to me unparalleled functioning into death would be quick and painless. dying in your sleep would be good. how are months of agonizing pain equal to that?

That is nice, but it is only what you want to have happen…

…still, there is nothing wrong with that…I hope you get your dream!

seems like “unparalleled functioning” wouldn’t include such lingering pain unto death.

That is unparalleled functioning exactly. The body has no fear of death, and it does not wish to be better than what it is. It simply functions until it no longer functions.

i guess the body does what it does, no rhyme nor reason.

That is true. The body does what it does, but rhyme and reason are the domain of thought. That is the rationalization, the excuse, or whatever way we might try to cope with something we cannot physically control and crush outright.

so why do you think guys like ramana maharshi, nisargadatta and j krishnamurti died from horrible cancer.

For the same reasons, or lack of reasons, that anyone else might die from disease.

One is “I am not sick”, another is “my symptoms tell me I am sick”. In order to resolve the illness it becomes necessary to do something to remove the symptoms, whatever fits your beliefs.

What if one is free from belief? In that timelessness, what can be done? The body does what it does, regardless of what we feel it might need.

What it means to be sick would be whatever any person considers to be sickness.

So true. Like I wrote above, wether it is sickness or not is up to others, and not us. They can say if we are sick, but for us, the body is simply in whatever state it is in.

If you tell yourself you’re not sick yet are still showing symptoms, you are holding conflicting beliefs. One is “I am not sick”, another is “my symptoms tell me I am sick”. In order to resolve the illness it becomes necessary to do something to remove the symptoms, whatever fits your beliefs. This may consist of getting more sleep, taking medications, or changing the beliefs that create the symptoms.