This fear of death...

This fear of death: We really fear it and yet we don't know what death is, or who dies. As long as we haven't investigated down to the 'foundation of death,' we'll have to fear it all the livelong day. But once we have investigated down to the foundation of death, what is there to fear? — because nothing in the world dies. There is simply the change, the exchange of the various elements, and that's all. Change is something we already know. The Dhamma has taught us: 'Inconstancy' — things are always changing. 'Stress' — where is there if not right here? 'Not-self' — this already tells us — what is there of any substance, that's 'us' or 'them'? The Dhamma tells us with every word, every phrase, and yet we prefer to fly in the face of the Dhamma. We want that to be us, we want this to be ours. This wanting is an affair of defilement: That's not us, it's simply defilement from head to toe — or isn't it?

--Venerable Acariya Maha Boowa Ñanasampanno, "The Principle of the Present"