[q845712]

Just sharing my own experience, but the more time I've spent contemplating death the easier time I've had with it: Every beginning implies an end. Every birth and growth implies a decline and death. All coming-together results in eventual separation. Etc.

IMO there's nothing wrong with finding the beginnings more fun and enjoying the fun parts, but part of what prevents us from moving towards utopia is a blindness to the whole cycle, an unwillingness to engage in the difficulties of endings and change. This isn't to say we need to celebrate "the end" either, but just that in some sense, contentment _is_ utopia, and contentment requires making peace with both beginnings and ends.

[candiddevmike]

This is a big part of stoicism. If you're interested in learning more about this, checkout the book Meditations.

[q845712]

:) it is also a big part of buddhism. IMO the intersections between several systems are very interesting as they tend to be the most fruitful even if pursued without the context of the rest of the system (ie if you think you can cherry-pick the good parts out of a religion or philosophical system, start by looking at where many of them agree)

[koliber]

I’m partway through reading the book: Hero with 1000 Faces. I don’t know what to think about the book, but it certainly goes a long way to pick out the things on which many religions agree. Interesting read but not an easy read.

[mosiuerbarso]

I listened to it on audiobook and found it a bit hard to understand at times. I'm a great admirer of Joseph Campbell and I love cumulative mythology. I found this podcast series of his old lectures much more fun and entertaining. He was a great lecturer with good sense of humor: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pathways-with-joseph-c... The audio quality is very good to say how old the lectures are.