{"id":600,"date":"2019-12-21T12:52:03","date_gmt":"2019-12-21T02:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dying-and-death-reflections.com\/?page_id=600"},"modified":"2019-12-21T13:20:03","modified_gmt":"2019-12-21T03:20:03","slug":"daily-meditation-on-death-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dying-and-death-reflections.com\/index.php\/daily-meditation-on-death-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Daily Meditation on Death"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At night when you can drop the activities of the day, you\nshould engage in a series of meditative contemplations similar to these:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll right, soon I\u2019m going to fall asleep. How many people\nhave I heard about who went to sleep and never woke up? When I lay my head down\non my pillow, I may not wake up again. Death is not that complicated. It is\nsimply a matter of not being able to take in one more breath. Then I am dead.\nThat could happen to me tonight in my sleep.\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then critically and honestly look at your life and think,\n\u201cIf I die tonight in my sleep, what did I do with my day? What have I done with\nmy life? Have I been of benefit or have I caused harm?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes it is not so pleasant to see how self-centered and\nselfish you have been, how focused on \u201cme, my, mine.\u201d Whenever this has been\nthe case, you have created karma that ultimately propels the mind in a\ndifficult direction at the time of death. It is like forward motion. If you put\nsomething into motion, it continues to go that way. If your mind has been\nmoving along a negative course, when you die it continues exactly the way it\nhas been going all along.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So each night you should assess the general and specific\ndirection of your life. You must recognize where you have indulged in the\nfaults of your mind and harmed others. This negative karma must be purified,\nwhich means you must confess your faults before the wisdom being who is your\nobject of spiritual commitment and devotion. You should take refuge in a\nperfect wisdom being, without any fault, the absolute expression of enlightened\nmind.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Begin by confessing, \u201cI did it again. I have hurt others. I\nhave caused harm. I have been wrong. I know better, but mistakenly I have done\nit again.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then accept absolution from whomever you know to be a\nperfect wisdom being. If, for example, you have faith in Jesus as your object\nof wisdom, visualize that blessings descend from him in the form of light or\nnectar and actually wash away your accumulation of non-virtuous karma and\nnegative mental habits.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, with the wisdom being as your witness, reaffirm your\nintention to benefit other beings by vowing, \u201cI will help others in whatever\nway I can until I truly have the enlightened strength to bring them perfect\nbliss and happiness.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As important as it is to recognize your mistakes, it is\nequally important to recognize where you have been kind and where your\nactivities of body, speech, and mind have been of benefit. The virtue of such\nactivities creates merit that you dedicate generously with a pure, selfless\nheart to the immediate and ultimate benefit of all beings: \u201cBy the power of\nthis dedication may each being find happiness and may all without exception\nattain the qualities of their intrinsic buddha nature.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this, rest in the thought: \u201cI have purified my karma. I\nhave committed myself to selfless work for the benefit of others. I have\ndedicated my accumulation of merit to their happiness. Now if I die tonight I\nwill have no regrets.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having reflected on the day in this way, meditate on your\nown death. Imagine that you are really going to die, that you actually enter\ndeath\u2019s passage and there is no way back. Imagine vividly different\nscenarios\u2014an airplane crash, an automobile accident, terminal illness, stabbing\nby a mugger. Use your power of mind to make the event immediate and real. Any\nscenario you choose has some possibility, because you really do not know where\nand when your death might occur.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People often express fear about this kind of meditation and\nsay, \u201cIf I think this way, maybe it will happen to me.\u201d But think of all the\nthings that have ever crossed your mind\u2014you would not have time in an eon for\nthat many things to happen to you. Thinking about death is not going to make it\nhappen, but it does prepare your mind for the death experience. So,\ncourageously, imagine the details of your death as clearly as possible:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a stabbing pain in my chest. It\u2019s my heart! I\u2019m having\na heart attack!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hear the ambulance sirens. I am placed on a stretcher, my\nwife is crying, and the dog is frantic. The paramedics trip on the stairs as\nthey carry me out. The ambulance lights, the chaos, the bright lights of the\nemergency room \u2026  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI overhear the doctor say, \u2018I am sorry, Mrs. Jones, but\nhe\u2019s in pretty bad condition. We may not be able to pull him out of it.\u2019  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy wife looks at me, stunned and broken-hearted. She\u2019s my\nlast link. I can\u2019t say anything. I can\u2019t see her now. I\u2019m so lonely, helpless\n\u2026  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am dying, but everyone dies. My life feels like a dream,\nand now it\u2019s going to end. Death feels very familiar. I know I\u2019ve been through\nit before. Life, death\u2014they are transitions I must make. What choice I have\nlies in the intention of my prayer, the power of my meditation, and the\ndecision to use my spiritual connection to the wisdom being in whom I have\nfaith.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With your mind and your heart, offer all that has been\npositive in your life to the benefit of every other being. Do not cling to\nanything. With the wisdom being who is your spiritual refuge as witness, say\nthis heartfelt prayer: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy the virtue I have accumulated in my life, may I and\nevery other being who passes through the door of death find rebirth in a state\nof pure, sacred awareness.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then allow your consciousness to merge into the heart of\nflawless wisdom. This completes the second phase of meditation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, in concluding the night\u2019s meditation on death,\nrecall impermanence and the suffering it brings to all beings, and let\ncompassion expand from the most profound depths of your heart-mind.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suffering is so pervasive in our world, in all realms of\nexistence, that there seems little we can do. Who has not been frustrated in\ntrying to help even one person? How can we think of meeting the needs of the\ncountless beings who are lost in the ocean of suffering? Only an enlightened\nwisdom being can truly benefit all beings, just as the radiance of the sun\nshines for all who stand in its light. With this thought aspire to\nenlightenment:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom now until enlightenment, I will work ceaselessly for\nthe welfare of others. In each moment I vow to reduce my faults and increase my\nqualities of compassion and wisdom. By following this spiritual path and the\nmerit it generates, may I and all others find freedom from suffering and\nrealize our innate enlightened potential.\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then drop all activities of the mind and relax. This\nrelaxation is like the openness that occurs after the last thought passes and\nbefore the next one arises. The mind remains as the mind is, not unconscious,\nnot dull, not analytical, just naked in open awareness. Let the mind rest\nthere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: Rinpoche, Chagdud Tulku. Life in Relation to Death<\/em> (Second Edition). Junction City, CA: Padma Publishing, 2006. (Pages 23-29.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a PDF copy of the above text, please click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Watching

Reflection: “Warned of a hurricane, we don\u2019t wait until the storm pounds the shore before we start to prepare. Similarly, knowing death is looming offshore, we shouldn\u2019t wait until it overpowers us before developing the meditative skills necessary to achieve the great potential of the mind at the moment of death.” (Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche)
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At night when you can drop the activities of the day, you should engage in a series of meditative contemplations similar to these:  \u201cAll right, soon I\u2019m going to fall asleep. 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