Mindfulness Of Death (Reflection On The Maranasati Sutta)

The Marana Sati (mindfulness of death) is a very important reflection. I read the Marana Sati Sutta and reflect on its importance for us today. Buddha said: "Like the elephant's footprint covers all other animal footprints, so does the mindfulness of death cover all meditations".

Transcript

I will read for you the Maranasati Sutta, Which is a contemplation on death and dying, As a sati, Mindfulness, Bringing your mindfulness to the subject of death, Death which will happen for all of us, Of course. And yes, I'm going to read that first, And then also give some kind of input. OK, The Maranasati Sutta. I heard the Blessed One was once in Nadika in the brick hall. There he addressed the monks. Monks, Mindfulness of death, When it is developed and persecuted, Is of great impact and benefit. It has immortality as its ultimate goal. And how is mindfulness of death so developed and pursued that it is so? There, In the case where when the day has passed and the night returns, A monk ponders. Many are the possible causes of my death. A snake could bite me. A scorpion could sting me. A centipedes could bite me. So my death would occur. That would be an obstacle for me. Buddha was talking to the monks, Of course, But that doesn't say that this is also meant for lay people, Of course. And in this Sutta, He speaks about snake bites and scorpions. But of course, There are many other causes of death. This might not really be the cause for your death, But who knows? I could trip and fall. My digested foot could unbalance the body. My bile could be provoked. My phlegm could be provoked. And the winds in the body could be provoked. That is how my death would come about. That would be an obstacle for me. Then the monk should inquire, Are there any unwholesome qualities that I have not given up yet that would hinder me if I died in the night? If, While pondering, He realizes that there are unwholesome, Awkward qualities that he has not given up and that would hinder him if he died in the night, Then he should add additional desire, Effort, Diligence, Undivided mindfulness, And vigilance for giving up these unwholesome and clumsy traits. Just like when a person whose head or hair is on fire provokes additional desire, Exerts diligence, Undivided mindfulness, And vigilance in order to put out the fire on their head, Their hair, The monk should take additional measures, Desire, Exertion, Diligence, Effort, Undivided mindfulness, And vigilance for the abandonment of the unwholesome, Clumsy qualities. But if, As he ponders, He realizes that there are no unwholesome, Clumsy qualities that he has not given up yet and that would hinder him if he died in the night, Then for that reason, He should dwell in joy and rapture and trains himself day and night in wholesome qualities. There is also the case where when the night goes by and the day returns, So in the morning, A monk thinks, Many possible causes are there that could cause my death. A snake could bite me. A scorpion could sting me. A centipede could sting me. So my death would occur. That would be an obstacle for me. I could stumble. I could fall. My digested food could bring my body out of balance. My bile could be provoked. My phlegm could be provoked. And wind forces penetrating the body could be provoked. So my death would come about. That would be an obstacle for me. Then the monk should inquire, Are there any unwholesome, Clumsy mental qualities that I have not given up yet that would hinder me if I died during the day? If while pondering, He realizes that there are unwholesome, Awkward qualities that he has not given up yet and that would hinder him if he died daytime, Then he should add additional desire, Effort, Diligence, Undivided mindfulness, And vigilance for giving up these unwholesome, Clumsy threats. Just like when a person whose head and hair is on fire provokes additional desires, Exertions, Diligence, Undivided mindfulness, And vigilance in order to put out the fire on their head, The monk should take additional measures to develop the desire, Exertion, Diligence, Effort, Undivided mindfulness, And vigilance for the abandonment of the same unwholesome, Clumsy qualities. But if, As he ponders, He realizes that there are no unwholesome, Clumsy, Spiritual mental qualities that he has not given up yet and that would hinder him if he died in daytime, Then for that reason, He should dwell in joy and rapture and train himself day and night in wholesome qualities. So monks, Mindfulness of death is developed and pursued so that it is of great fruit and benefit, Takes a foothold in mortality, And has immortality as its ultimate end, As it's meant. Nibbāna is the ultimate goal of such a contemplation. Yeah, That's the Marana Sati Sūta. I'm sorry for the bad English, But not my original language. Yeah, And the Buddha said things about this contemplation on death, This Marana Sati. He said, Of all the animals in this world, The biggest footprint is the footprint of an elephant, Which covers all the other footprints. And so of all the meditations, The biggest or most important, Most covering meditation is Marana Sati because it covers all the others as well. It's being aware, Contemplating death, The