The Goose Is Free Zen
Get an ad-free experience with special benefits, and directly support Reddit. Consider the case of the goose in the jar. Zen masters don’t stop feeling emotions after they go to New York. As I said in another comment, fear is useful for survival in dangerous situations and whatnot.
I've been having a few realizations about existence and my own mortality lately, and it's got me in a bit of a state. I'm hoping that this is something that people on here may have experienced and have advice on how to approach it within the context of Zen.For a long time I deluded myself into thinking that I was invincible and nothing bad would ever happen to me. Through meditation, deep thought and general life experience, I saw through this and realized that, yes, I will die one day. Not only that, but it won't necessarily be some day far off in the distant future meaning I can just kick the proverbial can down the street for years and years; I might die today. It could be in a minute. I might not even get to the end of this sentence (phew, well I made it this far at least). I can't simply put it down as an intrusive thought because I know it is true, and saying that 'I'll probably make it to the end of the day' doesn't work either: what good was 'probably' for everyone who's ever died in a freak accident?
Every moment that I'm alive only proves I survived the previous moment, it says nothing about the future. All of humanity could be wiped out in an instant and we may not even see it coming.
I suppose, on the other hand, knowing that makes every moment I'm alive feel like a miracle.Through meditation I have experienced states where it seemed that I was aware of no-things and non-concepts (though my mind may have simply been trying to convince me of that, plus these are just memories now), but generally I still view the world in quite an empirical, secular and skeptical way. Because of this, I don't see any reason to believe there is anything 'after' death.
Many people give the explanation that we only fear death because we're biologically preprogrammed for self-preservation, but I think it's more than that. Death terrifies me because it is simply something I cannot imagine: there won't be anything, but there won't be nothing either, since there won't be a me to be aware of anything. It's something incomprehensible to me, and I can find no comfort from it.Is the fear of death something that is discussed in Zen Buddhism? I've read in some literature that there were Zen masters who said there was no reincarnation and nothing after death, and with the ego being an illusion there is nothing to die (supposedly).
I know rationally there is no reason to fear death because it is inevitable and there is nothing we can do about it, but it's still tearing me up inside. I feel like mindfulness meditation is the only thing that's getting me through this since it helps me detach from the fear of things that I have absolutely no control over and be present, but I'm still unsure of the path to take. Would it be a good idea for me to surrender entirely to the fear, letting it be so that it will subside, leaving my mind quieter and more aware?
Or are there better approaches?. I know you are asking specifically about Zen, but if I may share my non-Zen experience on the topic:Two things helped me reach a state of absolutely zero fear to death.1) Living fully in the present moment. Not wandering about future possibilities for no reason. (Not an easy thing to achieve, but my lack of fear of death is partially a side effect of this)2) Studying Stoic philosophy. (They talk quite a bit about death)Now, don’t get me wrong; it’s not like I’m indifferent to death and don’t look at both directions when crossing a street.It is, instead, a complete lack of unnecessary fear.Also note I’m talking about normal daily life. When you are in a real dangerous or extreme situation, it’s good to remain calm mentally, but your body will react and try to protect you from death (I.e. Adrenaline pumping with all its effects).edit: Adding some ideas I got from discussing in this thread:This has been an interesting thread.
I'll summarize some ideas I got on these discussions. Feel free to ignore or change the terminology, the key thing are the ideas themselves:.Will to survive is a biological inclination to protect your own survival, to prefer your survival over death. All animals experience this.Desire to survive is passionate attachment to your own survival; it is to consider your survival a 'good thing', and to value your survival more than, for example, your principles, or the survival of others. Only humans experience this. 1.Justified fear: A biological stress response triggered by real, immediate physical danger. All animals experience this.Unnecessary fear: A biological stress response triggered by your fantasies, misinterpretations, or thoughts about the future. Only humans experience this.
Goose In A Bottle Riddle Answer
11 Drawing this 'only humans' line is very tricky. Please cut me some slack. The point when saying 'only humans' refers to the qualitative uniqueness of human experience that we infer to exist. I believe what makes us human is also what turns the natural survival and fear mechanisms into grotesque stupidity.i.e.:will to survive mechanism + attachment to self = desire to survivejustified fear mechanism + complex imagination abilities = unnecessary fear. The choice of words isn't as important as the message, which as far as I can tell is to crush, kill, and destroy this kind of conceptual thought:That makes sense, but I'm scared of getting rid of my will to survive. It seems to be one of the driving forces in me, I have no idea what I would end up doing without it.Agreed.I was going to clarify how my distinction could be helpful in the process of crushing these conceptual thoughts.
Perhaps not.edit: Moved the final thoughts I wrote here to a.