The Order of the Good Death

What makes fear or lack of fear unnatural? Who is to say what is "not part of nature"?

Is fear not a symptom of ignorance? And yet, death to this day is the biggest mystery in this world of "hard facts"...

There were civilizations and eras where many people were rarely afraid of death, but instead, looked quite forward to it, due to setting aside some lack of facts for decided beliefs. That may sound dumb in common contexts, yet that empowering belief gave them incredible power over the life they did have, giving it a great meaning.

The difference between the common person of today's society and one of them, is that they spent their life learning - not hard facts about the tangible world so much, but about matters of the spirit which taught them to be less attached to their physical bodies, and not so concerned with losing it in death - which is the common issue for us: attachment to the tangible experience of life, and not knowing (tangibly) what lies beyond it.

"There is no death, there is the Force", is an affirmation, that the physical, tangible realm that we experience in this life is very likely but a grain of sand on a beach of further experiences beyond it.

What is suicide but the ultimate conquering of the fear of death, that not only do you come to terms with your own death, but you embrace it so willingly that you are the very hand of your own demise.

Kohadra wrote: What is suicide but the ultimate conquering of the fear of death, that not only do you come to terms with your own death, but you embrace it so willingly that you are the very hand of your own demise.

That doesn't seem the right way of looking at it in my view...

Surely someone who is comitting suicide does so because living is unbearable and only death can stop it. Not sure it is about conquering fear...

Suicide has nothing to do with conquering fear. I have dealt with many suicides in my profession. None have been about conquering fear.

Suicide is the end result of a life not understood. It is a rape victim who cannot deal with the shame. The anger of a son against his father. Wife against husband. Suicide is the last resort of a enfeebled mind. Until you see and hear the cries of the children who found their fathers body swinging in the garage, you must be careful of what you say here. There are many of us here that deal with this subject on a professional level and know. There are some here who may have tried to commit suicide and thankfully failed.

ren wrote: I guess I'm the odd one out then, having no death phobia and not understanding it in others. I've been particularly amazed by its prevalence in jedi circles, It's like people don't believe in the code or something.

I too have no fear of passing over, but I shook my fear long before I felt called to the order. I have worked so many jobs where the risk of death is a very very real risk. The first time I went to sea (Trawlers, not the massive ones you see on tv) I was prepared to pass over and every time there after. It's an odd thing going to sea, if you really want to understand that your fate is in the hands of a guiding force go to sea. When you see swell that's three times bigger than the boat your on and your in a rut between two walls of water, then you fully understand that if you come home or not, it's not your decision.

ren wrote: I guess I'm the odd one out then, having no death phobia and not understanding it in others. I've been particularly amazed by its prevalence in jedi circles, It's like people don't believe in the code or something.

I know what you mean here - I've no inherent fear of death or dying, nor am I overly worried about what happens after I die (I'm fairly sure that from my perspective as I am now - not a lot).

I would freely admit to having a fear about a painful death, when I think about it. I hate to think of dying slowly in a lot of pain, or of that happening to anyone else, but I don't think that is what this group is talking about.

For me it is easier to be at ease with the fact that I'll eventually die when I am at ease with the fact of both my significance and insignificance within the universe. I think we can all say that we are all worthwhile enough that our existence is significant but not so grand that our exiting the world will be Earth shattering!

Is fear of death and fear of dying painfully the same thing? If it is, then I fear death because I fear dying painfully. I believe in the code (and I don't fear death in itself) but that doesn't mean I have yet conquered that fear.

Edan wrote: Is fear of death and fear of dying painfully the same thing? If it is, then I fear death because I fear dying painfully. I believe in the code (and I don't fear death in itself) but that doesn't mean I have yet conquered that fear.

I don't think that a fear of death and a fear of dying painfully are the same thing. It is entirely natural to be fearful of pain generally - that's hard wired into us a species and takes a lot of overcoming I would imagine. If you're fearful of pain generally then I don't think placing that pain in the moments before you expire to be a sign you're fearful of death.

I think fearing death is a fear of what happens at the moment of death onwards.