possibility of death. If we keep that in our mind, It's the most important meditation exercise. He also gave once this talk, Or he asked one of his main disciples, Ananda, His so-called secretary. Ananda was with the Buddha for 25 years, Always memorizing all of his teachings. It was very important for the Buddhist teaching that we have today. The ones Buddha asked Ananda, Ananda, How often a day do you think about death? And Ananda said about seven times a day. And then the Buddha said, Ananda, You're still very negligent because the Buddha himself thinks of death every in-breath. So whenever the Buddha breathes in, He thinks that if he's not breathing out anymore, Then he would die. And every out-breath, The Buddha thinks about death. He thinks, If I breathe out now and cannot breathe in anymore, I would die. So the Buddha thought of death every breath. So you see again how important it is. And there are, Of course, Many ways we can bring that in our daily life. We can contemplate that in daily life. We can think of when we see things we have maybe inherited from relatives or loved ones that have passed away. And we can contemplate, OK, This once belongs to that loved person who has died, Who is not here anymore. This person has died. Or we see their pictures, Their photos. We know, OK, This person is not here anymore. They have died. So many beings, Many people that have died before us and are not here anymore. Or you could go to a graveyard looking at the gravestones and reading names, If you know them or not. But you know, These were people, Real people living. They were alive. They had dreams. They had wishes. And now they are dead. They are not here anymore. Nothing they can do to fulfill this or to move on with that. They are gone. There were millionaires, Many millionaires, Very wealthy, Very rich. But they have died. They can't do. They can't use their wealth anymore. They can't do anything with money, Their fortune anymore. Like, Poor people die. There's no difference. This kind of contemplations, It helps us to set priorities in our life, Like contemplating what is really important in my life. Are these little things that I bother so much about right now, All these wishes, Wants, These desires, Having this and that, Having that beautiful thing, Or to wear, Or to whatever, They are impermanent. Are they really important? If I contemplate death, That I will die, What does it bring to me if I'm dying? Then we will set priorities and think about those things that are useful, Wholesome now in that very life, And also maybe in future lives, If you believe in future lives. So it will change the way we set priorities. Yeah. It will help us to maintain these main three teachings the Buddha, Or every Buddha, Gave. That is always do wholesome and try to support, Feed, Nourish the wholesome things that have already arisen in your mind, Your life. And the second teaching, Try to avoid unwholesome things from arising. And if they have already arisen, Do what you can to reduce them and let them go. It's a very second, Very important teaching of all Buddhas. And the third two, Stand above both, Let go, Purify the mind, Which means letting go of both, Wholesome, Unwholesome, Good or bad, And stand above it, Practicing vipassanā in a way, Practicing this deeper meditation of being mindful and standing above both, Good and bad. Yeah. And we also have to contemplate the Buddha himself. It was one of the things that brought him to leave this life of a prince behind. Because Siddhartha, He was a prince and had this wonderful, Beautiful life. He had everything he ever could think of and all these beautiful, Nice people around him, And foods, And whatever he could wish for. But when once he left the palace with his attendant, He went out and then he saw this, What we call, The four signs, Hevatut. Yeah. It was first, A man who was sick. The second was an old man. And the third, Most important, It was a corpse, Someone who had died. And the fourth was an ascetic, Or someone who tried to practice to overcome samsara. So this was the reason why the Buddha left the palace and became an ascetic, Because he saw the urchins of practicing and, Yeah, Practicing to reach this end of samsara, To reach enlightenment. So it was also death was the main thing. Yeah. Then, Yeah, What else could we do to contemplate it in our daily life? Of course, Be there now. Be present, Be mindful in the present moment. Bring joy into your life. Bring light into your body and mind. Think positive, Especially now in this time when we have always these bad messages about pandemic and whatever, Which also includes, Of course, Sickness and death, That we still keep a wholesome mind. Bring happiness. Bring light into yourself. And shine that light on others by being positive. Then contemplations with meditations that help us. You know, Those of you who are with the daily meditations that I usually give in the morning, We do some of them, Like the panchakamatthana, The contemplation on the five outer objects of the body, Which are hair that grows on the head, The hair that grows all over the body, Nails of fingers and toes, Then the teeth that grow in your mouth, And skin. So five objects of our body that we can see because they are