Into the Unknown Exploring Death through Instinct, Experiment, and Contemplation

Abstract

Death is inevitable, universal, and a mysterious phenomenon. In thanatology, subjective and candid experiences of the dying are gaining ground due to population ageing and the increasing scope of palliative care. Knowing death is considered to be a step towards ‘living well’. The author uses the heuristic framework to understand the notion of death contoured with cultural conditioning. Using strategies like focus, indwelling, tacit knowledge and intuition, she engages with questions surrounding the phenomenon of death. The author discovers a timeless, ageless and immortal essence (consciousness), an aliveness or a ‘presence’ pulsating within the mortal body-mind.

Keywards: death, heuristic, consciousness, intuition, tacit knowledge

DOI: 10.32444/IJSW.2024.85.2.241-256