There are few things we can count on in this lifetime. The people and places we love will change, leaders will continue to rise and fall and Taylor Swift or Kanye West may yet be president. But there is one indisputable fact that cannot be called into question - the inevitability that we are going to die.
Death is the one experience every living creature shares in our otherwise unique existences. This knowledge should unite us, bringing presence and gratitude to every moment we are privileged enough to have. But it is not so. Although every individual feels differently about their death, many of us live in unconscious terror; all manner of anxiety and fear springing from the inescapable reality we face. Without realising it, fear of death may be the very thing preventing us from truly living.
Running away from our mortality may have us racing in the wrong direction, on the fast track to unhappiness, wasting the fleeting and valuable time we have in this life by trying to avoid the one thing we simply cannot. Instead, we could stop in our tracks, face our fate and ultimately walk the incredible path of our life in an eternal state of wonder, peace and happiness.
Even the wise fear death
Yoga Sutra 2.9 - Svarasavahi-Vidusah-Api-TathaArudhah-Abhinivesah
It's completely reasonable to not want to die. This fear is part of the human condition, a natural and healthy concern to have. In 2:9 of the Yoga Sutra, Patanjali tells us even the wise fear death. Clinging to life is one of the main obstacles to the experience of yoga.
Psychology point of view
"The more unlived your life, the greater your death anxiety." Irvin D. Yalom, Professor of Psychiatry, Stanford University.
This story is from the Issue 210 edition of WellBeing.
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This story is from the Issue 210 edition of WellBeing.
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