Guest guest Posted March 22, 2005 Report Share Posted March 22, 2005 Dear Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Do you have any words to help Westerners, or anyone, understand physical death, and help us stop wasting time being afraid of it and other forms of impermanence. Pranams! Joy! steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 22, 2005 Report Share Posted March 22, 2005 Hi Steve, I hope you don't mind me kibitzing on this. There is a genetic advantage to fear. If we have just the right amount of fear, then we tend to survive long enough to bear offspring, and that means the species survives. The fear you speak of is geneticaly ingrained within these vehicles, these bodies that we wear. Its pointless to know that, though. Knowing why we have the fear doesn't help dispell it at all. One of the most powerful aspects of all Spritual Practices is the fear removing aspect of it. Chandi destroys our fear of death by killing off the parts of us that are afraid to die (ironic, ain't it?). Durga eliminates our confusion, removing our fear of death by showing us that we are not our bodies, removing the belief that we live and are bound to life. Meditation gives us experiences that are beyond the physical and thus teach us who we are by example. When we experience ourselves beyond the physical, we no longer fear physical death. The best way to lose the fear of death, in my opinion, is to simply acknowledge the fear and keep doing your sadhana. When you get to the point where the God or Goddess asks you what boon you would like, say "Mother (or Father) please help me face my fear of death, that I may serve you without reaction to the thought of my own mortality." I dealt with some of my fear of death through the process of writing a book about death. The book is called, "Yama, the Angel of Death," and its on our web site: http://soulspark.org. Its a violent book about death, and the people who work for Her. Pure fiction of course, but the feelings from the book are very real for me and what I went through while trying to understand myself. I didn't know it at the time, but it helped me come to grips with the feebleness of my existance and prepared me to face Diabetes with a good attitude. There's some really good information in the stories of Krishna in the Gita. I seem to recall a conversation between Krishna and Arjun where Arjun asks Krishna how he can possibly go to war with his own familly and friends, how he can kill so many people, some who are very noble and wise but stuck on the "wrong" side because of their commitments and honor. Krishna then teaches Arjuna how to keep a proper perspective of life. He shows Arjuna how life is to be valued, but not over-valued. For myself I have come to the conclusion that life -- all life -- is incredibly special and magnificent, that it is to be respected and loved as one loves his Mother. But life is not more important than God or peace. So the short of it is: keep doing your sadhana, keep desiring peace, and sooner or later it will be granted to you. > > > Dear Swami Satyananda Saraswati, > > Do you have any words to help Westerners, or anyone, understand > physical death, and help us stop wasting time being afraid of it and > other forms of impermanence. > > Pranams! Joy! > > steve > Sponsor > > Links > > / > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 22, 2005 Report Share Posted March 22, 2005 sounds good, brian, definitely. comes down to the sadhana, trust, deepening that. some day, some day, maybe even today. peace peace peace, pranams to you. , "Brian McKee" <brian@s...> wrote: > > Hi Steve, > > I hope you don't mind me kibitzing on this. > > There is a genetic advantage to fear. If we have just the right amount of > fear, then we tend to survive long enough to bear offspring, and that > means the species survives. The fear you speak of is geneticaly ingrained > within these vehicles, these bodies that we wear. > > Its pointless to know that, though. Knowing why we have the fear doesn't > help dispell it at all. > > One of the most powerful aspects of all Spritual Practices is the fear > removing aspect of it. Chandi destroys our fear of death by killing off > the parts of us that are afraid to die (ironic, ain't it?). Durga > eliminates our confusion, removing our fear of death by showing us that we > are not our bodies, removing the belief that we live and are bound to > life. > > Meditation gives us experiences that are beyond the physical and thus > teach us who we are by example. When we experience ourselves beyond the > physical, we no longer fear physical death. > > The best way to lose the fear of death, in my opinion, is to simply > acknowledge the fear and keep doing your sadhana. When you get to the > point where the God or Goddess asks you what boon you would like, say > "Mother (or Father) please help me face my fear of death, that I may serve > you without reaction to the thought of my own mortality." > > I dealt with some of my fear of death through the process of writing a > book about death. The book is called, "Yama, the Angel of Death," and its > on our web site: http://soulspark.org. Its a violent book about death, and > the people who work for Her. Pure fiction of course, but the feelings from > the book are very real for me and what I went through while trying to > understand myself. I didn't know it at the time, but it helped me come to > grips with the feebleness of my existance and prepared me to face Diabetes > with a good attitude. > > There's some really good information in the stories of Krishna in the > Gita. I seem to recall a conversation between Krishna and Arjun where > Arjun asks Krishna how he can possibly go to war with his own familly and > friends, how he can kill so many people, some who are very noble and wise > but stuck on the "wrong" side because of their commitments and honor. > Krishna then teaches Arjuna how to keep a proper perspective of life. He > shows Arjuna how life is to be valued, but not over-valued. > > For myself I have come to the conclusion that life -- all life -- is > incredibly special and magnificent, that it is to be respected and loved > as one loves his Mother. But life is not more important than God or peace. > > So the short of it is: keep doing your sadhana, keep desiring peace, and > sooner or later it will be granted to you. > > > > > > > > > Dear Swami Satyananda Saraswati, > > > > Do you have any words to help Westerners, or anyone, understand > > physical death, and help us stop wasting time being afraid of it and > > other forms of impermanence. > > > > Pranams! Joy! > > > > steve > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Sponsor > > > > Links > > > > / > > > > > > Terms of Service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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