Question

3. How does Buddhism teach one to overcome the fear of death? What could you personally change in your life to orient yourself in a less fearful way toward death?

Answer 1

According to Buddhism, the idea of nothingness is formative of all life. Thus death is an inevitable reality and it is not a breakdown of reality. If one sees death in continuity with life, then the fear and anxiety associated with the idea of ‘end’ Would begin collapse as death would usher only a new cycle of birth, a new beginning since the soul or ‘Atman’ never dies. In my own life, I have become increasingly sensitive to the way my physical features have changed over the years as I grow older. However, I experience these changes with the same consciousness. That is, the experience of ‘myself’ as myself has remained constant. I find this idea has bearings with the Buddhist idea of the material body as separate from consciousness. Amidst the growing influx of changes and the breakdown of body functions which threaten to end this experience of continuity of life, if I try to find solace in the idea of the material life as only a part of the ‘whole’ me, then I find an adaptive approach to addressing some of my own anxiety about death and dying an I can begin to orient myself towards greater positivity about life and death.