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Arjuna
USA
69 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 10:30:13 AM
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I have been practicing AYP for a few years, and have made some profound changes. Still, I am terrified of my own eventual death. I am not certain, but I think I am most fearful of the seperation of all that I know; family, friends, home life, etc.
I'll give an example; I recently had some health issues, and immediately panicked that the end may be near. This brings on overwhelming feelings of fear, and loneliness. I feel like a frightened child whose lost his mother.
Can anybody relate???
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karl
United Kingdom
1812 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 10:45:02 AM
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And What would you tell that frightened child ?  |
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Arjuna
USA
69 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 10:53:54 AM
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Karl,
Thank you for responding. You ask a profound question... I think that there are no words worth speaking. The best I could do would be to hold that child with all of my might, and hope that my Love would be enough.
Oddly, my wife did this very same thing for me, and it made me feel an even deeper fear of separation from her. |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 11:03:27 AM
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Hi Arjun,
You know, I have never been afraid of death... but there is something my mother said to me once when I told her I am not afraid of death... she said, it's easy to imagine it one way or the other (afraid or not afraid), but you will know how you really feel only when you are faced with death.
It is so true.
I wont know how I feel about death till I am actually dying...
So why worry about it.
Maybe among all of us you will be the least afraid to die when faced with it... only your imagination of what it may be like is keeping you afraid of it right now.
Can you let it go?
Can you tell yourself you will face it when the time comes, but right now is not the time? |
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karl
United Kingdom
1812 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 11:06:48 AM
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That same Love will wrap its arms around you wherever you go.
When you are deep in dreamless sleep there is no doubt about that is there? and so you sleep soundly, struggling to wake up as the alarm clock rings, wanting to stay submerged in deep, dreamless sleep, where there is no one and no thing.
Did you leave anything or anyone when you slept? We're you lonely? |
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wigswest
USA
115 Posts |
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LittleTurtle
USA
342 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 2:21:30 PM
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| I think you would benefit from talking to or reading about people who have had near death experiences. You will find that most of them say they came back with no fear of death. Also those who have had out of body experiences as well. When I was four I drowned in a river. I had fallen off the dock and I did not know how to swim. I did not actually die, just went unconscious and came to after my sister dove in and saved me. When I went in the river I went out-of-body and saw and heard all the chaos going on on the dock. My mother panicking and then telling my sister to go in after me. I have had several out of body experiences since then. My fear of death is greatly minimized because of these experiences. I KNOW I am not my body and that our essence still lives when the body is gone. |
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jeff
USA
971 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 2:36:11 PM
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Arjuna,
A separate, but very related question to ask yourself... Do you like yourself?
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Arjuna
USA
69 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 3:25:28 PM
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Thank you very much for replying! I am pondering over all that is being written, and appreciate your perspective.
I will read up on NDE's.
Jeff,
You really blew my mind with the "Do I like myself" question. This question often arises when I ponder death. I think I may dislike myself more than I like myself. I am guilty of taking people for granted, which has gradually become apparent to me since I started AYP meditation.
Before I started meditation, I was clueless or denied alot of my behavior. Meditation is slowly polishing the lens of my self, and I continue to see my self in a new light...with acceptance of the good and the bad.
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vijikr
United Arab Emirates
413 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 3:32:08 PM
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| Just let go the fear.. |
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gatito
United Kingdom
179 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 5:32:57 PM
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The fear of death can arise around the time of spiritual "breakthroughs" and you can experience it a deep somatic sensation - an existential terror.
It can be a "good" sign, (the ego is being "dissolved").
There are several ways to deal with fear and other "negative" emotions that I've personally found helpful.
1. Feel it fully.
2. Use EFT on it
3. SBP and DM
Letting go works too but you can sometimes suppress instead of letting go (and I've found letting go to be quite difficult when I'm feeling terrified )
(Being held and comforted does also work sometimes)
I'm assuming that you're doing 3. above, so you could try 1. and 2.
You could also try asking yourself "Who is feeling this feeling?" This can be effective and interesting but it's self-inquiry, so you'd be adding to your practice load.
