A lot of people I know fear death. If the things in my previous post were to come true, a majority wouldn't. I think some of them fear it because they would lose their loved ones, but I feel that the main reason most people fear death is because they don't know what to expect. Many do not know what happens after death (including me). Is there an afterlife? Does only the body die and the soul survive? Is there a soul?
The way I've been brought up, I've been made to think that our quality of living in the present life is based on the good things we have done or the sins we have committed in our past life, and when we die, our next life depends on the things we have done in our present life, and so on. So that means a soul exists, to have different lives. But now I wonder, was there a past life? If there was, will there be a future life? I do not know, and I don't think anyone knows.
Some of my kin say that we will not have another life if we live an honest and well meaning present life, that we would be forever rid of a human body and be free of this cruel world. I'm not sure if that's what we have been told from days of old, or if it's just their opinion.
If there exists no such afterlife, why should one fear death? I don't know if there's an afterlife, but I still don't fear death. In fact, I really don't care whether I live or die. I can't explain why, but I really don't care. It is of no importance to me.
For those of you who do fear death, there is a book I stumbled upon on a website, called "Facing Death: Images,Insights and Interventions". The book was written by Sandra L. Bertman, who founded the Medical Humanities Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and holds certificates in grief counseling and death education. This handbook outlines how she uses the visual and literary arts to "improve our professional abilities to deal with death and dying." Her premise is that the arts provide a valuable vehicle for exploring and making bearable the prospect and fact of death.
I guess I wouldn't need that book, but I would encourage anyone who fears death to read it, a friend of mine says it's a good book. Instead of fearing death, enjoy life to the best extent possible...
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