https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjqbodpDrPg

“Notes on Death” by CRP Patreon Archive

Key Themes:

Reflection on Illness and Mortality:

The speaker reflects on a recent illness experience, noting that despite feeling miserable, they were never in serious danger. This led to contemplating mortality and recalling previous reflections on death.

Early Realization about Death:

At age 14, the speaker had a moment of blankness while reading, which they perceived as a glimpse of death—a state of nothingness. They concluded that death is simply an absence of consciousness, and thus not something to fear.

Shift in Perspective: Concern for the Manner of Death, Not Death Itself:

Realizing that the state of being dead holds no significance since it’s a state of nonexistence, the speaker asserts that the only aspect of death worth considering is the manner of dying (quick and painless, if possible).

Observations from the Death of an Uncle:

Recalling the death of an uncle in 1991, the speaker reflects on how his life’s worries became irrelevant once he passed. This underscored the futility of obsessing over problems that ultimately mean nothing after death.

Core Message: Focus on Life, Not Death:

Dwelling on death often leads to avoiding life. Instead of worrying about death or the unknowns that come after, the speaker urges a focus on the experiences and consciousness available in life.

Critique of Obsession with Death:

The speaker notes that obsessing over death is often a way for people, especially the young or the uncertain, to avoid addressing life’s challenges. This obsession can create a sense of false depth but ultimately prevents engaging fully with life.

Conclusion: Embrace Consciousness and Existence:

Life, with its unique experiences and awareness, is a gift that should not be squandered. Dwelling on death wastes valuable time and distracts from the richness of living. Realizing this can lead to a more meaningful, life-focused mindset.

Summarize the transcript of a YouTube video in 10 bullet points. The video is by CRP Patreon Archive and is titled Notes on Death | CRP Patreon. The entire transcript is given below.

