Philosophers, how could someone be optimistic about death?
What you perceive as “death” in a pessimistic fashion is only reflective of your view of death as a loss, not a gain. One who sees death not as a loss can have the perception of death as something to be optimistic about, although I would only say those who view it with a form of optimism only sees death as such by perceiving there to be a gain. Personal motivations, by whatever virtue or understanding, determines how one views everything in life. I was once instructed in a marketing class during college that “people don’t resist change, they resist loss.” Death is a change, just as much of Life is made of. How one particularly views death is only driven by what attachments one places on it. Attachment to what is perceived to be lost or the attachment to what is perceived to be gained.
Death is unproductive. If you die early you miss out on the chances to do what you planned or discover things in life. An optimistic death is one after you have completed all the tasks you have set out to do in your lifetime. Some people can settle with living a long life, while some can settle with living with as much enjoyment as possible and everybody wants to have both a long and enjoyable life. Think about people who know their “time” is near. They try to fulfill their dreams as quickly as possible, end up depressed and numb, or a bit of both. All this is for peace of mind. On the other hand, if you’re life is destined to live in pain (a mental reality), then you might look at having no life as better than suffering. There’s not much optimism in that scenario if you really look at the situation (unless you had ultimate peace of mind). When hope is lost and all there’s left to do is die, it might be a relief to put an end to the pain, but you die in pain and unable to experience th
Life and death are two phases of the same energy. Death is not the end of life. Death itself is part of life, and life goes on. You have died many times, and still you are alive. Your life is eternal. Death is a small episode here and there, when you change your house, but the essential of your being remains the same. How many times you change houses does not matter, but it is inconceivable to the mind. Once enlightened, your death is going to be the last death. In other words, only enlightened people die. The unenlightened … very difficult — they go on coming back, they never die. Only the enlightened person can afford death; the unenlightened cannot afford it, he is not yet ready. Life is a school, and unless you have learned the lesson you will have to come back again and again to the same class. Once you have learned the lesson, passed the examination, then even if you want to come back into the class you will find all doors are closed for you. You have to move higher, to a differe
