Is death really our enemy? (Earth, mystic, Buddhism, Buddhism)

[Azakel]

Deaths not an enemy, it's a release from these bodies(sick sick bodies, ^_^)

Originally Posted by Sunstone

Who wants to live forever? Think of all the taxes you'd pay!

Well if you look like this I'm sure no one will both you.

[Starfish]

Originally Posted by Francine

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:[26] "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death". Yet without death, wealth and power would continue to accumulate in fewer and fewer immortal hands, and old ideas would never give way to new ones. Without death, people would not feel the vitality of living that the very brevity our our life stimulates, and the Earth would continue to fill up with people until everyone was eating those funny green graham crackers Charlton Heston found out about.

Whether death is destroyed now or at the end of time, it is not really our enemy, no more than pain is our enemy. Pain is a defense mechanism, just as the fear of death is. People who cannot feel pain rarely live to be twenty years old, and those who feel we should wage a war against Demon Pain are as ignorant as those who mistake (as the slings and arrows of an enemy) the natural fear of death which is ingrained in all living things to cause them to avoid risky behaviors.

IMO you have to clarify what is meant by death here. There are two kinds of death in the Bible. Spiritual death=separation from God. Physical death=separation of our spirits from our bodies. So in a sense they both will be destroyed. We will be reunited with God, and our bodies will be reunited with our spirits through resurrection. And in the Millenium, there will be no death, spiritual or physical.

Moving on to the next life is not a bad thing, and will be, as you said, no enemy. I've heard it said it's like walking into another room. Other than the sorrow of leaving loved ones behind for a while, it will be a wonderful experience.

[jtartar]

Originally Posted by Francine

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:[26] "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death". Yet without death, wealth and power would continue to accumulate in fewer and fewer immortal hands, and old ideas would never give way to new ones. Without death, people would not feel the vitality of living that the very brevity our our life stimulates, and the Earth would continue to fill up with people until everyone was eating those funny green graham crackers Charlton Heston found out about.

Whether death is destroyed now or at the end of time, it is not really our enemy, no more than pain is our enemy. Pain is a defense mechanism, just as the fear of death is. People who cannot feel pain rarely live to be twenty years old, and those who feel we should wage a war against Demon Pain are as ignorant as those who mistake (as the slings and arrows of an enemy) the natural fear of death which is ingrained in all living things to cause them to avoid risky behaviors.

Francine,
You are looking at death as it is now. It is very true that at times death is a blessing not an enemy, but the Bible is not talking about the way things are now. Notice Rev 21:1-5, where we are told about the New Heavens and the New Earth where righteousness will be and there will be no mourning or tears and even death will be done away with, 2Pet 3:13.
If we look at some of the other prophecies about that New Earth we will see that in perfect conditions we will be happy all the time, Isa 65:17-25, Isa 25:6-8, 35:1-6.
Other conditions that will make the earth a joyful place are written at Ps 37:9-11, 20, 22,28,29.
Never will we get bored with such a great life. Can you see yourself saying; I have been so happy for so long that I just want to die and end all my happiness, forever??

[stephenw]

Death- WB YEATS

Nor dread nor hope attend
A dying animal;
A man awaits his end
Dreading and hoping all;
Many times he died,
Many times he rose again.
A great man in his pride
Confronting murderous men
Casts derision upon
Supression of breath;
He knows death to the bone-
Man has created death.

I think Yeats is onto it, death is our creation. That's all.

[A Lurking Shadow]

I don't know.

What I do know is that no matter how brainwashed someone has become with stories of fluffy clouds, endless pleasures and daily Wings concerts, they always face death with the same horrifying terror the rest of us do. If they don't, they've lost their humanity, and their mind, compeletly.

You can't hide from your instincts, and you can't hide from the fact that death is bloody scary.

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Originally Posted by Nanda

Wow, I was going under the assumption that because everything living eventually dies, we would all die too, but you found the flaw in my logic. I guess you're going to live forever.

Nobody alive on Earth today has ever died. This says to me that we may have solved the problem of death.



Back to the OP, I think it's silly to look at death as an enemy. If we assume that our choices are between mortality and immortality, then maybe I can understand that point of view... but that's not how it works: the real choice is between finite, mortal life and no life at all. In that context, death isn't an "enemy", it's just a logical consequence, and everyone who dies is better off than everyone who doesn't, since the only way not to die is to not be born in the first place.

[Starfish]

Originally Posted by A Lurking Shadow

I don't know.

What I do know is that no matter how brainwashed someone has become with stories of fluffy clouds, endless pleasures and daily Wings concerts, they always face death with the same horrifying terror the rest of us do. If they don't, they've lost their humanity, and their mind, compeletly.

You can't hide from your instincts, and you can't hide from the fact that death is bloody scary.

You don't give us religous folks enough credit. I have no idea what you mean by fluffy clouds, daily concerts, etc. I really don't fear death at all. (This is one of the benefits of faith.) I do worry about leaving my family prematurely, but not death itself. In fact it actually seems rather exciting. I have plans for the next life. So many people to talk to! I don't plan to sit around and play a harp--piano maybe, but I'll have to get a lot better at playing than I am now. There's too much to do and without the impediments of this life--it's exciting to think about.

The non-believers tend to lump us into one silly-sounding, cloud-sitting group. That's just not the case.