DEATH IS THE LOCUS OF ALL FEARS

Death is the great danger threatening ordinary people. Death, both physical and mental, forms the locus for fears of all kinds: fear of wild beasts, reptiles, ghosts, disease, of pain, of loss of one’s livelihood, of one’s reputation, of poverty and so on, including fear of death in its ordinary forms, or in some undignified, infamous form, like moral or spiritual death.

If there were no fear of death, there’d be almost no fear of anything and we’d dwell with a peaceful, a cooled mind, hence cleansing away any and all problems associated with death, making death meaningless, should be of great interest. If someone could really achieve this feat, it would make their life into a win only experience. One who really knows that there is no death, that one reaps the greatest good. So, how can we overcome the fear of death, or render the concept meaningless?

– Buddhadasa Bhikkhu –

Excerpt from an article written by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu on 10 August 2502 (1959) and published by the Dhammadāna Foundation in ธรรมานุสรณ์ Dhamma Teaching for Ending of Suffering – Dhamma about Death (มรณานุสติธรรม), pp. 65-72.

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