Post: #1

One day we are all going to die.

I'm interested in how the manosphere deals with death.

How do you deal with your own mortaility?
Do you fear death?

Related to that, have you had experiences that change your opinion on this topic? Books that you read?
For example, they say that taking ayahuasca feels like dying; and that people who took an ayahuasca ceremony are less frightened about death afterwards.

I think it's an interesting topic, because death is in some way the mother of al fears.

Post: #2

I can really say I don't really fear dying. For me it's the things that come with death that I fear like pain or how you die but not really death itself.

I guess I realized this when I had this experience with the whooping cough and whenever I would cough I would ko unconscious but there was really no pain. I thought to myself how if death is anything like going unconcious im prepapred. Its quite relaxing and meditating in an eerie kind of way.

I think living through deaths of others or pain that may eventually lead to death is a greater fear than death itself.

As one of the 4 noble truth states "the truth of suffering". All life is to suffer.

Post: #3

The future's uncertain and the end is always near. I don't know what's gonna happen man, but I want to get my kicks before the whole shit-house goes up in flames, alright?

Seriously though, I don't feel much over death. I didn't cry when my teammate dies, or when my grandpa did. I had to fake sadness to fit in. Maybe I'm a psycho.

I fear suffering though. I fear my own eventual suffering and I fear weakness.

Post: #4

Accepting death helped my game. It removed a lot of my fear.

I look forward to it. I think it could be the most fascinating experience of my life.

I just hope the process of dying is quick and painless. If I'm suffering a lot I will kill myself. First, I will become a Muslim for the whole "72 virgins" thing!

------

We already have a thread on this:

/thread-29767.html

Post: #5

Men tell their biggest regrets before dying, here.

Post: #6

Here are some things that have grounded death for me. Like banging a hot girl its not really anything once you get acquainted with it. If you really want to invest, volunteer for palliative care. If you aren't that invested read books on preparing for death of a loved one, palliative experiences, or Buddhist perspectives on dealing with a person who is dying or what the dying process is.

I found that once death was more 'familiar' I didn't stress out as much about its impending arrival.

Post: #7

(04-09-2014 01:52 PM)LiveWithFire Wrote:  One day we are all going to die.

I'm interested in how the manosphere deals with death.

How do you deal with your own mortaility?
Do you fear death?

Related to that, have you had experiences that change your opinion on this topic? Books that you read?
For example, they say that taking ayahuasca feels like dying; and that people who took an ayahuasca ceremony are less frightened about death afterwards.

I think it's an interesting topic, because death is in some way the mother of al fears.

Not trying to hijack your thread but I think this goes hadn in hand iwth your topic. I often times watch old movies or documentaries or read history. It seems like in the past dying was much more casual.

Gunfights and duels were common place in many places, people were killed on the job, killed traveling. It just seems that in previous generations when men were men death was treated much more casually than it is today. This is a topic I often wonder about.

Just kinda curious overall your guys thoughts on this subject. Is life valued more now than in the past or is it just with the advent of medicine and technology it's easyier not to die at a young age so when someone does we take it harder. It seemed like in previous generations people were almost lining up to die for a cause where as today were all hanging on for dear life.

I guess it depends on if your religious or not but the uncertainty of death I think is somewhat scary however I agree iwth some other posters that I think the scariest part is a long drawn out painful death. Having watched some relatives in misery for months or years with cancer, can't imagine anything worse than that.

I do think living a full life knowing you accomplished things and experienced tings I think probably makes it easier than having all these bucket list things you never did and wishing you had gotten more out of life. Regret is one of the hardest things to deal with

Post: #8

I remember a few years back I was at Metro Center station and I was informed that my nephew was being take off of life support after a bad car accident. I let a few trains go by to collect myself then finally boarded a train and went on my way. As I got on the train I was in the very front and noticed the many passengers. I saw them all up of we and all at once. It was like their lives were flashing before my eyes as my nephew was giving up the ghost. I saw all of their fears, their troubles and their aspirations and I saw how special and unique each of them was. It was as if I knew each one of those complete strangers. And in that moment I loved each one of them deeply and I cherished each of their lives. I think In that moment God was showing me how he loves us and how special we are to him. I've never experienced anything like that before or since.

