Are You Afraid Of Death

[Saltmeister]

I found that playing real golf was nothing like playing video golf. I couldn't stand on the tee box of a par 3 thinking :"OK, the wind is left to right and blowing against me, so I'll close my stance, go up a club and choke it down to 85%, and put top spin on the ball to hold the wind." No, I had to whack at the ball with all my might and hope it went in the right direction. It took me fifteen years to learn to hit down on my irons. I'm just now dialing in my driver. And I've found that I can't ever get my game going on all cylinders. If I practice my short game my long game goes to hell. If I'm spot on with the putter I can only hit my driver into the trees. It's so frustrating and beguiling all at the same time. And just when I'm ready to chuck it all I make one of those magical, pure shots. "I hate golf, I hate golf, I hate golf..." "oh, nice shot!" " I love golf, I love golf, I love golf."

I think I hate golf already!

And, golf, unlike other sports, is a lifelong pursuit. You can play it 'til you're dead.

Really? Golf is life? Unlike other sports? Surely someone can't make something else their life, like tennis or chess?

Man, heaven cannot be as good as this.

But it just can't be heaven. Heaven is supposed to come later. Not now.

 

[China Cat Sunflower]

I think I hate golf already!

Ha! Golf is a tough game.

Really? Golf is life? Unlike other sports? Surely someone can't make something else their life, like tennis or chess?

Chess is a hard game with a lifetime's worth of potential learning. I'm lousy at chess, but the concepts I understand from it totally bleed over into almost every strategic aspect of real life. Tennis kind of goes along with golf. Maybe it's that both are traditionally country club activities. Tennis is quite a physical challenge, but it's free! There's a tennis court at the park near my house and I'm just starting to play again. I love tennis!

But it just can't be heaven. Heaven is supposed to come later. Not now.

How much fun is it going to be to be incorporeal? The angels must be totally jealous of our ability to FEEL! I don't want to be angelic, I want to be human.

Chris

 

[Vajradhara]

i don't much care... i'm actually looking forward to the end of this arising in a lot of respects.... so i'd say that i don't fear death at all.... i think i said that before but it's unclear... fuzzy... hard to recall...

in any case, i don't think there's any reason to fear death, it's the natural analog to life.. indeed, the very idea of life is rendered meaningless without the term death.

the buddha suggests in one of the sutras that talks about maitreya that eventually humans will have a lifespan that measures into the thousands and thousands of years (which is when maitreya will arise) but that seems to me like a horrendous vicious vision of the future.