fear of the loss of self. I think that's the core of people's fear of death. Loss of self. But what does that mean? What is this self, anyway?

Is self the body? Although this is, intuitively, what many people seem to think, how can this be so? The body is flesh and blood. It is gross matter. Is is this gross matter that is perceiving the world around it? No, that's absurd. Matter is something that is perceived, it's not perception itself. Is this not obvious? Maybe we can say that consciousness is shaped by the brain, but who's to say that the brain isn't shaped by consciousness? Some of  assume that there cannot be consciousness without the brain, but can there be a brain without consciousness? I'm not trying to be "cute" here. This is a legitimate question. 

If self is the result of a living body, then it would make sense to assume that when the body dies, there is a dissipation of self. Perhaps this is so. But perhaps self, that is consciousness (as opposed to an identity) is not the result of a living body.

It seems perfectly reasonable to me to suggest this. I think many people assume it, without knowing it: when you bring up death they will say: an eternity of nothing? Who wants that? But this line of reasoning assumes a witness--someone to experience that nothing.

How can consciousness be created? How can it disappear? Can it?

The fact is that whatever our personal beliefs about death, no one really knows what is going to happen. All that we know is that the bodies that some of us identify with as self will die. That's it. And if that's the end of consciousness forever, then so what? As Mark Twain famously said, (loose paraphrase) being nothing didn't bother me for billions of years before I was born, why should it bother me after I die?

For the record, I do not think death is the end. I think that consciousness is eternal, and it's form that is impermanent. So, when we die that's the end of our personalities, but consciousness lives on, formless and infinite. After all, that's what it's like to be nothing.