Post: #9

Death is the only certain thing in life.

Theres nothing fair or unfair in dying, there is only the fact that you will someday.

Post: #10

Yeah, death... no comment.

http://theprivateman.wordpress.com/yeah-...r-so-what/

Post: #11

I don't fear death.

But I do fear the pain and crap that surrounds dying.

Still - death does mess with my head.

I find it weird that people who you knew and are dead. Have no idea who you are. Have no idea who they are. Have no idea or memory about anything. It is almost like they never even existed.

Sure you have memories of the people who have died.

But I have vivid memories of the dream I had last night.

So ultimately - what difference is there really? Life is just as meaningless as a random half-forgotten dream.

Post: #12

Actually, has anyone here had near death experiences?

It would be interesting to hear about those. If you can remember them, then what was going through your head in that split second when you were falling down that cliff, or skidding off that road, or w/e it was?

My closest brush with death was when my car went spinning off the highway at 70 miles an hour in the rain. I thought I was dead as the car was spinning, and was eerily fine with it. I just thought "yup, so I guess this is it". Each second lasts forever.

Got caught in a lightning storm in the middle of the river in a small open boat the same week this happened. That was pretty scary too.

My response to this was really just...go talk to that cute girl you were afraid to talk to at the party next time...hah. That and more seriously, about loving my family/not ending it all on bad terms with them.

Post: #13

Similar experience to yours slim shady, and some different ones. The most profound experiences were watching other people die actually.

Familiarity with death taught me that there is no time for the pity poor me, cynicism/pessimism bullshit. You have one shot, when it's over it's over so make the most of it.

Post: #14

Death and you.... as well as death and me, and death any everyone.... play a game.

The table is loaded, death wins one day. You didn't sign up to play that game, you didn't volunteer. The rules of the games were thrust upon you.

Some people take exception to these rules, and try to negotiate them, then finding out they can't, try to defer the final ruling.

The get safe, they do nothing, they try the defer the final score of 1-0 in deaths favour.

They miss life. They get the 9-5 job, they pass on the genes, they cease having sex with an overweight wife after 4 years of marriage. The essentially come home, stuff their faces full of processed food and die one day at a time. They're dead long before they are buried.

Don't be that, chalk up some wins.

Chase the girls, fuck rejection... it's not a loss.

Travel, be someone with a body, build a business.

Be.A.Winner.

Death's going to get you, but fuck, don't make it easy for him.

Post: #15

Cowards die many times before their death. The valiant never taste of death but once

Post: #16

The more I fuck, the less I fear death. I think I really just came to this world to fuck.

Post: #17

(04-09-2014 09:25 PM)pitt Wrote:  The more I fuck, the less I fear death. I think I really just came to this world to fuck.

QFT. The more good looking girls I've had sex with I feel like I fulfilled my purpose and I am good with it.

Post: #18

Post: #19

(04-09-2014 04:52 PM)jamaicabound Wrote:  

(04-09-2014 01:52 PM)LiveWithFire Wrote:  One day we are all going to die.

I'm interested in how the manosphere deals with death.

How do you deal with your own mortaility?
Do you fear death?

Related to that, have you had experiences that change your opinion on this topic? Books that you read?
For example, they say that taking ayahuasca feels like dying; and that people who took an ayahuasca ceremony are less frightened about death afterwards.

I think it's an interesting topic, because death is in some way the mother of al fears.

Not trying to hijack your thread but I think this goes hadn in hand iwth your topic. I often times watch old movies or documentaries or read history. It seems like in the past dying was much more casual.

Gunfights and duels were common place in many places, people were killed on the job, killed traveling. It just seems that in previous generations when men were men death was treated much more casually than it is today. This is a topic I often wonder about.

