Fear of death

Bringing up a child

Knowledge is needed for success in the world,
Meditation is needed to realize Nibbanic bliss;
Sila (morality) is necessary for both -Francis story

If a child live with tolerance
he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement
he learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise
he lerns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness
he learns justice.
If a child lives with security
he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval
he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship
he learns to find love in the world.
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself.
‘They come through you but not from you.
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love
but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.’- Khalil Gibran

A person with limited wisdom may think that his children and wealth belong to him. But even he himself is not his own, what more to speak of children and wealth. How can he believe that he owns them when he cannot control or prevent the changes that his children and wealth will have to undergo.

Fear of Death

It is hard to bear the loss of people whom we love because of our attachment to them.  When we develop attachment, we also must be prepared to pay the price of sorrow when separation takes place. The love of life can sometimes develop a morbid fear of death. We will not take risks even for a rightful cause. We live in fear that an illness or accident will put an end to our seemingly precious permanent worldly life. 

This stress if not overcome can eventually lead to grave physical illness. Certainly worry and despair over illness will make it worse.People are frightened of dead bodies, but in true sense the living are in fact far more dangerous than dead bodies. Dead bodies do not harm us, but the living is capable of doing enormous harm and could even resort to murder. So is it not a foolish belief, for people to be afraid or frightened of dead bodies?

What is birth and death?

Man need not have to fear death. Birth and death are like two ends of the same string. You cannot remove one end while wishing to keep the other. The mystery of birth and death is very simple. The coming together of mind and matter and the dissolution is called death.

All human beings face and share the same fate.

Let not the present moment escape us. Those who have allowed fleeting time to pass away frivolously will have good cause to lament when they face themselves nearing the end of their lives.

It is important to realise that we are born to this world to do some service for the weal and happiness of mankind. We will be remembered by humanity more for what we have done for mankind than what we have done for ourselves.

‘Man’s body will turn to dust, but his influence and services remain’ – Buddha

The wise will know intuitively that to live they have to work for their liberation by avoiding evil, doing good and purifying their mind.

We should be courageous enough to face facts. We must be prepared to face reality. Death is a factual happening. Death is a reality.

 Reference:
Dhammananda,S,K.(2010).How to live without Fear & Worry