There is only one certain fact, and that is that every one of us will die one day. Yet, most of us go about our lives as if death only happens to other people. As yòung people, we feel immortal. As we get older, we study ways to prolong our lives through exercise, diet and a range of other precautions. Our society goes to incrèdible lengths to conceal death from us. It is even possible to go for many years in the West, even an entire lifetime, without ever seeing a dead person.

 




All of this is a delusory way to live. The one inevitable prediction we can make is our own death. However, it seems to affect very little of what we do on a daily basis. So, what should we do and how can we live healthily, and yet also have an awareness of our own mortality to guide us?

  The first thing to say is that your attitude to death is largely determined by the meaning you give to it. The life you live results largely from this one belief. If you believe that death is the end, you will nàturally tend to focus entirely upon this one life, and attempt to extract maximum pleasure, prosperity and longevity from it. However, if you believe in rebirth, your attitude will be quite different. Thus, the life we live is largely determined by our views on death.

  Excessive focus on acquiring earthly possessions, purely for their own sake, is a foolish approach to life. As you know, you will not be taking any of it away with you when you go. The Buddhists paint an interesting picture of a man who has fallen off a cliff and is rapidly heading to his death. On the way down, he achieves great wealth, builds a palace for himself, and even has other people, who have also fallen off the cliff, give him praise and attention. Yet, the only certainty is that he is going to hit the ground, and when he does, it is all over! Funny analogy? That is what almost every one of us is doing right now.

  Understand this. There is nothing wrong with experiencing abundance and seeking the best in life in all ways possible. However, the attachment, the mental attitude, is key. Instead of materialistic obsessions, we should work to develop detachment. This does NOT mean you have to abandon your wealth, possessions, your friènds. In and of themselves, these are not evil in any way.

  In “Joyful Path Of good Fortune”, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso lists the eight worldly attitudes we should strive to be free of:

 

(1) Being pleased when receiving resources and respect; (2) Being displeased when NOT receiving resources and respect; (3) Being pleased when experiencing pleasure; (4) Being displeased when NOT experiencing pleasure; (5) Being pleased when enjoying a good reputation; (6) Being displeased when NOT enjoying a good reputation; (7) Being pleased when receiving praise; (8) Being displeased when NOT receiving praise.

 

If you can work with these ideas, and seek continually to reduce their effect upon you, your life will rapidly gain more balance and spiritual richness. Interestingly, none of the above injunctions prevent a full participation in life. It is the ATTITUDE of that participation that counts.

  At the end of your life, all you can take away is who you are and what you have become. If you leave with little more sense that that which you arrived with, your life has indeed been wasted. However, if you have laid your treasures up in heaven, then your death will be a peaceful one.

  When Jesus told us to do precisely this, he was talking about cultivating your spiritual life with all your strength. The Buddhists say the same thing. Even though reincarnation is a firm part of their teaching, they nèvertheless believe that our great oppòrtunity is RIGHT NOW, and that rebirth as a human being is exceedingly rare….

  Imagine a vast ocean, and on that ocean floats a single rubber ring. At the bottom of that ocean lives a turtle. This turtle surfaces only once in a hundred years. Now, the Buddha asked, how long do you think it would be before his head should chance to go through the rubber ring? The disciples replied that it would take an unthinkably long time. And that, said the Buddha, is how rare and precious your human life is, and how difficult it is to be reborn as a human being again!  

Think on this story the next time you consider yourself immortal, or waste hours over frivolous activities! Such a meditation would give you a very different attitude to life and death. It would certainly galvanize you into action; to work within a spiritual tradition for the seeking of the spiritual answers you need. We stand on the edge of a bottomless pit, yet all we do is party all day long!

  Again, according to Buddhist philosophy, our mental and emotional state at death largely determines the type of rebirth we take. This is why it is so important to work upon ourselves throughout our lives. When death comes, we are ready and our mental state is such as to promise the best conditions for the journey ahead. By contrast, most people nèver consider death much at all, and are totally unprepared when it calls. Thus, their mental state is filled with fear, their spiritual treasure chest is empty, and they face a bleak future.

  Here are a few steps you can take to put these thoughts into practical effect:

  (1) Meditate upon Death. Here is a sentence, taken from the Buddhist tradition, that you can ponder frequently in meditation:

  “I will definitely die - and I could die today.”

  This statement is in total contradiction to the way people live their lives. We seem to think will definitely NOT die, and certainly not for a long time anyhow. Nobody really think that they could die TODAY. Yet, it happens all the time to yòung and old alike. There is no set time or allotted span.

  Therefore, meditate upon the above statement frequently and make a mantra of it. In doing so, you will become gradually aware of your òwn mortality in a very real sense. Far from being morbid, it will actually teach you to value each moment you have and not waste it AS IF you are immortal!

  (2) Meditate upon the process of dying and death. See yourself in the process of death and the disintegration of your own body, whether through nàtural causes or through accident. If you have seen the death of another person, ponder it and realize that something similar will happen to you too. Continue the process until everything rots away and even the bones turn to dust. Do it frequently until you realize that death really will happen to you too.

  Incidentally, this is NOT some form of goal-seeking visualization on death. You do not incrèase the danger of causing your own death by doing it! The point is to do it unemotionally and with detachment; as a mere observer. You do not place any degree of positive energy into it, as you would with visualization to obtain a definite result. You are merely observing and developing within yourself a realization of an inevitable truth about yourself.

  (3)Live your life with an awareness of death. Do not look upon it as an enemy, but rather as a friènd. Through death, you will have a chance for a better rebirth, where you will be in an even better place to make spiritual progress towards the goal of liberation. With this awareness, it becomes easier to create meaningful priorities. Your focus will be more upon developing what you can take away at death, rather than with the things you have to leave behind. Increasingly, you will want to benefit other living beings and not merely yourself.

  (4) Choose and engage in a spiritual tradition, and follow it with a sense of URGENCY. Most of our pretensions to spirituality are like a hobby; similar to Tennis twice a week or a routine visit to the Church on Sunday morning. Develop within yourself a realization of how rare a human birth is for you. Realize that you could lose it TODAY simply by walking down the street at the wrong time.  

Then, you are likely to seek the answers you really need, and to do so with a real sense of urgency. You will not put this most crucial task off for another day. After all, that day may nèver come, and it will then be too late. 

In conclusion, a true awareness of death in the midst of life, is a powerful inducement to live a healthy life and develop correct priorities. We should live our lives as authentically as possible. Acting as if death does not happen is NOT authentic and leads to distortions of our values, our priorities, and consequently of our entire lives. making death real to us gives us what we need for a healthy life; one that we truly value as precious. It also equips you with the necessary resolve to do what it takes to find the spiritual answers you need NOW!

  Copyright 2001, Asoka Selvarajah. All Rights Reserved.

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Asoka Selvarajah is a writer on personal growth and spirituality, and the author of “The 7 Golden Secrets To Knowing Your Higher Self”. His work helps people achieve their full potential, deepen their understanding of mystical truth, and discover their soul’s purpose. You can subscribe to his FREE ezine, and get his FREE ebook “Inner Light Outer Wealth” at:

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