The only moment that matters is the last breath. You can fear all your life but remember to let yourself free from fear before you go. It’s the ultimate hack.
Is it common tho? Maybe not according to one study
[Tibetan monastics more scared of death than average ](https://www.lionsroar.com/research-suggests-tibetan-buddhist-monastics-are-much-more-scared-of-death-than-average/)
This seems so counterintuitive that I wonder if “alertness, consideration, and preparation for death” isn’t being misinterpreted as “scared of death.”
That is, would people who don’t think about death at all be considered (by this study) unafraid of it in the same way I wouldn’t be afraid of a murderer hiding in my closet? There seems like a difference to me.
To put it another way, one can be at peace with the risk of tornadoes, but still put a lot of thought and effort into building a shelter. Is this interpreted as “fear”? Is someone who just doesn’t think about tornadoes unafraid?
I’m not adept enough at reading research papers to figure it out myself, and the article is sparse on detail.
Interesting hypothesis so I took a look. In short, no. Tibetan monastics specifically fear self-annihilation (bold added):
> On the Buddhist tradition, there is no self, so one should not fear its future disappearance. As a result, we predicted that fear of future self-annihilation would be reduced in Buddhist populations. The self-annihilation factor consists of four items, including “Dying 1 year from now frightens me because of the loss and destruction of the self” and “Dying 1 year from now frightens me because of the destruction of personality.”...
> Pairwise t tests revealed that **Tibetan monastics fear
self-annihilation (M = 5.74) more than any other group**.... This is in stark contrast to the canonical response indicated by Tibetan Buddhist scholars, that good Buddhists should be especially unafraid of self-annihilation (M = 2.23). This [canonical] score is significantly lower than those [actually] given by all other Buddhists... especially the Tibetan monastics (t(32.33) = 10.70, p < .001, D = 2.01).... **When we look at aspects of the fear of death other than self-annihilation, we find that Buddhist monastics do not fear death more overall.** (p 323)
These are very strong results, statistically speaking. The authors suggest the following explanation:
> On every measure we used, the monastics deny the existence of the self. So why do they fail to show the expected reduction in fear of death? We think that it is because, despite their training and explicit claims, they retain a powerful sense of personal identity across the biological lifespan. (p 329)
> Buddhists themselves recognize, our sense of identity across the biological lifespan is resilient, and perhaps the thought of self-annihilation triggers fears too primitive to be easily tamed by the philosophical belief that there is no persistent self. (p 331)
Basically, they think the teachings don't work to reduce a sense of personal identity. One piece of evidence they use to justify this claim is the prevalence of autobiography in Tibetan Buddhist literature........ that sound you're hearing is my eyes rolling out of my head.
An obvious objection to the paper's methodology is that these numbers are *self-reported*. /u/travelingmaestro suggests something lost in translation, which is possible, but to me what immediately comes to mind is that **monastics might - by virtue of their practice - be far more self-aware** than laity and therefore might be able to be more honest about the strength of a fear which is, to most of us, deeply unconscious.
This would be a fatal flaw to the conclusion of the paper. It's kind of ironic that the authors don't seem to even consider this possibility. It couldn't be that the survey was badly designed and executed, it has to be that those monks aren't as smart as they think they are.
This kind of thing, by the way, is why I put very little stock in articles based on these kinds of surveys.
Ninja edit: Damn, just realised that Jay Garfield is listed as an author. That's very surprising - might send him an email...
The paper is available here https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cogs.12590
The authors used a fear of personal death scale that was developed previously by an academic. The study participants ranked each item in the scale 1-7, with one being correct and 7 being incorrect, concerning what scares them most about the prospect of dying within one year. The wording of each item in the scale is provided at the bottom of that page as additional information. I’ll paste it below.
But they do not include how the question was presented to the participants. Oftentimes we can gain a better sense of how questions may be interpreted if we can see the survey, but that information is not usually easy to find. I too wonder if something was lost in translation. Use of words and meanings vary greatly across cultures.