Hope something in this helps, feeling fear is frightening!
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jeff
USA
971 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 5:33:12 PM
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Arjuna,
Just spend some time understanding and facing why you may dislike yourself. There are many good approaches. As you have seen, meditation is also helpful. Once you learn to "like yourself" you find the fear slipping away. Fear of death is not something that you can directly attack (or deal with). It is really more of symptom.
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karl
United Kingdom
1812 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 6:01:26 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by gatito
2. Use EFT on it
A great technique. Hardly gets a mention these days. Great for young kids.
Did you learn it from someone?
There are several YouTube videos, but I have a download of the full technique, which, unfortunately I don't think is available these days. |
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innercall
Canada
66 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 6:37:19 PM
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Strange, I had a dream last night when I was facing a deadly threat by someone pointing a gun at me. At that moment during the dream a part of me was totally afraid of death and another part was at peace. If it had to happen it would happen and it would be perfectly fine. I would die eventually so...
I guess trying to find that place in you that is not afraid of dying might help. That place might just be what you really are. |
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cosmic
USA
821 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 7:08:15 PM
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First off, welcome to humanity, Arjuna 
quote:
Originally posted by Shanti
I wont know how I feel about death till I am actually dying... So why worry about it.
Very true. I was terrified of a LOT of things before I actually experienced those things.... driving the freeway, riding an airplane, sex, meeting certain people, certain job responsibilities, commitment, etc.
None of those things area big deal now, even on the first try. The mind makes things much scarier than they actually are in reality. This I'm certain of because I've seen it enough in my life.
Best to accept the fear and let go.
[img]icon_heart.gif[/img] |
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gatito
United Kingdom
179 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 7:10:44 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by karl
quote:
Originally posted by gatito
2. Use EFT on it
A great technique. Hardly gets a mention these days. Great for young kids.
Did you learn it from someone?
There are several YouTube videos, but I have a download of the full technique, which, unfortunately I don't think is available these days.
I learned EFT more than a decade ago from the video courses that Gary Craig previously sold on the EFT site and I later bought the main four courses on DVD. At one time I intended to use this technique professionally as an adjunct to conventional therapy but I left the game and never returned, so my personal experience is limited to use on myself and on my kids, although I've given away several sets of videos over the years under the license that Gary granted to original purchasers.
Gary wound down EFT and retired and I understand that he considered that he was too "open source", and that as a result, there were some whacky variations circulating on the back of his name. His daughter is now refining the protocols and the new ones will be open source and available free online (see this link http://www.emofree.com/ br / )
I had cause to revisit EFT last summer due to a large degree of somatic terror (too much self-inquiry coupled with work issues) and I discovered that Lee Pulos has taken the original protocols and modified them to make the system easier. If you can't wait for Gary's daughter to complete the upgrade, you can get Lee Pulos's system on a sale or return basis from Nightingale-Conant (EFT: The New Technology for Immediate Healing and Vitality). I'd just add that while I found the basic protocol an effective improvement, some of the extras I found "questionable" .
(I also believe that Gary's original system needs careful study to be fully effective, so it will be interesting to see what Gary's daughter produces)
Incidentally, on coming across AYP, I was struck by the similarity of Yogani's vision and method of delivery to that of Gary Craig (who apparently sank millions of his own money into getting EFT into widespread circulation.) I take my hat off to both of them - extremely generous souls!!
It's also interesting that Yogani has been careful to stress the importance of having baseline practices! |
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karl
United Kingdom
1812 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 8:22:13 PM
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Yes, I had that download from Gary's site, but the videos were not available. I only used the basic pattern of tapping. Kids seemed to take to it like a Duck to water. It will be interesting to see what develops.
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gatito
United Kingdom
179 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2012 : 8:35:06 PM
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I think that Lee Pulos has the most effective and easiest protocol at the moment and I gather that there have been some clinical trials on it that have been very positive.
The Gary Craig protocol is also very effective and I'm happy to pass on the old manual (which was open source). If anyone's interested just pm me. |
Edited by - gatito on Jan 19 2012 8:46:41 PM |
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mimirom
Czech Republic
368 Posts |
Posted - Jan 20 2012 : 05:58:59 AM
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Dear Arjuna,
many people have overcome their fear of death, and so will you. You are on the right track, clearly.
