Originally Posted by Muhammad Ali Qureshi

Q.3. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. Use your own language. (20)

Human beings are afraid of death just as children feel afraid of darkness. The fear of darkness of kids increased by the stories of the heard ghosts and thieves. In the same way, the fear of human being is increased by the stories which they heard about the agony of dying man. If a human being regards death as a kind of punishment for his sins he has committed and if he looks upon death as a means of making an entry into another world, he is certainly taking a religious and sacred view of death. But if a human being looks upon death as a law of nature and then feels afraid of it, his attitude is of cowardice. However, even in religious meditations about death there is sometimes a mixture of folly and superstition. Monks have written books in which they have described the painful experiences which they underwent by inflicting physical tortures upon themselves as a form of self purification. Thus, one may think that the pains of death must be indescribably agonizing. Such books and such thoughts increase a man's fear of death.

Seneca, the Roman Philosopher is of the view that the circumstances and ceremonies of death frighten people more than death itself would do. A dyeing man is heard uttering groans; his body is seen undergoing convulsions; his face appears to be absolutely bloodless and pale; at his death his friends begin to weep and his relations put on mourning clothes; various rituals are performed. All such facts make death appear more horrible than it would be otherwise.



1-What is the difference between human beings' fear of death and children's fear of darkness?
2-What is a religious and sacred view of death?
3-What are the painful experiences described by the Monks in their books?
4-What are the views of Seneca about death?
5-What are the facts that make death appear more horrible than it would be otherwise?