I can absolutely empathise with the fear of death. As someone who very recently went through the rejection of God and the afterlife, I was affected very deeply by the realisation that this is it, there is nothing more, etc, etc. It was absolutely terrifying to stare into an abyss that you can't comprehend. I have since learned the following things:
1) The fear is totally normal. Your brain is not designed to embrace death and you instinctively panic at the thought so don't be surprised that you consider the idea with revulsion - it's a natural defence mechanism. Accept it - it's ok to be scared.
2) You actually do experience a total lack of consciousness and awareness every single day when you go to sleep. The only reason you know you have even fallen asleep is that you wake up again. You have no awareness of the state of actually being asleep when it is happening - even dreams only occur at the very end. Consider how the rest of the world is carrying on in your absence while you sleep. Death is like that. Just as you are not aware of the moment of falling asleep, you won't know anything about the fact that you have died. Death itself is actually not something anyone will ever "experience" at all.
3) The universe has existed for untold time before you ever arrived on it. You have no memories of being anywhere "other", having any sensation or any awareness of your state. Death may not be life but it's not terrible either. It's nothing - and that means no fear, no pain. Nothing.
1) The fear is totally normal. Your brain is not designed to embrace death and you instinctively panic at the thought so don't be surprised that you consider the idea with revulsion - it's a natural defence mechanism. Accept it - it's ok to be scared.
2) You actually do experience a total lack of consciousness and awareness every single day when you go to sleep. The only reason you know you have even fallen asleep is that you wake up again. You have no awareness of the state of actually being asleep when it is happening - even dreams only occur at the very end. Consider how the rest of the world is carrying on in your absence while you sleep. Death is like that. Just as you are not aware of the moment of falling asleep, you won't know anything about the fact that you have died. Death itself is actually not something anyone will ever "experience" at all.
3) The universe has existed for untold time before you ever arrived on it. You have no memories of being anywhere "other", having any sensation or any awareness of your state. Death may not be life but it's not terrible either. It's nothing - and that means no fear, no pain. Nothing.
