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Qstn for Swami Satyananda Saraswati on Death

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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

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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

>

> /

>

>

>

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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.

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