Transform yourself by contemplation of death

All things in life are impermanent. We will have to face death one day.

We do not want to face up to the fact of impermanence because then we have to face up to our own demise. Yet impermanence is something that makes life possible. We would not have grown to be responsible adults had it not been for impermanence. Our children would not grow up if not for impermanence. The wheat and the crops grown by the farmer in his fields could not be harvested if not for impermanence. Indeed it is impermanence that makes life, as we know it possible.

Quantum physics tells us that all sub atomic particles are in a state of continuous change – all particles die and are re-generated each moment. The world around us, as we know it, functions because of impermanence.

And yet impermanence means that we will also die one day. There is no way we can escape this.

Most of us avoid thinking and talking about these subjects. We busy ourselves with all manner of comparitively trivial pursuits - where to go for your vacation, which car to buy, how to get ahead in our career etc etc. We are afraid to be with ourselves even for a moment - we seek to keep ourselves continuously occupied. Yet the larger questions of life will not disappear by our ignoring them.

There is a memorable quotation from Montaigne –

"There is no place on Earth where death cannot find us – even if we constantly twist our heads about as in a dubious and suspect land … If there were any way of sheltering from death's blows – I am not the man to recoil from it…But it is madness to think that you will succeed.

Men come and they go and they trot and they dance, and never a word of death. All well and good. Yet when death does come- to them, their wives, their children, their friends – catching them unawares and unprepared, then what storms of passion overwhelm them, what cries, what fury, what despair…

To begin depriving death of its greatest advantage over us let us adopt a way clean contrary to that common one; let us deprive death of its strangeness, let us frequent it, let us get used to it; let us have nothing more often in mind that death … We do not know where death awaits us so let us wait for it everywhere. To practice death is to practice freedom. A Man who has learned how to die has unlearned how to be a slave."

These are memorable and very true words.

The advice which Montaigne gives us is the exact opposite of our usual practice. The topic of our impending demise is avoided both socially and also we avoid thinking about the subject as much as possible. Excessive materialism and passion for the world is the result of our not taking up this practice. Also as Montaigne says, our demise is certain so we might as well prepare for it as best we can.

Such contemplation can free us of many passions that now rule our lives. Osho Rajneesh says that this contemplation leads us to a state of mind where we are no longer ruled by our passion for wealth, sex, fame, power and prestige.

Find the time to contemplate your own demise from time to time during the day and watch the changes in your life. You will find that you will have a more accepting attitude to life and will take your problems and frustrations less seriously. And it will also inspire you to take up the practice of meditation.

There are many types of meditation practices and I urge you to make your search and take one up. I myself am doing Vipassana meditation – as taught by S.N Goenka – and it suits me well although it is quite demanding. Take up any such practice and do it regularly.

As regards this contemplation as a meditation there is a practice described by Thich Nhat Hanh in his book – No Death No Fear . He calls it the practice of touching the ground and in the book he guides us through the meditation exercise. If anyone has any issues or anxiety about death I would urge them to read and do the exercises in the book. This book is available at Amazon.

I hope you enjoyed this article and that it will be useful to you.

Stay tuned for more in this continuing series.

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