outside. So we can contemplate them, Look at them, And contemplate them. And when we contemplate them, It's always important to contemplate their impermanence. They change. Grow old, They change. And yeah, There is death. And we see that. Then, Of course, Buddha taught much more than he taught 32 outer objects, Where the five ones are the first ones that I just said, But then it goes further inside the body, Going on with bones, With all the organs and fluids within the body. So doing this contemplation, And mainly contemplate on their impermanence, And that they are not really under our control, As seeing these three characteristics of our existence, The impermanence, The uncontrollable nature, And the suffering nature, That also helps us to become more clear about death or the certainty that we will die one day. Yeah, Then there are ways in our lives where we can see these things much easier, Like for those of you who are maybe a doctor, Or you work in a hospice, Or in pathology, Or something, Or even in a retirement center, Then you are close to impermanence. You are close to death all the time. You can see people dying. And use this knowledge, This understanding, And not just see it outside. That's what we usually do. We see it outside and then put it aside, Especially in the West, Where you are living. Mostly death is something we hide. We don't see dead people. They are immediately brought away, Covered, Carried away, Or put anywhere that we can't see them. Even old people, They are put in a retirement house. We don't look at this old age. Death is something we try to avoid to see, Which is completely insane, Actually, Because it brings us away from these great truths and seeing things as they really are. Death is a very important part of life, As important as birth is. So if you have this possibility to be on such places or see death by yourself, Then use that knowledge. Bring it to yourself and make yourself, Again, Aware that you will also die. Like they die, You will die. Everyone will die. Those you love, Those you hate, They're all subject to death. There is no way for anyone to escape that. Oh, The Arahants, The great masters, The Bodhisattvas, And even the Buddha, They died. There's an end to their life. So make that clear to yourself. And this is not to make you negative or having fear, Not at all. It should help you to set priorities and also yeah, To be more wholesome in everything you think, You speak, And you do. More wholesome and more attentive, Not just letting time slip away with wasting your time with things that do not bring much, But really use this time, This very precious time that you have as a human being. One thing the Buddha also said, It is very, Very rare to be born as a human being. It's much more likely to be born as something else. So there are 31 realms of existence. And the human realm is the most middle realm, We could say, The one in the middle. And as a human, It's much easier to practice meditation because we see both. We see suffering and we see happiness. We can see both of them. Whereas the realms that are lower, Like animal realm or the realms of beings that we cannot see with our normal eyes, Like fine material beings, Like hungry ghosts, Demons, Or beings that are born in hell, These are realms where there is mainly suffering. There is a lot of ignorance and suffering. And if you experience a lot of suffering, You are not able to gain this teaching. And you are not able to meditate because the only thing you can think about is getting out of your suffering, Getting your food or getting out of pain or whatever, So that you are so occupied with this suffering, There is no way to meditate. And unfortunately, This is also with higher realms, Like these fine material beings that we, Most of us, Cannot see, That we call angels or in Sanskrit, It would be devas, These fine material realm. They are also not very likely to meditate because they always experience happiness and fun. Their existence is full of joy and fun. And if there is a person that always has fun, It's very hard to tell them, Oh, Come on, Sit down, Meditate. Because they, Why? Why should I do that? They don't experience suffering. And even the highest realms in samsara, The Brahmas, How we call them in Sanskrit, Or in Pali as well, These kind of gods realms, They don't have fun. But they have a very high level of bliss, Of happiness, Very cool happiness of standing above everything. And it's very hard to get to them and give them this, To reach them with this teaching of suffering and getting out of samsara. So it's actually our existence as a human that is the most suitable one to reach enlightenment, To get out of samsara. So that's why, Again, That shows how important it is, This existence you have. And now that you are still healthy and alive and able to practice, Do this contemplation on death without getting negative. But it will give you more freedom. So that's my own kind of clevering about this, As a not enlightened being. But I know it's a really important practice. And I hope it did give you some input. And hopefully, You can do it. I wish you a nice day. Stay healthy and happy. Have a long life. And practice this contemplation from time to time. Hope to see you again soon. Bye.