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For many of us, the fear of death is a major barrier. It certainly doesn’t do us any good, but is there anything you can do to overcome the fear of death?
The fear of death is a big limitation on our lives and can cause us to numb it down to a ludicrous extent. Ironic no? That you prevent yourself from living to ensure that you don’t die. So, you probably realize that this is no way to live, and want to free yourself from this burden.
Sure, you can overcome the fear of death, but it requires you to challenge your beliefs, and that can be tricky if you’re stuck in yours. Here I’m going to share how I overcame my fear of death, and why life is so much more free without this burden.
Beliefs and Baggage Related to Death
Death has long been a taboo subject in Western society. It’s seldom discussed, and people go to great lengths to avoid the topic until it’s at their doorstep. When I was younger, I was right on board. I didn’t want to think about death, it scared me.
It’s natural to have some fear of death. After all, death is the biggest encounter with truth we will ever have. After all, people tend to fear the unknown, losing control, and suffering… and death seems to be the epitome of all these things combined.
But the deepest fear is the fear of annihilation. This is the biggest nightmare for the ego because the role of the ego is to exist.
Death is a natural part of life, but to the ego, it’s the end of the world. When we fear death, we are trapped in our ego. The bigger the ego, the bigger the fear. Therefore, part of moderating your fear of death lies in moderating your ego.
When your fear of death is blown out of proportion, it can become a problem and lead to:
- Paranoia: You’re always thinking that something might happen to you, which prevents you from taking healthy risks.
- Poor judgment: You’re more susceptible to influence and control as external entities can manipulate you much easier.
- Anxiety: You tend to feel more weight on your shoulders because death is perceived as the end of the world.
- Distress: You might become worried that you and your loved ones are going to die, even when everyone is in good health.
- Denial: You’re likely to avoid the topic or anything that brings it to mind. This denial inevitably causes problems and results in major limitations in your life.
- Existential dread: In some cases, the exacerbated fear of death can lead you to an existential crisis.
Death can be a big fear barrier because it can be an obstacle that interferes with the quality of your life. It can prevent you from living an adventurous life because you’re likely to take a more conservative approach to life.
Often, people don’t fear death itself, but things related to death such as the dying process, the dying process itself, or leaving loved ones behind. When we address each nuance of death and come to terms with the process, we tend to feel more at peace with it.
The worst thing you can do is deny the reality of death until you no longer can. Therefore, get a handle on it now, and it will take a heavy burden off your shoulders for the rest of your life.
How to Overcome the Fear of Death
I feared death as much as any person until I experienced a kundalini awakening. This was my first true experience with death and showed me that there’s so much more beyond the physical that we’re barely aware of.
After this experience, a couple of things changed in my life.
- I felt I had undergone the experience of death, so it wasn’t an uncertainty anymore.
- I instantly developed spiritual beliefs from this encounter
- I started making the most of my life so I didn’t feel I was missing out
I feel that all of these ingredients were essential in how I overcame my fear of death, so I decided to live a life that reflected this newfound view of life. Since then I have spent my life traveling, living from place to place, and exploring all that the world has to offer. Believe me, if I never overcame the fear of death, my life would be very different now.
My values have changed a lot and now I find solace in the idea that I will die one day. To me, death is a get-out-of-jail-free card. It’s like insurance, saying “No matter how bad it gets, eventually it will end”.
But I don’t think it would do the trick if I thought consciousness just ended. The reason why I see death as a get-out-of-jail-free card is because I believe it goes on, and it’s going to be beautiful.
Of course, I don’t have the answers, nobody does. But I do believe that as long as I live the best life I know how, be a good person, and lead with my heart, regardless of what I experience as a human, what’s on the other side of that fence is going to be better than this.
That’s it, isn’t it? If you strongly believe that the afterlife is going to be a better experience than this, then suddenly death becomes something a little different. But if you’re an atheist, that perception might be a little trickier to cultivate which is why, perhaps you should make your spiritual growth a priority.
Personally, my pursuit of spirituality was a game-changer when it came to the fear of death. If you believe that there is an afterlife and that Earth is a pretty difficult place to be in the scheme of things, dying sorta feels like a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Talk About Death More Often
What helped me overcome the fear of death was learning to look at it in another light – as a natural part of life rather than something we should try to avoid.
Western culture is a big culprit here because it often instills the idea that death is a terrible thing that must be avoided at all costs. Just thinking about it gets us out of our comfort zones, and this needs to be addressed.
We don’t see it in our society, we barely acknowledge it, and we certainly don’t celebrate it like some cultures do. Some cultures see death through a different lens though. They spend time with their dead, they don’t rush them away to a hospital to never be seen again.