Just kinda curious overall your guys thoughts on this subject. Is life valued more now than in the past or is it just with the advent of medicine and technology it's easyier not to die at a young age so when someone does we take it harder. It seemed like in previous generations people were almost lining up to die for a cause where as today were all hanging on for dear life.

This is spot on--there have been studies that correlate the decline in warfare in the late 20th-21st century with elongated lifespans in developed countries. That's not to say that war doesn't still happen--it does. But most of those involved in it are either:

1) Third world countries, who still tend to have lower life-spans (and thus less to lose by dying), or

2) First world countries that increasingly either sacrifice their poor, or are automating their warfare so that casualties are minimized.

It is a weird concept, death. Some days when I have a really bad hangover after a bender, the idea that "I am going to die someday" is all-consuming. It's fucking scary. I get to the point where I think I'm going to die that night, and I worry about all the shit I left on the table in this life.

Yet most of the time, when my dopamine reserves haven't been depleted, I'm pretty at peace with it. I've taken to reading Ayahuasca and DMT experience stories on erowid, and watching the DMT documentary on Netflix helped me with my fear. Either DMT really does liberate the soul from the body (I know: "BS" to you atheists out there), or at least it makes an instant linger for days, allowing you to experience the glory of whatever cosmos you've constructed for yourself before you fade into darkness forever.

Honestly, either option is comforting. I do choose to believe in some sort of afterlife, maybe a reincarnation system for my own personal belief system than for no other reason than I started thinking about this shit at like 8 years old and that was one of the only ways I could come to terms with it at the time. Still, a common thread through a lot of these Ayahuasca/DMT stories I read is that there's "the source" that we can only understand by experiencing it for ourselves, under the eye of a watchful shaman.

On a related note, anyone interested in doing ayahuasca at some point? PM me and maybe we can get a board trip going to a badass shaman.

Post: #20

For a timeless philosophical reflection on man's mortality, read Swinburne's poem here, noting especially the verses I've boldfaced:

The Garden of Proserpine
BY ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE


Here, where the world is quiet;
Here, where all trouble seems
Dead winds' and spent waves' riot
In doubtful dreams of dreams;
I watch the green field growing
For reaping folk and sowing,
For harvest-time and mowing,
A sleepy world of streams.

I am tired of tears and laughter,
And men that laugh and weep;
Of what may come hereafter
For men that sow to reap:
I am weary of days and hours,
Blown buds of barren flowers,
Desires and dreams and powers
And everything but sleep.

Here life has death for neighbour,
And far from eye or ear
Wan waves and wet winds labour,
Weak ships and spirits steer;
They drive adrift, and whither
They wot not who make thither;
But no such winds blow hither,
And no such things grow here.

No growth of moor or coppice,
No heather-flower or vine,
But bloomless buds of poppies,
Green grapes of Proserpine,
Pale beds of blowing rushes
Where no leaf blooms or blushes
Save this whereout she crushes
For dead men deadly wine.

Pale, without name or number,
In fruitless fields of corn,
They bow themselves and slumber
All night till light is born;
And like a soul belated,
In hell and heaven unmated,
By cloud and mist abated
Comes out of darkness morn.

Though one were strong as seven,
He too with death shall dwell,
Nor wake with wings in heaven,
Nor weep for pains in hell;
Though one were fair as roses,
His beauty clouds and closes;
And well though love reposes,
In the end it is not well.

Pale, beyond porch and portal,
Crowned with calm leaves, she stands
Who gathers all things mortal
With cold immortal hands;
Her languid lips are sweeter
Than love's who fears to greet her
To men that mix and meet her
From many times and lands.

She waits for each and other,
She waits for all men born;
Forgets the earth her mother,
The life of fruits and corn;
And spring and seed and swallow
Take wing for her and follow
Where summer song rings hollow
And flowers are put to scorn.

