Explaining Fear of Death with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
Harry Potter: “How does it work?”
Remus Lupin: “Well, when it works correctly, It conjures up a Patronus, which is a kind of anti-Dementor — a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the Dementor. The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the Dementor feeds upon — hope, happiness, the desire to survive…”
(from “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”, J.K. Rowling)
Feeling haunted
People with weak Lungs, Large intestine or Small Intestine can feel haunted or contaminated by something dirty, dark or evil. When combined with a Wood (Liver/Gallbladder) issue, people may even enjoy/own that feeling, aggravating the imbalance and making it more chronic.
More precisely, feeling contaminated or oppressed usually indicates an “excess” syndrome (toxins) affecting the Metal element (Lungs and Large Intestine), whereas feeling grief or a general sense of loss usually indicates a “deficient” syndrome affecting the Lungs. In a deficient syndrome, true weakness prevails over toxicity.
The Small Intestine is responsible for the extraction of the pure from the impure from our food and experience. That extraction/separation is expressed as discernment at the mental level. When that discernment ability fails, we allow our identity to become negatively influenced.
So, the Small Intestine allows the assimilation of events in a way that the Heart (our identity) can easily apprehend. But that relationship also works the other way: staying connected with our true identity (Heart) allows us to better understand what can be integrated and what cannot be integrated in ourselves.
Physically, the feeling of being contaminated/unclean may translate as a lack of Wei Qi (defensive Qi/energy), accumulation of toxins in the intestines/skin/lungs/brain, presence of a tumor, mitochondrial dysfunction and/or the presence of a chronic infection.
Wei Qi is directly under the control of Lungs Qi. It circulates beneath the skin and is the primary immune barrier against external pathogens. Similarly, the Lungs system also protects us from subtler negative influences.
The Small Intestine and Heart are very important in avoiding self-identification to our “crap”. So, they support the Metal element (Lungs, Large Intestine) in letting go what is excessive in our life.
As in every vicious circle, there is a two-way pattern when the Lungs and Small Intestine are weak:
1) people can feel haunted, even if they are not actually haunted;
2) but they are also more likely to be truly haunted or affected by negative influences.
The greatest resistance against death
The Lungs have a certain optimism that brings resistance against death. Lungs’ optimism looks similar to Liver’s optimism. However, contrarily to the Liver, the Lungs have a rooting effect, reaching the Kidneys (the root of our physicality), whereas the Liver has an expansive effect, going away from the Kidneys (cf Sheng cycle of the 5 elements).
The Lungs bring resistance against death because of their “movement” towards the Kidneys. In the end, the Kidneys (using the TCM definition), and especially sexual energy, are the greatest resistance against death.
The Kidneys make prayer stronger by creating more counterweight for the spirit to “fly”. But without Lungs’ influence, it is harder to connect with the Kidneys and so to create that counterweight.
I remember a famous yogi, known as “Sadhguru”, once said that enlightened beings had a particularly strong karma (which can be translated as inertia). He then explained that you need to be well anchored in your body, if you want to remain physically active (or at least alive) while connecting with subtler realities.
Similarly, Saint Hildegard von Bingen wrote metaphorically that humans need to keep their feet in the abysses while stretching the head into the sky (I don’t remember her exact words but that’s the idea).
If you are not well anchored into your physicality (i.e. having a weak karma/inertia), you can die during an intense prayer or what we call the “enlightening process”.
Besides, TCM books explain that the Lung’s spirit (called “Po”) is the only spirit that dies as the body dies. This confirms the role of Lungs in resisting death and feeling well-anchored in our bodies. When there is no more resistance coming from the Lungs, the soul is free to leave the body.
The greatest acceptance of death
The 7th chakra (Du20/Bai Hu in TCM) and pineal gland are very important to sense our eternal soul, its bliss, and feeling detached from our own body without fear. So when these are underactive, we become easily afraid of death.
It is known, for example, that the pineal gland produces melatonin and DMT, among other compounds. DMT is known as the “death hormone”, because it makes us realize that we are more than our physical body. Also, we produce that hormone mainly when our heart senses that we are about to die.
Melatonin (the sleeping hormone) can have a similar effect, but with a much lesser intensity.
It is hard to have faith in God when the 7th chakra and pineal gland are underactive. I remember a research paper showing that the pineal gland was particularly active during the prayer of believers.
An underactivity of the 7th chakra can be the consequence of a Kidney and/or Bladder and/or Small intestine issue (all these three organs have a direct influence on the Du Mai channel and the 7th chakra pertains to the Du Mai channel).
We cannot fear death if we truly enjoy being alive
Feeling contaminated is related to a feeling of oppression (we are contaminated by something that weigh over us), and that feeling of oppression generates some kind of anxiety and sadness. Rather than anxiety, the term “anguish” would be even more appropriate.
