When first confronted with the idea of meditating on death, we might react with shock. Perhaps we think that meditation should deal with positive experiences — and nobody sees anything positive in death. Moreover, the thought of death itself evokes feelings of fear and panic. We see death as the contradiction of life, beauty and happiness. It has become a taboo in many societies, unmentionable, even unthinkable.
It is fine to have different attitudes towards death. But, as a matter of fact, we cannot deny its inevitability. Sooner or later, we will face the death of someone close to us. How will we deal with it, then? And the thought of our own mortality, the fact that we won’t exist some day, can come haunting us. How do we deal with these situations?
The answer lies in meditation. That is what we will practice in today’s session.
Benefits
- Overcoming fear and anxiety regarding one’s own death
- Healing from the loss of a loved one
- Gratitude towards life
The practice
Sit in a comfortable position, with your back straight, and let your body relax. Spend some time letting your mind settle down in the present moment; let go of thoughts of the past and the future. Now, with your mind relaxed but fully concentrated, contemplate the following points, bringing in your own experiences and insights, as well as things you have heard or read. Remind yourself to be strong and determined during the meditation.
- To understand death’s inevitability, first bring to mind people from the past. These people were once alive — they worked, thought, loved, enjoyed life and suffered. And finally they died. Now think of the people you know who are still alive. Contemplate that every one of these people will die — and so will you.
- Now contemplate on the uncertainty of the time of death. We often think that we will get appropriate time to live and prepare ourselves to death, but that rarely happens. Our bodies are very vulnerable; they can be injured or struck down by illness so easily. Within minutes, it can change from being strong and active to being helplessly weak and full of pain. Your body won’t last forever. In the course of your life you might manage to avoid illness and accidents, but the years will eventually overtake you — your body will degenerate, lose its beauty and vitality, and finally die.
- When you face difficult or frightening situations, your thoughts usually turn to loved ones. But, no matter how much they want or try, would they be able to help you at the time of the death? Similarly, your possessions or enjoyments cannot help you in such a situation. Or, when you lose a loved one, none of these pleasures can console you, heal you. Nor can your own body.
- It is important to realise that only spiritual insight can save us from this problem. We should also realise how important it is to work on reducing our attachment to the things of this life, such as family and friends, possessions, and our body.
- It is possible that you will feel fear or sadness when doing this meditation. In one sense, that is good — it shows that you have taken the ideas seriously and have contemplated them well. Also, it is important to get in touch with how you do feel about death so that you can work on being prepared for it when it happens. By working on our mind, we can transcend fear, sadness, attachment, and other emotions that make it difficult to die with a peaceful mind.
- Fear arises because of clinging to the idea of a permanent self — there is no such thing, so this is a delusion that just makes us suffer. If we keep death in mind in an easy, open way — accepting it as a natural and inevitable aspect of life — this clinging will gradually loosen, allowing us to be mindful and make every action positive and beneficial, for ourselves and others. And an awareness of death gives us enormous energy to not waste our life, but to live it as effectively as possible.
Conclude the meditation with the optimistic thought that you have every possibility to make your life meaningful and positive and thus will be able to find peace.
Kalampedia 