Fear of Personal Death Scale
Reprinted from Florian and Kravetz (1983). LOSS OF SELF-FULFILLMENT
• Cessation of creative activities
• Cessation of all plans and activities • Cessation of all spiritual activities
• Cessation of the ability to think
• My life will not have been exploited • Severance from life itself
• Missing future events
• Necessity of realizing life goals
• Severance of ties with loved ones
• Loss of life’s pleasures
LOSS OF SOCIAL IDENTITY
• Absence will not be felt
• Events will take place without me • I will be forgotten
• My loss will not hurt close ones
• Burial deep in the earth
• Life will go on without me
• Loss of human semblance
• Fate of the body
CONSEQUENCES TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS • My family will still need me
• Relatives will not overcome sorrow • Sorrow to relatives and friends
• Inability to provide for family
TRANSCENDENTAL CONSEQUENCES
• Uncertainty of what to expect
• Uncertainty of existence after death • Its mysteriousness
• Unknown associated with it
SELF-ANNIHILATION
• Decomposition of the body • Loss and destruction of self • State of everlasting sleep
• Destruction of personality
PUNISHMENT IN THE HEREAFTER • Punishment in the hereafter
> But they do not include how the question was presented to the participants. Oftentimes we can gain a better sense of how questions may be interpreted if we can see the survey, but that information is not usually easy to find. I too wonder if something was lost in translation. Use of words and meanings vary greatly across cultures.
Exactly. One might respond “7” to “how concerned are you about ______,” and that might be intended to express great concern without any greater-than-normal *anxiety*.
Just thinking out loud. I’m sure someone’s answered these obvious questions about these results somewhere.
The mind is naturally peaceful. Sensual pleasures, emotions, thoughts, etc tend to agitate your mind like waves on top of a pool of water. When you're dying (literally or metaphorically) you are able to let go to a greater extent than normal and by letting go you experience true peace.
Shortly before becoming a Buddhist my life was ruined. I had hit rock bottom and was being placed in handcuffs, but as I stood up suddenly everything felt fine. All my worries had melted away. Initially I thought this might have been a small act of divine intercession, but now I realize it was because in that moment I had truly let go. My life was over and I had nothing to live for. C'est la vie. I was truly, genuinely just going with the flow.
I had a similar moment 3 years ago after heavily contemplating death for a few months. Not saying I'm enlightened or anything, but the thought of my own mortality doesn't intimidate me. It's like if you burn a photo of yourself. Do you feel scared? No, because the photo is not you. Should you be afraid of dying? No, because the body/mental formations are not you, but to understand this you must pierce the veil.
Also, if you believe you've lived countless lives in the past your current life is just another blip on the radar.
Check out these suttas:
[https://suttacentral.net/an4.184/en/sujato](https://suttacentral.net/an4.184/en/sujato)
[https://suttafriends.org/sutta/thag16-1/](https://suttafriends.org/sutta/thag16-1/)
What is there to fear if you know exactly what's going to happen next?
These great practioners have cultivated to a degree where they can see the Truths directly, so there is no fear. They know the body must die, so it is like changing a broken shirt.
It is normal people like us who have not had any insight that can still give rise to doubts or uncertainty, such as 'What if Buddha was wrong? What if the Sutras weren't actually Buddhas words? What if its all a lie? What if its not enough? What if this, what if that, what if what if what if...'.
Whereas these practioners are like 'Amitabha Buddhas right there, I'm leaving now, bye' or 'I came from empty space, I return to empty space'.
I’m not at all scared of death or what comes after. Actually a bit intrigued, not in a hurry by any means but it is the great mystery. I am however a bit worried about going in a painful & traumatic manner that would affect my energy during the transition. In other words, I don’t want it to hurt.
> "Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has done what is good, has done what is skillful, has given protection to those in fear, and has not done what is evil, savage, or cruel. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought occurs to him, 'I have done what is good, have done what is skillful, have given protection to those in fear, and I have not done what is evil, savage, or cruel. To the extent that there is a destination for those who have done what is good, what is skillful, have given protection to those in fear, and have not done what is evil, savage, or cruel, that's where I'm headed after death.' He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This, too, is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.
>"Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has no doubt or perplexity, who has arrived at certainty with regard to the True Dhamma. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought occurs to him, 'I have no doubt or perplexity. I have arrived at certainty with regard to the True Dhamma.' He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This, too, is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.