There go the loves that wither,
The old loves with wearier wings;
And all dead years draw thither,
And all disastrous things;
Dead dreams of days forsaken,
Blind buds that snows have shaken,
Wild leaves that winds have taken,
Red strays of ruined springs.

We are not sure of sorrow,
And joy was never sure;
To-day will die to-morrow;
Time stoops to no man's lure;
And love, grown faint and fretful,
With lips but half regretful
Sighs, and with eyes forgetful
Weeps that no loves endure.

From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives for ever;
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea.

Then star nor sun shall waken,
Nor any change of light:
Nor sound of waters shaken,
Nor any sound or sight:
Nor wintry leaves nor vernal,
Nor days nor things diurnal;
Only the sleep eternal
In an eternal night.


-

Post: #21

I have been trying the experiment of imagining myself really dying in very different ways like some stoics did in their time. I am not about to commit suicide or have even thought about it in any real sense but I have tried to really believe i.e. that I have a real gun in my hand, while getting to the emotional state like it is in fact true and then pulling the trigger to shoot my brains out.

Haven't had marvelous success yet. The thing is to try to die before dying, death before death. In a sense, if your mind really realizes that the death is indeed inevitable like it is(mostly people don't really feel that they are going to die although they know it), you could get to the state of the realization that it has already happened.

Post: #22

In my culture, death has been basically center of everyday life in history. Although everyone lived in poverty, and death of disease or war were frequent, families always grieved heavily over their deceased. There were strict rules, death of males was particularly mourned. Wives would have to wear black for lifetime if their husband dies, and only ones who were allowed to cry over males were their sisters. Mothers and wives were not allowed to do so. Funerals were usually quite big events with numerous commemorations and gatherings afterwards.

Though i personally don't think much about death, deaths of some relatives did not strike me particularly. Thought of aging is frightening, certainly. You always think you can achieve more, but as you age, your chances get thinner and thinner. Maybe if you set a solid foundation for your character and development when you are younger, you can live happily and with success through your later years. But what if you wasted your life until the very late ? You cannot recover. Hence with deep worry we think about what are we going to achieve now, when we are still young.

Post: #23

(04-10-2014 03:06 AM)strengthstudent Wrote:  I have been trying the experiment of imagining myself really dying in very different ways like some stoics did in their time. I am not about to commit suicide or have even thought about it in any real sense but I have tried to really believe i.e. that I have a real gun in my hand, while getting to the emotional state like it is in fact true and then pulling the trigger to shoot my brains out.

Haven't had marvelous success yet. The thing is to try to die before dying, death before death. In a sense, if your mind really realizes that the death is indeed inevitable like it is(mostly people don't really feel that they are going to die although they know it), you could get to the state of the realization that it has already happened.

I used to think about death much more and would get into deep thinking trying to wrap myhead around what it will be like or what happens and just the concept that your here today and gone tomorrow and how will it affect other people and what will youthink, what will you regret or think about. it can really drive you crazy as its like thinking about or trying to understand a black whole there's really no way of knowing and you have no fame or reference.

When I saw this post it made me realize I really havn't thought about death in depth in months if even longer. I used to think about it quite frequently and was even bothered by it. I'm not really sure why I just havn't.

What you mention is interesting. I have no interest in committing suicide and don't tihnk I ever could for religious, ethical reasons as well as just being a coward if you can call not wanting to kill yourself cowardly which I dont think is really cowardly. Anyhow, I have taken my gun and put it in my mouth, obvously not a good thing to do as far as gun safety goes lol but its just crazy to think how something as simple as a couple pounds of finger pressure on that trigger and i cease to exist. i guess you could say the smae thing as far as close calls like almost drowning or near car accidents or falls or whatever else

Post: #24

Death isn't that rough to accept. We all have a finite time in this universe. I look at it much like the story of a book. With each person you meet they have their own stories and eventually their conclusion will come.

It's sort of peaceful and humbling to know that all of the people you meet on this journey we call life will eventually die. The best you can do is grab as much of the world as you can before you are called to let it go. Enjoy the gift that God gave you.