Talk:Doctrine 2/@comment-3071537-20100918110032

I do think that Epicurus is in practice saying here that fear of death is quite unnecessary, as in death person just returns to the state he or she was before he or she was born and there is no pain after that. The fear of death in itself is the enemy, not the inevitable death, that is a similar necessary and vital part of life as birth is. I know it is so easy to say, but so difficult to really do, but the easiest way to diminish fear is to stop unnecessarily thinking about things you fear, especially if your thinking does not really change anything, but only makes you fear a thing you need not fear. Epicureans do think that living a full and good life is the best antidote for fear of death. Of course the religions are feeding on this fear of death and they do their utmost to keep it up. So it comes as no surprise that death is the main decorative motive in all Christian churches and a instrument of killing is its main symbol. This Epicurean doctrine is not at all about those left behind after our death, but it is all about how we personally deal with the idea of our own death. The loss felt by others can also of course be lessened if they can accept death as a natural and necessary part of life and not for example as a divine sanction for our sins. After your death you do really exist, but only as a memory of you and your actions in other people's minds. A person leaving good memories with his good actions will live for a long time in those memories after he or she is gone and more importantly will also be remembered fondly.

From: http://beinghuman.blogs.fi/2009/08/16/the-epicurean-principal-doctrines-are-a-collection-of-forty-quotes-6738702/