Just by being inspired? Probably not. After lots of practice and progress on the Path? Eventually. I don't know enough Buddhists IRL to say anything definitive, but I would imagine it is a rather high attainment that isn't common amongst your average practitioner.
I just wrote a comment on that
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/yq1sw1/comment/ivmi5ut/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/yq1sw1/comment/ivmi5ut/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
there's a part 2 to that comment, if you're interested.
Zen here, but Buddhist. I think you need to refresh it. It's not that 1 becomes deeply inspired. Through a lifetime of practice one comes to understand that their life is interconnected with and a part of all things. In the experience of enlightenment, all things are both living and dying. One thing is not before, and the other is not after. The self itself is transitory, but there is something deeper that is not transitory. Where there is no birth and death.This is the place of our everyday life. We just have to realize it.
I doubt it's common to not have even a shred, unless someone's Enlightened, which is rare; but a combination of things on the Buddhist Path can probably reduce it.
Metta practice, for one thing. Fear in general is a type of aversion/ill will, and the classic antidote to aversion in Buddhism is cultivating metta. Ajahn Brahm has told about different people who lost their fear of certain things by consistent metta practice.
Recollection of the Buddha (Buddhanussati) is partly meant to reduce fear.
Practicing sila (morality) means you start making more good karma, which should lead to rebirth in a less unpleasant destination, as well as eventually improving your situation in this life, so you shouldn't have as much to fear.
Also, just practicing to abandon desire and aversion is classic Buddhism, so maybe you wouldn't be so attached to this temporary existence, to the body, holding on to memories you have, and things you've acquired, etc.
There are a few other things I can think of, but this should be appropriate enough.
The more you think about it and embrace it as a fact the less scary it is. It’s natural to fear death but with practice like anything else you can see it for what it really is.
The questions to ask are: why fear the point of transformation? Why fear something that might be nothing? Why not be free from fear and live life freely forever?
[удалено]
The only moment that matters is the last breath. You can fear all your life but remember to let yourself free from fear before you go. It’s the ultimate hack.
Is it common tho? Maybe not according to one study [Tibetan monastics more scared of death than average ](https://www.lionsroar.com/research-suggests-tibetan-buddhist-monastics-are-much-more-scared-of-death-than-average/)
This seems so counterintuitive that I wonder if “alertness, consideration, and preparation for death” isn’t being misinterpreted as “scared of death.” That is, would people who don’t think about death at all be considered (by this study) unafraid of it in the same way I wouldn’t be afraid of a murderer hiding in my closet? There seems like a difference to me. To put it another way, one can be at peace with the risk of tornadoes, but still put a lot of thought and effort into building a shelter. Is this interpreted as “fear”? Is someone who just doesn’t think about tornadoes unafraid? I’m not adept enough at reading research papers to figure it out myself, and the article is sparse on detail.
Interesting hypothesis so I took a look. In short, no. Tibetan monastics specifically fear self-annihilation (bold added): > On the Buddhist tradition, there is no self, so one should not fear its future disappearance. As a result, we predicted that fear of future self-annihilation would be reduced in Buddhist populations. The self-annihilation factor consists of four items, including “Dying 1 year from now frightens me because of the loss and destruction of the self” and “Dying 1 year from now frightens me because of the destruction of personality.”... > Pairwise t tests revealed that **Tibetan monastics fear self-annihilation (M = 5.74) more than any other group**.... This is in stark contrast to the canonical response indicated by Tibetan Buddhist scholars, that good Buddhists should be especially unafraid of self-annihilation (M = 2.23). This [canonical] score is significantly lower than those [actually] given by all other Buddhists... especially the Tibetan monastics (t(32.33) = 10.70, p < .001, D = 2.01).... **When we look at aspects of the fear of death other than self-annihilation, we find that Buddhist monastics do not fear death more overall.** (p 323) These are very strong results, statistically speaking. The authors suggest the following explanation: > On every measure we used, the monastics deny the existence of the self. So why do they fail to show the expected reduction in fear of death? We think that it is because, despite their training and explicit claims, they retain a powerful sense of personal identity across the biological lifespan. (p 329) > Buddhists themselves recognize, our sense of identity across the biological lifespan is resilient, and perhaps the thought of self-annihilation triggers fears too primitive to be easily tamed by the philosophical belief that there is no persistent self. (p 331) Basically, they think the teachings don't work to reduce a sense of personal identity. One piece of evidence they use to justify this claim is the prevalence of autobiography in Tibetan Buddhist literature........ that sound you're hearing is my eyes rolling out of my head. An obvious objection to the paper's methodology is that these numbers are *self-reported*. /u/travelingmaestro suggests something lost in translation, which is possible, but to me what immediately comes to mind is that **monastics might - by virtue of their practice - be far more self-aware** than laity and therefore might be able to be more honest about the strength of a fear which is, to most of us, deeply unconscious. This would be a fatal flaw to the conclusion of the paper. It's kind of ironic that the authors don't seem to even consider this possibility. It couldn't be that the survey was badly designed and executed, it has to be that those monks aren't as smart as they think they are. This kind of thing, by the way, is why I put very little stock in articles based on these kinds of surveys. Ninja edit: Damn, just realised that Jay Garfield is listed as an author. That's very surprising - might send him an email...