Let’s note that inspiration and inhalation have the same etymological meaning (Latin “inspirare” = to breathe into): as we lose breath, we also lose inspiration.
Think about the stereotype of someone looking for inspiration : he/she deeply breathes in, while closing the eyes and tilting the head towards the sky.
When the Lungs are weak, the sky is like closing over us, making praise or prayer difficult. Instead of enjoying the pleasure of being alive, we feel prisoners of our own existence.
There is a sense of doom that compels us to think about death — or any “dark” subject — constantly. Claustrophobia and thanatophobia (fear of death) are typical phobias related to the Lungs and Metal element.
The ability to sleep without dying
Although it allows regeneration, sleep is similar to death.
To be able to rest or sleep, without dying is actually a delicate process. Lungs, Gallbladder, Liver (and Kidneys, but more indirectly), seem to be the main organs that prevent us from dying when we need to rest.
Besides, it is known that Gallbladder (between 11pm and 1am), Liver (1am to 3am) and Lungs (3am to 5am) are the main meridians to be active during sleep at night.
These organs/meridians need to be strong in order to deeply fall asleep and to be fully confident with the “small death” of sleep.
Anxiety can be a subconscious fear of death and a good survival instinct
There is fear in anxiety. It can be defined as an “agitated fear”.
“Death anxiety” (anxiety as we feel closer to death) can be related the the well-kown pattern “Kidneys-Heart miscommunication” and, more generally, to a Kidneys weakness.
Anxiety can also be caused by a Spleen issue affecting the Heart (often a blockage at point SP21), sometimes caused by excessive caffeine intake.
However, in these cases, there is not a conscious or permanent fear of death, nor grief. Most of the time, anxiety is just a survival instinct, a form of agony that follows the subconscious intuition of death, but not truly a fear of death.
Conversely, Lungs weakness may prevail when there is, not only anxiety, but also some kind of grief along with constant thoughts about death.
Invoke the “Patronus spell” with your Lungs !
The Lungs are called “Primer Minister”, because they are like a more physical projection of the Heart (“the Emperor”). In fact, both Lungs and Heart control rhythm (the dance between Yin and Yang). That rhythm is clearly expressed with breathing and heart beats. No other organ express rhythm in a such obvious way.
The Lungs make sure that any stressful factor won’t affect the Heart and our identity in a direct manner. The rhythm of our life should be first challenged through the Lungs, and not the Heart. For example, during exercise or any activity, it means that we should prioritize the activation of Lungs to avoid any excessive impulsion from the Liver, overloading of the Heart (pumping more blood in case of a lack of oxygen), and to protect the core equilibrium of our being (i.e the Heart, homeostasis).
It always impresses me how much we can strengthen the Lungs (and their mental aspects) with simple conscious breathing techniques, as well as physical exercise.
Also, a little known technique is using a topical solution of hydrogen peroxide to support the Lungs and immune system. However, we must be careful at well-diluting the hydrogen peroxide into water, in order to not harm the skin or any other organ.
When balanced, the Lungs system acts like the “Patronus spell” from Harry Potter, or like the sword of Archangel Michael piercing the evil dragon. A sword of justice that removes what is excessive and stifling in one’s life.
There is no more attachment; only freedom. There are no more lies; only truth. There are no more judgement and shame (Lungs, Small Intestine), but only a righteous and silent intuition.
I remember one of my clients was showing signs of extreme deficiency of both the Lungs and Kidneys. Actually, all her organs were showing signs of weakness, but the Lungs and Kidneys seemed to be the main ones, although it is hard to be sure when relying only on dialogue.
Her main concern was her fear of death (despite believing in afterlife) which was preventing her from having a normal life. After asking her a lot of questions, I got to know that she was diagnosed with a big kidney stone. It was clear to me that the kidney stone, on top of menopause, was what was making her anxious and afraid of everything for no reason. She was conscious of the irrationality of her fear, but she couldn’t help feeling that fear and having thoughts related to it.
When coupled with a Lungs deficiency (which she had), a fearful behaviour is very likely to gravitate around the theme of death.
Unfortunately, I was not given much chance to help her, since she was soon forced to go inside a psychiatric hospital. I just hope that she will continue to have faith and be able to improve the quality of her life.
To conclude, fear of death is related to not feeling connected to something bigger than ourselves, a loss of general vitality, and a loss of emotional complexity (feeling like a robot).
This issue seems to be mainly related to the Lungs and Kidneys (in which I include the Bladder and pineal gland). However, other organs can be involved too, especially the Heart and Gallbladder.
Cheers!
