Facing The Fear of Death [March 2024]
Buddhability
SGI-USA
4.9 • 643 Ratings
🗓️ 20 March 2026
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s natural to want to look away from the inevitable reality of death but Buddhism teaches that death is an alternate phase of life and makes up a larger universal cycle. To understand death is to deepen our understanding of and appreciation for life.
Today’s guest, John Plummer, of Cold Spring, NY, shares how facing his fear of loss improved his relationships and deepened his work as a film and TV writer.
References:
The New Human Revolution, vol. 24, pp. 177–78
A Piece of Mirror and Other Essays, pp. 79, 83–84.
Leave of Grass by Walt Whitman.
“Like the Sun Rising,” Journey of Life: Selected Poems of Daisaku Ikeda
Unlocking the Mysteries of Unlocking Birth and Death, p. 104.
The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 1, revised edition.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey guys, guess what? We made it! Today, March 20th is the first day of spring. And just like there are seasons in a year, there are seasons to life. |
| 0:14.0 | Today, we're re-airing an episode from March of 2024 that's all about understanding the cycles and rhythms of life. I hope that John's story |
| 0:23.6 | deepens your appreciation of life. All right, without further ado, here's the episode. |
| 0:32.9 | From SGI USA, I'm Cassidy Bradford, and this is Budability. |
| 0:38.7 | The weekly series where I talk with Buddhists from all walks of life about the power we each have to change our lives and the world around us. |
| 0:52.9 | When I was younger, I was afraid of falling asleep. |
| 0:56.0 | And then I was afraid of fish. |
| 0:59.0 | After that, butterflies. |
| 1:02.0 | But like many of you who responded to this week's question about fears, |
| 1:06.0 | my fears had become a little more abstract. |
| 1:09.0 | Some of you are afraid of failure. |
| 1:12.4 | Others love. |
| 1:14.3 | But the most common response we got was the fear of loss, |
| 1:18.4 | losing self-confidence, losing yourself. |
| 1:21.9 | And like today's guest, the fear of losing someone you love. |
| 1:26.2 | Today I'm talking with John Plummer of Cold Spring, New York, |
| 1:29.3 | about how he faced that fear and continues to face that fear head on. |
| 1:39.3 | My name is John Plummer. |
| 1:41.3 | I live in Cold Spring, New York, which is in the Hudson Valley, about an hour and change |
| 1:47.0 | north of New York City. |
| 1:49.0 | I am a writer. |
| 1:50.0 | I write mostly for television. |
... |
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