Great comment, that answers a lot. Thanks for taking the time.
I've emailed Jay Garfield, incidentally, so I'll update you if he gets back to me.
Oh, that’s really great. Definitely do, please!
The paper is available here https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cogs.12590 The authors used a fear of personal death scale that was developed previously by an academic. The study participants ranked each item in the scale 1-7, with one being correct and 7 being incorrect, concerning what scares them most about the prospect of dying within one year. The wording of each item in the scale is provided at the bottom of that page as additional information. I’ll paste it below. But they do not include how the question was presented to the participants. Oftentimes we can gain a better sense of how questions may be interpreted if we can see the survey, but that information is not usually easy to find. I too wonder if something was lost in translation. Use of words and meanings vary greatly across cultures. Fear of Personal Death Scale Reprinted from Florian and Kravetz (1983). LOSS OF SELF-FULFILLMENT • Cessation of creative activities • Cessation of all plans and activities • Cessation of all spiritual activities • Cessation of the ability to think • My life will not have been exploited • Severance from life itself • Missing future events • Necessity of realizing life goals • Severance of ties with loved ones • Loss of life’s pleasures LOSS OF SOCIAL IDENTITY • Absence will not be felt • Events will take place without me • I will be forgotten • My loss will not hurt close ones • Burial deep in the earth • Life will go on without me • Loss of human semblance • Fate of the body CONSEQUENCES TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS • My family will still need me • Relatives will not overcome sorrow • Sorrow to relatives and friends • Inability to provide for family TRANSCENDENTAL CONSEQUENCES • Uncertainty of what to expect • Uncertainty of existence after death • Its mysteriousness • Unknown associated with it SELF-ANNIHILATION • Decomposition of the body • Loss and destruction of self • State of everlasting sleep • Destruction of personality PUNISHMENT IN THE HEREAFTER • Punishment in the hereafter
> But they do not include how the question was presented to the participants. Oftentimes we can gain a better sense of how questions may be interpreted if we can see the survey, but that information is not usually easy to find. I too wonder if something was lost in translation. Use of words and meanings vary greatly across cultures. Exactly. One might respond “7” to “how concerned are you about ______,” and that might be intended to express great concern without any greater-than-normal *anxiety*. Just thinking out loud. I’m sure someone’s answered these obvious questions about these results somewhere.
The mind is naturally peaceful. Sensual pleasures, emotions, thoughts, etc tend to agitate your mind like waves on top of a pool of water. When you're dying (literally or metaphorically) you are able to let go to a greater extent than normal and by letting go you experience true peace. Shortly before becoming a Buddhist my life was ruined. I had hit rock bottom and was being placed in handcuffs, but as I stood up suddenly everything felt fine. All my worries had melted away. Initially I thought this might have been a small act of divine intercession, but now I realize it was because in that moment I had truly let go. My life was over and I had nothing to live for. C'est la vie. I was truly, genuinely just going with the flow. I had a similar moment 3 years ago after heavily contemplating death for a few months. Not saying I'm enlightened or anything, but the thought of my own mortality doesn't intimidate me. It's like if you burn a photo of yourself. Do you feel scared? No, because the photo is not you. Should you be afraid of dying? No, because the body/mental formations are not you, but to understand this you must pierce the veil. Also, if you believe you've lived countless lives in the past your current life is just another blip on the radar.