Whether it’s Dia De los Muertos in Mexico which celebrates death, or the Ma’nene festival in Indonesia which cleans the deceased and strengthens the bond between the living and the dead, we don’t view death the same way.
With that said, we’re not exposed to it. I bet you’ve never seen a dead body before, and it would probably freak you out if you did. Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting to break into a morgue, but the more we’re exposed to death, the more we begin to see it for what it is.
If we’re all just a little more open about death and talk about it more, culturally, the stigma surrounding it will disintegrate.
Realizing the impermanent nature of all things helps you see the bigger picture: That nothing stops changing, and that we are also part of this river of endless change. Everything in life is impermanent, from every emotion you experience to every difficulty you’ve had.
There’s beauty in knowing that everything you’re experiencing will end. So embrace it. Make the most out of this slither of consciousness that you’re experiencing right now.
Part of what makes life so exciting is that no matter who you are or what you do, your story will come to a close, sooner or later. So appreciate all the ups and downs! Pursue new opportunities and see what you can turn your life into.
Are you able to find something exciting about death? Can you look at it in a way where it sets you free rather than imprisons you? Look at death as a get-out-of-jail-free card. Life is the hard part, what lies on the other side is not.
Start Questioning It More
Learning to look at death with curiosity rather than fear was a defining force in how I overcame my fear of death. In honesty, my perception of death began to drastically change after I had some spiritual experiences and began to question what happens after.
Work on cultivating a curiosity about death, rather than associating it with negative thoughts and feelings. If you can learn to broaden your curiosity about death by digging deep into it, that same worry will gradually be replaced with wonder: A positive energetic outlet that improves your life experience, not takes away from it.
Therefore, don’t push thoughts of death and mortality away. Instead, illuminate it and allow yourself to be fascinated by it. If someone close to you dies, of course, you should mourn, but also reflect. Use this opportunity to think about the death process while it’s fresh in your mind.
I encourage you to think about death, wonder about it, and talk about it with people. Bring the idea of death to light, otherwise, it will stay in the darkness and remain an unquestionable horror instead of a curious mystery.
Explore Your Existential Beliefs
For me personally, believing in something beyond life has made a big difference in my perception of death. Genuinely believing that this universe is a tiny part of a much bigger system makes death seem like it’s not such a big deal.
But this isn’t because I’ve got some vague idea of spirituality that puts me at ease, it’s because I actively pursue my spiritual path, bringing me to many cultures, traditions, modalities, and views. It’s this exploration into the spiritual world via shamanic healing, astral projection, and meditation that has instilled enough faith to know that life goes on beyond death.
To me, it’s no question. When it was, accepting the idea of death was a little more difficult because it was more of an uncertainty. Now that I’ve done enough.
Life is supposed to be one of the harder experiences a soul undergoes. So in that sense, would you rather stay here and struggle through the human construction zone, or enjoy the higher states of consciousness that we experience outside of these bodies?
Having spiritual beliefs makes the idea of death not just tolerable, but wonderful. Whether you have a nihilistic approach to the subject or not doesn’t matter in the end. You must agree that we don’t know for sure. Even if you believe that nothing happens, then it doesn’t matter, does it? It would be like nothing even existed in the first place.
So why does it matter how painful the process of death is or what you accomplish in life? Why does it matter how successful you have become or how much money you have made? If nothing exists, then nothing matters. If something exists, then everything probably matters. To me, this is a win-win.
Your spiritual beliefs and existential views can make the idea of death something to look forward to or an unscalable object. Work on molding your views and beliefs to see the beauty in it all, and slowly, over time, you will start appreciating your journey here.
I suggest broadening your understanding of spirituality and discovering beliefs that resonate with you. By forming your own beliefs and having faith in them, death is going to seem like much less of an obstacle and just a new chapter of the journey. Below are some resources to explore life after death, and what it could mean.
Ultimately, what eradicated the fear of death for me was cultivating a belief in life after death. If I were still an atheist, maybe I would be in your shoes, too. But I’m not. I’m more confident than ever that the experience of consciousness continues after death.
Sure, it transmutes and changes form. You join the collective and branch off to experience your soul journey. You experience different dimensions and incarnate into different places. But it’s real.
After all, each body of knowledge believes in other dimensions. Every religion believes in life after death. All the best scientists and philosophers agree that we simply don’t know, and usually, they believe that there’s a whole lot more than what meets the eye too.
Believing in life after death has given me the ultimate comfort. Instead of holding onto life, I see it for what it is. A dream, a tiny figment of experience that god undergoes.
You can believe that there’s more to existence, or you can believe that this universe is it. That’s really up to you. But if you do truly want to overcome the fear of death, I suggest that you start exploring what lies beyond this reality, and you might find some answers.