[Music] so recently I was laid up in bed for a couple of weeks with uh Co yeah uh the big bag Rona and I was just out of it for a couple of weeks I lost about uh about 10 lbs or something and just feeling kind of miserable but at no point was I even remotely close to death yeah I was perfectly fine like the the first day of it I was like I’m not so sure if I’m feeling so good right and the second day the second day was like a Monday I was like uh but then it sort of like cleared up and the next 10 12 days roughly I I just felt kind of like eh kind of crappy you know with a cold basically because that’s what it [ __ ] is right it’s not some sort sort of death sentence and it’s ridiculous the statistics are all on the side of survival okay but anyway that’s not the point of this video the point of this video is that at some point I started thinking a little bit about the issue of death and the fact is I’ve thought about death and dismissed it years ago when I was about 14 yeah I remember it very clearly I must have been 13 or 14 I do believe it was 14 back in 1982 I was lying in bed uh in at at home at my parents home of course and I was reading some book and I kind of zoned out I I was sort of like just I don’t even remember what the book was it it wasn’t like a deep book or anything like that it it was just an entertainment and I was like reading it and you know my attention sort of like got lost and I zoned out that’s the best I can put it and what happened was for a brief instant it couldn’t have been more than a couple of minutes and it was certainly more than maybe 15 seconds I I will never know how long it was but just for a brief few seconds my brain was completely blank like there was absolutely nothing on my mind yeah and it was the oddest thing because when I snapped out of it when I I sort of like came to my senses if you want to put it in that way all of a sudden I thought to myself that’s death I I just had this very clear sense that that was death it was just just a just being blank and immediately I latched on to the notion of being asleep you know at that period of of in your sleep cycle when you’re not dreaming and you have no sense of who you are you’re just blank I thought that’s death it’s nothing to fear death is is is a state where there is nothing now how you define nothing better than men than I will have have to answer that question but what I realized was that death in itself the state of it it’s not going to bother me it it it will it will mean nothing to me because I will no longer exist and what happened was that at that point I realized that the issue to worry about in so far as death is concerned is the actual moment of death the thing that will kill you be it illness be it an accident be it murder be it however it is that you will die you or I will die that’s the only thing to be particularly concerned about because of course you don’t want it to be particularly painful and you don’t want it to be particularly prolonged you don’t want the the pain and misery of dying to be extended I mean if you’re going to die fine but let’s hope it’s quick right but after that to be concerned about what’s going to come after you are dead all of a sudden it struck me when I was 14 years old that it was ridiculous to be worrying about such a thing I’ve of course known people who have died and I remember one uncle in particular who died back in 1991 he was the husband of my mother’s sister he died of leukemia he was sick for two or three years something like that and he died if I recall correctly around uh July or August of 91 and what was interesting was that all the problems that he had had beforehand apart quite apart from his illness but but the quotidian problems of uh money and this and that and the other you know once he was dead they became irrelevant they’re just irrelevant they were just pointless they were just who gives a [ __ ] he’s dead and all these problems that he had had the problems that had worried him so much well they were meaningless now that he was gone and all of a sudden it it struck me and I remember it very very clearly just like a a couple of days after he died thinking about it thinking about how he had been worried about certain issues that now that he was dead meant absolutely nothing because he was in no position to do anything about them and and they no longer affected his life because he was gone and I thought to myself how much worry and effort had he put into these problems that were ultimately meaningless how much of a miserable life had he led thinking and worrying about these problems that now that he was gone meant absolutely nothing and that really weighed on me that really weighed on me because all of a sudden I realize that you know whatever problems you might have once you’re dead they mean nothing and so why is it exactly that you are worrying now while you’re alive about problems that once you are gone will mean nothing and and and that was a profound realization to me th those two incidents of blanking out when I was reading a book when I was you know 14 years old and considering all the worry and and concern that this Uncle of mine had had for problems that once he was gone meant nothing which happened to me like I said in ‘ 91 when I was about 23 and after that the notion of death has meant absolutely nothing to me it’s not something I concern myself with it’s not something that I think about I I have no idea when I’m going going to die and like I said the only thing that concerns me about death is the manner of my death which I hope is brief but you know I think to myself of the times that I have suffered accidents I I once uh broke an elbow in a boating accident when I was 13 and uh well you guys know last year exactly a year ago a little over a year ago I broke my ankle very badly in a um skydiving accident and the thing was that see that AC acent of course I remember it more because it was more recent and the thing is it was incredibly painful when it happened it was really painful in the ambulance ride until they loaded me up on Special K on ketamine yeah they gave me everything morphine everything and finally they broke up the big guns with a Special K but the thing was that yeah that hurt a great deal but there came a moment finally when um I was given drugs so that they could operate on me and I passed out because they had to operate on my ankle to fix the damage and you know put a metal rod and a bunch of screws and the rest of it and once I blanked out because they gave me sedatives and of course I took the sedatives and I went out like a light after that nothing the pain of the accident was certainly there it was terrific incredibly incredibly painful but once I was out out once I had lost Consciousness once I had experienced a momentary death then it didn’t mean anything anymore it didn’t matter anymore and the point I want to make in this video it’s a very important Point see at the end of the day to be concerned about death is just a waste of time it’s to be concerned about things that you have no control over and to be concerned about something that is meaningless to your life because once you’re dead what comes after your death it doesn’t matter to you you’re not going to be there huh and so you shouldn’t be worrying about it and you shouldn’t even be worrying about the manner in your death of your death rather the manner of your death whatsoever that may be by illness by accident by the valtion of somebody some murderer or something like that or or who knows what reason or just of old age perhaps the manner of your death does not matter because you can’t control it and it will come to you when it comes to you and so the whole notion of being concerned about death to being worried about it you should avoid it at all costs because ultimately what I’ve noticed is that when people are worried about death it’s not that they’re really worried about death either the manner of their death or what will happen after they are dead no what’s really going on is that they are avoiding life and that’s the secret about death most people especially young people when they obsess about death and they think about it and talk about it and grind on it it’s not about death what they’re doing is that they are avoiding life and you should never fall for that trap you should never be thinking about death and obsessing about death and dwelling on it dwelling on it in so far as the manner of your death dwelling on the metaphysical aspects of what will be of you once you are gone all of that kind of obsession all of that kind of of grinding on that particular issue what’s really going on is that you are trying to avoid the problems and the issues of life you’re trying to look at death so as to avoid looking at life and life is much more important because it is what we are experiencing we you watching me and me speaking to you now we are both alive and the life that we are living the time that we have with Consciousness and existence however you define it doesn’t really matter how you def find it but we can all recognize that we are conscious and we exist and we can function in the world well if you dwell on death you will avoid this great gift that you have the great gift of Consciousness the great gift of valtion the great gift of being able to experience the wider world and partake in it and see incredible things and so that’s why you should avoid thinking about death not out of fear of death but rather you should avoid thinking about death because you are afraid of missing out on life why do you young people obsess about death so many times why do they grind on and on and on about the metaphysics of life after death if there is such a thing for the very simple reason that they don’t know how to handle life as it’s happening to them they don’t know what to do or where to go and So to avoid that very very difficult question which we all have to answer they obsess about death and this is an immature way of thinking and being and it’s not limited just to young people there are people who are in their 40s and their 50s and 60s and 70s even who go on and on and on and on about death and they obsess about it and and of course they think that they are profound and deep for thinking about death like this so obsessively but in fact they’re immature and I thank goodness that for whatever accidents happened when I was a boy of 14 I realize this fundamental truth to be obsessed with death is a way to avoid life it is a huant excuse to avoid life that sets up the person who is obsessing about death as somehow more profound or more interesting or whatever but all he’s doing is just postponing life because if you avoid something you’re basically postponing it and every second that you’re thinking about death and grinding about it and having all these stupid little theories about it what you’re really doing is avoiding life and that that is the real death [Music] a