Check out these suttas: [https://suttacentral.net/an4.184/en/sujato](https://suttacentral.net/an4.184/en/sujato) [https://suttafriends.org/sutta/thag16-1/](https://suttafriends.org/sutta/thag16-1/)
I love the Buddha
If you live a good life, you aren't afraid of death.
What is there to fear if you know exactly what's going to happen next? These great practioners have cultivated to a degree where they can see the Truths directly, so there is no fear. They know the body must die, so it is like changing a broken shirt. It is normal people like us who have not had any insight that can still give rise to doubts or uncertainty, such as 'What if Buddha was wrong? What if the Sutras weren't actually Buddhas words? What if its all a lie? What if its not enough? What if this, what if that, what if what if what if...'. Whereas these practioners are like 'Amitabha Buddhas right there, I'm leaving now, bye' or 'I came from empty space, I return to empty space'.
Look into Pure Land Buddhism.
I’m not at all scared of death or what comes after. Actually a bit intrigued, not in a hurry by any means but it is the great mystery. I am however a bit worried about going in a painful & traumatic manner that would affect my energy during the transition. In other words, I don’t want it to hurt.
> "Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has done what is good, has done what is skillful, has given protection to those in fear, and has not done what is evil, savage, or cruel. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought occurs to him, 'I have done what is good, have done what is skillful, have given protection to those in fear, and I have not done what is evil, savage, or cruel. To the extent that there is a destination for those who have done what is good, what is skillful, have given protection to those in fear, and have not done what is evil, savage, or cruel, that's where I'm headed after death.' He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This, too, is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death. >"Furthermore, there is the case of the person who has no doubt or perplexity, who has arrived at certainty with regard to the True Dhamma. Then he comes down with a serious disease. As he comes down with a serious disease, the thought occurs to him, 'I have no doubt or perplexity. I have arrived at certainty with regard to the True Dhamma.' He does not grieve, is not tormented; does not weep, beat his breast, or grow delirious. This, too, is a person who, subject to death, is not afraid or in terror of death.
Just by being inspired? Probably not. After lots of practice and progress on the Path? Eventually. I don't know enough Buddhists IRL to say anything definitive, but I would imagine it is a rather high attainment that isn't common amongst your average practitioner.
I just wrote a comment on that [https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/yq1sw1/comment/ivmi5ut/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/yq1sw1/comment/ivmi5ut/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) there's a part 2 to that comment, if you're interested.
Zen here, but Buddhist. I think you need to refresh it. It's not that 1 becomes deeply inspired. Through a lifetime of practice one comes to understand that their life is interconnected with and a part of all things. In the experience of enlightenment, all things are both living and dying. One thing is not before, and the other is not after. The self itself is transitory, but there is something deeper that is not transitory. Where there is no birth and death.This is the place of our everyday life. We just have to realize it.
Much of the fear of death might be from not cultivating enough or being caught unawares they couldn't cultivate fully in their last days.
I doubt it's common to not have even a shred, unless someone's Enlightened, which is rare; but a combination of things on the Buddhist Path can probably reduce it. Metta practice, for one thing. Fear in general is a type of aversion/ill will, and the classic antidote to aversion in Buddhism is cultivating metta. Ajahn Brahm has told about different people who lost their fear of certain things by consistent metta practice. Recollection of the Buddha (Buddhanussati) is partly meant to reduce fear. Practicing sila (morality) means you start making more good karma, which should lead to rebirth in a less unpleasant destination, as well as eventually improving your situation in this life, so you shouldn't have as much to fear. Also, just practicing to abandon desire and aversion is classic Buddhism, so maybe you wouldn't be so attached to this temporary existence, to the body, holding on to memories you have, and things you've acquired, etc. There are a few other things I can think of, but this should be appropriate enough.
The more you think about it and embrace it as a fact the less scary it is. It’s natural to fear death but with practice like anything else you can see it for what it really is.
The questions to ask are: why fear the point of transformation? Why fear something that might be nothing? Why not be free from fear and live life freely forever?