This is where I have learned about these things the most, so that will be my contribution here:
http://www.holotropic.com/bio_stan-grof.shtml |
Edited by - mimirom on Jan 21 2012 08:26:56 AM |
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FutureHumanDestiny
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - Jan 20 2012 : 8:37:51 PM
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you could try facing your fear during meditation. after all, you're going to be safe and sound sitting in your chair, right? no danger in imagining scary things, is there?
-dale |
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AumNaturel
Canada
687 Posts |
Posted - Jan 22 2012 : 2:14:10 PM
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| Emerging concern over and feelings about death, while at present may be deeply unsettling or distressing, is what I believe a sign of a wider reorganization (cleansing) of your relation to the nature of identity as well as to the world as it appears. It is undoubtedly a positive indication what how you are approaching your life and your sadhana has been moving you in the direction of greater awareness. Stay with it as it is! And even celebrate your new-found relation to death because it is intimately tied also to birth and therefore to being alive in a way that has never been possible up to this discovery. The unsettled feelings about it are an in-between stage of unfolding which, similar to the apparent emptiness of the witness, will give way to something greater, on the condition that you stay with it. I sometimes hear people say that once you find yourself on a path (whether you chose it or it chose you doesn't matter), there's no looking back, and find it true in every sense. |
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lmaher22
USA
217 Posts |
Posted - Jan 23 2012 : 2:54:30 PM
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Welcome to the club. I've wet my drawers many times thinking about death. Mostly though, they say fear of death is really a fear of life and that's probably true. With enough work you can lose your fear of death UNTIL the day it actually comes; then, as it says in the T. Book of the Dead we will all tremble before it. Even great Yogis knew the terror of the spector passing in front of them, but most said it was just hanging on to a body that had served them well. Used-to vs newness. So screw it, live as bravely as you can until the universe pulls the switch... And please, I not trying to make light of your situation because I've had a bad heart for 25 years and survived a few incidents, at times it was raw fear unbounded. Now,I try to just forget it all till it's too big to shut my eyes too. But that's me. Better to listen to these good people on AYP, they're answers are much more sensible than mine.
Best of luck,
L |
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warlock
USA
15 Posts |
Posted - Jan 23 2012 : 10:36:41 PM
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I think that a fear of death is natural. Think of it, if no one feared death at all... people would take even more unnecessary and foolish risks with their lives. I believe that there is a biological instinct to preserve one's physical form. The problem isn't fear of death, the problem is preoccupation with fear of death..giving the fear more energy. Jesus said, give no thought for tomorrow... sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. We will all deal with death when forced to deal with it, we cannot control the appointed day for us to end this incarnation.
I am with you. I fear death to a certain extent. But, I try to stay present. |
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Etherfish
USA
3615 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 12:46:29 AM
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The best way to combat fear of death is to make sure you are living your life to the fullest.
There is a tendency to think life is an illusion so it doesn't matter.
Nothing could be farther from the truth!
Why would we be forced to work out karma for lifetimes if it didn't matter?
So, take massive action on those things that mean the most to you, and if you die trying it will have been all worth it.
Meditation and silence is to enable and enhance action, not escape from it. We fear death if we are not living a fulfilled life. We are afraid we might miss what we are here for.
What better time to die, than while doing your best at what you love?
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maheswari
Lebanon
2520 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 01:37:35 AM
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| as someone said...everyday is good way to die....not necessary the physical body's death, it is the ego's death....yoga and many other spiritual traditions pave the way for that,at the end of the tunnel of "death" comes resurection....when all the empty shells are removed one after the other, what remains is the core which is eternal being ,existence, joy and ecstasy.... |
Edited by - maheswari on Jan 24 2012 01:45:45 AM |
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Etherfish
USA
3615 Posts |
Posted - Jan 24 2012 : 08:23:31 AM
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| Yes, definitely can be am ego thing. If you think you are important. . . |
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Topic |
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I am Terrified of Death
