What Is Your Greatest Phobia? By Alistair Conwell Author of The Audible Life Stream: Ancient Secret of Dying While Living The word phobia is of Greek origin and it means to have an irrational or disabling fear of something. Psychologists view phobias as a mental disorder. There is a long list of phobias that many of us harbour – arachnophobia (a fear of spiders); agoraphobia (fear of open spaces); acrophobia (fear of heights); claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces) – there’s even a condition called anthophobia to refer to a fear of flowers. But there is one phobia that many of us may at first not think of because psychologists believe that it is largely harboured unconsciously – and this is thanatophobia or the fear of death. Death is one of those subjects that few of us want to talk about, which is probably a reflection of this deep-seated fear but this is also perhaps symptomatic of the fact that death remains a great (perhaps the greatest) mystery. Although many people with a belief in spirituality will intuitively acknowledge that death is ultimately a transition of consciousness, how many actually know what will happen during that transition? Given the inevitability of death it seems almost paradoxical that it is humanity’s greatest fear and shrouded in mystique. An interesting piece of trivia is that according to Kenneth Krammer, an expert on comparative religion, there are 66 euphemisms (at least in the American vernacular) to avoid using the words “death” and “dying”. Examples of these euphemisms include: kicked the bucket, checked out, passed away etc. There are various techniques that psychologists use to assist people overcome their phobias. However, in the case of the unconscious fear of death, a role for a psychologist is not usually considered because the phobia is not consciously acknowledged – there is no reason for seeing a physician, for example, if one does not consider oneself ill. So should we just ignore our thanatophobia – after all if it’s unconsciously embed in most of our psyches then what’s the issue? The issue is that death is inevitable. We all one day must face death. So if we are to believe the psychologists and accept that most of us have an unconscious fear of death then what can we do about it? The key to dealing with our thanatophobia is to solve the mystery of death while we are still living. But how is this possible? If one is dead then that’s it – right? Not so. Paradoxical though it may seem, there is an ancient meditation process based on the concept of the Audible Life Stream that enables one to safely gain glimpses of the process of death whenever it will eventually occur. The Audible Life Stream, or Primordial Sound Current, is the all-pervasive universal force. Depending on one’s religious beliefs, some may refer to this force as God, Allah, Brahma or any number of other names. Being all-pervasive, the Audible Life Stream is contactable through deep silent meditation. Through the meditation, it is possible for one’s consciousness to leave the physical body in exactly the same way as it would when the physical body actually dies. However, it is important to note that during the meditation there is no threat to the physical body and no risk of actually dying. One is able to die while still living. Understanding, and more importantly, experiencing death with full consciousness avails us to the true meaning of life. By glimpsing the experience of death while still living, over time the fear of death naturally dissolves because death is seen as what is truly is - an important transition of consciousness and not the total extinguishing of life. And if we can overcome our fears of death there can be nothing else in the world to be afraid of. So perhaps the question at the start of the article should have been not “What is your greatest phobia?” but “How do you perceive death?”. Alistair Conwell was born in India and grew up in Australia. He has two psychology degrees. He has travelled widely through Britain, Europe, Egypt, the Middle East, Turkey, Taiwan and the Indian sub-continent. During his travels, he learnt various meditation techniques taught by Western, Indian, Tibetan and Vietnamese masters. It was in Nepal, the Himalayan land of mysticism, where he first learnt of the Audible Life Stream and the ancient art of dying while living. He has had articles about the Audible Life Stream published in America and Australia. He has been practicing meditation for over 20 years. Alistair’s book, The Audible Life Stream: Ancient Secret of Dying While Living is published by O-Books. It is available from Amazon.com and other on-line bookstores, as well as location bookshops around the world. For more information see this website. RETURN TO OMPLACE HOME