Is there a higher value than one's own life?
Is there any cause for which laying down one's life should be justified?
Is it worthwhile to burn oneself to bring justice into the world? Is it worthwhile to die so someone else might live?
Throughout history, there have been men and women who have overcome their fear and endangered their own lives in pursuit of their goals.
The goals and ideals of a man may be subjective, but that does not take away their power.
Avoiding death is not an end in itself. Life is not merely to be lived. But then, what is one to do?
Most of us, when not seeking our health or livelihood, are busy distracting ourselves with various kinds of entertainment. Is there any "higher" goal of life than merely passing one's time as pleasurably as possible? Is there?
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One wants to be safe and avoid death because of unfulfilment. Only a man hungry for further stimulation avoids death. The difference between life and death is that life affords the possibility of sensation and pleasure. A man in no need of pleasure is not afraid of death. In that sense is death conquered by sages, who have found the wellspring of joy within themselves.
But there are men who actively consort with danger in order to fulfill themselves or to achieve their ideals, you may ask. Reinhold Messner climbed Everest alone and without oxygen to fulfill his dream. Why?
What separates extraordinary men from others is that they don't limit themselves with the possible. They dream and try the impossible. And that is risky, for it is the unknown. But it is only in the unknown that there is creative joy. The joy of repetitive sensation is very different from the joy of discovery and creativity. The former saps one's energy, the latter is the source of almost inexhaustible vitality. But still, a joy that is based on external fulfillment is a joy which requires life.
If one has a goal in life, any other dangerous pursuit will be avoided. If a man seeks spiritual salvation, and he is told that bondage makes salvation impossible, he is likely to form a fear of attachment. Attachment in the outer becomes dangerous for him. He is not willing to lay down his life for anyone or anything, because he is seeking his own personal paradise, and all else is merely secondary.
Only a goalless life can be free of fear.
Only then one can hear the voice of existence and be free to follow it. To have personal goals is to sustain the mind.